# Looking for a fat pen...



## khobson (Feb 17, 2013)

I have made several pens now, but have yet to find a roller ball kit that has the thickness at the bottom I am looking for. There are several that have good thickness in the body, but when you take the cap off you are left holding a fairly narrow pen. Anybody have any suggestions for a kit with a thicker bottom?
:dunno:

So far I have tried Jr Gent, Jr Statesman, Virage, Sedona, and Navigator


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## BassBlaster (Feb 17, 2013)

khobson said:


> I have made several pens now, but have yet to find a roller ball kit that has the thickness at the bottom I am looking for. There are several that have good thickness in the body, but when you take the cap off you are left holding a fairly narrow pen. Anybody have any suggestions for a kit with a thicker bottom?
> :dunno:
> 
> So far I have tried Jr Gent, Jr Statesman, Virage, Sedona, and Navigator



Did you try the Jr Gent or the Jr Gent II? The Gent II is a mid sized pen. The Gent is a full size pen allthough I havnt messed with them so I dont know how big they actually are. I prefer the size of the Gent II personally. That and I dont care for the plastic threads on the larger Gent.

I know there are some larger pens out there but I cant think of anything larger in the rollerball variety.


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## WoodLove (Feb 17, 2013)

Its an inexpensive style but what about the Olympian Elite 2?


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## longbeard (Feb 17, 2013)

Atrax 10.5mm body - 12.5mm cap, i get mine from exoticblanks.com. Great prices and even better service. I think for the most part, on the capped pens, all of them will be close to same size where you grip the end. Now if you want a BIG pen, try the Majestic, its HUGE. Cigar pens, you can upgrade the refills also.
http://www.exoticblanks.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=8676&category_id=174&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=60


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## BassBlaster (Feb 17, 2013)

longbeard said:


> Atrax 10.5mm body - 12.5mm cap, i get mine from exoticblanks.com. Great prices and even better service
> http://www.exoticblanks.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=8676&category_id=174&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=60



The Atrax is the same size as the Jr. II series pens (Gent, Statesmen, etc.).

I'll second Exotics for componants. Rarely do I order from anywhere else. Ed and Dawn are great. Best customer service in the industry IMO.


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## longbeard (Feb 17, 2013)

BassBlaster said:


> khobson said:
> 
> 
> > I have made several pens now, but have yet to find a roller ball kit that has the thickness at the bottom I am looking for. There are several that have good thickness in the body, but when you take the cap off you are left holding a fairly narrow pen. Anybody have any suggestions for a kit with a thicker bottom?
> ...



DUH :dash2::dash2: maybe i should read all the posts befor i comment.


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## Final Strut (Feb 17, 2013)

I have a couple of Senior Gent kits from Timberbit that should be here anyday. I am chomping at the bit to get one done because I too have been looking for a bigger pen. I will let you know my take on them as soon as I can get one turned.


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## khobson (Feb 17, 2013)

Final Strut said:


> I have a couple of Senior Gent kits from Timberbit that should be here anyday. I am chomping at the bit to get one done because I too have been looking for a bigger pen. I will let you know my take on them as soon as I can get one turned.



I'll look forward to hearing your thoughts,,,,


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## khobson (Feb 17, 2013)

BassBlaster said:


> khobson said:
> 
> 
> > I have made several pens now, but have yet to find a roller ball kit that has the thickness at the bottom I am looking for. There are several that have good thickness in the body, but when you take the cap off you are left holding a fairly narrow pen. Anybody have any suggestions for a kit with a thicker bottom?
> ...



I believe it was a Jr Gent II from Timberbits...


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## khobson (Feb 17, 2013)

WoodLove said:


> Its an inexpensive style but what about the Olympian Elite 2?



This might be an option....how hard is it to swap out the clips? I don't put my pen in my shirt pocket but slide it above a button on my shirt and the clip styles that turn upward at the end work a lot better.


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## WoodLove (Feb 17, 2013)

I have an Olympian Elite 2 I made from desert Ironwood. Ill post the pic for you and you can see if it will work for you. Its definitely ROBUST PEN..... almost a rotund pen..... a big'ol fattie....lol


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## khobson (Feb 17, 2013)

longbeard said:


> Atrax 10.5mm body - 12.5mm cap, i get mine from exoticblanks.com. Great prices and even better service. I think for the most part, on the capped pens, all of them will be close to same size where you grip the end. Now if you want a BIG pen, try the Majestic, its HUGE. Cigar pens, you can upgrade the refills also.
> http://www.exoticblanks.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=8676&category_id=174&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=60


 I was looking at the Atrax the other day and although I will probably give it a try...it sure looks similar in thickness to others like you said. I basically want the thickness of a Majestic at the bottom without carrying around a pen that weighs my shirt down. I favor a pen with a cap to avoid the blue nipple that invariably results when I put my pen back in my shirt without retracting the tip! :dash2::


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## WoodLove (Feb 17, 2013)

Here is the Olympian Elite 2...

