First Fountain Pen - Artisan, Burgundy Gold

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jrista

jrista

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This is my first fountain pen kit. An Artisan Signature, with a Boysenberry Burgundy "stardust" blank. Tubes painted red, to bring out more of the "burgundy" than "boysenberry," which I felt went better with the gold. Interesting kit, as it required filing a notch in the cap for the clip to fit in.

Artisan Fountain Pen - Boisenberry Burgundy Gold-1.jpg


Artisan Fountain Pen - Boisenberry Burgundy Gold-2.jpg


I did run into one small issue, that I'm worried will become a bigger issue...and curious if anyone has any remedies. This particular kit is a snap cap kit. The cap has a small white cap for the nib and finial that snaps into place. This needs to be adjusted for that just-right fit. The other end of the cap...is just "bare." The raw brass tube is right there. Before I knew it, I'd left a small scratch on the black part of the nib. I filed the inside edge free of any burr, however I am not really sure that is a sufficient fix. Is there any way to apply a nice clean, smooth, non-scratch surface to the bottom edge of the cap, and maybe around the corner to the inside top of the inner tube? In something like teflon, or similar?

Given the nib has already been scratched, I'm looking for a way to replace that as well. I'm not sure, given this is a fountain pen, if there are a lot of available and interchangeable fountain pen nibs and parts. I do know this particular kit, seems to need a bit of an edge for that snap cap to snap over when putting the cap on. I'm hoping I don't have to buy a whole nother kit...
 
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It looks great. That blank pairs perfectly with the gold. This looks like the same kit as the conservative other than having a bit of metal on the end for posting the cap instead of the extended blank. I'm not sure there's a good way to remedy that issue with the exposed tube and end grain, certainly not an easy way. I like the journal, too.
 
Thanks for the comments, Todd. I am liking this kit so far for the most part, except a bit of looseness when the cap is snapped on. It wasn't the most expensive kit, but its not the cheapest by any means either. If I adjust the snap cap enough to keep it tight when its snapped over the nib, it doesn't seem to snap onto the finial.

As for the scratching problem. I showed the pen to a couple people, and the black part of the nib picked up several more scratches...so its definitely a problem. I'm wondering if I could coat the edge and inside edge of the brass in epoxy...or maybe even CA? Not sure if that would prevent scratching.... I guess scratching is a hardness matter, right? I wonder if CA or epoxy is less hard than the nib...
 
the pen looks great! Nice photo also. If i understand the issue I would polish and chamfer the inside of the tube with a dremel and then wax it. If you were to make another one you could shorten the tube and leave a lip of plastic to cover the edge of it.
 
PatrickR said:
the pen looks great! Nice photo also. If i understand the issue I would polish and chamfer the inside of the tube with a dremel and then wax it. If you were to make another one you could shorten the tube and leave a lip of plastic to cover the edge of it.
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Thanks Patrick.

And...wax! Duh. :D I'll give that a try.

I think the key problem is the inside edge of the brass...I think the natural behavior when pulling off the cap, is to kind of "bend" it off (thats what I see when other people open the pen), and the inside of the tube would be scraping the nib. A layer of wax on the inside of the tube may do the trick. I that doesn't...I wonder if I can find a very thin plastic tube to line the inside of the tube (and maybe allow it to overhang the brass just a tiny fraction to keep the top edge of the brass from contacting as well.
 
sorcerertd said:
Assuming the section is the same as the conservative, it would be nice if it weren't plastic.
Click to expand...

I am not sure if it is the same or not, but, I did some work on it today. I'm not sure if I'm ready to call it done...I feel the end of the blank still needs more smoothing out (I went to 240 grit, and I thought it was good, but in the picture here I can still see scratch lines, so I may take it to 600 or 800 to try and really smooth out the appearance of the end of the blank there.

Fountain Pen Cap Brass Scratch Issue-1.jpg


Something else I did here was use my little soft, dome buffing bit with my dremel and some polishing compound, and polish the inside of the brass. I will probably need to do that again once I sand through the rest of the grits on the end there, as that will undoubtedly take it down another few microns, but I think it cleaned up any roughness on the inside edge of the brass, and also tapered it out just a little which should help minimize scratching when the cap is taken off.
 
