Extra Long Converted Wood Pen- Revisit.

Wood Pen- Extra Long Converted Hero 332:

I have been studying the purchased readymade pens for a while but the few pens I had made myself kind of took a back seat ! This week , I have taken out some of them and would like to study them closely. Started off with this extra long pen, which is a cladded Hero 332.

At about 17.4 cm this pen is quite long, but does not feel that heavy as such, because both the inner Hero pen and the wood cladding are light-weight.

The background behind this pen is interesting. I had bought two fake Hero 332\s at Mumbai while joining my ship and these pens had stayed on with me. While on board I learnt about making pens on lathe by reading from the internet. Been lucky with the correct port sequence and managed to buy some kits from PSI and receive them at a US port and made some eleven pens. Some times later, the motor of the lathe machine burnt out and due to long sailing schedule , we  had to wait over a month to receive the replacement.  It is during this phase I went about making two pens, without lathe machine and without kits.

The wood was from the scrap from engine room, generally comes as packing material in the crates for spare parts. Whitish and soft , may be some low cost pine or similar hardwood. It is soft to turn and oily. That is as far as I can ID the wood. The grain in this wood is always faint.

I used the vertical drill to drill to create the pocket for inserting the parts of the original pen and created the square section by  hand  using sanding paper. The double taper of the pen body was inspired by the shape of a square file. It took me a lot of measurements along the full length to get the final shape.  The only part of the original pen  discarded was the clip as that clip would not match the new look. Instead I made one from a piece of scrap brass. With the pen body stuck inside the wood pocket, I wanted a different colour of the end finials and cap band. I used a mixture of saw-dust and araldite to make this. I also tried to make brass-dust inlay near the cap to barrel join as well as near the finials- but these did not come very prominent. Final finish was about 8 coats of CA and hand polished on grit 600 to grit 12000 micromesh in may steps. Because of the huge labour spent in making this unconventional pen I developed a special liking for the pen- it will always stay in my collection.

The mechanical part of the pen had no problem. Being a low cost fake, the filler mechanism was made of aluminum, recently changed this by taking a stainless steel one from a damaged pen. The nib is fine medium and required a little tuning. Now it is writing very smooth. 

I have made another square section pen during this time- will detail that sometime later. I call this technique "Cladding", and in future will use this to re-model less famous old pens. However experienced pen turners may not like the idea! Just a thought- this is unconventional after all.

Below there are some photos and a handwriting sample.

The Pen :

 

 Close up the attempted inlay work :

Safe Storing of the Pens

Pen storage is an important part of pen collection, but mostly neglected. my father had some 150 good pens of those days. All of these disappeared over the course of time- I would say mainly
because these were never kept in a dedicated storage place. Loosely kept here and there , all of them disappeared.
 
That said, another truth is that, low budget collector like myself would barely cough up the money for the pen itself, but as for the storage, it is a no no. Most of my pens are kept in the 48-pen Wallets made of faux leather as shown below, sourced from e-bay for around $ 30/- each. Though logically each of these is cost equivalent of two to three of my average pens, - every time I have actually purchased one there has been a long debate session within myself.
 
Recently, I took one of these to a local Bag-maker for a sample, this guy has agreed to make same ones for Rs. 400/- each. I have to actually see how is the quality, praying for now, at least let these be functional !
 
All other storage arrangements I checked over the internet , belong to the luxary end and are much more expensive. Some people have advised me to contact the people who manufacture Jewellery boxes in Bowbazar Kolkata and get some custom made. Somehow I have not yet walked up to those shops.!!

 

The Right Flap

 

The left Flap

 
                                          The Full View  with the separator and closed view.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

UGLY and DIABOLO !!

 

UGLY and DIABOLO !!

 

These are two funny handmade pens by me. Last night I sat down to complete them using various local components including nib , feeder  and converter. Finally got them working. Took a while to set up the nibs by tuning- these cranky looking unconventional pens write quite comfortably now. These would stay in my collection.

