# Streamlined Ebony FP



## drgoretex (Nov 19, 2010)

Hi all.  Here's today's custom order, an ebony clipless FP in 10 coats of cyanoacrylate with a high polish.  One of the pix shows it fitted with the optional Heritance nib.  It is 153mm uncapped, 131mm capped, and 16mm diamteter (sorry for the metric, but what can I say - I'm Canadian, eh?).

Thanks for looking.


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## MatthewZS (Nov 19, 2010)

Gorgeous!  This is the sort of artistry I aspire to!


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## glycerine (Nov 19, 2010)

Man, that is beautiful!


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## PenPal (Nov 19, 2010)

Ken,

Canadian or the man from Mars like Magoo youve done it again.

I regard Ebony as one of the difficult timbers to drill, cut, polish. To find sound Instrument quality is like searching for hens teeth in Siberia.

What I did I went back on your previous postings and I see you have done this method many times using different materials so successfully.

Once lost over a kilo of Ebony finding hidden shakes and cracks in it as I worked it and have personally moved to African Blackwood.

To reassure you of my love of Ebony I arranged a friend born in Africa who was going on a sentimental journey back there a few years ago and used to market in Ebony to bring back an Ebony full carved with a D handle shape Gazelles and Elephant carvings one piece walking stick so one day if necessary I will use it with pride to assist me walking. At 76 a real possibility. Cost me an arm and a leg even at source hence the need later maybe.

Then wonder of wonders I found your Rebar pens one piece and it gladdened me even further how easy in one piece, no matching the shapes etc in two pieces not too long looking in that style of pen. I have worked extensively in both medias and know exactly how precious your work is, worth a ten gun salute comes to mind.

Now having cut threaded, closed double ended you have given me a lesson in finishing its one thing on a strong mandrel but a totally different task double ended using an unforgiving Timber as Ebony is. I will pm you later on today so I may share some proposed expeditions in Ebony I have in my mind that I feel would interest you especially the source of material.

Delightful I also really liked your shaped Ebony pen previously very much as well. We went Metric all round in 1966 so I am familiar with both imperial and metric, when I start a task I often go Imperial all the way or Metric all the way its amazing how long an inch appears these days, why in heavens name builders use mm,s has me puzzled there are a hell of a lot of mm,s in twenty feet.

Kind regards Peter.


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## ToddMR (Nov 19, 2010)

That is a VERY nice pen.  So shinny!  I tell you what though, my perverse mind when I saw the 2nd photo, well I can't say on here what I thought it looked like. hehe

Nicely done kit-less pen though.  The quality of work shows through.


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## Russianwolf (Nov 19, 2010)

The shape reminds me a lot of the Japanese pen makers I've seen. Gorgeous.


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## angboy (Nov 19, 2010)

Beautiful... classy... sleek... refined... so many sophisticated words that come to mind when I look at this pen!


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## titan2 (Nov 19, 2010)

drgoretex said:


> Hi all. Here's today's custom order, an ebony clipless FP in 10 coats of cyanoacrylate with a high polish. One of the pix shows it fitted with the optional Heritance nib. *It is 153mm uncapped, 131mm capped*, and 16mm diamteter (sorry for the metric, but what can I say - I'm Canadian, eh?).
> 
> Thanks for looking.


 
How do you get it longer capped than uncapped?

Beautiful pen either way!!!



Barney


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## thetalbott4 (Nov 19, 2010)

titan2 said:


> drgoretex said:
> 
> 
> > Hi all. Here's today's custom order, an ebony clipless FP in 10 coats of cyanoacrylate with a high polish. One of the pix shows it fitted with the optional Heritance nib. *It is 153mm uncapped, 131mm capped*, and 16mm diamteter (sorry for the metric, but what can I say - I'm Canadian, eh?).
> ...


After seeing that pen, I'm pretty sure he could figure out how.


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## David Keller (Nov 19, 2010)

The finish is perfection...  Absolute perfection.


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## KGPenmaker (Nov 19, 2010)

Beautiful!  Reminds me of a Fischer Space Pen in general design, but this is done MUCH better and MUCH more beautiful, IMHO.

