If I had to choose one...,
October 26, 2010
If I had to choose one pen, it would be this one.
No, its nib is not as high quality as the Pilot nibs I've tried.
No, the pen is not as well made as a Pelikan.
But for what it is, and the price they ask, it has become my go-to pen.
Particularly if things might get a bit rough. The pen has been so reliable that
the (slowly fading) infamous smell has become a source of comfort.
The feed is not elegant, but it is very robust and quite reliable. The nib's
line can be adjusted. When it arrived, it wrote too wet and large a line for my
taste, so I removed nib and feed and reinserted them so that the nib extended
further beyond the tip of the feed and the feed was not inserted as deeply into
the section. There is room here for fine tuning that other pens don't offer.
I have a pressure test that causes most pens to blurp large drops of ink while
I'm trying to write. Only this pen and an old Sheaffer have ever passed that
test.
Using the instructions on a Youtube video entitled "Noodler's Ink piston filler
repair/restoration" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooiu2r3zHWc&feature=related)
I removed the piston, wrapped the threads of the endcap with 3 wraps of Teflon
tape (PTFE Thread Seal Tape MIL SPEC T-27730A) and screwed the endcap back into
the pen. This gives me an eyedropper pen capable of holding over 2mL of ink that
can be filled by removing the nib+feed and filling from there.
I plugged the small vent hole in the side of the cap with wood glue, eliminating
the nib drying out.
I anticipated that this slender pen would cause me to cramp my hand gripping it.
The opposite happened. It is easier for me to avoid clenching this pen with a
Death Grip than with any other pen.
A really good buy! Having...,
September 17, 2010
A really good buy! Having read the previous reviews I bought my pen with some
trepidation. I needn't have worried. There was no odor on opening the package
and the build quality was quite good. What is more a piston fill which works
properly time after time for this price is quite exceptional. The nib while not
as smooth as gold etc. writes perfectly well and I enjoy using this pen. Set
aside your anxieties, you will be getting what you hope for from Noodlers as
always and will enjoy the writing experience for a pen costing only $14.