Pencraft Herald - With Grooves

[jmkeuning]

If a picture is worth a thousand words, here are a few thousand words for you. Review is on its way.

 

This is a custom pen ordered from Brian at Pencraft. He posted a few pics of his own here.

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2004/2097121332_d1e5a8e101_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2179/2097121104_538fc38d88_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2051/2096345029_e6b7c38282_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2094/2097121262_ccf489b17b_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2392/2096344931_a347d8db59_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2191/2097121146_92f24d17bc_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2331/2097121082_360d61566c_b.jpg

[bgray]

Holy cow!

 

I'm not commenting on the pen...I'm kinda familiar with it.

 

I'm commenting on the photos!

 

And I thought that I took good pics!

 

Wow.

 

(edited later)

 

You know...what really gets me is that the pics are reduced on this page, and they STILL look phenomenal...then I see the full size image!

 

Dude.

Edited December 9, 2007 by bgray

[rroossinck]

Brian, looks like another home run! James, nice work behind the lens.

[Opus104]

Excellent pen. I like that Herald design - I have my eye on the Gree/Black ebonite . . .

[jmkeuning]

Ryan, this pen is stinkin sweet. I cannot wait for you to handle it.

 

Brian, a full review will be coming. I want to write with it for a few days first, but I am simply amazed at what I have here. Part of the difficulty with writing the review will be finding the words.

[rroossinck]

Part of the difficulty with writing the review will be finding the words.

 

There's a thread for that here.

[omasfan]

I've looked at Brian's webpage, and this pen immediately became my favorite when browsing through all of his pics. Great photos, James!

[Aslan]

The pen is beautiful... and the pictures, well, VERY nice work! I'm working with Brian on a pen right now. He is talented... and wonderful to work with. (no affiliation, just enjoying the process).

[Eagle]

The pen is beautiful... and the pictures, well, VERY nice work! I'm working with Brian on a pen right now. He is talented... and wonderful to work with. (no affiliation, just enjoying the process).

 

The areas that are "cut" seem unfinished.

what type of finish is on the pen?

edit in

AS far as the holder goes.

That nib holder appears to be a from a kit.

My suggestion would be to buy the least inexpensive version of the kit and use the coupler from the cap.

This would require a few turns to seat the pen in the holder, but it would be sealed.

The up grade gold version might be as little as $10.00

Edited December 18, 2007 by Eagle

[Sno]

Um, pardon my weirdness, but that design reminds me of the "Battlestar Galactica" spaceship on SciFi channel. Very groovy (pun intended!)

[Titivillus]

Looking at the pictures I am curious about the metal ring between the section and the body of the pen. Is the section made of ebonite or is like the Sheaffer Selangor?

 

 

Kurt

[bgray]

The section is plastic. I'm working on ebonite sections presently.

 

[jmkeuning]

The section is plastic. I'm working on ebonite sections presently.

 

 

:clap1: I can't wait!

[John Cullen]

JIM----Looks like you have the 585 gold nib. Can you comment on how it writes? Smoothness, flow, stiff or soft etc.... I have two of Brian's pens. both are very nice. I got the steel nibs, which are very smooth, but the 585 gold nib intrigues me and is affordably priced. , jc

[goodyear]

The section is plastic. I'm working on ebonite sections presently.

 

 

:clap1: I can't wait!

Nor I.

 

I think Brian is probably sick of me asking if they're coming :embarrassed_smile:

[bgray]

The section is plastic. I'm working on ebonite sections presently.

 

 

:clap1: I can't wait!

Nor I.

 

I think Brian is probably sick of me asking if they're coming :embarrassed_smile:

 

Not sick at all! It's turning out to be a slower process than what I thought.

 

Anyone currently owning one of my pens can just order a replacement section when they become available. I have no idea what pricing will be like yet.

Edited December 29, 2007 by bgray

[CharlieB]

These are REALLY NICE LOOKING pens. Congratulations to Brian for both his design skills and his workmanship. Both are truly first class.

[Titivillus]

The section is plastic. I'm working on ebonite sections presently.

 

Will it dispense with the metal ring as well? I love the pen but like the look of no metal except the nib

 

 

 

Kurt

[bgray]

The section is plastic. I'm working on ebonite sections presently.

 

Will it dispense with the metal ring as well? I love the pen but like the look of no metal except the nib

 

 

 

Kurt

 

No. I'm afraid that the metal ring is integral to the threads.

 

Sometime I will be able to eliminate that ring, but not quite yet.

 

[jmkeuning]

JIM----Looks like you have the 585 gold nib. Can you comment on how it writes? Smoothness, flow, stiff or soft etc.... I have two of Brian's pens. both are very nice. I got the steel nibs, which are very smooth, but the 585 gold nib intrigues me and is affordably priced. , jc

 

 

I have mixed feelings and thoughts about the 585 nib.

 

I will say this, I think that Brian knows his way around a nib pretty well. If a person is interested in the Bock nib, in a standard width, I think the way to go is to order it from Brian and have him adjust it for you. I know that he adjusted the steel nib that he sent me, and it is a sweet nib in its own right.

 

Now, I ordered mine from nibs.com, and had it ground to an XF stub. The custom nib writes GREAT. It has a surprising amount of flex, but I think that the flex creates more of a soft feel than line variation (it's not that flexy). It's hard to comment on flow, because I requested a particular flow from John.

 

I think that the steel and the gold nibs feel quite similar. The gold nib might be a bit softer, because of the touch of flex, but the fact that it is a stub makes it hard to compare the two on a range of qualities.

 

I've commented on this elsewhere, but I do not like nibs.com's $20 charge per item! I guess I am saying that I do not think that the stub is worth the $65 that I paid for it. I've had work done by nibmeister's on this forum who charge half that and the work was comparable. However, it was FAST; nibs.com delivered in two days!

 

Next time, I'll buy my Bock from Brian and have him dial it in for me. If I want something with a custom grind to it, I'll have him send it out to one of FPN's many more affordable nib people.