(Andrew Lensky) My own fully designed and handmade fountain pens

[Dillo]

  On 11/29/2024 at 2:52 PM, Andrew_L said:

My new FP concept/prototype - Andrew Lensky “Nefertiti” DeLuxe

 

 

(own) Andrew Lensky “Nefertiti” | Andrew Lensky | fountain pens | drawings | design | photography

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Very beautiful design! Do you think you could choose another material for the ring closest to the nib? Brass is not a very ink resistant material and corrode when exposed to ink, especially that close to the nib, even if it is plated. The Montblanc 144 is a very good example of this, and many of them have corroded trim rings near the nib. Either if it can be a solid gold ring or a different contrasting color material or color anodized titanium. I almost wonder if contrasting color anodized titanium may be good for the trims of this pen, seeing some of the colors in Egyptian works.

 

I am very excited to see a pen in this shape, and I provide some feedback because I'm very interested in the pen. Perhaps if it becomes a purchasable model one day, I would consider buying one.

[Andrew_L]

  On 1/3/2025 at 3:20 AM, Dillo said:

corrode when exposed to ink

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Thank you so much!

You are confusing corrosion and oxidation. Brass can oxidize, but it does not corrode like steel/iron. Montblanc 144 uses steel in ring (usual, not stainless steel) which is gold-plated, so is why it corrodes so fast. The same is true for the Pelikan M800, but the Pelikan has a little better and thicker gold-plating. Brass can tarnish over time, but the shine is easily restored with jewelry wipes for silver and gold items.

 

Sorry, but I don't work with other metals like titan and don't have equipment for anodize, but you can order gold or silver rings from your nearest jeweler. I can make such a pen to order without rings at all.

[Dillo]

  On 1/4/2025 at 11:40 AM, Andrew_L said:

 

Thank you so much!

You are confusing corrosion and oxidation. Brass can oxidize, but it does not corrode like steel/iron. Montblanc 144 uses steel in ring (usual, not stainless steel) which is gold-plated, so is why it corrodes so fast. The same is true for the Pelikan M800, but the Pelikan has a little better and thicker gold-plating. Brass can tarnish over time, but the shine is easily restored with jewelry wipes for silver and gold items.

 

Sorry, but I don't work with other metals like titan and don't have equipment for anodize, but you can order gold or silver rings from your nearest jeweler. I can make such a pen to order without rings at all.

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Brass can corrode as well. Some of the vintage pens I've had to fix have had very serious corrosion of the brass where parts were eaten away. It tends to be where one of the alloying metals is eaten away, leaving the copper behind. Oftentimes this causes plating to come off from the surface and there is brass beneath. I've done some polishing and analysis, and it is indeed brass there. Brass indeed does corrode, however it does not "rust" because rust is exclusive to iron containing alloys.

 

I know about the Pelikan M800, and the trim ring from what I was able to find out in my testing appears to be an austenitic stainless steel which prevents corrosion and rusting. (It still does pit and corrode in some cases, but not often). I'm not sure if the Montblanc 144 was plain steel. When I had them, the ones I've seen certainly did not look like plain steel. I've handled a few, and it seems that they may have used different materials over the production. Unlike the M800 I have not done analysis on the rings themselves. Most pens I've handled with corroded trim rings had brass rings, not steel ones. Usually it appears and there are spots where the plating has come off and there's presence of verdigris.

[Andrew_L]

  On 1/4/2025 at 12:31 PM, Dillo said:

Brass indeed does corrode, however it does not "rust"

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Sure, thanks for discussion.

In addition to brass, there is also bronze, which could also be used in vintage items include pen parts. Yes, I agree, I did not express myself correctly, brass can oxidize but does not rust. The 144 that I had and lost the famous ring before nib were made of steel, I don't know the type of this steel, but it is definitely steel and this is not stainless steel definitely. I also had old pens any brands, and some has emerald-green coating(often on press-bar inside barrel), but not a single detail lost its properties, unlike steel ones, some were destroyed by rust. The only 2 times when I saw corroded brass were two OMAS from the 80s, where a thin ring before piston knob crumbled into blue-emerald debris. I make quite thick rings, so I don't think they will have time to oxidize so much that they fall apart, and they have definitely 50-100 years for using :)). In the usual life of an ordinary modern people, there is hardly such an acid-moist environment to eat copper from brass, even in 10-20 years.

