Pens with screw off caps

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klynn

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2022
Messages
15
Location
Massachusetts, USA
What is everyone's favorite pen with a screw off cap that can also be screwed on the other end so it doesn't fall off when using the pen?

Thanks
 
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I like the Sedona or Baron - look nice, good workmanship, nice size - will work for man or woman.
Backup is Churchill - big pen but cap doesn't screw on the other end.
Have some Diamond Knurl and C Series waiting to turn.
 
My favorite screw-on postable rollerball/fountain pens are the Diamond Knurl and the Caballero.

The Diamond Knurl is Exotic Blank's adaptation based on the Junior Gentlemen pen style that Dayacom designed in the early days of custom pen making. It features a decorative, diamond knurled center band. I also like the antique brass, copper, and silver finishes that they carry. The Diamond Knurl uses a 10.5mm drill for the body and a 12.5mm bit for the cap.

The Caballero was LeRoy Smith's (Smitty's) adaptation based on the Junior Gentlemen pen style that Dayacom designed in the early days of custom pen making. It was one of the early Junior style pens that featured couplers that were plated in the same finish as the rest of the pen parts. Smitty aptly named his version the Caballero what one would call a Spanish Gentleman. Smitty sold his Smitty's Pen Works business to Ed and Dawn at Exotic Blanks in 2016-2017. (At the time of this posting, Exotic Blanks has the Antique finishes on sale for 23% off). - The Caballero uses a 25/64" bit for the body and a 29/64" drill for the cap.

I included links if you want to check them out.

Dave
 
Posting is the term, and postable is the way to describe a pen where the cap can be screwed onto (or pushed onto) the other end of the pen.

I'm a fan of the following myself:

Baron (Cost wise, its one of my most successful pens...beautiful, simple elegance, easy to make)
Caballero (Similar to Baron, but has plated threads, and finial caps, compared to the baron's always-black threads and finial cap)
Triton (More fancy, little more expensive, when using harder materials for the blanks you have to be real careful with the fittings as they can push out and crack those materials, sometimes even woods...but if you can resolve those issues, the pens are beautiful!)
Jr. Anthony (Slightly bigger, I like the band and finial cap designs on this one.)
Jr. Milton (Similar to Jr. Anthony size wise, has an engraving design in the fittings that seems very reminiscent of classic pen makers chasing designs...something I really like.)

There are others, but I'd say so far these are probably the top for me. I have a few other Jr. style pens that I haven't made yet. I'd say most of the Jr Series are excellent pens, hard to go wrong with them in general.

Something about the Baron (and Caballero, I suspect, although I haven't tried it with one yet)...it is fairly easy to push out the finial cap, and replace it with something of your own turning. I've been working on that for several different pens here the last couple of weeks. In fact, you can turn your own cap accent band and finial cap, replacing both. I've been using the cutoff block of resin from the same blank used to turn the cap barrel, to turn finial cap and band replacements. The caps are fairly strait forward...just make sure you don't over-turn the tenon. The bands, now, that's a bit trickier...still trying to refine my approach. I thus far have a tendency to accidentally part the replacement band off before I've actually turned the central open diameter the right size, meaning I then have to manually file it down. I have not yet tried to drill that hole yet, I've only turned it, but given my three attempts so far that have resulted in LOTS of manual filing to get that diameter right, I am going to try and find the closest drill bit that will get me there, and see if that solves the problem. In any case, its fun replacing those parts with alternatives, and adds a unique aspect to your pen, something that is often not as easy to do with the other kits (either, because its not as easy to push out the band and finial cap, or just because the native ones are just so darn beautiful to start with!)
 
I use with pleasure the Fpr Ashoka, and Himalaya (flexible nib). The cap does not screw on the back, but it pushes in and holds well.
Otherwise, with this in mind, an expensive but extremely pleasant Chinese pen (flexible nib), the Hero 395, has a cap that clips on, normally, and on the back too, without any fear that it will fall off.
 
So I've been watching this post all week to see what people like turning. I think it's fair to say the responders are all in the Jr category? There are so many to choose from that this has helped me to figure out a couple new ones to try. Thanks very much everyone!

Thus far? I've pretty much just done the Diamond Knurl Rollerball pens, interestingly enough the Black Chrome plating has probably been chosen or used the most during 2024.

I tried the C Series from Exotic Blanks last month and I have to say it's pretty darn neat. I really like the fact that it's designed so the center band can be completely customizable. You can also pop the top off the cap do a custom cabuchon to match. My trial pen was done with a JohnU washi paper blank so I did not do a custom band. I will be trying one soon though!
 
I am partial to the Jr Gent, Jr Statesman, and the Jr Retro. Albeit it I am not a posting fan as I feel it makes the pen too top heaving when writing.
 
I should have mentioned, if I have a blank and I want to customize the finished pen with a matching finial or centerband my first choice is the C-Series rollerball at Exoticblanks. They are much easier to work with than hammering parts off of the original jr gents.
 
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