John Ferrell and Joe Wing started "turning," or making components for, pens as a hobby. Now, as business partners, they're hoping to turn a profit.

Ferrell and Wing opened JJ's Pen Place LLC this year in the Eagle Plaza, at 14415 E. Sprague, where they specialize in making and selling custom writing pens.

Using lathes, in a process commonly called turning, they make pen bodies out of solid materials such as exotic woods, durable plastics, and semiprecious stones. Once assembled with premium pen components, the finished pens are functional works of art, Ferrell asserts.

Prices range from $20 for a slim rosewood pen to more than $300 for a three-piece cigar-style set turned from copper desert ironwood.

Ferrell, who has been turning pens for about six years, introduced Wing to the craft about two years ago, when both worked at the Woodcraft Supply Inc. outlet in Spokane Valley. Wing, though, had other experience with lathes.

"I've been turning mostly big stuff like baseball bats and table legs for about 40 years," Wing says. "I started in junior high school and took wood shop in high school and college."

Prior to setting up shop, they turned pens in their homes and sold them at arts-and-crafts shows such as the Art & Glass Fest, which is held annually in late August at the Arbor Crest Winery.

"We've developed a following," Wing says. "We did nine shows last year, and (some) people came to our booth at every show."

They brought 300 to 500 pieces to each event and typically sold 25 to 30 pieces a show. Many customers asked if they had a store, sparking their decision to open JJ's Pen Place.

Now that the shop is open, they plan to cut back to six arts-and-crafts shows this year.

Customers include teachers, doctors, and lawyers, and pens are often bought as gifts for spouses or graduating high school and college students, Ferrell says.

The business partners however, believe it's not just professionals who are interested in fine writing instruments.

"I don't know that our demographic is very definitive," Wing says. "At craft shows we don't always know what the customer does for a living."

Ferrell says a pen-turning demonstration he saw on TV sparked his interest in the craft, after which he began acquiring the tools and materials he needed to try his hand at pen turning.

"I did some Internet research and found a few companies that had what I was looking for, and I was up and running," he says. "I've upgraded a few times since then."

Ferrell started making pens using hardwoods. The first pen he made had a rosewood body. "I still have it," he says. "I look at it every so often and I'm amazed at how far along I've come."

It wasn't long before he was turning pens from other materials such as antlers and plastics, he says. He's even turned them from plastic-infused shredded wheat and corn cobs.

Ferrell recently developed a cigar-style pen with a one-piece body and no center band that was featured in American Woodturner magazine. To make the retractable point that extends with a twist of the metal housing attached to the tip of the body, he had to modify components originally designed for two-piece pen bodies that twist in the middle to extend the point. Ferrell says it's the first of its kind that he's seen.

Since opening JJ's Pen Place, Ferrell and Wing have started turning pens from stone materials, such as marble and malachite. Turning stone is much more time consuming than turning wood, Ferrell says.

It took two days just to turn a small block of charoite, a vibrant purple stone imported from Russia, into a round cylinder, he says. Most wooden pen bodies, on the other hand, can be turned in a couple of hours.

Ferrell says he's seen surprising interest in fountain pens lately. "People are discovering them," he says. "I think fountain pens are on their way back."

Ballpoint and roller-ball pens are still the most popular types, he says.

"Roller balls have a ceramic ball and liquid ink, like a fountain pen," he says. "Ballpoint ink is thicker and waxy. Someone who does a lot of writing is better served by a roller-ball or fountain pen."

Along with pens, Ferrell and Wing also make and sell pocket-watch fobs, key chains, and letter openers, and they stock inks by the bottle, cartridge, and premium ballpoint and roller-ball refills. They also engrave most any material, using a programmable laser engraver. Pens, though, account for 85 percent of sales at the shop, Wing says.

While Ferrell and Wing rely on the Internet to research and buy supplies and materials from all over the world, they prefer to sell their products in person.

"We have an informative Web site, but we don't have an online store," Ferrell says. Customers often have specific ideas for custom orders after looking over the store's stock.

"We'll bring them to the back of the shop, and they can pick out the materials they want, and we'll even engrave their names on it," he says.

The pen-making part of the 2,300-square-foot shop is located behind the retail area and is outfitted with four lathes, a buffing machine, and a precision blade sharpener, among other pieces of equipment.

Ferrell says he and Wing already owned about 90 percent of the equipment before they decided to open JJ's Pen Place.

They turn the pen bodies from rectangular blocks of material. First, they hollow the blocks out with a drill press or a bit attached to the lathe. Then, they turn the blocks at 2,600 revolutions per minute and shape the pen bodies by hand using hardened-steel blades called gouges. Gouges come in many sizes and look like long wooden-handled chisels with U-shaped tips. After shaping the pen bodies, they sand and polish them using a series of sandpaper, gritted fabrics, and buffing compounds.

"Every piece is individual," Ferrell says of the turning process. "You have to develop a feel for it."

He says he listens to the material as it turns. "It tells you what direction to cut and will kind of tell you what shape it wants to be," he says.

Ferrell says he enjoys turning synthetic materials, while Wing prefers natural materials.

Wing and Ferrell founded the Inland Northwest Pen Turners Association. The club has about 30 members and meets monthly at Woodcraft Supply Inc.

Wing mans JJ's Pen Place full time. Ferrell, who, with his wife, Margaret, also co-owns the Bark'R Boutique-The Cat's Meow pet grooming business in Spokane Valley, works in the pen store in the afternoons and on Saturdays.

Wing, an Air Force veteran, says, "This is what I like to do in my spare time. I can't call this work. It's not hard to get up here in the morning and come a couple hours early or stay a couple of hours late."