Full Metal Diy Crescent Filler Fountain Pen

[Ben Looijesteijn]

For the long winter nights:
A full metal DIY crescent filler fountain pen

(Please ignore my abuse of the English grammer)

For many years now, I take pleasure in restoring discarded old fountain pens. It is very rewarding work. I also enjoy building pens from all the leftovers that accumulate around my working bench. (see my other post) I only use the best parts, to create an optimal performing pen. So, the next step was predictable: build a pen from scratch. And I challenged myself to achieve this by using only parts that are available form a random hardware store.

 

This task description results in a lot of design freedom, but also some practical restrictions. The crescent filler is my favorite filler type. It’s robust, fail-proof and looks great. More important even: with some precision and a handful of simple tools, anyone can construct it at home. The necessary parts for this system, as well as (almost) all the other parts for the pen, are available in your local hardware store: Copper (water) tubing, several diameters aluminum tubing, nails, steel wire, glue, rubber hose, etc. It should be possible to build a pen from all this in 5 to 10 hours. I built mine (shown above) some three years ago and I still use it as my daily writer.

The building process starts with the copper water tubing (10 x 12 mm.). It is used to create the cap and barrel. The total length of my pen is 120 mm. I find this to be a nice, ecstatically appealing length. But, you’re building it yourself, so the only actual limit is your own imagination. Furthermore I think that the length of the cap should be no more than one third of the total pen length. But that’s personal of course… Just make sure the nib section fits safely in the cap and create enough room for the ink sac and crescent filler to fit in the barrel.

 

The crescent filler parts are constructed from a small aluminum bar and a carefully bent piece of steel wire or nail attached to it. Together they look somewhat like a small clothes hanger. The safety ring is made out of aluminum tubing (12 x 14 mm.), so it fits around the copper barrel. The outside of this ring needs to be filed and grinded to fit the inside arc of your small clothes hanger. Make sure that the total height of the hanger part is within the inside diameter of the copper tubing. Otherwise you won’t be able to fit it inside the barrel later on.

Now you need to create an opening in the barrel to fit the crescent filler. The safety ring than slides under the arch and is secured by twisting it a half turn. (It takes some patience and minor skills to get this fitted just right)

Than there is the nib section. This is built from three diameters aluminum tubing: (ca.) 8 x 10, 6 x 8 and 4 x 6 mm. The two largest tubes form a solid metal section. The smallest tube fits inside these and is the connection for the ink sac. The ink sac itself can be made from flexible rubber tubing that is closed at the end. A bronze nail head is bored (not to deep!) into the section as part of a bayonet fitting in the cap. Therefor you need to make a slot in the receiving end: the cap. This results in an effortless, but very strong fitting of the cap on the section. Just twist it clock- or anticlockwise to secure or remove the cap.

The nib and feed are the only parts I couldn’t buy from a hardware store. It is possible to make these parts yourself, but it’s hardly worth the effort. In China and India you can buy pretty good nibs at very low costs. I use the Jinhao 6 mm. nib and feed. They are ridiculously cheap and great value for money! (From the more then hundred nibs I used, I never had to throw away one and I only had to adjust a handful of them.) It is important to adjust the opening in the section to the dimensions of the nib and feed you choose.

Finally we get to assemble all the parts. I commonly use so called ‘superglue’. That results in a very strong bonding that can always be undone by adding heat. Thus making the pen serviceable should that me necessary. (This was also one of my prime design demands.) I use mostly nail heads to form the blind caps. This underlines the fact that the pen is constructed of normal hardware store parts. But it is also possible to mount other materials as blind caps. For example rare earth magnets can be placed in both the barrel and the cap. This makes posting of the pen not only easy, but almost like a magical trick when performed with some flair…

 

The end result could look like this:

Variations
Since you are building the pen yourself, you’re free to vary any of the parts or dimensions. The nib section can be ‘tapered’ or flat and as long as you prefer it to be. (As long as it fits inside the barrel and cap). The clip can be made out of the largest diameter tubing (12 x 10), by cutting it to shape. It is also possible to shape a nail into a clip form or just use a slide-on clip. (These sometimes are fitted to small screw drivers, so you can get them form the hardware store and stay true to the design principles.) But since this pen is almost indestructible (I once drove over one with the car, without any damage), there is in fact no need to fit a clip onto it. Just put the pen in your pocket, together with your keys and spare money. The built up surface scratches and patina only add tot the beauty and character of the pen! Example of clips:

 

Well there you have it. I’m looking forward to your reactions and to the results of your labor. And of course I’m anxious to find out more design suggestions. I have experimented with add-on tools, compasses, stylus tips, time capsules (containing a spare nib and feed), etc. I have a rough drawning of the construction attached. Good luck and a lot of fun with the building process and feel free to ask me any question!

Ben

[Ben Looijesteijn]

@moderator: can you please remove this topic. I double entered it. Sorry!

[escribo]

I reposted in your original post, so I eliminated this one.

 

Mods, this post can go away along with the topic, as per OP's request