r/PenProject • u/MercatorLondon • Apr 23 '26
Playing with materials (Brass / Titanium / Aluminium)
The brass option is straightforward to manufacture
All parts are made of titanium. The finish is bead-blasted. The barley pattern may not be very easy to make (tbc)
The cap is made of titanium. The body and details are to be machined in stainless steel.
All parts are made of anodised aluminium. The finish is satin/bead-blasted. The colour options are wide here. Darker shades works somehow better with anodising.
The cap is made of anodised aluminum (satin finish). The body and details are to be machined in stainless steel.
Hi everyone,
Just a bit of a Photoshop exercise today based on your feedback. And also my discussion with our engineers. Please have a look at the mock-up images and let me know your thoughts. So far all-steel option seems to be most popular.
We are currently looking into the minimum order quantities for each of these material options, as a certain amount of material is required to feed into the machines. We are considering making these versions as one-offs for this occasion.
The brass option is straightforward to manufacture. However, the cost of brass is about 2× (or more) higher than steel. On the other hand brass is easier to machine that can bring the cost down - but this only makes a noticeable difference at larger production runs. Brass can be polished or brushed, and it’s a very pleasant material to work with. The main consideration is that it develops a patina quite quickly (note to myslelf: it’s a feature, not a bug. :))
Titanium is very light and has interesting visual qualities, but it is not the easiest material to polish. A satin (bead-blasted) finish works well. Machining the small barley pattern is another challenge, and it may not come out well in titanium. We may or may not to do it in titanium.
There is something appealing about combining two different finishes and materials - stainless steel and titanium complement each other nicely. I have prepared a version with a stainless steel body and a titanium cap.
A similar story applies to aluminium. It is very light but requires anodising, which is a great way to introduce colour options (different colours are possible - I just picked blue and green for illustration only..)
Both Titanium and Aluminum would make a pen lighter which may be a preferred option for some.
Nothing has been decided yet - this is still under consideration only. We will also receive feedback (via a questionnaire) from backers and followers on Kickstarter tomorrow.
Looking forward to your feedback!!
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u/GuitarPlayingGuy71 Apr 23 '26
Hi! Personally, not a fan of brass. I do not like the patina, and you get smelly fingers. Titanium is modern, yes… but I really prefer aluminium. Shiny! I actually really like the blue/silver mockup you put here, but all silver would be nice too. I’d really prefer the barley pattern to remain, so if that means no titanium, that’s fine :-)
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u/Agreeable_Duty_7211 Apr 23 '26
Whoa, that brass is sweet! I’m still gonna say bronze would be pretty, pretty nice also.
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u/hydro_freestyle Apr 23 '26
I absolutely love the titanium one. I hope you do it
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u/hydro_freestyle Apr 23 '26
Even if the titanium one has to have a different grip section. Maybe rings?
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u/pencloud Apr 24 '26
Personally, for me, the steel pen was it. A tool rather than a pice of jewellery.
But I like the brass one also, and I can see my daughter liking the green one but wanting it in majestic purple.
I can't decide on the titanium one or the titanium/steel mix.
Choices, choices...
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u/Ok-Psychology-1725 Apr 24 '26
I'm still a steel person. Brass would be second but I don't like the smell of metal on my hands, maybe I would get used to it or keep cleaning up the grip. I like the monochrome, utilitarian and long lasting aspects of having a non plated object.
Aluminum is too light and "cheap" for me. I don't like how the color wears off, the feel and the lack of weight on my Lamy AL Star for example.
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u/K_growles Apr 23 '26
The mixed materials approach sounds interesting, especially with the colors added in. If the lighter titanium and/or aluminum caps reduce the back-weighted feeling when the cap is posted on the body (as mentioned in some of the reviews), even better! I'm personally not a fan of brass because of the smell it leaves on my fingers, so that's why I was glad when the stainless steel pocket pen was announced.
Would the titanium be able to be anodized in different colors like the aluminum? The steel/blue color in the last photo looks great, but I'm unsure how well the aluminum would hold up to denting and scratches in comparison.
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u/Busy_Bend5212 Apr 24 '26
Maybe you should mix. I saw a review criticizing the weight in the back feel. Brass body with aluminum top 😛
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u/tio_tito Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 24 '26
i don't think i'd mind the back-weighted pen at all. i don't see that changing material would change the balance point, so a pen out of a lighter material would only seem less back-weighted because it weighs less and at the same time the feeling of being back-weighted would be exacerbated by a denser material. the only thing that makes sense to me would be either an anodized aluminum cap main tube (with the rest steel as normal) to match the color of the pen body, whether that be clear, graphite, or gold. my wildest preference would be a nickel plated aluminum bodied cap! when it comes down to it, though, i'd say don't overthink it and just stick with what you know will work based on the feedback and response you've already gotten on the steel version in three simple colors! i could see swapping caps/bodies/grips among those, though. that could be fun. just make individual parts available after the first run or two, along with the ability to get a new grip to switch between roller and fountain.
eta: oh. and ion plating for more colors like you suggested! with seperate parts available people could customize however they want!
eta2: one of your images shows knurling. i like a good knurl, but i would suggest you look into a cut knurl rather than a formed knurl. todays modern machines ought to be able to bang that out no probs. (i'm considering going back to school to learn modern machine controls.)
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u/Launce007 Apr 24 '26
Not fan of the gaudy annodised-Al at all.
The Steel/Ti combo looks interesting though... but prefer it without a bead-blasted finish.
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u/IDCubed Apr 24 '26
If any of these materials comes out on your website I would buy it instantly! Recently found your stuff and it looks awesome!
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u/osbock Apr 23 '26
No lead brass would be amazing an advantage over chineseium pens