Some special materials cost in pen making

[VonPG]

Many words are translated by Google, but it is still easy to understand.

 

I make a summary about the cost of various special materials that may be used in the pen making.

Only special materials, such as TC4 titanium alloy/Brass/Normal Steel/Acrylic/Ebonite/ABS/Normal Plastic Carbon fiber and other conventional materials will not be discussed.

 

All Materials Price is calculated with a ROD.

Its size: φ15mm(Diameter)*150mm(Length)

So the volume is 26507.1mm3≈26.5cm3

 

1---Non-precious metals (only the material cost itself is considered, and the processing cost is not calculated)
1.254SMO super stainless steel/654SMO super stainless steel 8 g/cm³
A kind of super austenite stainless steel, which has higher hardness and better corrosion resistance than 904L stainless steel.
The material cost is about 50$ 212g. 

 

2.DSN9 super stainless steel 8 g/cm³
A super austenite stainless steel with the highest hardness, it is better to perform nitriding treatment after forming.
The material cost is about 70＄119.25g.

 

3.TC21 titanium alloy 4.5 g/cm³
The hardness is softer than TC4, but the corrosion resistance is better.
The cost of materials is about 40＄ 120g.

 

4.Zirconium alloy 6.49 g/cm³
The hardness is high, the disadvantage is that the processing is more dangerous, and it is prone to spontaneous combustion. It is not recommended to consider the machine without professional treatment. 50-100$ 172g.

 

5.CoCrMo cobalt alloy 8.4 g/cm³
Dental alloys have very high hardness (see formula) and processing is slightly difficult. But the corrosion resistance is much higher than that of ordinary titanium alloys.
The cost of materials is about 200-400＄222.6g.

 

6.GH4169/Inconel718 nickel alloy 8.192 g/cm³
The nickel alloy with the best overall performance has good fatigue resistance, radiation resistance, oxidation resistance, corrosion resistance, as well as good processing performance and good welding performance. Able to manufacture various parts with complex shapes.
The cost of materials is about 60＄217.3g.

NOTE:Some people are allergic to nickel. Be cautious!

 

7.TZM molybdenum super alloy 10.22 g/cm³
In essence, it is still a titanium alloy, but because the addition of molybdenum has better corrosion resistance, the hardness is slightly softer.
The material cost is about 60＄271.83g.

 

2---Plastic (only consider the cost of the material itself without calculating the processing cost)
1.PEEK 1.32 g/cm³
Polyetheretherketone, a kind of super engineering plastic. 30% carbon fiber reinforcement is the best. Good high temperature resistance, good rigidity and strength, suitable for engineering products with good chemical resistance such as machinery, electrical, automobile, chemical industry, etc. Of course, the unreinforced brown body is also a good choice.
The material cost for making a pen is about 50＄35g.

 

2.PEI 1.27 g/cm³
Polyetherimide, a kind of super engineering plastic. There is a very good overall performance without adding any fillers. Processing performance is better than acrylic, notch sensitivity is better than acrylic, weather resistance is higher than all current used pen plastics, the strength is similar to acrylic, the amber color is very beautiful, if stronger hardness is needed, carbon fiber can be used to enhance the cost. .
The material cost to make a pen is around 20＄33.65g.

 

3.PBI 1.3 g/cm³
Polybenzimidazole, a kind of super engineering plastic. Possess the highest mechanical properties among plastics. It has the best coefficient of thermal expansion and the highest compressive strength among all unreinforced plastics, making it difficult to process. Carbon fiber reinforcement can also be used.
The material cost of making a pen is around 500＄35g.

 

4.PPSU 1.29 g/cm³
Polyphenylsulfone, a kind of super engineering plastic. Highly corrosion resistant, can be repeatedly boiled at high temperature and steam sterilized. But the hardness is slightly softer. Carbon fiber can be used to enhance the hardness.
The material cost of making a pen is about 50＄34g.

 

5.PPS 1.35 g/cm³
Polyphenylene sulfide, a kind of super engineering plastic. Hard and brittle, high crystallinity, flame retardant, good thermal stability, and high mechanical strength. But the brittleness is greater than that of PBI, and the notch sensitivity is similar to acrylic. Try not to use threaded parts.
The material cost of making a pen is around 10＄35g.

 

6.PTFE 2.2 g/cm³
PTFE, the king of plastics. Because of its hardness is very soft but highly resistant to corrosion. It is only suitable for the sleeve of the pen tip assembly.
The cost of ordinary casing is about 5＄58.3g.

 

3---Ceramic glass (mostly consider mold cost)
1.Macor/Shapal M Soft/Ivoclar Glass Ceramic Machinable ceramics/Glass ceramics/Mica ceramics 2.5 g/cm³
All can be regarded as microcrystalline/mica machinable ceramics, meaning that they can be processed directly by CNC just like ordinary metals. The price depends on the formula.
The material cost for making a pen is around 100-1000＄ .

