Are emperor pens really worth it?

[edstreet]

This is something I have posed for some time now. I also have always wanted one so I decided to bite the bullet and do it. The problem is now that I did I am hesitant on the series. After taking photo's and going over them I noticed several things that struck me as odd.

First I need to say when you take photo's at the detail that I do you will see just about every flaw there is. Good, bad and the ugly comes out and what I saw in this series I first thought was a major deal. The more I looked and the more I ask the more I found myself questioning my high standards on this.

Due to photo size restrictions the main flaw that I see is not very visible, but I will try.

first it is the matting between the gold insert and the rhodium frame, the angles does not match with the design in the gold insert and it is grossly off.

The black arrow on the RIGHT is the key point that I first noticed, BTW this is the small end cap on the bottom of the pen, In the above photo the distance is approx 1/4" left to right. The left black arrow is the variation in distance between the valley's, also the high spot ridges than seem to be ugly chipped looking corners, possibly flaws from manufacturing.

Note the first image, the gold ring band right after the fish and square seems lumpy compared to the rhodium, well that is because it is. Oh and yes that is casting flaws you see.






Second The pattern in the end caps, clip, center band and blending in all these places are well across the board.

Yup all different and somewhat dysfunctional but workable if used properly. Which means not just any blank will flow.



Third. It is worth nothing that yes that gold ring band on the cap looks off.

Yup it is. The square box on the left side, center and right side is not the same height. The whole band is skewed, this is not a casting problem. This is another design problem.



Fourth. We still see the plastic insert in the cap, yet the clip is reinforced and the buttcap is press in rather than screw in like in the gents/statesman series. I can see this being an annoyance to some, mostly in rollerball setup.

This has been a somewhat common theme in this series with plastic being shaved off and the plastic cap not making good contact or staying in place. It is pressed into place rather and can/does come off.


I have been told by several things like 'these emperors, they are good sellers', 'if you have that many problems with it why not return it?' and 'this is nitpicking/perfectionism'. Bottom line is I wanted one and now I have one. My leaning now is perhaps I have/had unrealistic expectations.

 

[johncrane]

The Rolls Royce is a bit of a let down! send it back

 

[Dan Hintz]

Some things, such as the flare gap, look fine to me and may even be considered a design feature rather than a flaw. The poor molding, however, is not just a lack of feature detail... it looks very amateurish from a quality standpoint. I consider pens with those type of detail failures to be a couple (few?) hundred dollars, max (at least if I was the purchaser). If I was paying more, the pen had better have very sharp details (that first pic is scary... looks almost like they tried to fix it with some solder).

Just MHO...

 

[darrin1200]

Thank you very much for the review. I have been thinking of trying this kit as a top of the line model. The extreme high cost has kept me from getting one to sample.

I have always heard that these were very popular high quality components. Based from your review, I don't think I will be adding this to my regular collection.

That being said, this is only one example. Can anyone chime in with their experiences with this kit. I love the design, even the poor casting I can get by with. However I could not live with the miss aligned components. The improper sizing of those rings would make it unsaleable for me.

Once again, great review. Thanks

 

[joek30296]

I wasn't quite sure what an Emperor looked like, so I "googled" it and this is what popped up. My goodness!

Namiki Emperor Setsugekka Fountain Pen Nibs.com

 

[Carl Fisher]

I've never bought one as I've always considered them over priced for any kit. Things like the skewed casting on the center band, the rough casting detail and the fact that at the end of the day it's still a kit just turn me off at that price point.

I'm sure they are good sellers for many but I just don't see the value in them.

 

[edstreet]

I would like to point out that at the level and detail of the photo's that I take, macro 1:1, any flaw, problems, big small or minute will show up in gory detail. From casual observation you may be very hard pressed to see some of these problems with the naked eye. Also with this level and amount of detail you can clearly see everything and everything does indeed have imperfections.

One person did point out to me today that the original insert, bands and the like may have been artwork done by hand, i.e. clay or similar. Then like coin making that object reduced in size and mass produced. This could clearly explain many aspects that I noticed.

One think that I would be curious to hear is from other people who have emperor's (oh btw this one is a junior) and the second thing would be great for me to see other emperors and possibly the bulk of things I noticed is limited to this one kit and not widespread in the entire series.

'over priced' does come to mind greatly and often on this. I first ask myself, why the cost, the plating itself could contribute to the bulk, also fee's to the designer(s) possibly, higher production cost for quality and techniques I could also see. That question is still unanswered.

