In-house Resin Manufacturing

We’ve never been secretive about our production processes, posting behind-the-scenes videos and photos on our Instagram and openly talking about nearly every step of the manufacturing and finishing process. We’ve also been relatively open about our desire to increase production capacity whenever possible. We regularly take steps to increase efficiency by re-engineering products, tweaking our programming, improving our machines and tooling, and increasing the number of machines in the shop. This time we decided to step outside of the box a bit and look at manufacturing our own resin. Looking back at that decision, there were a lot of intermediate steps that brought us to the point where we decided to invest time and money into making our own resin. Let’s take a peek behind the curtain and walk through the process a bit.

The ball started rolling in a way that wasn’t planned. About a year and a half ago we purchased a few new machines. One was a specifically purchased for non-metal machining, it would primarily work on Vertex manufacturing and if we could decrease our production time, we’d also use it to manufacture the next batch of Decograph fountain pens. Initially, the process of getting used to the new machine was time-consuming. It required drastic changes to our programming, and eventually led us to design multiple custom tools that improved our finished product. Once we had the machine dialed in, we started cranking out Vertex pens, and quickly had about 700 pens ready for sanding and polishing.

Due to this massive increase in production, we needed to hire someone to take over the job of sanding and polishing because Bill had been doing all of that when the batches coming off the machines at a much slower rate. We interviewed multiple people, and ultimately Bill hired our current Sanding & Polishing Technician, Zoe. She had a background in production welding as well as familiarity with other aspects of a machine shop but was looking for a position like this. She fit in perfectly and immediately got to work perfecting our sanding and polishing process. In her capable hands, the finishing process of our Vertex pens went from a four-step process, to a seven-step process that was only slightly longer but produced higher quality work with much less rework. She has also increased her overall speed allowing her to move into other areas, one of which is our resin manufacturing.

Around the time Bill started interviewing for the new position, he also started looking at the feasibility of making our own machinable resin, specifically Alumalite. There are numerous small pen makers who use their own Alumalite, many of them sell their Alumalite to other manufacturers, and we’ve purchased material from Jonathon Brooks in the past for a run of Vertex fountain pens. While we love working with small US makers, they’re also experiencing high demand for their product; and rather than join a massive queue for an order of 100 rods, we decided to experiment with making our own material. The actual “casting” of Alumalite is relatively easy and doesn’t require a huge investment. The hardest part is making the Alumalite look “pretty”, it’s an artform that makers like Brooks have spent hundreds of hours perfecting. We knew the learning curve would be steep to get our resin to look anything close to what is available on the market. Luckily, Zoe has a deep artistic streak and a keen eye; her test batches looked great and we knew early on the process would be successful as along as we could scale it.

During the early months of 2021, Zoe would test different techniques with different silicone molds. She started a resin journal, writing down her recipes and ratios of color, mica, glitter, etc. She would crank out a few different materials each week. Then in July, we pooled all of her test blanks and started machining them. Not all of them turned out. Some where molded too short to be usable. Others had air bubbles or imperfections. But we were able to get about 80 working pens in multiple colors to offer on our new Vertex Small Batch Releases. The pens vary from just a few colors and micas, to some with clear transparent bodies and caps and big flakes of glitter. Zoe worked hard during the casting process, then went back to work sanding and polishing them with the same care she puts into all of her work. Now that we’re wrapping up the final Small Batch Releases, she’s turning her attention to scaling our resin casting production to runs of 50 of each material. The material will still be highly unique from rod to rod, but they’ll be similar colors and swirls. We hope to have a few of these pens available for the holidays.

We’re not done with our European resins either, we’ve received roughly 20 new colors from The Turner’s Workshop in the United Kingdom. A mix of material sourced from old stock Omas and Conway Stewart, with some newly made resins that Vince has been able to get his hands on. Our resin manufacturing is a way to control the process to get colors we want as well as keep our machines running, but we know we’ll still be offering more traditional acrylates. Not only that, we have plans to add other modern industrial resins and plastics to the Vertex. This entire process has been another step for us in our desire to provide our customers with as many options as possible, and if we can start to do more of this in-house it’s a win-win in our book.

Keep your eyes peeled for more new materials from Karas Pen Co in the coming months!

