Description: Diplomat Excellence B with SS Medium nib (old model)
Condition: 10/10, brand new
Price: Selling for S$70
Contact: twistedmetal16@gmail.com, 97382193
Monday, October 15, 2012
Diplomat Excellence B with SS Medium nib (old model)
Description: Diplomat Excellence B with SS Medium nib (old model)
Condition: 10/10, brand new
Price: Selling for S$70
Contact: twistedmetal16@gmail.com, 97382193
Diplomat Optimist Loop with SS Medium nib
Description: Diplomat Optimist Loop with SS Medium nib
Condition: 8/10, used once
Price: Retail price is S$170, selling for S$70
Contact: twistedmetal16@gmail.com, 97382193
Franklin-Christoph Model 27 with chrome cap with XF nib
Description: Franklin-Christoph Model 27 with chrome cap with XF nib
Condition: 8/10, used once
Price: Retail price is S$170, selling for S$50
Contact: twistedmetal16@gmail.com, 97382193
Note: The cap has a bit of a problem, it can't be screwed tight. plus it doesn't come with a converter.
Franklin-Christoph Model 14 in red with XF, 0.9mm and 1.1mm cursive italic nibs
Description: Franklin-Christoph Model 14 in red with XF, 0.9mm and 1.1mm cursive italic nibs
Condition: 8/10, used a couple times
Price: Retail price is S$270, selling for S$110
Contact: twistedmetal16@gmail.com, 97382193
Note: On 1 of the nib holder unit, there is a sort of rust spot (see 2nd photo), but the other 2 nibs come with flawless nib holders
Pilot Plumix in black with Medium Italic nib
Description: Pilot Plumix in black with Medium Italic nib
Condition: 8/10, used once
Price: Retail price is S$10, selling for S$5
Contact: twistedmetal16@gmail.com, 97382193
Regal World Map fountain pen with stainless F nib
Description: Regal World Map fountain pen with stainless F nib
Condition: 10/10, never used
Price: Retail price is S$65, selling for S$45
Contact: twistedmetal16@gmail.com, 97382193
Note: This is a big brass pen, very heavy.
Retro 51 Lava Flow Tornado with M stainless steel nib
Description: Retro 51 Lava Flow Tornado with M stainless steel nib
Condition: 10/10, never used
Price: Retail price is S$65, selling for S$45
Contact: twistedmetal16@gmail.com, 97382193
Note: Can only use with short international ink cartridges
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Selling off part of my personal collection
Over the past few weeks, I'll be selling off part of my personal collection. The reason being that my collection has gotten so huge that there are going to be certain pens that I probably won't get around to using for the next few years. These pens are all working perfectly, it's just that I may not like the characteristics of the nib, or the dimensions aren't right for my hands etc... Most of these pens have only been used once or twice (I had a period of time when I went on a pen buying spree, in which I buy pens faster than I can rotate, hence each pen was used only once up till now). Now, my job mostly require me to type on a computer instead of write with a pen, so I get to use my fountain pens even less. If you are interested in a pen, or have a question please email me and I'll get back to you asap.
All the pens will be listed under the sales section: http://inkoholicanonymous.blogspot.sg/p/fountain-pen-ink-reviews.html
All the pens will be listed under the sales section: http://inkoholicanonymous.blogspot.sg/p/fountain-pen-ink-reviews.html
Monday, October 8, 2012
Franklin Christoph Model 40 with XF nib
Description: Franklin Christoph Model 40 Pocket, black with maroon finial with XF nib
Condition: 8/10, used once
Price: Retail price is S$150, selling for S$75
Contact: twistedmetal16@gmail.com, 97382193
Faber Castell Ambition Pearwood with F nib (used)
Description: Faber Castell Ambition Pearwood with F nib
Condition: 8/10, used twice
Price: Retail price is S$150, selling for S$75
Contact: twistedmetal16@gmail.com, 97382193
Thursday, August 30, 2012
New Pen Review Coming Soon.....
I have a HUGE collection of pens, and there are several pens that I really like and want to do a review of in the future. However, as I've just recently started work, I haven't had as much free time to get around to writing reviews.
However, I'm expecting a custom made urushi Newton pen a month later, and I'll definitely be writing a review on it. In the meantime, I'll try to start a review on the Pilot 78g Broad nib, which is not only my cheapest stub pen, but my favorite stub pen too.
However, I'm expecting a custom made urushi Newton pen a month later, and I'll definitely be writing a review on it. In the meantime, I'll try to start a review on the Pilot 78g Broad nib, which is not only my cheapest stub pen, but my favorite stub pen too.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Thoughts On The Different Filling Mechanisms
Fountain pens now come in many different filling mechanisms and it can be abit overwhelming for a newcomer to sort out what may be suitable for him. I'm no expert on fountain pens but over the years, I've come to touch and play with most of the more popular filling mechanisms. This post is not to enlighten you on how the various filling mechanisms work, but rather my thoughts on them, for example, the various pros and cons, what to look out for when considering a certain filling mechanism, and how easily is it to maintain/clean it.
Eyedropper
I'll start off with the simplest design, the eyedropper. Currently on the market, there aren't alot of pens specifically designed to be an eyedropper, but there are alot of pens that can be converted to be eyedroppers with a few modifications (adding a o-slip ring and silicon gel). Some designs, like the Danitrio Mikado has a built in valve to prevent ink leakage.
Pros: The entire pen body is the ink container, hence the biggest advantage is MASSIVE ink capacity, a desirable trait if you're a heavy writer. Furthermore, if your pen is a demonstrator, you can easily keep track on the level of ink left. Another pro is that with the simple design, there are little to no parts that can break or malfunction, so it should be more durable than another pen with a different filler mechanism made from the same materials.
The filling process is also extremely clean since the ink is dripped directly into the pen body. The nib does not have to be dipped into the ink in order to fill up the pen.
Cons: From my experiences, eyedroppers "burp" when the level of ink drops to ~30% or less. "Burping" is when a large drop of ink just spew out from the nib for no reason. Usually, you'll notice that the nib will be wetter than usual before burping occurs so most of the time, you can stop writing before a huge drop of ink splashes all over your paper. There are a couple of explanations as to why this happens and the current theory that I subscribe to is that when the ink level drops low, the air in the remaining empty volume expands rapidly due to the heat radiating from your palm, pushing ink out the nib, hence the "burping". I think the valve built into the Mikado is meant to prevent this but I cannot confirm the effectiveness of this design. Another less important con is that with the huge ink capacity, it takes forever for you to use up all the ink and switch over to a new one.
Another potential con is when using a modified eyedropper. If not done properly, ink leak is highly possible through the part where your pen body screws into your pen section. Also, if the pen body or pen section interior contains metal, it's advisable not to convert it into a eyedropper.
Maintenance: Pretty easy to clean, even easier if the pen is a demonstrator. The nib and feed can be flushed, the pen body can be easily cleaned using a cotton bud. Staining might occur with certain inks on certain pen materials.
My Thoughts: The only time I used an eyedropper from full capacity to burping level is a modified Platinum Preppy. Burping isn't an issue since I can visually track the level of ink and if you know what to look out for. Since I was using it during the exam period, I like the fact that I don't have to worry about running out of ink. The ink leakage worried me a little but luckily, it didn't happen. If you're looking for a workhorse pen, an eyedropper is the way to go due to its reliability and huge ink capacity.
Sac Pens (Lever, Crescent, Button etc...)
Sac pens are quite simply, pens that contain a rubber sac that is used to contain ink. Something is used to depress the pen sac, the nib is dipped into the ink, then the pen sac is released, and when the pen sac expands, ink is drawn into the sac. A lever-filler pen, like the Esterbrook, uses a lever to depress the ink sac; A crescent filler pen, like the Conklin, uses a crescent shaped button to depress the ink sac, and a button filler, like the C.E Levi pens, uses a button to bend a thin metal strip which will depress the pen sac.
Pros: To be honest I can't think of any pros here, perhaps a reason why most modern pens don't use pen sacs. If anyone can think of a pro, please list it in the comment, or reply to this thread.
Cons: Most ink sacs have small ink capacities, made even smaller by the fact that you won't achieve a full fill. I feel that ink sacs have a smaller ink capacity than cartridge converters. Your nib has to be immersed into the ink for the filling process too. Sac pens also have additional pen parts that can break, and these parts are almost impossible to find without taking from another pen.
Maintenance: I personally find sac pens hard to clean. The pen has to fill repeatedly with water, and it can't be taken apart for easier cleaning.
My Thoughts: Given 2 identical pens, one with a sac and the other with a different filling mechanism, I will probably choose the latter pen.
Sheaffer SnorkelSheaffer Snorkels are sac pens, they only differ in the way ink is collected. Basically, the feed holds a tube that connect directly to the sac. You wind out the tube, stick the tube in ink, depress the sac (I'm not going to go through the science here, except it's really cool), fill the sac with ink and then retract the nib.
Pros: Since you're using the tube to fill, only the tip of the tube touches the ink, hence only the tip requires cleaning. Extremely clean, a point that Sheaffer repeatedly promoted in its Snorkel advertisements. Also, since you don't have to immense the entire nib in ink, you don't need a high level of ink to fill the pen, just a thin layer to immerse the tip in.
Cons: In addition to the small ink capacity, the complexity of the filling mechanism makes it much harder to change the ink sac (not impossible to diy, but you need to buy additional tools and be very careful).
Maintenance: Snorkel pens are even harder to clean than other sac pens due to the fact that you can't flush out the feed with water; Any water ejected by the sac will come out by the tube, instead of through the feed like most pens. Fortunately, this can be done easily by removing the front of the pen which contains the feed.
My Thoughts: I love Snorkel pens, firstly for their nibs, and secondly for the novelty of the filling mechanism. However, if I am to be objective, and remove the novelty out of the equation, I will actually choose any other sac pens over the Snorkel.