 

[Whaler]

I have done 10 or so of the Jr Emperor pens over the years and have seen no imperfections. Love everything about the kit except the price.

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

While I can see the imperfections in these photos as Ed said with the naked you and I most likely would not and so our customers also would be hard pressed if not impossible to see them. I have sold a couple of hundred full sized Emperors for anywhere of $300 to yes over $1,000.00 and have yet have one customer complaine about the plating,design flaws,poor molding or any other aspect of the pen.
I sometimes get a big smile on my face when someone says it's just a kit and I would never pay that much for a kit, Just about every large manufacture of pens makes them from "kits", They just manufacture their own "KITS". When I look at Pen World Magazine a Diplomat (made in Germany) a Visconity (made in Italy) or a Conway Stewart (made in England) they all have a top final, bottom final, a section, and a center band and they all produce over a thousand a week from the same parts making it a kit but thay don't call it a kit they all will tell you they make their pens from the finest componets avalible and I'll wager that if you took a photo of some at 1.1 micro you just might see a flaw or two.
We make component sets and embellish them with custom blanks, segmented blanks, inlayed blanks, hand painted blanks, etc and so on.
We need to stop thinking of them as kits but as the finiest componets we cand find.

 

[LL Woodworks]

... We make component sets and embellish them with custom blanks, segmented blanks, inlayed blanks, hand painted blanks, etc and so on.
We need to stop thinking of them as kits but as the finiest componets we cand find.

Well said Roy

 

[Ulises Victoria]

I have sold several full sized Emperors. I use them to make special pens like 6 stranded celtic knots, watch parts pens, etc. None of my customer has had a complaint. In fact, one of them told me that he likes better and uses more often my Emperor pen than his two Mont Blancs

 

[Ed McDonnell]

While I can see the imperfections in these photos as Ed said with the naked you and I most likely would not and so our customers also would be hard pressed if not impossible to see them. I have sold a couple of hundred full sized Emperors for anywhere of $300 to yes over $1,000.00 and have yet have one customer complaine about the plating,design flaws,poor molding or any other aspect of the pen.
I sometimes get a big smile on my face when someone says it's just a kit and I would never pay that much for a kit, Just about every large manufacture of pens makes them from "kits", They just manufacture their own "KITS". When I look at Pen World Magazine a Diplomat (made in Germany) a Visconity (made in Italy) or a Conway Stewart (made in England) they all have a top final, bottom final, a section, and a center band and they all produce over a thousand a week from the same parts making it a kit but thay don't call it a kit they all will tell you they make their pens from the finest componets avalible and I'll wager that if you took a photo of some at 1.1 micro you just might see a flaw or two.
We make component sets and embellish them with custom blanks, segmented blanks, inlayed blanks, hand painted blanks, etc and so on.
We need to stop thinking of them as kits but as the finiest componets we cand find.

Pen World magazine frequently shows pictures of people at pens shows with jewelers loupes. I've always wondered whether high end pens need to look flawless at 10x or 20x. That would be a really tall order to meet. But is that the standard?

Ed

 

[mikespenturningz]

That is why you rarely see me say kit I always say hardware set. That was very well put Oklahoman.

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

While I can see the imperfections in these photos as Ed said with the naked you and I most likely would not and so our customers also would be hard pressed if not impossible to see them. I have sold a couple of hundred full sized Emperors for anywhere of $300 to yes over $1,000.00 and have yet have one customer complaine about the plating,design flaws,poor molding or any other aspect of the pen.
I sometimes get a big smile on my face when someone says it's just a kit and I would never pay that much for a kit, Just about every large manufacture of pens makes them from "kits", They just manufacture their own "KITS". When I look at Pen World Magazine a Diplomat (made in Germany) a Visconity (made in Italy) or a Conway Stewart (made in England) they all have a top final, bottom final, a section, and a center band and they all produce over a thousand a week from the same parts making it a kit but thay don't call it a kit they all will tell you they make their pens from the finest componets avalible and I'll wager that if you took a photo of some at 1.1 micro you just might see a flaw or two.
We make component sets and embellish them with custom blanks, segmented blanks, inlayed blanks, hand painted blanks, etc and so on.
We need to stop thinking of them as kits but as the finiest componets we cand find.

Pen World magazine frequently shows pictures of people at pens shows with jewelers loupes. I've always wondered whether high end pens need to look flawless at 10x or 20x. That would be a really tall order to meet. But is that the standard?

Ed

Ed, your right at pen shows the person with the loupe is #1 looking at the nib and #2 also is not the general public but is a pen expert.

