# Vintage color pens



## Texatdurango (Dec 1, 2009)

I cast some colored blanks trying to get close to the yellow and red color made popular by Parker some 90 years ago. I'm also thinning down the caps for a more streamline look and changing around my nib sections for better feel and look and attaching the clips differently for a cleaner look. 

All in all, quite a few changes are going on here and I'm looking for opinions.

Any one pen stand out over the others, any nib shape strike your fance, or pen length. Anything you see you really like or dislike?  The orange pen is inked so the window is dark while the other pens have water in them.


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## areaman (Dec 1, 2009)

George I really like the clips, dont exactly care for the window for the ink, but the pens look great! Youre doing a great job on them.


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## maxman400 (Dec 1, 2009)

You Did a fantastic job on them, I really like the solid colors. But once they are inked, the darkness of the ink makes the pen look like it is missing a section. May just be me too. LOL.


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## ldb2000 (Dec 2, 2009)

They look great George . Looks like your on a roll :highfive:


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## mick (Dec 2, 2009)

George I really like the over all shape of the pens...the ink window? I'll have to think on that one. The colors are great. The orange is very very much like the old Parkers I've seen.


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## nava1uni (Dec 2, 2009)

I like the yellow a lot.  The clips are very nice.  I think that the window would look good if it is backed by a solid color.  I used to have a fountain pen that had a slender window that showed the amount of ink in the pen.


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## Jim15 (Dec 2, 2009)

What's to dislike, they are beautiful. The colors and clips look awesome.


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## el_d (Dec 2, 2009)

Great Job George, 

 Very nice job on your handcrafted pens. 
 They look great but still seem a little square. I like the more rounded cap on the yellow, Im not a flat top type of guy I guess.  I like the clip being closer to the end as not to have too much material sitting above the clip.
I like the nib section(grip) of the red one, Looks to be more comfortable, but still a little fat maybe, and the material of the green one looks really "plush". 
 The windows seem to be distracting from the body of the pen. Maybe "frosting" the window instead of a clear window would look better. 
 Love the Bulb filler and the length of the red but prefer the profile of the yellow(could just be the angles of the pens in the picture) its seems to have a little more of a taper to it.
 Great clips, Nice clean threading, Caps fit nice. Great workmanship. I guess thats what matters the other stuff is personal preference....IMO:wink:

Wish I could do half the stuff you got going on......


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## johncrane (Dec 2, 2009)

All look great George! l like grip on the red pen, l am guessing there all brass less, the ball clips go well too, how would you rate the ball clips your using.


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## traderdon55 (Dec 2, 2009)

As with any of your work I have seen they all look great. Since you want honest opinions I like the profile of the yellow one ,the grip of the orange one ,and the color of the green one. I personally don't like the window but I would be happy if I could make anything that looked any where near as good as any of them.


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## cnirenberg (Dec 2, 2009)

George,
I'm diggin the retro colors.  I really like the solids, they match up with that style of clip.  The lines of the pens are great, and I'm gonna have to disagree with most, I like the ink window.  You are on a roll.


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## Texatdurango (Dec 2, 2009)

johncrane said:


> All look great George! l like grip on the red pen, l am guessing there all brass less, the ball clips go well too, how would you rate the ball clips your using.


 
What's brass? :biggrin:

I really like the clips and think they go well with the styles of pens I'm making.

Thanks to everyone for the comments, they are exactly what I'm wanting to hear rather than... "nice pens".

I know the window is different since most of are used to brass tubes but the idea of the window is to see when you are full and how much and actually, half the fun of using this pen is filling it and watching the ink level rise.  And of course to be able to fill it again, you have to write a lot so it encoourages use of the pen! :wink:


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## scotian12 (Dec 2, 2009)

George....Great craftmanship.  My favourite is the multcolored one. The clip is classy and simple. I can't really judge the length of the pen but you don't want it out of the normal length of pens. The window is a good concept and fun for pen lovers that use different colored inks. Thanks for taking us in a new direction.    Darrell Eisner


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## creativewriting (Dec 2, 2009)

George as always your pens are outstanding.  I agree with some of the others about the ink window.  I think it would be nice to change out the clear acrylic window with a matching color that is translucent.  This would allow someone to see the ink levels and limit harsh contrast.


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## Texatdurango (Dec 2, 2009)

creativewriting said:


> George as always your pens are outstanding. I agree with some of the others about the ink window. I think it would be nice to change out the clear acrylic window with a matching color that is translucent. This would allow someone to see the ink levels and limit harsh contrast.


 
You mean like some of these...... http://www.delviesplastics.com/mm5/...Store_Code=DPI&Category_Code=Cast_Acrylic_Rod

I've been thinking about it.


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## bitshird (Dec 2, 2009)

George, it looks like you are on a roll with bulb fillers, I think they are great, I really like the Cebloplasat, I'm not overly crazy about the size of the window, but it would be hard to have a thin slit running the length of the tube, I really dodn't think it would stop me from wanting to own one though. I like the shape of the grip on the orange pen, however they are all nice works.


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## creativewriting (Dec 2, 2009)

> You mean like some of these


Exactly.  I was on their site the other day.  The solid colors they have are great and I like the options of the different effects.  If I may ask what size taps/dies are you using for the threading (if you are not doing them on the lathe that is).


