# Inspired by Gisi and Kaspar



## Parson

A while back I saw a thread by Kaspar (now closed) that said the pen he made was homage to Gisi, which I didn't understand until I googled Mark Gisi and found his web site and saw the complexity and precision of his pen making.

Some viewers of that thread stated they thought Gisi's work is too busy but I thought it was downright amazing and wanted to make similar pens immediately! I've always thought that the more complicated the project, the more satisfying it would be when I successfully completed it.

So, I set out to make a similar design to the one that Mark made and posted called "Arts and Crafts."

The pen pictured here is what I completed over the weekend with my friend Dan in his wood working shop. We did not use modeler's tools, but now see the need for them with this kind of intricate laminating and segmenting.

It's a sterling silver Sedona kit from arizona pens and the wood is amboyna burl (bought a chunk of it off eBay and ripped it down). We used three types of diamondwood (CS USA) and a mixed resin from exoticblanks.com. The white bits are from a yard sign (beware of dog) and the black segments is pick guard from a guitar supply store I found online.

















We calculated that there's about 40 man hours in this pen and the use of a table saw, ban saw, sander, chop saw, radial arm saw, vice, lathe, digital calipers, lots of sandpaper, and we finished it with boiled linseed oil and medium CA glue.

If it were not for my friend Dan and his patience and thousands in equipment and knowledge of their use, I'd still be looking at catalogs and wishing I could get into this hobby. Dan and I both turned our first pen in January 2009 by the way.


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## wood-of-1kind

That is 'amazing' work. Homage should be paid to 'Parson'.


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## workinforwood

It's amazing indeed.  I do not find Gisi pens too busy.  I find them and yours to be very colorful and exciting.  You totally rocked it out!!!


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## TX_Planes

:bulgy-eyes:

I can't even began to fathom how to make such an amazing pen.  You should be proud of your efforts!


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## Texatdurango

Randall, Very nice pen indeed! Starting in January, you have come a long way in a short time, congrats on your accomplishments.

I wouldn't give a moments thought to it being too busy and wouldn't be surprised to see it on the IAP cover as the featured pen of the month!


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## gketell

That is exquisite.  Beautiful work!!  Congratulations to you and Dan!!

GK


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## arjudy

Super job on that one!!


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## DKF

Very, very nice.....I am surprised it is only 40 man hours!


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## ken69912001

Amazing work for starting in Janurary. There is one thing that would make it better though...........................Being in my hand. 
Great job.


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## GoodTurns

way, way, way cool!  I keep trying to segment and laminate...nothing to post yet!  Beautiful work.


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## cnirenberg

Wow, sweet pen.  I'm definitely not setup for anything that remotely looks like that, and I can't even imagine all of the 40+ hours that it took.  Great job.


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## akbar24601

You and Dan did a Fantastic job!!! All of your time and effort really paid off. That is one truly gorgeous pen!!!


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## Ligget

That is absolutely gorgeous, well done!


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## wolftat

Outstanding pen, I love to see someone put the time and effort in to make something that nice.


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## Bree

Totally awesome work!  Fantastic job!
:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:


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## JohnU

I think your execution of this pen and blank are outstanding!  It is truely a work of art.  Ive been wanting to try my hand at this type of pen construction since I seen Gisi's webpage too, but havent found enough time yet.  You really hit a home run with this one.


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## AceMrFixIt

Great job, wish I was that focused.


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## rpearson

Exquisitely done!  Great color combination and contrast.  Awesome design!


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## Parson

I wonder if Mark Gisi ever frequents this forum. I'd pay good money to spend a week in his shop and watch him work... wouldn't you?


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## mickr

excellent collaboration..great colors..very appealing


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## hewunch

Great work! That is a really nice pen.


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## Rollerbob

Yep, front page worthy for sure!! Excellent work!!


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## broitblat

Spectacular work!  Nice composition and outstanding workmanship on an intricate design.

  -Barry


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## Rmartin

Nice pen, but I have to ask,

Radial Arm Saw?!


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## Penl8the

Awesome! Absolutely amazing:good::good::good::good::good:! You are definitely in a different league of pen making. Thank you for sharing.


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## Kaspar

Excellent!   

A fitting tribute to the Gisi style.  Especially considering the scale involved.  The Sedona is quite a bit narrower than the usual Gisi pen, as near as I can tell from their website pictures.  I suspect you spent a lot of time finding ways to keep your fingers away from the saw blades while getting the thinner pieces for the effort.  

Now learn to do closed ends, tap your own threads, learn some jeweler's skills to do your own clips and CBs and accents, ...

... and you'll be all set.  :biggrin:

Mighty nice work!


