Looking the the awesome 'start from scratch' pens recently posted, I wasn't sure whether this one should be here. However, I figure that the critiques from this group are coming primarily from FP uses and collectors, as opposed to turners, and I would like to hear your views.

The pen started out life as an El Grande FP kit. I dropped the plastic bits on the end of the barrel in favour of turning it closed end. As such, the cap no longer posts. I removed about 2/3 of the stock centre band, and inserted a thin piece of the pen material into the end of the finial. Finally, I modified the standard black grip, again using the pen material.

The nib so far is just the stock nib, which isn't bad, but should be replaced for something smoother.

Click to view attachment

Very nice Grant!! I like it very much. If you had just put it out there to look at I'm not so sure I would have guessed that it was home turned!

It looks terrible smart. You've done a good job there.

Regards

Richard.

Really excellent!!

Congratulations Grant, nice work!
I'm not familiar with the "El Grande FP kit", but the marbled section surely looks great !
Francis

Thank you all very much.

Francis: This is a pic of the El Grande "stock" version.

I have to confess I much prefer your version. The stock black section doesn't look anywhere as fancy as yours, and the barrel end looks like an afterthought. You have definitely made it much nicer.

Regards

Richard.

Richard has put it very well for me - nice one!!

Regards,
Ruaidhrí

Thank you very much, Ruaidhri. I appreciate your taking the time to post this.

g

I love pens where the section matches the barrel ...
Another couple of things that I really like are that you cut the end off the barrel and (I think) made the section thicker. I know I shouldn't complain as I don't know how to turn pens myself but.... I have a real problem with the narrow sections of most kit pens I've seen, and I'm not crazy about the protruding barrel ends, either. I realize that the latter allows the pen to be posted, but it drives me nuts from an aesthetic point of view...

Grant, I like *all* the modifications you made, though----thumbs up!

Hi Grant,

An exceptional example of how a few well chosen design modifications can make an ordinary pen look better. I also like your choices of materials and your workmanship is Top Shelf my friend!

Thank you much, Jim. Don't forget to call me.

Maja: Thanks for your kind words. The section is moderately thicker than the stock one. There is a limit, of course, because the cap must still clear it. Like you, I don't like the looks of the torpedo barrel ends on the stock kits. This pen was for my wife, and since she does not post her caps, it was an easy decision to turned it closed end.

You're welcome, Grant!
So, how long is the pen without the cap on? (ie. barrel and nib only)
I usually post my pens, unless the barrel is long, and I am just curious in case you decide to go into business and make these for $$ . I really like the design of this one and the hard rubber pen you posted in another thread.

Maja

Overall length with the cap on is 5.2" or 13.2 cm.

Length with the cap off is 4.8" or 12.2 cm

I'd be interested in your thoughts on these dimension. I have several "store bought" FP (Mont Blanc, Lamy, Dupont), and their lengths vary by a lot. My small Mont Blanc has very similar dimensions to mine. The Dupont is much longer, and the Lamy 2000 is just a bit longer. If I ever get good enough to market my fountain pens, I know that one of the things that I must keep in mind is length and weight.

g

Yes, length, weight , thickness and balance. I'd hazard to guess that a lot of people don't like pens that are terribly barrel-end heavy or very nib-end heavy. A nice balance is desirable. Also, the overall thickness of the pen is something to consider; I prefer pens that are thicker because they are more comfortable to hold.

Thanks for the pen measurements. I think the length is fine for me, but I am a woman and therefore have smaller hands than most men As the cap cannot be posted on the end, perhaps a slightly longer pen would be desirable, though.

I love this pen. I especially like the shorter dimensions. I have not started turning pens yet but I plan on starting soon. Can you tell me where you got the El Grande FP kit from.

Thanks very much it's Beautiful

Like others have said, that is a superb pen, far better than any El Grande I have seen before. I especially like the way you have made your own section.

How did you do this, could you elaborate? What sort of equipment/tooling was required to do this, special tap and die set, did you use a metal lathe to turn this pen?

I know they are a lot of questions, but I am really interested, this is something for me to aspire to.

Thank you for your advice, Maja. I've a lot to learn and every bit of input helps.

bscherokman: The El Grande kit is made by Berea Hardwoods. You can buy directly from them or from many re-sellers.

BigShed: As for equipment/tooling, I just use a Jet Mini Lathe with normal wood turning tools. I use a skew mostly, but that's personal preference.

The section is really a sleeve over the stock section, since I don't yet have the tools to cut my own threads. The nib and feed is removed from the stock section and that section is turned down to about half its stock thickness. Then a piece of the pen material is drilled using a bit size equal to the outside diameter of the reduced stock section, and the reduced stock section is glued into it. The new section (which at this point is square) is then turned down to the desired shape. All the while, these parts are held using collets and pin chucks. Then the nib and feed is replaced into the new section.

In the future, I plan to cut my own threads, but this one uses the threaded parts of the stock kit.

If the pen was turned using the full kit, the centre band would be much wider and the end of the barrel would finish in a tapered piece of black plastic, with a band on it similar to the centre band. I reduced the chrome part of the centre band by about two thirds and therefore needed to reduce the tenon on which it slides by the same. I did this by holding the centre band in a jewellers pin vice and cutting it into thirds. I removed some of the tenon by holding the black plastic piece in a pin chuck and collet and turning off the part that I didn't want.

The end of the barrel is simply turned closed end. So, the barrel is drilled as usual but not all the way through. The brass tube is glued into the bored out barrel, then the barrel is held in the collet on a pin chuck and turned to whatever shape you like.

For the cap, I drilled the stock finial very shallowly, cut a tapered plug of the pen material and glued it into place. Then, it was just a matter of turning off the excess of the plug, sanding and finishing it.

I can assure you that much of this sounds much more complicated than it really is. (Having said that, I've sent more than my share of pen parts flying across my shop.)

I hope that I've answered your questions in a way that you can understand how this is done. I am far from expert and there are others on this list that can do this in their sleep, I'm sure, but for a first attempt, I'm quite pleased with the results.