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Wooden pen recommendation?


TSherbs

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I might be retiring from teaching at the end of this year, and I am thinking that I might get myself an all-wood pen (section is wooden, also) to celebrate. I might even do a special order.

I won't be able to spend more than 500USD.

Any recommendations for a maker or brand? I really know nothing about this kind of thing, but I am very intrigued. I've already looked at Ryan Krusac's website....

Thanks.

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19 minutes ago, TSherbs said:

an all-wood pen (section is wooden, also) … less than US$500.

 

Unfortunately, that counts Pilot, Platinum and Sailor all out, since they all have plastic sections up to the Pilot Custom Enjyo (whose body is sadly not made of all wood like the Custom Ichii, anyway) and the Platinum #3776 Yakusugi.

 

Outside of the Pilot Custom Kaede, I cannot name one pen with a wooden cap that seals the nib and feed effectively against ink evaporation, so you may want to pay special attention in your search whether there's a non-wooden inner cap, or it's just wood but treated to provide make it completely impermeable. (The plastic inner caps in the Platinum #3776 pens with wooden bodies, not being spring-loaded like the ones in the #3776 Century models PNB-10000/13000/15000, are not nearly as effective.)

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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5 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Unfortunately, that counts Pilot, Platinum and Sailor all out, since they all have plastic sections up to the Pilot Custom Enjyo (whose body is sadly not made of all wood like the Custom Ichii, anyway) and the Platinum #3776 Yakusugi.

 

Outside of the Pilot Custom Kaede, I cannot name one pen with a wooden cap that seals the nib and feed effectively against ink evaporation, so you may want to pay special attention in your search whether there's a non-wooden inner cap, or it's just wood but treated to provide make it completely impermeable. (The plastic inner caps in the Platinum #3776 pens with wooden bodies, not being spring-loaded like the ones in the #3776 Century models PNB-10000/13000/15000, are not nearly as effective.)

Thanks, Dill.

 

I great cap seal is not as important as it having a wooden section. I'll take a look at the Platinums cuz I did not even know they made wood versions. Thanks for the tip.

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Brute Force Design makes some gorgeous wooden pens. They are commissions, and the ones he's made before all seem to have ebonite sections, but since he's a custom turner maybe he could do one with a wood section. The website isn't great, but his Instagram account has lots of awesome pictures of his wood pens.

 

And, as you mentioned, everyone seems to love Krusac pens, so those are (as you are aware) a great option. 

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1 hour ago, TSherbs said:

I might be retiring from teaching at the end of this year, and I am thinking that I might get myself an all-wood pen (section is wooden, also) to celebrate. I might even do a special order.

I won't be able to spend more than 500USD.

Any recommendations for a maker or brand? I really know nothing about this kind of thing, but I am very intrigued. I've already looked at Ryan Krusac's website....

Thanks.

 

A wooden section would stain quite badly. Most pens are probably going to get dunked in an ink bottle, so that's probably why the sections are made of materials other than wood.

 

Ryan's pens come with a plastic section too, just fyi. But they are very well made and well worth the money. Gorgeous materials...

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Manoj Deshmukh of Fosfor does make wooden pens with ebonite sections, perhaps he could make you a completely wooden pen.

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4 minutes ago, sirgilbert357 said:

 

A wooden section would stain quite badly. Most pens are probably going to get dunked in an ink bottle, so that's probably why the sections are made of materials other than wood.

 

Ryan's pens come with a plastic section too, just fyi. But they are very well made and well worth the money. Gorgeous materials...

I get it. I just don't care about staining. I have other pens with plastic sections to resist staining. With this one I am interested in the look and feel of wood. So many pens have stock black sections, and I own them. In this case, I am interested in something different. 

 

I have time. The hunt is on. 

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25 minutes ago, WLSpec said:

Brute Force Design makes some gorgeous wooden pens. They are commissions, and the ones he's made before all seem to have ebonite sections, but since he's a custom turner maybe he could do one with a wood section. The website isn't great, but his Instagram account has lots of awesome pictures of his wood pens.

