Craftsman creates pens in his own write
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Woodworker Rodney Saville sits behind a display of the precision pens he hand crafts from materials ranging from deer antlers to bullets. Saville’s pens were a hot item Saturday at the crafts mall set up in the Burlington Junction Legion hall/community building during Town and County Days.
Nodaway countians are a creative bunch. And if anyone doubts that, they obviously didn’t attend Town & Country Days this weekend in Burlington Junction.
As always, the festival attracted a wide assortment of crafters, woodworkers, jewelry makers and artisans, most of whom set up shop in the newly constructed American Legion hall/community building on Main Street.
One of the more popular tables displayed dozens of handcrafted writing instruments carved, shaped and fashioned by Rodney Saville of Maryville.
Saville is a craftsman catering to customers who cling to the old-fashioned notion that the best way to get your ideas across is to write them down on paper with a nicely weighted, custom-made ink pen.
How quaint.
But there is no denying that — laptops, smartphones and tablets notwithstanding — jotting down a few brilliant notions with a pen fashioned from deer antlers, an exotic hardwood from Africa or Asia, or a finely grained bit of Missouri walnut has its satisfactions.
Really, who wants to sign a marriage license or the loan for that new Corvette convertible with a Bic disposable?
Saville, who describes his pen-making as a “non-profit” hobby, said he started crafting writing instruments about four years ago after joining a local woodworking club. The pens proved popular, and now the trim, affable Saville is a fixture at craft shows and festivals across north Missouri and Iowa.
His best-sellers, he said, are pens fashioned from deer antlers. He suspects the reason is that “everyone has either shot one or hit one.”
Other creations feature barrels formed with everything from good old Missouri Osage orange to exotic woods from Asia, Africa and South America.
Then there are the bullet pens, constructed using a variety of shapes and calibers. Some even have a retraction mechanism designed to mimic a bolt-action rifle.
Though Saville sells the pens, which range in price from $10 to $35, he admits that he gives much of his work away as gifts, especially to men and women serving in the U.S. armed forces.
The bullet pens, and those with red, white and blue star-spangled barrels, are especially popular with soldiers, and Saville admits he’s a soft touch when it comes to making a gift of a custom pen to anyone wearing a uniform.
Though it is obvious that Saville’s pens are created with first-class craftsmanship, the Federal-Mogul shipping-receiving technician said that his pen “business” will remain strictly a hobby, a way to relieve stress at the end of the workday.
A skilled cabinetmaker who has also crafted pie safes and roll-top desks, Saville said he simply enjoys making things with his hands that others will enjoy and treasure.
With no formal carpentry training, Saville said he taught himself the art of making beautiful things out of wood while keeping in mind a maxim handed down to him from his father.
“It can be done,” Saville quoted his dad as saying, “just sit down and figure it out.”