 

[Carl Fisher]

Well, you know what they say about opinions...be it mine or anyone else since I assume Roy's comments were directed at me as I'm the only one that mentioned "just a kit"

I know they are very popular and relative to other "kits" usually bring in higher dollar sales, but I just don't care for them personally and don't see the value over a good stainless "kit" or hand made components. Again just my opinion.

 

[SteveG]

I sell my "kit" pens to a group that is primarily making impulse purchases. Emperor style pens are part of the mix. I have two observations base on my experience.

1. The much higher priced Emperor based pens serve to allow the impulse buyer justify in his or her mind the other choices that cost less.

2. The Emperors do sell, albeit less frequently. These sales generally are still impulse buys. These customers simply have more heavy-duty credit cards.

I am not selling at a pen show, and the only loupe I have seen at my sales table is mine. None the less, I appreciated the macro views of the kit, and thus can be more judicious when sharing a "Loupe View" with a potential customer.

Thanks for the post.
Steve

 

[Chasper]

If this were a forum for artists whose medium is watercolor, oils, acrylic or other paint mediums, would we be discussing the quality of canvas as a primary factor in valuing our art? (Not that that is what Ed was specifically doing in his original post, he was just pointing out that there are a lot of flaws for something that costs so much)

This is and should be a forum of artists whose primary medium is writing instruments. The component sets we use are analogous to the canvas upon which a brush artists paints. I acknowledge that there are quality standards for pen components as there are for canvas. Personally I feel there is too much emphasis on the quality of the components and the performance of the tools, at the expense of the true art form that we practice.

*Stepping out from behind my easel, removing my beret and taking a bow while dodging the $2 pen kits that are being hurled at me*

 

[ed4copies]

Gerry, you never struck me as "the beret type"!!:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

Well, you know what they say about opinions...be it mine or anyone else since I assume Roy's comments were directed at me as I'm the only one that mentioned "just a kit"

I know they are very popular and relative to other "kits" usually bring in higher dollar sales, but I just don't care for them personally and don't see the value over a good stainless "kit" or hand made components. Again just my opinion.

Carl, my post was not ment to say your opinon on the Emperor was wrong as we all have them, opinions that is. I personally would rather buy an Emperor over a Gent 1, but your right a good Stainless, Sterling, or Damascus components are heads and heels over the Emperor or any other imported component set.

 

[Carl Fisher]

Well, you know what they say about opinions...be it mine or anyone else since I assume Roy's comments were directed at me as I'm the only one that mentioned "just a kit"

I know they are very popular and relative to other "kits" usually bring in higher dollar sales, but I just don't care for them personally and don't see the value over a good stainless "kit" or hand made components. Again just my opinion.

Carl, my post was not ment to say your opinon on the Emperor was wrong as we all have them, opinions that is. I personally would rather buy an Emperor over a Gent 1, but your right a good Stainless, Sterling, or Damascus components are heads and heels over the Emperor or any other imported component set.

Nah, wasn't taken as a negative. Just wanted to clarify that my opinion wasn't really based on the fact that it was only just a kit.

Heck there are a lot of component sets out there that I strongly dislike and won't make but that is a conversation not relevant to Ed's post :biggrin:

 

[anthonyd]

I have made five of them and the Emperor is my favourite pen kit. The fountain pens are smoother to write with than any other fountain pen kits that I have tried and I have tried many. As far as price, penblanks.ca has great quantity pricing on the titanium ones.

Tony

 

[08K.80]

I agree, that is unacceptable for an expensive kit.

I don't think I could take advantage of someone by selling them something that looks like that, for hundreds or thousands of dollars. I would imagine that someone spending that kind of money, is going to inspect it with a lope.

I've noticed people using component and component sets rather than kit. Is this to give the impression of better quality? A component is only a part of a larger whole. A set of components to be assembled is defined as a kit. So, unless a person is making all of the components themselves, these are kits.

 

[76winger]

I've made 2 or 3 full size emperors and have some Juniors ready to be made. I'll take a look at them when I get home and see if I can pull any differences out with some close up shots.