 

Both started off as kit-less pen attempts and I had machined the body while I was on ship.

 

 UGLY has a steel tube in brass cladding as the barrel. The barrel was step cut in three places and filled with a paste of saw-dust & Araldite - an experiment in inlay process! Only after trying I learnt how messy it all could turn! Cap on this pen is a wooden tube fitted with a solid heavy brass finial and a cannibalized clip. Cap to barrel fitment is a gentle slide fit , made by lapping. It works. The pen was lying in this condition for about five months, unattended. Last night I got inspired to  activate this pen. Fitted a local nib & feeder and a converter. This is working now.

 

DIABOLO is made from High compression resistant plastic, I found in scrap on board the ship, used for Hatch-cover compression pad. I had machined and made the body on board and as usual left like that for long. Last night I picked up a pen refill for Reynolds "Grippy" from my son's drawer, modded that a bit here & there and changed the nib. The final combo writes fine.

 

Both these pens are an experiment gone bad. But I enjoy these funny looking pens, which somehow write fine.

 

This post is only for fun. No serious pen turner would probably like to look at these!

 

 

 

Four Vintage pens bought at Kokata yesterday.

I had paid a visit to Esplanade area to an old pen shop and  got these vintage pens for a total of Rs 2600/-, total Rs 2000/- for the two Pilot pens on top and Rs 600/- for the bottom two pens, one is a Senator and other is a Reynolds. All these pens are in excellent condition, and I was told these are from 1955 to 1960's time. For these pilots I could not get any reference to the model number but for the other two , did find a sketchy mention in FPN. However, the model numbers are not available. All these pens write very well. The top pilot pen has different colour section and barrel- I was told by the seller that this is how it was marketed those day, this is not a random mixing. The Senator pen shown in the top of the second photo, looks exactly same as the Pieere Cardin Kriss new pen I have detailed just a few days back- in FPN records I found an old transaction where an exact same pen was sold for $ 30/-. However the Senator experts advised that this one is not a true Senator as there are no model of Senator looking like this, to them it looks more like Chinese replica. My question remains- replica of which model-did Montblanc have a similar model, because the section looks Montblanc cloned. The Reynolds pen has a beautiful gold nib bearing the company logo, but again no model number any where- however one except description is sighted in FPN.  The two pens in the second photo came fitted with ink cartridges- I have fitted standard Jinhao converters from my stock. All these pens write well, in due course I would upload sample handwriting photos. Present job at hand is to positively ID these pens. If anyone knows, please let me also know.

 

New Arrivals Duke 209 and Hero 9215

These two pens arrived couple of days back, This is the second Duke 209 in our collection, the other being one in matte black colour and gold trim. I had detailed about that pen earlier in this blog, here is the link : 

http://soumitrapencollections.blogspot.in/2013/10/duke-209-matte-black.html

 

The Hero 9215 arrived after about 2 months and a half or so, from a HongKong Supplier who had marketed this pen under a fancy description without the Hero 9215 name. Happens! E-bay has meanwhile removed the details from the archive, now there is no way to locate the seller and price of this pen. I faintly remember this pen was in the range of $12.0.

 

These pens are yet to be inked and tested. Will update with the ink test report and handwriting sample photo in due course.

 

 

 

 

Sulekha Lever filled pen- Vintage Indian pen- restored and ink tested.

Sulekha Lever filled pen- Vintage Indian pen- restored and ink tested.

 

 

I had detailed on this pen earlier in this blog, here is the link : << http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3521294604118768582#editor/target=post;postID=8845921398352227059;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=28;src=postname >>

 

The pen had the filling system not working. I managed to oil up the lever mechanism and fit a ink sac cannibalized from a Her 329 and got the pen working normal. Found holding about 10 to 12 drops of ink, which is the capacity of a Hero/Wing sung sac.

