If you haven’t seen some of Mike Allen’s custom pens from @Woodshedpenco on instagram you’re missing out.
And apparently so did I, because I completely missed his booth at the Atlanta Pen show! Luckily he still had some beauties available after the show and posted about them on instagram. Which was when I saw this one and made it a mission to be mine. So I contacted him through instagram and easy as pie, purchased it.
It came a few days later, and I was thrilled. The red and the pink swirls have tiny specks of pink shimmer in them that you can only see from close range. I’m not usually drawn to red or pink in anything normally, I usually stick to blues and purples. Occasionally some bright bold colors will catch my eye but not very often, and especially not in a pen. This one just had some magical quality about it that called my name and I answered.
It comes with your choice of nib (I chose medium) and a cartridge converter already installed, like most. But what I really enjoy about the pen is it’s smooth glossy finish and the nice taper it has near the nib, just a perfect fit for your fingers to hold the pen. I tend to hold my fountain pens very close to the nib, so when there’s a divot or a ridge near the nib area I notice it and it does affect the way I hold the pen in those cases.
It has a good weight to it, but the way it was made makes it impossible to post the cap on the back of the pen, so it’s slightly lighter to write with, and while normally I would mind that feature, because I want to post my pen cap always, in this case I honestly don’t notice much. It’s such a pleasure to write with I kinda forget it’s not there.
It’s kind of become the odd man out in my pen collections because it’s the only red pen that I have, but it’s also one of the more beautiful and unusual ones too. Right now, I’ve paired it with Diamine Coral ink, but I’m not sure how invested I am in that duo. I think I’ll probably keep searching for the right ink for this pen, and who knows it might not even be a red ink at all.
In the end, it’s a meticulously hand made pen, and I’m looking forward to seeing what else @Woodshedpenco will make.
Thank You For Reading!
The Pentastic 