Commissioned to make pens for Prince Harry and Governor Christie

Like I’ve said in a previous entry, I am the Master Pen Maker for the Historic Pen Company (HPC). I still run and operate Greco Woodcrafting, but I am also the one behind most of the pens you see offered by HPC. They acquire many different pieces of unique, historic “witness wood” that I treat and turn into pens for them to sell (a portion of which is given back to the community the wood is from). As a history buff and pen lover, I have been very fortunate to have this kind of partnering between our two companies.

Although the wood HPC acquires is historic, they recently asked me to make something to commemorate a soon-to-be historic event. Prince Harry was going to visit Sandy ravaged Seaside Heights, NJ with NJ Governor Chris Christie. The Mayor of the town spoke with the Historic Pen Company to see if we could make something special to be given to them, and that is exactly what we did.

With wood that had originally been part of the Seaside Heights Boardwalk, I made a matching pen set for the Prince and the Governor. Was I excited? Was it a nailbiter? Yes and Yes! If you’ve read my ‘How long DOES it take?‘ segment talking a bit about my acrylic pen making process, you know none of my pens are quick-hits. Add to this fact that before I begin actually making the pen I first give it a special heat set resin treatment and you are really looking at several days start to finish. And with the Prince arriving in a few days, that was about all the time I had. In short, these pens had to be perfect with no time for a do-over.

So….I’m sure you’re wondering if I was able to get them done in time. Of course! I mean really, when is the next time I’ll have the chance to make a pen for royalty?? So without further delay, here are some pictures of the pens on a piece of Seaside Boardwalk wood. You can check below the pictures for a link to an article about this that was on USA Today’s online edition.

Pens by Master Pen Maker John Greco of Greco Woodcrafting, commissioned to make pens for Prince Harry and Governor Christie.

Pen for Prince Harry crafted by John Greco of Greco Woodcrafting.

Pen for Governor Christie made by John Greco of Greco Woodcrafting.

Here is the link to the article from USA Today.

Handcrafted Pen Boxes on Sale

Yes, it’s been far too long since I have posted to my blog. But today is a good day to start again. Why?

Handcrafted. Pen boxes. Sale.

Need I say more? OK, I will!

I recently stopped ‘including’ pen boxes with my higher end pens. I have come to learn a few things about customers wants and taste in boxes, most notably that it all varies wildly. Some really have no interest in a wooden pen box, so why increase the price of my pen to reflect the box it comes with? Others want a pen box, but not necessarily the one I have paired with that particular pen. So with that in mind I started to allow shoppers to buy pen boxes as a stand alone item.

But that’s not all.

The pen boxes I was offering were all manufactured by a pen supply house. That is to say, Not handcrafted, like my pens. And doesn’t somebody buying a handcrafted pen deserve the option of a handcrafted box? I thought so, too! So I searched high and low for a US based box maker who could make these boxes without breaking the bank.

A handcrafted Black Walnut pen box made by our box maker in the USA.

 

As you can see from the picture above, I found just the right source! I supplied a diagram of how the box should be designed (apparently my engineering drawing classes are still paying off) and this is the result. A beautifully crafted pen box with an inlay of highly figured Black Walnut. The lid is on hinges, and lifts to reveal a black suede lined interior able to fit one pen (I do offer a double pen version, as well).

The hinged lid lifts to reveal the black suede interior.

 

Though difficult to see in the picture, the lower half has a special recess running the length to gently cradle the pen.

So, back to the Sale! This week, the introductory price on these will expire. The single pen box currently listed for $50 will increase to $65, and the double pen box listed for $75 will increase to its regular price of $90. You have until the end of the day Saturday, March 9th to take advantage of these great prices. You can find these and all of the pen boxes I have available through my website. Everything you see there is ready to ship anywhere in the world – the pictures of the Walnut boxes are the Actual box you will receive.

Do you need a custom deigned pen box? Let me know and we can get you exactly what you are looking for!

 

Bock Nibs? Check.

Greco Woodcrafting fountain pens now all feature genuine German made Bock nibs.