Cartridge/Cartridge ConverterMost modern pens today are either cartridge-only (CO) pens or cartridge converter (CC) pens, the difference being that the former accepts only ink cartridges, while the latter (usually) accepts both cartridges and cartridge converters. Cartridges usually come in 2 lengths, a longer-body one or a shorter-body one. Sometimes, due to the design of the pen, the pen can only accepts short body cartridges. A cartridge converter is about the length of a longer-body one, so most of the time, a pen that can only accepts shorter-body ink cartridges will not be able to accept a cartridge converter. Another characteristic of cartridge converters is the opening on the end of the converter: International, or proprietary. Most CC pens, like the Edison and the Stipula pens, accept international cartridge converters, while other CC pens, like those from Sailor and Pilot, accept only converters made by them, hence the term "proprietary".
Pros: Ink cartridges are the easiest way to bring ink with you during travel, or to serve as a backup/emergency ink source. Back in school, I used to put 2 ink cartridges in my bag, and should I ever ran out of ink halfway, 2 ink cartridges will be more than enough to last me throughout the day. In addition, ink cartridges are almost impossible to burst or leak, hence I feel safe storing them anywhere on me or near me. An ink cartridge is cheap compared to a bottle of ink hence I will not lose a single night of sleep over losing an ink cartridge.
Cartridge converters are easy to fill, you can either fill it like a piston filler (more messy) or fill it by dipping the converter in the ink itself, the latter having the advantage of only requiring a small amount of ink. It's much cleaner this way too.
Most, if not all converters, are transparent and it's a simple matter to check your current ink level.
Lastly, converters are cheap. Should one fail, just go and buy another one for approximately US$15.
Cons: The biggest gripe that most people have (including me) is that most converters have small ink capacities (One exception might be the Pilot Con-70, but it's a proprietary converter, and only fit a small amount of Pilot pens). I personally find longer-body cartridges to have a satisfactory amount of ink, but per mL, they are more expensive than bottled ink.
Maintenance: I personally find CC pens to be the easiest to clean, due to the fact that you can break apart the pen down to its bare parts and cleaning each part by a cloth. Some converters can be taken apart and the inside of the converter tube cleaned with a cotton bud.
My Thoughts: Personally, I find the many benefits to outweigh the con, and the small ink capacity problem can be solved by carrying a couple extra ink cartridges. Many people have gone out of the way to not buy CC pens, but not me.
Piston Filler
After CC pens, piston fillers are probably the most common modern pens, and many people love them. They are characterised by a piston mechanism in the pen body, controlled by a turnable blind cap at the back of the pen. Their prices range from the cheap (TWSBI 540 and the Lamy 2000) to the expensive (MontBlanc 149), so pretty much everyone can afford them.
Pros: A piston filler has the largest ink capacity after the eyedropper and vacuum filler. It's easier to fill than the vacuum filler, and it doesn't burp like the eyedropper. It is relatively clean and easy to fill too, just like the CC pens.
Cons: The first con is that your ink level must fully cover the entire nib unit. Fortunately, the filling process is not volatile like Vacuum Filling.
Another possible con is that not all piston fillers can be disensembled and that not all of them contains an ink window. This can make it hard to determine the ink level, or to ensure that the pen is totally clean after washing it.
Another possible con is with the piston seal breaking and depending on which pen you have, it may be expensive to repair. For example, with the TWSBI 540, the original seal is available almost free from TWSBI and you can just switch the seal yourself but if it's a MontBlanc pen, you might have to send it back to the customer service.
Maintenance: Some piston fillers, like the TWSBI 540, can be easily broken down to the individual parts, and hence they are extremely easy to clean. Others, like the MontBlancs, are much harder to take apart, meaning that they are harder to clean too. It's a pain in the ass slowly sucking up water, ejecting it, and then repeating the procedure again. It's a really slow process, and your hands may ache after a while with all the twisting.
My Thoughts: Well I don't have a particular love nor dislike for piston fillers. I like its larger ink capacity but I hate the fact that it takes so long to clean.
Vacuum Filler (Plunger Filler)
Vacuum fillers are similar to eyedroppers and piston fillers in the sense that the pen body itself is the container for the ink. There isn't any complex mechanism inside like the piston filler, just a tube and a seal. The pen body has 2 different internal diameters, and as the seal passes from the smaller inner diameter section to the larger, the vacuum behind the seal suddenly releases, and suck up the ink through the immersed nib. Normally you'll repeat the whole process 2 more times to get as much ink as possible into the pen.
I'll admit that I don't have alot of experiences with vacuum fillers. The only ones that I have any experiences with are the Pilot Custom 823, and the Visconti Homo Sapien.
The Pilot Custom 823 and the Twsbi Vac 700 are more like your typical vacuum fillers, with a rod and a seal in the pen body, and a turnable blind cap that can unlock your rod. I'm not sure if this applies to most vacuum fillers but at least for these 2 pens, when the blind cap is tightened fully, the seal will seal off the feed, preventing any ink in the pen body from flowing into the feed.
The Visconti Homo Sapien is abit more complex, and the right terminology for it is a "Double Reservoirs Power Filler". Basically, "Power Filler" is just Visconti's fanciful term for vacuum filler. The "Double Reservoirs" term, however, is interesting enough for me to do abit of explaining. Typically, changes in the atmospheric pressure and temperature will cause the air in the pen (converter or pen body, depending on what kind of pen you have) to expand or contract. When that air expands, it will force out the ink, causing ink leakage. One solution is to have combs in your feed. The combs will trap excess ink instead of allowing them to drip. For a piston filler or a CC pen, the ink in the pen isn't too significant, and the combs are usually enough to trap any leaking ink. However, a vacuum filler has a higher ink capacity, and the ink leaking out may be more than what the combs can handle. The Pilot Custom 823's and Twsbi Vac 700's solution is to have the seal trap the ink in the pen body (This system has its con which I will go into detail later on). Visconti decided to create 2 different ink reservoirs in the pen body (hence the term Double Reservoirs), with the smaller reservoir closer to the feed, and the larger reservoir closer to the back of the pen. The seal, when fully shut, will trap the majority of the ink in the larger reservoir, leaving a small amount in the smaller reservoir. This small amount of ink, if it leaks, will be trapped by feed combs.
Pros: There are three big pros to vacuum fillers.
Firstly is the huge ink capacity, second only to the eyedropper. In a piston filler, more than half of the pen body is taken up by the piston, but since the vacuum filler only contains a thin rod and a small seal, the rest can be filled with ink. Normal filling methods will get you about 70% full, while if you use specialty inkwells (like the Visconti Travelling Inkpot with the Visconti Power Filler, or the Twsibi Ink Bottle with the Twsbi Vac 700), you can reach maximum ink capacity, a full 100%.
Secondly, unlike eyedroppers, vacuum fillers don't burp. You can use to the last drop without worrying about huge ink blots appearing on your paper one day.
Thirdly, the seal means that there will be no major ink leakage. There is always a chance then due to extreme pressure changes, or vigorous shaking, most of the ink in your pen will leak out through your nib. Due to the seal in the vacuum filler, ink in the pen body will stay there.
There's actually a fourth pro but it only applies to the Visconti Double Reservoir Power Filler system, and I'll be talking about it later on.
Cons: The one big con about the vacuum fillers is the filling process. Like the piston fillers, your ink level must fully cover the entire nib unit. The Visconti Homo Sapien has a HUGE nib so this can be a problem. In addition, vacuum fillers are messy fillers. As the ink is sucked in by a vacuum, it's very fast and violent process, so you need enough empty bottle space overhead if not any splashing will end on your table. The best generic bottle that I've found is the Noodler's bottle. Due to its thinner and taller profile, you need lesser ink (compared to most other bottle) to obtain a sufficient volume, yet the small bottle opening should prevent stray drops from falling out. Despite that, you still need quite a large amount of ink. Recently, I move back from Madison, Wisconsin to Singapore and I faced the problem of shipping all my inks (I have about 50+). Not sure if you notice, but most ink bottles are made of thick glass and pretty heavy. So I decide to transfer all my ink to small plastic vials. The problem is now, they are filled to the brim and I can't fill piston fillers, or vacuum fillers with them.
The second con has to do with the pen seal. If the pen cap is badly designed, and if the weather is dry, it's very likely that the ink in the feed will dry up, making it hard to start up. That's the problem that I faced with the Pilot Custom 823. I ended up storing it with the back cap loose, running the risk of the seal moving and squirting out ink. And this is where the double reservoirs advantage comes in. The ink in the smaller reservoir not only ensure that the feed won't dry out, but it allows me to start writing immediately instead of waiting for ink to flow out from the pen body and into the feed. From the design of the double reservoirs, the smaller reservoir should have roughly the same capacity as a converter. The only unfortunate thing is that this design is only available on certain pens.
Maintenance: Vacuum fillers are quite hard to clean from my experience, especially if they cannot be taken apart. My Pilot Custom 823 was semi-transparent so it's easy to see any leftover ink stain, and I notice that it's almost impossible to clean out leftover ink located behind the seal and at the back of the pen. Normally, I will pull out the plunger fully, and use an cotton bud to wipe out any ink stains but ink stains at the back of the seal (when the plunger is pulled out) can not be reached by the cotton bud. With a opaque pen like the Homo Sapiens, it's impossible to tell if the pen is cleaned (The water stream leaving the pen may be clear but there can still be stains left behind in the pen).
My Thoughts: Right now the only vacuum filler that I have is the Visconti Homo Sapiens. Unfortunately I haven't been using it in a long while because of my ink bottles issue, and it is likely that I won't be able to use it until I bought a Visconti Travelling Inkpot. A pity since the pen is such a joy to use. My advice is try to go for vacuum fillers that have accessories to help you obtain a tidy, yet full fill, like Visconti vacuum fillers with the Travelling Inkpot, and the Twsbi Vac 700 with the Twsbi ink bottle.
Bulk Filler (New!)
I wasn't planning on writing about any pens with rare filling mechanisms (Like Gate City Pen's Belmont, which is a syringe filler, or the Dune pen, which has a new pump mechanism) because I won't have any hands-on experiences with them. However, the Conid Fountainbel Bulk Filler is so innovative, and intriguing that I will like to talk about it here, let you guys know how it works and the pros and cons that I predict with such a system.
