Show Us Your Oblique Penholders!

[MusinkMan]

Here is a new Unique Oblique that I completed today. I love this pen...the long handle is made from White/Black Ebony (also known as Pale Moon Ebony). It is an ivory colored ebony wood with dark black tendrils running through the grain. Rare and expensive, that darned stuff. The grip is Polyanna Burl (also a rare exotic), and the foot is my standard Gabon Ebony. Using black wood for the foot helps to mask any ink stains that may accidentally appear when the pen is dunked too deep into the pot. (Don't you just hate it when that happens???) LOL This is a long one...about 11 3/8 inches or 29 cm in lenght. Very cool pen staff though! I betcha no one else shows up with a longtail Pale Moon Ebony pen at your calligraphy guild! :-) As with all of my stuff, it's a one-off. Pardon the jargon I wrote on the bottom photo...this is a photo I'm using for Etsy and I had already inserted the text.

 

 

Edited July 7, 2013 by MusinkMan

[thang1thang2]

Do you pre-align the flange per Joe Vitolo's recommendations so that the angle of the nib to paper is less than it normally would be? Just wondering as you said it was "perfectly aligned" and what not.

 

Beautiful holder, though! I just love how you can repeat the same design over and over and yet it seems so different and unique every time. Those are definitely holders I could buy a dozen of and never be able to pick a favorite (and I'd certainly be able to tell them apart!)

 

And another question, as I just randomly thought of it. what lathe do you use for turning the pens? Good lathes are expensive, and I've always been interested in giving it a shot; it'd be cool to know what you use (although you can PM me that if you want to!). I'll have to wait a while to save up for anything silly like that, though. It'd take a long time to become as skilled as you to where I can pay off the lathe by making items on it.

[MusinkMan]

Hello Thangster

 

Thanks for the nice words bro!

 

I do try to allign it according to my taste, but everyone probably likes them a little bit different. What I mean by perfectly aligning is that I make sure the center of the nib is aligned with the centerline of the shaft. I thought it was important to mention that, since this flange is epoxy'd and pinned; and cannot be removed. If a flange is not properly angled once the glue sets up, it's too bad. LOL Adjusting the rake angle and canting the nib slightly toward the handle probably varies from person to person. In answer to your question, I do set it up to my liking. It's a brass flange though, and can easily be bent-adjusted as per Dr. Joe's instructions.

 

My lathe, I'm not sure what kind...I bought it from Rockler. It's a mini-lathe After I received it, I found that I had to buy some decent lathe chisels, then a Nova chuck, then a morse taper drill chuck, and it just went on and on. LOL! The lathe itself was about $300 which wasn't bad, but by the time I got all that other stuff I needed, it ran up to over $600! Then of course I had to find a place to set all that up, so I had to build another workbench...and so it goes...on and on and on...a money pit brother; a money pit with 2 spindles attached. hahaha But what the hell, you only live once.

[thang1thang2]

It's a money pit, all right! But I think it's worth it. It makes such beautiful pens when you use it.

 

Besides, it's not like that money was going to anything useful like clothing or food, anyway...

And just think, in like 3 years it'll pay for itself!

[Stompie]

Great looking holder.

 

Personally, I would like one in that Pale moon ebony all the way through! Looks fantastic!

[caliken]

Another superbly-crafted holder, MusinkMan. I personally, like your imaginative and tasteful use of the different materials. They lift the appearance out of the oprdinary. IMO.

 

Ken

[thang1thang2]

I quite agree, Ken.

 

As to musinkman, if you ever get stumped for inspiration in what to do with the oblique holder design, you could look up custom made wood pens. They're essentially the "same thing" just with a hole in the middle instead of on the side. And, of course, some designs aren't possible due to how narrow one makes the holder, but I still find it interesting to see what other people come up with! The oblique holder "market" tends to be dominated by one wood compositions, so I love seeing you put so many different types of wood in there.

[hzsimms]

Hi all, have really been enjoying this topic! I've been fixing up old fountain pens for years and years but only recently got interested in calligraphy and, thereby, oblique pen holders. I bought a few but it looked like it might be enjoyable to actually make them. I have a lathe and had some dowel rods laying around so I had at it. An obsession was born. The first few you'd rather not see, and I certainly haven't graduated to professional status, but I figured I'd post some of what I've done and get some good advice from you folks. Dan and Musinkman have already helped out with some of my questions and I really appreciate it.

 

 

The pen on the far left and the one below and to the right of it are ebonite. I only had the black ebonite rod (I use it occasionally to make replacement fountain pen parts) so after I finished the first one, the one that is solid black, I turned some more, added some different colored paints and polyurethaned the heck out of them.

 

 

The pen in the middle of the top row and the one to the left of it are the only two I've turned out of "exotic" wood. The middle one is Zebra Wood and the one on the left is Indian Blackwood (which is about as easy to turn as marble!).

 

Obviously, most of my early efforts involved the PIA style flange that goes all the way through the pen at an angle. I cut the end of the pen holder to match that angle. The latest two (the far right two in the first photo) are traditional Zanerian type flanges wedged in with wood. I've found that, particularly in smaller holders like the carrot style, the angled end method is very easy to write with. The larger the pen, though, the more awkward that style is, at least in my humble, newbie opinion.

 

Also, on most of these, you can see a little brass tube sticking out of the flange. On those, I made the flange to hold a universal nib holder, like the one in the ends of dip pens. I put the nib holder in a 7mm brass tube with a little epoxy then made the flange around that. I use mostly Hunt 56, Nikko G, and Blue Pumpkin nibs and they all fit the universal holder very well. I know that's not much of a purist way to do it, but it's worked for me. The others I've made a typical flange for (thanks to DanF for the advice).