[attachment=18569]


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## khobson (Feb 17, 2013)

WoodLove said:


> Here is the Olympian Elite 2...



That looks good! Do you have a pic with the cap off?


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## BarbS (Feb 17, 2013)

khobson said:


> WoodLove said:
> 
> 
> > Here is the Olympian Elite 2...
> ...



I did a couple of those. Here are one in Cherry and one in Walnut, both open for you to see the tips:
[attachment=18576]
[attachment=18577]


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## WoodLove (Feb 17, 2013)

The pens look great Barb. Thanks for posting those pics as I have none with the caps off.



BarbS said:


> khobson said:
> 
> 
> > WoodLove said:
> ...


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## Mrfish55 (Feb 18, 2013)

Do you want a capped pen? Take a look at the pen swap pictures, I did a cigar with moose antler for bassblaster, probably the most robust pen I've done to date, big ol heavy beast, looks and feels great in the hand but you better be a body builder if your planning to write a novel with it.


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## Patrude (Feb 18, 2013)

khobson said:


> I have made several pens now, but have yet to find a roller ball kit that has the thickness at the bottom I am looking for. There are several that have good thickness in the body, but when you take the cap off you are left holding a fairly narrow pen. Anybody have any suggestions for a kit with a thicker bottom?
> :dunno:
> 
> So far I have tried Jr Gent, Jr Statesman, Virage, Sedona, and Navigator



WoodCraft Supply carries a Cambridge Hybrid that is of the larger diameter family, it has nice character and good balance. comes in rollerball and fountain pen.


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## khobson (Feb 18, 2013)

BarbS said:


> khobson said:
> 
> 
> > WoodLove said:
> ...


Thanks for the pics....those appear to have the thickness I am looking for, BTW....great job on the pens!


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## khobson (Feb 18, 2013)

Mrfish55 said:


> Do you want a capped pen? Take a look at the pen swap pictures, I did a cigar with moose antler for bassblaster, probably the most robust pen I've done to date, big ol heavy beast, looks and feels great in the hand but you better be a body builder if your planning to write a novel with it.



A capped pen is heavily preferred. I did see you moose antler cigar pen, complete with its one-of-a-kind, make us all drool pen box.....that is the thickness range I am after....just in a capped variety. I would love to know how you approached making the box if you are willing to share.


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## Mrfish55 (Feb 18, 2013)

Pretty basic box really, next time I make one Ill get some pics.


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## BassBlaster (Feb 18, 2013)

Mrfish55 said:


> Pretty basic box really, next time I make one Ill get some pics.



The box is very cool. Took me a minute to figure out how to open it cause I didnt want to pull something the wrong way and break it. I had to inspect all the joints to figure out what was glued and what wasnt so I knew how it worked.

The only thing I havnt figured out is how the foam got fitted to the pen.


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## Mrfish55 (Feb 18, 2013)

The foam was laser cut to the pens profile and then wrapped in synthetic swede, still trying to find material that has nice texture and two way stretch so it conforms better, I actually had to replace a box, the guy thought I sealed it and he bust it open, then figured out how it worked, mayby I need to include an instruction sheet.


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## Hubert (Feb 19, 2013)

This one has a larger tip end to it.

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKMAJGP.html


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## BassBlaster (Feb 19, 2013)

Mrfish55 said:


> The foam was laser cut to the pens profile and then wrapped in synthetic swede, still trying to find material that has nice texture and two way stretch so it conforms better, I actually had to replace a box, the guy thought I sealed it and he bust it open, then figured out how it worked, mayby I need to include an instruction sheet.



I dont know why it didnt cross my mind that you laser cut the foam as well. I like the material you covered it with. I think it conforms nicely. I can see every detail of then pen, in the case and it fits nice and snug.

The box wasnt to hard to figure out once I checked all the seams to see what was attached and what wasnt but yeah, I could see an issue for someone that dosnt do woodworking and may not know what to look for.


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## rdabpenman (Feb 20, 2013)

You might consider the Rineheart rollerball.

Les

http://i539.Rule #2/albums/ff357/LesinRedDeer/Pen%20Turning/DSC01471.jpg
http://i539.Rule #2/albums/ff357/LesinRedDeer/Pen%20Turning/DSC03233.jpg
http://i539.Rule #2/albums/ff357/LesinRedDeer/Pen%20Turning/DSC03253.jpg
http://i539.Rule #2/albums/ff357/LesinRedDeer/Pen%20Turning/DSC03244.jpg


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## Final Strut (Feb 25, 2013)

I just posted that Senior gent that I had talked about earlier in this thread over here http://woodbarter.com/showthread.php?tid=5509. It is most definately a beefy pen.


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