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To Heck With iPad Stands, Help Kickstart Some Handmade Pens For A Change

This is what I like to see: people Kickstarting some really amazing stuff. How amazing? Try a handmade pen made of multiple pieces of wood spliced together and top-of-the-line clips and gel-inks. The pen, called the Exemplar, is half-length and costs a mere $100 (relatively cheap for a handmade pen, but still). However, it’s made by two North Carolinian lads, Cass Baltz and Bart Creasman, which adds a certain bit of old country panache.

$50 gets you a handmade wooden letter opener.

The pair are calling their company Baltz Fine Writing Instruments and, while pens have gone the way of the 50-cent milkshake, human kindness, and the Dodo, it’s nice to see two fellows so dedicated to a rapidly dying art.




Introduction

Hello, and thank you for taking a look at our page on Kickstarter. We are introducing our Exemplar line of hand-turned, custom designed luxury pens. The conceptualization for these fine writing instruments emerged over a year ago. Since then, we have worked hard towards creating a product that we believe to be the finest wood-turned pen available. Currently, we are offering three versions from our Exemplar line of pens. This post will serve as a pre-sale for these pens.

Details of our project can be found in the video below. If you prefer to read about the pens and our project, information can be found below the video.




ABOUT THIS PROJECT




Introduction

Hello, and thank you for taking a look at our page on Kickstarter. We are introducing our Exemplar line of hand-turned, custom designed luxury pens. The conceptualization for these fine writing instruments emerged over a year ago. Since then, we have worked hard towards creating a product that we believe to be the finest wood-turned pen available. Currently, we are offering three versions from our Exemplar line of pens. This post will serve as a pre-sale for these pens.

Details of our project can be found in the video below. If you prefer to read about the pens and our project, information can be found below the video.



About Our Pens

Exotic woods combined into a unique design -- featuring Birdseye Maple, Paduk, and African Blackwood
Custom designed hardware -- clip and cap are cast like a ring -- finished in rhodium (a precious metal from the platinum family)
Curved clip and matching cap are distinct to our brand of fine writing instruments
SCHMIDT ink writing system (comes with both blue and black ink inserts)
Hand-made, by us, here in North Carolina

Manufacturing Process

Two species of exotic woods are combined through methods of cutting, drilling, doweling, and gluing
Blanks are roughly shaped by hand on a lathe using a gouge, then planing knife
We then sand from 220 grit to 400 grit in order to get a relatively smooth surface
A special finishing compound, known for great durability and clarity, is applied three separate times
Sanding then resumes from 600 grit to 12,000 grit -- which is essentially a polishing rag
Finishing touches are made with a buffing wax
Hardware is assembled to the pen body using a clamp and special glue

Why Kickstarter?

Test the general interest in our pens
Purchase better tools for a more consistent output of pen bodies
Cover the set-up costs involved in manufacturing the metal hardware pieces and purchasing the ink inserts