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Small fountain pen

D

Darth Davros

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Aug 16, 2017
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Martin
Hi folks I have been asked to make a fountain pen for a rather small lady, do any of you know of any good quality small pen kits? Preferably feminine in nature, whatever that means :scratch_head::winking:

Cheers
 
flexi

flexi

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mark
Small and thin.....has to be the Beaufort Mistreal....or the Artisan from Axminster.....there the thinest i know:thinks:
 
Phil Dart

Phil Dart

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The Beaufort Mistral is (almost) the slimmest fountain pen on the market. There is only one other that is slimmer that I'm aware of, which is the Berea "New Style". The drawback of that though is that the male cap connector thread component fits on the outside of the tube rather than the inside, which means that you have to cut away some of your blank on the lathe to expose the tube - similar to the Parker type Euro and Flat top pens, if you've ever turned either of them. Doing so is fraught with problems, more so if you turn between bushes rather than turn between centres, and is a big no-no for me, even when turning between centres.
 
Bammer

Bammer

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The issue is not the size of the turned pen, they all have to be able to take the cartridge and the convertor, so your limited with the finished size.

I've tried the Berea new series, it wasn't difficult but the finished look of the pen wasn't to my taste, I think i gave the rest of the kits away to Flexi :funny:

Don't know how he got on with them
 
silver

silver

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Eamonn.
The used to be a couple of small fountain pens, the one I posted recently here was one of the slimmest in Diameter as I can remember at 10.3mm Dia.

There was also the original American FP, that was just over 11mm Dia but was shorter and would only store one cartridge if I remember rightly. Pic below.

bog oak fountain pen-2.JPG

The Americana had its problems and wasn't that popular due to the little rubber 'O' rings that had to be fitted to prevent the cap coming loose. But we sold quite a few to ladies due to them being small. Not come across come so small since.

I think there is a market for a smaller FP, but if you do find anything keep us all posted..
 
D

Darth Davros

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Norfolk, UK
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Martin
Thanks chaps for the quick responses. The Americana looks adorable in that photo but I’m not really in love with the shape. The Berea "New Style" sounds like way too much faffing to me. The Artisan from Axminster is really not a great looking pen and the exposed end grain cap is a deal killer. Now the Beaufort Mistral is a real beauty! I have drooled at the examples shown in this forum, I think I will end up with going with that kit but I may pick up and “practice” on a couple of the Traditional / Conservative kits first. She wants and I quote “a gloriously pink pen please” so I will be getting a few very pink blanks to see what they look like in the flesh and I may as well dress a few pens while I’m at it :winking:

Again thanks for the replies folks
 
Chriscb

Chriscb

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Does small equal light for your lady? The omega from taylorsmirfiled has a narrow grip at the pointed end, and is lighter than the mistral ( of which I have bought around 20 to date as it’s a really high class pen). As for pink ..... pink ivory has a really good grain ans is errr pink. Not bright though.

Chriscb
 
G

Gregory Hardy

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Upper New York State
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Greg
silver said:
The used to be a couple of small fountain pens, the one I posted recently here was one of the slimmest in Diameter as I can remember at 10.3mm Dia.

There was also the original American FP, that was just over 11mm Dia but was shorter and would only store one cartridge if I remember rightly. Pic below.

View attachment 34510

The Americana had its problems and wasn't that popular due to the little rubber 'O' rings that had to be fitted to prevent the cap coming loose. But we sold quite a few to ladies due to them being small. Not come across come so small since.

I think there is a market for a smaller FP, but if you do find anything keep us all posted..
Click to expand...

A pen available on this side that is identical in appearance to the one pictured by Eamonn (but no rubber gasket and nicer casting/plating) is the "Classic Elite" from PSI. I certainly won't compare quality to the Mistral, but the overall finished diameters make it a very nice "smaller pen." Start out planning to upgrade with a Bock nib for the sake of quality and I think you'll be happy with the result. I make a lot of these and sell them with both the fountain and roller ball sections as a "flexible set" and customers love them.
 
silver

silver

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Somewhere in Staffordshire,
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Eamonn.
Gregory Hardy said:
A pen available on this side that is identical in appearance to the one pictured by Eamonn (but no rubber gasket and nicer casting/plating) is the "Classic Elite" from PSI. I certainly won't compare quality to the Mistral, but the overall finished diameters make it a very nice "smaller pen." Start out planning to upgrade with a Bock nib for the sake of quality and I think you'll be happy with the result. I make a lot of these and sell them with both the fountain and roller ball sections as a "flexible set" and customers love them.
Click to expand...

I agree its similar but the ones sold are all "postable" which makes the pens quite long. Non postable may be better but I don't believe its available currently.
 
Penpal

Penpal

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May 26, 2013
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Martin have you shown the said lady or sought her opinion. I have learned over the 65 yrs with my best friend who I thought I knew very well that my own preferences,predudices in pens sometimes were not those of hers. If its a surprise or present your on your own mate,good luck with your choices.

Peter.:thinks:
 
G

Gregory Hardy

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Upper New York State
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silver said:
I agree its similar but the ones sold are all "postable" which makes the pens quite long. Non postable may be better but I don't believe its available currently.
Click to expand...

I wonder if the same pen might be done with a closed end...? The cap is short, the barrel is long, but it's a fairly comfortable pen in general. My very small-handed wife is using one and is delighted. Just a thought.
 
D

Darth Davros

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Aug 16, 2017
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Norfolk, UK
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Martin
Thank you all for your kind replies. I put an order in with pen-kits.co.uk for a couple of the Conservative Fountain Pens to have a play around with, along with some pink acrylic blanks. I thought I would try the less expensive pens first before trying a mistral :winking:
 
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