I think of the bulk filler as an adaptation of the syringe filler. The body of the syringe filler is basically a syringe. You immerse the nib in ink, pull out the plunger as you would do for a normal syringe, and viola, you get a filled pen. The problem is half of the pen body is taken up by the pulled out syringe so effectively, the ink capacity of the pen is half of the pen body.
The bulk filler improves on the above by designing the rod to be separable from the seal, so instead of leaving some room in the pen body to contain the rod, you can separate the rod from the seal, and store the rod in the pen body after filling, leaving from the seal at the end of the pen body. This means that the rest of the pen can be used to store ink. The ink capacity should most definitely be larger than that of a piston filler and roughly similar to that of a vacuum filler of a same size.
Pros: Of course, the first pro is the huge ink capacity as mentioned before like with the vacuum filler. A second pro is a much cleaner and easier way to fill. It's easier to get a 100% fill too. Filling this will be like filling a piston filler or a syringe. Although you'll need to fully immerse your nib, at least you won't get any splashing that you will normally get with a vacuum filler.
Cons: The first con that I can think of off the top of my head is that you'll need a high enough ink level to fully immerse the nib in order to fill it. Another con is that this filling mechanism is only available from one company and in one pen model so you'll be extremely limited in the variety of choices. Plus the pen is expensive enough to be considered top tier. Another possible con is with the ink leaking past the seal into the back of the pen. Normally in a piston filler, this only happens if the seal around the pen body breaks but in this case, with the moveable rod, it's possible that ink may slip through the seal through that route. However, without using the pen for a period of time, I cannot confirm if this will ever happen.
Maintenance: Just like with piston fillers and vacuum fillers, if the pen can be taken apart easily it will be easier to clean. Even if it can't, I predict that it will still be easier to clean than the piston filler or the vacuum filler. For the piston filler, you move the piston by twisting the back cap. To get the pen clean, you'll likely have to flush the pen multiple times and this become not only time consuming, but a serious pain in the ass (well, your hand will be aching too). For the vacuum filler, as I mentioned earlier, the ink stains that are located at the back of the seal are the ones that will be almost impossible to get out. You won't get these 2 problems with the bulk filler, hence I predict that it will be easier to clean.
My Thoughts: This is definitely a pen to keep an eye out for. Right now, Conid is selling only a demonstrator version which happens to be a LE version too. They mentioned that there will be a regular version in the future after the LE sales have concluded and that this version will be cheaper than the demonstrator. This regular version will be the one that I'll get.
Rollerball
This section really shouldn't belong to this article but such pens are so interesting I thought I'll just make a short section on it and put it at the end.
I'm referring to rollerballs that take fountain pen inks, normally from a converter or cartridges, sometimes from an eyedropper or piston filler too.
From my knowledge, there are 3 such rollerballs tips available. The cheapest ones are those found in Noodler's pens and Platinum Preppy pens. It consists of a cotton wick attached to the rollerball tip. The wick will suck up the ink, and transfer it to the tip, simple as that. The second rollerball tips are the Ink Ball and Mega Ink Ball collections by Monteverde. I'm not sure if the tips that were used on both of them are the same, nor how do they work. I also could not find any replacement tips. The last rollerball tips are made by Schmidt and they are the ones that I am most familiar with. Replacement tips are also relatively easy to find too.
For the pros and cons, I'll just talk about the pros and cons of such a system. I'll discuss more about the pros and cons of each type of tips in the "My Thoughts" section.
Pros: The big pro is that you get to use your multiple array of fountain pen inks with the ease of a rollerball tip. There are many big cons to fountain pen use, which explains why it is still considered a niche item. There are also certain instances where a fountain pen just won't do, like lending your pen to a non-fp user or writing on carbon paper. In these instances, such a rollerball pen can come in useful.
Cons: The first con is that you're limited in choices of line width. I believe the Noodler's pens rollerball tips are only available in 0.5mm, the Schmidts are only available in 0.7mm and the Ink ball tips are also only available in 1 width (though I'm not sure what that width is). The next con is that these tips are not as durable as normal fountain pen nibs. Normal nibs are designed to last almost forever, proof being that many vintage nibs now are still fully functional. Rollerball tips are not designed to last forever, and it's likely that you may have to change more than once in a year's worth of intensive usage.
Maintenance: For the life of me, I do not know how to wash rollerball tips. You can't flush the tips normally like you do with a normal nib. For the ones with the wick, you can soak the wick till it's clean again, but for the other 2, I have no idea how to clean them. The best I can think of is to first remove the ink source, write with the tip till no more ink comes out, and use water to wash the inside as well as you can. My current Schmidt tip was clogged up from my last use and I haven't been able to get a good flow of ink from it ever since. Think I'll have to change to a new tip....
My Thoughts: I've owned both the Noodler's rollerball pen (piston filler) and the Schmidt tip (in the form of the Visconti Rembrandt Eco Roller) and tried the Monteverde Invincia Ink Ball in a pen shop. I'll talk about the Noodler's one first.
The biggest problem with it is that the wick can not absorbed ink fast enough to allow you to write for long. For example, one night's worth of non-usage will probably let me write for one page before drying out. After that, I'll probably have to wait 15mins for every word or less. The tip was smooth when working, but the delivery system was so bad that you just can't use the pen for a long period of time. The tip may be cheap, but in my opinion, it isn't worth getting.
The Invincia Ink Ball that I tried was pretty bad, it was rough, and kept skipping, unlike a normal rollerball. The one that I've tried may have been a lemon, but even the shop assistant agreed with me that the Ink Ball was that bad. Given my bad experience with it, and that fact that I couldn't find any replacement tip, my recommendation is to skip this too, or at least take the chance to use it for yourself and see if you like the feel of it.
My Rembrandt Eco Roller was a dream to use. It felt like most rollerballs, smooth with a consistent ink flow, no skipping, and no burping when you write hard with it. The Schmidt replacement tips can be bought from a number of places too but so far, I haven't found a Singaporean source for it. This is worth getting, in fact, you might want to get multiple tips, one for each color, so you won't face the problem of cleaning it and loading another ink into it. I recommend always keeping one of them in your pencil case, in case you need to lend a pen to a friend, or if your fountain pens dry up and stop writing, or if you need to sign a check on carbon paper.
Eyedropper
I'll start off with the simplest design, the eyedropper. Currently on the market, there aren't alot of pens specifically designed to be an eyedropper, but there are alot of pens that can be converted to be eyedroppers with a few modifications (adding a o-slip ring and silicon gel). Some designs, like the Danitrio Mikado has a built in valve to prevent ink leakage.
Pros: The entire pen body is the ink container, hence the biggest advantage is MASSIVE ink capacity, a desirable trait if you're a heavy writer. Furthermore, if your pen is a demonstrator, you can easily keep track on the level of ink left. Another pro is that with the simple design, there are little to no parts that can break or malfunction, so it should be more durable than another pen with a different filler mechanism made from the same materials.
The filling process is also extremely clean since the ink is dripped directly into the pen body. The nib does not have to be dipped into the ink in order to fill up the pen.
Cons: From my experiences, eyedroppers "burp" when the level of ink drops to ~30% or less. "Burping" is when a large drop of ink just spew out from the nib for no reason. Usually, you'll notice that the nib will be wetter than usual before burping occurs so most of the time, you can stop writing before a huge drop of ink splashes all over your paper. There are a couple of explanations as to why this happens and the current theory that I subscribe to is that when the ink level drops low, the air in the remaining empty volume expands rapidly due to the heat radiating from your palm, pushing ink out the nib, hence the "burping". I think the valve built into the Mikado is meant to prevent this but I cannot confirm the effectiveness of this design. Another less important con is that with the huge ink capacity, it takes forever for you to use up all the ink and switch over to a new one.
Another potential con is when using a modified eyedropper. If not done properly, ink leak is highly possible through the part where your pen body screws into your pen section. Also, if the pen body or pen section interior contains metal, it's advisable not to convert it into a eyedropper.
Maintenance: Pretty easy to clean, even easier if the pen is a demonstrator. The nib and feed can be flushed, the pen body can be easily cleaned using a cotton bud. Staining might occur with certain inks on certain pen materials.
My Thoughts: The only time I used an eyedropper from full capacity to burping level is a modified Platinum Preppy. Burping isn't an issue since I can visually track the level of ink and if you know what to look out for. Since I was using it during the exam period, I like the fact that I don't have to worry about running out of ink. The ink leakage worried me a little but luckily, it didn't happen. If you're looking for a workhorse pen, an eyedropper is the way to go due to its reliability and huge ink capacity.
Sac Pens (Lever, Crescent, Button etc...)
Sac pens are quite simply, pens that contain a rubber sac that is used to contain ink. Something is used to depress the pen sac, the nib is dipped into the ink, then the pen sac is released, and when the pen sac expands, ink is drawn into the sac. A lever-filler pen, like the Esterbrook, uses a lever to depress the ink sac; A crescent filler pen, like the Conklin, uses a crescent shaped button to depress the ink sac, and a button filler, like the C.E Levi pens, uses a button to bend a thin metal strip which will depress the pen sac.
Pros: To be honest I can't think of any pros here, perhaps a reason why most modern pens don't use pen sacs. If anyone can think of a pro, please list it in the comment, or reply to this thread.
Cons: Most ink sacs have small ink capacities, made even smaller by the fact that you won't achieve a full fill. I feel that ink sacs have a smaller ink capacity than cartridge converters. Your nib has to be immersed into the ink for the filling process too. Sac pens also have additional pen parts that can break, and these parts are almost impossible to find without taking from another pen.
Maintenance: I personally find sac pens hard to clean. The pen has to fill repeatedly with water, and it can't be taken apart for easier cleaning.
My Thoughts: Given 2 identical pens, one with a sac and the other with a different filling mechanism, I will probably choose the latter pen.
Sheaffer SnorkelSheaffer Snorkels are sac pens, they only differ in the way ink is collected. Basically, the feed holds a tube that connect directly to the sac. You wind out the tube, stick the tube in ink, depress the sac (I'm not going to go through the science here, except it's really cool), fill the sac with ink and then retract the nib.
