u/Oneredditr

So, in case ya hadn't seen the instances where I added it to some shots recently (like here, there, or over yonder), besides tickin' off a lotta features/details on some imaginary checklist of what I'd like to see(/use) in a machined writing instrument, I also just really like the design o' this small Knock from Nakayama Hidetoshi.

I've asked some makers, like u/MachineEraCo, u/devaspotato, u/Focusworks (the dragonskin looks so organic to me 👌), & kohbanang (from ig), how, when they're creating a writing instrument & adding the machined details on the exterior, how do they know what looks good? Some folks just have a good sense of what goes well together.

I can't describe what I like to see a lotta the times, yet I know it when I see it. Yet for the creators, how do they know that cutting this or that into the barrel or making a certain contour not only looks good to them, it may also look good to others?

Once I start looking into stuff like that, I think I get too analytical & wanting to use formulas & measurements & geometry, & maybe overthink it, while it seems like others just have a good sense o' proportions & shapes & angles & curves, & just get it, which is way cool. 👏

Well, maybe it just hits different for me, yet I like that this 1's more than a cylinder w/ some basic cuts & a block for a clip (though I do like lotsa different looks, whether minimalist or more detailed), & thought it was neat to see 😊

Got this Sigma Clicky Pen yesterday & included some tt side click variants so it wasn't alone, since it seems like this was inspired by what Will Hodges created (per the bg info at the product page). Looks like others have gotten theirs recently as well 👌

The Sigma's got a pretty smooth mech, where they took a little bit (~3 yrs) to really refine the function & form to how they like it. & usin' a ruby for the side button retract feature is kinda fun.

Even though I often appreciate when makers create all-metal machined writing instruments where they select the materials based their properties & each component's application, PL incorporated 3D-printed materials for the mechanism, & it seems like they chose well 👏😎

Mentioned to u/Thorn_Mill the other day that I appreciate when folks make a knurled (or, -ish) surface on their machined writing instruments (even when it doesn't seem like it's actually added for grip). 🙂

It's neat that a knurled surface can be (subjectively usefully) grippy, only there to provide some tactile feedback, &/or possibly added on the writing instrument merely for its aesthetic. Mostly referrin' to the diamond knurled (or, diag-frag) pattern.

What pattern/grip/look do you like to use/see? Do ya happen to have a few or variety of said detail? Just wonderin' 😎

Was lookin' for somethin' else when I saw this 1; 'twas 1 of the Surface Pen variants (Type 6, w/ Type 3's tip) which the maker created for the project.

See, for a while there (& still now, when they interest me), I attempted to support the various project creators who made machined writing instruments. Sometimes, the rewards were really well-thought-out/-designed, w/ a spiffy fit-&-finish. & others might've been 1st attempts which might've been a little rough, yet was hopin' that givin' the folks support'd help 'em get better equipment or skills, 'cuz they def showed potential (imo)...

Well, for this project, thought they were a fun bunch o' designs, & liked that they hid the seam (like Fellhoelter did w/ the TiBolt) for these capped options. Makes for a simple, symmetrical design to use as a desk pen (which might wander roll off if you're not payin' attn)... 😎

Grouped the Fwe Sideswipes, since I hadn't done that yet, since a new-to-me 1 arrived & hadn't put 'em together after the fun Geoskin 1.

& that shot o' the Soul Pens is also already outta date.

Plus 2 other flipp'd views which might not've been posted here yet... 😎

Received 4 neat writing instruments (w/ barrels o' different metals/machined looks) from u/Tapacoba0623 recently, & wanted to have 'em switch spots, once again, just for fun... Hope y'all are havin' a good Thursday so far 😎

So, sometimes, I can do a slightly better job o' eyeballin' the positions so the writing instruments look in about the same spots when the image is rotated 180 degrees, yet was in a hurry this time. The lens isn't 'xactly square to the surface they're restin' on, so there's some rotation (which you can see w/ the clips & bolt actuators)... Also, in terms o' uniformity, think the bent clips aren't consistently made usin' a template to have the same bends? 🤔🤷

Anywho, here's the the Constitution & Sakura ltd release variants tradin' places. 😊 Compared w/ whoever got theirs from tt on the 1st, ups gave mine the scenic route (& didn't even ship it till a week later; then they got here on the 15th, at a location not east o' tt's hq 😀)...

