Price lowered

I've lowevered the prices on the Sheaffer Snorkels and the Parker 51 that I'm selling. If you're interested in more than one pen, I'll be happy to lower the prices even more for you. In addition, I may be putting up a Sheaffer Balance for sale tonight. Look out for it!

New pens for sale

So you noticed that I just post about 4 sheaffer snorkels for sale. I personally am a huge fan of Sheaffer Snorkels. The cheapest source of Snorkels is eBay but there's a huge RISK buying Snorkels there because most of the sellers do not know anything about Snorkels. Most of the time, the sellers will not mention if their pens can take in ink. 95% of the time, the pen will not take in ink, and the other 5% of the time, the pen interior will be in terrible conditions. Unless you can restore a Snorkel yourself, you'll have to send it to a professional. It can cost up to $40 including shipping.

So I'll like to be able to provide professionally restored Snorkels to the FP community at NO RISK to them. If you have any question or query, you can direct them to me.

Restored Burgundy Sheaffer Snorkel Sentinel with Fine-EF 14K gold nib (#4)

I have a Burgundy Sheaffer Snorkel Clipper with Fine-EF 14K gold nib for sale that has been professionally restored by Jim Baer of Nashua Pen Spa. He replaced all the seals and bladder and dip-tested the nib to make sure the entire pen is working properly. The nib, the pen body and cap have microscratches on them that came from normal daily use. No deep scratches or ding that I can see.

Asking for $75 shipped conus. If you’re interested in the original Sheaffer Snorkel box and mechanical pencil in matching color, just add $5 to the total cost. I do ship to overseas customers but there will be additional shipping and buyer assumes all responsibility. If you’re interested, contact me at twistedmetal16@gmail.com and mentioned that you want to purchase “Sheaffer Snorkel #4”.

Restored Burgundy Sheaffer Snorkel Sentinel with Fine 14K gold nib (#3)

I have a Burgundy Sheaffer Snorkel Sentinel with Fine 14K gold nib for sale that has been professionally restored by Jim Baer of Nashua Pen Spa. He replaced all the seals and bladder and dip-tested the nib to make sure the entire pen is working properly. The nib itself is in excellent shape, the pen body and cap have microscratches on them that came from normal daily use. No deep scratches or ding that I can see.

Asking for $60 shipped conus. If you’re interested in the original Sheaffer Snorkel box and mechanical pencil in matching color, just add $5 to the total cost. I do ship to overseas customers but there will be additional shipping and buyer assumes all responsibility. If you’re interested, contact me at twistedmetal16@gmail.com and mentioned that you want to purchase “Sheaffer Snorkel #3”.

Restored Burgundy Sheaffer Snorkel Clipper with Fine-Medium PdAg nib (#2)

I have a Burgundy Sheaffer Snorkel Clipper with Fine-Medium PdAg nib for sale that has been professionally restored by Jim Baer of Nashua Pen Spa. He replaced all the seals and bladder and dip-tested the nib to make sure the entire pen is working properly. The nib, the pen body and cap have microscratches on them that came from normal daily use. No deep scratches or ding that I can see.

Asking for $55 shipped conus. If you’re interested in the original Sheaffer Snorkel box and mechanical pencil in matching color, just add $5 to the total cost. I do ship to overseas customers but there will be additional shipping and buyer assumes all responsibility. If you’re interested, contact me at twistedmetal16@gmail.com and mentioned that you want to purchase “Sheaffer Snorkel #2”.

C.E Levi Pens Nox with #5 Sheaffer Feathertouch 14K Fine nib

The Nox

For more reviews of my pens, please visit my blog at http://inkoholicanonymous.blogspot.com/

For more information on the pen and the brand, please go to http://celevipens.com/wordpress/

Disclaimer: I bought this pen for a $150 discount. In exchange, I will have to write a detailed review of the pen. I understand this might affected the integrity of the review but I promise to keep my review as unbiased as possible. In addition, I will provide my value of the pen with and without the discount.

INTRODUCTION: There are websites that I visit daily first thing in the morning when I switch on my computer and one of them is the MarketWatch on FPN. I saw a thread posted by Cameron that he will offer a $150 discount in exchange for any of his pens in exchange for a detailed review. $150 is a lot in exchange for a review so I was naturally curious. I went to his website and looked through his pens. Basically Cameron has one base design for his four pens: The Colossus pen is made from either bronze or brass, the Nox pen is made from matte black German ebonite with bronze trimmings, the Small Nox is a smaller version of the Nox, and the Solstice is a longer version of the Nox. All pens are outfitted with vintage gold nibs personally tuned by Cameron and are only available clipless.
The ordering process is very simple: You can choose to buy one of the ready-made pens from Cameron or you can choose to make one made. If you want a pen made, you just need to make a $50 deposit and you’ll be put on the waiting list. When it’s your turn, you can choose to pay the remainder, or choose to wait another round. Simple as that. You can choose to have your pen customize to an extent by changing the dimensions of various parts of the pens and by providing your own nibs. You can choose to provide your own material but that will cost you extra.

