We recently connected with Jim Hinze and have shared our conversation below.

Jim, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I taught myself a lot of what is required in pen making. When I started, there were only a few folks in the US making fully custom fountain pens professionally. I didn’t know any of them personally and was too introverted to reach out. There were a few bulletin boards online that covered some of this, but the people in general were incredibly rude and full of themselves. I’d get answers like “… if you want to do it, you’ll figure it you.,.”. Given no other alternative, I did just that. I spent approximately 2 years experimenting, making, learning from mistakes until I felt I had something worth offering. Looking back on some of those first efforts, I cringe. I’m constantly learning, constantly improving my processes and hence the end product..

Prior to that, I made ballpoint and rollerball pens leveraging “kits”. These kits consisted of most of the metal pieces required (nose code, clip, trim rings, transmissions). As a maker, your job was to pair it with a wood or resin, bore a hole, glue in a brass tube which would hold the other components via “press fit”, then turn the material round, finish it (sanding / polishing), then assembly. The skills learned here were a great foundation to making a pen from scratch.

With the explosion of YouTube around 2018/19, I was able to learn more techniques.. specifically machining, which greatly improved our end products. Most pen makers use a wood lathe, hand held tools, etc to make pens. We do it all using a metal lathe. This gives us greater precision, the ability to machine threads rather than us taps and dies, resulting in a cleaner, better made product. It also aids in repeatability.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I got into pen making a little backwards. I was never “handy” or “crafty”. I have been a software developer for over 32 years.. quite the opposite of working with ones hands. When I was 28 or so, my favorite show on TV was trading spaces. I watched Ty build all kinds of things in a very short period. I decided I wanted to give it a try, so I bought a table saw and started making sawdust. This turned into a full blown addiction. In a few years, I had accumulated tools to fill a cabinet makers shop, had built a number of fine furniture pieces, started making wooden hand planes, some more artistic efforts like marquetry, and started teaching some classes at a local woodcraft. All of this was self taught, save for a few woodworking shows on TV and a class I took with David Marks in California.

I was also a member of a woodworking club that met monthly. As part of those meetings, a member would give a presentation on what they were working on currently. One meeting a member demonstrated how to make a “kit” pen and at the end offered to stay late if anyone wanted to “try”. I did, and made my first pen. That night, I bought a lathe and became a “kit” pen maker. I continued on for about 15 years making ball points, roller balls and some fountain pens and selling at farmers makers and craft fairs. I developed a large and loyal clientele.

Around late 2014 or early 2015, I caught a video series on YouTube called “Masters of the fountain pen”. This was a 4 video series on the Japanese master fountain pen makers and how they do their work by hand. I was enthralled! The challenge is what interested me the most.. it was far more complex than turning a few barrels and assembling a pen. It was also far more artistic in nature. I decided then and there, that I needed to learn to make pens like this and to switch gears away from kit pens to fully machined custom fountain pens. Given the difficulties I had learning all of the things I needed to accomplish this, I also promised myself I’d never behave like the folks on that internet bbs, and would share my knowledge. I’ve taught over 100 people in the last 5 years, some have gone on to establish their own companies and offerings, some have used it just to enhance their skills.

We take pride in the fact that we don’t employ any automation in the manufacturing process. Despite my computer background, we don’t use CNC machines. We work on manual lathes. We still purchase pieces like nibs and sometimes clips for our pens. Nib making is another very specialized aspect of fountain pens and is not cost effective to manufacture for broad use. Buying commercially made clips helps us keep our pens at a price-point. We will still hand make clips on request or for special limited editions, but it always increases the cost.

In building this brand and keeping to my promise to teach others, I also offer some specialty tooling to the pen maker community. I provide precision machined mandrels to help hold your work while you shape and polish the finished pen. I also created a tool (called the tenon cutter) that assists makers still working on a wood lathe to cut precise diameters needed to cut threads on various components of their pens. It’s a huge timesaver for them and provides them consistency.

Our brand has aways been known for color… really bright, sometimes obnoxious colors. We do offer more subdued designs and patterns, but the bright, swirly, color combinations is our most popular. We accent or accessorize our pens with a unique color electro-plating process where we can plate the metal portions of the pen (clips, band, the nib) with a durable complementary color. We offer 16+ colors now and develop more every year. The idea of coloring metal isn’t new, and there are some manufactures that leverage similar processes to varying degrees of success, but we believe ours is far more durable in the long run. We spent a number of years investing both time and money in the process to get it just right. The color plating is our biggest differentiator when it comes to other makers.

I think one of my proudest moments was the first time we were nominated for “Artisan Pen of the Year” by Pen World magazine. We didn’t win, but to be recognized for all the effort we’ve put into building the brand, and to be suggested we’re amongst the top guys in the field was a great feeling.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think there is a renewed appreciation for handmade items in certain segments of the population. However, generally speaking, people look at cost above everything else. If they can purchase a fountain pen made in China for $20 or less, when they encounter a handmade pen at more than $180, the balk OR take the stance “I’m not paying $180 for a pen”.

I think society needs to understand the time, commitment, and effort that goes into making a product by hand. They don’t realize that it took literally years to get to a point where the craft was refined enough, and of sufficient quality to sell. They aren’t purchasing a pen, they are purchasing the journey of the person learning the craft. All of the successes, failures, blunders, eureka moments and sometimes literal blood, sweat, and tears that went into all that he/she has accomplished. Most do not give it a second thought.

One last point… as a courtesy, never ask an artisan for a discount. You as an individual would never discount your hourly rate or your salary to your employer out of kindness, don’t expect an artisan to do so either.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me personally, I have 2 rewarding aspects of what I do. First, every time I cut threads and the cap screws onto the pen flawlessly, it makes me smile. Something so basic really shouldn’t, but the time I put into learning how to properly machine threads, understanding the formula’s, what can go right, what can go wrong, how to debug issues with threads, the geometry, etc. No one gives a second thought to the simple things like threads… I still giggle like a schoolboy when I get it right.

Second, I am still amazed every time someone buys a pen. Weather it’s online from the website, or in-person at one of the pen shows… the excitement of the customer when the right pen catches their eye, they ask to try it, and ultimately take it home.. then show it off on social media. With my background, the thought of someone paying me for a tangible object that I made is almost unthinkable. I think it comes from the fact I do not consider myself an artist… I never have. I at best, would call myself a craftsman.      

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hinzepens.com
• Instagram: @hinzepen
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HinzePens/
• Linkedin: Jim Hinze