T.Rob  

Took my daughter to see Steve Hofstetter Thursday night and discovered she doesn't have one of those purse hanger hook thingys. So I made her these today. On the left is bocote and on the right is a lamination of (R-to-L) paduk, walnut, black palm, cherry, and a smidge of maple.

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@tdotrob wait, what is a purse hanger hook thing? I truly don’t know. I always just toss my purse on the closest flat surface.

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T.Rob  

@Eponine I could explain but a picture is worth 1k words. ;-)

pennstateind.com/store/PKPHANG

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@tdotrob I was looking at the site and they have pen cases! I’ve been looking for something for my pens. Right now they’re in a pen roll, but I worry about some of them bumping into one another during transport and scratching the bodies of the pens.

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T.Rob
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@Eponine I've used a few types of pen case, and make my own wooden flat boxes for the expensive pens. For bulk storage, I have a few sizes of tubes like this: amazon.com/dp/B008RLPBFS

I recently obtained a threading jig for the lathe and want to try making round wooden pen cases with screw-top lids. At that level of effort, these would be for the expensive pens only, I think. But super cool if I can pull it off.

You made me go look at - you've been busy! I'll have to start using it.

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@tdotrob I was thinking something more like this pennstateind.com/store/PK-DISP
The separators keep the pen barrels from bumping an scratching one another.

The individual tubes take up too much space.

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T.Rob  

@Eponine Ah, yes. That's quite a nice one. I think my needs are more modest because I never have more than a couple dozen in backstock.

By the way, did you see any fountain pen kits at PSI that looked good? I have steered clear because I do not use them and don't know anything about nibs, cartridges, etc. But I've had multiple ask and I think I need to stop declining those requests.

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@tdotrob I only saw one set of fountain pens. I’m not really into rollerballs - I made an exception for @Brisse because his pens were so beautiful.

If you’re interested in trying out fountain pens, a Pilot metropolitan, Lamy Safari, or TWSBI eco are good entry level pens.

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Angela Balzac, of DEVA  

@Eponine Hehe. PSI has a BUNCH of fountain pens... but they're not the best ones in my opinion... There's one supplier, I forget which one right now, but they actually have multiple really exceptional fountain pens, and they actually carry alternate size nibs for them so you can basically build your own... I was going to get one someday for myself but it was a 200$ investment I didn't feel like making. @tdotrob

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T.Rob  

@Brisse @Eponine I just need a kit for a first time build that isn't complete trash, and $200 is more than I want to go for that. But "not the best" sounds like it isn't the worst either. Can I assume that any of the PSI fountain pen kits would be a good start? And would one or both of you be willing to road test a pen for me (and keep it after) and give feedback?

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Angela Balzac, of DEVA  

@tdotrob I mean I do it for my own pens all the time, so why not. 🤔 And yeah there are some good ones on there. I think it has to do with the plastic threading on some of them, people overtighten the cap and it snaps the threads. So metal threads or magnetic close is probably better. Someday I'm planning on making myself a fountain Nouveau Sceptre... but not anytime soon. @Eponine

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@Brisse @tdotrob You get my hopes up only to dash them 😪

Lots of older fountain pens use plastic threading. Who are these barbarians who ruin the threads?!

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Angela Balzac, of DEVA  

@Eponine 🤔 Just people I had useing them when I used to make them 😂 Maybe I'm wrong, but I judge from personal experience with people complaining to me that PSI's kits broke on them after I gave them the pens. @tdotrob

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@Brisse @tdotrob I wonder if it was them or the kits. Most of my fountain pens are resin/plastic!

Having said that, there is something rather satisfying about the little click when posting or capping the pen. 😀

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Angela Balzac, of DEVA  

@Eponine Could have been the kits, a manufacturing defect in the plastic could have caused it to be more brittle. 🤷‍♂️ @tdotrob

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@tdotrob @Brisse Heck yes! I would love to test a pen for you.

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@Brisse Hmmm maybe I didn’t look enough. I’ll let you and @tdotrob make the pens, though. I like using them.

