Sherlock Holmes Dancing Men
Engraved Theme Fountain Pen
About this pen…
The Sherlock Holmes Dancing Men pen is another of my ‘theme’ pens. A theme pen is a pen created around a specific interest or subject. It’s a great way to subtly show off your interest(s) without saying anything. A pen’s theme can be business or hobby related, and include as much or as little detail as you desire. It can be a general theme idea, or be more specific. This pen for example isn’t just related to Sherlock Holmes, but a specific Holmes story. I made it to show how you can incorporate different aspects of a theme into a pen. It also shows all the different places on a pen that you can apply engravings.
The specific Holmes theme for this pen is from the story titled The Adventures of the Dancing Men. The Dancing men are a series of stick figures. The figures were drawn with chalk on various objects throughout the story to relay messages. Homes is hired to determine what the figures mean and their relation to a mans wife. Once the figures are determined to be a cipher (secret code), Holmes must find the culprit leaving the messages and his intent.
Learn the story…
If you’re not familiar with the story, but the pen has peaked your interest, your in luck! Most of the Sherlock Holmes stories are in the public domain. This one is available in a variety of media options (and ALL are FREE):
>WATCH… you can WATCH the story on YouTube HERE.
>READ… If you’re a BOOK reader, you can download a PDF version HERE.
>LISTEN… If you like audio books, you can listen to the story HERE.
Theme features…
The Dancing men shown prominently around the barrel are meant to be the main feature of the pen. However it also includes many other Sherlock Holmes related details. The first is the book cover prominently engraved on the cap. This book, titled “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” was published in 1892 as a collection of twelve Sherlock Holmes stories.
Then as you look closer you’ll find several other smaller engraved details. A pair of famous quotes (one on the wide metal cap band, the other the top of the cap). Another is his famous street number engraved on a metal button on the end of the blind-cap. Some more subtle details are the spyglass or monocle on the top of the cap; and the spyglass and initials engraved into the nib. Although most won’t recognize it, one final detail I included was in the specific shape of the Section. Although it’s a typical style for a section, I used it here because the shape is similar to a pipe. I thought the collar at the front looked like the ‘lip’ (or biting end) on a (smoking) pipe.
Engraving challenges…
Each of the different engravings on the Holmes pen were techniques done for the first time. So as a first time engraving each one presented its own challenge to overcome. Up until now, all my engraving was done with a (blue) DIODE laser module. But the diode laser doesn’t like certain material colors. So I always had to plan a pen around certain material colors. For example, it didn’t like the navy and burgundy acrylic colors I wanted to use on this pen.
In my background research for the Holmes pen, I wanted to see if their were any specific color schemes used. I found several. One used for the 1984-1994 BBC TV series was: navy, burgundy, black, tan and chocolate brown. (see the Adobe colors here). I had most of those colors in acrylic, so I decided to designed my pen around these colors. I liked the idea of using the navy and burgundy. But the colors would present a problem for the diode laser.
Color issues…
With the navy acrylic, because it’s the same color as the laser, the material ABSORB the laser beam, rather than engraving with it. So if I wanted to use the navy, I’d have to use a different engraving method. Enter the 1064nm infrared (aka ‘IR’) laser module. The IR module uses a different wave length than a blue diode module. The biggest advantage of the IR laser is that you can engrave metals with it. I’ve been wanting to get one for engraving metals, so this project gave me the perfect excuse.
Engrave testing…
On my testing with the IR module however, I found that it still didn’t engrave the blue very well. It would engrave, but needed a high power level. And if you go too high with acrylics, the laser will begin to melts the edges around the engraving lines. But I found I could get better results if I applied a layer of black acrylic paint over it first. It’s a trick used for clear acrylics. The black paint hides the material color, giving it something else to target on the surface. The laser engraves it just as if it was black acrylic, as well as the surface directly under it. Once the engraving is completed, the black paint is carefully removed. The surprising result was that the engraving came out white. The diode engraver leaves a lighter shade of the acrylic (as the cap shows).
Burgundy acrylic…
I ran into the same engraving issue with the burgundy acrylic. I didn’t expect any problems engraving it with the diode laser, but I did. Even the IR module results were poor. Luckily though I was able to use the diode laser with the black paint trick just as I did with the blue.
I used the same painting technique for the engraving on the top of the cap. But I decided to leave the paint on after the engraving to help make the small text more visible. The clear lens on top has a slight curve to it that works as a magnifying glass enlarging the text slightly.
Metal engravings…
The metal engravings were also new techniques for me. Since the 1064nm IR modules are marketed as metal engravers, I was anxious to try it on some metal pen parts. While opponents of these IR modules will make the claim that “they don’t really ‘engrave“, they only “etch“. But with metals you typically don’t want a deep engrave anyway, only the contrast. And I found that with the right settings, the etching get just as dark as on other materials.
Round vs flat…
I should also mention that besides using different engraving modules, I used different engraving ‘methods‘ as well. The cap, barrel and cap band were engraved using a rotary, which engraves AROUND the circumference of an object. Then the nib, top of cap, and blind-cap button were all run FLAT.
Summary…
I hope you like the Sherlock Holmes Dancing Men fountain pen! It was another challenging project that allowed me to expand my pen making capabilities. But if you don’t like it, that’s OK. I hope it will at least spark ideas within you for developing your own theme pen. And if it does, let me know. Together we can see if we can realize your idea into your next custom pen.
Cordially…JEB
Remember: Everyone deserves a beautiful pen!
PS…
In case you might be wondering, the answer is YES! The Dancing Men DO spell out a message! I used the same formatting with the dancing men figures as I did on the morse code pen. The barrel has a thin line run down the length that defines the left and right sides of the figures if laid flat like a sheet of paper. And if you’re not familiar with the dancing men, the word breaks are denoted with the last letter figures holding a flag.
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.
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