 

Things I Use - Lochby Field Journal

 

I did a quick piece on this piece of kit about a month ago after a week's worth of use. This post serves as my impressions of the Lochby Field Journal after a month of having two of them in my EDC. If you missed the initial post I'm including it first, then I'll move into my thoughts now that I've had a chance to use the Field Journal for 30 days.

Today, I'm taking a look at a new addition to my daily carry/stationery loadout. While I still carry my Rickshaw Banzai Bag, I've added a few new items from Lochby, who recently reached out to us and provided some samples. To be honest, I'd already ordered the Navy Field Journal before I began using the Charcoal Field Journal which was one of the samples provided. I've moved two of my Seven Seas journals out of my Banzai Bag and into these two A5 cases so I can adequately judge how they fit into my daily carry.

First off, I'll get the big "issue" right out of the way in terms of "but they're not American made". No they're not, Lochby were completely upfront in that respect and that's fine. It wasn't something I was concerned about, partially because I knew that without them providing the information and partially because I was more interested in seeing what kind of quality of craftsmanship and overall durability one could get for under $50 dollars. Suffice to say, I'm highly impressed with the product.

Here's the thing, while I often carry one or more A5 notebooks, I rarely use an A5 case. There are a few reasons for this. First off, there aren't really that many quality A5 cases in my price range. The problem most makers run into with a case like this is equivalent to feature creep. They pack way too much into their product, and it quickly balloons from a case to a case, that holds 5 pens, multiple smaller accessories, has external zipper pouches, and the list goes on and on. The last case I purchased was so cumbersome after it was outfitted that it mirrored a small briefcase rather than a notebook case.

Secondarily, several cases I've purchased have suffered from truly shoddy craftsmanship. One showed up with stitching already failing at seams, and the hard "board" was so soft it felt like a few layers of fabric rather than anything with substance. The others often began losing stitching or form within the first week of use. I'm not overly hard on my gear, so this type of issue isn't something that could have happened from misuse. It was just poor manufacturing.

The Lochby Field Journal, on the other hand, does exactly what it says. It's a journal (A5) notebook case that can hold six of the Lochby Refills, or as I've found, one of those refills, AND a Seven Seas notebook. There is the space for some business cards, a passport, a small tablet or e-reader, but not TOO much space. That really if you're just using a slimmer notebook. So this doesn't suffer from feature creep.

It's also REALLY stout. The double-stitching is a GOOD sign, and though some of it doesn't look perfect, it fits the overall aesthetic of the case itself. The internal honeycomb sailcloth is a REALLY nice touch and adds a clean look to the product. The aluminum hook closure works really well without being prone to coming undone or breaking. Though I've only had these cases in the mix for a little over a week, I'm REALLY happy with the results.

The only initial negative I have with the Lochby Field Journal are the elastic "straps" inside to hold the smaller Lochby Refills. They're a little bit too loose, though I'm not using them on the refills, I'm using them on my Seven Seas. It's not that they stretch too much, it's that there's too much slack, in them. Technically their are four of them wound through the "spine" of the case. But the two on the left are basically one long piece woven through four holes to make two separate "straps". Same with the two on the right. So when you use one, and tighten it down, the other pulls too much slack through. It's not a deal breaker for me since I really only use two of them. But it's my biggest pet peeve so far.

If you're interested in the Lochby Field Journal, you can find it here. This is just my personal opinion about the product based on my experiences so far. We do not have a working relationship with Lochby at this time as a company further than supplying them with some samples and them reciprocating.

Now that I've had a chance to really give the two Field Journals I have a good beating, I'm ready to double down on a lot of what I wrote above. I think durability is really where the Field Journal shines, I've carried one or both of these with me every day since I got them, and I made the conscious decision to be a little rougher on these than I normally would. I wanted to give them a bit of a beating. Unsurprisingly, they've held up to all the abuse I put them through. Tossing them in the car, a few spills of coffee (which were accidental), dropping them a few times when I carried way too much, carrying them outside of a bag or backpack, and generally treating them like they were indestructible has left with the opinion that they're quite a bit sturdier than even I imagined.

