My very first Nakaya

[danny]

I would like to share some photos of my first handcrafted fountain pen, the Nakaya Special Edition Ishime Kan(ink)su Stone Fountain Pen

. Bought from Pengallery.

 

It is a variation of the Urushi technique whereby Urushi powder is sown onto the surface of the pen to simulate grainy stone surface.

 

The pen comes with Nakaya's modern flexible nib. Check out the special cut outs at the sides of the nib.

 

Comes with an elegant wooden box and exquisite little cloth pouch.

 

http://static.flickr.com/101/278122723_5191829eff.jpg

 

 

http://static.flickr.com/115/278124315_9b6a76ba28.jpg

 

 

http://static.flickr.com/104/278126132_5620db0fd1.jpg

 

 

http://static.flickr.com/79/278127558_363171b248.jpg

 

 

http://static.flickr.com/88/278129143_fb851711fa.jpg

 

 

http://static.flickr.com/100/278130904_1ec03fc9ba.jpg

 

 

http://static.flickr.com/85/278132299_d23d445552.jpg

 

 

http://static.flickr.com/91/278133687_fbd62b1ebb.jpg

 

 

http://static.flickr.com/104/278135405_77b89c5c89.jpg

 

 

http://static.flickr.com/101/278138705_cc76591190.jpg

 

 

http://static.flickr.com/116/278142042_18c7fda68d.jpg

[TheNobleSavage]

That is an interesting finish on that pen. How does it write???

 

TNS

[Nibble]

"My very first Nakaya"

 

Covetness tinged with lust here. (I don't think any Smilies quite express how jealous I am!)

 

Please tell us all about this pen and its nib.

 

This is the one I think I want

 

(If I can get a picture to show...)

[Nibble]

I know! There are two pens here.

 

I can count, but I can't make the pictures chop themselves up. Anyway, who cares? They are both gorgous pens :bonk:

[jaytaylor]

"My very first Nakaya"

 

Covetness tinged with lust here. (I don't think any Smilies quite express how jealous I am!)

 

Please tell us all about this pen and its nib.

 

This is the one I think I want

 

(If I can get a picture to show...)

The very same Nakaya I have my eye on.

[winedoc]

Very nice pen. Ishimei means "Stone finish" as you stated. I like these kind of unusual finish. The "stone" finish can be rough or more polished, or what I call waxed stone

 

These are not Nakaya, but you get the idea:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/winedoc/Urushi/tn_DSC06696.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/winedoc/Urushi/tn_DSC06512.jpg

 

Enjoy your new pen.

 

Kev

[sonia_simone]

Nibble, I have my eye on the exact same. (My preference is the darker red. How about you?)

 

I told myself that if I could spend less than $20/month on pens & ink for three months (they don't have to be consecutive), I would buy myself this pen.

 

That was, uh, six (eight?) months ago or more. I do not yet have a Nakaya. (I do have a raw ebonite coming, though, to console me in my poor-impulse-control poverty-stricken state.)

[Nibble]

Nibble, I have my eye on the exact same.  (My preference is the darker red.  How about you?) 

 

I told myself that if I could spend less than $20/month on pens & ink for three months (they don't have to be consecutive), I would buy myself this pen.

 

That was, uh, six (eight?) months ago or more.  I do not yet have a Nakaya.  (I do have a raw ebonite coming, though, to console me in my poor-impulse-control poverty-stricken state.)

Yes, I think I prefer the darker one too. Though there is a certain feeling of no compromise about the more orange one. I love the purity of no clip or banding. I would have to clear my desk of all rubbish and write plangent, limpid prose.

 

My fantisy is to go to Japan and buy it there. I have been planning the trip (by train, naturally: London - Paris - St Petersburg - Moscow - Vladivostok. And then the boat.) Mad, I know. But what fun it would be!

 

But it is a secret, so don't tell anyone.