 

ps: after your post I read a little about brass, bronze and patina and it turned out that there is such a thing as "bronze disease" which can be caused by the combination of acetate and copper, it is a destructive patina, and this may explain why I have seen destroyed rings on OMAS and why the brass parts on vintage celluloid pens was always gold-plated. Although in those days it was more to do with attractiveness and shine than to protect the brass.

[Dillo]

Another thought that came to me, is what if the brass ring can be integrated into the cap design instead? This can get around some of the issue. You may also want to have a very small unthreaded portion on the grip section between the threads and the grip. With the design you have, sometimes ink wicks down the threaded area and starts seeping out between the cap and grip seam when the pen is closed. This would happen if the pen is carried and the ink splashes from the nib to the cap. This short unthreaded area will prevent this.

 

In the cap, you will also want a very small unthreaded area before the threads start (You may have this in the design already). This will make it easier to cap the pen because you can get the cap seated over the nib and it will align the threads before you start screwing the cap down. I'm just mentioning this here because it's a common pitfall in some of these designs where the cap only covers the nib and not the grip section (Pilot Penmanship/Plumix and Jinhao Shark for example)

[Andrew_L]

  On 1/5/2025 at 11:53 AM, Dillo said:

Another thought

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First of all, thanks for the advice and interest in improving.

 

a) there are had parts behind the thread before section without thread, it is closed by ring (~1-1.5mm):))
b) if you shake any pen (jump with it) you can spray ink from nib into cap, it is advisable to avoid this, but if this happens, immediately need to clean the cap and wipe the section. But I have a "Jack Knife" in the cap, so even if the ink splatters, it will stay near the nib and theoretical not get on the thread.
c) because I have a "Jack Knife" in the cap, the thread is positioned correctly and there is no skew. A part without a thread at the beginning will greatly increase the gap between grip and nib, which will not be convenient for many users.

 

As soon as I have a free time, I promise, I will definitely fill the pen and tested for any cons. I understand one, that when filling through the nib, the thread will get dirty by ink, but this cannot be avoided, it is a nuance of this design.

[Andrew_L]

  On 8/31/2024 at 3:43 PM, Andrew_L said:

Coming soon ...

 

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"Coming soon. .... 2"

 

For almost half a year, since the previous "coming soon...", I have been thinking about the design of my own oversize, and finally, I am starting to get closer to the way I want to see it. For this reason, I decided to create a prototype from various remnants. So, coming soon, meet the new Andrew Lensky "Grandeur" with #8 nib on Bock 380 nib unit:))

 

[Misfit]

All your pen creations have been looking really great. The small rings of red on that black pen in your last photo are fantastic. 

[Dillo]

I do love the red rings as well

[Andrew_L]

@Misfit @Dillo Thank you very much! This is orange (coral) ebonite))

[Andrew_L]

"Grandeur" - already is no prototype, but still without a description, review, and test.

 

[Andrew_L]

Reviewed: (own) Andrew Lensky “Grandeur” (oversize) | Andrew Lensky | fountain pens | drawings | design | photography

 

[Andrew_L]

Because firstly, I designed section to the Schmidt K6 converter, and only then, upon community request, made a section to the Pilot Con-70 converter, the option of creating a Grandeur based on the Schmidt K6 also remained, but fully realized just now.

 

 

(own) Andrew Lensky “Grandeur” (oversize) | Andrew Lensky | fountain pens | drawings | design | photography

 

[Andrew_L]

For those who asked me about the clip for my Tribute. Of course, this is not a true clip, or rather, not quite a clip, and even more precisely, it is more of a temporary stopper than clip, but despite everything, it can also be used as a clip without overloads.

 

Andrew Lensky “Tribute Vyshyvanka” proto w|JoWo 6 NU (handmade in Ukraine)

(own) Andrew Lensky “Tribute Vyshyvanka” | Andrew Lensky | fountain pens | drawings | design | photography

 

[Andrew_L]

Classic, Tribute Vyshyvanka, Tribute Visio, Grandeur

 

[txomsy]

It's a pity to be poor!

 

Thankfully, I have already too many pens to console myself.

[Andrew_L]

@txomsy Things are just things, what matters is what's inside you. Thank you.🤝

 

Related next mini project -  useful things for notebooks and journaling: own paperclip from logo :))

 

 

 

 

[txomsy]

You are really an artist

[Andrew_L]

@txomsy Thank you so much!🙏

[essayfaire]

@Andrew_LDid you 3D print the useful things?