Paul


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## drgoretex (Nov 20, 2010)

titan2;1126278How do you get it longer capped than uncapped?
 
Beautiful pen either way!!!
 
 
 
Barney[/quote said:
			
		

> LOL!  I just realized I wrote that backwards!  Thanks for pointing that out - my head must have been in the clouds this afternoon...:beat-up:
> 
> Ken


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## Jim15 (Nov 20, 2010)

Absolutely beautiful.


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## philb (Nov 20, 2010)

Stunningly simple pen, just shows you don't need pimp-crystal etc!

Phil


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## Jgrden (Nov 20, 2010)

Now THAT is what Ebony should look like when it is finished. Great work.


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## gwilki (Nov 20, 2010)

I love the simplicity of it. You can't go wrong with basic black.


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## bitshird (Nov 20, 2010)

Amazing piece of craftsmanship and artistry, it is one beautiful writing instrument.


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## ctubbs (Nov 20, 2010)

What a truly elegant pen, so simple yet so full of complexity.  All in mm, too.  One question does come to mind, though,  Does it write in English or Metric?:biggrin::biggrin:. Just kidding, what a wonderful exersise in the imposable.
Charles


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## Kaspar (Nov 21, 2010)

Magnificent!  Bling is nice, but quality with simplicity can be so much more eloquent.  Excellent work!


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## jskeen (Apr 1, 2011)

I'm bumping this thread for a couple of reasons,  
A) this close an approach to perfection deserves another look, to give all of us a reality check. 
B) wanted to check and see if you had heard from it's new owner and how it's doing.  

So if you have a progress check please share with us.

Thanks
James


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## dgscott (Apr 1, 2011)

Ken:
They just keep getting better and better!
Doug


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## simomatra (Apr 1, 2011)

Very nice fantastic finish


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## U-Turn (Apr 1, 2011)

MAN! What a pen. Great job.


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## Ruby pen turning (Apr 1, 2011)

That is a beautiful pen. Smooth,black,sleek,shiny, etc.... love the shape.


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## wizard (Apr 2, 2011)

Absolutely Beautiful!! Love the simplicity, symmetry and sleek profile! The finish and photography are superb! Thanks so much for showing. Regards, Doc


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## drgoretex (Apr 2, 2011)

jskeen said:


> I'm bumping this thread for a couple of reasons,
> A) this close an approach to perfection deserves another look, to give all of us a reality check.
> B) wanted to check and see if you had heard from it's new owner and how it's doing.
> 
> ...


 
Well, thanks very much.  No, I haven't heard back from the owner since he received it, but being curious now, will check.

One thing I am doing very differently with my pens recently is to write-test, adjust, smooth, and tune every nib so that no buyer gets one of those 'disappointing nibs' that all of us FP afficionados know so well.   The down side of this for me is that I have discovered that quite a few more stock kit nibs than I thought are pretty poor :frown:.  Somewhere between one in four to one in three are not all that useable (I am rather picky).

Anyhow, thanks everyone for the kind words, and the motivation to make another of these!

Ken


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## jskeen (Apr 2, 2011)

I agree, testing, adjustment, and quality assurance are in indespensable part of making fountain pens. Nothing will turn a potential return customer into a detractor faster than getting that beautiful new fp home, inking it up and finding out it won't write, or writes poorly. 

My findings are pretty close to yours on overall factory fp sections, BUT I have found that by mixing and matching nibs, feeds, sections, and converters between at least 4 or 5 kits (or that many spare sections) at a time, I can bring that incidence of a "unuseable" component down to less than 1 in 10. With a little more time and a little money invested in getting the experience and tools to properly floss, adjust and modify the nibs, it's down to about 5 percent. 

But no matter how you do it, NEVER sell a pen that you don't KNOW writes well. Personally the last thing I write with a fp after I finally have it the way I want it, is the description of the pen, materials, ect on the back of a business card. Then the pen gets disassembled, cleaned and reassembled, and the card goes into the case with it.


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