(Caroline Foty's first fountain pen was a 1970s Sheaffer No Nonsense that still writes perfectly. Since she discovered pens by independent makers, she wants "one of each, please" and wants to meet all the makers. Maybe you do, too. She lives in Baltimore with pens, cats, and all kinds of fiber arts supplies.)
You can’t talk to many pen makers who do anything with metal, before you hear mention of David Broadwell, and how he has been an influence or inspiration for their work.
So it’s particularly fun to hear that this artisan and artist began with pens close to my heart, the inexpensive Sheaffer school fountain pens, and the Skrip cartridges they take. “I wrote with Sheaffer school fountain pens in the fifth grade. One of them burped all its ink into my pencil bag.” He just cleaned out the bag and carried on with the pens. “Nobody else was using fountain pens, everyone was using Bics. We found that if you warm the ‘clip’ on the cap of a Bic stick pen with a match or a lighter, you can modify it so you can actually clip it to things.”
Broadwell, like many kids growing up in the US, had art daily until sixth grade. “I drew pictures of tanks, ships, and cars with my fountain pens.” After that, he took as much art as possible, and also mechanical drawing and wood shop. “Wood shop isn’t there to turn you into a cutting board maker, it’s about how to have skills and take pride in making things.” Sadly, high school wood shop classes seem to have died out in many places, but Broadwell went on from that background to become a machinist.
His father was a Mason, and he liked playing with his father’s Masonic sword. “I made a cardboard shield with our coat of arms, I put on my dad’s bathrobe, and I fought the mimosa tree dragon.” Knives were the first thing he specialized in, beginning in his mid-twenties. “I was working as a machinist and I had a broken file on my bench. I thought, ‘I could make a knife out of that.’ It was terrible.” But he persevered and was soon making knives full-time. “I mostly make 7-11” blades. I made a couple of swords but someone else had to do the heat treating for me. I chose not to make switchblades because of federal laws about shipping them. I’m semi-retired now from making knives.”
Pens seem like they are some distance away from these art forms. About twenty five years ago, his then wife decided she wanted to sell component pens, and he thought he could do that. Almost right away he could see beyond their limitations. “I thought, I’m a machinist, why would I use kits? I can make all the parts. I needed to do something more complicated.” His first pen, which still can be seen on his website, was “really ambitious. Sheaffer acrylic I got from Bexley, Mokume gane clip, cap top, cap band, a metal sleeve.”
Broadwell’s pens are in fact rooted in his knife making background. “All the things I do can be traced back to my knives. I use a belt grinder. I like making things different from what anyone else does.” His first pen model was the Trinity, a three sided pen. “I hand grind it freehand on the belt grinder.” His signature pen, the Eléf (from the Greek eleftheros meaning free), is free-form with a bend in it, and is also hand ground. He still uses a lathe to turn metal bands.
Broadwell cites a few makers whom he mentored as they began to work with metal, including Tim Cullen of Hooligan Georgia and Jason Olson of WriteTurnz. He was also happy to see that Jon Tello of Hello Tello has embarked on engraving, and he likes the engraving John Albert did on his pens. “Tim (Cullen) would call me and ask lots of questions. I told him there are no secrets, but if you’re not going to do it I won’t waste your time. He’s taken everything I told him and put it into practice and developed his own style.”
He’s not tempted to make his own materials, having found his ideal material partner in Tim Crowe of Turnt Pen Co. “He’s my guy. I’ve sent photos to him and he’s always done great with them. I sent him photos of my Harley to make a blank, and I’ll put design elements on it to match.” He held up an orange blank into which he’s carved a grooved channel, and he’s sending it back to Crowe to do a second pour of black into that channel. There is also a knife and pen set in the works for the LA pen show with a material from Turnt. In 2025, Broadwell was approached by the author John Maxwell to create pens to match the cover of each of his books, and Turnt produced the materials. (Pen World magazine wrote a story about the project for the December 2025 issue, and that story is available to read in a post on the Broadwell Studios Facebook page.)
Show attendance has slowed down a little for Broadwell. “I don’t make inexpensive pens, I make unique luxury pens – I don’t want to make plain inexpensive pens. So I don’t have large sales at shows.” He’s tried a lot of shows, but he’s even given up going to Dallas, his nearest thing to a home show. His favorite show is the new California show. “I have friends and customers in that area. I’m donating a pen for next year as a show sponsor.” The most important reason to go to shows is people. “I go to shows to meet people. I’ve met some nibmeisters and I’m going to get a nib for a pen I want to make for myself.”
What pens does an artist like Broadwell have for himself? “I collect 1930s-1940s Parker Vacumatics. They have some of the best design elements of any pen, and I like art deco style.” He also has a few Bexleys – “Howard Levy is one of my mentors in basic pen design and manufacturing processes.” He did keep an early Eléf for himself for a while, out of a vintage tortoiseshell material, but he’s since sold it.
Broadwell gives a lot of credit to his wife, Nita, for pushing him to do new things. “She is always tossing out challenges. ‘Couldn’t you carve that on a clip? I think your next pen should be a Trinity Eléf.’ I’ll say, ‘Aw, I can’t do that!’ but then I think, ‘Maybe I could….’”
David Broadwell’s work can be seen at his website Broadwell Studios, his Facebook, his Instagram (the Facebook account is more active), and at the California Pen Show.
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