So i just spread out the recent "51" finds. No, not my core collection... just... stuff

Couple shows, couple collections. Before i realized it, i had a few more than a few lying around.

I like "51", but this is getting a bit silly.

Still... Makes for a fun pic.

I... just... envy you... but not in a good way!

just kidding! what a stash of 51's! I bet you don't have this one:

Nope. Looks a bit wooden.
d

found it inside the glove box of a ford woody wagon hehehe

Now if the hood could be done in wood, i'm not sure one should as that region is thin and fragile, a pen turner would need be most agile.

-d

well, you can try that, but there's a lot of issues with solid wood hoods or barrel for that matter. I can elaborate if you're interested, but I do feel that I'm stealing this topic away for no good reason. I have posted more pictures in the pen turning section.

No topic to steal. Random rumination at best.

Hood would pose challeng in wood, what with contour and thin edges.

-d

main issues with wood:

ink stains
thread cutting (especially challenging with soft wood as this particular experiment, not so much of an issue with other hard woods such as grenadilla, ebony, etc)
size stability issues (temperature and humidity reduces and or enlarges wood pieces)
fragility (cracks, softer spots due to the nature of the material)
weight

of all the wrongs, the weight is the worse. A whole wood pen in ebony weights about 1/3rd of the real thing. I know because I turned one 5 years ago and kept all the dimentions within thousands of OEM specs, and left it to age (like clarinets!) and of course like some clarinets, it cracked, warped and ended up unuseable. Translate this to less dense woods and you have a pen that would weight between 1/5th and 7/16ths of a plastic one.

A whole wood hood can be done, maybe not in the exact shape of the OEM average, but a little bit less streamlined (thicker over the collector area) Or you could use the demi aero collector size and maintain the exterior shape and size of a full size aero (close to the vac)

the main issues as mentioned, the ink would eventually saturate the less dense parts of the wood, the constant humidity and heath/cold cycles would end up cracking the wood, the male threads would strip or dull or the female threaded parts would split.

Edit:

a plastic hood / wooden barrel pen sure looks a little bit halfa**ed (pardon my french) doesn't it? even with finer color contrast such as brown, yellowstone or bucksin, etc...

If Edward Woodward would cut wood, would Edward Woodward cut wood hood?

How many of the black looking pens are forest green? I assume that there are some there, just that they didn't turn out in the photo. They don't like turning out in photos very much. Nice collection.

Yep. The Forest and Plum pens tend to look black in such shots.

-d

Expecting a "groan" post from Ron Z.

*sob*

I just can't resist the question - any of those demi's for sale?

HEHEHE

OMG! How many of those are yours?

Juan

Very interesting.... some of the problems of weight and "durability" can be addressed by very thin inserts of metal... in this case titanium. The matching hood is not shown in this photo but is made resistant to ink by proper sealing. The wood is a composit hard wood.... or, to be safe for sure the hood in demonstrator style seems to work well anyway.



One of these days will have to picture the completed pen. Wood Grain HR is beautiful... but so is Wood Grain.

Just wish I had the woody wagon.

RalphP

===============================

Actually, I really like working on 51s. One of my favorite pens to repair. When done right, they can be fantastic, reliable writers, and it's a treat to get a letter back from someone who can't put the pen down after I'm done with one.

Hmmmm, my stash is only about a quarter as big. Gotta get busy and buy more 51s.

well... all of 'em. And they are not part of the core collection.

Here are some from the core collection

Yeah. I'm a bad customer. I can put the pen down afterwards... or at least put it in someone else's hands

Of course, i do tend to keep Ron a bit busy with these things. Happily enough... he doesn't really seem to mind.

-d

... eventually. Not now though. Raw pens tend to... need work.

regards

david

Sorry, when I said "yours", I meant "not for sale". Impressive

Do you happen to know Julia Gusano? She's one of the organizers of the Madrid Pen Show. She said in a magazine interview that's impossible to be a collector and a pen dealer (if you want to stay in business, that is). She only collects 51 demis, although she has other pens.

I think I'm lucky with my 51 preferences: I like aerometrics with lustralloy caps, but you have some real beauties there.

Juan

I have received some complimens for just writing a letter rather than an email; I mean a plain letter: pen, paper, envelope and stamp, not nice calligraphy or penmanship.

Writing is a rarity these days; it may seem natural for us, but we're rare birds. Hmmm it might be posted in the writing instruments forum.

Juan

Are any of the gray-looking ones Navy/Battleship Gray rather than the Dove Gray?

ralph that pen is gorgeous as everything I have seen from you! kudos! I find the hood in wood is a little boring, I like the barrel in wood and the hood in plastic. No doubt it can be done with hard woods and proper metal inserts, but...

The easy way is using a "support barrel" in metal, wich may have the threads for the hood and the seat and female threads for the filler unit.

I KNEW you'd have to have at least 1 Nassau Green,1 Buckskin Beige and 1 Mustard 51 in the bunch!
What? No Empire State 51's in the core group? Say it isn't so....

John

Catchy.....I like it!

John

David,

That Nassau set with Sterling Caps is incredible!

Ralph, that custom 51 is beautiful! What's the story behind it?

Ralph, I wonder (just out of curiosity, I don't actually have the money for it) would you be able to make a completely wooden 51?

Yeah, it's stolen, and modified, from an old ad for MDF wood products.

Most of that first batch eventually will move out. None up right now as most need tuning, etc.

Don't know Julia. Problem with the statement quoted is it depends a bit on semantics and definitions.

If one defines "dealer" and "collector" to be mutually exclusive, then of course one cannot be both.

However, i don't define the terms that way, as I believe a person can harbor elements of both. Indeed most- if not all- of the generally recognized high volume dealers in vintage pens have impressive personal collections at home.

regards

david

Sure. Some are Vac-Fill (Dove) . Some are Aerometric (NAVY)

regards

david

It is so. No Empire floatin' about. The Mustard is a nearmint set Heritage (window pane) GF Cap with solid gold clips and tassie. Not a bad set.

-d

That is true

I don't get many Nassaus these days, though have moved a few during the last couple years. But, i wanted one nice one in the personal collection. This one fit the bill.

regards

david

Nice spread David. Mybe a 51 mega update is in order soon?

George

Sure; it depends on one's idea of being a collector. I'd like to see Julia's "non collection of pens"; I mean those which are not 51 demis. Julia is a great person to deal with; I bought 2 vacumatics from her years ago, and she insisted on putting new diaphragms once I decided on the ones I liked.

Anyway, I think that one should focus when collecting: either pens from a given period, or material, filling system, aesthetics, brand, model...otherwise it's crazy unless you have very deep pockets and time to spare.

I'm not a collector though, I just love fountain pens and put them to paper.

Regards, Juan