Ohto Tasche Fountain Pen - Fine Nib - 4 Body Color Set

Having read the older reviews about poor writing ability, I felt compelled to write a more recent review stating I find the Ohto Tasche writing ability to be excellent.

Using the default Ohto ink cartridge I find this pen puts down a fine line, about the same as the Ohto F-Spirit. I suspect that when the Ohto cartridge runs out and I replace the ink in it with Noodler's Black, it may write a slightly thicker line, but, I anticipate it'll be just like the Ohto F-Spirit in this regard.

Given how inexpensive this fountain pen is, it's a great deal. No idea if its steel nib maybe more prone to damage if too much pressure is applied to it, but, over the last three weeks, it's writing just fine for me.

My only regret about this pen is that it won't take an ink converter. I'm going to have to resort to using a syringe to refill a used cartridge when I want to use bottled ink. However, I do find that the Ohto black ink is fine (aside from lack of water proof qualities). For the price and the size, that's a small price to pay.

I bought this guy during a long stint in Korea at one of the many Home Plus shopping centers because: 1. It looks really cool and folds down small, and 2. I write exclusively with fountain pens and collect them. I picked a few days before I left and decided to leave it in its packaging until I got home in the USA where I could unbox it and play with it.

The result with cheap ink and a stiff nib was something that was unwritable. I'm left handed, but my writing style rarely effects the flow of decent fountain pens--this guy had almost no ink come out of its extremely stiff nib. I handed it off to my brother who is right handed and he stated that it wrote well for him and that was that.

A month later, I noticed he was no longer using it and instead was stealing one of my other nice steel fountain pens. I asked him why, and he noted that the ink skipped--a lot. To the point where the pen was unusable in any environment. So I asked for it back to see what was going on.

Like other users have noted, the nib is so tight that little to no ink can flow through the nib without extreme amounts of pressure (and again this nib is very hard, so it will easily damage the paper underneath). The solution to this problem, like another reviewer stated is using a small piece of brass (you can use a very fine piece of steel to, or even a fine razor) to open the gap and customize the pen to your liking. Take the nib and press it against your work desk until the nib separates enough to stick whatever little thing you're using and let it rest on it. Keep doing it with various sizes, testing every step along the way until you get it right where you want it. If it's too much, just press the nib together and fold it over one another and BAM it's smaller.

It takes some time adjusting it right, but once it is done it's a decent writer for the price and style (seriously styling).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Not usable out of the box, but if you don't mind a little tweaking a nifty little pen.
When it arrived I was disappointed. The line was very weak and skippy, like a used-up ballpoint, and I had to press on it to get it to write at all. If it had been a more expensive pen I would have sent it back but I decided "what the heck, maybe I can make it work".
After some research on FPN I figured out that the tines of the nib were adjusted too tightly, thus starving the point of ink. I used the same resource to find out how to "floss" the nib with a piece of .001" brass shim stock (I happened to have some, but it's available in most hardware stores). It took a little trial and error but now that I have the nib dialed in, it writes just fine even with the (underwhelming) factory ink.
PRO - I like the design, especially the compact size which fits right into my pocket or planner.
- If you don't mind tinkering with it a little, it's a fun little pen. Mine works fine now. If it had written this way out of the box I would have given it 4 stars.
CON - I docked the score because I had to work on it to make it usable at all, let alone "just right".
- The cap threads felt gritty; a tiny dab of petroleum jelly fixed that.
Although this is a mixed review, believe it or not I like the Tasche and will probably get another one. Now that I know what to do, tweaking a new Tasche would be a 5 minute job. For a $15 pen I don't mind doing a little tinkering, but YMMV.
Just don't expect this pen to be perfect out of the box.

See my other review for the Ohto Tasche Needle Ballpoint Pen. Again, Ohto "outdid" them on this one. The point for the pencil is positioned far enough in so I don't feel like I'm writing with a foot of metal out in front of my fingers, but yet the pipe that carries the lead is long enough for any drafting or mechanical engineering applications.

The photographs do not show the location of the eraser, but it is underneath the silver cap which holds that black rubber O-Ring. When you twist off the cap you can easily tell by "feel" alone that the threads were machined properly; there's no "scratchy" grinding.

Another outstanding feature is when you press the cap to advance lead. You get just the right amount. You don't get 2mm of lead, which will inevitably break; rather, your supplied with about .75 to 1mm of lead. . . that's PERFECT.

This pen nib is well into the medium size, and is somewhat scratchy to write with. OHTO ink is very watery and therefore flows well, but sometimes skips, and dry time is completely horrible. I did a smear test and it took 60 seconds to dry on paper from an Eccolo World Traveler notebook. On paper with great gain, like standard 3x5 cards, the ink was mostly dry in 15 seconds.

Because I am left handed, I have to take extreme care when writing with the OHTO ink. I tried to write three checks with this pen- Just say no to that! I'm going to try the different cartridges and see how it goes.

I did not have to adjust the nib, like other writers have.

I like the feel of the pen, which is very light. Weight is balanced towards the nib, slightly but not obtrusively. The compact nature of the pen is great for carrying in a jeans pocket.