Which type of finish do users prefer for these ebonite pens? Matte (as previous pens were/are) or shiny? (both are available).

Joe Camosy
www.zenpens.com

I would like it to stay the same because if one wishes, they could shine it themselves. Its hard to give the shiny finish a matte workover unless they tie a string to the clip and hang it outside the window of a moving car and let it drag all over the highway. Kids, please do not try this at home, this is done by trained professionals, only!!!


TNS

I can afford the matte finish the shiny I can not

K

The price is the same, with the production costs of the "shiny" version actually being less than the matte version. (It takes less time to polish to a shiny finish than to matte).


Joe

I'd actually like the shiny finish on mine. (Yes, I do plan to get one, hopefully very soon!!!)

Thanks,

Bryan

I think Kurt was thinking of the shiny Urushi finish. I know I was when discussing the pens.

I like the idea of acquiring it matte, and letting my hand's oils and burnishing action have their effect over time.

Wait a second I thought the raw was about $250 while the shiny was around $500?


boy am I confused.


Kurt H

Kurt,

We are talking about the NON-Urushi models. The pen comes as a matte finish from DaniTrio. It takes more time fo them to create the matte finish then it does to make it non-matte. In the Non-matte state, the ebonite is shiny. Some people would like the pen in this state before it goes on to the next process which is making the matte finish.

In my case, I had the matte finish BUT I was able to polish it up my self to make it shiny. I was able to shine my pen and make it a very high gloss that almost looks like "a urushi" finish. I probobly should of clarified my statements to prevent confusion. I understand where things get very confusing because we are throwing a bunch of terminaology at ya!!!

So Dani Trio makes two versions of the Mikado without urishi lacquer. A raw matte finish and a raw shiny finish without any lacquer.


interesting...


Kurt H

Yes, they both "raw" in the sense that no urushi or lacqer are used, just one is matted and one is shinny. The shinny one is new which I have not seen, but will be available in December.

Best,

Kevin

Wow, I`ve never seen so much confusion and interest about a pen before
It`s only a pen folks


I can`t wait to get mine :bunny1: :bunny1:

Oh yeeaah, Lady! Lemme hear ya say dat when ya misplace dat Mikado ya got dere!

Right now, I have a matte finish Densho, but having had a polished Hanryo, I prefer the polished. Both are great, but the polished looks especially nice.

I am one of the matte finsh fans. I like the look, and the texture of the pens feels so good to me. I am also curious to see how use and the oils from my hand influence the color and texture of the ebonite over time. I am trying to collect all five sizes of this pen series, and thus far I have a Hanryo, a Takukmi and a Densho. I happened to luck onto one of Kevin's discontinued sales, so I was able to get my Takumi with a lovely dark red Urushi finish. My Densho and Hanryo are raw matte finshed. I will most likely get my Mikado and Genkai in matte, unless chance throws another sale my way.

Kevin has said something about a flex stub nib being available for the raw ebonite series sometime in the future. I am waiting any further purchases until I hear more about that flex option.

I haven't used ebonite pens long enough to experience this.

Would this be true of a modern (let's say, chocolate color) ebonite pen that becomes dull through excessive exposure to light?

Bill

Excessive exposure to light will indeed zap an ebonite pen, making it dull and flakey loooking. It doesn't matter what color you start with, black, brown, purple with yellow polka dots, etc. I have seen ebonite pens that were unused, still in stores, but displayed under bright lighting that have deteriorated into a chalky haze that feels tacky to the touch. One of them was a Stipula LE that was ruined. It was awful!

Ebonite kept from excessive light but used will, with time, change character. It might become darker, or even gain a little shine. I am curious to see just what those changes are in my Dani's.

Kevin told me that Matt might oxidize more quickly, so shiny will stay black longer. I went with shiny.

STUB NIB????? Holy cow.

I received a snail with one of the factory stubs (not flex, though, I think) and the line is gorgeous.

Sonia,
whats a "snail" ?
Also, any chance of showing examples of writing made with your stub nibs ?
Peter

A "snail" is a good old paper letter sent through the regular mail (from "snail mail").

My entry in the italic handwriting contest was done with my Dani stub. The scan isn't the best quality, sorry about that.

(To clarify--my Dani stub was modified from a steel medium nib on a less expensive pen; the snail that I received was done with the stub on the raw ebonite as it comes from the factory.)

Thanks
Peter
PS - beautiful writing ! 9
PSS - I heard that the factory-supplied stub from DT is 1mm, so I presume it is wider than the stub used for your competition entry - nice to have a variety to choose from !

I have 2 Denshos and a Mikado. I prefer the shiny by far, in fact I have mostly polished one of the matte Denshos to be gloss.

Hopefully some kind soul will one day be willing to give up a used urushi Densho (any colour other than black) which I can buy or trade one of my Denshos for. Although having just looked at my limit on my PayPal account I am going to have to pay by another method!!

It's strange that this poll kept bumping up to the top of the list, even though it's a very old thread. I don't think these raw ebonite pens are available any more from Danitrio. However, Kevin has said something vague about good things in the works, so maybe they will be freely available sometime later.

Anyway, Andy, I don't think you'll have any problem selling your Densho on this board.

I used to wonder that too - it's because someone voted on the poll without making a reply.

But I was under the impression that the FPN Admins changed that behavior of polls, so a vote without a post didn't bump it up?????

I hope someone will see this now...if not, I'll post again...
question: does the Urushi prevent the oxidation at all?