Any good wooden pens?

[Diethylether]

Hello there, this is my first post here.

 

Currently I'm using the decimo and pro gear slim the most and I enjoyed both metal and resin pens. But I wonder are there any good wooden pens? I would like to have one as I like the touch of wood. I have seen pilot custom maple and sailor precious wood, but are there any more choices? I know wooden pens are not a common choice, but there should be some more.

 

I don't have much budget, so 300usd is maximum and I would like a gold nib.

 

Thank you so much!

Edited January 11, 2021 by LoginlawHK

[JosephKing]

Platinum Izumo (might be able to find it within your price range when on sale)

 

Conklin All American - but be wary that the wooden version could be prone to drying out

 

Wancher has a few pens in wood

[Turquoise88]

I’d recommend Ryan Krusac, an independent artisan: https://rkspens.com  He makes pens of wood and found moose antler! Nicely designed and engineered. 

 

Gazing Far also makes both regular and pocket sized wood pens: https://www.gazingfar.com  Kind of expensive to ship from Asia, but they are sometimes available at Scrittura Elegante: https://www.scrittura-elegante.nl/en/search/gazing+far/

 

Then there is Wancher. I can’t speak to the quality of their pens as I haven’t purchased one yet, but the wooden ones look interesting: https://www.wancherpen.com/collections/unique-wood

 

Finally, these aren’t being made anymore, but can still be found occasionally (and usually not at the retail prices shown on the following website!): Delta Seawood — very smooth writers and really pretty pens in person: http://www.yafa.com/seawood_page.html   

 

There are other pen makers but they are outside of your price range, like Graf Van Faber Castell Classic Macassar (https://www.graf-von-faber-castell.com/products/FountainpenClassicMacassarMedium/145740).  

 

You can also try doing a search on Etsy for wood fountain pens — there are quite a few on there, though I can’t vouch for the quality. But they are usually not terribly expensive either 😉

 

You can find reviews for most of the above pens by doing a web search on the maker or name.

 

Good luck!  Wood pens are really wonderful — an entirely different feel in the hand than resin or metal. Well worth taking the time to find. 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2021 by Turquoise88
added web link

[I-am-not-really-here]

For a solid wood pen you are better off going custom, in my opinion.  See https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/forum/85-pen-turning-and-making/  

 

As for manufacturers pens, other than those from China, at a $300 budget you might get little more than a veneer overlay. 

 

 

[gpsgrandpa]

I give a second vote for Ryan Krusac as a pen maker. He has a variety of woods and pen sizes.

[Dimy]

Might I recommend some indian options which should not break barrier and leave some money for gold nibs as addition.

 

lotus pens, you can custom order the pen with your specs and get a standard gold nib to replace the nib. The order customisation should be possible  to anything and should not break the budget on simple customisation at least. The lotus shikhar in sandlewood pen looks good, never bought one but I know they make good built pens.

 

I can also recommend fosfor islander is a beauty (satin rosewood for me), although wait time is long..... really long.

 

Good luck on hunt.

Regards.

[rkesey]

13 hours ago, LoginlawHK said:

Hello there, this is my first post here.

 

Currently I'm using the decimo and pro gear slim the most and I enjoyed both metal and resin pens. But I wonder are there any good wooden pens? I would like to have one as I like the touch of wood. I have seen pilot custom maple and sailor precious wood, but are there any more choices? I know wooden pens are not a common choice, but there should be some more.

 

I don't have much budget, so 300usd is maximum and I would like a gold nib.

 

Thank you so much!

I have a couple of wooden pens, and love them--they're great if you like your pens on the lighter, warmer side. One that's in your price range is the Pilot Kaede, which might be the maple one you've seen. Mine's from 1974 and has a 14k M nib. 

[Diethylether]

19 minutes ago, rkesey said:

I have a couple of wooden pens, and love them--they're great if you like your pens on the lighter, warmer side. One that's in your price range is the Pilot Kaede, which might be the maple one you've seen. Mine's from 1974 and has a 14k M nib. 

Thank you for your suggestions!

[Diethylether]

6 hours ago, Turquoise88 said:

I’d recommend Ryan Krusac, an independent artisan: https://rkspens.com  He makes pens of wood and found moose antler! Nicely designed and engineered. 

 

Gazing Far also makes both regular and pocket sized wood pens: https://www.gazingfar.com  Kind of expensive to ship from Asia, but they are sometimes available at Scrittura Elegante: https://www.scrittura-elegante.nl/en/search/gazing+far/

 

Then there is Wancher. I can’t speak to the quality of their pens as I haven’t purchased one yet, but the wooden ones look interesting: https://www.wancherpen.com/collections/unique-wood

 

Finally, these aren’t being made anymore, but can still be found occasionally (and usually not at the retail prices shown on the following website!): Delta Seawood — very smooth writers and really pretty pens in person: http://www.yafa.com/seawood_page.html   

 

There are other pen makers but they are outside of your price range, like Graf Van Faber Castell Classic Macassar (https://www.graf-von-faber-castell.com/products/FountainpenClassicMacassarMedium/145740).  