Now that we've covered build quality and durability, I'll move to the second most important part for me which was the design and functionality of the Field Journal. This is another area where the Field Journal passes, maybe not with full marks, but pretty darn close. I'm still not a fan of the elastic bands that are used and honestly the "bookmarks" are also a bit of a bother, but I can simply choose to not use those parts of the case. The only real mark against the overall design that I could find was the external pocket on the back of the case. It's relatively difficult to use and doesn't hold anything, plus the Velcro adds a weird bulge to the back that's kind of a pain in the ass. If I had my druthers, I'd have a Field Journal without that pocket on the back, and I'd be a happy camper. The internal pockets have specific uses: business cards, credit cards, a passport, etc. The slide-in on the back can hold an extra Lochby refill or other thin notebooks. The buckle closure on the front feels great, looks good, and works to keep the Field Journal closed. The elastic pen loop hasn't let me down yet, and I've been using multiple pens with different diameters in them to see if I can wear it out.

Aesthetics is an area I kind of glossed over in my initial thoughts, largely because that tends to lean more subjective than I wanted to be with this item. I'm sure the way the Field Journal looks and feels will be a deal-breaker for many people. Canvas and sailcloth aren't what everyone is looking for. The large buckle on the front could be seen as distracting and obnoxious. Personally, I love the way it looks. It's rugged and almost simplistic in how all of the pieces and parts fit together. But it's not plain. There is an aspect of timelessness to the design, making it feel like it could be a product that was available 50 years ago. Yes, there's Velcro, elastic, and X-Pac sailcloth, but when the Field Journal is closed the overall design has me wondering if my grandfather could have carried something similar in the Pacific Theater in World War II. 

Overall, I'm extremely happy with the Lochby Field Journal. It's likely to stay in my EDC for the foreseeable future, at least while I carry an A5 notebook on a daily basis. I haven't found anything similar that offers the same quality at the price point on the market. Granted, I haven't done a TON of looking, but the Field Journal outperforms all of my previous A5 cases and it's much less expensive. 

What Place Do Vintage Pens Have in a Modern World?

 

Vintage fountain pens bring a lot of baggage with them. There's a stigma that they're overly temperamental, prone to leaking, likely to fall apart in the hand, costly to maintain, and the list goes on and on and on. As with almost anything, there is a kernel of truth in all of these assumptions. They can be expensive. They can be finicky to keep clean. Some are made of materials that are prone to degradation. They can be leaky. But the reality is that almost all of that is true of modern fountain pens. Sure, modern fountain pens benefit from being made with more robust, modern materials. There are also a lot of inexpensive modern options. But modern fountain pens can leak too. They can be a pain to clean depending on the filling system. They can be extremely expensive, and many of the most expensive are writing tools and more art to be admired and not used. So what's the deal with vintage pens, and why do I bring it up as often as I do?

I wouldn't be in this career if it weren't for vintage fountain pens. I cut my teeth on vintage fountain pen repair for several years before joining Karas. My appreciation for vintage fountain pen style and function impact how I look at modern pens, and in a very small scope, my input on pen design. The fountain pen is largely unchanged since the 1940s/1950s when cartridge systems began to creep into more and more companies. There has been relatively few fountain pen advancements since then outside of material improvements and manufacturing capacities. As we see a resurgence of interest in a relatively niche market, there should be an eye to the past as we move into the future. And in reality, I think that every fountain pen owner should own at least one vintage fountain pen. Even if it rarely gets used, there is something special about holding that kind of history in your hand. Who knows what kind of important messages that pen helped craft? How many other owners used that pen to write down their dreams and desires? A good vintage fountain pen can be just as good or better than a modern pen, you just need to know where to look and what to look for. 

I guess the rest of this is going to focus more on general vintage fountain pen advice and my own personal preferences, rather than an explanation about further benefits of vintage fountain pens. I get asked frequently enough about this topic for me to revisit it from time to time, and I prefer to write my current thoughts and attitudes rather than refer people to something I've written years ago that might not reflect my current mindset on this topic. So here we go, let's go through a short-ish primer on how to navigate the vintage fountain pen world when thinking about adding one to your collection.

My first piece of advice is to avoid eBay like the plague unless you know what you're getting into. Take it form me, you'll likely end up with numerous "broken" pens that you'll need to sink time and money in before you get any pleasure out of them. Or you'll end up like me, and start repairing them as a side hustle and to keep yourself in the habit of buying more and more of them. eBay and sites like that are great once you have a little more knowledge and experience because you can find some GEMS on there if you sift through the posts. But sites like eBay are not a good place to start.

