# Art Nouveau kitless fountain pen



## Tiaan Burger (Mar 15, 2019)

My latest attempt has an art nouveau theme, featuring a hand carved copper barrel and cap, with ebonite section. The pen took about two weeks to make and was finished about a week ago, then I spend two days on the box.  
The leather box has a carved and painted top to match the theme of the pen.


Q&C welcome


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## Bob in SF (Mar 15, 2019)

Wonderful!


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## More4dan (Mar 15, 2019)

That is AMAZING!!!  What do you use to carve the copper?  And what nib are you using?  Copper electroplated Stainless steel would look cool after patina with this pen. 

The box is a work of art in itself.  Thanks for sharing. 

Danny

Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app


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## Tiaan Burger (Mar 15, 2019)

More4dan said:


> That is AMAZING!!!  What do you use to carve the copper?  And what nib are you using?  Copper electroplated Stainless steel would look cool after patina with this pen.
> 
> The box is a work of art in itself.  Thanks for sharing.
> 
> ...



Thank you Danny. I use traditional hammer and chisel techniques to carve metal. I use stainless steel nibs and ebonite feeds which I make myself.


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## skiprat (Mar 15, 2019)

Absolutely stunning craftsmanship Tiaan.  Beautifully made !!


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## JohnU (Mar 15, 2019)

Absolutely Beautiful!  Truly a work of Art.  Thanks for sharing.


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## MRDucks2 (Mar 15, 2019)

Tiaan - Great work, similar process for tooling the copper and the leather. Do you start with copper tubing or a copper sheet?


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## Tiaan Burger (Mar 15, 2019)

MRDucks2 said:


> Tiaan - Great work, similar process for tooling the copper and the leather. Do you start with copper tubing or a copper sheet?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app



Thank you! I start out with copper sheet, 1.6mm  (1/16") thick. bend over a mandrel and soldered.


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## mark james (Mar 15, 2019)

A stunning piece of work Tiaan.  Seeing what you have to work with is also especially telling of your skills and artistry.  I wish you the best to keep up this work - very nice to see.


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## Curly (Mar 15, 2019)

I stand among the choir and sing in harmony. 
Beautiful work. I'm in awe. 
Do you make these for yourself or do you sell to discerning buyers?


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## Dalecamino (Mar 15, 2019)

Extremely nice work. I can't think of anything else that hasn't already been said. Thanks for sharing.


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## Tiaan Burger (Mar 15, 2019)

Curly said:


> I stand among the choir and sing in harmony.
> Beautiful work. I'm in awe.
> Do you make these for yourself or do you sell to discerning buyers?



Thank you Pete. I already own several of my pens, but am using only one, giving the nib a good run to see if I can wear it out. So all my pens are made to be sold.


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## magpens (Mar 15, 2019)

Tiaan ... your work is absolutely amazing !!!!!

I think that you must have accumulated all the artistic pen-making genes from both hemispheres !!!!


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## More4dan (Mar 15, 2019)

I’m as impressed you make your own nib!  


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## Argo13 (Mar 15, 2019)

Just one word. WOW!!!


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## Jim15 (Mar 15, 2019)

Awesome work.


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## madara (Mar 15, 2019)

Fantastic work! You should consider making YouTube videos showing your process and to promote your work. 


Sent from my iPad using Penturners.org mobile app


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## OZturner (Mar 16, 2019)

Beautiful Unique Pen and Leather Box Tiaan.
Superb, Copper and Leather Work.
Outstanding Artistic Skills.
Congratulations,
Brian.


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## johncrane (Mar 17, 2019)

Awesome pen and work, well done Tiaan!


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## jeff (Mar 17, 2019)

Looks great on the front page :biggrin:


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## Tiaan Burger (Mar 17, 2019)

jeff said:


> Looks great on the front page :biggrin:



 That was unexpected! Thanks!!


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## Lucky2 (Mar 17, 2019)

My word, what an absolute beauty, and over the top skills on display here. You have some amazing pen-making and carving abilities, thank-you ever so much for sharing your talents with usall

Len


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## Bob in SF (Mar 17, 2019)

Congrats on the well deserved home page photo!


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## OZturner (Mar 17, 2019)

Also my Congratulations on the Front Page Tiaan.
Looks Magnificent, and Well Deserved.
Regards,
Brian.


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## leehljp (Mar 17, 2019)

And another congratulations for being on the front page!

PURE ART!


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## Aces-High (Mar 18, 2019)

Oh come on...give us a break...that's ridiculous!  All in a good way of course!


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## jfr (Mar 18, 2019)

*Re: Pen work*



Tiaan Burger said:


> My latest attempt has an art nouveau theme, featuring a hand carved copper barrel and cap, with ebonite section. The pen took about two weeks to make and was finished about a week ago, then I spend two days on the box.
> The leather box has a carved and painted top to match the theme of the pen.
> 
> 
> ...


What kit are you using


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## More4dan (Mar 18, 2019)

What kit are you using[/QUOTE]


No kit involved. Everything including the nib and feed were made by Tiaam. 



Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app


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## Chief TomaToe (Mar 18, 2019)

I am DYING to know how you make your own nibs and feeds. Those look like professional level nibs and I would like to see that pen in action. I can certainly understand if that is propietary information though. All parts of this pen show the signs of a master craftsman!


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## Tiaan Burger (Mar 19, 2019)

Chief TomaToe said:


> I am DYING to know how you make your own nibs and feeds. Those look like professional level nibs and I would like to see that pen in action. I can certainly understand if that is propietary information though. All parts of this pen show the signs of a master craftsman!



Thank you. None of it is proprietary information, I gleaned it all from various websites including this one. 

Here is a link to an album on my FaceBook page where I show the steps most of my work goes through:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/tsquaredfp/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2196137163767239

I found a video about an old bloke in India who makes nibs by hand, so I just copied his processes. 
https://youtu.be/3xkOETcaVSk

I can't use gold though as work with gold in South Africa requires a very expensive permit, so I use a high nickel stainless steel, the nickel in the alloy reduces wear by huge amount. 
I tried titanium at first, it makes a fine nib but wears out within days of heavy use. My own pen, fitted with one of my stainless nibs,  is still writing smoothly after five months of daily use. 

Cutting threads was a pain, and I did not want to wait for imported taps and dies, so I copied the Japanese way of cutting threads, using a hand held cutter and a foot powered spindle to turn and move the work forwards against the cutter by the right distance. I had to make my own cutters and spindles though.

Here is a link to a playlist on YouTube with some of the videos I learned from: 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiIZr8XyIsO51jZKNuhwIyzvjtT-XPhha

Hope this helps. I'll try to document the making of my pens a bit better, the videos will be posted on this channel if you want to subscribe: 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8dXqPfLpTa7p1P3tRgR5WQ


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## Chief TomaToe (Mar 19, 2019)

That is a lot of great information! Thank you for sharing!


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## Darley (Mar 21, 2019)

Well done ,  and nice to seen you and your work in the best pens making website 
Serge


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## Sean777 (Mar 31, 2019)

Abolutley stunning!


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## gbrwn56 (Apr 3, 2019)

Thats fantastic, both pen and box are works of art, thanks for sharing


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