[danny]

Hi guys,

My sincerest apologies for this very late reply. I did not have time to keep in touch with this forum due to personal matters. To be specific I was kept really busy with the arrival of our baby boy and also the move to a bigger residence to accommodate the new family member.

 

In response to your posts, this is a great pen which I would not hesitate to recommend to any pen enthusiast. First thing that you will notice about this pen is its weight. Being made from ebonite, the pen is very light and one will be able to write with it for a long time without experiencing fatigue.

 

The stock is based on the standard cigar model (portable size). The unique feature of this pen is the Ishime technique used which produces a special rough surface texture on an otherwise Urushi lacquer finish. The process is described on Nakaya's website as follows:

 

"The craftsman sows Urushi powder onto the body, which makes a lot of grains on the surface due to surface tensity. After settled, he varnishes the body with lacquer several times to make the body harden. He sharpens these grains with charcoal and finished with wipe lacquer.

It is truly artistic craftsmanship to decorate stone-like appearance on a pen true to its name

('Ishi" means a stone in Japanese)."

 

The Ishime finish is not one of Nakaya's standard products. A special order has to be placed for this pen and lead time is normally quoted as 45 ~ 60 days. As I bought mine from Pengallery, who had pre-ordered it in anticipation of demand, I did not have to endure the long wait. Aesthetically the Ishime technique bestows an elegant and unique look to the pen and the textured surface is pleasant to the touch and enhances the grip on the pen.

 

I understand that one can custom order the Ishime finish with the other pen models such as the Piccolo or the Writer model. With hindsight I would have ordered this pen with a clip, ie a portable Writer model instead of a portable Cigar. Without the clip I tend to hesitate bringing this pen around for fear that it may just slip out of my pocket. Now I use it mainly as a desk pen.

 

While I ordered the pen for its aesthetic features, it is the flexible nib fitted on it which I find really endearing. The nib has been crafted with special cut outs on the sides which allows it to flex according to the pressure applied by the user. It flexes gracefully as strength is applied incrementally and the resulting line variation is very noticeable and pleasing to the eye. I find that it really lends character to one's writing. See the sample scribbling below:

 

 

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/144/328669602_83115e1557_o.jpg

 

As can be seen, the ink flows nicely without any skip. The sample above was written with ink from the Platinum cartridge which came with the pen. I have yet to use the Platinum converter with this pen.

 

Prior to this pen I really did not have any experience with other flexible nibs but I did come across quite a few lamentations from the more experienced users about the lack of flexible nibs in modern pens. I did not realise what I had been missing until now.

 

In fact I was so happy with the nib that I placed an order (through Pengallery again) for a Piccolo writer model (with reddish red tamenuri finish), equipped with Nakaya's special flexible nib (two toned instead of monotone). This time I filled up the questionnaire which is required for Nakaya's craftsmen to fine tune the pen and nib to my personal style of writing.

 

I intend to post a review of the Piccolo writer as soon as I can find the spare time to take the photos and write about the experience.

[white_feather]

I made a post earlier of the artsy pens from Japan. After looking at the Nakaya pens in this post I am blown away and the price is very reasonable. My next question is whether these pens are as good of a writer as they are beautiful in my eyes? If anyone knows about these please reply and I will try to get back asap or you can PM me.

[danny]

white_feather,

From your other post it seems that you are looking for Maki-e pens at a price range of 300USD and below. Pengallery is having a christmas sale now and I have seen that some of the Platinum maki-e pens are selling at below 300USD after discount.

Definitely worth a look.

 

As for the quality of these Japanese pens, I have found that the nibs from either Sailor, Platinum (and Nakaya) are comparable to the best nibs to be had from any of the other major brand names.

 

Best of luck in your pen hunt. Hope you find the pen that you are looking for.

[skipwilliams]

Nibble, I have my eye on the exact same. (My preference is the darker red. How about you?)