1. Appearance & Design (9/10) – The pen looks like nothing out there and I like how it differs from most pens out there. The ebonite body looks and feels like it was made from ebony wood and it certainly gives it an expensive feeling. I will say that the design is a love-it-or-hate-it design and I simply love it! In fact, I was so in love with it that I chose to inked it first instead of my Nakaya Urushi pen, which arrived on the same day. Expect a review of that pen sometime next month. A perfect 10 for the design. One small complaint that I have is the number of turns you need to uncap the pen. It can be hard when you’re taking notes in lectures.

2. Construction & Quality (10/10) – A lot of details were placed in the construction of the pen and I cannot find a single flaw in the pen. The trimmings are made out of machined bronze and you can see from the photo that there is a thin band of polished bronze sandwiched between two thicker bands of brushed bronze. That’s a nice detailed design that I imagine will take a long time to machine. The ebonite pen body is nicely polished such that it is uniform all over. Overall, I can’t find anything for me to take a point off on.

3. Weight & Dimensions (9.5/10) – The exact dimensions and weight of the pen can be taken from Cameron’s website so I will not post them here. Overall I find it comfortable to hold, and the pen has a nice heft to it, probably due to the button filler mechanism and bronze trimmings. Most of the weight is in the pen body so the nib portion of the pen feels light when you’re writing. This might appeal or not appeal to somebody but personally, I feel this makes writing effortless. The only small issue I have is that the pen section is slightly too narrow for me; I will prefer a slightly thicker grip section. You can be sure that I will request that for my next C.E Levi pen!

The Sheaffer Feathertouch nib

4. Nib & Performance (19/20) – This is where the pen truly shines. I told Cameron that I prefer a Fine nib that writes abit on the wet side (but not overly wet like the Pelikan Gold nibs), and is springy instead of flexible. He recommended the #5 Sheaffer Feathertouch and I took him up on his offer. This nib is almost exactly like my EF Visconti Dreamtouch nib is almost every aspect. They both give the same line width, and both write with the most minimal of contact. Also, both are equally smooth with the slightest bit of friction that I desire. However, the Sheaffer Feathertouch is able to flex more than the Dreamtouch nib, so I actually prefer the Feathertouch nib to the Dreamtouch nib. I just have one gripe: There’s a lot of nib creep; this is caused by the narrow interior of the cap. When I uncap the pen, I often drag the interior of the cap across the top of the nib, causing the interior to spread ink all over the nib.

Back cap unscrewed to show the button filler

5. Filling System & Maintenance (10/10) – The pen is a button filler and one big reason why I decided to spring for the pen. I’ve never had a button filler before and I thought the design is pretty cool. I think Cameron should make a demonstrator pen to show off the mechanism. Again, I see no reason to take off any point in this department.

6. Cost & Value (10/10) at $300 and 9/10 at $450 – It’s hard to be unbiased here since I got a discount in exchange for a review so I give 2 ratings, one at the price I paid ($300) and one at the full price ($450). Right now, there are only two pens in my collection that can be comparable to the Nox and they are the Visconti Homo Sapien ($350) and the Nakaya Neo Standard in Kuro-Tamenuri with Snake clip ($750 but I have not inked it up yet :P). At $450, there are a lot of pens that I would like to buy but I can’t because they are too expensive so I can’t give a perfect score at the original price. However, this pen is almost like a grail pen to me. In fact, I  am highly considering the idea of sending the pen to Ernest Shin so that he can give it a urushi coating. At that point, it will really be a grail pen!

7. Conclusion (Final score, 67.5/70 or 66.5/70) – If you’re in the market for a totally unique, one of a kind pen, then any of Cameron’s pens will suit you perfectly. If you’re looking for a new pen body for your vintage nib, then Cameron is the guy for you to go to. In conclusion, I highly recommend getting a C.E Levi pen.

8. Some things to consider: Here, I’ll like to list some concerns that potential buyers might have when looking to getting a custom pen from Cameron. Firstly, you cannot have a pen made from a different material without providing extra pieces of the material and paying extra. This is because Cameron needs the extra pieces to get a feel for the material and to experiment with. This means he needs more time to make your pen. Also Cameron basically only has one design, it has to be clipless and a button filler. The most you can customize is the dimensions of the pen.