 

You can also try doing a search on Etsy for wood fountain pens — there are quite a few on there, though I can’t vouch for the quality. But they are usually not terribly expensive either 😉

 

You can find reviews for most of the above pens by doing a web search on the maker or name.

 

Good luck!  Wood pens are really wonderful — an entirely different feel in the hand than resin or metal. Well worth taking the time to find. 

 

 

Thank you for your information. I'm going to take a further look on it!

[A Smug Dill]

The Pilot Capless models with the black and the deep red ‘resin-impregnated’ barrels are nice to hold in the hand, come fitted with 18K gold nibs, and are priced under US$300. The red one is my favourite Vanishing Point pen with which to write, even though the raden models are prettier. Like the other Pilot Capless pens, though, they are more apt to allow ink to evaporate, and dry out relatively quickly when unused (with nib retracted) for a while, compared with other gold-nibbed Pilot fountain pens.

 

The current model Pilot Custom Kaede/Maple is excellent, and the only wooden bodied pen that prevents ink evaporation effectively when capped. Not even the Platinum #3776 Century briar models can match its performance in that regard. It's the only Pilot Custom pen I have/had that I enjoy seeing, holding an using, and as far as the Custom range goes the Kaede is not expensive.

 

I haven't tried the Platinum Izumo Tagayasan, although I wouldn't mind getting one if the price is right. It's unlikely to get a new one these days for less than US$350, though, even when heavily discounted (from what I've seen in the past twelve months anyway). Keep in mind they're large, even larger than the Izumo Tamenuri, which are very nice pens but almost at the limit of what I personally find (comfortably) usable.

 

The Platinum #3776 Century (in light or dark colours, with smoothly finished) Briar models are nicely constructed pens, but if you're expecting the same cap seal performance as its cheaper, resin-bodied siblings, be prepared to be disappointed.

 

We picked up a couple of Delta Seawood Iroki pens (with Fusion nibs, which are not gold nibs, though) on clearance a couple of years ago. Again, nice to look at and hold, not bad to write with, but apt to dry out relatively quickly when capped and unused.

 

So, I've more or less given up on buying more new wooden bodied pens, even at the US$300–US$500 price range, never mind that I really like the aesthetic and the warm feeling of the wooden barrel against the skin on my hand when I write.

[OCArt]

On the opposite end of the price range you should take a look at the Jinhao 9056 at

~$25

 

 

 

[JosephKing]

2 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

I haven't tried the Platinum Izumo Tagayasan, although I wouldn't mind getting one if the price is right. It's unlikely to get a new one these days for less than US$350, though, even when heavily discounted (from what I've seen in the past twelve months anyway).

 

I got mine during CultPens around the world sale + "US customer discount" for 253 GBP including shipping  (thanks to you, if I remember correctly).  Depending on the conversion (at the time was around 1.27, but was as low as 1.15 last Feb), it might be possible to hit 300 USD. 

 

Big is relative, but if you're comfortable with the normal Vanishing Point, you'll have no problems with the Tagayasan (the balance feels lower on the latter pen).  If you're still hankering come summer, it might be something to consider ;D

[bayindirh]

Why not Faber Castell? Ondoro and Ambition has nice wooden barrel versions. I've both and use them extensively. They're elegant, wet writing, good steel nibbed pens. They're not exactly cheap but, they're dependable.

[jchch1950]

Omas made a series of wood pens. They were above 300 when they were on sale but maybe a second hand one can be find.

[SoulSamurai]

The Jinhao 51A can be had with a wooden barrel, in hooded or regular form:

 

https://www.gouletpens.com/products/jinhao-51a-wood-fountain-pen-hooded-nib?variant=31807895961643

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, bayindirh said:

Why not Faber Castell? Ondoro and Ambition has nice wooden barrel versions.

 

I have three Faber-Castell Ambition pens, including two wooden-barrel ones. I bought them because they look lovely; and one feels lovelier than the other when it comes to the physical texture. The F-C nibs are good, but all of the pens suffer from ineffective cap seals; and so I rarely ever ink and use them, if they can't be on standby reliably, ready to serve at my pleasure once inked.

 

From what I've read, the Ondoro and e-Motion are not any better in that regard.

