Cygnet Hand-Crafted Pens

Shawl #2

Mike — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 04:16:11 +0000

Sorry for the delay in getting some new pens out. I’ve made a handful more on commission, but I’ve also been still engrossed in lace knitting. Here’s shawl #2. So far I seem to be averaging 1 per semester of teaching. This is approximately 60″ in diameter.

Shawl as of 4/13/10

Mike — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 01:35:06 +0000

This is the reason I have not been posting any pens lately. Much, much more time consuming than pens and pencils, but almost done now! (And less than a month late for my wife’s birthday.)

Maple and Box Elder Burl Pencil

Mike — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 01:25:24 +0000

Hardware is Rhodium (a member of the Platinum group of metals)

Chakte Viga and Acrylester FP

Mike — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:42:20 +0000

Another commission. The thin stripes turned out nicely. I’ll have to try that again.

Box Elder Burl Nouveau Sceptre RB

Mike — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:53:22 +0000

I decided to make the cap on this slightly narrower than normal. The tapered cap is very nice looking, but can feel slightly unbalanced when the cap is posted. I haven’t decided which I like better.

Acrylester Click Pencil

Mike — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:35:35 +0000

I wanted to see how a light colored acrylester work out: to what extent you can see through the material and how well the inner sleeve color combined with the outer barrel. I have done something like this before, but not with material this light, and I have painted the inner barrel black in the past to avoid bleed-through. As you can see from the photo, there is a certain amount of translucence to the barrel. You’re actually seeing the color of brass sleeve coming through. I like it and will play with this some more in the future.

Figured Black Walnut Tycoon Rolling Ball

Mike — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:02:28 +0000

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Emerald Acrylester RB

Mike — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:05:47 +0000

With African Padauk accent.

Nouveau Scepter FP in Cocobolo

Mike — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:24:47 +0000

Yup, it turned out as nice as it looks here. This is just a gorgeous piece of cocobolo. I could see the grain in the rough piece, but I couldn’t see the different colors. I just love having things like that appear as I’m working the wood. Particularly when it gets down to the finishing stage, since that is when the real details come out.

Brazilian Rosewood RB

Mike — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:57:28 +0000

Mexican Bocote

Mike — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:13:00 +0000

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Spalted Maple with Buckeye Burl Rolling Ball

Mike — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:17:52 +0000

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

African Padauk Rolling Ball

Mike — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:34:22 +0000

Eventually I will try to post little video clips of some of these pens, because until you can turn this wood in the light and see how the cat’s eye effect of the grain shimmers you can only get an idea of how beautiful this wood is. The second picture gives the best idea of what I’m talking about. That’s true for most of the pens that are turned diagonally or on the end-grain. I’ll see what I can do as far as posting clips that are large enough to be worth seeing and small enough that they won’t take a half hour to download.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Mexican Redheart Fountain Pen

Mike — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:57:45 +0000

I just bought a half dozen pieces of this. It’s quarter sawn Mexican Redheart with some beautiful twist to the grain. If I can get more I will, so if you’d like something particular out of this wood let me know. For instance I’d be happy to make a pen/pencil set out of it.

One thing to mention about Mexican Redheart: If it’s exposed to UV rays the red color will gradually fade to a brown or tan. It’ll still look great, but if you want to keep the red color, then it’s best to keep it in a sleeve or box when not in use.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Buckeye Burl Nouveau Sceptre RB

Mike — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:26:23 +0000

These are top quality innards in a beautiful piece of buckeye burl. Hefty, but not over-sized, the diameter is not monstrous and feels very nice in the hand. I will definitely make more of these pens.

Amboyna Burl Fountain Pen

Mike — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:17:56 +0000

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Buckeye Burl Tycoon Rolling Ball

Mike — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:11:08 +0000

The innards of this pen are what make it a Tycoon. The threads are very smooth, the weight is satisfying, the hardware in general is just that extra bit more… solid. Hence the extra cost. Personally I think it’s well worth it. Suffice to say that no matter who you are you will feel the difference.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Curly Eucalyptus and Acrylester Pencil

Mike — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:02:53 +0000

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Buckeye Burl #3

Mike — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:58:34 +0000

This is material waiting to be used. Email me if you are interested in a pen or pencil using this piece. This is not quite a final finish, just turned, sanded and polished fairly to give you an idea of the color and figure of the wood.

Black Palm

Mike — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:53:35 +0000

Thuya Burl Set

Mike — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:05:30 +0000

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Cocobolo and Acrylester FP

Mike — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:45:15 +0000

Brazilian Rosewood RB

Mike — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:58:46 +0000

Brazilian rosewood is very rare and is no longer legal to import. I fully appreciate how lucky I am to be able to use such small pieces of wood. Scrap pieces from projects by earlier woodworkers are plenty large enough for me.

Dot Ebony Fountain Pen

Mike — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:14:49 +0000

Dot ebony is a particular type of ebony that is shot through with streaks of white. This particular piece looks almost like bone in person.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Tamboti Rolling Ball

Mike — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:27:47 +0000

Simple and elegant. Beautiful grain in a very fine hard wood. A perfect executive gift.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Katalox Ballpoint with Various Inlay

Mike — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:57:01 +0000

Shown with Leather Sleeve.