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## papaturner

Awesome......is about all I can say......Awesome.


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## jttheclockman

I have looked at the Gisi pens alot and they are some intense working pens.  

Yours is exceptional and the time and workmanship show through. That was a well deserved undertaking. The colors match well along with the design. Job well done. First rate pen. Thanks for showing.


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## devowoodworking

Randall, that is spectacular work!!!!


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## leehljp

I can't add anything new to the accolades above. It is a beautiful work of art!


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## mbroberg

Very impressive work!!  It's a jaw dropper for sure!


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## bitshird

Your pen is above and beyond! I think that Gisi's most severe critics are people that can't begin to gather up the Cojones to try and do something like your's, Kaspar's or Mark Gisi.


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## junosdad

*Fantastic*

Absolutely inspiring.  Well done.


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## thewishman

I got to meet Brian Gisi at the Columbus pen show and got to see some of his pens in person, they are fantastic (and much larger in diameter than a Sedona). My only suggestion was that he needed to add a decimal place to his prices.

You have created a great pen with beautiful workmanship. Your blank building and drilling are spot on! That is a very nice homage. Thanks for sharing!!


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## rcflyer23

Amazing work.  I love the Gisi pens and Love yours and kaspars.  You guys have inspired me to give this a try myself.  I love it.


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## wdcav1952

Holy Toledo, that is a marvelous piece of pen art!!!!!


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## nava1uni

Amazing craftmanship.  I am in awe.  Beautiful colors and pen.


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## Jim15

WOW, outstanding work of art.


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## darrylm

beautiful pen, congratulations!


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## altaciii

Hail to your patience and determination.  Nine months does not a great pencrafter make, usually.  You both are the acception to the rule.  Beautiful work.


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## RichB

Supper Job , a pen never to be sold!!!!!!!  I can only think of doing something like that.


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## bfgladden

This is just beautiful.  I am continually amazed by the level of craftsmanship from the members of this site.  Excellent work.


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## rjwolfe3

Amazing pen and workmanship!


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## ahoiberg

really cool, and very well executed. great job.


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## VisExp

Beautiful work!!  Well done to the both of you.  A stunning design well executed.


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## PR_Princess

Stunning..... simply stunning and beautiful Randall! The patience and precision that this must of taken...boggles the mind.:bulgy-eyes: 

I agree with Rollerbob...this should be a front pager!


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## jeff

Looks great on the front page.


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## Rollerbob

Very, very seldom am I right. But this is front page page worthy all the way!! Cogratulations!!


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## Dan26

I know it's already been said, but it is "amazing"!


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## johncrane

Excellent work and Congrats! on making it too the front page.:biggrin:


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## Frank Nemke sr

Boy, that  is a great looking pen.  I don't have any real knowleg of woodworking and wouldn't know how to even start something like that


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## JohnU

Congrats on the front page.  Its well deserved!


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## Glenn McCullough

As I was reviewing this thread, pages , not just rplies, were being added while I was reading. Deservedly so...Very fine craftsmanship indeed, I am certain Gisis will be proud of the inspiration they've provided. ONe question, who gets to keep it? Perhaps, you should have made two, so theres no fighting.


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## Blind_Squirrel

Congrats on making the front page!


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## cinder_ladylocket

That is just breathtaking.....alot of work but it paid off beautifully!!!!


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## byounghusband

As soon as I logged in today, I had to stop and stare!!!  :hypnotized::hypnotized:

Absolutely STUNNING!!!!  WOW!!:highfive:


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## ALLEN

Very Beautiful pen, it's awesome.

-------------------------------------------
try better and better

ALLEN

email: pensupplier@gmail.com


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## jkeithrussell

Dang, that's awesome.


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## rufus3

Cool pen. I especially like the different colors.


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## avbill

[FONT=&quot]Someone made the comment about this pen being too busy--- or is it. [/FONT]
  [FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The segmented art and craftsmanship of this pen is exquisite!  The balance of the segmentation is handled as good as or better than any artists before.   Busy NO   The use of wood and acrylic intertwined in the design element breaks the rules clearly, yet it also develops intrigue --and then subtleness  of beauty, grace and elegance.  My friend you have a talent-- develop it run with it -- and do not look back.   [/FONT]


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## artme

Stunning in every respect!!!:worship::worship::worship:


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## Mrs Rojo22

Lovely Pen!

Robin


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## kruzzer

stunning pen design, not to mention the superior workmenship


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## Parson

Now here's the big question for all of you. If I start making more of this style pen and make it in postable and closed end non-postable formats (with roller ball or fountain options), how much can we sell them for?

