My best experience withCA has been a pen a friend made me lst christmas. I carried it at work in my shirt pocket for about 4 months. I work as a repair man and warehouse person. it took a beating from carrying boxes, equipment, laying on the work bench, falling on a concrete floor, etc. the finish still looks as good as the day it was given to me. I stopped carrying it because the clip started to give out. I don't want it broken so I use it at home now. in comparison I also use one of the first pens I made, it has a shellawax finish on it, it looks like it has no finish, the wood actually has dings and scuffs in it, and I generally would not even take it out to show people that I make pens. the clip and other hardware are holding up well and it writes just fine. So I will use it till it breaks or gets ran over by my fork lift. nobody tries to steal that one.