 

I am proud to say that all Greco Woodcrafting fountain pens will now come with a Bock nib included! Our latest fountain pen is pictured here with a fine point genuine German made Bock nib. Bock is known worldwide for their fountain pen nib quality and is the perfect match for the heirloom quality pens we offer. Also included with this handcrafted fountain pen is a 30ml bottle of J. Herbin ink. Custom orders are always welcome!

Help Victims of Hurricane Sandy

Although my home was spared the wrath of hurricane Sandy, I continue to see the devastation she brought to our NJ coast and even my hometown of Moonachie. Moonachie, a small town in the Meadowlands near Giants stadium, has become the highlight of many news stations for taking on 5 feet of flood water unexpectedly in 45 minutes when a berm broke.

For at least the remainder of this year I will be donating 10% of all new sales to the American Red Cross in an effort to try and help those whose lives have been changed forever.

Please share this with your friends, pens available for purchase are on my website, or custom order pens can be made and will also have 10% donated. Visit www.grecowoodcrafting.com to order.

If you would prefer to make a direct donation to the American Red Cross, you can do so at www.redcross.org.

Everything Old is New Again

A few months ago I partnered with the folks at the Historic Pen Company to be their lead pen artisan. Of course there is the benefit of additional sales for me, but more than that is the kind of pens I’ve been able to make for them. I don’t expect to get rich making pens, it’s more about making decent money for something I love to do. And as a history buff, some of the wood I’ve gotten from them has been absolutely fascinating!

This fountain pen, for instance, is made from wood that is 270 years old. Of course you don’t just take wood that old and make it into a pen…it was in pretty bad shape. Any other piece of wood in this condition would have been thrown out. It was soft, rotting, and even the outer layer was just flaking off if you blew on it. I had to carefully cut the wood and stabilize it so it was suitable for pen turning. Otherwise something as simple as drilling a hole would have the wood crumble apart from the inside out.

I use a special heat cured resin to stabilize wood. The idea behind it is pretty simple. Completely submerge the wood in the resin and out it in a vacuum chamber. Remove all of the air, including the air from the wood itself (picture drinking straws under water being squeezed tight), then release the vacuum. Because the wood is submerged in the resin, as air goes back into the chamber the places in the wood that had air will now have resin (picture releasing the straws under water now). From there the wood goes into a toaster oven for an hour to let it cure.

Vacuum chamber for stabilizing pen blanks.

The result is nothing short of amazing. The very outer layer of wood is not salvageable, but we are talking maybe between 1/64 to 1/32 of an inch. The rest of the 1″ thick piece of wood was rock solid! From here it is treated like any other hard piece of wood and turned into a pen. This particular piece was not only old wood, but came from a site believed by some historians to witness the final battle of the American Revolution.

Wood this special deserves equally special hardware. The finished piece has rhodium and 24k gold plating through with a genuine Swarovski crystal on the clip. The nib is solid 18k gold, the only choice for many fountain pen enthusiasts. Although the wood came from a tavern built 270 years ago, this pen is ready to live on as an heirloom passed from generation to generation.

270 year old wood fountain pen with solid 18k gold nib by Greco Woodcrafting.

Acrylic Wrap-Up

Yes, it’s the third and final installment of my Behind the Scenes blog entries detailing how I make acrylic pens (See part 1, How Long DOES it Take? and part 2, I See a Red Acrylic and I Want to Paint it … Taupe?). If you recall, our acrylic pen blanks have been cut to size, drilled, and the insides were painted. After letting the pain dry over night I glued the brass tubes in place, a rather tedious task that I am sparing you from.

After the glue holding the brass tubes was allowed another day to cure, it was time to ‘square’ the blanks. That is to say, the ends need to be made perpendicular to the tube inside of the blank.

Squaring the ends of pen blanks on the lathe.

Above is the red blank from earlier. Using my lathe, the ends of the blank have been brought to an even finish running perpendicular to the tube in the pen blank. Since the lathe is set up for this process, it is repeated for each of the 7 pen blanks in this batch, each taking a few minutes.

Red blank mounted on the lathe.

