Manu Propria Pens - "Tamahagane-Nuri"

[Manupropria]

Ebonite pen with solid coating of "tamehagane" powder and urushi lacquer.

Tamahagane (玉鋼) is a type of steel made in the Japanese tradition. The word tama means "round and precious", like a gem. The word hagane means "steel". Tamahagane is used to make Japanese swords, knives, and other kinds of tools.

Best regards,

Martin

370743707537076

[Chrissy]

Nice pen, but what caught my eye was what it's lying on. A pea pod? :)

[amk]

For once, you've made a pen I don't like! all that much - but that's kind of a compliment, because what I don't like about it is that it looks so uncannily like real metal, and I don't like metal pens. That is really quite a finish - reminds me of one of my best Japanese woodworking knives.

[Manupropria]

Thank you for your comments. The pen rest is a soyabean ceramic and green urushi lacquer. Regarding this finish: I am trying to exploit the theme urushi and find new ways to use urushi lacquer. So for me it's an interesting experiment. In Japan things made from iron are very sought after.

I wish you all a pleasant weekend,

Martin

[amk]

Anyone who likes metal pens will love this. As for me... can you do a teapot in this urushi? :-)

Martin, do you have any good references on Japanese ironwork? It's an area of Japanese culture I don't know much about, and should.

[Manupropria]

Theoretically a tea pot could be made in this technique but it needed a lot of urushi ($ 2'000.- per kilogram) and iron powder.
I don't have a good reference on Japanese ironwork. iron is a very important material for "Tsuba".The most important and expensive in Japan are old tsuba made from iron. In the West the most expensive are thise with gold and fancy inlays. Different culture different taste

[amk]

I have to stick with my cast iron teapot then!

[rluka]

I guess I'm mistaken for thinking Tamahagane is written as 魂鋼 all these time.
Romanticizing it too much. :D