A few months ago I bought an Indus from Fountain Pen Revolution, seen here previously.
Well, I have hardly used it until now and was just about to use it regularly from now on (because I finally got round to changing the nib) when I found out that it is leaking. It has a hairline crack at the grip section, above the ink window.
Well, I guess when it comes to fountain pens I should stick to the brands I know I can trust, like Pelikan, Lamy, Kaweco, even if they’re more expensive. Not sure whether it is worth complaining about the pen as it came from India and postage back to India might be quite expensive.
I’m interested in the Tactile Turn Gist, but am not sure yet whether I should back this project on Kickstarter. I probably will, but I am also not sure which combination to pick. So much choice. I had a few questions I tried to answer by searching on the web and thought what I found might also be interesting for others, too.
The nib
The Campaign page states these are Bock #6 nibs. I have heard of them, but have never used them, so my first question was: how do they perform, especially: are they springy? I prefer springy nibs to stiff nibs.
According to Peter Unbehauen’s video a Bock titanium nib seems to be more flexible than than a Bock gold nib, which again is more flexible than a Bock steel nib, which seems quite stiff. The nibs used for the Gist might be different, but this might give you an initial idea about the nibs. I am sure The Pen Addict talked about the nibs in the podcast, espeiclaly the Titanium one, but but I don’t remember the details, just that it is a different writing experience and podcasts aren’t easily searchable. If I have more time I will check again.
You know it’s serious when I get the Eberhart Faber Blackwing 602 out to do a diagram.
The materials
Polycarbonate
According to the Campaign page polycarbonate is like Makrolon, the material used for the Lamy 2000. I guess the Gist will feel different to the Lamy 2000 because of the different surface, but it makes me think that the pen, if ordered in this material will be very durable. Nice.
Brass
Brass sharpeners have more or less disappeared, partly because brass often contains lead to make the material easier to work with, but new regulations in many parts of the world want to ban lead or put warning labels on these products because of possible health effects. Lead free brass is available, but usually comes with a higher price tag. 360 Brass, as used for the Gist, seems to contain lead which makes me think whether I should pick another material if I back this Kickstarter.
Copper
Lead also seems to be common in many copper alloys. I haven’t yet figured out what 145 Copper is and whether it contains lead. I will need to find the time to find out more and expand this blog post.
This morning I got the order I placed yesterday with The Pen Company. Diamine’s shimmer ink and the Lamy Safari in Neon Lime (the stationery part of my birthday gift).
After Brad and Myke mentioned the Lamy Line Friends pens in the last two episodes of the Pen Addict podcast I couldn’t resist and just have to show my ‘Line Safari’ – despite my intentions of keeping the number of fountain pen posts in the blog low so that the focus can be on pencils.
The Line characters started life as icons in a messaging app, but became so popular that now there’s a whole range of merchandise based around them. I think my first exposure to them was as icons in the WeChat app.
I got Line Friends Lamy Safari from Arnie Kim, the man behind the Banditapple notebooks I reviewed five years ago. Initially I contacted Arnie about this in February or early March, but it took quite a while for him to get his hands on any, in the beginning they always sold out as soon as new stock arrived, with long queues forming.
I think I paid about ₩ 54.000 (~$45; €40; £30) plus shipping, but I also ordered a few Banditapple notebooks the same time.
I plan to soon write more about the other exciting items I got in this parcel from Korea.
I didn’t realise that it is a Pelikan copy. I also ordered the wrong nib by mistake. I guess that’s what’s happening if you order late at night.