With the ends prepared, the lathe configuration is changed and the first of the 7 pen blanks is mounted between centers. It first needs to be ‘roughed’, or brought from square to round.

Red pen blank roughed down.

The pen blank is now round and the bulk of the material has been removed. We are seeing the beginnings of how the colors will look when it is finished (remember, the inside was painted taupe to add depth and highlight the darker swirls). Here I stop to change the carbide insert on my lathe tool from a 2″ radius to a 4″ radius. It will finish bringing the blank to its final size and smooth the surface, allowing me to start sanding at 600 grit.

Red pen blanked sanded, ready for buffing.

Above you see the blank, now fully sanded through 12,000 grit and quite beautiful. You can see the deep ruby-red tone it has taken as a result of the paint choice, but still with plenty of shimmer in the lighter areas of red. This is where many pen makers stop, but I go 1 step further. In the background you see buffing wheels with a special plastic buffing compound. By the time the acrylic is finished, you will not find any scratches in the surface of the pen under 10x magnification. From mounting the pen to being finished with sanding ~30 minutes have passed. It’s important to not turn the blank too quickly, or the acrylic will overheat and explode. Patience truly is a virtue here.

The buffing is done as another batch operation since the wheel is mounted on the lathe. Sometimes it can get a little crazy keeping all of the pen blanks sorted properly, but since these are all for the same style of pen I was able to keep them all together off to the side until they were turned and sanded.

Four of the acrylic pens all finished and assembled.

Here are four of the pens from this batch. First you will see the red pen to the left. Why did I want to highlight the darker tones with taupe paint? Because it was being mounted on a Black Titanium hardware set.

Next in is a blank meant to look like silver. This was being mounted on chrome hardware, so I painted the inside white. You can see the ends fade to a lighter silvery color meant to visually lead your eye to the chrome with a smooth transition.

The third one in is the blue blank that had the bright blue paint inside. The bright blue highlighted the pearlescent nature of these lighter areas to play off the Rhodium hardware the blank was mounted on.

Lastly, on the far right is the blank that had the hand-mixed teal paint used inside. It is also mounted on Black Titanium hardware, but instead of playing to it in a matching sort of way (as with the red pen) I used the teal as a big bright color pop. The blank still works well with this hardware because it does have some light swirls of gray.

I know, you REALLY want to know how long it took, right? Well, it takes maybe 1 hour of working on each pen. I mean actively working. But that doesn’t take into account measuring and setting the jigs to cut the blanks to length, changing drill bits and centering the drill press vise that holds the blanks (we want that hole to be dead center after all!), mixing the paints, letting the paint and glue cure, or all of the set up changes made to the lathe.

So, how long does it take? Well, when you consider all of those things I’m still not sure. Add to the fact that I try to have multiple batches going (some glue drying while others are being turned) and it only compounds the confusion. I’ll tell you this much though. That shopper who stormed off from my booth at a craft fair yelling “How much? They’re just pens!“ has no idea, either.

I hope you’ve enjoyed getting a little peek behind the curtain. I’m very fortunate to be able to do what I love full time, and I appreciate you taking the time to read along

I See a Red Acrylic and I Want to Paint it …. Taupe?

Yesterday’s entry of How Long DOES it Take? where I touch upon an aspect of pen making seemed to be well received, so I figured let’s keep on track with the behind the scenes entries and follow a few of these pens from yesterday through the entire process.

One thing I need to be mindful about when making a pen from acrylic vs. wood (or almost any other material) is how translucent it is. How much light will pass through to the brass tube in the middle? With the finished product sometimes being as thin as 1/64″ it is often very easy to see the brass tube, especially at the ends where the material tends to be the thinnest. The last thing you want is a beautifully colored acrylic blank on a sparkling Rhodium plated hardware set to be discolored because of the brass. And often times, even if you can’t see the brass, it is still affecting how the final color of the pen is seen.

To combat this, a lot of people started to paint the brass tubes. This is better than leaving them be, but the downside is if the acrylic is thin enough, you can see the glue that adheres the tube to the inside of the acrylic pen blank. And so the process of ‘reverse painting’ was started- painting the inside of the acrylic blank instead of the tube that goes in the hole. But the color doesn’t always have to be a match to the acrylic, especially if you know the finished piece will be a little thicker.