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

Kelly two things, if you took a 20 x lope to just about anything you would see faults but you will not see them with the naked eye as Ed said in his second post with his micro lens he was able to photograph them but with the naked eye you would not and I have sold many, many and never seen those faults or had a single customer complaint and I have had lopes taken out to inspect the nib but never the parts. Which takes us to the second thing the definition of component from Webster's new world dictionary :serving as one of the parts of a whole
and as these parts serve as parts of the pens we make they are components
Definition of the word kit in the same dictionary : an assembly of pieces to make a whole such as an airplane kit
We happen to make one of the pieces and in some cases more so there are missing components or kit parts so they are not complete kits rather a set of components.
And we who call the components instead of kits do it for the same reason ...yes to upgrade the hobby from a craft to an art.

I agree, that is unacceptable for an expensive kit.

I don't think I could take advantage of someone by selling them something that looks like that, for hundreds or thousands of dollars. I would imagine that someone spending that kind of money, is going to inspect it with a lope.

I've noticed people using component and component sets rather than kit. Is this to give the impression of better quality? A component is only a part of a larger whole. A set of components to be assembled is defined as a kit. So, unless a person is making all of the components themselves, these are kits.

 

[panamag8or]

That is why you rarely see me say kit I always say hardware set. That was very well put Oklahoman.

Same here... it's always hardware or components.

 

[edstreet]

I've made 2 or 3 full size emperors and have some Juniors ready to be made. I'll take a look at them when I get home and see if I can pull any differences out with some close up shots.

Thank you

 

[08K.80]

OKLAHOMAN,
A kit doesn't require that it has all of the parts or components to complete the project.
As an example, a friend of my husband is building an exotic kit car. It is called a kit but, it lacks many of the components to complete the car. It needs a full drive-line for one of the missing components along with other stuff.
Even with the Webster's definition, it doesn't state it requires all of the components to complete the model airplane. It still requires glue and paint, which are additional components as would be the blanks for pens.
Which ever way a person chooses to call them, it still indicates purchased parts.
Thanks for explaining why some call them components and if it works, then it isn't broken. It can just be a little confusing to new people to the craft/art.:wink:

 

[edstreet]

I took a Statesman JR, a full size statesman that I did years ago (long before they had postable options), a venus that I did recently, a gent that was also somewhat recent and this emperor. This is the same part that we seen in my original post but more glamor shot worthy.

Well some history, the Full size statesman is a fountain pen, I did use it some but very little. Mostly over the past how ever many years it has lived in my coffee mug cup that is older than dirt. Very little wear and hardly ever used. The venus has been a show model and there has been nothing but good things to say about that, even from IAP threads here and I have used it often, before I get beat up for it that pen is a polymer clay by Toni.
The gent has been used slightly but not much at all. I have done some more abuse on it willingly but mostly for testing.


---

As we can see, super super light use here and we have some serious scratching going on. Usability is good and this amount of 'damage' is not notable by the naked eye just yet but any type of real world usage will likely see much more. I would like to point everyone's attention to the SCRATCH PATTERNS, is that consistent with PLATING? This is a Gent JR postable rollerball pen.

Next up we have the small end on a venus pen. Remember this is a show pen and never subjected to abuse, been in a pen bag or clear holder most of it's life.

Here we see a very rough sloped surface that shows some bad cleanup marks before plating, possibly some issues with plating itself and the 'bling diamond' that is plastic of some sorts has several dot chips all around the edges, *NOT* on the top where would be consistent with wear.


Next is the statesman senior.

Here we see some weird marks on the inside lip by the insert.


Here we have a statesman JR

Oh yea, yes it is out of round, ever so slightly to but yes, not true.


How about center bands?

Hmmm, full size old vs new jr has different patterns. Also note in second image how the black Ti band is not flat on top or bottom, it's wavy. Also the alignment of each block is decent for each other but for top/bottom it's not quite there but close. Edges look upturned like it was hammered to be flat and caused a lip on the top.

I had to tie in the emperor with these to get some compare going on. Here is a more glamor shot showing the top cap out of focus in the background and the center band with a statesman JR band in the foreground.

statesman Jr postable, statesman non-postable, emperor Jr with the polymer clay venus by Toni Ransfield.

Same setup but showing the reflectiveness of the emperor jr.


And finally the 'group shot'

In case anyone is wondering: All shots done at ISO 100. The bulk of the shots are done at F/22 and 1/200 (some caps at 1/125), with the exception of the very last image. It was shot in manual mode at F/29 and 1/200. I hand hold and do not use a tripod (I do own 4 tripods). Lighting was done inside a light tent with a photogenic 500W/S monolight on a direct path at 1/8 to 1/4 power. Lastly camera is a canon Kiss Digital X with a sigma 50mm 1:1 macro lens in manual focus.