My first two suggestions are kind of a 1A and 1B piece of advice. If you're lucky enough to live in a state with an active pen meet up, that's my first suggestion. Even if it's a few hours drive, it will be worth it to attend one because there will likely be some vintage fountain pens present. You'll likely end up writing with a ton of new pens, and probably leave with a HUGE list of wants, but it's an opportunity to try new pens on for size. It's the pen equivalent of a "test drive". My second suggestion would be to attend a pen show. I know there aren't many, but there are enough that you might be able to take a weekend trip or quick flight to attend one that is near-ish your location. This can afford you not only the opportunity to try a TON of modern and vintage pens, but also facilitate the purchase of your first pen. Many of the recommendations you'll find below on places to purchase a vintage fountain pen will be in attendance at these pen shows. You can find great deals, and a lot of smaller hobbyist repairers/sellers will be present. You'll also be exposed to a massive and mostly caring community that will be excited to see a new face join the ranks of the pen nerds, and you might pick up a pen pal or two. Generally, pen shows are great for the experience, but they can be hell on the wallet.

It can be difficult to navigate the "where" to purchase quality repaired vintage fountain pens outside of a pen show. Many of the vendors at the shows have very stripped down websites, if they have a website at all. So much of the repaired vintage pen stock can be tricky to locate online, and even if you do locate repaired pens for sale; there comes a risk of being taken advantage of. The vintage pen community isn't without problems and one of them is repairers who have a tendency of keeping pens sent in for repair, another is sellers with product that doesn't meet the descriptions provided. Here are some of the places I would recommend for quality and service.

• Peyton Street Pens is a writing instrument manufacturer, retailer, and repair shop known for HIGH quality. Their prices can be higher than other places, but you'll be hard pressed to find better repair work or near mint/excellent condition vintage pens.
• Indy-Pen-Dance is another highly reputable repair and retail shop. They also have one of the best known nib grinders in the fountain pen community, Linda Kennedy.
• Tbickiii is a name you'll see the further you get into the online vintage pen community. It's present on Fountain Pen Network forum, eBay, fountain pen Facebook groups, and numerous other places. Repairer and seller of very nice and often eclectic vintage fountain pens. 
• Pentiques is a place where you can sometimes find repaired pens for sale, but if you didn't take my advice on eBay and ended up with vintage pen that needs repair, this is one of the first places I'd send my pen to. You can opt for the first two options on this list, but Aaron specializes in just repair and restoration. He's REALLY good, and pretty fast in terms of turnaround time. I would personally send pens to him if I didn't have the time or tools to repair them myself.

Now that we've got some of that out of the way, let's move on to what will probably be the most controversial section of this blog post: recommendations. I'm going to attempt to be a little more broad in what I recommend than specifically calling out certain pens, because that gets really subjective. Outside of recommending some pens that are considered vintage pen staples, I'll more be focusing on brands and highlighting what I think are the best first pen options from those brands. Let's jump in.

 Vintage Sheaffer pens are my number one recommendation simply because I've had fewer problems with Sheaffer pens than any other brand. They seem to be made of better material, they hold up quite a bit more to abuse than some of their counterparts. Outside of the Snorkel (which I love) they're fairly straightforward without the oddities some other brands put into their pens. They have enough variety in terms of style almost anyone can find a pen that suits them. Most important, their nibs are fantastic, UNLESS you're looking for flex. While flex Sheaffer nibs exist, they're much rarer than other brands and can be pretty spendy. But if you want nice firm nibs with good flow and great feel, Sheaffer is my go-to. Personally I prefer the pens from the 1950s, the Touchdown and Snorkel pens, as well as their older Balance pens. But their catalog is big enough that you can find almost anything: flat tops, striated, military clip, vacuum filler; you name it there's a lot to choose from.

Parker is a CLOSE second to Sheaffer in terms of every aspect. Their pens are of superior quality and design as many other brands on the market. I had a few more Parker pens with material issues than I did Sheaffer pens, but I also repaired a LOT more Parker pens. I had more nib issues in terms of tipping breaking off when disassembling or reassembling pens. I've noticed that the older Parker pens had very thin gold nibs, which are prone to being easily damaged. But their 1940's and 1950s models don't suffer as much from this. In terms of what pens I recommend, I'm a fan of the Parker 51, Vacuumatic, Challenger, and even the Parker 45. Much like Sheaffer, their catalog is so vast there's something for everyone.