I used to use spray paint, but the fumes and lack of customization was a bother. Plus sometimes it was difficult to get a good solid finish inside of the tube. I’m now using acrylic paint which not only coats nicely, it also lets me mix the colors for a more customized color. So, following some of the blanks I cut and drilled yesterday, here is an example with a blank that has a predominantly teal color in it with a paint mixture I made to match:

Reverse painting a teal blank.

You can see the paint in the drilled opening is almost a perfect match to the teal in the body of the pen. When I turn this, that will be the color that really pops.

Blue pen blank reverse painted.

In the blank above, there were 2 blues and black to choose from, so I went with the lighter blue. Again, I’m looking for a nice pop of the lighter color here.

Red pen blank reverse painted.

And lastly, a red blank painted more of a taupe color. It’s a bit hard to see in this picture, but as you turn this blank in the light there are some very dark undertones. The taupe will help pull those out, adding more dimension.

These will all be allowed to fully cure overnight, at which point I will glue the tubes in place. Then that glue will be allowed to fully cure overnight as well. Have we figured out how long it actually takes to make a pen yet? Some of these paints are good right out of the tube, others need to be hand mixed. Are we counting drying time?

Next week we will follow them on to the lathe.

(Next: Part 3 of 3)

How Long DOES it Take?

As a pen maker, easily the most common question I’m asked is how long it takes me to make a pen. And that’s really a hard question to answer for a few reasons. Is the body of the pen one piece or two? Is it made from wood or acrylic, or maybe even stone? Did the pieces need any sort of pre-treatment? For instance, pens I’m making with wood from St. Peter’s have, technically, taken 7 months if you include the time I first got the wood from the arborist and cut it up to begin the drying process.

Then there are pens that I make in batches. This is my preferred method and the way I typically make pens. Each phase of the process is bulked together so there is as little time wasted going back and forth as possible. Without getting into too much (boring) detail on what I mean, here’s a picture showing 1 part of the process.

Each pen has a brass tube that goes inside of the pen body. The body is cut slightly longer than the tube, then a hole is drilled and the tube is glued in place (that’s the quick version, there is really more to it than that). But if I’m making a batch of pens, cutting each pen body section to the correct length would be a tedious, time consuming process. So instead I set up my miter saw to make repetitive cuts and do 3 at once.

Cutting multiple pen blanks at once helps move batches of pens along.

The boards clamped to the back are just far enough apart to let the saw blade pass through (also known as zero clearance). This helps make sure the backside of the blanks don’t blow out, or chip apart. Since these 3 pen blanks are all for the same style of pen, I was able to cut all 3 at once. This particular batch has 7 of this style being made so with one cut I was nearly halfway finished.

Some of the more astute readers out there might notice this is a sliding miter saw. I will be working on a special platform that can accommodate more than 3 blanks at once soon. For acrylic, I don’t like to stack them (too slippery) and 3 or 4 was about as many as I could line up here safely before approaching the edge of the bed.

So, how long Does it take me to make a pen? Well, actually cutting these 3 blanks took about 4 seconds. But these pens are Far from finished……….

(Follow along onto Part 2 of 3)

4 Years Down, the Rest of My Life to Go

Today marks 4 years since I founded Greco Woodcrafting. What started out as a toy company has certainly taken some twists and turns. Woodworker David Marks once said in an interview that you never really know where woodworking will take you. At the time, with my company being just a few months old, I laughed at that. I was doing exactly what I had been dreaming of doing for the past nearly 20 years, why on Earth would I change?

But new Federal regulations forced me to re-think what I would make in my shop. After trying to lobby as a Board member for a non-profit trade group, a year and a half after getting started, I started to look into what I could make instead of toys. And that was a bit of a mistake.

