(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.)
Looking at the intricate workmanship of John Sanderson’s pens, you might find it hard to believe that his very first pen was made from a random stick.
A trained mechanical engineer, Sanderson says that in his twenties he got a job as a service engineer, repairing train locomotives all over the UK. “There weren’t CNC machines in those days or automated equipment, we used lathes and mechanical tools to make parts.” All the driving that came with the job was stressful, so he “jumped on the lathe” in his garage and began making pens for family and friends for stress relief.
But the first one was for his young daughter to scribble with. “I took the refill out of a biro and went out and got a stick and drilled into it.”
After locomotive engines, Sanderson’s professional career took him to work on the tunnel under the English Channel as well as years managing maintenance of paper mill machinery. Despite having to constantly write reports in these roles, he calls himself “probably one of the worst writers.” He’s managed dyslexia his entire life – “it doesn’t ever go away, you have good days and bad days, and on bad days I can’t spell my own name.” So he isn’t a pen maker who’s constantly using and collecting pens in his free time. However, he’s become a supplier of fine writing instruments to others.
Kit pens have never been an important part of his work. “I make kit pens for craft fairs, and don’t include them on my website. People at craft fairs may not understand the idea of fine writing, they want something simple to carry around with them.”
Sanderson sees his pen making evolution as seeking one challenge after another. Resin casting has been one of those challenges – although he uses blanks from other well-known makers, he casts his own as well. In fact, the skill of the others is part of the challenge – “If someone rides a bike fast, you want to ride faster.” The pen I have is made from two colors of resin - to create this, he made a silica mold with a jagged edge and poured the end pieces, then put them into the casting tube and poured the other color on top.
The silver work that is part of his signature look was also one of those challenges. “If I make something and it’s not right, I learn to rectify it.” His preference is for argentium silver as opposed to .925 sterling, for its hardness as well as its resistance to tarnishing. “With sterling, if you make a pen and put it in the drawer, by the time you take it out to go to a pen show you have to polish it. With the argentium, all you do is rub it down.” He makes his mokume gane clips from round silver stock, and heats it and works its first stages with hammer and anvil while it is still red hot.
While he will work with ebonite because there are people who want it, he isn’t fond of it – “I can’t stand the smell!” His favorite materials are silver and wood burl, hence his company’s name. “I find myself going back to wood, that’s all I used in the early days. I have wood in my garage that I’ve had for forty years, collecting all sorts from people who did what I do.” Not long ago he bought some afzelia burl from an older woodworker, and then he found out it is so hard to get in the UK that it might have been the only shop that had any.
Sanderson prefers clips to roll stops – “Do I want to spend time making a roll stop when I don’t like them?” – but also feels that his hexagonal and nonagonal pens might not really need them because they won’t roll. At the same time, “A pen doesn’t look finished to a lot of people unless it has a clip.” And the goal is to make the customer happy - what he likes best about pen making is having satisfied customers. He will do commissions, but does not take deposits, because when a pen is finished it may not match what the customer envisioned. The other side of that is that it then has to be something not too personalized that he can sell to someone else. In general, he prefers to maintain pen stock, and have the commission process be driven by requests for a twist on what a customer sees in the shop.
Because writing has never really been an important avocation for him, Sanderson doesn’t have his own pen collection, and pen making is something that ultimately moves outward. “I don’t make a pen for myself, I want someone else to like it.” If he feels inclined to keep a pen, it’s going to be one made out of wood burl. The one he most wanted to keep was one that was snapped up from his pen show table in the first thirty minutes of a show, and the one he made to replace it just wasn’t quite the same.
Besides pen making, his other passion is wildlife photography, and he’s traveled all over Britain taking photographs, once having a photo he took of an eagle included in a television program. “I look forward to getting out with a camera; but the weather has to be reasonable!”
When he’s not in the shop, Sanderson has been traveling from his home on the coast of Cornwall to visit other makers who have asked him to teach them. Gareth Ritter, of Ritter’s Writers in Wales, is an up and coming maker who will soon be the beneficiary of some lessons in making bands and rings. (He’s also a brass band leader, brass bands being big in Wales.) The two makers get tables together at the London pen shows, and Sanderson sees Ritter as a professional heir of sorts. “When I’m too old to do this, he’ll be able to do it and pass it on to his son.”
As you might guess from the foregoing, Sanderson doesn’t see pen making as a competition – “If someone saw a painting and did a similar one, it wouldn’t actually be a copy” – and he has talked other makers out of buying one of his pens because their pens are fantastic in their own right. He takes inspiration from other makers in a slightly different way – “I see some makers who seem to make the same thing over and over – that would drive me insane!” So he seeks out ways to constantly vary what he's making. This focus on variety serves to keep his own interest, and it helps him maintain the uniqueness of his work as well. “I don’t want to be like others.”
John Sanderson’s work can be seen on his Instagram @silverburl_pens, his website Silverburl Pens, and at pen shows in London and Birmingham.
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