The original Conway Stewart Pen Company (CS) was located in England and in operation for over 100 years. But, sadly, they had to close their business in October 2014. If you’re not familiar with the company and their pens, they were a British company that had been in operation since the very early 1900’s, with more than two dozen different pen styles to their credit over their many years in business. Their most famous tagline was “they made the pens for the Queen”.

Contrary to what many may believe, the name “Conway Stewart” did NOT come from the name of the founder of the company, but rather it was believed to have been derived from a popular vaudeville act of the day.

Eventually, the original materials and parts were sold off and made available on the open market. Some original material is still available today, coming out of the original manufacturing plant in the UK. If you have an interest in having a replica of a CS pen made, please send me an email. If you would like to read more into the history of The Conway Stewart Pen Company, you can find additional information at wikipedia.org/Conway-Stewart.

When I began work on the Dandy, the first thing I had to do was determine how to make the pen with available materials. If you’ve read about any of my other pen projects, you’ll know that whenever attempting to make a tribute pen, you almost always have to make a few compromises. Some are due to the available materials; others are to work with the methods at hand. Making a pen by hand requires different machining methods than a mass-produced manufacturing process. So here are the main issues I had to address:

#1. The (short) length. As I mentioned previously, the Dandy was a small pen with a capped length of less than 5″ (4.84″/123mm). They achieved this by using a surface-mounted clip and recessing the cap about 5/8″ above the barrel threads. On most other pens, that 5/8″ would be added to the overall length of the capped pen. I couldn’t do this because of the way I must mount the bands at the base of the cap.

If you examine a manufactured pen, you will see that the cap (less the finial) is one solid piece. The bands are installed with a process called swagging, which involves compressing the band until it fits in the groove. The bands are just large enough to slip onto the barrel, then the bands are compressed into the groove (this is one of the reasons why pen bands can eventually become loose and spin). Swagging requires special equipment. I tried doing it following a how-to video I found online, but all I did was ruin bands. So I had to come up with another way to install my bands. I ended up using a simple mortise and tenon method. But this method requires smaller-diameter holes inside my caps, so I’m not able to recess my barrels as deep as the original Dandy’s.

#2. A slightly thicker barrel. The diameter of the material on the original Dandy cap is about .53″ (13.45mm), with the bands about .545″ (13.85mm). The closest diameter bands I could use were 15mm (outside diameter). But besides the diameter, these bands also had to be thicker in order to be raised. So the 15mm bands were the closest size I could find that would work. So I paired the 15mm raised bands with a 9/16″ (.563″ / 14.3mm) material diameter.

#3. Nib size. The original Dandy had a nib about the size of the #5 Jowo. But I’m always getting requests to put larger nibs into the smaller pens. So I decided I wanted to design my Dandy for a #6 nib right at the start. I didn’t want to have to make major changes later when someone eventually asked for a larger nib.

#4. Knurled finial. NEW! The original Dandy had a knurled finial with a vertical groove pattern. It’s a subtle feature that adds a nice touch to the small pen. Knurling is a machining process that requires special tooling. At first, I couldn’t offer this feature, but now I can! See options and upgrades below for details.

The JEB’s Dandy is similar in style to the JEB’s Duro but slightly smaller. The main difference is the cap bands. The Duro’s bands are flush to the surface, whereas the Dandy’s bands are raised (proud of the surface). The caps have the same diameter if you don’t count the Dandy’s raised bands. The cap’s diameter is 9/16″ (14.3mm), and the bands are 15mm in diameter. So the bands are only raised by .35mm. The Dandy’s (material) diameter is The Dandy can accept a #5 or #6 nib, but the section will be the same size, whichever nib is used.

Although the JEB’s Dandy is small and I had to make a few compromises to create it, there are still quite a few options and upgrades available:

Barrel length options. I can make the barrel any length you require. So if the overall length is important, then I can give you a short barrel to keep the pen under 5″. If you want to use a full-size converter, I can make the barrel longer.

Material options. You have the ability to choose any material. You could even use your imagination and change it up with a 2-color combination.

Flush bands. If you’re not a fan of the raised bands, then I can swap them out for flush bands. You could also change the number of bands. CS used different numbers of bands at the base over the years.

Larger nib. The original Dandy had a nib about the size of the #5 Jowo. But I can offer the larger #6 nib.

Inking systems. You could also upgrade the stock C/C inking system with a button-filler. Since the pen uses a threaded blind cap on the barrel for the band, the pen is prepped for the upgrade. You could also upgrade the stock steel nib with a 14k or 18k gold nib to make it really special.

Knurled finial. The original Dandy had a knurled finial with a vertical groove pattern. It’s a subtle feature that adds a nice touch to the small pen. While I can’t do the exact same knurling as the original Dandy, I can create a similar pattern with a laser engraver, and it looks pretty close to the original finials I’ve seen. However, it’s limited to certain colors. I’m using a diode laser to create the pattern, and the laser will only engrave dark materials. If the material color is too light or reflective, it will just absorb the laser beam rather than allow the beam to burn the pattern. So the material will have to be tested to see if the knurling can be added.