Yoshi Nakama "constructivism" Pen With 3-D Printed Custom Stopper

[dms525]

I blame Jon Szanto (in a good way).

 

At the 2015 San Francisco Pen Show, he pulled out this gnarly gray pen with an integral clip that looked like one of the Easter Island Stone figures. He said a fellow in New York, Yoshi Nakama, made these with a 3-D printer. It was pretty nice work, but not tempting enough to go after. However, a year later when I was trying to figure out how to get some one to make a pen with a custom roll-stopper, I remembered Yoshi's work and found his Etsy store. Long story short, he could do what I wanted, and I ordered a pen. It arrived last week, and I am going to show it to you.

 

A few advance explanations: First, the roll stopper is in the form of the griffin that is on the seal of Reed College in Portland, Oregon. That is my alma mater and was where Lloyd Reynolds, arguably the most influential teacher of calligraphy on the West Coast in the 20th Century, taught. Second, I asked Yoshi to make the pen to fit a JoWo nib, but I would supply the nib. The nib I have fitted to the pen is an 18 Caret M nib ground to cursive italic by fpnibs dot com in Spain.

 

So, here are some photos and comments:

 

 

 

Yoshi spent over 27 years working with an important New York City artist named Sol LeWitt. Yoshi calls this pen "Constructivism," after an early 20th Century Russian art movement. The body is black acrylic resin. The colored elements are made individually and placed in cutouts. The workmanship is impeccable. The surface is perfectly smooth and all the parts fit perfectly.

 

The size and shape of the pen are very ergonomic for me. It is a fairly light weight

pen. It is almost precisely the size and shape of a Nakaya Portable and a bit larger than a MB 146. Here are comparison photos capped and uncapped pens.

 

 

Top to bottom: MB146, Nakaya Naka-ai, Nakaya Portable, Yoshi's "Constructivism."

 

 

Top to bottom: Yoshi's "Constructivism," MB 146, Nakaya Portable, Nakaya Naka-ai.

 

The pen itself is pretty special, but, of course, the most special part for me is the roll-stopper. The planning for its printing was educational for me, and the process of negotiating the details with Yoshi was entirely enjoyable. Here is the Reed College Griffin roll-stopper:

 

 

 

I have reviewed the nib elsewhere (See the "Nib of the Day" topic), but, for the sake of completeness, here is a photo of it:

 

I am so happy with this pen and with the 3-D printed griffin I expect to order more pens with this roll-stopper. It is soooooo cool!

Thanks for reading, and Happy Writing!

David

Edited October 24, 2016 by dms525

[markiv]

Congratulations.

I was not aware of Yoshi Nakama so looked I it up and long behold he is creator of Stone Mask 3D pen. I have had him on my list for a bespoke pen and your review has pushed him up on the list.

 

According to the website the colored elements are "laser engraved and hand filled with pearlescent resin mixture; it's not painted or printed"

His website can be found here

[18111]

Dear David,

 

Thank you so much for the great review! I’d like to make a little correction about Sol LeWitt and pen design, if you don’t mind. He was one of the pioneers of the “Conceptual Art” movement in 1960’s. The “Constructivism” is a different art movement that happened around the 1920’s in Russia. Constructivism pen design was a request made by a previous customer and had nothing to do with Sol LeWitt.

 

Best regards,

 

Yoshi

[18111]

Congratulations.

I was not aware of Yoshi Nakama so looked I it up and long behold he is creator of Stone Mask 3D pen. I have had him on my list for a bespoke pen and your review has pushed him up on the list.

 

According to the website the colored elements are "laser engraved and hand filled with pearlescent resin mixture; it's not painted or printed"

His website can be found here

Thank you for the link to my website. I'm looking forward to receive your order soon! - yoshi

Edited October 24, 2016 by 18111

[dms525]

Dear David,

 

Thank you so much for the great review! I’d like to make a little correction about Sol LeWitt and pen design, if you don’t mind. He was one of the pioneers of the “Conceptual Art” movement in 1960’s. The “Constructivism” is a different art movement that happened around the 1920’s in Russia. Constructivism pen design was a request made by a previous customer and had nothing to do with Sol LeWitt.

 

Best regards,

 

Yoshi

 

Aha! Thank you for the information, Yoshi. Clearly, my knowledge of modern art history is woefully deficient. I will correct the OP.

 

In any case, I am enjoying this pen a lot and am looking forward to showing it off to my daughter-in-law, who is Director and Curator of the Cooley Gallery, the art gallery on the Reed College campus.

 

David

Edited October 24, 2016 by dms525

[ehemem]

David, very nice pen. And that nib looks like it is approaching a true chisel.

[zaddick]

Thanks for sharing David. Yoshi's work is really neat.

[da vinci]

Thanks for sharing David. Yoshi's work is really neat.

+ 1 to both these comments:)

 

I have been admiring pens on Yoshi's website for sometime.

[jharlow]

My kids are fascinated with 3d printing-me too! This is beyond more in-depth than the printing they do, and I am amazed at it. Very cool Yoshi!

[18111]

+ 1 to both these comments:)

 

I have been admiring pens on Yoshi's website for sometime.

Thank you!

-Yoshi

[18111]

My kids are fascinated with 3d printing-me too! This is beyond more in-depth than the printing they do, and I am amazed at it. Very cool Yoshi!

Thank you! 3D printing is fascinating indeed. I don't own 3D printer myself. I outsource my printing needs. Low-end consumer lever 3D printer simply cannot produce high quality print out. - Yoshi

[penseroso]

Interesting pen. To be just a little pedantic about the aesthetics, no Russian Constructivist would 'spoil' a design with such a roll-stop, nice though it is and beautifully made. The Constructivists saw art and design as a blueprint for, usually machine, production. Embellishment for its own sake was strictly out. Being even more pedantic, the design of free forms in space is not really Constructivist but vaguely reminiscent of Malevich and Suprematism. Having sad this, the pen and roll-stop look jolly nice and the design is very unusual. I hope you have much pleasure from it. Thanks for showing it to us all.

Edited November 1, 2016 by penseroso