 

That said, I have a Delike Times which is quite recognisably ‘inspired’ by the Ondoro. It was significantly cheaper than the Ondoro, but not cheap relative to other Delike models. It had some problems out-of-the-box that needed fixing. However, as luck would have it, the fix I implemented with regard to the wobbly cap worked very well, and now I have a pen that wouldn't dry out for six months or longer. However, the wobbly cap problem is apparently not an anomaly, and the fix while simple is quite fiddly, so the Delike Times as a pen model is not what I'd recommend to someone as a “good wooden pen”.

[hari317]

within 300USD probably some choices

 

Pilot Custom Maple- screw cap

Platinum 3776 Briarwood Light/Dark/Shell Briar -push cap

Platinum 3776 Yakusugi (Cedar) when on sale -push cap

If lucky a Platinum Izumo in Tagayasan wood comes in Glossy and Matte- screw cap

 

a Long forgotten pen called the Monteverde Megawood -screw cap.

 

Custom pen from Fosfor pens-the pen has a full internal liner.

 

Very inexpensive: Lamy ABC with a wooden barrel, lovely pen.

[bayindirh]

29 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

The F-C nibs are good, but all of the pens suffer from ineffective cap seals; and so I rarely ever ink and use them, if they can't be on standby reliably, ready to serve at my pleasure once inked.

 

You're right. Their caps are not effective and flawless like Lamy or similar priced pens, however I ink an ambition with MB Royal Blue, an e-motion all black with Parker Blue Black and keep them on my desk (use it every two days or so).

 

While evaporation is pretty evident, both writes first time, every time. Of course, none of them is Like a Lamy 2000 which writes like capped 10 seconds ago, even after weeks later.

[A Smug Dill]

23 minutes ago, bayindirh said:

… keep them on my desk (use it every two days or so).

 

While evaporation is pretty evident, both writes first time, every time.

 

Thank you for the balanced commentary!

 

I always find it odd that so many fellow fountain pen users (but, of course, excluding you) active in discussion forums would leap to insisting that using pens more regularly somehow solves the problem of ineffective cap seals, as if writing with a pen every day or two would slow down ink evaporation from the pen when capped; or that the pen doesn't hard start when uncapped to write, then there is no ink evaporation problem, and the ink hasn't become more saturated/concentrated and possibly thickened from the start of the week to the end of the week.

 

The plastic inner caps on my F-C Ambition pens all have (unequally sized) holes in the roof, so I think it should be a relatively easy fix to ‘plug’ it by injecting a suitable sealant into the space above it and let it dry and set; but I just don't think I have something suitable on hand that I can deliver with a syringe fitted with a long-stemmed blunt needle through that hole. Once it's plugged, I expect that uncapping the pen quickly may cause ink to come off the nib onto the plastic; or leaving a capped pen to be jostled or shaken while carried in a bag may cause beads of ink to collect in the inner cap, so the sealing of the roof needs to be able to stand up to flushing under a tap, if not with a pressurised jet of water from a bulb syringe.

 

It'd be better if I'm able to remove the inner caps from the metal caps, and seal their roofs with white glue or epoxy on the ‘outside’, but I don't have a tool for inner cap removal, and given they're snap caps, I wouldn't want to risk damaging or deforming the inner caps at all.

[bayindirh]

26 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

Thank you for the balanced commentary!

Thanks, I think being fair and objective is a matter of self respect and maturity. I actually work really hard to improve this even further. Because trying to mask something doesn't make the problem go away.

 

26 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

and the ink hasn't become more saturated/concentrated and possibly thickened from the start of the week to the end of the week.

Hah, no. The inks in my FC pens become more viscous and darker/saturated, both in the converter and the feed. Using them regularly prevents only the clogging, not the evaporation.

 

26 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

The plastic inner caps on my F-C Ambition pens all have (unequally sized) holes in the roof, so I think it should be a relatively easy fix to ‘plug’ it by injecting a suitable sealant into the space above it and let it dry and set; but I just don't think I have something suitable on hand that I can deliver with a syringe fitted with a long-stemmed blunt needle through that hole.

 

The springs for the clips are clearly visible behind the holes. Sealing with a liquid glue will inevitably damage the mechanism. A better is way to cut a slightly smaller diameter clear sticker and to position it with precision tweezers but, since the the caps are tight and, opening them softly is very hard, it'd probably make them spit. Maybe sealing with a sticker and opening a smaller hole with a pin may work, who knows.

 

26 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

so the sealing of the roof needs to be able to stand up to flushing under a tap, if not with a pressurised jet of water from a bulb syringe.

I roll and dampen some paper towel and "wipe" the inner caps of my Ambition pens. I think it provides sufficient cleaning. Since the pens are in permanent rotation with fixed inks, I think there's no risk in in-cap reaction with other inks.