Cocobolo and Acrylester Rolling Ball

Mike — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:55:07 +0000

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Vitiated Cocobolo Ballpoint

Mike — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:10:34 +0000

I will be sad when I have used up the last of this piece of cocobolo, but in the meantime here’s a ballpoint pen. Hope you like it.

Grape Vine Knot and Lignum Vitae

Mike — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:33:02 +0000

The cap for this came from the knot of a grape vine. I was wondering what the grain could look like inside that convoluted mass, but I couldn’t foresee the pineapple that appeared. My wife says it’s a wolf instead, but I still say pineapple. I may remake the body in grape vine also, but the lignum vitae is such a lovely wood to work with and the color seemed to work. Let me know what you think.

Acrylic and Acrylester

Mike — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 07:30:32 +0000

I like Acrylic and Acrylester as accents to wood. Wood is still what it’s all about for me at this time, but this seemed like an intriguing combo all by itself. Sort of a fade from night into day, although the purple in the middle is a bit “purple-y” for that metaphor. If you’ve got a better metaphor let me know.

South American Boxwood

Mike — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 05:12:39 +0000

I love finding pieces of wood that are scrap to most other people. This piece of boxwood was cut off the end of a beautiful, clean board and had such a wonderful twist to the grain that I grabbed it immediately. You can see a bit of a crack in the photos. That is the down side to using twisty wood like this, but I have to live with that. I think it’s well worth it. I put a shell finish over all, so I guess I consider things like that “features” rather than “flaws”. Maybe that’s my inner PR person talking?

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Lignum Vitae and Acrylic

Mike — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:49:17 +0000

Time was that I would have thought that acrylic is simply a manufactured material without inherent character. This is decidedly not true. I have almost as much fun picking through pieces of acrylic as I do with pieces of wood. Every once in a while in the midst of a stack of miscellaneous pieces you’ll find one that has particularly nice movement inside it. This one to me looked like a great satellite photo. My wife says it’s ocean. I guess that’s not so much a disagreement as a difference in scale. 3 feet away can look similar to 3 miles away in the right weather.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Maple, Cocobolo and Acrylic

Mike — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:56:58 +0000

I like how this one turned out. Maple isn’t a typical wood for me to use. It’s quite understated lets the cocobolo and acrylic really stand out.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Ash and Brazilian Rosewood

Mike — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:24:57 +0000

This falls under the category “feature” in my book. When I see a knot in a piece of wood I can’t help but wonder what kind of grain is inside it. This is actually split through in the middle part and you can see brass in one spot. If that bothers you I’d be willing to make you a pen out of pure, clean wood, but if you’re like me a piece like this can be more beautiful than the flawless piece. I’m sure this is all just a metaphor for the nature of humanity, but I’ll leave that for someone else.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Lacewood, Zebrawood and Cocobolo

Mike — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:52:19 +0000

This was just fun to make, picking and choosing colors and textures and creating a pen from the ground up. The top of the cap is Lacewood and the bottom of the pen body is Cocobolo. The rest is bits and pieces of a variety of woods and acrylics.

FP Ink Cartridges – Black

admin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:27:30 +0000

Majestic Jr. – Cocobolo and Acrylic

Mike — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:02:05 +0000

This is slightly larger than most of the pens I make. Personally I am not a fan of anything bigger than this, but I am willing to make larger pens if you want the big “signing the peace accord” kind of thing. The quality of the parts for this are very good and this has a nice heft to it.

Royal Bengal

Mike — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:16:32 +0000

Actually this is Zebrawood, but as soon as I showed it to my wife Gail she said, “Bengal Tiger!” I’d been thinking along the lines of a royal sash, so… it’s a Royal Bengal. I’ll definitely play with this combination again.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Vitiated Cocobolo Set

Mike — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:44:27 +0000

I had thought this piece of Cocobolo simply had some marks on the side of it. I was pleased to see that they were actually running through the piece. I guess it’s just who I am, that these are the finds that make me happy. I have probably two more pens worth of this, so I will likely make another set of these.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Bubinga w/ Chakte Viga Fountain Pen

Mike — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:47:08 +0000

Bubinga Ballpoint w/ Chain Inlay

Mike — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 03:29:12 +0000

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Curly Maple w/ Various Inlay

Mike — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:41:58 +0000

I love curly maple. Curly anything is beautiful. Unfortunately most curly maple has “curls” that are too big for my uses. The kind of wood that would make a gorgeous dresser or table, but a piece small enough to make a pen out of wouldn’t show any wave. This happened to be a nice tight piece. I’ll have to try another photo, but in the lower shot you can see a bit of the movement in the wood. The inlays are Chakte Viga, Cocobolo, Mexican Redheart, Mahogany and Katalox.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Goncalo Alves Rolling Ball

