Eye Dropper with an ink window

[TDahl]

Greetings everyone,

I have not had a lot of shop time lately, so I thought I would share a pen I recently completed. It is a dedicated eye dropper design with an ink window and a hidden clip.

I casted both the pen blank and clip in my shop, so basically everything except the nib is made from scratch. The pen body was casted using Alumilite Clear Slow and Black Diamond Pigments Cobalt Blue and Diamond Gold.

Here are some of the basic specs:

Capped length: 6"
Cap Diameter: 16mm
Body Diameter: 16mm
Thread Diameter: 14mm (triple start)
Nib: Jowo Steel #6

I hope you like it, and all questions, comments, and feedback are always welcome!

Tim

 

[mark james]

Well done. The blank is very attractive and I like the overall profile.

 

[Dieseldoc]

Tim: Great looking pen, well done.

 

[Penultimate]

Very nice.

 

[Jim15]

Great work.

 

[d_bondi]

Very Nice! I especially like the clip. Is it a ring under the finial?

 

[GaryMGg]

Great work.

 

[TDahl]

Well done. The blank is very attractive and I like the overall profile.

Thank you Mark.

 

[TDahl]

Tim: Great looking pen, well done.

Thank you Charlie.

 

[TDahl]

Very nice.

Thank you Mike.

 

[TDahl]

Great work.

Thank you Jim.

 

[TDahl]

Very Nice! I especially like the clip. Is it a ring under the finial?

Thank you David. There is no finial. I inserted a brass anchor inside the cap at the very top, and then milled a slot in the cap just below the bottom of the anchor. The clip is fastened to the anchor with a 6/32" socket cap screw so it can easily be removed if needed.

 

[TDahl]

Great work.

Thank you Gary.

 

[d_bondi]

Thank you David. There is no finial. I inserted a brass anchor inside the cap at the very top, and then milled a slot in the cap just below the bottom of the anchor. The clip is fastened to the anchor with a 6/32" socket cap screw so it can easily be removed if needed.

Thank you for sharing those details Tim. I haven't tried adding a clip to my pens yet so I'm trying to absorb as much information on that subject as possible.

 

[NJturner]

Very nice work - thanks for sharing it as well as all the details on its construction.

Kevin

 

[Glen]

I'm a bit new to this, I didn't know casting your own clips was a thing.. how does one do that?

 

[TDahl]

I'm a bit new to this, I didn't know casting your own clips was a thing.. how does one do that?

I use the Delft Clay casting method for casting the metal. It is a good method if you are not looking for pieces with a lot of intricate details. There are a lot of videos on you tube on how to do it. I will carve the initial blank out of wax and the use the blank to make impressions in the sand.
I use a propane furnace to melt the metals. The poured blanks will need to be cleaned up a bit with files and sand paper, and then polished with a buffing system.

 

[Glen]

Thank you! That is really cool. I have been making some clips by hand from sheet metal, brass etc, it takes alot of work but is fun. For example trying to "copy " a vintage clip like a Wahl or a Waterman clip.