What 'brand name' pens are hand turned?

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GouletPens

GouletPens

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We know a lot of the names out there....Cross, Mont Blanc, Faber Castelle....but are any of their pens hand turned or hand made in any respect? I know the ones with jewels and whatnot need to be hand set, but are all the other ones just cranked out by CNCs? I'm just curious.
 
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When I went to add the Omas pen to my shopping cart it said "You have exceeded the maximum order value." :mad: Now what do I do :confused:
 
Hand turned as in each barrel being cut with hand-guided tools? I bet none. Do you really think MontBlanc has folks at lathes turning out several million pens per year? More than likely they are using extruding machines and CNC.
 
I kinda figured that not every Mont-Blanc is hand turned, but are some of these crazy expensive pens put out by the big guys utilize any hand-craftsmanship? I know the ones with jewels do, but I'm wondering about some of the other types of pens .For example, I know Faber Castelle has a parquet wood pen, almost identical to ones I've seen guys on here make. They sell it for $3,000. http://www.paradisepen.com/paradise/dept.asp?s_id=0&dept_name=Graf+von+Faber%2DCastell+Pen+of+the+Year+2008&dept_id=21095
 
I know that I'm replying a little late to this post, but I thought that I'd throw in my two cents. I saw that Nakaya was mentioned earlier and one of their big selling points is that every pen is handmade for your hand only. Here's a link to their website giving an overview of their process. http://www.nakaya.org/ehandmade.html

Their Master lathe craftsman, Mr. Matsubara, has been handmaking their pens since 1991. I've attached a photo of him using his foot-powered lathe, pretty awesome! If you are curious, search Nakaya at the Pentrace website and you will find several articles showing off their techniques and craftsmanship.

It is one of my goals to immitate if at all possible one of Nakaya's Piccolo pens (photo attached), but so far I can't even get the closed end barrels to come out consistantly. But that's probably because I don't want to spend the money on specialized mandrels and chucks just yet. And eventually, I would love to get into cutting threads and all that, but am hesitant to spend the money and end up getting the wrong kind.

I also, would like to immitate the Piccolo because I don't want to spend the $300-$2,000 (depending on options, finish, design) it costs for one.
 

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thefunkyP said:
I know that I'm replying a little late to this post, but I thought that I'd throw in my two cents. I saw that Nakaya was mentioned earlier and one of their big selling points is that every pen is handmade for your hand only. Here's a link to their website giving an overview of their process. http://www.nakaya.org/ehandmade.html

Their Master lathe craftsman, Mr. Matsubara, has been handmaking their pens since 1991. I've attached a photo of him using his foot-powered lathe, pretty awesome! If you are curious, search Nakaya at the Pentrace website and you will find several articles showing off their techniques and craftsmanship.

It is one of my goals to immitate if at all possible one of Nakaya's Piccolo pens (photo attached), but so far I can't even get the closed end barrels to come out consistantly. But that's probably because I don't want to spend the money on specialized mandrels and chucks just yet. And eventually, I would love to get into cutting threads and all that, but am hesitant to spend the money and end up getting the wrong kind.

I also, would like to immitate the Piccolo because I don't want to spend the $300-$2,000 (depending on options, finish, design) it costs for one.
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FunkyP,

Here are a couple of my interpretations. If you'd like to discuss how these (urushi) pens are finished PM me.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43881&highlight=urushi
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43004&highlight=urushi
 
Chris those are some amazing looking pens and finishes! Looks like you are one step ahead....errr....okay...several steps ahead of me. I love the simple lines and rich colors, very nicely done.

I've been following some of your other posts on urushi, and I think I'm going to have to work up the patience to go through the steps before I get in it too deep. I'm am curious what my best options in the US would be. I've started considering trying some lacquers with some stain layering effects or something, but nothing conclusive yet.


I've posted one of my favorite Nakaya pen styles, their negoro pens. Oh but someday I will....but probably not!:wink:

Thanks for sharing your photos! Sure do love that finish, and admire your patience! :smile:
 

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I don't want one of those pens and I don't want to meet the penmaker. I just want to see the idiot that pays that much money for a pen.

Moosewatcher
 
Ken,

I agree with you about the price (hence the reason I'd rather imitate and attempt to make my own), but I've also heard tha, depending on the location it seems, people will spend much much more than this for a pen.

Many begin to look at them as pieces of art that write, rather than just a pen. The fact that these are handmade I believe drives the price up a bit too. If you do a search for "pricing your pens" on this site and you'll find many people making fountain pens for this much and more.
 
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