Tactile Turn Gist

Titanium!

Good things take time

Well, it took a while before I got my Tactile Turn Gist – you might remember my previous blog post about this Kickstarter.
I guess I just happened to pick a combination (polycarbonate body and brass finial) that was produced very late. Others in the UK got their TT Gist more than a month before me.

Brass finial
Brass finial

Good looks

Now that I finally got it and I have to say that I really like the look. The lines on the pen’s body and the look of the clip are two of my favourite bits. This also happens to be my first fountain pen with a titanium nib.

Titanium knife and titanium pen
Titanium knife and titanium pen

Marks on the pen’s body

One thing was however rather disappointing. The body of the pen has marks in three places of the body where it has been held in place during machining. After contacting Will Hodges I was told that these marks are normal, at least on the polycarbonate pens – but on pens made from harder materials he was able to buff them off to some extend.

Thinking how ‘violently’ the pen was rotating in Will’s youtube video I am not too surprised about the marks. Maybe I will get used to them over time.

Not so easy to see on the photo: the marks where the pen has been clamped
Not so easy to see on the photo: the marks where the pen has been clamped

Titanium

As mentioned before this is my first titanium nib. To my excitement I like the flexibility of this nib. You don’t need much pressure to produce a wider line. I just wish the line was a bit finer when least pressure is applied. First tests in a Field Note with Finch Paper Opaque Smooth 50#T were disappointing, but that seems to be down to the paper and ink (I have only used this paper with pencils so far, also not a great choice). On copy room paper I got great line width variation without much effort.

The titanium nib is quite flexible
The titanium nib is quite flexible

I don’t have much experience with titanium, but I do have titanium scales for my Victorinox Deluxe Tinker, so I thought I show the titanium nib and the titanium scales next to each other. I like the concrete-like look of the material – it has a very utilitarian feel to it.

My titanium scales are made from grade 5 titanium (Ti-6AL-4V). I am not sure what titanium is used for Bock’s titanium nibs.

Titanium knife and titanium pen
Titanium knife and titanium pen

If you want to know more about my titanium scales have a look at this video, the description has links to the maker’s, Andrzej’s, web site.

 

 

 

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Tactile Turn Gist

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.

#6 seems to refer to the fact that the nib feed has a diameter of 6mm.  If you want to know more about Bock: The Southern Scribe wrote about a visit to the Bock factory.

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.

Diagram showing the different prices for the different Gist materials
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.

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