Here's where my first staple comes in to play, and that's with Esterbrook. I'm NOT the biggest Estie fan, but I understand the importance of the brand and especially the pens: the Dollar pen, J, SJ, and LJ mostly. There's a reason these pens are so widely recommended when it comes to vintage pens. They were one of the first brands to have swappable nibs, the quality of the pens is fantastic, and they were (and for the most part still are) relatively inexpensive. I don't really like the style of any of the pens, but with this pen that's almost an afterthought. Anyone that decides to get further involved in vintage fountain pens MUST own an Esterbrook. I know that sounds weird, but it's almost a prerequisite.

I'm gonna lump Waterman and Wahl-Eversharp into the same category. I love both of these brands. I've found more flex nibs on Waterman and W-E pens than on any other brands out there. At one point in time, I was snagging a flex nib on every other pen I bought on eBay from these two brands. But they both suffer from material construction problems. Waterman has several pens that literally fall apart over time. One of their most beautiful pens, the 100 Year Pen, suffers from the end of the barrel crumbling and breaking off, and cap lips snapping. Similarly, the W-E Skyline (a personal favorite) suffers from the resin cracking at the section threads, the "finials" stripping out, inner caps coming dislodged, and other issues that make owning and using own a nightmare. While there are plenty of great pens from these brands, just beware that they tend to be more expensive than some of the other options and they can be easily damaged.

Lastly, some of the minor pen brands out there that don't get a lot of love but have solid offerings include Mabie Todd, Conklin, Aiken Lambert, Moore, and Rexall. You can find solid options, sometimes at a fraction of the price of a similarly looking pen from one of the brands listed above. These second tier brands have some hidden gems, especially in the flex department, but also in terms of their design. They often "looked" enough like a top tier pen like the Waterman 52 or Sheaffer Flat Top but because they didn't have the name recognition they don't have "as many miles" on them as their bigger brand siblings.

Lastly, if you need more advice on this topic I wholly recommend getting an account on the Fountain Pen Network. This forum is a wealth of information, and for the most part, extremely helpful members. It's a huge community that covers everything from pen turning to nib repair to vintage pens to modern pencils. There's a lot going on there, but if you have a question, chances are it's been asked and answered over their at least once. And if not, there's a huge community of people with the knowledge to get you the answer.

Hopefully this helps a little bit if you've been considering venturing into vintage fountain pen territory. I can only write so much on it before I start to lose people, and this seems like a good place to end. If you've questions, you can always comment below or go back to our site and complete a contact form request. Thanks for you time, happy vintage fountain pen hunting!

An Update on YouTube and other video content

 

It’s been a real struggle for us to keep current on video content largely due to outside influences. We went through a period without a viable studio to record in. Then when we had the studio, we had equipment stolen. Then we lost our videographer. This has impacted our YouTube content which we really enjoy using as a way to show off our products and explain different processes that are difficult to do in written form.

We believe we’re on the cusp of being able to relaunch our YouTube video content. We plan on starting with a few videos tackling the Retraktable mechanical pencils, an in-depth look and a shorter spot that focuses on functionality. We’ll move from that to updating all of our old content specifically pen overview videos, refill videos, and compare & contrast videos. The plan is to get a fresh look on a lot of the older content in our new studio with current versions.

Hopefully, we can keep up on YouTube content going forward. We really want to have fresh ideas while resurrecting old content. Shop Shorts is a series we want to revive, plus we’d like to flesh out another series of shorter videos that accompany some of the “What’s In My” newsletter segments. It would be nice to offer some short content that corresponded with many of our newsletter segments. Maybe even move some to completely video related rather than written content.

Staying in the video content, we’re looking at doing a series of Facebook Live events. Initially, these would be done via the Karas Pen Club Facebook group so we could test the process with a smaller number of viewers. We’d likely do 2-4 via the club, and if those ran smoothly, we’d plan and execute the first Facebook Live event on our Facebook business page.

