"frosted" Oliver Karma Fp Review. Self Customised Finish.

[cjpandya]

Hello fellow FPNers,

 

So it was a lazy Sunday afternoon and i was in front of my laptop with a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

Beside my laptop was lying the Oliver Karma demonstrator. I had bought it quite a while ago and used it quite a lot. As a result. The clear acrylic barrel had developed scratches that scratched the eyes of the viewer. Also, it had not been factory polished from inside the barrel when i had bought it. It had the marks of lathe machine in it.

 

As i sipped my coffee, an idea struck me like a bolt. Perhaps the result of my strong brew! I thought, why not try and give it the "frosted" finish that has recently gained quite some popularity. And off i went to convert my thought into action.

 

The pen itself is an eyedropper as evident. Nothing complicated. Just unscrew the Barrel (Huge 20 turns to open it up!) and ink it up and you are good to go. Initially it burped sometimes. I found out it was due to loose fitting nib and feed. Fixed it up by tightening the nib and feed into the section. The issue was resolved.

 

The nib is okay in writing. Nothing to write home about but not bad either. Just average. Then again, its a 150 Rs pen. Quite decent for the price seeing that you get a hand turned clear acrylic barrel.

 

The original finish.

 

 

 

 

 

This how it came out after i used a bit of varied degree of sandpapering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The writing sample. My Instagram post (chintan_pandya)

 

 

[PolarMoonman]

I actually really like the finish. I think you did a good job with the finish and it does look "frosted" I like the idea, if I find a cheap demonstrator I may try it.

[cjpandya]

I actually really like the finish. I think you did a good job with the finish and it does look "frosted" I like the idea, if I find a cheap demonstrator I may try it.

Thanks a lot for the appreciation! It is sure worth trying if you like the finish. But let me just point out that if you plan on going ahead with this, please make sure the pen/barrel is made from an acrylic rod or something similar. Injection molded HARD PLASTIC will NOT take on this finish. It will just get scratched and look ugly. And also not all the acrylics are similar.

Edited March 9, 2015 by cjpandya

[PolarMoonman]

Injection molded HARD PLASTIC will NOT take on this finish. It will just get scratched and look ugly.

 

Unfortunately the pen I had in mind is plastic, I will have to try to find an acrylic pen to try this out on...

[cjpandya]

 

Unfortunately the pen I had in mind is plastic, I will have to try to find an acrylic pen to try this out on...

No worries! There are a lot of those out there!

[Scribero ergo sum]

Nifty idea, looks great. Makes me wonder how good it'd look using a superfine sandpaper (like the 2000 or 2500 grades available in autoparts stores).

 

One question: where can one purchase these pens now? They've been out of stock at asapens.com for a few months now.

 

Thanks.