Results 1 to 11 of 11
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Kendenup, WA.
    Age
    60
    Posts
    250

    Default Adventures in pen making

    Rather than start a new thread for each style of pen I make I thought I'd whack them all here as an ongoing pen making journal, so to speak (I believe it's called a 'blog' these days).

    What will it be? Well it certainly won't be an expert guide since I'm a newbie to all of this having only made my first pen a couple of days after Christmas. My intention would be to discuss aspects of pen making as I come across them, and showcasing the broad array of timbers that I'm in a fortunate position to have easy access to.

    The general idea is to run it as a work in progress thread but I'd encourage other to chip in. Feel free to offer advice or make other observations. I have plenty to learn.

    Before I get into the work in progress mode I thought I'd show a few pens that I didn't document while making but that others may find interesting.

    More to come.....

  2. # ADS
    Google Adsense Advertisement
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Age
    2010
    Posts
    Many





     
  3. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Kendenup, WA.
    Age
    60
    Posts
    250

    Default

    To start the ball rolling, two 'Monogram' style ball point pens, one with gold hardware in Western Sheoak (Allocasuarina fraseriana), and one with chrome in Gimlet Gum (Eucalyptus salubris). It's an easy pen to make with a somewhat 'industrial' look, more purposeful than elegant to my eyes. The bolt style action is positive and has a satisfying feel. There is the choice of two end caps, one plain and one with a nylon nub for signing touchscreens. In this instance I've gone with the plain ends. The two screws securing the clip worry me a little given that I'm thinking of selling my pens at a local market, and I might need to loctite them in.

    One of the aspects I'm very aware of given I'll probably start to sell my pens is how suitable or otherwise they would be in that context. Anything that looks potentially fragile or unable to stand up to a modicum of abuse is going to cause me more trouble that it's worth by my reckoning.

    I quite like these pens, they're not 'pretty' but excepting that one concern with the clip it's a solid pen with a good sized blank for showing off those nice timbers.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Kendenup, WA.
    Age
    60
    Posts
    250

    Default

    Some more previously made pens in two slightly different styles, two 'Lucida' pens at the top, in Western Sheoak and Gimlet Gum, and three 'Australiana Elegant Beauty' which differ from the Lucida by the inclusion of a 'wattle motif' centerband and a Southern Cross embossed on the end cap. Top to bottom in Eucalyptus horistes (love this stuff), York Gum and Western Sheoak.

    Easy to make and a pretty pen, maybe a nice one for the ladies to pop in the handbag. No obvious drawbacks with this pen, it feels solid and looks good.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Kendenup, WA.
    Age
    60
    Posts
    250

    Default

    Finally to the best (or silliest depending on your point of view), this is a 'Pristina' rollerball in rhodium with gold highlights. It may be called a Pristina, but I think of it as the 'Liberace' since it's so bloody outlandish. It's not a cheap kit, rhodium is about five times the cost of gold (the gold with rhodium highlights version is cheaper) and the fittings are solid brass underneath that plating. It's a $39 kit, ouch! I paired it with greenstone mallee burl (Eucalyptus longissima) that in the right light looks rather pink.

    Thus far it the flashiest pen I've made, though it may have a competitor (more on that later).
    Attached Images Attached Images

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Kendenup, WA.
    Age
    60
    Posts
    250

    Default

    That just about wraps up the previously made stuff, there are others but nothing particularly notable.

    Next to work in progress.....three blanks that I prepared earlier....

    On the top is a piece of timber I've been saving for something special, Western Sheoak with some very nice lace and birdseye figuring. This will be paired with a 'Roman Harvest' rollerball (who comes up with these names?) in gold with rhodium highlights, just so Liberace doesn't feel lonely.

    The other two blanks are a rather more mundane piece of Western Sheoak and some Gidgee, both to be paired with 'bullet' pens.

    Will post further as I progess.

    Cheers all.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Leopold, Victoria
    Age
    65
    Posts
    4,677

    Default

    Some of those kits do command a premium price and unless you have a good outlet for them I find it hard to outlay the cost. If being made for gifts it doesn't matter, but if you are trying to sell them there are not a lot of people out there willing the pay the money that they should be sold for to make it worthwhile. The Lucinda, Sierra, and Elegant Beauty are good sellers for me as the kits are reasonably priced and can be sold for an affordable price. Those ones are also easy to make as you only have to deal with one blank.
    Your Lucinda's and Elegant Beauty's look good with a nice shape to the blank. Some people like a bulbous blank on these but I don't particularly like that.
    Dallas

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Kendenup, WA.
    Age
    60
    Posts
    250

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Treecycle View Post
    Some of those kits do command a premium price and unless you have a good outlet for them I find it hard to outlay the cost. If being made for gifts it doesn't matter, but if you are trying to sell them there are not a lot of people out there willing the pay the money that they should be sold for to make it worthwhile. The Lucinda, Sierra, and Elegant Beauty are good sellers for me as the kits are reasonably priced and can be sold for an affordable price. Those ones are also easy to make as you only have to deal with one blank.
    Your Lucinda's and Elegant Beauty's look good with a nice shape to the blank. Some people like a bulbous blank on these but I don't particularly like that.
    Yes I would expect the pricier pens to sit in the box for a while before they would sell if at all. I've only bought one Pristina and one Roman Harvest, as much for variety as anything else. As a matter of interest what sort of price have you found people are willing to pay for a Lucida or Elegant Beauty?

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Leopold, Victoria
    Age
    65
    Posts
    4,677

    Default

    I have only made the Elegant Beauty's and not the Lucinda's. The EB I used to sell for between $30 - $35 but the kits were fairly cheap then compared to now.

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Kendenup, WA.
    Age
    60
    Posts
    250

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Treecycle View Post
    I have only made the Elegant Beauty's and not the Lucinda's. The EB I used to sell for between $30 - $35 but the kits were fairly cheap then compared to now.

    That seems to fit with what I was thinking, about $35. I'm not trying to make proper money from this, something like $15-20 a pen after costs, just a way so make some pocket money and clear the decks for more pen making.

    Costs, something like cost of kit plus another $5 for wood, finishing, abrasives, a little more if the blank is something special like wodjil, snakewood or birdseye sheoak. A blank of something like that for a two part pen sets me back six to seven dollars so it would be closer to pen plus ten.

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Leopold, Victoria
    Age
    65
    Posts
    4,677

    Default

    Once you have been making pens for a while you should find that you rarely have to buy blanks. I tend to acquire chunks of nice wood which I cut up into blanks through the Bandsaw and end up with more blanks than I need and they get added to the stockpile for when required.

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Kendenup, WA.
    Age
    60
    Posts
    250

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Treecycle View Post
    Once you have been making pens for a while you should find that you rarely have to buy blanks. I tend to acquire chunks of nice wood which I cut up into blanks through the Bandsaw and end up with more blanks than I need and they get added to the stockpile for when required.

    I don't actually buy blanks per se but cut them out of wood I pull from the bits and pieces bin at my timber supplier's. Usual cost works out at a dollar or two each by my reckoning. Some maybe as little as fifty cents. Some though are more.

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 9
    Last Post: 21st January 2019, 11:12 PM
  2. Box making adventures
    By groeneaj in forum BOX MAKING
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 29th August 2018, 04:27 PM
  3. Kanna - Adventures in dai making
    By fissionchips in forum JAPANESE HAND TOOLS
    Replies: 26
    Last Post: 11th June 2012, 12:48 PM
  4. Adventures in electrolysis
    By Pac man in forum HAND TOOLS - UNPOWERED
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 29th May 2011, 11:50 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •