Pilot And Sailor Precious Wood Pens: Are They Ok? Can They Be Polished?

[plumon]

I have seen some Sailor and Pilot "precious wood" pens that look very appealing. Are they especially fragile? Is the finish hardy? Are they worth buying?

On the other hand, can they be polished? I've seen them with glossy and matte finishes and wonder if it's just the photo that make them look like that. Is it a good idea to put some oil on the finish, like you would on other woods?

Thanks,

Plumon

[hari317]

I have little idea about the sailor pens, but at the moment, Pilot has three wooden pens in its lineup:The maple, birch and the yew wood. In all cases the wood is processed, resin impregnated and compressed before being turned into pens, it is not wood in its natural seasoned state.

 

Some people have reported use of wax on the Pilot wood pens with no reported detriment.

Edited September 28, 2013 by hari317

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

If you want to read a little more about Pilot pens, you can look here

 

They put resin into the wood to protect it. I'm not sure if the wax would damage it, but some people have used it and haven't noticed anything odd.

 

Dillon

[plumon]

Thanks for your comments. I get the impression that wood pens (apart from Briarwoods) are not very popular since few people have responded. Does anyone have an opinion about this?

Plumon

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I think they are very nice, but I don't think as many people buy them since there are way more pens made out of metal and plastic. The people I know who own them really like them. That said, I have two pens made from maple, the Lamy ABC and Rotring Primus. The wood is also resin filled and given a satin finish to prevent staining and help it maintain some dimensional stability. Personally, I like the feel of the wood, it's warm, light, and both of my pens have a satin finish. I wouldn't and don't use wax on them, the factory finish seems to work really well. Of course, this can't tell you much about the Sailor and Pilot pens. I have handled a Sailor with a glossy wood finish, and it was very nice. I think it was lacquered by Sailor. The feel of the pen was a little different though than my pens with a satin finish. One should also be wary of denting, since wood can dent like metal if mistreated, but neither of my pens have any noticeable dents. If I was thinking of buying a wooden pen, I wouldn't hesitate.

 

Dillon

[JLS1]

Thanks for your comments. I get the impression that wood pens (apart from Briarwoods) are not very popular since few people have responded. Does anyone have an opinion about this?

Plumon

 

I tend to agree with Dillo - plastic/resin/metal pens far outnumber wood pens probably due to cost/manufacturing factors. I have 3 wood Japanese wood pens - 1 each from Pilot, Sailor and Platinum. The Pilot and Platinum pens are a joy to use (feel great in the hand and the nibs are fantastic) but the Sailor (which is tagaysan/ironwood) has always been problematic: nib's not great, it's a hard starter and the short barrel prevents installing a converter so you're stuck using Sailor cartridges. (This pen put me off Sailor for a while until I bought a Sapporo, which is a wonderful pen to write with and takes a converter!)

 

With that said, I will say that wooden pens are more prone to denting (I have a few dents in my Platinum Yakisugi ), staining (especially if you post and there's ink in the cap) and cracking/splitting, especially if the wood is old and thin and/or you live in a particularly wet or dry area. This happened with my Pilot (which to its credit, is well over 20 years old), but it's fairly easily fixed; the good news is that the grain of the wood usually covers up such fixes much better than plastic or metal.

 

HTH!

[Edwaroth]

If you work with wood: I don't think it unreasonable to "rough up" the surface a bit with some very fine sanding paper then use multiple coats of clear lacquer or urushi (if you can acquire that), then polish. One thing though, you must be sure to remove any wax that maybe on the surface or the lacquer will not set. Some lacquers and urushi can give you a very hard finish. That said, I have a Lyle Ross Redwood Lace Burl custom coming...I'll let you all know how it looks, writes and handles when it arrives! I'm pretty sure he pressure treats and impregnates the wood with some type of resin.

 

Cheers,

 

Ed

Edited October 5, 2013 by Edwaroth

[vam272]

Wood is elegant and more interesting than most plain resin pens. A delight to hold, and never sticky (in my experience) in humid weather. I have a Nakaya Briar, a Castell-Faber, and I had an Omas "Lignum Vitae" (a greenish wood) which was as light as a feather and, alas, has vanished on me.

 

Some of the marbled resins are certainly beautiful, and the makie pens can be pieces of art that should never leave the house, but briar and peachwood and others are wonderful.

[FountainPenExpert]

The Precious Wood series is made from wood, so i think they are not fragile at all.
It is never easy to break wood body. However, because it is wood, the body of the pen may have some scratch (defects alike) on the body.

I think Japanese companies like this kind of production when they keep the scratch on the body of the pen.