 

At any rate, this is my contribution thus far. I've finally gotten in my shipment of exotic woods and am looking forward to gluing some up (thanks to Musinkman for the advice here) and making pens out of something other than Home Depot dowel rods for a change.

 

Howard Simms

Edited July 9, 2013 by hzsimms

[MusinkMan]

Lookin' good, Howard! Nice work and be warned that this little hobby can be every bit as addictive as penmanship. PM me with any Q's and I'll do my best to help ya out! I giggled when I read about the Indian Blackwood turning like marble. Some of those woods are so hard (especially the burls) that it really does feel like a piece of stone. Dulls the chisels quickly, so a tip is to always make sure your chisels are razor sharp. Invest in a good sharpening stone if you don't already have one, and don't skrimp on this...it is one of the most important "tools" for this little endeavor you've embarked upon. :-)

 

Check out this gal if you wanna see some world class lathe work (not pens, but plenty of inspiration for pens in her work).

 

http://cindydrozda.com/

[MusinkMan]

  On 7/8/2013 at 11:51 AM, caliken said:

Another superbly-crafted holder, MusinkMan. I personally, like your imaginative and tasteful use of the different materials. They lift the appearance out of the oprdinary. IMO.

 

Ken

 

Thank you, Ken! I appreciate your words sir!

[MusinkMan]

  On 7/8/2013 at 10:22 AM, Stompie said:

Great looking holder.

 

Personally, I would like one in that Pale moon ebony all the way through! Looks fantastic!

 

 

I know what you mean about the Pale Moon Ebony...but it's rare stuff and I didn't have a piece that long. I only have one block of it which I was lucky enough to get for a decent price. I have enough of it left to make a couple more holders and I may make one totally out of that wood, but it will be shorter than this one. When it comes to exotic woods, the price seems to go up exponentially with the length of the wood. In other words, the price of a piece that is 8 inches long will eclipse the price of 2 pieces that are 4 inces long. It gets crazy, particularly when you start buying the really good stuff!

[smk]

Howard - it is refreshing to see another original take on our beloved oblique holders. Thank you for sharing the pictures.

 

I think you will find using the round flanges a bit limiting over time but it does make things easier for the nibs that do fit in it. I find the angled cut much easier to use when dipping and am glad to know that others do too.

 

Salman

[MisterBoll]

  On 7/9/2013 at 2:22 AM, hzsimms said:

At any rate, this is my contribution thus far. I've finally gotten in my shipment of exotic woods and am looking forward to gluing some up (thanks to Musinkman for the advice here) and making pens out of something other than Home Depot dowel rods for a change.

 

Howard Simms

 

Very nice pens. Do you have a web site?

[Stompie]

  On 7/9/2013 at 3:58 AM, MusinkMan said:

I only have one block of it which I was lucky enough to get for a decent price. I have enough of it left to make a couple more holders and I may make one totally out of that wood, but it will be shorter than this one.

Oh, that is nice to know that you still have some left - I could do with a nice short one, thick stem. That wood just has very nice shades to it and I like it a lot. Let me know when, what, $ etc. Bro, I am very interested!

[Stompie]

  On 7/9/2013 at 2:22 AM, hzsimms said:

 

Wow, some very nice work there!

[hzsimms]

  On 7/9/2013 at 4:33 AM, smk said:

Howard - it is refreshing to see another original take on our beloved oblique holders. Thank you for sharing the pictures.

 

I think you will find using the round flanges a bit limiting over time but it does make things easier for the nibs that do fit in it. I find the angled cut much easier to use when dipping and am glad to know that others do too.

 

Salman

Salman, you are absolutely right about the "limiting" nature of the round nib holder. There are some nibs, either too big or too small, that it just won't cooperate with. At which point I get out my trusty wire bending pliers, a sheet of brass and start using profanity!

[hzsimms]

  On 7/9/2013 at 5:50 AM, Stompie said:

Wow, some very nice work there!

Thanks Stompie, I appreciate the kind words.

[hzsimms]

  On 7/9/2013 at 4:46 AM, MisterBoll said:

 

Very nice pens. Do you have a web site?

MisterBoll, thanks, I appreciate that. At this point, I do not have a web site. I'm still a newbie at this sort of thing and learning my way around. I can always hope!

[hzsimms]

  On 7/9/2013 at 3:52 AM, MusinkMan said:

Lookin' good, Howard! Nice work and be warned that this little hobby can be every bit as addictive as penmanship. PM me with any Q's and I'll do my best to help ya out! I giggled when I read about the Indian Blackwood turning like marble. Some of those woods are so hard (especially the burls) that it really does feel like a piece of stone. Dulls the chisels quickly, so a tip is to always make sure your chisels are razor sharp. Invest in a good sharpening stone if you don't already have one, and don't skrimp on this...it is one of the most important "tools" for this little endeavor you've embarked upon. :-)

 

Check out this gal if you wanna see some world class lathe work (not pens, but plenty of inspiration for pens in her work).

 

http://cindydrozda.com/

Thanks MusinkMan, I do appreciate all the help thus far. Yeah, I've learned the hard way about sharpening the lathe tools. I tried one with a bench grinder and the grinding wheel that came with it. Stupid, I know. As you can imagine, I wound up with something similar to an icepick. But it's an icepick with a nice handle!

[MisterBoll]

  On 7/9/2013 at 3:40 PM, hzsimms said:

MisterBoll, thanks, I appreciate that. At this point, I do not have a web site. I'm still a newbie at this sort of thing and learning my way around. I can always hope!

 

Do let me know when you have something for sale. Thanks!