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.

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.

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.

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

A bit of leather work

I bough some leather while I was in Istanbul last year and I was finally able to get something made up out of it.

First up is a Moleskine cover that has all the edges laced up.

Next was a pocket holster for my lighter and a small folder