CUMMING, Ga. — Graham Witt is a project analyst for a tax group, and he has a recent interest in selling real estate. However, if you saw him working in his garage, you’d think this Cumming resident was a carpenter. In his free time, Witt makes wooden ink pens, then sells them online. He said it’s a hobby that dates back many years.
“I actually took woodshop back in high school in the 90s,” Witt said. “I built a chair, a pen, a box, and then it just kind of disappeared after high school for me. When I moved to Georgia about 4 years ago, that's when I got back into it.”
He makes a variety of things including pizza cutters and wine stoppers, but the pens, he said, have been most popular. Originally, Witt said he gave them as gifts to friends and family, but the feedback was so good that he decided to start selling them.
“I have all these stories where they've used them in closing big business deals, and people will comment on their pen,” he said. “One of my friends uses them to write all his prescriptions and notes. He's a doctor. So I feel like it's almost a conversation starter for some people, and it's something that gets shown around the community, or their business, or even around the world. One of them travels internationally. He's gotten multiple comments on his pen, so it's cool to be able to create something that is admired by a lot of people.”
Witt said he started selling his products shortly before the coronavirus pandemic began. Business was slow at first, he said, but really picked up in recent weeks.
“Now that people are really supporting small businesses and small shops, I have seen it pop up more,” Witt said. “I recently created an Etsy store. Before, it was more word of mouth, or selling them at my company, or friends of friends and things like that. More recently, it has actually picked up, and I'm getting more orders.”
There are a couple of different types of pens available, he said. Being a nature lover, Witt said many of the pens use reclaimed wood which he selects based on the look.
“I bought a 1,000-year-old piece of Cypress that was pulled out of the river near Savannah, and so it's got all these cool different burrow marks and growth rings, so you're getting something that's more unique when you're buying the wood,” he said. “Then, there's more like the acrylic side. The acrylic would be plastic. I kind of gear those more toward younger folk. They make good graduation presents. It's just more of an intricate, younger, vibrant fuel, versus the wood which is more like a mature professional type of feel.”
Another thing that makes his pens unique, Witt said, is the polyurethane epoxy he uses to strengthen the wood.
“It takes about 6 hours to set,” he said. “Usually, I will set those up the night before. To turn one from start to finish takes anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes, depending on what type of finish I do. The two main ones I do are like an acrylic glue coat. It’s like super glue that's really hard and clear and shiny. That really protects the wood but it has a plastic feel to it. Then, I will do one with a Brazil wax which is actually plant-based. It's not quite as durable as the plastic, but it feels warmer to the touch if that makes sense. It feels more like you're touching the wood. And when I make acrylic pens, it's maybe 20 minutes. They're a lot easier. You don't have to do a lot of finishing, just a lot of sanding.”
Witt said he also does custom orders and will even teach interested parties how to make a pen. So could we see this turn into a full-time job at some point?
“I struggle with that, because it's such a passion of mine,” Witt said. “It's something I like to do to unwind, relax, and just get to be creative and not worry about turning volume or something like that. It's definitely been an internal debate I've had, but right now I'm happy with keeping it just pretty simple and lowkey as a stress reducer where I can make it and relax and not worry about supply and demand.”
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