Pros: Since you're using the tube to fill, only the tip of the tube touches the ink, hence only the tip requires cleaning. Extremely clean, a point that Sheaffer repeatedly promoted in its Snorkel advertisements. Also, since you don't have to immense the entire nib in ink, you don't need a high level of ink to fill the pen, just a thin layer to immerse the tip in.
Cons: In addition to the small ink capacity, the complexity of the filling mechanism makes it much harder to change the ink sac (not impossible to diy, but you need to buy additional tools and be very careful).
Maintenance: Snorkel pens are even harder to clean than other sac pens due to the fact that you can't flush out the feed with water; Any water ejected by the sac will come out by the tube, instead of through the feed like most pens. Fortunately, this can be done easily by removing the front of the pen which contains the feed.
My Thoughts: I love Snorkel pens, firstly for their nibs, and secondly for the novelty of the filling mechanism. However, if I am to be objective, and remove the novelty out of the equation, I will actually choose any other sac pens over the Snorkel.
Cartridge/Cartridge ConverterMost modern pens today are either cartridge-only (CO) pens or cartridge converter (CC) pens, the difference being that the former accepts only ink cartridges, while the latter (usually) accepts both cartridges and cartridge converters. Cartridges usually come in 2 lengths, a longer-body one or a shorter-body one. Sometimes, due to the design of the pen, the pen can only accepts short body cartridges. A cartridge converter is about the length of a longer-body one, so most of the time, a pen that can only accepts shorter-body ink cartridges will not be able to accept a cartridge converter. Another characteristic of cartridge converters is the opening on the end of the converter: International, or proprietary. Most CC pens, like the Edison and the Stipula pens, accept international cartridge converters, while other CC pens, like those from Sailor and Pilot, accept only converters made by them, hence the term "proprietary".
Pros: Ink cartridges are the easiest way to bring ink with you during travel, or to serve as a backup/emergency ink source. Back in school, I used to put 2 ink cartridges in my bag, and should I ever ran out of ink halfway, 2 ink cartridges will be more than enough to last me throughout the day. In addition, ink cartridges are almost impossible to burst or leak, hence I feel safe storing them anywhere on me or near me. An ink cartridge is cheap compared to a bottle of ink hence I will not lose a single night of sleep over losing an ink cartridge.
Cartridge converters are easy to fill, you can either fill it like a piston filler (more messy) or fill it by dipping the converter in the ink itself, the latter having the advantage of only requiring a small amount of ink. It's much cleaner this way too.
Most, if not all converters, are transparent and it's a simple matter to check your current ink level.
Lastly, converters are cheap. Should one fail, just go and buy another one for approximately US$15.
Cons: The biggest gripe that most people have (including me) is that most converters have small ink capacities (One exception might be the Pilot Con-70, but it's a proprietary converter, and only fit a small amount of Pilot pens). I personally find longer-body cartridges to have a satisfactory amount of ink, but per mL, they are more expensive than bottled ink.
Maintenance: I personally find CC pens to be the easiest to clean, due to the fact that you can break apart the pen down to its bare parts and cleaning each part by a cloth. Some converters can be taken apart and the inside of the converter tube cleaned with a cotton bud.
My Thoughts: Personally, I find the many benefits to outweigh the con, and the small ink capacity problem can be solved by carrying a couple extra ink cartridges. Many people have gone out of the way to not buy CC pens, but not me.
Piston Filler
After CC pens, piston fillers are probably the most common modern pens, and many people love them. They are characterised by a piston mechanism in the pen body, controlled by a turnable blind cap at the back of the pen. Their prices range from the cheap (TWSBI 540 and the Lamy 2000) to the expensive (MontBlanc 149), so pretty much everyone can afford them.
Pros: A piston filler has the largest ink capacity after the eyedropper and vacuum filler. It's easier to fill than the vacuum filler, and it doesn't burp like the eyedropper. It is relatively clean and easy to fill too, just like the CC pens.
Cons: The first con is that your ink level must fully cover the entire nib unit. Fortunately, the filling process is not volatile like Vacuum Filling.
Another possible con is that not all piston fillers can be disensembled and that not all of them contains an ink window. This can make it hard to determine the ink level, or to ensure that the pen is totally clean after washing it.
Another possible con is with the piston seal breaking and depending on which pen you have, it may be expensive to repair. For example, with the TWSBI 540, the original seal is available almost free from TWSBI and you can just switch the seal yourself but if it's a MontBlanc pen, you might have to send it back to the customer service.
Maintenance: Some piston fillers, like the TWSBI 540, can be easily broken down to the individual parts, and hence they are extremely easy to clean. Others, like the MontBlancs, are much harder to take apart, meaning that they are harder to clean too. It's a pain in the ass slowly sucking up water, ejecting it, and then repeating the procedure again. It's a really slow process, and your hands may ache after a while with all the twisting.
My Thoughts: Well I don't have a particular love nor dislike for piston fillers. I like its larger ink capacity but I hate the fact that it takes so long to clean.
Vacuum Filler (Plunger Filler)
Vacuum fillers are similar to eyedroppers and piston fillers in the sense that the pen body itself is the container for the ink. There isn't any complex mechanism inside like the piston filler, just a tube and a seal. The pen body has 2 different internal diameters, and as the seal passes from the smaller inner diameter section to the larger, the vacuum behind the seal suddenly releases, and suck up the ink through the immersed nib. Normally you'll repeat the whole process 2 more times to get as much ink as possible into the pen.
I'll admit that I don't have alot of experiences with vacuum fillers. The only ones that I have any experiences with are the Pilot Custom 823, and the Visconti Homo Sapien.
The Pilot Custom 823 and the Twsbi Vac 700 are more like your typical vacuum fillers, with a rod and a seal in the pen body, and a turnable blind cap that can unlock your rod. I'm not sure if this applies to most vacuum fillers but at least for these 2 pens, when the blind cap is tightened fully, the seal will seal off the feed, preventing any ink in the pen body from flowing into the feed.
The Visconti Homo Sapien is abit more complex, and the right terminology for it is a "Double Reservoirs Power Filler". Basically, "Power Filler" is just Visconti's fanciful term for vacuum filler. The "Double Reservoirs" term, however, is interesting enough for me to do abit of explaining. Typically, changes in the atmospheric pressure and temperature will cause the air in the pen (converter or pen body, depending on what kind of pen you have) to expand or contract. When that air expands, it will force out the ink, causing ink leakage. One solution is to have combs in your feed. The combs will trap excess ink instead of allowing them to drip. For a piston filler or a CC pen, the ink in the pen isn't too significant, and the combs are usually enough to trap any leaking ink. However, a vacuum filler has a higher ink capacity, and the ink leaking out may be more than what the combs can handle. The Pilot Custom 823's and Twsbi Vac 700's solution is to have the seal trap the ink in the pen body (This system has its con which I will go into detail later on). Visconti decided to create 2 different ink reservoirs in the pen body (hence the term Double Reservoirs), with the smaller reservoir closer to the feed, and the larger reservoir closer to the back of the pen. The seal, when fully shut, will trap the majority of the ink in the larger reservoir, leaving a small amount in the smaller reservoir. This small amount of ink, if it leaks, will be trapped by feed combs.
Pros: There are three big pros to vacuum fillers.
Firstly is the huge ink capacity, second only to the eyedropper. In a piston filler, more than half of the pen body is taken up by the piston, but since the vacuum filler only contains a thin rod and a small seal, the rest can be filled with ink. Normal filling methods will get you about 70% full, while if you use specialty inkwells (like the Visconti Travelling Inkpot with the Visconti Power Filler, or the Twsibi Ink Bottle with the Twsbi Vac 700), you can reach maximum ink capacity, a full 100%.
Secondly, unlike eyedroppers, vacuum fillers don't burp. You can use to the last drop without worrying about huge ink blots appearing on your paper one day.
Thirdly, the seal means that there will be no major ink leakage. There is always a chance then due to extreme pressure changes, or vigorous shaking, most of the ink in your pen will leak out through your nib. Due to the seal in the vacuum filler, ink in the pen body will stay there.
There's actually a fourth pro but it only applies to the Visconti Double Reservoir Power Filler system, and I'll be talking about it later on.
Cons: The one big con about the vacuum fillers is the filling process. Like the piston fillers, your ink level must fully cover the entire nib unit. The Visconti Homo Sapien has a HUGE nib so this can be a problem. In addition, vacuum fillers are messy fillers. As the ink is sucked in by a vacuum, it's very fast and violent process, so you need enough empty bottle space overhead if not any splashing will end on your table. The best generic bottle that I've found is the Noodler's bottle. Due to its thinner and taller profile, you need lesser ink (compared to most other bottle) to obtain a sufficient volume, yet the small bottle opening should prevent stray drops from falling out. Despite that, you still need quite a large amount of ink. Recently, I move back from Madison, Wisconsin to Singapore and I faced the problem of shipping all my inks (I have about 50+). Not sure if you notice, but most ink bottles are made of thick glass and pretty heavy. So I decide to transfer all my ink to small plastic vials. The problem is now, they are filled to the brim and I can't fill piston fillers, or vacuum fillers with them.
The second con has to do with the pen seal. If the pen cap is badly designed, and if the weather is dry, it's very likely that the ink in the feed will dry up, making it hard to start up. That's the problem that I faced with the Pilot Custom 823. I ended up storing it with the back cap loose, running the risk of the seal moving and squirting out ink. And this is where the double reservoirs advantage comes in. The ink in the smaller reservoir not only ensure that the feed won't dry out, but it allows me to start writing immediately instead of waiting for ink to flow out from the pen body and into the feed. From the design of the double reservoirs, the smaller reservoir should have roughly the same capacity as a converter. The only unfortunate thing is that this design is only available on certain pens.
Maintenance: Vacuum fillers are quite hard to clean from my experience, especially if they cannot be taken apart. My Pilot Custom 823 was semi-transparent so it's easy to see any leftover ink stain, and I notice that it's almost impossible to clean out leftover ink located behind the seal and at the back of the pen. Normally, I will pull out the plunger fully, and use an cotton bud to wipe out any ink stains but ink stains at the back of the seal (when the plunger is pulled out) can not be reached by the cotton bud. With a opaque pen like the Homo Sapiens, it's impossible to tell if the pen is cleaned (The water stream leaving the pen may be clear but there can still be stains left behind in the pen).