Turned another one of these kits, with a Bocote blank I bought off an IPA member. I've turned Bocote before, but man, these were AMAZING blanks! I don't think I really did them justice...I feel I should have used a better finish. I used Pens Plus friction polish, which usually shines really nicely, but dulled for some reson on these. There are some...well, I guess oily parts on the wood, and the Pens Plus just didn't really do a good job there. I have been wondering if CA would have made a better finish, and I am wondering if disassembling the pen, sanding it down a bit, and using CA would be worth it.

Anyway:

Artisan Fountain Pen - Bocote Wood Gold-2.jpg

Artisan Fountain Pen - Bocote Wood Gold-3.jpg

Artisan Fountain Pen - Bocote Wood Gold-4.jpg


Spent a lot more time on this pen overall. Originally turned with the PSI TBC mandrel (turning with bushings just between centers is leaving a groove on my centers...I have quite a lot of bushings, and replacing them all with proper TBC bushings....eh, its kind of a lot of bushings, especially after buying several of the PSI Bushing Buddies to hold all my bushings!) Anyway, turned the blank down to maybe a millimeter above the bushings. Then popped the blank and tube out, and put that directly between two 60 degree centers. Did the final turning down, with careful measurements using digital calipers, and sanding/finishing with it just directly between centers. Only enough pressure to hold the blank well enough to keep it from spinning while turning and sanding.

The original stardust pen from the first post, I only turned down strait to the bushings. The bands on this pen have convex aspects, and just turning the blank down to the bushings means the acrylic butts up with a 90 degree angle to the bands, and the acrylic is the same height as the apex of the two concave arches in the bands. It doesn't really look all that great. So this time around, I measured just the diameter at which the arches in the bands start to curve, which was just around 0.445". The bushings are around 0.46". So I turned the blank down to right around 0.445 (well, I guess to be exact, it was just shy of 0.45" in the center, and just under 0.44" at the ends, so it has a very very slight curvature...the wood was getting rather thin at that point, and I'm not particularly skilled with this technique, so I stopped there.)

Anyway...I love the wood. Just don't feel I did it justice. Happier with how this pen came out overall, though, and happy with how the wood meets the bands!
 
Looks good. Bocote is an oily wood that should be cleaned with a solvent before finishing. Acetone works well. That should help with the inconsistency in the finish. In general I try to mirror the hardware where the blank meets it. In this case turn it to the outer diameter of the hardware and radius the blank to match. It gives a nice symmetrical look.
 
PatrickR said:
Looks good. Bocote is an oily wood that should be cleaned with a solvent before finishing. Acetone works well. That should help with the inconsistency in the finish. In general I try to mirror the hardware where the blank meets it. In this case turn it to the outer diameter of the hardware and radius the blank to match. It gives a nice symmetrical look.
Click to expand...
I forgot to mention, I did clean it with acetone before applying the finish. The acetone did clean it (and really brought out the colors of the wood!), but, there was still something going on with the wood. I assume it was hardened natural oils...but, not sure. Never really seen anything like it before.

I think if I had finished with CA, the CA might have filled in the rough surface around that part of the blank, and then built up to provide a cleaner surface in the long run. I've had some troubles with CA in the past, though...so, before I try it on a more expensive blank and kit, I need to get better working it with cheaper blanks and kits.
 
I have turned Bocote many times and have had good results with CA and Melamine Laquer for me the Laquer gives a natural finish which I like. I normally clean with Meths.before applying any finish just good practice. The Pens look fine to me well done
 
The Bocote Looks great. I love working with it and, to me, it almost doesn't need a finish as it will polish to a nice shine with just the natural oils. I still use CA since pens are handled a lot. It is little strange to turn wood that smells like pickles, though.

Is that just an odd reflection or do I see a lambda on the clip?
 
sorcerertd said:
Is that just an odd reflection or do I see a lambda on the clip?
Click to expand...
I think that's meant to be an "A" for "Artisan" - or at least that's always been my assumption. CSUSA seems to do that on a lot of their clips - one of the reasons I'm generally not inclined to buy their kits. Kinda like the "RZ" (for "Rhizeng", presumably), that's been showing up on the top of slimline clips lately. Yes, we all use other manufacturers' hardware on our pens (some more than others, granted), but that doesn't mean I feel like offering them advertising space.
 