Mike — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:02:49 +0000

Diagonal Cocobolo Twist Pen

Mike — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:19:35 +0000

Capri Rolling Ball in both Lacewood and Zebrawood

Mike — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:33:47 +0000

Curly Koa Twist Pen

Mike — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:31:37 +0000

Koa is a favorite wood of mine. A Hawaiian wood, it is used fairly often for guitars and ukeleles. The two electric basses that I play both have Curly Koa tops. If you are familiar with the stone Tiger Eye you know what this stuff looks like in person. It seems like you are looking right into the wood. I will definitely be making more items out of Koa, at least when I have gotten enough of Cocobolo, my current addiction.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Diagonal Cocobolo Pencil

Mike — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 02:13:43 +0000

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Pau Ferro & Cocobolo Pencil

Mike — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 02:11:42 +0000

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Cocobolo Pencil w/ Rhodium Plate

Mike — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:38:36 +0000

Cocobolo and Spanish Cedar Ballpoint

Mike — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:34:18 +0000

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Cocobolo, Chakte Viga, Acrylic Rolling Ball

Mike — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:26:15 +0000

Moon and Stars in Ebony

Mike — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:22:37 +0000

Prince Edward Island Pen

Mike — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:19:19 +0000

Seaside Pen

Mike — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:07:24 +0000

This is a combination of cocobolo and acrylic that turned out quite nicely.

Katalox Ballpoint

Mike — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:55:49 +0000

Katalox is a very hard wood. It has the feel of Indian Rosewood or perhaps Ebony. Medium weight. I will likely make some sets out of Katalox at some point. It just has a solid, smooth feel to it.

Bubinga Calligraphy Set

Mike — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 21:24:59 +0000

Each calligraphy set comes as standard with 6 nibs, extra ink cartridges and 1 converter for using bottled ink. Either “boring-but-appropriate” plastic case or “pretty-but-impractical” wood case included (For now. I may end up making my own cases). Bubinga is also known as African Rosewood. Frequently used for musical instruments and fancy furniture. Also used for the dashboard in your second cousins Lexus.

Yellowheart Pencil

Mike — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 17:53:38 +0000

Ebony, Yellowheart, Acrylic Rolling Ball

Mike — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 04:59:33 +0000

Curly Eucalyptus Ballpoint

Mike — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 04:55:38 +0000

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Tulipwood Pencil

Mike — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 03:21:13 +0000

Thuya Burl Fountain Pen

Mike — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 03:18:37 +0000

This is available if I can convince my wife that it is for sale. It really is very beautiful. Email me if you want me to sneak it out of the house. The material is not easy to come by, but when I see it available for a reasonable price I buy it. This might be my favorite wood… except for some of the others.

About Me – FAQ

Mike — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 21:16:37 +0000

Hello and welcome,

My name is Mike Schultz, and all of the pens and pencils on this website have been made by me personally.

I love the process of making fine writing instruments. I love the smell, feel and look of fine wood pens and pencils. When I sit down to write with a beautiful pen it becomes an event, even if it is to write a shopping list. I become more conscious of the act of writing, and I feel that any time I am paying attention to what I am doing is time well spent.

All of my pens and pencils are hand made one at a time. There is no production line. Each item is designed as it is made, depending on the materials that I have on hand. If you specifically like a design that I have made before, let me know and I will try something similar. All feedback is welcome.

Some details about the categories:

Ball Point Pens - Primarily twist pens. The refills for these at this time are Parker Style. Similar in writing quality to Cross, Parker, etc… Gel inserts are available.

Rolling Ball Pens – Most of these are of the post-able threaded cap variety. The refills for these are either Hauser or Schmidt. If you expect this to be the same as a ball point you will be quite surprised. Writing quality is much smoother, with flow more like that of a fountain pen. (Mmmm, nice).

Fountain Pens – Post-able threaded cap. Nibs are german made with either fine or medium rhodium point. All fountain pens come with replaceable cartridge installed. Ink converter is available for filling from ink bottles.

Mechanical Pencils - At this time all of my pencils use .07 mm lead in standard length. Erasers are, to be honest, pretty whimpy, but will work in an emergency. This is unacceptable to me, but so far I haven’t had time to make major changes.

Calligraphy Pens – Any of my fountain pens can be converted into a calligraphy pen with a variety of nibs available. Nibs will be displayed eventually, in the meantime please email me for more information.

Woven Inlay Fountain Pen

Mike — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:19:25 +0000

Red-, Purple-, Yellowheart

Mike — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:11:38 +0000

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Cocobolo w/ Inlay Fountain Pen

Mike — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 05:16:35 +0000

Cocobolo Rolling Ball

Mike — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 05:10:59 +0000

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Cocobolo Burl and Pau Ferro w/ Chakte Viga Inlay Ballpoint

Mike — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:55:56 +0000

This piece of cocobolo shouted at me from the shelf. It was just a small scrap, useless for furniture or the like because of the huge knot in it. I absolutely couldn’t pass it up. I decided not to dodge the rough part of the knot, and I’m glad I did. The swirl of grain on the opposite side is just lovely. These are a bit more difficult to make, but if they all turned out like this I might not do anything else.

Diagonal Cocobolo Fountain Pen

Mike — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:41:29 +0000

Brazilian Rosewood Set

Mike — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:57:29 +0000