# Pen Component Terminology



## budnder (Nov 30, 2019)

I've been working on designing my own fountain pen "kit", and am wondering if there are any common terms for some of these parts... I have 5 kit components, which I think is relatively common for a clos:

A) the nib (e.g. Bock #6)
B) the section - the part the nib screws into that you actually hold when you write. It's typically threaded on it's end to mate with c) below.
C) the "section receiver"? - the part the section screws into that has external threads for the cap to screw on to. Typically this is glued/pressed into the body of a pen.
D) the "cap end"? - typically glued/pressed onto the end of the cap, this screws onto c) above when you cap the pen.
E) the "finial receiver"? - typically glued/pressed onto the finial end of the cap and typically the pen clip will sit onto this in a notch designed to restrict the pen clip from spinning
F) the "finial" - typically screwed into e) above to secure the clip and provide a nice visual to the top of the pen

It's C, D, and E that I feel like, I just made up the terms for... what do you call those bits?


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## magpens (Nov 30, 2019)

Just my opinions:

C)  "Section Receiver" is ok, as would be "Section Coupler"

D)  How about "Threaded Cap End"

E)  "Finial Receiver" is ok, but I would call it the "Clip Retainer" or "Finial Coupler".
    Not every commercial kit has one of these. Some come with clip attached.
    Others come with no notch, allowing the clip to spin ... annoying !

Thing is, you are designing your own kit which includes some pieces you have "invented".
If no other pen kit has these parts, then it is ok to "invent" the names for them.

I am very interested in knowing what graphics program you used to make the diagram, please.

Best wishes with this project. Please keep us posted on your progress.


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## duncsuss (Nov 30, 2019)

Part A is made up of 3 components: the nib, the ink feed (or just "the feed"), and a housing which holds the nib and the feed. It is sometimes called "a triple" or "triplet".

In traditional fountain pen terminology, part B is variously called "grip", "grip section", and "section".

(Note that not all pen makers use a housing to hold the nib and feed - some simply bore a hole in the section and jam the nib and feed into it.)

These days I mostly make pens without using kits, so I don't bother with parts C, D, and E.

I usually call Part F a "clip finial" (since it typically holds the clip in place on the cap).


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## budnder (Dec 1, 2019)

magpens said:


> ...
> I am very interested in knowing what graphics program you used to make the diagram, please.
> ...



The nib is from Visio, which tends to be my go to for 2D things - I had sketched out a model for the Bock #6 I had. The rest of the components were designed in Fusion 360 as I'm printing them on a Elegoo Mars 3D printer. When I get a completed pen I'll post it... I keep finding things to tweak here and there and it takes hours to print a set of components, so the design iterations are slow. But fun


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## budnder (Dec 1, 2019)

duncsuss said:


> ...
> These days I mostly make pens without using kits, so I don't bother with parts C, D, and E.
> ...



Yeah, I understand. I have a couple of motivations pushing me in this direction. I don't like how heavy the "of the shelf" kits are, so am drawn to kitless to get a lighter pen. I also don't typically care for kit sections or receivers. Lastly, I work with wood more often than not, and my skills/equipment aren't there yet to be comfortable with my chances of success in the threading operations I would need to do away with the plastic "kit" pieces.


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## darrin1200 (Dec 2, 2019)

budnder said:


> Yeah, I understand. I have a couple of motivations pushing me in this direction. I don't like how heavy the "of the shelf" kits are, so am drawn to kitless to get a lighter pen. I also don't typically care for kit sections or receivers. Lastly, I work with wood more often than not, and my skills/equipment aren't there yet to be comfortable with my chances of success in the threading operations I would need to do away with the plastic "kit" pieces.



Are you planning to sell these kits? If not, and you will make each of these parts for your own use, then you are essentially making a “kitless” pen. A kit is a set of components made by someone else for you to use to assemble a pen. That’s one of the reasons I prefer the term custom pens.

I don’t think I would call these pens handmade, because of the computer controlled generation of the parts, but Lamey doesn’t make hand made pens either.

I look forward to hearing your progress.


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## budnder (Dec 2, 2019)

darrin1200 said:


> Are you planning to sell these kits?



No, not planning on selling the kits - I'm viewing this as an evolution of the kitless I've done. To date, I've done a few Alumilite fountain pens, but prefer wood, so that's what I'm exploring. I did a wood body semi-kitless based on a Churchill and liked the result, so wanted to continue down that path and see if I could do the same with parts I made myself. I also want to try some experiments on the other end of the spectrum where I simply thread the wood itself, and then there's a middle ground to explore of embedding a resin surface for the internal/external thread. And then another front of skipping a cap thread altogether and doing a snap fit.

I'll start a new thread with some pix and to document my trials and errors.


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