# first ever fountain (psi tycoon)



## endacoz (Jun 26, 2015)

This is my first fountain pen. I have made a tycoon roller ball pen before just not the fountain pen part. One question I do have is when I twist the cap on over the nib and then untwisted the nib comes untwisted a bit as well. Seems that the cap doesn't quite fit over the nib side of the pen.

Anyone else have this problem with the tycoon fountain? Thoughts or suggestions?

Also, being new to the fountain pen world I started trying to write with the nib on the fountain pen and it is not as smooth as I thought it would be.  But I have never used a fountain pen before. 

 I intentionally did not paint the tubes as I thought the gold that would come through from the tube would accent the gold plating.


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## bloodhound (Jun 26, 2015)

Very nice looking pen. Sorry i cant comment on the issue are having though


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## Divingdad (Jun 26, 2015)

Ethan, I can't comment on that particular kit, but I regularly use fountain pens (purchased from Levenger before I bought  my lathe) and sometimes nibs need to be used for a day or so before they smooth out.

Nice pen.  I'm looking forward to making a fountain pen 

Dave


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## Bryguy (Jun 27, 2015)

I've been a fountain pen addict for 50 years.To smooth your nib write a bunch of figure eights on a piece of brown shopping bag paper. If that doesn't do the trick, use very fine 12000 grit paper, keeping the nib wet. Test occasionally by writing on a piece of paper.Don't be over aggressive. The smoothness of writing will depend on the quality of the paper too, you can't expect a smooth write on a poor quality photocopy paper.


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## edstreet (Jun 27, 2015)

endacoz said:


> This is my first fountain pen. I have made a tycoon roller ball pen before just not the fountain pen part. One question I do have is when I twist the cap on over the nib and then untwisted the nib comes untwisted a bit as well. Seems that the cap doesn't quite fit over the nib side of the pen.
> 
> Anyone else have this problem with the tycoon fountain? Thoughts or suggestions?
> 
> ...



Few things to note, and no I am not picking on you so take what I say as being helpful.

When the nib comes loose like that means it's rubbing on something, likely inside the cap.  could be other areas as well.  Close tolerance inside the black delrin insert is the first area to look at.  Second area is coming in contact with the cap itself.  If the cap tube is to short you will run into this and nib damage.  Damage to the threads or obstructions or irregular surface walls inside the brass tube will push the insert where it obstructs operation.

You can add things like silicon lube to the threads to keep them in but that will not fix the underlying design flaw.

Your ends are to rounded and over turned, heavy lip on the trim rings and metal to blank gap is quite high.

Painting is not needed in all cases, only when the opacity level is there.  Paint is a very weak bond and easy to damage.


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## endacoz (Jun 29, 2015)

edstreet said:


> endacoz said:
> 
> 
> > This is my first fountain pen. I have made a tycoon roller ball pen before just not the fountain pen part. One question I do have is when I twist the cap on over the nib and then untwisted the nib comes untwisted a bit as well. Seems that the cap doesn't quite fit over the nib side of the pen.
> ...



Thanks for some great feedback!   I used tbc bushings and it wasn't till after I finished them
I realized they were undersized.   But I am used to making sewing seam rippers and they need very little accuracy compared to most pens. 
I do notice that my ends are usually rounded over.   Tips for stopping that?


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## Russ Hewitt (Jul 28, 2015)

endacoz said:


> I realized they were undersized.   But I am used to making sewing seam rippers and they need very little accuracy compared to most pens.
> I do notice that my ends are usually rounded over.   Tips for stopping that?




I use a 1" skew for finishing.  It allows for very straight and smooth work.


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## duncsuss (Jul 28, 2015)

endacoz said:


> I do notice that my ends are usually rounded over.   Tips for stopping that?



When sanding, try using a block of flat material (I normally use a block of hard maple) behind the sandpaper, it will reduce the chance of it "digging in" where the end of the part meets the shoulder of the bushing.


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## Skie_M (Aug 7, 2015)

I prefer to turn my blanks just short of the bushings and sand to meet them from there.  When using really chippy acrylics it helps eliminate the little chunks that tear out all over.

Using a backer block is a great idea too, to keep that sandpaper level with the shoulder of the bushing.

Make sure you square the ends of the blank (and then clean up the brass tube) before you mount it on your pen mandrel.  Cleaning up the brass here instead of when you are assembling the pen means that your barrels will turn true.


In order to keep the nib from rubbing inside the cap, you may need to lightly sand the sides or tip of the nib to avoid contact.  I'll have to keep your issues in mind as I turn my first fountain pen next week.  Olympian Elite 2, from PSI.  I've got the Tycoon on my wishlist too, with the Majestic Jr.


I hear that painting your brass tube white, or possibly using a nickel plated tube is the better way to go, but I recently did a Chrome Breast Cancer Awareness pen from PSI and left the tube brass using the Hot Pink Aquapearl color blank, which apparently has clear threads of acrylic weaving through it like ribbons.  The effect was just beautiful.  It looked as though ribbons of gold were floating in the pink pearl matrix.  It sold within 2 days of my making it, to the third person who saw it.  

Just goes to show you, sometimes that effect is just awesome!


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## jfr (Oct 31, 2015)

How much do you charge to make the tycoon


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## Skie_M (Oct 31, 2015)

jfr said:


> How much do you charge to make the tycoon



That depends on a lot of different factors that change with many different types of pens and materials.

If it were me, I'ld charge between 50 and 60 dollars.


I can take you through an example of how I would derive my prices, if you like, but there are various other threads that cover that.


The Tycoon, like several of PSI's low-end fountain pen offerings, is nicely affordable at around 12 dollars each.


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