 

2.High temperature resistant quartz glass 2.65 g/cm³
Traditional materials, but threads can be processed. Fragile, but the transparency after processing is one of the best.
The material cost for making a pen is about 40-400＄.

 

3.Corning Gorilla Glass 2.40 g/cm³
Originally, I considered using Gorilla Glass, but its surface treatment greatly reduced the performance of the processed glass. This material only can be made into a box.

 

4.Alumina white (need mold) 3.72 g/cm³
Alumina ceramics require mold firing, which can be processed directly under special circumstances but the price is high. If it is mass-produced, the price of the each part can be spread down to 20＄. But the cost of mold manufacturing is about 500＄/part. You need to think about it before start.

 

5.Sapphire/Ruby 3.98 g/cm³
The same can be CNC, but it wastes tools and time.
The processing cost is about 1000-3000＄ for the price of a set.

 

6.Zirconia white/black (need mold) 5.68 g/cm³
The mold manufacturing cost is around 400＄/part

 

7.Aluminum Nitride/Silicon Nitride (Mold required) 3.255 g/cm³ or  3.17 g/cm³
Top ceramics, with better performance.
The mold manufacturing cost is about 800＄/part.

 

8.Carbon carbon fiber ceramics 1.8 g/cm³
Known as CMC. Ceramics for racing brakes. Montblanc uses it in Montblanc StarWalker Ceramics Series. But only pen body is ceramic.
If you want that full parts are CMC. The raw material is about 4000＄/piece, and the processing cost is x2.

 

4---Precious metals
Generally speaking, the precious metal pen body is very expensive and soft, which is not included in the discussion. If you must use the precious metal pen, it is recommended to customize the filling material. For example, changing the ratio of 75% gold to the remaining 25 can make the combined hardness exceed 300HV. At the same time, it still has appropriate toughness and can be machined. Of course, you can also find fountain pens customized for precious metals in jeweler or some bespoke service. The price is about 1000-3000$/piece.

 

5---Urushi-e/Maki-e

1.Urushi-e 

At first I did not like this paint because it is not weather-resistant and cannot be applied on the pen‘s inner tube. But then I found a solution. Adding 3-6% UV1130 and 2.5-5% UV292  in raw maki-e liquid can make it have amazing weather resistance. When painting, you can preprocess the rough reverse thread of wood/hard rubber/plastic, soak it in the raw lacquer solution, wait for it to dry in the incubator and repeat the above process. Then use the same 3-6% UV1130 and 2.5-6%UV292 resin AB glue to bond it with the threaded metal parts (titanium metal is recommended), which can greatly improve its durability.

2.Maki-e

Many nano powder can also be used in Maki-E paintings. Nano alumina ceramic powder can provide pure white. Nano iron oxide can provide pure red. Cerium oxide is yellow. However, the safety of many powder materials is unknown. Nickel oxide presents a beautiful green color, but it is a toxic substance. So only use safe materials such as nano graphite, nano iron oxide and nano alumina ceramic particles.

Or, the present silver gold powder is good enough.

If you use powder, the weight of the powder depends on your design and theme. But in most common case, 10-20g nano powder is enough for you do draw a bird, a tree and a cat. The price of nano graphite iron oxide and alumina are also really cheap. 2-5＄

 

That's my knowledge in special pen making materials. There may be some wrong because materials science is only my second major. If you see it you can help me to correct it.
If you still have some special materials you can think of, just discuss it.

[Storch]

This is very interesting information.

You might want to list your assumptions around material usage, ie. X" length of 3/4" round stock vs Y grams of powder.  It would help us to know that we are comparing apples to apples especially across the different categories.

[VonPG]

2 hours ago, Storch said:

This is very interesting information.

You might want to list your assumptions around material usage, ie. X" length of 3/4" round stock vs Y grams of powder.  It would help us to know that we are comparing apples to apples especially across the different categories.

Thanks for your suggestion. I have list some of them and give all materials the same size.

[Wereweeb]

I wonder why there aren't more PEI pens, especially since afaik it can be injection molded. Besides not being pretty, that is.

 

Nylon 11/12 also seems interesting.

 

Btw, why add carbon fiber? Just for the "cool" factor? From the little I've read carbon fiber seems to increase brittleness in some materials, vis-a-vis the more flexible glass fiber. And people seem to generally like a little bit of softness in their plastic sections.

[VonPG]

On 5/5/2021 at 5:53 AM, Wereweeb said:

I wonder why there aren't more PEI pens, especially since afaik it can be injection molded. Besides not being pretty, that is.

 

Nylon 11/12 also seems interesting.