My Thoughts: Right now the only vacuum filler that I have is the Visconti Homo Sapiens. Unfortunately I haven't been using it in a long while because of my ink bottles issue, and it is likely that I won't be able to use it until I bought a Visconti Travelling Inkpot. A pity since the pen is such a joy to use. My advice is try to go for vacuum fillers that have accessories to help you obtain a tidy, yet full fill, like Visconti vacuum fillers with the Travelling Inkpot, and the Twsbi Vac 700 with the Twsbi ink bottle.
Bulk Filler (New!)
I wasn't planning on writing about any pens with rare filling mechanisms (Like Gate City Pen's Belmont, which is a syringe filler, or the Dune pen, which has a new pump mechanism) because I won't have any hands-on experiences with them. However, the Conid Fountainbel Bulk Filler is so innovative, and intriguing that I will like to talk about it here, let you guys know how it works and the pros and cons that I predict with such a system.
I think of the bulk filler as an adaptation of the syringe filler. The body of the syringe filler is basically a syringe. You immerse the nib in ink, pull out the plunger as you would do for a normal syringe, and viola, you get a filled pen. The problem is half of the pen body is taken up by the pulled out syringe so effectively, the ink capacity of the pen is half of the pen body.
The bulk filler improves on the above by designing the rod to be separable from the seal, so instead of leaving some room in the pen body to contain the rod, you can separate the rod from the seal, and store the rod in the pen body after filling, leaving from the seal at the end of the pen body. This means that the rest of the pen can be used to store ink. The ink capacity should most definitely be larger than that of a piston filler and roughly similar to that of a vacuum filler of a same size.
Pros: Of course, the first pro is the huge ink capacity as mentioned before like with the vacuum filler. A second pro is a much cleaner and easier way to fill. It's easier to get a 100% fill too. Filling this will be like filling a piston filler or a syringe. Although you'll need to fully immerse your nib, at least you won't get any splashing that you will normally get with a vacuum filler.
Cons: The first con that I can think of off the top of my head is that you'll need a high enough ink level to fully immerse the nib in order to fill it. Another con is that this filling mechanism is only available from one company and in one pen model so you'll be extremely limited in the variety of choices. Plus the pen is expensive enough to be considered top tier. Another possible con is with the ink leaking past the seal into the back of the pen. Normally in a piston filler, this only happens if the seal around the pen body breaks but in this case, with the moveable rod, it's possible that ink may slip through the seal through that route. However, without using the pen for a period of time, I cannot confirm if this will ever happen.
Maintenance: Just like with piston fillers and vacuum fillers, if the pen can be taken apart easily it will be easier to clean. Even if it can't, I predict that it will still be easier to clean than the piston filler or the vacuum filler. For the piston filler, you move the piston by twisting the back cap. To get the pen clean, you'll likely have to flush the pen multiple times and this become not only time consuming, but a serious pain in the ass (well, your hand will be aching too). For the vacuum filler, as I mentioned earlier, the ink stains that are located at the back of the seal are the ones that will be almost impossible to get out. You won't get these 2 problems with the bulk filler, hence I predict that it will be easier to clean.
My Thoughts: This is definitely a pen to keep an eye out for. Right now, Conid is selling only a demonstrator version which happens to be a LE version too. They mentioned that there will be a regular version in the future after the LE sales have concluded and that this version will be cheaper than the demonstrator. This regular version will be the one that I'll get.
Rollerball
This section really shouldn't belong to this article but such pens are so interesting I thought I'll just make a short section on it and put it at the end.
I'm referring to rollerballs that take fountain pen inks, normally from a converter or cartridges, sometimes from an eyedropper or piston filler too.
From my knowledge, there are 3 such rollerballs tips available. The cheapest ones are those found in Noodler's pens and Platinum Preppy pens. It consists of a cotton wick attached to the rollerball tip. The wick will suck up the ink, and transfer it to the tip, simple as that. The second rollerball tips are the Ink Ball and Mega Ink Ball collections by Monteverde. I'm not sure if the tips that were used on both of them are the same, nor how do they work. I also could not find any replacement tips. The last rollerball tips are made by Schmidt and they are the ones that I am most familiar with. Replacement tips are also relatively easy to find too.
For the pros and cons, I'll just talk about the pros and cons of such a system. I'll discuss more about the pros and cons of each type of tips in the "My Thoughts" section.
Pros: The big pro is that you get to use your multiple array of fountain pen inks with the ease of a rollerball tip. There are many big cons to fountain pen use, which explains why it is still considered a niche item. There are also certain instances where a fountain pen just won't do, like lending your pen to a non-fp user or writing on carbon paper. In these instances, such a rollerball pen can come in useful.
Cons: The first con is that you're limited in choices of line width. I believe the Noodler's pens rollerball tips are only available in 0.5mm, the Schmidts are only available in 0.7mm and the Ink ball tips are also only available in 1 width (though I'm not sure what that width is). The next con is that these tips are not as durable as normal fountain pen nibs. Normal nibs are designed to last almost forever, proof being that many vintage nibs now are still fully functional. Rollerball tips are not designed to last forever, and it's likely that you may have to change more than once in a year's worth of intensive usage.
Maintenance: For the life of me, I do not know how to wash rollerball tips. You can't flush the tips normally like you do with a normal nib. For the ones with the wick, you can soak the wick till it's clean again, but for the other 2, I have no idea how to clean them. The best I can think of is to first remove the ink source, write with the tip till no more ink comes out, and use water to wash the inside as well as you can. My current Schmidt tip was clogged up from my last use and I haven't been able to get a good flow of ink from it ever since. Think I'll have to change to a new tip....
My Thoughts: I've owned both the Noodler's rollerball pen (piston filler) and the Schmidt tip (in the form of the Visconti Rembrandt Eco Roller) and tried the Monteverde Invincia Ink Ball in a pen shop. I'll talk about the Noodler's one first.
The biggest problem with it is that the wick can not absorbed ink fast enough to allow you to write for long. For example, one night's worth of non-usage will probably let me write for one page before drying out. After that, I'll probably have to wait 15mins for every word or less. The tip was smooth when working, but the delivery system was so bad that you just can't use the pen for a long period of time. The tip may be cheap, but in my opinion, it isn't worth getting.
The Invincia Ink Ball that I tried was pretty bad, it was rough, and kept skipping, unlike a normal rollerball. The one that I've tried may have been a lemon, but even the shop assistant agreed with me that the Ink Ball was that bad. Given my bad experience with it, and that fact that I couldn't find any replacement tip, my recommendation is to skip this too, or at least take the chance to use it for yourself and see if you like the feel of it.
My Rembrandt Eco Roller was a dream to use. It felt like most rollerballs, smooth with a consistent ink flow, no skipping, and no burping when you write hard with it. The Schmidt replacement tips can be bought from a number of places too but so far, I haven't found a Singaporean source for it. This is worth getting, in fact, you might want to get multiple tips, one for each color, so you won't face the problem of cleaning it and loading another ink into it. I recommend always keeping one of them in your pencil case, in case you need to lend a pen to a friend, or if your fountain pens dry up and stop writing, or if you need to sign a check on carbon paper.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
"Selling" a C.E Levi fountain pen...
For those who does not know what a "C.E Levi" fountain pen is, you can check his blog C.E Levi fountain pen or my review C.E Levi fountain pen review for information.
About a year ago, Cameron (the maker of C.E Levi pens) offered 50 pens with a discount of US$150 each with the condition that the buyer writes a detailed review of the pen. The review does not have to be positive, just well written and detailed. I paid for 3 of these slots, and used one of them on the Nox that was reviewed on my blog. I am planning to use another of the slots on the woodgrain Nox, and regarding my last slot, I will like to sell it.
So here's the deal: You get any C.E Levi fp model for US$150 off the retail price, and you have to write a review on your pen, preferably within 2 months of receiving the pen. If you don't want to write a review, I am willing to write one for you, but I'll need to spend a week with the pen, to be reasonably familiar with it.
If you're interested, or you'll like to know more, send me an email: twistedmetal16@gmail.com
About a year ago, Cameron (the maker of C.E Levi pens) offered 50 pens with a discount of US$150 each with the condition that the buyer writes a detailed review of the pen. The review does not have to be positive, just well written and detailed. I paid for 3 of these slots, and used one of them on the Nox that was reviewed on my blog. I am planning to use another of the slots on the woodgrain Nox, and regarding my last slot, I will like to sell it.
So here's the deal: You get any C.E Levi fp model for US$150 off the retail price, and you have to write a review on your pen, preferably within 2 months of receiving the pen. If you don't want to write a review, I am willing to write one for you, but I'll need to spend a week with the pen, to be reasonably familiar with it.
If you're interested, or you'll like to know more, send me an email: twistedmetal16@gmail.com
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Review of the Pilot M90 F nib
INTRODUCTION:
My first reaction when I saw the Pilot M90 in
person was: “ This pen is tiny!” For those not in the known, they would have
thought that I was an idiot for paying $180 for this pen. I was initially
slightly disappointed as well but knowing that this pen was designed as a
tribute to the famed Pilot Myu, I decided to reserve judgment till later and
boy, was I proven wrong!
1.
Appearance &
Design (8/10) – The pen has its design based on the Pilot Myu series and
thus is a pocket pen, which will explain it's small size. It is simple and
unassuming, a plain pocket pen with the pen body and cap made from stainless
steel. There is also a small plastic sapphire crystal found on the pen cap tip,
which I supposed did serve to break the monotonous design. However, the main
attraction, is the integrated nib, which is actually part of the pen body. This
will be elaborated on later. I give the appearance and design an 8 out of 10
because of the “cheap” impression that it gives to other people.
2. Construction & Quality (10/10) – The surface metal
isn't smooth but has a grainy feel, which I prefer. In addition, it provided
more friction to grip the pen with as well. I've had the pen for half a year
now and with a closer look, I can see many micro scratches on the pen body
caused by the repeated removal and capping of the pen cap. This is unavoidable
and not a design nor construction flaw so I'm not particularly concerned with
it.
