anyone ever make a glass dip pen?
 

A friend of mine wants a glass dip pen. I have looked up how to make one and it seems fairly simple but I'll need ribbed cane to make the tip. Is there a company that specifically makes it? Or do I have to make my own? The one in the directions looked purchased.

Hi
firelady.com sells a pen making kit. I think it is $25.00
Penny

Yes, it is Lauscha glass.
http://www.firelady.com/proddetail.asp?prod=LGPK

Also, possibly available from C & R Loo (the glass rods, not the kit).

Edit: They used to carry the kit and the ribbed cane, but you'll have to call for availability and pricing. After their move, they only seem to have any Lauscha that is left in the warehouse. The old part number for the pen kit was L-KIT2 and the description of the cane is here
http://130.94.190.116/Products/Lampw...bbed_cane.html
Fire Lady might be able to special order the colored ribbed cane, if you have her a description. C & R Loo might be able to special order it also (if no longer in stock), since they have offices in Germany.

C & R Loo contact information is at the following link. (the http://130.94.190.116 is the site for their old catalog). The glass in the picture is their stock of Lauscha tubing, at least it was from a couple of years ago.
http://www.crloo.com/About.asp

If you don't have ribbed cane, you can make it with an optic mold.

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=195114

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=750901

Thanks for the links and info!

I remember seeing videos of someone making them on you tube but I no longer remember when or where.

I make mine out of boro AND I make my own cane :)

1) Roll a small plug of clear (or color...whatever) to about 12 mm in diameter
2) Use a razor blade to make cuts along the length of the glass
3) Gently heat and pull.

I wait to do the twist on mine until I've attached some to the pen body. That way I can heat and pull at the same time.

I had to go try this. I have a couple in the kiln. Thanks for this thread!

Ok so I made a few prototype pens, I made the ribbed tip and just suck it on the end of a plain rod and they work just fine but I'm having a terrible time making a thick enough handle with the stripes. Anyone have suggestions? My rods are 4 and 6mm, I've tried winding a bunch of glass on the end of a mandrel and slowly pulling but it always ends up too thin or lumpy :/

I guess you could make the nibs like Tom said and then attach them to the end of a fatter stylus to hold in you hand.

Practice. I would start with fatter rods, though, and pull them down to the size I want.

Does the size of the punty determine the thickness of the glass.pull? That might be my problem

I think the size of the glass pull is only going to be determined by the heat in the glass and how fast you pull but I have heard that using a larger punty encourages you wait longer and helps you control the thicker gather while you wait.

It does, until you get some practice under your belt.

If you cannot find larger diameter rods, take two of yor thickest rods, attach them end to end in the flame and gently put pressure on the rods in toward the center as you keep spinning the rods. Like you are trying to push the rods together. You will be able to make a much thicker gather out of the two rods. You can then heat this gather and pull down into a handle for the pen.

If you are having difficulty pulling the gather thick enough, take your punty, heat the end and press the end on a marver to creat a maria that is close to the thickness you want to pul the handle to. Then attach to the gather with the maria and you should be able to pull thicker cane.

Otter

This pen was just made on Saturday by a well known artist. After watching him make it I tried my hand at making some nibs. They turned out ok. Now I need to try to make the handle. I'll use this as my model.

I made some pens using Firelady's kit and it worked really nice.

What i found out of you importance was the ink to use!!

For a while I thought it was the nib and wasted time modifying it. Then, i bought some different inks and bingo.

The Speedball i bought at Michael's was really bad. Could not write more than a couple of words. And was skipping.

Winsor & Newton was second and a huge improvement! But the real winner was Higgins.

So if you have made some pens and it is not writing properly, could be the ink!!

Here are the pens (not counting all the scraped one's!!!!)

Close up on the nibs

Wow! I love those pens!!!! Would you mind if I posted them in my Lauscha Lovers Facebook group?

Thank you Marcie. Feel free to share!!!