 

Btw, why add carbon fiber? Just for the "cool" factor? From the little I've read carbon fiber seems to increase brittleness in some materials, vis-a-vis the more flexible glass fiber. And people seem to generally like a little bit of softness in their plastic sections.

You can see an Ultem(=PEI) Pen made by Schon DSGN(https://www.schondsgn.com/collections/fountain-pens/products/ultem-pen). There is a descrption: Due to the nature of plastics and the "creep" phenomenon the cap should be turned till snug but not TIGHT as that will cause deformation over time. The o-rings will keep the pen sealed so excessive tightening of the section to body and cap to body is not necessary. 

If we choose PEI reinforced Carbon fiber, we won't worry about this problem.

Carbon fiber only increase "small" brittieness but gives materials "big" strength. However, glass fiber gives materials "big" brittleness. That's why many glass fiber plastic is not suitable for pen making.(Lamy 2000 is PC glass fiber, sometimes its thread is very fragile)

I have tried Nylon 11/12 Carbon fiber on TK9400 Pencil body. Here is my video link:

 

[Pierre---]

On 3/20/2021 at 7:22 PM, VonPG said:

PTFE: It is only suitable for the sleeve of the pen tip assembly.

...

Many nano powder can also be used in Maki-E paintings. Nano alumina ceramic powder can provide pure white.

How do you know that?

For me, a whole pen can be made of PTFE I guess, in fact I made one when I wanted a pen that could stand big shocks like a heavy hammering.

And you are the first one to assert that pure white can be compatible with Urushi - except egg shells. But if you say so, I am sure you made some tests, and would be very interested to see the results of them.

[VonPG]

11 hours ago, Pierre--- said:

How do you know that?

For me, a whole pen can be made of PTFE I guess, in fact I made one when I wanted a pen that could stand big shocks like a heavy hammering.

And you are the first one to assert that pure white can be compatible with Urushi - except egg shells. But if you say so, I am sure you made some tests, and would be very interested to see the results of them.

Full PTFE body Pen is possible, but you have to use a very special reinforced PTFE plastic - FLUOROSINT PTFE MT 01 Grade(It is a bit expensive and not sold in my country). It is the hardest PTFE PLASTIC(Normal PTFE is too soft to make pen)

[Nurmister]

This is very interesting. I'm interested in the urushi: how did you reach the conclusion regarding the UV absorber? Would it change the finish? And why recommend urushi-on-titanium, rather than, say, urushi-on-brass (which Namiki uses) or urushi-on-ebonite (the most common combo)?

[VonPG]

3 hours ago, Nurmister said:

This is very interesting. I'm interested in the urushi: how did you reach the conclusion regarding the UV absorber? Would it change the finish? And why recommend urushi-on-titanium, rather than, say, urushi-on-brass (which Namiki uses) or urushi-on-ebonite (the most common combo)?

It is based on my research on normal Chemical paint, urushi still a kind of paint. So I did some experiment by adjusting the proportion of UV absorber in urushi to see whether it will crack after long time Sunlight radiation. It won't change the finish.

I recommend titanium because it won't rust easily and have more thread strength compared to copper in Humid environment. After all self-made pen should have some Innovation lol.

[Nurmister]

2 hours ago, VonPG said:

It is based on my research on normal Chemical paint, urushi still a kind of paint. So I did some experiment by adjusting the proportion of UV absorber in urushi to see whether it will crack after long time Sunlight radiation. It won't change the finish.

I recommend titanium because it won't rust easily and have more thread strength compared to copper in Humid environment. After all self-made pen should have some Innovation lol.

Thank you for the explanation. Given the primary weakness of urushi seems to be more about light exposure than, say, exposure to acids/alkalis, it would be great for makers to experiment with UV absorbers and such. However, when it comes to urushi, there are some (perhaps cultural) "standards" that seem to be quite tightly held. For example, Namiki claims it uses only 100% Japanese urushi. Here's a thread where I was introduced to such matters:

 

 

And if you want to know even more about urushi, this library, maintained by user MartinPauli from this forum, is quite interesting:

 

https://www.manupropria-pens.ch/welcome/Library.html

[VonPG]

20 hours ago, Nurmister said:

Thank you for the explanation. Given the primary weakness of urushi seems to be more about light exposure than, say, exposure to acids/alkalis, it would be great for makers to experiment with UV absorbers and such. However, when it comes to urushi, there are some "standards" that seem to be quite tightly held. For example, Namiki claims it uses only 100% Japanese urushi. Here's a thread where I was introduced to such matters:

 

 

And if you want to know even more about urushi, this library, maintained by user MartinPauli from this forum, is quite interesting:

 

https://www.manupropria-pens.ch/welcome/Library.html

Yes, they have a standard. But this standard is not totally focus on endurability. It tends to focus on "100% made in japan"

My urushi test is actually a urushi mixture from  countries(China and Japan) with a few Non-toxic additives.

Thanks for your information.