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## THarvey (Dec 2, 2009)

I like them all.  The clips, colors and windows look great.

As far as individual features, I prefer:

- Grip on the serpentine pen
- Cap fit on the serpentine pen
- Wmaller window on the yellow pen
- Overall length of the orange pen.

I would like to know how you polished the inside of the windows (assuming you drilled these).

Thanks.


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## Daniel (Dec 2, 2009)

George, I like the pens, but you did ask for opinion. so here goes.
as a whole I like the red one the best. The body in proportion with the window is working better for me in that length of pen and overall the shape just simply works for me. including the nib section. I don't really care for the shape of either of the other two pens in the nib area. 
I am not sure if the window in the red pen is actually longer than the other two pens but it appears so which also lends to it looking balanced with the rest of the pen.

I do like the clip and need to look up how this is done. I have not tried it but have always liked it.

A final comment on the window itself. overall it tends to detract from the look of the pen and the final effect is a cheapening of the look. I have a strong suspicion that they would not look the same where I holding them in my hand but from the photo that is the general effect the whole window as they appear have.

I also prefer the matching diameter of the cap on the yellow and red pens over the other one. Very nice elegant lines in the red and yellow pens. This is very much to my taste. Still the red pen is my favorite even in overall shape.

The clip itself contrasts in shape with the pen. for me this is not really a problem but it is something that sort of stands out to me. very nearly giving the clip an odd appearance on this pen. not quite though and it still works for me but only works, the clip shape is not adding anything to the pen so maybe something could be done in that area. I am not sure just what is available int he way of clips. Basically I am just thinking that you might be able to find one more little plus with a different clip selection, then again maybe not. At the very least it is not broken so you may very well not want to try and fix it.
hope some of that helps.


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## artme (Dec 2, 2009)

Boy! Don´t they bring back memories.


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## Mark (Dec 2, 2009)

The first fountain pen, my grandparents ever bought me, was one that looked just like one of those. Mine was a nasty shade of orange, but still... Wow, they bring back memories... Thanks for the post.


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## workinforwood (Dec 2, 2009)

You asked the right guy George..I am very opinionated!:biggrin:

I hate those windows.  It would be fine if it was a tiny window that did not surround the pen, but as it is, it's ugly.  I hate the old solid color parker pens too.  You poured them great, but I don't like plain solid colors.  The shaefer blank is awesome, but the window kills it.  The threading is awesome, the shapes are great, the nib sections look awesome, I just hate those 360 windows.  YOU ASKED! :wink:


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## Texatdurango (Dec 3, 2009)

workinforwood said:


> You asked the right guy George..I am very opinionated!:biggrin:
> 
> I hate those windows. It would be fine if it was a tiny window that did not surround the pen, but as it is, it's ugly. I hate the old solid color parker pens too. You poured them great, but I don't like plain solid colors. The shaefer blank is awesome, but the window kills it. The threading is awesome, the shapes are great, the nib sections look awesome, I just hate those 360 windows. YOU ASKED! :wink:


 
So, how do you really feel about them?   I met with a lot of the folks at the Dallas Pen collectors club last night and they too had mixed feelings about not only the colors but the windows.  I am fortunate enough to not have to worry about two of them though because they were bought. 

I got a ton of good feedback from them and I really appreciate all the honest opinions voiced here as well.

After all the reviews I have decided I will not be making many if any more of these windowed pens, at least not with the wide 1/2" windows since they are a bit of a pain to make.


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## workinforwood (Dec 3, 2009)

What if there's a half way point where you can have the best of both worlds?  I'm going to toss out a solution that might be real simple.  Drill a hole in the pen body, 1/4" hole..whatever.  With a piece of masking tape, slide that into the inside of the pen and press it into place with a dowel.  Build a damn with tape around the hole.  Pour the hole with clear PR, Inlace..whatever.  Remove the tape, spin off the top and you have a perfect window that is only in one spot on the pen.  There's no doubt all kinds of solutions where you can have a window without splitting the pen body and at the same time not involving too much work.  I do like the window idea, I just didn't like how the body appeared to be split.  I can completely understand how someone that did see the pens bought them. They are magnificently built pens, and unique at that!


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## Texatdurango (Dec 3, 2009)

workinforwood said:


> .... Drill a hole in the pen body, 1/4" hole..whatever. With a piece of masking tape, slide that into the inside of the pen and press it into place with a dowel. Build a damn with tape around the hole. Pour the hole with clear PR, Inlace..whatever. Remove the tape, spin off the top and you have a perfect window that is only in one spot on the pen.....


 
Sounds doable and I like the idea but I wouldn't want to have it my pocket win the window popped out.  I don't know if I would be comfortable enough with the window staying glued in.

What do you think of this?  After reading what you had said, I was mulling it over and started staring at my Lamy Safari pen thinking...  I wonder, instead of a window or threading a clear section into the darker main body the way I'm doing it now, why not an inner clear ink resovoir and a thin outer colored sleeve that has a notch cut into or a hole drilled into it?  That would be quick and easy and I could make the slit, slot, hole or whatever shape as large or small as I wanted to!

Too much fun! 

Here is a Lamy Safari... http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-7749489752851_2079_25763747


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