Just some questions

[RickZ]

Hello my name is Rick, I have recently have taken advantage of my dad's metal shop and decided to stop buying fountain pens and making them instead. One of my problems is with my ink feed; im making it out of brass on a metal lathe and i have a decent prototype but, the ink isn't flowing too good. It seems it takes a long time to reach the nib. the feed is about two inches and I made fins every quarter inch for an inch and a half and a single channel that flows from the puncture piece to the filed out nib part of my feed. Can anyone give a few pointers, suggestions, or advice for a good feed construction? And my last question is does anyone think copper is a good metal for a barrel (so far i've been using aluminum) i would like to use some since i have a bunch of half inch copper round stock.


Thanks guy's
Rick-

 

[rjwolfe3]

I just wanted to say welcome. I can't help you with your question. I have a hard enough time just writing with a fountain pen.

 

[JJturns]

Hi Rick! If I were to try this I would take a nib I like, take it apart, and duplicate the configuration of the feed. I'm also not to sure about using brass for the feed. Not too much help, just some thoughts.

Copper will make a good barrel. Pens are one of the biggest sources of germ transfer between surfaces and people. Copper is the best natural antimicrobial material and will kill microbes, they can't live on copper.

Another advantage is the ability to create designs using inlays with solder. I'm sure you know about the natural patina of copper and the great polish sheen you can get on it. I for one would love to see what you come up with.

Good luck,
JJ

 

[Dan_F]

There are folks over at the Fountain Pen Network that are deep into the mysteries of fountain pen mechanics, and might have the info you are looking for. I have never heard of metal feeds, most of the older pens used hard rubber (ebonite) for feed material. Some feel that is superior to the plastics more commonly used today. FPN

Dan

 

[RickZ]

Thanks so far for the suggestions, I'm glad to hear that someone thinks copper is suitable, because its taking up too much space haha. The reason why im using metal for my feed is because I find it easier to work with. brass a a wonderful metal to work with, its very soft and its easy and quick to shape.
Also thanks for the welcoming =)

 

[Dan_F]

Brass may be easy to shape, but if it doesn't have the proper capillary properties, that wont help much. Ebonite also machines easily. Not saying the first statement is correct, really don't know if that's the reason it's not more widely used. Brass would look pretty cool though, if it does work.

Dan

 

[Daniel]

I know just enough about fountain pen Nibs, feeds and flow to know that if I want one that will work well, I just call Lou (DCbluesman round cheer). sorry can't help. from the little bit I have read from information provided by Lou. the feed nib and all that working properly is picker than a house wife trying to find a spot for the couch in a new house. I do remember an articel he posted that explained how nibs are manufactured andas I recall the nib "Channel" (I don't know what it is really called) required specialized equipment. this was to produce nibs on a production line type atmosphere and no indication of what it takes to do a single nib in a home shop.

 

[ldb2000]

First , Welcome to the group Rick .
Making a feed assy requires some special equipment that even the average metal shop don't have . For the ink to flow properly the ink channel and fins have to be cut with a very precise cut of certain sizes .
You say that your feed is 2" long and that is one of your problems , the normal feeds for FP's are an inch or less and even they have problems feeding ink if there is anything wrong , dried ink or debris in the channel .
I had looked into making my own feeds and nibs at one time but finally decided to leave it to the experts and ordered them .

 

[RickZ]

Maybe your right, okay then IDB200 where do you get your feeds from? I have tons of nibs I can use, but I checked around a little and cant seem to find any feeds.