This is 'direct path'

As opposed to 'bounce path'

And lastly inside the light tent I use

 

[76winger]

OK, it took a little longer for me to get these than I expected, but here's closeups of a full-sized Emperor I have on hand still.

First the lower (body) finial, it looks a lot like the Jr., with maybe cleaner lines.

The larger cap finial has a lot more room between the lines, and also over all looks pretty good, but you do see the micro scratched in various spots, and to the left there is one line that narrows down from lack of material.

I believe I can see some "slight" variations in the positioning of the squares on the cap ring.

I don't see anything noticably wrong with the clip. Detail seems pretty even across the length.

Center band ornaments seem pretty evenly positioned, but the the one just below the center line of the photo looks slightly twisted.

And the lower band looks pretty evenly spaced, but a few imperfections showing.

As has already been discussed, these are very close-up shots that really bring out details that aren't even perceivable to the naked eye however, as evidenced by the whole pen photos I posted of this pen about a year ago (click to see the larger copies in MPA):

 

[bwftex]

Does someone have aMontblanc, Visconti , Aurora or high end European pen they can take some close ups of so we can see how they look? I was never much interested in pens until I started making them so my personal experience with fine pens (other than the ones I make has been limited. I have a friend who has a Visconti that set him back a few grand. Its is a marvelous pen. It absolutely reaks of class and quality and writes like a dream.

 

[Dan Hintz]

Dave, your kit appears to be in significantly better shape than Ed's... the imperfections you point out are relatively minor, and I would feel significantly more comfortable selling that set of bits in a higher end pen ($1k?). Beyond that price point, however, I truly would want perfect bits/baubles... likely something of my own construction.

 

[edstreet]

Dave, your kit appears to be in significantly better shape than Ed's... the imperfections you point out are relatively minor, and I would feel significantly more comfortable selling that set of bits in a higher end pen ($1k?). Beyond that price point, however, I truly would want perfect bits/baubles... likely something of my own construction.

I have a few questions and concerns here.

first, what is 'perfect'? there is nothing that is perfect, everything has flaws. To what degree do you draw the line with acceptability. If you look closely at the link he provided you will see the lower band is also at a cant angle. If you look at the center band on the left you will see it looks ok, look on the RIGHT side you will notice a non parallel end. The other think is the very very first photo I posted is at most 0.25" from left edge to right edge of the photo.

The larger size pen vs the Jr also makes the difference as well. Not only is there more real estate to work with but you have number of units made for that specific mold which apparently the junior that I have has a higher count on that specific mold.

Does someone have aMontblanc, Visconti , Aurora or high end European pen they can take some close ups of so we can see how they look? I was never much interested in pens until I started making them so my personal experience with fine pens (other than the ones I make has been limited. I have a friend who has a Visconti that set him back a few grand. Its is a marvelous pen. It absolutely reaks of class and quality and writes like a dream.

Sadly I do not but if someone does and would like to send it to me I will take several photo's of them and mail them back.

Also I am curious why everyone judges a pen by the way it writes, which is purely a function of the ink cartridge tip (be it nib, roller ball or what not) and not by the fit, form, blending, pattern or the like of the body holder.

 

[bwftex]

"Also I am curious why everyone judges a pen by the way it writes, which is purely a function of the ink cartridge tip (be it nib, roller ball or what not) and not by the fit, form, blending, pattern or the like of the body holder."

It's also the weight and balance that assist those things in delivering the ink to paper. But it's the way a pen looks that draws a person attention.

 

[bobleibo]

The Junior Emperor is my outright favorite pen. I have probably turned close to a hundred of them, the majority given as gifts and a few kept for myself. I have only turned 2 of the full sized ones and they were for a guy who has huge hands. I have never had a complaint or seen a flaw and I am pretty picky. Additionally, I have never had one come back like some others for defects. Like many have said already, if you look close enough at just about any product, you can find flaws but to the naked eye, I am very happy with these. Very stylish without being gaudy.

 

[anthonyd]

Also I am curious why everyone judges a pen by the way it writes, which is purely a function of the ink cartridge tip (be it nib, roller ball or what not) and not by the fit, form, blending, pattern or the like of the body holder."

It's also the weight and balance that assist those things in delivering the ink to paper. But it's the way a pen looks that draws a person attention.[/quote]

I agree that it is the look of the pen that draws you to buy it. However, for many fountain pen users the quality of the writing experience is of equal importance. Before I started making my own fountain pens I used to buy and use many name brand pens. I would go down to the fine writing instrument store near my work and frequently find pens that drew my attention. These stores let you ink the nib and see if it meets your expectations before you buy. Many of the kit nibs are not the greatest writers but the Emperor nibs are of higher quality and are a joy to write with.