We're getting much faster at making complex pens like this. I don't want to go into production with the exact same design on X number of pens, but I would like to make money selling them to those who want a one of a kind segmented pen.

This pen took 40 man hours. The next one won't take more than 15 or 20.

BTW, I saw the Gisi pen "arts and crafts" which I patterned this pen off of at the Dallas Pen Show yesterday. The guy said the owner bought it for $1000 or thereabouts and was letting it go from his collection for just $450.

The only think holding me back from buying it was the fact that I think I can make something very very similar myself for much less money and have the satisfaction of ownership.

So, back to thoughts on what I should offer these pens for at a show or a web site so as to not price myself out of the market...


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## Kaspar

Parson said:


> Now here's the big question for all of you. If I start making more of this style pen and make it in postable and closed end non-postable formats (with roller ball or fountain options), how much can we sell them for?



Whatever you can get.

Push come to shove, whatever you are willing to give it up for.  

Objectively, the Gisi original from which yours is modeled has a lot more going on in it.  Gisi's jewelers skills for one thing.  You used a prefab kit.  It's not closed-end, it's not got any original components.  It does have some fine, fine segmenting work, but surely you're not thinking you can get $1000 for it?  Even for Gisi, it comes down to what he can get for it.  The choice is existential for both seller and buyer.

My philosophy is this.  I don't have to sell my pens.  I rather like being able to tell someone I give a segmented job to as a gift that I got "x" amount one like this, so they will know it's something special (though, if I'd sold the similar one for $500, they'd probably rather have the cash, so even there the price you get isn't really the price, is it?)  But I'd as soon give one to someone special as sell one.  

That being the case, the ball is in my court.  I can set the price and really  probably ask just a little more than someone else would. Pen "x" will be a certain amount of trouble and inconvenience for me to make.  The person wanting such a pen is going to have to make it worth my while, or it's just not worth it for me to do it.  There's nothing really objective about this price.  It is a purely arbitrary estimate of what I feel it's worth to do it.  

(This is why it didn't work for me to try selling on _ebay_.  Folks who go there are looking for a bargain.  I'm not 'a bargain,' or to speak metaphorically, "I date, but I cannot be 'picked up'." :biggrin: ) 

I'm getting to the point now where I will have some pens made ahead of time to sell.  Once a pen is made, I might be willing to sell it for less than I would if it wasn't already made, because the time, trouble and frustration and a certain amount of fear and uncertainty that went in to it is now a distant memory and the real fact of the completed, salable, highly cool pen is here and now.  In that case, if somebody said "I really can't afford that," I might say, "okay make me an offer," and then I might say "okay," or I might say, "No, it's worth more than that for me to keep it."  

And that would be the truth.  If the person who asked for quotes on the Homage a Gisi and the Zebra Composite Redux hadn't been willing to pay me what I asked - and I asked a goodly sum because they weren't made yet- I would have said, "no, sorry, I'd love to do them, get them out there where others could see them, but it's just not worth less than that to me."

These are non-essential, luxury items, like diamonds, bought with disposable, discretionary income.  Worth is not a hard, fast number on this.  The real price of the pen is _"the amount greater than  what it's worth for you to keep it / not make it."_  Over time, that estimation changes, thus the worth of the pen changes.  

Especially for someone who might _have_ to sell them.  But very few of us here are actually doing this for a living.  In this economy, I'd be pretty worried if I were.


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## GouletPens

Personally, I've always found Gisi pens fascinating as a craftsman but repulsive in terms of design. The exact same reason I don't like Very Bradley's designs. I know a lot of people do, but to me they are just too busy. Now, that being said, you did some great segmenting work there. I commend you on that. I admire the work you did on the pen, and respect you as a craftsman for it. Just because it's not my personal taste, doesn't mean it's not a great pen that someone else will completely fall in love with.:embarrassed:


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## MDWine

Nicely done... rite purdy!


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## Parson

Kaspar said:


> but surely you're not thinking you can get $1000 for it?



Nope. I never imagined I'd get anywhere near that. But I have no idea what I could fetch for work like this and wondered what the forum members would charge on their web sites.

So Kaspar, if you made a pen like the one in this thread, how much would you list it for on your web site if it was not commissioned work?

That's the question I'm asking and the answer I'm looking for from you or any other pen maker on this forum with a web site and pens listed for sale.


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## rcarman

Absolutely beautiful pen, and a really neat Avatar as well.  I been using the same one for a little over 4 years.


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## watchman7

You could take a look at this website http://www.lanierpens.com/  for some ideas about prices being asked for segmented pens. I have no knowledge of who owns this website or any affiliation with it. I just came across it when browsing for segmented pens.


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