Kcimdrib said:
I have turned Bocote many times and have had good results with CA and Melamine Laquer for me the Laquer gives a natural finish which I like. I normally clean with Meths.before applying any finish just good practice. The Pens look fine to me well done
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comment. I do have melamine lacquer. I have several more of these Bocote blanks too. I'll give the melamine a try next time. I really like the natural wood look. Even with its defects. ;)
 
sorcerertd said:
The Bocote Looks great. I love working with it and, to me, it almost doesn't need a finish as it will polish to a nice shine with just the natural oils. I still use CA since pens are handled a lot. It is little strange to turn wood that smells like pickles, though.

Is that just an odd reflection or do I see a lambda on the clip?
Click to expand...

Thanks, Todd!

I thought about trying to just leave it with its natural finish. It was actually a bit shinier just with the natural wood and oils before I added the finish. Well, at first, the Pens Plus was really shiny, then it dulled. I've had that problem with friction polishes before...I've never been able to figure out why. Anyway...I could probably sand the Bocote to even higher grits and see how it goes. I have papers all the way through 2000 grit.

I wondered what the symbol on the clip was as well. Kinda looks like Lambda, but, I think its a stylized A.
 
jrista said:
Turned another one of these kits, with a Bocote blank I bought off an IPA member. I've turned Bocote before, but man, these were AMAZING blanks! I don't think I really did them justice...I feel I should have used a better finish. I used Pens Plus friction polish, which usually shines really nicely, but dulled for some reson on these. There are some...well, I guess oily parts on the wood, and the Pens Plus just didn't really do a good job there. I have been wondering if CA would have made a better finish, and I am wondering if disassembling the pen, sanding it down a bit, and using CA would be worth it.

Anyway:

View attachment 316830
View attachment 316831
View attachment 316832

Spent a lot more time on this pen overall. Originally turned with the PSI TBC mandrel (turning with bushings just between centers is leaving a groove on my centers...I have quite a lot of bushings, and replacing them all with proper TBC bushings....eh, its kind of a lot of bushings, especially after buying several of the PSI Bushing Buddies to hold all my bushings!) Anyway, turned the blank down to maybe a millimeter above the bushings. Then popped the blank and tube out, and put that directly between two 60 degree centers. Did the final turning down, with careful measurements using digital calipers, and sanding/finishing with it just directly between centers. Only enough pressure to hold the blank well enough to keep it from spinning while turning and sanding.

The original stardust pen from the first post, I only turned down strait to the bushings. The bands on this pen have convex aspects, and just turning the blank down to the bushings means the acrylic butts up with a 90 degree angle to the bands, and the acrylic is the same height as the apex of the two concave arches in the bands. It doesn't really look all that great. So this time around, I measured just the diameter at which the arches in the bands start to curve, which was just around 0.445". The bushings are around 0.46". So I turned the blank down to right around 0.445 (well, I guess to be exact, it was just shy of 0.45" in the center, and just under 0.44" at the ends, so it has a very very slight curvature...the wood was getting rather thin at that point, and I'm not particularly skilled with this technique, so I stopped there.)

Anyway...I love the wood. Just don't feel I did it justice. Happier with how this pen came out overall, though, and happy with how the wood meets the bands!
Click to expand...
Really nice work on both pens. I actually prefer the Boysenberry Burgundy pen - I think it looks amazing.

Even more than the pens though - I REALLY like your prop - that looks like a Roycrofters book of handmade paper and leather binder. Am I close?
 
KMCloonan said:
Really nice work on both pens. I actually prefer the Boysenberry Burgundy pen - I think it looks amazing.

Even more than the pens though - I REALLY like your prop - that looks like a Roycrofters book of handmade paper and leather binder. Am I close?
Click to expand...
Thank you, Kevin. Appreciate it! The Boysenberry is pretty amazing. The gold and red go so well together. I expected smaller flecks of gold, but, this does just as well.

The journal is one of these:


I've actually been looking at antique stores and stuff for this kind of thing now as well. These are faux distressed, so not true antiques. I just needed some kind of prop for now. ;) I think I can find more interesting stuff at antique stores, though. These kinds of things do make for excellent props!
 
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