3. Weight & Dimensions (9/10) – Japanese pocket pens
are designed with a long pen barrel and pen cap, but with a short pen body.
When in use, the pen cap should be posted so that the pen will resemble a
regular size pen. This allow the user to enjoy the portability of a mini pen
and the usability of a regular size pen. Ingenious, to say the least. I usually
write with my pens unposted but in this case, the pen feels too imbalanced and
light without posting. With posting, I enjoyed perfect balance and writing with
the M90 becomes a pleasure. I will give it a 9/10 because I'll like the option
of being able to write with a pen unposted.
4.
Nib &
Performance (20/20) – This is by far my favorite part of the M90: The nib
design, and it's performance. My nib size is a Japanese Fine, and it writes
slightly smaller than a Western Fine. It's not dry, and not too wet as well,
and I haven't experienced any skipping or smudging with this pen. As mentioned earlier, the nib is made from stainless
steel and is part of the pen body. This is a design that is seldom seen, and
extremely attractive to my eyes. Lastly, the nib is stiff as a nail which is
fine by me as I do not have to exert any pressure to get the ink to start
flowing. As it is my favorite nib, it naturally deserved a perfect score.
5. Filling System & Maintenance (5/10) – This area is the only
part of the pen that I truly do not like: It can only accept a Con-20
converter, which is a pump filler. Due to the small size of the pen, the Con-
20 is the only one which can fit on it. The Con-20 works well, but the ink
capacity is too small. Coupled with the fact that I cannot use any other
converter with it, the M90 only deserved a 5/10 in this section.
6.
Cost & Value
(7/10) – This pen is part of a limited production, and is limited to
9000 pieces worldwide. When I bought it, the pen has already been out of
production for some time. Though it can still be purchased today, it is
available at a premium ( relative to the MSRP). I bought it new for $180 but I
have seen it selling for more than $200. Despite the higher-than-normal price
that I paid for it, I still find it to be a pretty good deal. I gave it a 7/10
because I paid more than the MSRP (which usually doesn't indicate a good deal)
and I didn't like the filling system.
7. Conclusion (Final score, 59/70) – In conclusion, this pen has become one of my favorite pen, and I highly recommend it others. People who have tried my pen praised the exceptional nib performance as well. After tallying up the scores, the pen scores at only 59 but in reality, the pen feels like a perfect 70 to me. Since it has been out of production for a while now, it's best to strike fast and get one of these beauties before they completely sold out.
Review of the Lamy 2000 EF nib
INTRODUCTION:
Before I start getting into fountain pens seriously, I ask around which
fountain pen is worth getting, and the pen that keep getting mentioned is the
Lamy 2000. Initially, I didn't really like the small nib. However, I became curious after reading numerous reviews praising the pen, I decided to get one.
( I bought 2 and sold 1 in the end, but more on that later.)
1.
Appearance &
Design (8/10) – The pen has a like-it or hate-it design. There is no
adornment of any sort on the pen, and the word “Lamy” is engraved on the side
of the spring-loaded clip, which is matt silver in color. The pen body is made
of fibre-glass reinforced Makrolon which is a matt gunmetal black, and the barrel is
made from stainless steel. The Makrolon material also managed to disguise the
back piston cap. Most piston filler has a metallic ring at the end, but the
Lamy 2000 doesn't need the ring due to the Makrolon. The simple 14K
Platinum-coated gold nib looks great on the pen and I felt that a full sized nib will only look
weird. The Makrolon body has the best feel among all my pens ( which have
bodies mostly made from resin or metal.) However there are some shiny spots on
the pen body which I can't seem to get out. Also, the ink window could have
been better designed, so that the ink level can be seen more clearly. In an
effort not to spoil the aesthetic of the pen, the designers made the ink window
as small as possible and slightly opaque. Lastly, there are 2 pieces of metal
placed on the pen body to hold the pen cap in place. However, one of the metal
pieces are placed right where my index finger grip the pen. While I haven't
experienced any discomfort, others might. So i'm taking 2 points off for the
metal pieces and the ink window.
2. Construction & Quality (10/10) – The Lamy 2000 has to
be the most durable fountain pen ever with it's fibre-glass reinforced Makrolon
body. There have been various stories of Lamy 2000 being thrown out of moving
cars, dropped from numerous floors with no damage. I've read a thread where the
barrel seal to the pen body is faulty, resulting in an ink leak. However, I
didn't have that problem, so... a perfect 10!
3. Weight & Dimensions (10/10) – The pen has a nice heft to
it, but it's not too heavy, considering it is a piston filler. The length is
just nice unposted ( I write unposted) and the balance is perfect too.
4.
Nib &
Performance (18/20) – The Lamy 2000
is available in a variety of nib sizes: Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad, Double
Broad, Oblique Medium and Oblique Broad and Oblique Extra Broad. My lst Lamy
2000 was in Fine nib, but it wrote like a Medium. A very wet Medium. The nib
was so wet that there was bleedthrough on my thickest paper, using my driest
ink. Coupled with the fact that my handwriting is small, I knew that the Fine
nib was not for me. Luckily, I was able to sell it off at a good price since
the pen was still quite new. A few months later, I bought the EF nib, thinking
that it will be like a Fine nib but I was pleasantly surprised that the EF nib
was just a bit thicker than a normal EF nib. Hence, the EF nib writes like a
wet EF nib rather than a wet F nib. The end result is a very smooth,
well-controlled EF nib. The nib is a 14K, Platinum-coated nib and is slightly springy.
Hence, it's possible to achieve ink shading and line variation quite easily,
not that I need it too. I took a point off because I feel that the nib sizes
are off.
5. Filling System & Maintenance (10/10) – The pen is a piston
filler with a big ink capacity. The piston is smooth, and there's basically
nothing wrong with it. A perfect 10!
6.
Cost & Value
(10/10) – It's hard to believe that
I got the pen for only $89. For $100, you can get a bottle of ink, and a pen
that is a piston filler, extra-durable and comes in a variety of nibs. I can't
think of any rating other than a 10!
7.
Conclusion
(Final score, 66/70) – If you plan to get
a workhorse pen to be used as a daily user, the Lamy 2000 should definitely be
in your list of consideration.The Lamy 2000 outperforms many pens that cost 2
or 3 times more. After all, there's a reason why the Lamy 2000 has remained
unchanged since 1966 ( that's way before I'm born!).
Review of the Visconti Homo Sapiens EF nib
INTRODUCTION: When this pen was first announced, I didn’t take much notice because the price tag ($595) was way out of my budget and I couldn’t see why I should pay so much just for a pen made from lava basalt rocks. Just a few months ago, I just happened to come across a thread on this pen and I saw that the nib is actually made of 23K Palladium! So after taking a closer look at the specs, I realized that if I can get this pen a little cheaper, I’m definitely buying it.
2. Construction & Quality (10/10) – I have nothing bad to say about the quality and workmanship except for one small detail: One corner of the black background of the Visconti words on the clip is not colored in properly. This is only visible on very close inspection ( not sure if my camera can convey that properly ) but if I have to pay more than $300 for a pen, it better be perfect!
3. Weight & Dimensions (8/10) – This is a pretty big pen and since it’s made from rocks, you can expect it to be heavy. Add to the fact that it can hold a lot of ink, this pen is pretty heavy when fully filled with ink. However, the pen is well-balanced so it felt more like a hefty pen rather than a heavy and unwieldy pen. It can’t be written posted as the cap itself is pretty heavy. However, I don’t post my pens at all so this doesn’t affect me.
4. Nib & Performance (18/20) – The nib is the main reason why I got this pen. 23K Palladium, Visconti called it Dreamtouch, because the nib is supposed to write with almost no pressure. After trying it out, I can say that this is true. The Palladium material is also supposed to provide a bit of flex but to be honest, I’ve used more gold nibs that have more flex. However, this nib has a springy feel to it that I look for in the perfect nib. The nib has a small amount of feedback too which I love because it helps to control my handwriting. The nib comes in the usual Fine, Medium and Broad, along with the less common Extra Fine as well as a 1.3mm Stub. I’m a huge fan of italic nibs and when italic nibs aren’t available, I will get a Fine nib. In this case, I read that the HS nib runs abit wide and is a wet writer so I bought the EF nib instead. I will say that the nib writes half a size wider, and if written on absorbent paper, the nib will write a full size wider. A point is taken off for the inaccurate size. The nib looks gorgeous with the characteristic Visconti design and the crescent moon shaped vent hole. Three lines of texts are engraved at the bottom of the nib: 23k Pd 950, Firenze, EF, letting everyone knows that this is an EF nib made out of 95% Palladium. The nib is huge too, abit too long for the pen but to me, bigger is always better! The only qualm that I have is that Visconti should change the tones on the nib to differentiate the Palladium nib from the other gold nibs. Maybe instead of gold and silver, how about bronze and ruthenium to go with the black body and bronze trim on the pen body?
5. Filling System & Maintenance (9/10) – The pen is a power-filler, or a vacuum-filler as I prefer to call it. For those who have filled a power filler before, you’ll know that you won’t have a perfect fill on the 1st fill, probably about 30% to 50%. My other vacuum filler is a smoke-colored Pilot Custom 823 which is semi-transparent. I’ll need 2 or more fills to get about 80% to 90% fill. However, the basaltic rock pen body, despite its many wondrous properties, isn’t transparent so there’s no way to tell how filled the pen is. Just to be on the safe side, I do a couple of fillings to ensure that the pen is as filled as it possibly can. If you’re really anal about this, filling with a Visconti travelling inkwell might help.
6. Cost & Value (10/10) – The MSRP for this pen is $595 or you can get it from Italy for about $420 shipped. I bought this from italianpen on ebay where I won it in an auction for only $350. That’s almost 50% of the original price. To be honest, I have cheaper pens that perform just as well as this pen and cost less ( for example, my Pelikan M600 which comes closest), but this pen is unique in its own way. Where else are you going to find a pen made from lava basaltic rocks, or comes with solid bronze trimmings or fitted with a Palladium nib?
