Dragon Theme Engraved Pens

Clipless Nanga Fountain Pens with Dragon theme engravings

To show another example of how a fountain pen can be enhanced with an engraving, this time I decided to engrave an image on a clipless pen cap. So far except for the small image on the Doctor pen, the engravings have been mostly BCHR patterns on the entire pen. But the engraver isn’t limited to just that type of embelishment. So this time I wanted to try something bolder to show the engravers capability. Ultimately, I choose a Dragon theme.

Choosing a canvas…

The best pen canvas would be a straight large diameter cap. Since the Nanga is usually clipless, I thought the Nanga’s cap would make the perfect canvas for an engraved image. But I didn’t want the image to be in just one area of the cap. I wanted to try and wrap it around the cap.

Choosing an image…

Finding an engraving image can be a challenge. While the Internet offers access to many images, finding just the right image was quite the chore. Especially one that would wrap around the pen barrel. And since I already used a snake (the Doctor pen), I wanted to choose something else.

Then one evening while searching (again) for suitable images, I started looking at dragon’s. Then I ran across information about 2024 being the year of the WOODEN DRAGON in the Chinese Zodiac calendar. So the wheels began churning and I thought dragon would make the perfect theme pen.

2024: The Year of the Wood Dragon

The specific dragon for the year 2024 is called the WOOD Dragon. The Chinese year runs from February 2024 through the end of January 2025–so I just made it! The Wood Dragon is said to represent vitality, creativity, growth, and power. The Wood Dragon also represents outdoors and is sometimes depicted with a tail that turns into a vine.

Pen #1…

The first pen I made with black acrylic with the dragon wrapped aorund the cap. His tail is at the top and twists down to the head at the base. The engraving looked great, but I though the dragon alone wasn’t enough. The pen needed a little more. So I created a another scale pattern to wrap around the mid secction of the barrel. The scales were perfect and made the pen look more balanced. I like the result, but decided to take it one step further…

Pen #2…

The colors associated with the Wood Dragon are gold, yellow, green and blue. The shade of green is lime green, so in honor of the Wood Dragon I decided to make a second pen out of wood, then dye the pen yellow with green accents. So I thought using yellow for the overall pen color , then green for the dragon on the cap and scales on the barrel.

Whenever I make a wooden pen, I always use acrylic for the threads. An acrylic tenon for the male threads, and a plug insert for the female threads. So to continue with the dragon theme, I used Juma Green Dragon acrylic for those parts. And to make the dragon a little different from the first pen, I gave the dragon a vine. He’s clutching the vine and dragging it along as he flies through the air.

An unusally colorful pen…

This second pen is very colorful, so I’m sure it’s not for everyone. But I wanted to have a little fun with it. And besides, the Chinese culture is noted for their bright colors, so I thought it was appropriate.

This is the first time I used more than one dye color on an object. I applied the yellow first with a cotton swab, then after it dried, I applied the green on the scales the same way. I had to be a little more careful with the dragon, so I used a tiny artists brush there.

The green bled into the yellow at a few places around the edges of the dragon, so I applied a second coat of yellow again to try and use it to dispurse the green. It worked, but it also added a faint tint of green to the yellow. So I ended up apply yellow over the green as well. I think if I did it again, I’d varnish the yellow around the edges of the dragon and scales to seal the wood before I added the green. But all in all I though it worked out well for a first attempt. Let me know what you think!

Miscellaneous items:
I also offer a variety of hand-made pen-related items. Pen Props, pen cap Buttons, Pen and Ink Trays, Cufflinks, and Button Covers. Use a Pen Props to display a pen or temporarily raise the nib. Order in a pen-matching material or a wooden style in a variety of finishes. Cap Buttons are small pieces of cap jewelry you can add to a clipless pen to keep it from rolling. Use a Pen & Ink Trays to display your favorite pen and ink. Trays are available in several styles and in your choice of natural wood. Cufflinks and Button Covers are timeless favorites that dress up a shirt. Order them in pen-matching material.

To custom order any of the pens you see on my website for yourself or as a gift, please contact me at jeb<@>jebspens.com.

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