Search the Community

After viewing some older posts about some of the products made by the U.S. company, Karas Kustoms, I was stimulated to check out the KK website, and I just received two of their fountain pens. I went with their "Signature Series," and within that series two of the "Decograph" models. Here are photos I took yesterday of the two pens. Each pen comes inside a very solid stainless steel ("SS") cylinder that twists off in the middle. The Karas symbol 'K' is on the upper part of the cylinder. After removing the upper part, the pen is revealed, sitting safely in a foam insert along with KK's "cheeky" instruction sheet (read it) rolled up inside. I've unrolled it for the second photo. Here are photos of the Signature Series "Black Pen Society Decograph" fountain pen for 2019. According to the KK page for this pen, Paul Erano of the Black Pen Society collaborated with KK for this particular pen (not the Decograph style itself). The clip is a one-piece milled aluminum machined at a slight angle to help keep the pen securely in a shirt pocket. The finials on the cap and barrel are aluminum and are securely screwed in, according to the site. The body and barrel are machined from solid thermoplastic. The Decograph is said to be KK's lightest pen, weighing .72 ounces (20.4 grams). The pen's length is about 5.25 inches (about 13.5 mm). The standard nib is a SS # 6 Bock with KK's own design on the nib face. For various premiums, one can order the Decograph (as well as all the KK FPs) with a titanium nib or a gold (14K or 18K) nib, and there are a decent variety of nib widths available. I chose the standard SS nib in a medium width, as right now KK is out-of-stock on some of the other widths (depending on nib material). If there were no stocking issues, I would have ordered a broad or stub. The pen comes with a Schmidt K5 cartridge converter and two Monteverde ink cartridges. For those who insist on posting their caps on barrels, one can post with the Decograph pens, but I wouldn't recommend pushing the cap on the barrel end too forcefully or too often. I don't think the designers intended for the cap to be posted. Posting would add weight that some pen uses desire, as this is a light-weight pen. I don't post my pens, unless they are very short without posting. Whatever green you see in these photos of the BPS Decograph is only a reflection from a green object. This pen is all black. Next are photos of the Deco Green FP. I've enhanced the coloration to compensate for my less than ideal photography conditions, so that what you see here color-wise is how the pen actually looks. This model has the same length and weight as the BPS Decograph above, so I need not repeat myself. I filled my Deco Green through the converter with Krishna Elegent Teal ink. It wrote immediately with its medium SS nib without any issues. The nib has some springiness to it, and writing with a light touch is easy and very pleasant. The line it puts down is on the wet side, which I like. Thus far, I am very pleased with this pen. The cost of each was $130 with just the standard nib.

Ignore this partially duplicative post. I don't know how it appeared.

Design is not a one dimensional step in product creation. Good design takes into account form and function. It’s not just the planning and the purpose but also the presence of the product. Without all elements, a design will not connect with the user. The more personal the product, the more this holds true. Sometimes the design is constrained by outside influences, like material and overall function. Sometimes outside influences are molded to the specifics of the design. Knowing all of these fundamentals made our design journey for the Decograph that much smoother. We knew going in that our design would need to be tailored to specific materials. That it would draw upon Art Deco features but be realized through modern machining. That it would be a representation of a simple, yet complex design motif. Ultimately this knowledge allowed us to move through the design and prototype phases quickly and smoothly with no outward changes to our original concept; a classically inspired pen utilizing modern material and machining techniques. History was a major influence in the Decograph from the first moment we sat down plan out the project. We paged through books and online resources taking in pen features from the past, but also the processes used by the pen manufacturers of yesteryear. The Decograph pays homage to classic pens from the 1930’s through the 1950’s but does so with nuance when taken in as a whole. Gentle curves combined with sharp angles give the design a feeling of movement often seen in the classic pens of the fountain pen heyday. Our goal was to make the pen familiar in both look and feel without making it directly resemble any current or former pen. History was part of every step of the design process even down to the name Decograph. Combining two words to make a new word was a common naming process in mid-century American product development. We chose to come back to Art Deco and take the Deco portion and combine it with graph, a word from the Greek graphos that means “written, writing”. We find it a fitting name that captures everything about the pen. Two of our greatest assets are technology and experience. The advanced machinery we employ on a daily basis as a machine shop has benefited us greatly in the production of writing instruments. Decades of experience with complex programming and machining can be seen in every product we manufacture. CNC lathes and mills allow for precise tolerances, unique design elements, and more direct product control. The Decograph and its packaging feature eight separate machined parts. The main features of body, cap, and grip are turned on advanced CNC lathes, as are the upper and lower metal finials. The clip is machined in custom made fixtures in a CNC mill. Our unique pen tub package uses both lathe work and milling in its creation. All told, the Decograph has more machining than any of our current pens. The Deocgraph Signature Fountain Pen combines thermoplastic and metal machined parts in a classically inspired form. It features a smooth writing Bock #6 nib in polished steel, with upgrades in nib material including Titanium and 14k Gold. It utilizes a Schmidt standard international cartridge converter, and ships with the converter as well as five black Monteverde ink cartridges with ink sourced from Austria. The pen is packaged in one of our unique, fully machined pen tubes. The tube is made from 6061 aluminum, the same grade of aluminum we use in our other pens. The package features our K Shield logo that has been milled into the upper portion of the pen tube. The amount of protection provided by the Decograph packaging might be considered overkill, but we wanted the package to be elegant and reliable while being an homage to our manufacturing past. The standard Decograph Signature Fountain Pen will retail for $165.00 and will be added live to our website on September 15th, 2017. It will be available in standard Deco Black and Deco Green