6. Cost & Value (10/10) – The MSRP for this pen is $595 or you can get it from Italy for about $420 shipped. I bought this from italianpen on ebay where I won it in an auction for only $350. That’s almost 50% of the original price. To be honest, I have cheaper pens that perform just as well as this pen and cost less ( for example, my Pelikan M600 which comes closest), but this pen is unique in its own way. Where else are you going to find a pen made from lava basaltic rocks, or comes with solid bronze trimmings or fitted with a Palladium nib?
7. Conclusion (Final score, 65/70) – This pen is the most expensive pen in my entire collection but I feel that I paid a fair price for it. It’s a pen that can last long enough to be a heirloom and unique enough to be one too. I honestly cannot find any major flaw with one ( well the only one being no transparent window to view, but that will detract from the design of the pen ). If you ever come across the chance to try out the pen, please write a few lines with it to feel for yourself how extraordinary the Palladium nib is.
Review of the Franklin-Christoph Model-14 EF nib
INTRODUCTION: I first came across the Franklin-Christoph brand when browsing the FPN forum. After checking out their website, I was impressive by their products line-up and decided to try one of their lower-end pens. I finally decided on the Model 14 because of the magnetic cap ( I'm a sucker for novelties) and the interchangeable nibs. I wanted to get the pen in red, but it was already out of production at that time. Luckily, Lady Luck smiled down on me and I found that there were still a few pieces left sold on their eBay store. To make the deal sweeter, the price was $10 lower than what is being sold on their online store. In the end, I managed to score the pen in an out-of-production color, and at a lower price!
1. Appearance & Design (8/10) – The pen is simply designed, with a layer of red lacquer and chrome trimming. The 4 Franklin-Christoph diamonds are lasered onto the clip, and the Franklin-Christoph logo is lasered onto the pen bottom. The nibs used are stainless steel Schmidt nibs with the Schmidt logo on it. I would have preferred the nib with the Franklin-Christoph logo on it though. In addition, there are 2 more design flaws that I found: The pen cap is too short, giving the pen a chunky look, and the pen barrel is too short, to be elaborated on later. (PS: All steel and gold nibs now are available with the Franklin-Christoph logo on them.)
2. Construction & Quality (9/10) – The pen feels robust and well built in my hands. I believe that it's entirely made out of brass, hence it has quite a heft to it. Those who love heavy pens will like it, but more on that in the next section. All in all, there is no flaw I can find. I washed the entire nib unit in an ultrasonic cleaner a number of time and I found that a spot developed a discoloration. It doesn't look like rust and the pen is still usable but because of this, I'm taking a point off.
3. Weight & Dimensions (6/10) – This is where the pen disappoints. Personally I find the pen too heavy for long period of usage. I think it's because the entire pen is made from brass instead of your usual resin. The pen body is pretty long without posting, but the magnetic cap (the magnet is in the cap) can be posted using the same magnetic function. When posted, the balance is totally off as the cap is very heavy ( as it contains a strong magnet). Since I usually use my pens unposted, this isn't much of an issue, but for those who like to post, this may post a problem. To me, the main design flaw lies in the short, almost non existent pen barrel. If I use my normal gripping method, I'll end up gripping the area where the pen body and pen barrel meet, an area of a sharp step-down. Needless to say, it's extremely uncomfortable. If I adjust my grip down, my grip on end up on the threads, and I'll be holding too close to the nib, so it's extremely uncomfortable. So what I currently do is hold it abit higher, gripping the pen body. I haven't been using it often enough to get used to the sensation, so it's still abit uncomfortable, though not as uncomfortable as holding it on the threaded section.
4. Nib & Performance (20/20) – I bought 2 nibs, the EF and F nibs, but I haven't gotten around to taking the F nib out of the packaging. Hence, the following only applies to the EF nib. The reason I've not used the F nib is because the EF nib is so perfect! The EF nib lays down a perfect Western EF nib line, and is smooth with a little feedback. I like my nibs to have a tiny bit of feedback which allows me more control over my handwriting. However, the problems with most EF nibs are too much feedback and too little smoothness. Hence I was pleasantly surprised with the smoothness of the nib. The nib is not too dry as well and I seldom experienced skipping with it. In addition, the nib section is easily changeable ( as simple as unscrewing the barrel) and the range of replaceable nibs is staggering, with Fine, Medium, Broad, Extra Fine, 0.9mm Cursive Italic, 1.1mm Cursive Italic and 1.1mm Stub. Needless to say, the nib deserved a perfect 10! (PS: The nib above is a 1.1 CI nib, not a F nib or the EF nib mentioned in the review.)
5. Filling System & Maintenance (10/10) – The pen comes with a piston converter which works well and it's capacity is above average. Nothing special or wrong with it.
6. Cost & Value (9/10) – This pen is almost the perfect pen if not for its heavy weight and not-so-great design. However for $79.50 ( for normal nibs) or $89.50 ( for special nibs) you get a classy looking pen, with a magnetic cap, and the options to change the nibs ( which can be bought separately) to whichever suit your fancy. Furthermore, there are other Franklin-Christoph pens that use the same nibs, so there's plenty of potential mix-and-match.
7. Conclusion (Final score, 62/70) – In conclusion, I didn't regret taking a leap of faith and buying the Model 14. Now that I've experienced for myself how fantastic the steel nib fountain pen is, I'm on the lookout for a gold nib fountain pen for my next Franklin-Christoph purchase. Furthermore, the 2/3 pen pouches look outstanding as well. Franklin-Christoph may be a small company, but they are certainly not short on quality products. Look out for more Franklin-Christoph reviews in the future.
1. Appearance & Design (8/10) – The pen is simply designed, with a layer of red lacquer and chrome trimming. The 4 Franklin-Christoph diamonds are lasered onto the clip, and the Franklin-Christoph logo is lasered onto the pen bottom. The nibs used are stainless steel Schmidt nibs with the Schmidt logo on it. I would have preferred the nib with the Franklin-Christoph logo on it though. In addition, there are 2 more design flaws that I found: The pen cap is too short, giving the pen a chunky look, and the pen barrel is too short, to be elaborated on later. (PS: All steel and gold nibs now are available with the Franklin-Christoph logo on them.)
2. Construction & Quality (9/10) – The pen feels robust and well built in my hands. I believe that it's entirely made out of brass, hence it has quite a heft to it. Those who love heavy pens will like it, but more on that in the next section. All in all, there is no flaw I can find. I washed the entire nib unit in an ultrasonic cleaner a number of time and I found that a spot developed a discoloration. It doesn't look like rust and the pen is still usable but because of this, I'm taking a point off.
3. Weight & Dimensions (6/10) – This is where the pen disappoints. Personally I find the pen too heavy for long period of usage. I think it's because the entire pen is made from brass instead of your usual resin. The pen body is pretty long without posting, but the magnetic cap (the magnet is in the cap) can be posted using the same magnetic function. When posted, the balance is totally off as the cap is very heavy ( as it contains a strong magnet). Since I usually use my pens unposted, this isn't much of an issue, but for those who like to post, this may post a problem. To me, the main design flaw lies in the short, almost non existent pen barrel. If I use my normal gripping method, I'll end up gripping the area where the pen body and pen barrel meet, an area of a sharp step-down. Needless to say, it's extremely uncomfortable. If I adjust my grip down, my grip on end up on the threads, and I'll be holding too close to the nib, so it's extremely uncomfortable. So what I currently do is hold it abit higher, gripping the pen body. I haven't been using it often enough to get used to the sensation, so it's still abit uncomfortable, though not as uncomfortable as holding it on the threaded section.
4. Nib & Performance (20/20) – I bought 2 nibs, the EF and F nibs, but I haven't gotten around to taking the F nib out of the packaging. Hence, the following only applies to the EF nib. The reason I've not used the F nib is because the EF nib is so perfect! The EF nib lays down a perfect Western EF nib line, and is smooth with a little feedback. I like my nibs to have a tiny bit of feedback which allows me more control over my handwriting. However, the problems with most EF nibs are too much feedback and too little smoothness. Hence I was pleasantly surprised with the smoothness of the nib. The nib is not too dry as well and I seldom experienced skipping with it. In addition, the nib section is easily changeable ( as simple as unscrewing the barrel) and the range of replaceable nibs is staggering, with Fine, Medium, Broad, Extra Fine, 0.9mm Cursive Italic, 1.1mm Cursive Italic and 1.1mm Stub. Needless to say, the nib deserved a perfect 10! (PS: The nib above is a 1.1 CI nib, not a F nib or the EF nib mentioned in the review.)
5. Filling System & Maintenance (10/10) – The pen comes with a piston converter which works well and it's capacity is above average. Nothing special or wrong with it.
6. Cost & Value (9/10) – This pen is almost the perfect pen if not for its heavy weight and not-so-great design. However for $79.50 ( for normal nibs) or $89.50 ( for special nibs) you get a classy looking pen, with a magnetic cap, and the options to change the nibs ( which can be bought separately) to whichever suit your fancy. Furthermore, there are other Franklin-Christoph pens that use the same nibs, so there's plenty of potential mix-and-match.
7. Conclusion (Final score, 62/70) – In conclusion, I didn't regret taking a leap of faith and buying the Model 14. Now that I've experienced for myself how fantastic the steel nib fountain pen is, I'm on the lookout for a gold nib fountain pen for my next Franklin-Christoph purchase. Furthermore, the 2/3 pen pouches look outstanding as well. Franklin-Christoph may be a small company, but they are certainly not short on quality products. Look out for more Franklin-Christoph reviews in the future.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Review of the Faber Castell Ambition Pearwood F nib
INTRODUCTION:
I bought the Ambition Pearwood firstly for the
pen body material ( Pearwood) and the design and secondly, out of curiosity of the
Faber Castell brand.
1.
Appearance &
Design (10/10) – I bought the pen for its design, so it HAD to look good,
and when I hold the pen in my hand, it doesn't disappoint; The feel of wood
makes a nice change to boring resin. There's only 2 colors you can see, the
brown color of the Pearwood body, and the chrome pen cap and tailend. The Faber
Castell logo and words are etched on the side of the barrel. It's a simple,
elegant design. The pen cap even post with a nice click.
