# it's not wood, but you can write with it (kitless fountain pen)



## duncsuss (May 31, 2013)

A while back, a penmaker on the IAP and Fountain Pen Network organized a group-buy of taps for the Esterbrook renew-point fountain pen nib units, and I joined in.

It took me a couple of attempts to make one that worked, but I finally managed to make a nib section that holds the nib unit in one end and a cartridge-converter in the other, and hasn't let go of either in a couple of days testing.

I decided to try making the clip-ring hidden, but experimenting on some scrap acrylic pieces taught me that none of my existing tools were fine enough to cut the groove that the ring seats in. I have a couple of old files that I'd repurposed as scrapers, I ground down the tang of one of these into a very narrow square-end scraper -- it did the job nicely.

Cap-barrel threads are 12mm x 0.75, barrel-section threads 9mm x 0.75. The cap posts (but I forgot to take a photo of it posted). Thanks for looking.


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## DKMD (May 31, 2013)

Nice work, Duncan!


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## rdabpenman (May 31, 2013)

Looks great from here.
Don't know why they keep calling these "Kitless" when they use pen kit parts?
When not call them "Modified"?
Les


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## duncsuss (May 31, 2013)

DKMD said:


> Nice work, Duncan!



Thanks


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## BassBlaster (May 31, 2013)

rdabpenman said:


> Looks great from here.
> Don't know why they keep calling these "Kitless" when they use pen kit parts?
> When not call them "Modified"?
> Les



I dont like the term "kitless" either but I also dont like "kit". I prefer "componants".

To answer your question though, he used a nib, a feed and a clip. The rest of the pen is completely handmade. All the items he didnt make can be purchased individually rather than using parts from a "kit". IMO, the guys that have the tooling and the talent to do this, show the difference from a pen turner and a pen maker. Me, Im a turner. I still need "kits".

Nice work by the way. Ill get there one day, lol!!


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## duncsuss (May 31, 2013)

rdabpenman said:


> Looks great from here.
> Don't know why they keep calling these "Kitless" when they use pen kit parts?
> When not call them "Modified"?
> Les



Thanks 

I don't know about others, but if I'd started with a kit (such as making a Jr Gent with a closed end) I would have called it "modified".

These are the ingredients I started with:

(1) a chrome "Churchill" clip (available from exoticblanks.com)
(2) a piece of black ebonite rod
(3) a couple of pieces of green & black acrylic acetate

I turned, drilled, cut threads using taps and dies, sanded and polished.

Then I screwed an interchangeable Esterbrook nib unit into front end of the section I'd made, pushed an ink cartridge into its rear end, and screwed the barrel onto the section.

I honestly do not believe what I did constitutes using any part of a kit.


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## duncsuss (May 31, 2013)

BassBlaster said:


> I dont like the term "kitless" either but I also dont like "kit". I prefer "componants".
> 
> To answer your question though, he used a nib, a feed and a clip. The rest of the pen is completely handmade. All the items he didnt make can be purchased individually rather than using parts from a "kit". IMO, the guys that have the tooling and the talent to do this, show the difference from a pen turner and a pen maker. Me, Im a turner. I still need "kits".
> 
> Nice work by the way. Ill get there one day, lol!!



Thanks ... it's not that scary once you try it! (It does help if you have a handful of cheap blanks to practice on, a few months back Choice Woods was having a close-out sale and I picked up a dozen or so for 99 cents apiece ) )


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