Tony

 

[Smitty37]

Personally I think it is a stretch to call it an art form...I think of it more as a craft. That is not to be taken as a swipe at the makers - I also have at least as much respect for craftsmen as I do artists. And, perhaps a few of us could be thought of as artists, but most are taking a stick of wood or plastic, drilling a hole through it, putting a tube in it, taking it to our lathe and making it round, then pressing in a few plated metal components and ending up with a pen that could be and is easily mass produced to function as well as the one we make.

Now there is no question, that some perform more steps than others, making their own blanks - I have some pens in my collectioon where the person who turned the pen also made the blank, and they did som pretty d--- good work, in my opinion their blank can be called art but if I take their blank and turn it on my lathe, that doesn't make me an artist, even though it might well look exactly the same as if they turned it themselves. This forum in my opinion is a forum for, and I believe most members are, ordinary folks who enjoy making nice pens. And, they are very good (over all) at what they do.

If this were a forum for artists whose medium is watercolor, oils, acrylic or other paint mediums, would we be discussing the quality of canvas as a primary factor in valuing our art? (Not that that is what Ed was specifically doing in his original post, he was just pointing out that there are a lot of flaws for something that costs so much)

This is and should be a forum of artists whose primary medium is writing instruments. The component sets we use are analogous to the canvas upon which a brush artists paints. I acknowledge that there are quality standards for pen components as there are for canvas. Personally I feel there is too much emphasis on the quality of the components and the performance of the tools, at the expense of the true art form that we practice.

*Stepping out from behind my easel, removing my beret and taking a bow while dodging the $2 pen kits that are being hurled at me*

 

[Smitty37]

Dave, your kit appears to be in significantly better shape than Ed's... the imperfections you point out are relatively minor, and I would feel significantly more comfortable selling that set of bits in a higher end pen ($1k?). Beyond that price point, however, I truly would want perfect bits/baubles... likely something of my own construction.

I have a few questions and concerns here.

first, what is 'perfect'? there is nothing that is perfect, everything has flaws. To what degree do you draw the line with acceptability. If you look closely at the link he provided you will see the lower band is also at a cant angle. If you look at the center band on the left you will see it looks ok, look on the RIGHT side you will notice a non parallel end. The other think is the very very first photo I posted is at most 0.25" from left edge to right edge of the photo.

The larger size pen vs the Jr also makes the difference as well. Not only is there more real estate to work with but you have number of units made for that specific mold which apparently the junior that I have has a higher count on that specific mold.

Does someone have aMontblanc, Visconti , Aurora or high end European pen they can take some close ups of so we can see how they look? I was never much interested in pens until I started making them so my personal experience with fine pens (other than the ones I make has been limited. I have a friend who has a Visconti that set him back a few grand. Its is a marvelous pen. It absolutely reaks of class and quality and writes like a dream.

Sadly I do not but if someone does and would like to send it to me I will take several photo's of them and mail them back.

Also I am curious why everyone judges a pen by the way it writes, which is purely a function of the ink cartridge tip (be it nib, roller ball or what not) and not by the fit, form, blending, pattern or the like of the body holder.

Because that's what pens are for - writing. A pen that doesn't write is sort of useless.

 

[edstreet]

Because that's what pens are for - writing. A pen that doesn't write is sort of useless.

Again you missed the boat. Please actually read the thread instead of trolling on random lines. We have a very good thread going here and I for one would not like to see it ruined by this.

 

[rogerwaskow]

I like the way you think as they are not kits but individual hand made pens. PERIOD.

 

[Smitty37]

An Opinion

Some excellent photography there Ed - nice work.

Now if I were going to use that pen cap to print money, I would be concerned - greatly....but if I owned it, that isn't what it would be doing. It would be on display with the ones I do own inside a glass case. Folks, including myself, can see it with their naked eye (or through their specticals or contacts) from no closer than about three or for inches. At that distance none of the imperfections shown in your pictures would catch their eye.


I've got a Emperor pen done for me by OKLAHOMAN using one of his special blanks and even if I could see such imperfections you'd only be able to get it from me by stealing it. I have another made for me by CaptG with one of his special blanks and you'd also have to steal that one even if I knew it had the kind of imperfections that you show. I also have a number of pens that are not emperors that fall into the same catagory. If there are imperfections in the components, they are just not important to me.