Dip Pens

My mom is a very artistic person. She's created a lot of really nice things over the years in a plethora of media. So for this Christmas I decided to make her a set of dip pens. 

Dip pens are an older-but-still-relevant form of putting ink on a page. There are a ton of different types of nibs and inks available. They're incredibly versatile, with a dip pen you can use the exact combination you need to work in your style. Not only that, they're easy to swap out, easy to clean, and easy to maintain.

A dip pen is a very simple tool, consisting of four  pieces: the nib, the insert, and the holder (which is just turned wood and a brass tube). 

The insert is "inserted" into the brass  tube that's glued into the holder. You can buy the inserts cheaply online. The standard size will fit most nibs. It's just a round piece of steel with some claws on the inside to hold the nib. 

The nib is probably the most important part. The holder is about comfort, but the nib does all the work. Which nib does what, is a whole lesson that some one more qualified should teach you. Just Google for dip pen nibs and pick your favorite. 

The holder is where all the fun happens. This is the part we actually get to make our self. It was simply turned on a lathe, and a hole drilled into the end the nib insert will go. For the one pictured above, I wanted to try my hand was wire inlay. It was difficult. I used the very tip of a turning tool to make the groove. In hindsight, It would have been better to make a very narrow square gouge (As wide as the wire itself) and then use that to carve a square channel. I'll write a blog post about that if I ever get around to making one.

The groove ended up being triangular, which meant the wire would not stay in without force/glue. After muscling it around for a long time it eventually worked, and looked pretty decent.