Handmade Wooden Pen
Small-scale craft and product prototyping
Design / Craft / Prototyping
The story
Not every project needs a circuit board. This was a break from screens and code: turning a block of wood into a pen and stand I'd actually want to keep on a desk.
Why I built it
A pen is a low bar to clear functionally - it just has to write. Making it feel deliberate instead of purely functional is a different, slower kind of problem.
What I built
A handmade pen and stand, shaped and finished by hand, with more time spent on proportion and finish than the object strictly needed.
What I did
- Made the pen and stand from scratch
- Did the shaping, sanding, and finishing myself
How I built it
Build flow
Material choice -> shaping -> finishing -> display.
How it works
Built as a physical object first and foremost - the "engineering" here was mostly patience with sandpaper.
Hardware
What was hard
- Getting a clean finish on something this small, where every flaw shows
- Making the stand support the pen without upstaging it
Build reference
The project centred on the physical finish and presentation of a useful object rather than a software or electronics architecture.
Click to inspect
Demos and build notes
Photos and notes
Project photos
Results & impact
- ✓ A finished pen and stand I was actually happy to display
What I'd tell past me
- Small objects show every mistake immediately - there's nowhere to hide a bad edge
If I keep going
- Try it again in a different wood, now that I know what to watch for