The pen was found fitted with a new Panther nib that was a bit scratchy. Some good tuning with micromesh 12000 and the nib is quite smooth now, a little feedback still remains though. The writing test was quite enjoyable, fine ink-flow.

Though not known to me exactly, I read somewhere that the early Sulekha pens were modeled after British pen designs. I would need to find out more about this aspect. But the physical shape of this pen is very fascinating to my eyes. The barrel step down and continues further about 22 mm into the cap-holding thread and then comes the section about19 mm long. Other end of the barrel tapers down to almost a point, though this is not uniform conical-rather a straight side and a curved side wrapped around. I have seem some vintage pens photo showing similar curvature- there must be a name too for this peculiar profile. The cap is having a tall rounded finial and a very gradual taper to the cap-band. Overall look is that of a Classic old vintage. The clip is solid brass with ornate

"Shulekha "- lettering. There are those dual cap bands that nicely complete the picture. This old pen is really quite a  stunning looker.

Writing balance is excellent and the light comfortable feel ! Somewhat like holding a dip pen of olden days. I would need to get some good plastic polish to fully restore this pen. I am really grateful to the donor for this piece of history.

 

 

Baoer 79 Black - look alike of Montblanc starwalker

Baoer 79 Black :

Just received this pen today - a Montblanc Starwalker clone for just $ 6.98 from ebay. I have a Crocodile 232 as well and compared both, and inferred that  at $ 28.00 the crocodile 232 does not offer much extra. The pen comes in chrome trim and titanium color plated section. Grip curvature does add to the writing comfort. The nib was quite smooth and with a slight tuning on micromesh 12000 it has become silk smooth now. This is a brass body pen with matte lacquer finish, I find it reasonably light for a brass pen. Fit and finish are very good, no sloppy ends here. The acrylic cap finial makes the pen very attractive to me. Wring balance both with and without the cap posted is quite good. The steel nib is quite simple looking and stiff [ the one on the crocodile 232 is dual tone flex and ornate, but does not warrant the extra $20 though, in fact many other Baoer's come with two tone nibs.]. Usual converter filled system, standard international converter. I have attached a handwriting sample and some photos below. This pen would need a little time to get used to. Happy to get a Montblanc clone for just about 7 dollars.

 

 

 

 

 

Chelpark Sumo - ink test.

This vintage Chelpark pen has been identified now- it is called Sumo, found a faint etching mark on the lower part of the cap. wonder if they had laser in those days 45 years back- unlikely, must be some simpler method! The etched model name is very difficult to photograph, particularly on a black plastic body. I had some doubt earlier that it a MOTI from Chelpark , but finally seen a photo from fountain pen revolution site- this is different. Then found the name. looking for some detailed history of Chelpark pens in the internet. Anyone having this knowledge please help.

 

The ink filling mechanism consists of a built-in piston plunger, operated by twisting the barrel-end finial by 3/4 turns to purge out the air and then twisting back to draw in the ink. Works perfectly air-tight. Tested several times, found to hold about 10 to12 drops of ink.

 

There is a ink view window at the section end of the barrel, clear acrylic or similar material, now dark brown in colour. Either this is the real colour or it is the effect of ik soaking over the years. Can not tell for sure. One would need to hold this window against a strong light to see the ink.

 

The pen is fitted with original Chelpark nib, a fine ornate nib marked iridium point nib. This medium point nib writes too smooth, I did not have to attempt any smoothing on the tip.

 

Balance and grip comfort of this pen is too good. Being a light plastic pen this is well suited forn regular fast writing for school / college- must have been a regular student pen for those days.

 

Other areas of the pen that is impressive are the fine lines and curves, just too correct everywhere. A fine proportionate build with a matching design clip. Too bad this fine pen is no more manufactured.

 

I had detailed about this pen earlier, for a recap , here is the link : http://soumitrapencollections.blogspot.in/2013/12/vintage-chelpark-pen-moti.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sheafer Lifetime 500- restoration of a 75 year old pen.

