Fountain Pen Bushing Versatility

[Jeremy Christian]

Hi, I'm just starting to turn pens. So far only a few Slimline Pro kits, but I really want to get into fountain pens. I'm on a pretty tight budget and I'm wondering whether anyone might know which couple of drill bits, and set of bushings will work with the widest variety of fountain pen kits?

 

[Earl McLain]

Dayacom's "Junior" series and many clones use 10.5 mm and 12.5 mm drills for the tubes and comparable if not identical hardware dimensions and bushings. Or close enough to finish with calipers. These include the Jr Gent, Jr Retro, Jr George, Jr Harold, and so on. Most of those are available in either fountain or roller ball packages. Price range and "bling" is pretty wide. Some clones are very well done, but in fountain pen kits the savings in hardware often comes with a lesser nib. I'd also consider any hardware from Beaufort to be top notch--not a wide variety but quality components.

Hope this helps.
earl

 

[Clifton C]

Earl, thanks for Beaufort ink, got stuck there this morning and was almost late for work
I don't need any more tools... but I really like that little 50mm engineering chuck, wish it had a draw bore Morse Taper.

 

[Lamar Wright]

Earl is right on about size of drill bits for the tubes. As for as price...........when I was in pen production I had an Etsy store and sold nothing but pens. You have to consider the pen kit price, cost of the material you use for the pen barrel's as well as the time you put into each pen you make. So.......... like Earl stated......price range can be pretty wide. Good luck on your pen turning!

 

[Earl McLain]

Earl, thanks for Beaufort ink, got stuck there this morning and was almost late for work
I don't need any more tools... but I really like that little 50mm engineering chuck, wish it had a draw bore Morse Taper.

I hear that--easy for me to head down a rabbit hole. As far as i know, Turners Warehouse is still Beaufort's only US distributor, but it doesn't look like he carries the chucks--though he might be able to order for you. The Beaufort Leveche is one of my favorites, and the Mistral is quite nice as well. Good quality on their components.

Jeremy, as you move into fountains, the bushing cost gets relatively smaller compared to the hardware--not less expensive, just a smaller proportion. I also find fountain buyers to be a bit more selective, but at the same time they generally are a little freer with disposable income. Not a market space i'm fully comfortable in because i've not learned to tune nibs and haven't learned the rest of the "language" of fountain pens, ink selection, etc. Rollerballs--i'm a fan, and the many fountain hardware kits are also available in rollerball which will be a similar write to the gel inks in the SlimLine Pro.

Good luck!!
earl

 

[Jeremy Christian]

Thank you all for the extremely helpful replies!