http://i65.tinypic.com/i6wp7c.jpg

http://i63.tinypic.com/258353a.jpg Wishing you a Happy Holidays from the desert...All of us at Karas Kustoms and Karas Pen Co want to wish you and yours a happy holidays. Whether you're up to your eyeballs in snow, or sitting on the back porch watching stunning sunsets in your board shorts, we're sending our best wishes your way. And if you're ready to start, or finish your holiday shopping, our annual HAPPYHOLIDAYS* coupon code starts Today. Use the coupon code from 12/1/17 thru 1/8/18 to receive 15% off your entire purchase. We've got gifts for everyone in your life, whether they're nine or ninety. On the off chance you are still recovering from all the food, beverages, and family; just click HERE to start shopping. *Coupon Excludes Gift Cards, Karas Pen Club Coins, Hix Design, and Barstock Pens. http://i66.tinypic.com/2zqager.jpg http://i68.tinypic.com/pq5gy.jpg Our Deco Black and Deco Green Decographs are on sale, $20 dollars off for the Holidays. Our newest fountain pen is a combination of styles and materials meant to pay homage to vintage Art Deco designs and pens but executed in a wholly modern way. It features CNC machined thermoplastics accented by CNC machined and milled aluminum furniture. It comes standard with a polished steel Bock nib of your size choice, with upgrades in Titanium and 14K Gold available. Standard international converter supplied, fully capable of being eyedroppered. If you're on the fence with this pen, don't take our word for it, check out some unbiased reviews of this pen below. Pen Habit Video Figboot on Pens Video The Clicky Post Review* Nib & Ink Review* Ed Jelley Review Well Appointed Desk Review* *Karas Kustoms and Karas Pen Co are Sponsors of these websites. We provide support and product without attaching demands knowing full well the site moderators conduct their reviews in an unbiased fashion. Our desire is for honest product reviews as well as honest feedback on our product designs. http://i63.tinypic.com/4hsbaf.jpg http://i66.tinypic.com/x3zh9i.jpg http://i67.tinypic.com/2mnf81c.jpg Karas Pen Co Signature Pens Decograph 1703 – Winter’s Tale “To unpathed waters, undreamed shores” – William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale Facing the unknown and uncharted causes a myriad of responses in humans. Some embrace it, charging headlong into adventure. Others shrink from it, preferring the safety of home and familiarity. At Karas Pen Co, we’ve always fallen into the first group—looking for ways to move forward, experimenting with random ideas, and taking risks. The Decograph is the culmination of a journey through unpathed waters. Our research and development for this pen required adapting our machines to a new type of material—one that is nowhere near as uniform in its behavior as the metals we are accustomed to. This latest adventure has proven quite successful. In the spirit of Camillo’s words to Perdita and Florizel, we’d like to invite you to our “unpathed waters, undreamed shores.” Our winter Decograph Special Edition 1703, is a brisk addition to the Decograph pen line. The pen is crafted from material that is a chilling shade of wintergreen, struck through with ribbons of black and streaks of glittery ice. Let us bring a bit of winter cheer to the holidays a little early this year. The 1703 – Winter’s Tale special edition is limited to 60 pieces, each elegantly laser marked on the barrel with sequential numbers. Each pen ships in our custom made and marked pen capsule with a polished steel nib in sizes EF-B, 1.1mm stub, or 1.5mm stub, a standard international converter, and five black standard international cartridges. 2-tone, black lacquer, titanium, and 14K gold nib upgrades are available for an additional charge when selecting the nib choice. The Decograph 1703 – Winter’s Tale will retail for $165.00 USD available at the Karas Pen Co website 12/04/17.