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Angela Balzac, of DEVA  

@Eponine 👍 There's a few really nice styles, I thought about adding them to the shop, but I need to restrict them... the shipping company I work with says Canada doesn't allow fountain pens... ? @tdotrob

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@Brisse How odd. I see people selling and buying them on r/pen_swap all the time between Canada & the US. I know there are restrictions on shipping inks to Europe but I’ve never heard of a restriction on fountain pens to Canada, especially if they were empty. @tdotrob

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Angela Balzac, of DEVA  

@Eponine My guess is they're interpreting this and just blocking fountain pens: pe.usps.com/IMM_Archive/HTML/I

@tdotrob

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@Brisse I don’t know of many fountain pens that cost less than $5! @tdotrob

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Angela Balzac, of DEVA  

@Eponine 😂😂😂 the cheap plastic ones that they sell for kids are the only ones I know of. @tdotrob

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@Brisse Kind of unrelated but I check your store periodically just to make sure my pen is still there 😂 @tdotrob

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@Brisse @tdotrob And I know it’s not really ‘my’ pen but … it’s mine in spirit 😂

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Angela Balzac, of DEVA  

@Eponine I guarantee it won't sell unless it's on sale or there's a collector I haven't met yet. 😂 @tdotrob

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@Brisse @tdotrob I’m kind of counting on that!

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T.Rob  

@Eponine @Brisse Well, this thread took off while I was away! Last day of work. I expect to have some shop time between gigs and I'm itching to try making fountain pens.

Berea brags about the nib quality on their Baron kit so I'm guessing it's a bit better than the PSI and modestly priced. Good starter pen?

bereahardwoods.com/pen-kit/set

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T.Rob  

@Eponine @Brisse The Jr. George kit from Classic Nib looks like a bit of an upgrade from the Berea kit. Metal threads, from what I can tell. Better looking nib but then I don't know what to look for. A bit higher priced but first one I've seen with metal threads.

classicnib.com/component-sets-

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Angela Balzac, of DEVA  

@tdotrob I regret clicking that link and looking around the site... because if there's a fancy ass rhodium pen (the Elegant Emporer) you know I'm going to gush over it... And now my shopping list for stuff for myself is much larger. @Eponine

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T.Rob  

@Brisse I feel horrible, just HORRIBLE I say, that I turned you on to that web site. 😂

I recommend you add the following to your list of daily affirmations:

Elegant Emperor is a penguin, not a pen.

(Repeat thrice daily as needed. May cause headaches or irritability. Do not chant affirmations while operating heavy machinery.)

@Eponine

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Angela Balzac, of DEVA  

@tdotrob Meanwhile, my dollar bills 💸 just flying into their pockets. @Eponine

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@tdotrob @Brisse 😂 That shiny blue penguin looks mighty handsome

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@tdotrob @Brisse I can’t tell from the picture - you kinda have to try them out to see how they write .. and the feed has to be able to keep up with the ink demand.

I like the look and description for these: classicnib.com/heritance-nibs

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Angela Balzac, of DEVA  

@Eponine Ohh! Speaking of things, PSI's kits don't use standard size nibs. They were all over the penturners forums for a while, so that info is still there if you want to search it up. 🤔 There are kits out there that do, and PSI kits made before 2013 do, but newer ones do not. @tdotrob

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@Brisse @tdotrob right, why would they make it easier for us? They want us to buy their special nibs. Bah. Pass on the PSI stuff.

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@tdotrob @Brisse Could you put an ultra flex nib from fprevolutionusa.com/ onto a nice body? I love their nibs, but the pen bodies are hideous.

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@tdotrob @Brisse This is the kit I found and I didn’t think it looked very good. pennstateind.com/store/PKCLFPS

I just looked again and found many more single pen kits. With fountain pens, the body tends to be less important than the nib, IMO. Don’t get me wrong, you want a nicely balanced pen when, but the nib should be smooth w a bit of feedback. I personally like line variation and a flexible nib. I’m guessing that the nibs that come w these pens probably aren’t the best.

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Angela Balzac, of DEVA  

@Eponine 😂 I'm with you on that I never liked the demonstrator fountain pens, but always thought it'd be cool for a normal twist pen. Its been so long since I personallt y used a PSI fountain pen I don't remember how their nibs are. @tdotrob

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In mourning. RIP 🇺🇸  

@Brisse @tdotrob Just checked out the Nouveau Sceptre. I like it!

This one also looks neat. pennstateind.com/store/PKVICFP

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