Rivertoadrancher
Member
Hey all,
Im new to pen making and Im gathering information for making a fountain pen from scratch nib and all. I have a plan roughed out for making a vacuum barreled fountain. I plan on recycling a bowling ball for the feed and using tubing for just about everything else. Im a student at UWM so i have access to well, every piece of equipment imaginable.
My main concern is the nib however, many people say to just buy one, and others say a steel nib is ultimately the same as a gold nib except aesthetics. Im wondering if soldering a ballpoint ball to the tip then grinding to a rectangular chisel shape will be effective or if I'm better off skipping the ball and just shaping the stainless. Before you respond saying its a hassle I'm doing it either way and I watched this video on YouTube of an Indan man with no torch make one that looked pretty high end. Of course it was gold so it probably was.
Lastly, Im wondering what a good proportion for cap to body would be, I like a beefier pen so a good diameter recommendation is needed as well.
Thanks for taking the time,
Louis
Im new to pen making and Im gathering information for making a fountain pen from scratch nib and all. I have a plan roughed out for making a vacuum barreled fountain. I plan on recycling a bowling ball for the feed and using tubing for just about everything else. Im a student at UWM so i have access to well, every piece of equipment imaginable.
My main concern is the nib however, many people say to just buy one, and others say a steel nib is ultimately the same as a gold nib except aesthetics. Im wondering if soldering a ballpoint ball to the tip then grinding to a rectangular chisel shape will be effective or if I'm better off skipping the ball and just shaping the stainless. Before you respond saying its a hassle I'm doing it either way and I watched this video on YouTube of an Indan man with no torch make one that looked pretty high end. Of course it was gold so it probably was.
Lastly, Im wondering what a good proportion for cap to body would be, I like a beefier pen so a good diameter recommendation is needed as well.
Thanks for taking the time,
Louis
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