2. Construction & Quality (10/10) – The pen looks flawless and the body isn't actually made out
of wood; It's a layer of wood over a brass tube. This means that the pen body
has the strength of a metal pen, and the feel of a wooden pen.
3. Weight & Dimensions (8/10) – The bass tube underneath
the wood means that there is heft to the pen. The pen isn't too light or too
heavy, and the balance is just perfect unposted. When posted, I find it to be
abit top heavy, probably due to the chrome cap. The only peeve that I have is
that the barrel is very short and almost non-existent. So that's something
you'll have to get used to.
4.
Nib &
Performance (18/20) – I'm pleasantly surprised that the pen doesn't come with a
generic nib but with a nicely designed ventless stainless steel nib with the
nib size prominently displayed and the Faber Cartell logo at the bottom. This
nib is a F, and I feel that the nib size is accurate. The nib is like a nail
and if you're looking for any kind of flex, you'll be disappointed. Although
there is no toothiness, there is quite a lot of feedback so the nib isn't
buttery smooth. I took 2 points off because I would have preferred less
feedback. Again, if you're looking for a buttery smooth nib, this isn't for
you. Finally, I will rate the nib as slightly wet.
5. Filling System & Maintenance (9/10) – The pen uses
a piston converter that looks like a
generic converter except for the “Faber Cartell” words labelled on the metal
cap. Besides that, the converter looks exactly like the generic converter used
in Franklin Christoph pens. I like this converter because it has the largest
ink capacity out of all the converters that I have ( besides the CON-70). I'm
taking a point off because the back of the converter isn't easily removable.
6.
Cost & Value
(10/10) – I bought this pen from Pengallery for $87 and I think it's
a great value for a classy pen, with wooden body, and writes well. However, if
you're looking for a butter smooth and flexible pen, you might want to give
this a miss.
7.
Conclusion
(Final score, 65/70) – I was glad that I took a leap of faith and bought this pen;
I definitely don't regret it and will recommend this to anyone who wants to try
the Faber Castell brand or looking for a fountain pen gift under $100.
Futhermore, this pen is available in a variety of pen bodies; if you don't like
wood, there are normal resin, stainless steel etc. Perhaps in the future when
I'm a millionaire, I'll be able to buy some pens from the Graf von Faber
Castell range.
Review of the Pilot Custom 823 F nib
1.
Appearance &
Design (7/10) – The pen has a typical torpedo pen body with gold bands. The
smoke body is slightly transparent. It's a really attractive design and a nice
deviation from the usual black and gold design. The gold band around the bottom
of the pen cap has “PILOT MADE IN JAPAN *** CUSTOM 823 ***” engraved on it in
black. The only regret that I have with getting the smoke design is the it's
hard seeing the level of ink left in the barrel especially if you filled it
with black ink. I have a feeling that the amber and the clear (duh~) pens will
allow you to look at the ink level more easily.
Another design that people really like is that when the back cap is screwed in
completely, the plunger cuts off the ink supply to the feed, reducing ink
leakage. When you want to write, just unscrew the back cap and allow the ink
flow to resume. While that seems really practical, I don't like it for a couple
of reasons: The place I'm at can get really cold, so my nibs tend to get dry
out and clogged easily. I found that if I completely screwed in the cap, the
nib tends to be hard to start up and the the ink flow becomes irregular. Ink
flow doesn't resume completely because of air bubbles trapped in the barrel.
Hence, my back cap is forever uncapped unless I have to make a long distance
trip with the pen. I would have prefer the pen without that feature or at
least, make a variant of the pen without that feature available.
2. Construction & Quality (10/10) – There's nothing much to comment here, as the quality is
top-notched. A perfect 10.
3. Weight & Dimensions (10/10) – I will classify
this pen as a full-size pen and when empty, it's surprisingly light for a pen
of that size. However, when the pen is fully filled, it has a nice heft to it.
Hence, the heaviest part of the pen is somewhere in the middle, where the ink
is stored in the barrel. I find it to be perfectly balanced and the size to be
just right. Again, a perfect 10.
4.
Nib &
Performance (16/20) – The nib is a 14K gold, one tone Fine nib. What I like about
the nib is that it's huge! Hence, it really looks good on the pen. When I first
got the pen, the nib didn't really write well; It was hard to start, it
occasionally skipped, and the flow was irregular. After a while, I realized it
was caused by ink drying up in the feed due to a lack of ink flow caused by the
plunger. When the nib writes properly, the nib is a dream to use. It flexes
slightly as well but I won't call it a full flex nib. It's a Japanese Fine nib
and I will say that the actual line laid down is in between an Extra-Fine and
Fine. I can't give the nib a perfect score because of the occasional problems
it gives me.
5. Filling System & Maintenance (8/10) – The pen is a
plunger filler and the main reason why I bought this pen. You'll only get about
a 60% fill on the 1st try but if you fill it once or twice more with
the nib still immersed in the ink, you can get up to 85%-90%. That means you
get almost as much ink as if the pen is an eyedropper. However, I found that it
is almost impossible to fully clean the pen. Firstly, the nib and feed can be
removed with a simple tug, and the barrel can be screwed out and the body
interior scrubbed or cleaned with a cotton bud. However, the cotton bud can’t
reach the ink stain behind the plunger. The only way to remove that ink stain
is to use a ultrasonic cleaner. Lastly I've read that cracks can develop in the
barrel if you repeatedly unscrewed the barrel so please take note.
6.
Cost & Value
(9/10) – I bought this pen for $255 on ebay and you might be able
to get it cheaper if you're patient and bid on it. For that price, you get a
great pen and a bottle of ink to start you off. If anyone is looking for a
workhorse pen that can hold a ton of ink, and you'll feel safe bringing with you
on long distance trips, this pen is perfect for you. I can't give this pen a
perfect in this section because there are other pens in this price range that
write better.
7.
Conclusion
(Final score, 60/70) – This is a pen that comes loaded with features and I think
it's a pen worth looking into if you need them. I won't get this pen for its
nib but if you need a pen with a huge ink capacity, this is one pen that you
should seriously consider. Personally, I find the plunger filling mechanism to be tedious to use and maintain and I probably won't buy another plunger filler in the future.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Review of the Muji Fountain Pen
INTRODUCTION: This pen pops up once in a while on FPN and from what I gather, it can only be bought in New York (I think it's the Muji store in the Empire State Building?) so whenever someone is going to be in the area, he will post on FPN and buy for whoever is interested. Fortunately for me, there is a Muji store in Singapore and I happened to chance upon the pen by accident. Seeing that the pen is only S$20 (~US$16) and its cult status on FPN, I bought the pen without a second thought.
1. Appearance & Design (8/10) – I will say that the pen is designed with function in mind, and it won't appeal to everyone. I like it though, as a simple straight cylinder, with sharp cut-off ends, lending it a futuristic look. I guess it appeals to the engineer in me. The pen grip area is thoughtfully textured like a metal file, with the purpose of adding more grip as compared to if it's made from smooth aluminium.
I'll like to add that out of all my pens, both expensive and cheap, this pen is one of the few that will start up immediately after lying around unused for a few months. One factor is that the Singapore weather is very humid, but another more factor is probably due to the well designed cap, which is reasonably tight, and also likely airtight. This is important to me because after graduation, I find myself using a pen only a few times a month at the very most, and penless for months at the very least.
There is also a small groove at the back of the pen that will allow you to post the pen. After posting, the cap is actually in line with the pen body, giving it a seamless and elegant look. Very nice!
There is also a small groove at the back of the pen that will allow you to post the pen. After posting, the cap is actually in line with the pen body, giving it a seamless and elegant look. Very nice!
2. Construction & Quality (10/10) – I believe the entire pen is made out of aluminium except for a piece of rubber at the top. As mentioned before, the cap is reasonably tight and so is the clip. I can't find any serious cause for complaint here.
3. Weight & Dimensions (9/10) – Since the pen is made from thin aluminium instead of thick plastic with a simple filling mechanism (cartridges), this pen is very very light (I would prefer a bit more weight). This pen is on the small side and some might find it too thin to hold but it's alright for my hands. YMMV
4. Nib & Performance (19/20) – The nib is a one tone silver Schmidt Fine, and I believe it is only available in this tone and nib size. Out of all the mass-produced nibs (Jowo, Heritage etc), the Schmidt nibs are my favorite: For one, their nib sizes run true to what I think nib sizes should be. For example, I find Jowo nibs to run half a size to a size larger. Also, while Schmidt nibs are smooth with no hint of scratchiness, they have some amount of feedback too, unlike the buttery smooth Jowo nibs. I think some feedback because it gives me a sense of control when I'm writing fast. And they are not too wet or dry, just wet enough to show the ink's true color, and not so wet that bleedthrough is terribly obvious. So the nib I got is a typical Schmidt nib: Smooth, with feedback and the right amount of wetness. I'll take a point off due to the limited choice of nib size.
5. Filling System & Maintenance (9/10) – The pen comes with only a short international black ink cartridges. However, looking at the length of the pen body, I believe you can fit in a long ink cartridge or a cartridge converter, like those from Schmidt or any brand that has an international opening. I like this filling system because it's the easiest to clean and maintain but I'm taking a point off because a cartridge converter was not included.
6. Cost & Value (10/10) – As I've mentioned before, this gem of a pen costs only US$14 and to me, that's a hell of a bargain for an aluminium fountain pen that looks good and writes well. It's the perfect workhorse pen that I don't mind bringing around as it won't be too terrible a thing if I lose it, drop it or scratch it.
7. Conclusion (Final score, 65/70) – This is a pretty short and sweet review but in hindsight it's not that surprising. This is a very simple and functional pen which is designed to look (relatively) good and write well. It also makes a good gift to people who are new to fountain pens. All you have to do is include a pack of ink cartridges and they're good to go for a while.
As a sidenote, this is the pen that I brought with me to my interview. A pen like the Platinum Preppy looks too cheap while a pen like the Sailor PG will look too pretentious. I like this pen has the "WOW" factor without giving off a snobbish air.
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