Friday, March 29, 2013

A couple more 51 style pens

I have always wanted a Parker 51 ballpoint but every time I see them they are going way more than what I am prepared to pay.
So because today was a holiday I was able to get out into the shop by 6:30 and this is what I came up with.
I also polished up the inside so you can see the ink level of the Itoya refill that I have installed in it.




Next up is using some Parker Sonnet nibs that I had kicking around.




Friday, March 22, 2013

Esterbrook Nib Holder

 

I have been wanting to use this material for a bit now and I was just waiting for the right pen to claim it.  This pen was built to take Cross carts or it could also be used as a ED filler.  Most Esterbrook pens are a little on the smaller size so I decided to make it in the 51 shape and size to go along with my 51's.










Penman ball point repair

I had a customer who had a Penman set, a FP and a BP.  The ballpoint was dried up and is no longer available so I had to make something up for him.






I normally install a metal nose cone but because this section was not screwed in there would be no way to install a spring to keep the refill where it belongs so I had to come up with another solution.
The original refill just pushed in from the nib end so I ended up using a Bic stick refill.  I had to machine a new sleeve that went inside the original section and then drill it out to take the Bic refill. 



I know it is a Bic but at least this matching pen set is usable.


Wednesday, March 20, 2013

A fine nib

Sometimes you just can't beat a fine nib. So I had made up a pen a while ago but I sold it last weekend.  As soon as it was gone I started missing it so I had to build another one.  
I found some nice ebonite in my stash pile and this is what I came up with.





Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Very large ED


This one has been on the bench a long time.  I think I have built almost 3 pens with all the problems I have had with this one.
I had the pen body turned down to size and sat it aside and started the cap.  Had the cap all turned to size and when I was starting to sand and polish under a magnifying glass I notices all sorts of bubbles as well as a stress crack in the blind cap on the body.  Even when I was sanding and working with this ebonite it felt like it was not cured enough.  The smell was way stronger than any ebonite I have ever got from Germany or even India for that matter.  The sanding residue was pure black and stained my hands like the soot from a lamp shade. So we had to get more material and it to had bubbles but they were more to the surface so as I cut deeper I was able to get past them.  The smell and soot properties are still there so I am not sure if this was all just a bad batch or what but not a lot of fun.










Any way I was able to finally get a pen made up.






Saturday, March 2, 2013

Section holder for a Parker Duofold

This one was a lot of fun.
This customer wanted a second body for his section on his modern duofold.
Section

Body

Complete




A new section

This pen has a really busted up section with the threads breaking off in the body of the pen.
 I had to remove the front shell to get the ring off for the cap.
Busted Section

 I had no green ebonite in stock so we went with black.  The customer wanted it to have a matte finish so this is what I ended up with.

New Section



All Done