October 9, 2002
Pen maker finds right hobby
Dave Wessell draws on woodworking skills to create pens
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
In his spare time, in his spotless workshop, Dave Wessell relaxes with his saws, his drill press and his oscillating sander, crafting a variety of objects from wood. Music boxes, boats, kayaks and furniture are some of the results of his efforts, but a recent avocation is pens, small wooden fountain pens.
Transforming miniature blocks of wood into pen shells and caps takes patience, precision and attention to detail - things that come naturally to Wessell.
"Pens are fun to make, but I don't sell very many of them," said Wessell, who works as an equipment manager for the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa. "I started making them as gifts and only make a couple at a time."
A self-taught woodworker, Wessell started making pens this summer, learning as he went. He and his wife, Dawnette, own Epiphany Salon and wanted to make gifts for their staff. He has also made numerous cabinets and tables for the salon as well as the front desk.
Wessell purchases blanks of wood and pen components from a woodworking supply house, leaning toward exotic woods such as diamond, purple heart, Bolivian rosewood and zebrawood. Pens made from maple burls are a favorite. He has also made pens from deer antlers either found as falls on his property or that he hunted himself. Wessell considers these his most creative and satisfying works.
After cutting the pen blanks, which are blocks of wood about 5 inches long and _ of an inch on each side, he cuts them in half. Wessell then marks one side so he can match the grain later. Then he drills a starter hole using a drill press, making sure not to drill too deeply or the heat will break the wood.
Next stop is a small lathe, where he shapes the pen, rounding the corners and sculpting the contours. This step is the most risky as about one in five pens shatters as he carves away.
"I've gotten past most of the explosions," said Wessell in his understated way. "You always learn the hard way about things you shouldn't be doing."
After gluing in the brass inserts, Wessell shellacs the wood and polishes it to a high shine. The old-fashioned solidity of these pens strikes a chord in users.
"It is an European style pen, either a fountain pen or a roller ball pen," he noted. "They are pretty durable, you can replace the ink cartridges."
With a young family and many demands on his time, Wessell can snatch only an hour here and there in his workshop. That is why the pens, which take about 30 minutes each to make, appeal to him. His next idea on the radar is deer calls, which he hopes to begin producing this fall.
"I like to work on quick projects that don't drag out for months on end," said Wessell, who has also made a telescope. "Probably one of my favorite things was a gift I made for my brother-in-law that was one-half of a canoe I turned into a gun cabinet."