# My first pen!   Yay!



## petenz123 (Jun 26, 2008)

Hi all

Once I decided to make a pen, my first task was to find someone who would sell me a nib, and ship overseas.  I purchased a few from beartooth woods (great price + service).  Unfortunately, nobody knew what the thread was!  The seller didn't know... I asked here and nobody seemed to know... I took the nib to every engineering supply shop in the city and was met with blank stares!

On the advice of someone here, I contacted Elliot at penmakers, and got some of the brass threaded insert tubes - they fit perfectly!

The body is turned from aluminium (aluminum for my friends in the USA!).  It's just hardware-store grade, nothing fancy.

The thread is 1/2" - .22 rifle silencer thread.  It's quite coarse by pen standards, but I already had the tap and die, so no extra expense!

The completed body is sanded smooth, then polished with tripoli on a cotton buff. After a thorough clean with detergent and water, it's into the acid bath for 1 hour to be anodized.  Out of the acid, a quick wash and into the dye for a few minutes. A quick boil to seal the colour in, and the body is done.

The brass insert tube is coated with Loctite, and pressed in.

Job done!

I'm pleased with:
Size, shape, weight and balance
The anodizing, mostly
Successful proof-of-concept - it appears I can build a pen!

What I will do differently next time:
Less threads - needs too many turns to remove cap
Quality of finish - some machining marks still show. I think a satin finish before anodizing would look awesome.
Some sort of pocket clip would be in order...  !

Thanks to the penturners.org community for providing a wealth of info to learn from!

Pete


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## randyrls (Jun 26, 2008)

> _Originally posted by petenz123_
> 
> Hi all
> 
> Once I decided to make a pen, my first task was to find someone who would sell me a nib, and ship overseas.  I purchased a few from beartooth woods (great price + service).  Unfortunately, nobody knew what the thread was!  The seller didn't know... I asked here and nobody seemed to know... I took the nib to every engineering supply shop in the city and was met with blank stares!




Great looking pen.  Very impressive for your first non-kit pen!!


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## Texatdurango (Jun 26, 2008)

Hi Pete, Nice looking first "kitless" pen!  If I might suggest, the next time you have questions or comments about doing these type of things, post in the Advanced Pen making forum.  You are more apt to get some answers there.  Personally, I missed your thread all together.

Cutting threads and making clips are the obstacles most of us face when leaving the total kit world.

As you have found out, the tap you used requires you to do a lot of turning to get the cap off.  A multi-start or multi-lead thread (meaning the cap can be started from three different locations around the pen) is preferrable but the tap and die sets are not going to an off-the-shelf item at the local hardware store.

Recently there were two "group buys" where we had tap and die sets custom made.  The thread size deemed most popular is the M12.0x0.8Px2.4L triple start thread since you can not only cut your own threads but they also fit existing ElGrande and Churchill kits.  The inside threads for the Berea front sections and I believe the front sections Elliot sells is 10mmx1mm.   

If interested in buying these tap and die sets, you might put a post in the classifieds forum as there have already been a few members wanting to sell their sets.


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## petenz123 (Jun 26, 2008)

Thanks for your comments!

I read the "group buy" thread with much interest. (I found it with a google search - it was that thread that led me to penturners.org!)

I used the 1/2" tap and die that I had, figuring that it was close enough to the M12 that everyone else was using. I didn't realize the  multi-start thread would be so important!

Thanks for the tips, and next time, I will post over in 'advanced pen making'

Cheers
Pete


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## markgum (Jun 26, 2008)

Impressive job.


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## fstepanski (Jun 26, 2008)

Nice job Pete..  Very sweet closed end pen..


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## Ligget (Jun 27, 2008)

Lovely work Pete![]


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## gwilki (Jun 27, 2008)

Very nicely done, Pete. I'm very interested to see your first clipped design.


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## bitshird (Jun 27, 2008)

Nice job, great way to start a foray into kit less pens[8D][8D][8D]


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