# Had some questions after my latest pen



## brownsfn2 (Feb 24, 2015)

I just made my third kitless/custom and I was hoping some you who have been around the block a few times might offer some advice.  

Here is the pen:  http://www.penturners.org/forum/f13/another-kitless-prototype-130420/

I decided to do a clip on this pen.  The clip I used was from a Junior Gent so the outside diameter of the ring was .567.  It seemed to me that if I wanted to hide the clip ring that the diameter of the cap would be larger than I wanted and would not look right with body of the pen.  So my first question is what clips do you use?  Which ones are popular for kitless use?  Seems like the Jr. Gent size is too big.

To go along with that question I am wondering what are reasonable dimensions with a #6 nib?  Since the 12mm x.75 tap I am using is around 12 MM I have been trying to make the body around 13 mm and the cap around 14mm.

Ok, last question.  Although I enjoy making the kitless pens I usually sell the pens I make to pay for my habit..uh  hobby.  Are the kitless pens in high demand or is this just something that unless you are a "brand name" you are just not going to generate interest.

I am thinking of getting a triple start now that I know I enjoy making them.  Do you guys think the 12mm is the most popular?  (I know that was one more question)

Thanks for listening and offering feedback.  I really appreciate the help.


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## Brooks803 (Feb 25, 2015)

Is that clip from a Jr. Gent or the Triton? I must admit that I haven't looked at kits in a long time, but I want to say that clip is from a Triton. Reason for that is I've used them as well and the clip ring is HUGE! The exposed clip ring was the very first thing I noticed on your pen.

The trick is to find a clip with a reasonable ID & OD. You want there to be some meat where the recess will go so it will hold up to someone flexing the clip while putting in a purse or pocket. To thin and it'll snap. There isn't a great selection for this sadly. With the profile you're after you'd be better off with something under a 12mm OD.

With all that being said there is a trick to making that Triton clip work. Take a pair of sturdy wire cutters and cut off a portion of the ring (away from the arm!!) and gently bend it in creating a smaller OD. It does work, but I personally don't like to do this bc if I were to sell that pen and there's a clip failure the customer will see it and we all know just how important a customers impression is. A bad review online about a jerry rigged clip and it could really hurt you.

You're dimensions are good. I try and stay around that as well. You will find as you talk with customers that EVERYONE wants something different. Eventually you'll want to get a couple other thread sizes to cover your customer base. 12, 13, 14 would be my choices. 

Can I ask what nib housing your using? I see it's a Heritance nib, but wasn't sure if it's a Jowo or Bock housing. 

Selling....the million dollar question. Starting from nothing and building a customer base of custom FP's is going to be hard. I would assume much harder for you locally due to having the Edison Pen Company in your back yard. People who understand what you're doing will pay for it. I have a baseline price that all pens start at and can go up from there. It took me a long time to build a "fan base". Now orders are finally starting to come in with a nice frequency. Having a "Brand" does help bc these customers have a different mind set than what you're used to. My best advice is to make many many many many more of these custom pens BEFORE trying to sell them. Use freebie blanks and just reuse a couple nibs to keep costs down. Learn the insides and outs and iron out your techniques. They have to be flawless when they reach the customer bc without a doubt...they will know what to look for and will openly discuss any displeasure. Learn how to properly align, tune, and smooth a nib!!!! That's #1. If it doesn't write and keep a steady flow they will not buy it or keep it. 

One thing that helped me recently is I found a collector that was local to me and asked him to do a review of one of my pens. He gave me his honest feedback and although it was 99% great, that 1% was something I never thought about and helped me tremendously! He ended up ordering  his own pen and did another review on it as well. We actually have become friends and now I get a lot of his feedback for free :biggrin:. Luckily for you Ohio seems to have LOTS of FP companies so finding someone that is a serious collection shouldn't be to hard. Start up a conversation and go from there!




brownsfn2 said:


> I just made my third kitless/custom and I was hoping some you who have been around the block a few times might offer some advice.
> 
> Here is the pen:  http://www.penturners.org/forum/f13/another-kitless-prototype-130420/
> 
> ...


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## Joey-Nieves (Mar 4, 2015)

The clip ID and OD is determined by the cap bushing of the kit.  The OD will be the bushing diameter and the ID will be the tube ID, this info is available in the library. 
Also Richard Greenwald lists this info with his clips as does Silver pen parts


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