What I should have been thinking of was what other things do I enjoy that I could make? Hindsight is 20/20, and I doubt things would have been any different had somebody suggested that thought to me. It was really one of those journeys you need to take and see where it leads you. To find out first hand that yes, I could make lots of different things that many people would be willing to buy. But in the end the things I make need to be more than that. They need to be more than just things I make. Don’t get me wrong, I love how happy people were with my work, whether it was a clock or a fiber tool. But it wasn’t as satisfying for me personally as I knew it could be, and should be.

Wade, a friend of mine, had been talking to me about pen making. I was reluctant to try it for a few reasons, initially because of needing to buy some very specific tools. I’m more of a calculated risk taker, so the thought of spending money for tools to make items I might not really enjoy was a bit of an obstacle for me. I was also concerned about the quality of the pens I would make. As a sort of amateur pen collector myself, I didn’t want to make something that was junk. Handcrafted pens have components that need to be purchased, and at the end of the day if something goes wrong with the pen it is my name attached to that piece.

Reluctantly I finally gave in. I plunked down the money for the tools and supplies then sat there staring at it for about a month. After finally giving it a try I knew 1 thing: I was hooked.

It was just over a year ago when I made that first pen. I’ve learned a lot and feel my skills are really shining in the pieces I make (and also feel like learning to use a lathe back in college is finally paying off!). The shop is now more of a studio. Pen making is very much an art, and if you were to ask 3 pen makers how they did something you would probably get 3 different answers.

I have been fortunate enough to have a line of my pens carried by a museum and have gotten a nice amount of local publicity (an interesting feeling being at a craft fair and having a stranger walk up to you and say, “Hey! You’re that guy from the newspaper!”). And there’s even more good news to tout in the weeks ahead.

But today on the 4 year mark for Greco Woodcrafting, it’s interesting to look back. To see what I’ve done and just how ‘write’ David Marks was. And Wade, for that matter. I’ve found that very special balance of being able to make what I love and have others who are willing to pay me for it. No, Greco Woodcrafting doesn’t have a 401(k). But that’s OK. I plan on doing this for the rest of my life, day in and day out. And you know what? I’m going to love every minute of it.

A Shot in the Dark

I was recently accepted to be an artist for the juried art show First Friday in Haddonfield, NJ. I was pretty excited after all of the great things I had heard about the event, but I did have 1 major concern. The show ran from 5-9pm, outdoors. Translation- I needed to figure out a way to get some light shining on my pens!

Fellow woodworker Tom Iovino (Tom’s Workbench) wrote a blog post not long ago about customizing your tools. Things like making marks on a table saw for cuts that you repeatedly make in your line of work. Things that, for most woodworkers, we tend to shy away from doing. Tom probably never thought I would take his post and relate it to a plastic folding table, but that’s exactly what I did.

I came up with the idea of mounting some lights at the front end of my table to shine on my pens. The problem I envisioned would be keeping them in place. The front of the table really gets a lot of attention. Children walking by, shoppers leaning over the table, customers trying out their new pen on my pad. I needed a way to keep those lights in place throughout the night. A trip to Lowes later and I had my solution.

Metal strip attached to the table for lights

I bought this 36″ strip of metal for around $2. I used my hacksaw to cut it in the middle where the table folds, then used some epoxy to attach it to the front of the table.

Next I picked up some LED battery operated lights and epoxied a couple of rare earth magnets to the underside.

I thought I was ready, but after an in-house test, I realized the lights did a nice job of making the hardware sparkle, but didn’t give quite enough light to really illuminate the entire pen display. I grabbed the 2 little spotlights I use for taking pictures of my pens for my website and sat them at either end of the table, and BAM! I had a winner…..I think.

Craft table with night display. Front LED's held in place magnetically.

Here you can see a test run in my house. 10pm, all house lights turned off.

I was pretty happy with how it looked (though not very happy at all with my photographs LOL!). Below is a close-up of the pens in the light. I didn’t get any shots at the show itself, but did get compliments from other artists and even had 1 person ask to borrow a set of my LED’s to see how they looked at their table.

In the end I had some good sales despite the bone chilling wind and darkness. If only there was a way I could have gotten rid of the wind!

Close-up of pens in the dark being lit by front LED's and side mini spot lights equipped with true-color bulbs.