This is definitely the oldest pen in our collection, about 1.5 times my age!! Bought at Kolkata for Rs 1500/- and did a self styled restoration. Here is the link to the full work report. Your comments please.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/98071903/Restoring%20a%201945%20Sheafer%20Lifetime.pdf

Crocodile 218

Crocodile 218 :

I had been contemplating about this purchase for quite a few weeks, finally gave in.

The Gold and Silver duo sells for $ 24.97 but each pen individually sell for about $18, so I went for the combo. The chequered design on the body is not covered with any lacquering [ unlike Jinhao 500's] and the plating quality is very good. Both pens come with gold plated trim clip, though that is less visible on the golden one. Section part is Golden plated, but not too slippery, even when held with dry fingertips, I don't find any slippage, and that is a very good news for me. The pens are shipped with a slightly designed nibs, however both nibs are very smooth medium width. The snap on fitting caps fit well, in fact all parts fit with just the right tolerance, nothing sloppy here. Overall these metal pens being a little on the heavier side, writing speed is little slower. Cap posting can be done, but for my preference the pen writes better balanced without the cap. Best part of these pens are of course the great looks. Happy that I finally changed by mind and went off to buy them. A fine pair in our collection.  Below is a handwriting sample and some photos of the pes. Hope you all like the pen.

 

 

 

Jinhao 11- Slaelth Pen

Jinhao 11-

 

the stealth pen in matte black. There is more than meets the eye in this beautiful pen as taking photos of a dull matte lacquer metal pen is never satisfactory, The pen however surprises one in many ways- the shape for one! the taper bullet like shape of the barrel, the slant cut on the cap finial and the matching straight taper clip imparts a very smart look to the pen. The section offers good grip and writing is quite effortless. With the cap loosely posted, the pen slows down but writing is still quite nice. There are two shiny chrome rings on the ends of the section which enhance the pens looks when un-capped. When capped however , these chrome rings become hidden under the cap, so that the all matte continuity is maintained. The medium fine steel nib is stiff and very smooth, writing is effortless in spite of the relatively higher weight of the metal pen. The last and final element of finery on the pen is the Jinhao monogram on the cap finial, which is noticed when the pen is kept upright. Overall , a fine looker with very nice performance, I should not have missed it.!

 

Here are some sample writing and photos of the pen. Hope you like it.

 

YONSHENG 016

 

YONSHENG  016 

 

Just anybody would buy this pen for sheer beauty. golden flower pattern on shiny steel grey lacquer and the slim steam line shape is an instant winner. The pen comes in golden colour trim and clip. The fine nib is fitted in specially shaped hooded enclosure that the Chinese sellers refer as caymen mouth [ I guess caymen is some kind of marine creature like shark etc!!}. This is a light pen and offers very good grip for easy continuous writing. The fine nib was found smooth with a little feedback but after a little tuning on grit 12000 it became perfect and writing is now a pleasure. very happy to add this beautiful pen in our collection. hope I knew how to take better photos. Here is some photos and a handwriting sample.

 

 

Indian Pen- Parker Vector Gold GT

Parker Vector Gold GT -

 

This classic design from Parker is actually a simple looking pen with absolutely no frills, but quite a practical one. No wonder why there is such long time following from many Parker lovers. In my opinion the vector design looks its best in Gold. This is a light and well balanced pen and the cap is freely  postable [ slide fit]. This is the pen for tireless long writing at good speed, certainly a favourite among students all over. To my surprise the fine polished section is not slippery and that gives the confident grip and writing comfort. The pair in our collection was purchased from ebay.in for RS 600/- each sometime early 2013.The nib is one of the simplest I have come across I many designs. only complain about this pen and many other Indian made parkers is the crude looking converter they supply, I would expect better for a Parker at this price.

Attached below are some photos and sample handwriting. Overall a pair of nice cult pens in our collection.