http://i68.tinypic.com/o0xmyo.jpg BARSTOCK CLEARANCE! After much deliberation, we are discontinuing the Barstock K Series. The Barstock pens were something we added to our line when we were asked for a true "beat around" pen. Something that a person could carry around in a rough environment and would hold up to any and all abuse. We didn't do anything special to the outside of the pen, leaving it unturned in its raw form. The caps are smooth caps, something we've never offered on a pen before. Outside of the clip there aren't any changes to the outside of the pen, the idea was the pen would look like a raw piece of material that we use to make our K Series pens. We are out of stock on the white Delrin and phenolic bodies, and have decided discontinue and sell through the raw aluminum and black Delrin rather than make more of these pens. We have some design ideas in a replacement bang around pen that we'll be prototyping this year. The Barstock pens have the following new Closeout Pricing: Barstock Render K - $40.00 USD Barstock Fountain K - $55.00 USD Decograph - Design. History. Technology. http://i63.tinypic.com/rmtxeh.jpg A streamlined, classically-influenced pen with a modern look and feel. The Decograph is a design and material hybrid that brings together elements of our metal writing instruments with fully machined thermoplastics into a quality writing experience. We've spent time looking at our particular influences in art and design along with our desire to produce high quality writing instruments and crafted a pen we feel fits our aesthetic and speaks to where we have been going as a company. Drawing on Art Deco influences of the early 20th Century and using 21st Century CNC Machining technology, we're translating our ideas into a pen that blends aircraft grade aluminum and stainless steel with modern high-strength thermoplastics fully machined in Mesa, Arizona. For more information on this pen, check out are pre-release video. Available August 2017. KARAS PEN CLUB COIN http://i63.tinypic.com/20sauqp.jpg The wait is over! The Karas Pen Club Coin is available for purchase on our website. If you haven't heard of our custom coin, I'm not sure where you've been, but on the off chance you missed some of our other videos or social media posts, here's a briefing on it. Or you could just watch the video linked HERE. The 2017 Karas Pen Club Coin features custom graphics minted on an all copper coin that we partnered with Shire Post Mint to have done specifically for the Karas Pen Club. Purchasing the coin doesn't just get you this sweet coin, but brings with it membership into the Karas Pen Club and a list of benefits for members. Some of those benefits are: Exclusive early access to new releases, limited edition items, and special editions sets.Introductory, members only pricing on select limited edition items and special edition sets.Access to free Karas Pen Club swag when you flash your coin to a Karas Pen Co employee or official representative.Access to product and focus group surveys and feedback forms.Prototype sketchbook images, early stage updates on forthcoming products, and random artwork we're adapting to future pen or logos.The coin and subsequent Club membership runs from July 2017 through July 2018, when we'll release the 2018-2019 coin, likely a new design and material. So it's kind of like a subscription service but our own spin on it. If you have any questions or concerns hit us up by responding to this email, filling out a contact form on our website, or contacting us via any of our social media accounts. http://i67.tinypic.com/wl7x8h.jpg The July Pen Meetup was a rousing success. We saw a lot of new faces. Got some great interaction. Had some pen related discussions that were quite entertaining. It was a great time had by all that attended. We're not about to slow down, below you can find the dates for the Pen Meetups for the rest of 2017. We hope to see you if you have a chance to stop by whether you're an Arizona native or just happen to be in Arizona when we host one, come spend a few hours with us on a Saturday afternoon. The August meet up will take place on August 12th from 4pm - 7pm at Karas Kustoms (126 S. Country Club Drive, Mesa, AZ 85210). We'll have snacks and sodas, the shop will be open for walk throughs and mini-tours. Dan and Paul will be available for questions concerning design and pen features. Bill Karas might even stop by and join in the conversation. We always suggest that folks bring their own pens and inks if they want to show them off or trade with each other. We try to keep it low key and family friendly. If you can't make it this, below are tentative dates for the rest of 2017. Can't wait to see you on the 12th! August 12th, 2017 September 9th, 2017 October 21st, 2017 November 18th, 2017 December 9th, 2017