We know a lot of people don’t use Facebook, but it’s an easy way for us to do live content geared toward a group of individuals that already interact with our company on a more frequent basis. The plan is to cover a one or two topics, then we’d open the event to a short question and answer portion. Then down the road, our Facebook Live events would be something we did on a monthly basis, and revolve around a scripted portion that we’d plan followed by a brief open forum style that could be question and answer or a live video shop tour or even a “meet a Karas Team Member” event.

Lastly, we’ve gotten a lot of feedback on our audio quality of the last videos we posted. We’ve addressed this with some better technology and hopefully when we come back the audio quality won’t be an issue. The Facebook Live events will be a work in progress, at least initially, so we may tweak the audio process as we go so we can dial that in as well. We haven’t done a live video event in over four years, so you’ll have to bear with us. We’re working on getting all of this up and running, and we appreciate your patience. If you don’t already subscribe to our YouTube channel, please consider subscribing now. That will keep you up-to-date when we publish a new video or eventually do a YouTube live event. You can find our Facebook page HERE. If you’re interested in more information on the Karas Pen Club, you can find that HERE.

You’re Thinking About Your First Pen Show…

 

Things are starting to open back up, and around the United States many of the pen show organizers are sending out notices that they’re planning on hosting shows this year. Maybe you’ve thought about attending one in the past, and you’ve made the decision that this might be a good year to do so. Travel is still a bit cheap, you’ve got some extra money, you’re able to easily work remotely, and you need a break from the same four walls. While Karas Pen Co won’t be attending shows this year, we’ve got some tips and tricks we’d like to pass along to aid your pen-venture.

First off, make a budget because if you don’t you may end up spending WAY more than you’d planned on. Pen shows are one of those places where there’s bound to be something that catches your eye on EVERY SINGLE TABLE. There will be a lot of the same thing on multiple tables, but there are also a lot of unique items especially if you’re considering vintage fountain pens. In line with this budget thing, unless you’re looking for something VERY specific, don’t buy the first time you see something. Most vendors get set up early, peruse the other tables, then kind of price stuff close to each other. But there are numerous stories of someone buying a pen the first time they saw it, only to find a similar or better example of the pen for considerably cheaper at another table.

To go along with this, pen shows are meant for bargaining. This isn’t a true blanket statement. Some sellers simply won’t shift from their prices. Most of those are the larger stores, manufacturers, and some hardnosed sellers. But many, if not most, of the other tables will be set up by someone who understands there is going to be a lot of “wheeling and dealing” going on. So don’t be afraid to try to talk the price down a bit, it works in a LOT of cases.

One piece of advice you’ll hear tossed around is the “ask before you touch” statement. This is good advice for the most part, but I think it is becoming less of something vendors are really vehement about. There are some hardline vendors that will get bent out of shape if you touch their wares, but a lot of vendors are really trying hard to sell things. They understand people are there to touch the pens. Be respectful and careful with their product, and if you feel like asking first that’s nice but I don’t think it’s as big of a deal as it used to be.

Spend as much time in the hotel common areas with the pen nerds as possible. There are often classes and meet ups at scheduled times during the shows, but after the show closes there are also planned and spontaneous gatherings. Pen nerds are an amazingly kind group of people for the most part. They’re all in one place to geek out about pens, paper, and ink. They’re pretty much a jolly bunch and tend to take over the bar, restaurant, and patio area for long sessions of eating, drinking, talking, and sharing pens with other people. This is your chance to write with almost any pen imaginable. You’ll likely see every pen you’ve ever considered as a “grail” pen, and you’ll be gladly given the opportunity to write with them. That’s how much pen nerds want to show off their stuff. If you’re staying for the entire show, this evening gathering will likely evolve into a dinner somewhere, drinks and cigars, and all kinds of other cool stuff. It’s just a really fun time.

But if you’ve travelled far to a show, then also consider taking some time to see the sights. There isn’t anything wrong with taking a detour to spend a little time doing non-pen related things. There are always other opportunities in almost every city that hosts a pen show. Taking a break to head to a museum, see a baseball game, or walk through some of the tourist attractions, makes the entire trip that much more memorable.

Hopefully, this list is helpful. We can’t wait to spend some time with those of you that do attend shows in the future. We’ve paused shows for the time being, but we do intend to go to several as soon as we wrap up some major production, prototyping, and new designs. Due to our shift in plans to manufacturing and our need to plan that out through 2021, we didn’t think we could pull off a good show presence this year, but we’ll be back soon enough.