So, even though RKiV components got swapped to see a little different colorways, & I grabbed a ti edk to make a partial ti pocket modal, was reminded that I hadn't messed w/ the Machine Era Field Pen | Bolt (for the Pilot G2 ink refill form factor) or the ME Field Pen Bolt | Draftsman (for the E'gels 😁 ... j/k) to see if components were compatible.

So, 1st off, the barrels can be swapped, which is fun (& probably sorta expected?). &, as shown previously, the Pentel Energels fit w/o trimming (& minimal wiggle of the tip) in last year's model. That means, if ya wanted last year's Field Pen | Bolt top w/ the Draftsman's knurled grip & wanted to use Energels, ya could. Or you could use the ring grip on either top barrel & use either the Pilot or Pentel form factor cartridges. Well, didn't mess w/ switching out the clips, yet I figure you could also just move those around if ya wanted to do so. 👌

Yet since the knurled grip section was designed specifically for Pentel's offering, the Pilots won't work in 'em (well, I suppose, w/o some dremel work or the like), in case you were wonderin'.

Just fyi, fwiw 😎

A sample o' the variety o' designs which creative makers have machined (of the 1s w/ me today) 😎

Got a modd'd TT side click w/ a 2-fastener clip a couple days ago (& you could maybe think that this view is the 'special fx' for what happens when 2 writing instruments are about to swap places; also added it to the mix since it's a fun accidental shot 😃), & felt like seeing how similar the 2 variants were.

Oh wait, backin' up (since I might not've brought it up here?) - this was the 'blurple' ano orange peel tt side click as received (yet I already had plans to get it a high-voltage blue ano), & that was the result after u/rco_customs got to color it.

So, both of these have gotten mods, where the newest-to-me 1 got a carv'd look & the entropic ano (done by the original owner), & the newest variant got a different color. 😎

Got a modd'd TT side click w/ a 2-fastener clip a couple days ago (& you could maybe think that this view is the 'special fx' for what happens when 2 writing instruments are about to swap places; also added it to the mix since it's a fun accidental shot 😃), & felt like seeing how similar the 2 variants were.

Oh wait, backin' up (since I might not've brought it up here?) - this was the 'blurple' ano orange peel tt side click as received (yet I already had plans to get it a high-voltage blue ano), & that was the result after u/rco_customs got to color it.

So, both of these have gotten mods, where the newest-to-me 1 got a carv'd look & the entropic ano (done by the original owner), & the newest variant got a different color. 😎

It didn't get here in time for last month's Flag Day/Week (or, Independence Day) to be shown along w/ q's & Fisher's options, yet Karas Kustoms' special anniversary variant did get here yesterday. Pretty neat to see the ano & lasered pattern details 😎

Gettin' to use some of the newer 1s the creative makers have made available recently.

& shown w/ a Parker Jotter found when out 'n about... 😃

Just another shot o' 3 seen there, since it's fun to see when makers create writing instruments w/ a few details in common. The top 2 have been noticed before, like over yonder & elsewhere, yet only recently noticed when the newest 1 was available w/ some similar details to compare.

