Order Processing Update

Starting from 2022, I will be changing the way orders are being processed. 

There are a number of pre-paid orders that are awaiting delivery. These orders are for standard pen models. There are no customizations offered for these orders. When someone is ordering from the website, there is a general expectation that the order will be delivered within a reasonable amount of time. When such an order is placed, customers are being immediately informed about the lead time. In almost all cases so far, people have been extremely cooperative.

While I am trying to hire a helping hand, I still need to find a way so that I can serve customers better. Fast Track processing was one such initiative and many have taken advantage of this option. Similar to Fast Track, I will be adding the pre-paid orders to the work-queue. 

I am making the following changes in order processing effective January 2022:

1. For three-five weeks in every quarter, I will be processing the pre-paid orders. These may not be contiguous but rather scattered across.

2. You will see placeholders for pre-paid orders in the work-queue, however, the exact placement will only be clear at the beginning of each quarter. These placeholders will be marked as "Production Lot n". I can only communicate which lot your order falls into at the beginning of the quarter.

3. If you already have a pre-paid order in the existing work-queue, your order will be considered as part of this update and moved into the production lot. I will inform you accordingly.

4. All other orders including Fast Track orders will be on hold while I am processing pre-paid orders for that particular lot. Normal order processing will resume once the production lot is ready.

5. Pre-paid orders can  be Fast Tracked and will be given priority when the production lot is assigned.

I hope these changes make sense. I am looking forward to your feedback.

Thank you.

I am hiring!

Thanks to an overwhelming support from Pen Lovers around the world, my work queue has grown to a point where delivery has now stretched to more than 1.5 years. I need a pair of hands to help me with many of the tasks involved in making pens.

Here is an overall job description:

• Perform machining by studying engineering drawings
• Maintain specifications during machining operations such as drilling, cutting, turning, facing, threading etc. by taking measurements
• Perform sanding, polishing and buffing operations to produce best quality product
• Know how to sharpen and replace worn tools
• Basic knowledge of CNC and Computer operation
• 3D design knowledge will be nice to have

Qualification: Diploma/ITI Mechanical Engineer

Experience Required: 0-2 years

Job Location: Pune City area

Interested candidates can apply by email to - hiring@fosforpens.com.

Telescopic Piston Filler

In the 1950's, Montblanc came up with a piston filler popularly known as the "Telescopic Piston Filler". Pens made in that era which come with this filling mechanism are extremely sought after. This was an innovative design and what I consider to be an engineering marvel. Conceptually, it is not very difficult to understand how the filling mechanism works. However, it is very challenging to implement this design. It is believed that Montblanc discontinued making them because of the production costs.

When I first saw the telescopic piston filler, I was intrigued. I decided to make my own so that I can offer them on my pens. The detail of parts involved in making this filling mechanism is daunting. With limited capability to manufacture parts (essentially a mini lathe is all I have), I had to be innovative about how the telescopic mechanism is implemented. It took me months of research and several trials and failed attempts to finally make a Telescopic Piston Filler that works.

Most of the parts of this mechanism are made in brass. As a result, it does provide substantial weight to the body of the pen. The mechanism itself weighs about 22 Grams. The piston extends beyond the barrel threads so that the seal can be replaced easily. I use a delrin nut to secure the seal in its holder.

The seal can be either made in cork or an 'O' ring holder. A cork seal has to be made carefully to ensure that it provides just enough tension inside the barrel. If it is too tight the piston will disengage prematurely. While operating the piston, it has to be backed up against the section, so that it can fully retract while being filled.

Typical ink capacity of a pen fitted with this telescopic piston filler will be about 2.5 ml. This can be increased by making a longer piston. The brass insert nut that engages with the end cap is about 12mm diameter. Because of the size of the piston filler, the resulting pens will be slightly oversized.

This was a fun and exciting experience. Hope it excites others as well.

IRIS

Presenting the IRIS: a completely hand-made pen in a Uni-body design.

Over the past few months, I have been working on a new concept inspired by the innovative pen design of Stipula's Da Vinci and the Lamy Dialog 3. These are truly engineering marvels and I wanted to attempt a creation that, if not as elegant as these two, at least comes somewhat close.  After tinkering for months, I finally have succeeded in creating a functional pen that carries most of the design elements of a Uni-body pen.

The pen does not have a separate cap. The top of the pen has an Iris aperture blade which acts as a hatch. This iris has to be operated manually using the turning knob. The nib is then extended out of the body of the pen by simply turning the end knob at the bottom of the pen's body. It takes about three turns to fully extend the nib.

Filling the pen involves removing the top section and then removing the nib holder inside. Once the nib holder is removed, the pen can be filled using its converter. The use of separate nib holder also allows the pen to be fitted with either a standard cartridge or a converter.