9. Simple Comparison with a similar pen from the Edison Pen Company: The Edison Pen Company is arguably the most well-known custom pen company in the FPN community (with the exception of Nakaya) and I myself own 3 Edison pens. This portion of the review is not a comparison on whose pen is better, but rather to give a potential buyer the idea of what kind of pen you can expect from the Edison Pen Company and C.E Levi.

C.E Levi: For $450, you will get a clipless pen made from black ebonite, with a button filler mechanism and a vintage 14K gold nib.

Edison Pen Company: A black ebonite pen, with a modern 18K gold nib, and a bulb filler mechanism will cost you $450 as well.

I will like to end this review by saying that both pen makers produce pens of exceptional quality and values and it all boils down to your personal preferences.

Pilot Vanishing Point Singapore Youth Olympics 2010 Limited Edition (F nib)

I have for sale a brand new Pilot Vanishing Point Singapore Youth Olympics 2010 Limited Edition, limited to sale in Singapore and 2010 pieces only. It is in black with silver trims, with the Youth Olympics logo in silver, and it comes in a 18K gold colored Fine nib. The nib unit has a Con-50 converterThe pen will come in the box and with all the accessories shown: a pair of cufflinks with the Youth Olympics logo and 2 ink cartridges. If you're interested, email me at twistedmetal16@gmail.com

Price: $280 shipped conus. International shipping will cost slightly more depending on your location.

The pen shown in the above photo is my personal pen. I didn't want to take out the pen for sale just to take a photo.

Ink Sample list updated

Just updated the list of ink samples and lowered the prices on all of them. If you're looking to get A LOT of them, I'll consider further discount too.

Review of the Edison Pen Company Extended Mina in Imitation Horn acrylic with steel F nib

 INTRODUCTION: When I first joined FPN, it didn’t take me long to learn about the Edison Pen Company. However, Brian’s pens were out of my reach then, price-wise. I had another hobby back then that took up most of my budget but now that I’m fully devoted to my writing hobby, I find myself looking through Brian’s photo website almost daily trying to find my 1^st Edison pen. Then Brian announced the Mina and Extended Mina at a lower price range. Perfect. Brian had done a Mina previously in Imitation Horn and that really caught my eye. From there, it was a simple matter to send an email to Brian to order an Extended Mino in Imitation Horn.    

1.      Appearance & Design (10/10) – Part of the Edison pen purchase process is to choose a pen body and a material from among the hundreds of materials and designs that Brian has. Trust me, it’s harder to choose 1 material than it is to choose 5.

I’m not sure if you can see from the photo but the Horn material is actually slightly translucent, so the brown swirl patterns looks 3D. This material is highly under-rated and I’m surprised that so little people actually chose this material (Brian shares the same sentiment).

The pen design is very simple, basically just a round rod that flares out slightly to the ends. The flare is very slight and but it means that the pen cannot be posted. This isn’t a problem since I never post my pens. The “Edison Pen Company” engraving is not present on the pen body but the Edison Pen Company logo is engraved on the top of the cap. Nice~

Since I get to choose my pen design and material from the hundreds of high-quality photos, how can I not give it a perfect 10?

2.      Construction & Quality (8/10) – The exterior of the pen is perfect to the touch, smooth with no scratches or bump. The cap twists off smoothly with little resistance as well. However, I just have 2 issues here: First, the interior of the pen body and cap is not smoothen out. The problem with a rough interior cap is that ink stains are much harder to wash off (because the ink remains trapped in the nooks and crannies). The horn material is slightly translucent so any ink stain present is visible to the naked eye. Secondly, the pen section’s grooves aren’t smooth and I actually couldn’t twist it open. I had to remove the nib so that I could get a grip before I can finally remove the section. Luckily, this problem is easily fixed with a few dabs of silicon grease. Now, it’s as smooth as glass.

3.      Weight & Dimensions (10/10) – This is the most balanced capped fountain pen I have ever used. When I first held it in my hands, I started twirling and spinning the pen effortlessly. Simply a delight to play with. The pen section is very thin at the thinnest point (where you’re normally supposed to hold) and I feel slightly uncomfortable holding it there. However, the nib of the pen is pretty small, so if I hold the pen there, I will be holding the pen too close to the paper. By shifting my holding position further up, I achieved a near perfect grip and comfort level.

