# First Kitless Pen



## stevo81 (Feb 19, 2012)

Hi All, this is my forst post here :biggrin:

I managed to get some shed time in today so thought i would have a go at making a kitless pen. 

the whole pen is made from stainless steel, the clip is copied from a WIP by Dennis Cabell i found on the home page here. the clip isnt anywhere near as good as the ones he makes...i made a bit of a mistake my rotating the lid too far when drilling the second hole and also made it a little too long. if it bugs me enough i will make a new lid and clip. the body of the pen has been sanded to 240g so it has a brushed apperance, the clip and nib are polished to a mirror finish. i pouropsley left the straight part of the nib a little oversize so the die would cut a slight "grip" onto the nib.

if i do any more of these i think i may need to invest in an extra fine tap and die as the ones i have are a little coarse. i have metric 10 x 1.25 tap and die. i was looking at a 10 x .75 would this be more suitable fo too fine? 

pretty happy with my forst atempt but as always there is room for improvement 

all comments appreciated 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





thanks for looking

stevo


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## sjt (Feb 19, 2012)

Just joined as well Stevo, welcome from another Aussie .  Love the pen, great job you've done.  It's something I'd buy as I like the industrial look.

Cheers,
Scott


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## mredburn (Feb 19, 2012)

A wonderful start to Kitless and posting. A m10x.75 would be a good idea, it probably would eliminate the area where to threads are not cleanly turned away. Nice clean design.


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## soligen (Feb 19, 2012)

Way to go Stevo!!

I am so happy you found my tutorial helpful. As far as the spacing of the holes - I don't worry too much about it - yours looks fine to me. Next time just shorten the clip a little and you are there!

As for taps metric taps, yes .75 is what I use - seems to be good for pens. I use M8, M9, M10 in .75, and the M12 triple start is .8 pitch. If you don't have budget for the triple start, M12 x ,75 should give pretty much the same look in a single start


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## nsfr1206 (Feb 19, 2012)

Welcome here!


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## johncrane (Feb 19, 2012)

Looks really good, top job Stevo!


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## Robert111 (Feb 19, 2012)

Love the pen! I agree with all your observations about, and I really like your die-cut "grip."


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## Dalecamino (Feb 19, 2012)

Nice going Stevo! You should post these photos in the "Show off your pens" forum. You'll attract more attention over there. Which it certainly deserves. I like this pen, and look forward to seeing more. Welcome to the IAP!:biggrin:


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## thewishman (Feb 19, 2012)

That is a nice "introduction" pen. Nice shape and the threaded grip is a good look. Welcome!


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## Jim15 (Feb 19, 2012)

Welcome Martyn. Great pen.


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## thetalbott4 (Feb 19, 2012)

Really nice job Stevo! Cant wait to see what else you can do. What kind of equipment did you use to make this? How long have you been turning? Lets hear a little about the man behind the masterpiece!


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## PenMan1 (Feb 19, 2012)

Normally, I am no fan of kitchen steel, but this one gets an "Attaboy" simply because of craftsmanship.

First, you made a "seamless" close which meets perfectly in the center. No dreaded "overhang" that screams amateur. Secondly, you concentrated on making an extended section which gives a pen its balance, makes for an elegent writing feel and provides comfort to writer by not having to hang on to a nub section. 

Next , you gave very nice lines to the instrument  without "chopping or blunting" the ends. Just by looking at your design, I can tell that this is a pen that would write very nicely, fit in a shirt pocket without fear of a leaky cap section ruining said shirt.

I am not a fan of the clip design. That is simply because I don't like the "paperclip" design. That clip severs its purpose (and IMHO a pen of this design, REQUIRES a clip to keep it from rolling off of a desk and to keep it upright in a pocket). Many here will like the clip, my opinion is that just a simple straight line clip wouldn't take away from the high end look and feel of this pen.

You should be REALLY EXCITED about your first effort. The overall design and balance of this instrument are EXCELLENT. You are well on your way! Congratulations.


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## stevo81 (Feb 20, 2012)

thetalbott4 said:


> Really nice job Stevo! Cant wait to see what else you can do. What kind of equipment did you use to make this? How long have you been turning? Lets hear a little about the man behind the masterpiece!


 
Thanks everyone for the positive feed back, there is so many tallented people on these froums and to have such good comments is very encouraging. i have been wanting to try this for some time. 

i have a small chineese metal lathe i got off ebay, its not the best but for the small amount i do it works. the only other things i have made on a metal lathe are pen bushes, so this was a bit of a step up. most of the rounding of the nib and ends of the pen were done using a file. it took quite a bit of sanding to achieve a mirror finish on the nib but it was worth it. 

i will have to invest in the tap and die's that have been reccomended...but maybe not a tripple start as i think that may be out of my budget at this stage:tongue:

thanks again

stevo


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