The IRIS can be fitted with any size 5 nib, such as Jowo, Schmidt 340 or Bock 180 nib units.

Since the pen uses an iris for closing the top of the body, there is a small opening that remains after the iris is closed. This may result in the drying up of ink. To address this issue, I have added a magnetic thimble which seal the opening and fits precisely on top of the iris. The iris blades and the housing are both ferromagnetic, so that they hold the thimble securely in place.

When the thimble is removed, it can be placed at the back of the pen where another magnet holds it in place.

The clip is made of solid Sterling silver and so is the center band. To enable flexibility of the clip, a micro-slit is cut at the bottom of the clip:

Here are the technical specifications:

Length (closed): 131 mm
Length (with nib extended): 148 mm (this will also depend on the size of the nib)
Section Width: 13.8 mm
Overall Girth: 18 mm

The Dunnstor

The Dunn Pen company in New York made pens during the 1920's. One of the key features of their pens was the filling mechanism, which was patented at the time. It was a simple plunger based filler which worked more like a syringe filler. I had recently come across one of their models called the "Dreadnaught", which was their largest pen. These are extremely rare to find and whenever it show up for auction, it can easily fetch hundreds of dollars. I like different filling mechanism and I wanted to recreate this pen in my own way. So, here it is:

For this first prototype, which I am calling the "Dunnstor", I used materials that were easily available and also helped highlight the key features of this pen. The barrel is made of clear acrylic. The plunger itself is made of black ebonite and it is completely closed on the other end making it totally leak-proof. It has dual "O" rings that provide the best possible vacuum for pulling in ink. The simple plunger mechanism is operated by the knob at the bottom of the barrel. A few strokes of the plunger fills this pen up to an ink capacity of slightly more than 2.5ml. I think the ink capacity can be further increased by reducing the size of the plunger.


The end knob and plunger is guided by a simple stopper made in ebonite. This also secures the plunger and stops it from being pulled out of the barrel:

Another key feature of this pen is the cap itself. While filling the pen, the plunger itself has to be operated several times, which may result in an accidental damage to the nib. To avoid this, the top half of the cap unscrews to reveal an ink window for filling:

This ink window protects the tip of the nib from hitting the ink bottle while filling. The downside is certainly staining of the cap which I believe has to be washed every time the pen is filled. However, the section always remains dry because of the inside stopper.

One of the modifications I made was the addition of a silver band at the seam to make it invisible.

This kind of a filling mechanism requires nib assembly with long breather tube through the feed so that air can go out during the down stroke of the plunger. It is difficult to add a breather tube to the standard nib assemblies designed for cartridge/converter type filler. For this, I chose a nib assembly from Kanwrite which now makes 14K gold nibs with Ebonite feeds. This is a screw in type nib assembly but has a breather tube at the bottom of the feed instead of the C/C filler spigot. These nibs are available in many tip sizes, starting from Extra-Extra fine to Bold.

Here are the overall specifications of this pen:

Length: 160mm (can be customized)
Uncapped: 142mm
Barrel Diameter: 15mm

I am looking forward to making this as one of my standard models.

A BIG THANK YOU

Hello Folks!!!

What started as a weekend hobby for me about three years ago has now become my full time profession. Thanks to all of you who have supported my passion for pens. Crafting each pen by hand, one pen at a time, is certainly a time consuming activity. With all the variations in material, shape, nibs, silver bands, clips etc. makes it even more challenging. Although, I enjoy making every one of them.

This activity came to a temporary halt on February 17th when I developed a heart condition which needed immediate medical attention. I am glad that I was able to get the medical treatment in time and be able to recover. Due to the severity of the condition, I have been told to take rest for a few more days, until I can resume the pen making activity.

I know that many of you have been waiting for weeks and months for their pens. I hope that I find a way in the future to deliver more quickly and efficiently while maintaining the same quality.

Thanks once again for all your support and patience. I can't wait to get back to work and fun.

Fast Track order processing update

It has only been 4 months since the Fast Track order processing was launched and many of you have availed the Fast Track option so far. As a result though, the regular orders have been pushed back and many of you have been waiting for upto 5 to 6 months now for your pen. Knowing that there is only so much I can do to speed things up, I felt that there was a need to make a change which will benefit everyone.

In the modified system, Fast Track orders will be placed after every 2 regular orders. This will still allow the Fast Track orders to be processed within a reasonable amount of time, while making progress on the regular orders.

I have a lot of loyal customers and Thanks to all of you, that base is growing. I would be more than happy to introduce a loyalty based points system, wherein, your order can be bumped up once you accumulate a certain number of loyalty points. This will require more work from me and coordination with all of you. I may not be ready for it yet, but this is something to look forward to in the future.