4.      Nib & Performance (20/20) – An Edison pen is one of the few pens that is personally tuned by a nibmeister before it is shipped out to the customer. Hence, it’s not a matter of whether the pen writes well, but whether it writes to your liking. Brian actually prefers it if a customer sends his nib to him so that he can tune the Edison nib to write EXACTLY like the customer’s nib. However, I know Brian has his own idea of how the perfect nib should write like so I decided to try a nib tuned to his liking. He likes to a nib to write slightly wet (about 7/10 wetness) and to be buttery smooth with the slightest feedback. When I write my first word, I knew Brian has got it spot on. The nib is wet enough to bring out the ink’s correct color and saturation, but not too wet such that it results in smudging and bleedthrough (My Visconti Homo Sapiens and Pelikan M600 are 2 pens that are too wet.) The nib size is accurate, lying down a Fine line similar to the line laid down by my Visconti HS’s EF nib. I am not a huge fan of buttery smooth nibs because I tend to lose control of my writings. Brian has managed to hit that thin balance of smoothness and feedback so that I’m able to write with a nib that feels buttery smooth except that I don’t lose control like I usually do. It’s impossible for me to heap more praise on the nib.

I requested a one tone silver nib but Brian forgot and shipped my pen with a 2 tone nib. When informed, he immediately shipped me a one tone silver nib and told me to keep the 2 tone nib. This way, I’ll be able to choose the better nib of the 2. Just like other Edison Pen customers, I was blown away from the level of customer service that Brian provides.

5.      Filling System & Maintenance (10/10) – The pen uses a piston converter with the “Schmidt” words written on it. I could have chosen to have the pen as a bulb filler but I had come to appreciate the convenience of a converter pen. Like all Edison pens, this pen can be converted to an eyedropper with the addition of an o-ring and silicon grease on the threads.

6.      Cost & Value (10/10) – I bought this pen for $210 shipped and this is a huge amount to pay for a pen with a steel nib. For example, my Sailor Professional Gear with a 21K gold nib costs me just under $200 shipped. However, if you factor in how well the pen writes, and the amount of customization that you can choose to personalize your pen, $210 seems like a fairly reasonable price to pay for a one-of-a-kind pen. You can choose to change the dimensions of the pen to fit your hand better or to have some kind of logo or words engraved onto the pen to further personalize it for a small additional cost. Essentially, I paid $210 for a pen that wrote PERFECTLY, and in the design that I want.

7.      Conclusion (Final score, 68/70) – I’ll like to thank Brian for being ever so patient with me as I design my pen. This pen took about 3 to 4 weeks from payment to landing in my hands but I bought this pen just after the launch of the Stilwell and the Philly Show. Normally, the pen should take only 2 weeks. For those looking to try out their 1^st Edison pen, the Mina or Extended Mina is a good way to start and it has been a while since I was so happy with a pen (I think the last time is the Pilot M90). 

Officially Open!

This blog is now officially open! I created this blog a year ago in the summer of 2010 but before I could further work on it, school started. This blog will mainly be a blogshop for me to sell my fountain pens. You can see that I already put up two Sheaffer Snorkel pens for sale. I have 9 more that are currently undergoing repair and they should be ready in a couple week's time. In addition, I will be writing reviews of some of my pens. These reviews will be posted up on FPN for viewing too. The pen that is currently undergoing review is the C.E Levi Nox. More information can be obtained here: http://celevipens.com/wordpress/. This pen is simply awesome so look forward to the review! I have about 5 or so reviews of some pens that are done and just need some final editings and photos so keep an eye out for them during the rest of the week.


FINALLY, i have 5mL ink samples for sale but they are still packed up in boxes (I just moved and haven't had the time to unpack them) so I will post up the full list sometime this week too.

Sheaffer Snorkel Sovereign in Pastel Green with a Fine 14K gold nib

This is a Sheaffer Snorkel Sovereign in Pastel Green with a Fine 14K gold nib. I’ve dipped the nib and written with it and it produced a Fine line that I normally see on a Fine Sheaffer nib. The cap has few micro scratches and the chrome plating is surprisingly shiny. The snorkel extends with no problem and the pen is able to take in ink. Email me at twistedmetal16@gmail.com if you're interested.

Asking Price: $50 shipped.

Sheaffer Snorkel Clipper in Pastel Blue with a Fine/Medium PdAg nib

This is a Sheaffer Snorkel Clipper in Pastel Blue with a Fine/Medium PdAg nib. I’ve dipped the nib and written with it and it produced a line that is slightly thicker than the Fine lines that I normally see on a Sheaffer nib. The cap has many micro scratches that is common from years of usage and there are no deep scratches on the pen. The snorkel extends with no problem and the pen is able to take in ink. Email me at twistedmetal16@gmail if you're interested in the pen.

Asking Price: $55 shipped