10/29/2022 0 Comments See the bigger picture![]() ![]() The stub in my Nettuno and the Bock nib in my Clyde are just two examples where the writing experience was simply unacceptable. Still all too often I get a pen that barely writes from the factory. This is not so much a design decision as a QC issue, but I’ll mention it anyway. This is why I sold my Nettuno and Karas Ink. I shouldn’t have to be careful about exactly how I hold my pens just to avoid a spiky bit. No part of a pen that touches your hand during writing should be sharp, be it trim, section lip, body facet, barrel step-down or, most commonly, cap threads. The back end of the Opera Master is actually in a different time zone. I sold my Montblanc Petit Prince Legrand mostly because the metal piston knob was annoying me. I can never ignore this weight, and it’s why I sold the Visconti Opera Master and Graf Pen of the Year. See the bigger picture full#Yet some manufacturers decide that, even unposted, their pens should be long and have a full metal piston knob or trim at the end of the barrel. No excuse for this many threads.ĭespite having normal-sized man hands, I have never posted my pens and I cannot understand why anyone would want that much weight swinging around above your hand, dragging your nib in every direction. Two and a half turns is where I draw the line. It’s why I abandoned the otherwise perfect Onoto, fun Opus88, and, more recently, Clyde. Yet some caps are threaded so that it takes three or even five full rotations to unscrew the cap. And when I want to start writing, for example in a meeting or interview, I don’t want a five-second delay before I put pen to paper. When I reach a pause in my writing, I cap my pen immediately to prevent drying out or accidental damage. In fact, the only thing that bugs me more is caps that work loose on their own, like the Karas Ink. The only slip caps I still have in my collection are the Lamy 2000 and Pilot Murex, but others, like the Karas Vertex, Visconti Van Gogh and Montblanc M do this well too through a variety of mechanisms.īut the irritation of stiff or loud pull caps has helped banished three Sheaffers, the Waterman Carene and the Pilot Silvern from my collection. What’s more, I generally find a screw cap easier to remove one-handed. For me, it’s easier and quieter to just unscrew a cap than to mask a ‘pop!’ sound in a meeting. What could be more intuitive or rapid than a cap you just pull off? Well, it turns out that it’s very hard to get a cap mechanism to be just grippy enough so that the cap doesn’t come off accidentally, without being so grippy that you have to take care not to flick ink across the room. Pull caps appeal because of their convenience. Nothing wrong with a converter every now and then.īut there are still a few features or design decisions that I just won’t tolerate. Masuyama and Pilot can work wonders with any material, and converters are generally easy to clean and replace. ![]() You ever tried flushing a Sheaffer inlaid nib?Īnd though I am still biased to self-fillers and gold nibs I have seven converter fillers and three steel nibs sat in front of me today. There are many like it, but this one (seven) is mine.īut I now have several pens - including my beloved Montblancs - that have zero user-serviceability, and apparently I’ve made peace with that, although it certainly makes me cautious about my choice of inks. I still have great praise for Pelikan and Aurora with their screw-out nib units, as well as the gloriously field-strippable TWSBI Eco. I used to be really big on pens that are easy to clean out. A pen like the Medici looks great with rose gold. But pens like my arco bronze ASC just wouldn’t look right with silver trim. Now? With the right colour pen, I’m OK with gold trim and even rose gold, though I would still have said I much preferred silver. As long as the pen holds a good amount of ink, or if you carry multiple pens or work from home often, which I do even in normal times, it’s no big deal. I’ve made my peace with mystery fillers, which I seem to have eight of now. A big stepdown isn’t a problem if the section is long enough. All have the step a long way back from the nib. So for example the Nakaya 17mm Cigar or ASC Gladiatore Medio, or the Scribo. Nor am I so put off by big barrel-to-section stepdowns, as long as the section is good. The right section shape, pen balance and a nib that flows without pressure make this a non-issue. For example, the Montegrappa Extra does just fine, as does the Montblanc Martelé. It turns out that, for the right pen, I’m not actually bothered by metal sections. ![]() I have moaned about a lot of pen design features over the years (eg this) that I have later softened on. ![]()
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