About this project

Introduction

Hello, and thank you for taking a look at our page on Kickstarter. We are introducing our Exemplar line of hand-turned, custom designed luxury pens. The conceptualization for these fine writing instruments emerged over a year ago. Since then, we have worked hard towards creating a product that we believe to be the finest wood-turned pen available. Currently, we are offering three versions from our Exemplar line of pens. This post will serve as a pre-sale for these pens.

Details of our project can be found in the video below. If you prefer to read about the pens and our project, information can be found below the video.

About Our Pens

• Exotic woods combined into a unique design -- featuring Birdseye Maple, Paduk, and African Blackwood
• Custom designed hardware -- clip and cap are cast like a ring -- finished in rhodium (a precious metal from the platinum family)
• Curved clip and matching cap are distinct to our brand of fine writing instruments
• SCHMIDT ink writing system (comes with both blue and black ink inserts): http://bit.ly/T3BeP
  
• Hand-made, by us, here in North Carolina

Manufacturing Process

• Two species of exotic woods are combined through methods of cutting, drilling, doweling, and gluing
• Blanks are roughly shaped by hand on a lathe using a gouge, then planing knife
• We then sand from 220 grit to 400 grit in order to get a relatively smooth surface
• A special finishing compound, known for great durability and clarity, is applied three separate times
• Sanding then resumes from 600 grit to 12,000 grit -- which is essentially a polishing rag
• Finishing touches are made with a buffing wax
• Hardware is assembled to the pen body using a clamp and special glue

Why Kickstarter?

• Test the general interest in our pens
• Purchase better tools for a more consistent output of pen bodies
• Cover the set-up costs involved in manufacturing the metal hardware pieces and purchasing the ink inserts

Video By Zach Stamey: www.focusmediagallery.com

Music By Phoria: www.phoriamusic.com

Special thank you to everyone who has helped us so far. There is no way we could have reached this point without your help.

Different Wood Types For The Custom Pen (Scroll Down, There Are Three Pages Total): http://bit.ly/rg5emq

Here is our Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/o8967n

Here is a feature on our pens in Gear Patrol: http://gearpatrol.com/blog/2011/08/23/kickstarter-baltz-fine-writing-instruments/

Here is a feature on our pens in TechCrunch: http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/24/to-heck-with-ipad-stands-help-kickstart-some-handmade-pens-for-a-change/

And Brad, from The Pen Addict: http://www.penaddict.com/2011/09/baltz-fine-writing-instruments.html