(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.)
Nic Pasquale collected knives first. The gift of a knife from his grandfather led him to the EDC universe, where he first saw the handmade pens people often carried with their knives. Put off by the prices, but drawn to the idea of working in wood, he watched woodworking videos, among which were videos about kit pens. He settled on cutting boards, bought a table saw and made one, and immediately sold the saw – it just wasn’t for him! For Christmas 2018 he got a wood lathe, and within a few months he had made his first kit pen.
When the lockdowns of early 2020 loomed, Pasquale and his fiancée eloped so they could be locked down together, and moved into an apartment where he was able to set up a small workshop. “We also got a dog... I had the time to work on learning to make kitless pens.” Jim Hinze and Tim Cullen gave him virtual shop tours and ongoing help and pointers for what to get and how to use it. He aspires to doing the kind of hand work that is Cullen’s trademark. “There is a lot to learn. I need to learn to walk before I learn to run. I’m working towards quad start threads done by hand on the lathe, instead of using taps and dies.”
Pasquale first burst onto the pen scene on Instagram with his unique clear pens with the colorful helix spirals in the material, which comes from Sawdust Designs. The material presented him with new challenges right away – “You have to get the helix to match up and go in the same direction on all three parts of the pen. And I’m trying to be the best I can at internal polishing.” He also got an unexpected pointer when Figboot On Pens did a favorable review of the pen, but mentioned that because the material is polished to perfect clarity, you could see the nib size letter written in Sharpie on the nib housing by Kirk Speer when tuning the nib. Now he removes the Sharpie before shipping a pen. “Regardless of how big or small someone is, I want them to get a top shelf pen.”
The helix material was just one of many that have become Pasquale’s favorite part of being a pen maker. “I’m a sucker for blanks. I make pens to fund my blank buying.” Finding something new, like the Oparex materials or vintage celluloids, is endless fun, and a mystery box from Stormwinds Blanks was being delivered to his door as we spoke. He has been making his own materials as well – “I wanted to try my hand at it, instead of sending an idea to a blank maker who is overwhelmed with work, and waiting several months – I can see it in a few hours.” He’s sold a few blanks to other makers but mostly casts for his own fun.
His latest project is a very small pocket pen called the Gnome. “How small can I make a pen? I took a #8 nib and put it in a tiny silly eyedropper pen. Azizah Asgarali of Gourmet Pens saw it on Instagram and I’ve done two runs of Gnomes for her shop. It’s smaller than a Kaweco Sport.” He also recently did a limited run of pens for Amarillo Stationery with a custom material.
For Pasquale, there is a favorite pen he already has, and a favorite pen he wants to acquire; neither is smaller than a Kaweco Sport. “At the Atlanta show I bought an amber Pilot Custom 823, it’s an amazing pen. It doesn’t have to be extravagant looking to be great.” (It has a broad nib; I made sure to ask.) The favorite pen he doesn’t have yet is a Newton Pens Prospector, with its triangular shape. As far as collecting, right now it’s ink. “If there is a series, I want to have the whole series.”
Although Pasquale has a master auto mechanic certificate, he quickly decided that it wasn’t his dream job. He currently is the general manager of a rollerskating rink in Nashville, where he used to skate as a kid. His mom runs the office. He’s a tough boss – he can’t attend any more pen shows this year because he has no more time off in which to do it. In 2025 he hopes to have tables at Atlanta and DC. Meanwhile, he and his wife are working on creating a website for his pen business, and he’s trying to build up some stock to have on the site when it launches. “I have trouble keeping up with collaborations, and commissions, and still having time for fun.” At the same time, working with commission customers is an enjoyable process. “I enjoy the back and forth, getting to know someone’s shape and color preferences.” He maintains bins of materials for his “regulars,” and will send them pictures of materials he gets in that they might like. “I can’t run too many commissions at once, though - I’m one guy and I want time to have this be my hobby too. I hope people will be patient with me – I’m trying to find the happy medium, looking out for myself and not being a people-pleaser all the time. Sometimes, it’s going to be ‘work,’ but I don’t want to hate going to the shop.”
One thing that keeps it all fresh is the company of other makers. There are a handful of makers within an hour’s drive of Nashville, and there is a Middle Tennessee Pen Turners meetup. The group is discussing trying to organize some kind of pen maker show in the Nashville area.
Besides the lofty goal of handmade quad start threading, Pasquale’s future plans include making clips. “I haven’t found a clip I like, most are brass plated like on kit pens, and they wear. I’ve been using Tim McKenzie’s stainless clips, but I want to learn to do it Tim Cullen’s way, by hand.” He also has a list of ideas for materials to make, and for possible combinations of existing materials. He’s working on refining his external polishing, and he’s added engraved cap coins. Longer term, he is interested in getting involved in the kind of work Shawn Newton does, in modification and rebuilding of pens by major makers. “I’m still trying to find my place, where I fit in, what my thing is – somewhere between more mass production, and the complete one-off approach.”
When asked about sources of inspiration, he almost sounds surprised by what he can do as a pen maker. “I’ve never felt artistic about anything. I have bad handwriting, I can’t draw, I’m even bad at video games. This is the one place where I can have an idea, and go out to the shop, and it comes out like I saw it in my head.”
Nic Pasquale’s work can be seen on his Instagram @pensbypasquale.
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