I've got a Nakaya Shu (the darker red model) long model with a gold clip and a Soft Medium nib. It's a superb, well balanced, great writing pen. Mine was a little misadjusted out-of-the-box. I had to pull and reseat the nib twice before the scratchiness settled down.

 

Skip

[Kay]

I have two Nakayas, I first got a cigar clipless writer in blackish-red tamenuri, fine point, and I LOVE it. I didn't think I would like it so much because I am a small pen person (small hands) but it is SO light and warm in my hand, I love the way it feels. I thought I'd never need another pen again. (Ha. Fat chance.) Then when I saw they had the smaller piccolo model... and I started checking out the elastic nib with the cool cutouts on the side... well you know what happened. It took a while to save the $$, but once again it was well worth it. I ordered directly from Nakaya, and also got my name in Kanji characters on both pens (I love the calligraphic characters even if I can't read them). Emailing back and forth with Ms. Yokoyama was a great part of the experience, they are SO gracious and customer-oriented!

 

OK, so you wanted to know about the nib: I have found both nibs to be very smooth and perfectly reliable. The "elder sister" is stiff and precise but subtly responsive, the "younger sister" is delightfully flexible. I didn't see so much line width variation at first, but I am learning the rhythm of pressure and the optimal slant for good line variation (I used to write with italic nib pens, so it was a re-training) and I am starting to get very nice variation with the elastic nib. Neither one has ever been scratchy.

 

The more elaborate maki-e are also gorgeous, but all of their urushi-finish pens are beautiful, and I really love the more understated, subtle look of the "plainer" pens. I also like the simple look and feel f the clipless models. I keep them in a little bag in my purse, so I never worry about them falling out of a pocket.

[chupie]

Oo. I love the writing.

[Viseguy]

I would have to clear my desk of all rubbish and write plangent, limpid prose.

If that's so, I will never own that pen! :ltcapd: Or do you mean that if I buy the pen, the rubbish will magically go away? That would be SO nice.

[Viseguy]

Pengallery is having a christmas sale now and I have seen that some of the Platinum maki-e pens are selling at below 300USD after discount.

Definitely worth a look.

That is not the easiest site to navigate, is it? Do you have to register in order to search? My searches return nothing. :blink:

[white_feather]

Thanks Danny, just checked them out. I like some of them. Good looking out.

[danny]

white_feather,

Glad that you could find some pens to your liking. Do let us know which one you finally choose.

[alvarez57]

Well, I made my debut into this website by showing(off!) my Nakata Aka-Tamenuri.

I had never, ever thought I would spend SOOOOOOOOOO much money on a pen; but I would always go back to their website and drool over the Aka-Tamenuri. I did some researching and found out, at the moment, that this pen is the "cheapest" of its kind yet with utmost quality.

So I said What the heck and bought it.

I bought it slightly cheaper from PensGallery in Malaysia and I had the choice for the nib. I had found the M elastic interesting and I wanted to try it.Well, I was not disappointed in the least. This pen is marvelous! I have not tried Dani Trio nor the Imperial Namiki, for their prices are way too high for what I want to spend on a pen; but the Nakata have a good reputation after much research that I did.

I'm very happy with it and admire it daily!

By the way, it's HUGE and it looks like a baseball bat in my hands, but it is soooo light and well-balanced that the size is not a problem for me.

 

Edited December 25, 2006 by alvarez57

[danny]

alvarez57,

That's a beautiful pen. Congratulations. I totally agree with you that Nakaya's Urushi lacquered pens currently offer the best value for money, especially for beginners like me on a limited budget.

And Pengallery was one of the best sites to purchase the Nakaya pens. Unfortunately there seems to have been some difficulties in their relationship with Nakaya and the Nakaya pens have been missing from their website recently.

 

However I am optimistic that Daniel, Lai and Nakata will somehow resolve their differences and I look forward to seeing the Nakaya pens on Pengallery's website soon.

 

Danny