Our Story

Will’s job is pretty simple. He makes pens out of high-quality machined materials that all come with a lifetime warranty, just in case.

But why pens?

Because everybody needs one. And Will believes that everyday people deserve to use something beautiful, thoughtfully-designed, and well-made every single day.

Will started Tactile Turn in 2012 in the outskirts of Dallas, TX, because he was frustrated; frustrated with how disconnected we are from the things we buy and how they’re made; frustrated that high-quality, small-scale manufacturing has become so inaccessible to the average person.

So, he took things into his own hands and bought an old, WWII-era lathe, rented 160ft² in the corner of a friend’s workshop and made his first 1,000 pens by hand.

Since then, a few things have changed...

Will has a new 9,000ft² workshop, state-of-the-art machines, and a small, but mighty team of machinists manning them around the clock, Monday through Friday.

All of Tactile Turn’s goods are still hand-machined in Dallas, Texas and Will is still obsessed with making things that will last a lifetime.

It’s not rocket science (although they do have an aerospace engineer on staff). Tactile Turn’s writing instruments are for people who are tired of buying overpriced plastic junk. It’s for people who sweat the small stuff, yet stay remarkably cool under pressure. It’s for people who measure twice and cut once, and who aren’t afraid to get their hands (and shirts, and pants) dirty when something goes wrong.

It’s for people like Will. And anyone who appreciates a job well done. Shop Tactile Turn's current catalog and follow along on Instagram to see what the crew is up to.

WRITTEN BY LINDSEY QUINN