 

And, as you mentioned, everyone seems to love Krusac pens, so those are (as you are aware) a great option. 

Wow, those are some beautiful pens on his Instagram!

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13 minutes ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

Manoj Deshmukh of Fosfor does make wooden pens with ebonite sections, perhaps he could make you a completely wooden pen.

Oh wow, look at those woods! He does write that his back log is 1.5 years for custom orders.

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Yes, his work is quite in demand. But the price will be well below your budget, and you can send nib units to him if you want those in place of the standard Schmidt units.

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57 minutes ago, TSherbs said:

I get it. I just don't care about staining. I have other pens with plastic sections to resist staining. With this one I am interested in the look and feel of wood. So many pens have stock black sections, and I own them. In this case, I am interested in something different. 

 

I have time. The hunt is on. 

 

In that case, I hope you find something different and unique that you really love. I have to wonder if ink can cause rot, dry out, or other premature aging with certain woods....might be worth researching.

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For kitlesswood pens I can recommend:

 

Leonard Slattery - https://www.leonardslattery.ie/scriobh-pens

 

Pierre Bouillot - https://www.etsy.com/shop/RueDuStylo

 

John Sanderson - https://www.etsy.com/shop/BespokePensHandmade

 

 

 


 

*the entire pen is handmade except for the nib and feed, which are (usually) Jowo or Bock sets.

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2 hours ago, sirgilbert357 said:

 

In that case, I hope you find something different and unique that you really love. I have to wonder if ink can cause rot, dry out, or other premature aging with certain woods....might be worth researching.

+1. I have not seen any wood pen with untreated wood section. I don't think a pen maker would make pen with untreated wood section (they use ebonite, plastic or lacquered wood at least on the section). It would be an invitation to a maintenance problem. Wood soaked in ink can swell, deform and crack. Unless you plan on just looking at it and not use the pen of course.

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May I make a few suggestions?

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: I haven't tried any of these (wish I could), so I cannot vouch for their final quality, their actual look or their definitive feel in the hand. You should keep in mind that any Internet ordering incurs in a risk cost, and that you may feel deceived by the actual feel of the real item in your hand. The only sure way to be certain is to try it yourself in person or to accept the risk.

 

I particularly like Wancher pen minimalist aesthetics. You can have them in wood or in wood+urushi, which are -to my liking- gorgeous. And with your allotted cash you could even treat you to some other complimentary present.

 

The Unique Wood line has wonderful, natural aesthetics. The World Tree line has a classic design. The Sekai line has some gorgeous urushi lacquered pens.

 

The main problem may be availability of some models, which means you may need to order and wait for it to be hand-made, but they are all hand crafted by first-class artisans.

 

If ordering from Japan or waiting is too onerous, you may try the pens from BottegandoVR in Etsy. The offer varies continuously, but he's also got some very nice "European-made" Urushi pens at a very nice price.

 

I'm priming aesthetics and price here. You may prefer other criteria. Or you may want to contact them to ask about the specifics of their nibs and nib-units. I gather they use Bock nibs, but do not know the quality or how easy it might be to substitute for a better suited nib later.

 

I remember there were some US based pen makers using wood as well to do artisan pens. Just can't remember the names now.

 

On the light side, https://www.thewoodhut.co.uk/handcrafted-wooden-pens-and-pencils/fountain-pen-from-scottish-whisky-barrels a pen made from old whisky barrels may be a fun and side treat to try. But I wouldn't bet strongly on its nib.

 

That said, there are many alternatives to choose from, maybe if you give us more detail on what kind of wood or aesthetics you like, we will be able to give better tuned help.

 

And lastly but most important of all, my congratulations and my most sincere admiration for the work you devoted your life to. The world can never be grateful enough to teachers.

If you are to be ephemeral, leave a good scent.

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Oh, and another is Mr. Cypress. They do lots of affordable raden and urushi pens, and also some cellulose acetate/ebonite and wood pens. Very cool stuff.

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