So, if someone ever wanted to see a smooth-barreled, entropic-ano'd (nebula, fireacid, or tesla blue) writing instrument which incorporates a cam mechanism & has a machined clip w/ a single fastener, there's actually a few options... 😎

2 others to share which arrived along w/ the Billet SPIN zr limited series edition Soul Pen 🙂

Well, w/ the previous (now outdated) updated fam pic w/ a few variants o' u/devaspotato's (& co.'s) Billet SPIN Soul Pen (where I added the fun new-to-me modd'd Twist Design 1 from u/spamshannon), I mentioned how, someday, I wanted to use a nice, sorta stealthy/low-key polished fully-flamed zirconium version w/ ring grips (since the polished surface debuted w/ the v3 of the CamPen) at work when not in the field (since it'd be less 'showy' than the zr Twist Design 1 I liked to bring), yet since that look hasn't been available yet, I opted for this new design which came with the ring grips. The milled design is fun! Def not a low-key sleeper in the looks dept tho 😃

So, the Ballpoint Pen Day post wasn't all-inclusive of all the makers of ballpoint pens I've gotten to use, & it probably would've been more cool had I remembered to include the Birome I got way back when from Ariel Kullock, yet wys(aw)iwyg(ot).

Also, didn't realize till I looked back today that reddit cut off the bottom of the 1st image in that post, so here it is w/ the COMPAKT.002 this time...

Anyway, hadn't contributed in a bit for this designated day, so here are a couple shots. 1s where the Fellhoelter TiNyBolt w/ extender is more of the focus, and then the rest of the view.

& since an example of a Fellhoelter writing instrument & 1 from TT weren't in the shot yesterday, the last pic's got 1 of the 1st machined bolt-action writing instruments I noticed (a reward as an early ks project backer) - not countin' the DarkMetal-Design Protector I got 16 yrs ago - & the latest Clip-Action Pen, to cover a 13+ yr span, just for fun... 😎

'tis Ballpoint Pen Day, sooo... 😎

Was actually puttin' together some examples of the writing instruments kk & everydaykaras have made available for the Parker-compatible International G2 ink cartridges (the 2nd image), since the COMPAKT .001 & .002 arrived recently, when Fisher space pen posted about the observation last night.

So some are shown in the 1st pic. & the next 2 are a couple used when out 'n about today 😊

Others have gotten to give reviews already, so'll just share w/ this new 1 that there isn't a gap between the clip & barrel, which was something I was curious about (& why I went w/ the dlc-coated variant). For 2 other makers who've made mechanisms which incorporate the movement of the clip (& had some ks projects around the same time; though u/MachineEraCo made the 1st iteration of the Field Pen - w/ a side button retract mech - w/ a clip-as-knock component before the 1st TiScribe-Bolt campaign, Adam & co. encountered some issues beyond their control, so while they were ready to launch their Field Pen project earlier, it got delayed & looked as if their design came 2nd - ahem, but I digress 😃), they made different design decisions to prevent the clip marking up the barrel. For the TiScribe-Bolt, Kelvin did make a slight gap between the open end of the clip & the barrel & gave instructions for how to extend & retract the clip by pressing down on the top (the side closest to the end cap) face of the clip. & Adam added another couple details. Along with a slight gap, he made the potential area where the clip & barrel could touch merely a point on a rounded surface (which ya might think is a line, yet the barrel is also rounded), to minimize contact. &, by selecting materials based on their properties for the application, he chose to make the clips out of a flexible & strong 7075 aluminum, so the clip could flex over pocket materials and springily clamp, yet it's also softer than the stainless steel barrel, so the clip wouldn't ever mark it... 😎 Thought that was pretty clever of 'em.

Anyway, since this Clip-Action is the 1st of this design, it's sorta a fam o' 1, yet added it to various TT bolt-action designs over the years. & then added some other writing instruments which have utilized a clip-actuated mech. Don't have any variant of the Seguin Ink Northbolt, & also didn't include the Arni Bernard Assegai or DRocket Design Gear Suppressor, yet wanted to share a few others for comparison/contrast, fwiw. ☺️

'kay, yeah, already made a "Triple 2s(-day)" post, yet thought this flipp'd shot made a fun bunch (funch?) to see, so sharin' this as well, w/ the proto RKiV...

Hope your week's been good so far! 😎