The mystery Nakaya revealed

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Well I'm going to ask even if nobody else will. What does a custom Nakaya like this cost to have made?

[AltecGreen]

http://www.nakaya.org/en/review.aspx?id=18011&type=body

[heymatthew]

An absolutely beautiful pen! Could we trouble you for a writing sample at some point?

[GING GING]

Wow, almost 2 grand. I'm surprised you only got a 14 kt nib. 5 hundred, maybe 6. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you just spent nearly 2 grand on a paint job that can be done with an airbrush. It is a good lookin pen, though.

[heymatthew]

Wow, almost 2 grand. I'm surprised you only got a 14 kt nib. 5 hundred, maybe 6. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you just spent nearly 2 grand on a paint job that can be done with an airbrush. It is a good lookin pen, though.

Pretty uncalled for, don't you think?

[GING GING]

I gave an opinion. I didn't attack anyone. I didn't use profanity. Does that help you out?

[gweddig]

snip... a paint job that can be done with an airbrush...

I'm pretty sure your troll-like comment (just an opinion) doesn't deserve a response...but are you sure it could be done with an airbrush?
Are you an expert at airbrushing? Because I would really like to see an airbrushed pen that looks like this...

[GING GING]

Hey Gweddig. Since when is it trolling to give a dissenting point of view. Honest, fair critique, should always be shared dissenting points of view should be encouraged not stifled. I have absolutely no ill will towards Altec green. How about we let it go from here.

[Jon Szanto]

I'm pretty sure your troll-like comment (just an opinion) doesn't deserve a response...but are you sure it could be done with an airbrush?
Are you an expert at airbrushing? Because I would really like to see an airbrushed pen that looks like this...

He's an airbrush expert, right along with being a Vacumatic repair expert. As well as a business expert.

And a provocateur. Not a very bright one, considering he is attempting to tell a formidable collector of Nakaya pens, a person who has worked in great detail with their artisans on a regular basis, what a bad deal he got. Silly, really.

So, by all means, just let Ging Ging continue to post, because his posts alone are all anyone needs to suss him out.

[Farmboy]

Amazing dialogue.

Suspect Green is impressed.

[mhosea]

I'm certainly impressed. As luck would have it, I have one of these with me today, one of the few remnants of my early forays into the world of inexpensive Chinese pens. I wish its manufacturers had had GING GING's airbrush skills.

[Laura N]

Hey Gweddig. Since when is it trolling to give a dissenting point of view. Honest, fair critique, should always be shared dissenting points of view should be encouraged not stifled. I have absolutely no ill will towards Altec green. How about we let it go from here.

I agree that "Honest, fair critique, should always be shared dissenting points of view should be encouraged not stifled." But that's not what that comment was. Perhaps unintentionally, that comment wasn't a dissenting point of view, but merely a putdown. It's rude to say to someone, in effect, "you wasted a lot of money." It's the kind of thing people don't say in person to a mere acquaintance. And it's not critique. Critique is meant to help someone improve something.

Too often on this forum people who take the time to post something get attacked. Someone makes a casual remark about a vac filler and gets subjected to Socratic questioning that is more embarrassing than instructing, since illumination could have been presented kindly and directly. Someone posts a photo of a pen and gets attacked for spending too much. At least AltecGreen has defenders. He's lucky. Most people who encounter this don't. In fact usually the person making the harsh comment defends himself, or others do so. I think you probably picked on the wrong guy here.

The main thing is, this kind of thing discourages people from posting. That's all. And since usually it's directed at someone who isn't as popular as AltecGreen seems to be, then it makes the poster feel attacked and it drives them away.

A good rule of thumb is often: if you don't have something nice to say, then say nothing. And maybe, just maybe, we all should try a little harder to find something nice to say. Maybe think about treating people as you would in person.

[dannzeman]

Wow, almost 2 grand. I'm surprised you only got a 14 kt nib. 5 hundred, maybe 6. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you just spent nearly 2 grand on a paint job that can be done with an airbrush. It is a good lookin pen, though.

This is uncalled for. I can't really state it better than Laura N has. I'm giving you the week off to reflect on your statement and digest Laura's response. Make sure you understand every bit of it, even if that means pulling out a dictionary and looking up words like "critique", "dissent", and "rude." Take a hard look at how people treat each other in this community and figure what adjustments you need to make. If you still want to act like this when your temp ban is up, you're more than welcome to visit some other forum.

[purplepencils]

What a gorgeous pen. I love nashiji-nuri but I must say, urushi flakes work just as well!

[mhosea]

The main thing is, this kind of thing discourages people from posting. That's all. And since usually it's directed at someone who isn't as popular as AltecGreen seems to be, then it makes the poster feel attacked and it drives them away.

For a daily dose of irony on this point, take a quick look at my visitor wall.

[AltecGreen]

I get back from being secret and things blow up here.


GING GING is probably ignorant of urushi and maki-e techniques. It would not be the first time for someone not familiar with urushi work to say it can be done with an airbrush. It's funny because had a discussion with Manupropria about Nakaya and he thought they did not charge enough for their pens because the time needed for urushi work.


The key part of the technique used for my pen is the polishing. The pen is polished form the rough Ishime surface to one that is mirror smooth. If you compare the price of the greenish pen in the link I provided above with it's the decapod version of the pen, you can see how much the polishing can cost.


http://www.nakaya.org/en/review.aspx?id=18010&type=body

For those not familiar with Japanese urushi and maki-e techniques, check out this video. The pen and tray shown being made was for Sailor. That specific combo of pen, box, and tray retailed for $197k (and was the subject to a rant similar to GING GING's on FPN a few years back.) The pricing for urushi/maki-e/raden/chinkin work is by the area. A master can charge $50-60k for a sq. ft. of maki-e work as an example.

[tandaina]

Airbrush expert perhaps but obviously has never held a Nakaya if he thinks that finish is the same as airbrushing.

And yes Mr Troll you did attack someone, you just implied that the original poster was an idiot and a rube. He's not, and your comments were uncalled for.

Here is the problem with the Internet, people think that because they think something they should say it. My Grandmother's words still work: if you don't have something nice to say don't so anything at all.

Thabks for handing this well Dan. Love this pen and love getting to see thd creaivity of our members.

[heymatthew]

But... How does it write!?

[AltecGreen]

But... How does it write!?

I'll try to put something up this weekend since I just got back from travel.


The nib is a Nakaya Super Extra Fine and writes like my other Nakaya SEF nibs. I suppose a completely useless but true statement is that it writes like all of my other Nakayas. These are my daily user pens since I rarely ink up my vintage pens. The SEF nib is my preferred nib because it is very fine. The only other comparable stock nib would be a Sailor Saibi Togi. The pen is tuned for my very light pressure.

The pen works and writes the way I want it to. That I suppose is the whole point of a Nakaya.

My daily carry is this new pen, another Nakaya modified for flex, and a Nakaya with a cursive italic nib.

[heymatthew]

How wonderful!!! Sounds great. It's a beautiful piece. Enjoy it in good health!