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Lamy Studio Black
I’ve been testing the Lamy Studio Black fine nib with Noodler’s Walnut for the past 2-3 weeks. This is my second favorite pen of all-time (behind the Jetstream).
Grade: A+
The superlatives are innumerable. This is one of the finest pens in the world.
First, the pen has a awesome, classic look. Like something from the 1940s. Just check the link above. The black matte finish feels great in the hand.
Second, the pen is heavy. It’s the heaviest pen I’ve ever used. The balance is nib heavy (the way all pens should be.)
Third, the chrome grip is not slippery. I don’t know how Lamy does this. But even with a crisp chrome shine, there is no slipperiness.
Four, the nib is like butter. Smoother than any nib I’ve ever used. It’s the like the pen is moving over ice. It lays down a nice compact, wet line.
Fifth, the clip has a unique, but surprisingly effective design. It’s designed like a propeller.
Negatives: Just one — No ink window to track the usage of ink. This is a requirement in high performance pens.
This is quite possibly one of the greatest fountain pens in the world. It comes at a premium price. But, it’s worth it for the discriminating fountain pen user who demands high performance and great style.
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TWSBI Diamond 540
For the last two weeks, I’ve been testing the TWSBI Diamond 540 inked with Noodler’s Blue. I tested both fine and medium nibs.
Grade: A-
This is a crisp, cleanly designed demonstrator with a piston fill mechanism. It writes extremely wet. With Noodler’s Blue there was a lot of feathering on cheap paper. On higher quality paper, it delivered a deep saturated wet line.
The pen is big. Bigger than a Lamy Safari. It’s made of polycarbonate, so it’s not too heavy.
The nib is exposed and writes a size up. A fine writes like a medium, and a medium like a broad. In both sizes that I tested, the nib was super smooth.
The piston filler holds a ton of ink. I’ve never had a fountain pen which held as much ink as this pen.
I totally enjoyed this pen. It’ll go into my daily rotation.
Two weaknesses that you should know. First, the grip is make of clear polycarb like the rest of the pen and is slippery. Second, it has a screw cap which I don’t like. The threads don’t allow proper posting of the cab.
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Kuru Toga
The Kuru Toga is my new favorite mechanical pencil.
Grade: A
The key innovation is its new lead advancing mechanism that rotates the lead to always keep the graphite sharp. It works perfectly.
The pencil is light and made of a high quality plastic. The grip is clear so that you can see the rotation mechanism work. It writes pretty smoothly.
The only weakness is that plastic used in the grip is slightly slippery.
The Kuru Toga has replaced the Zebra as the mechanical pencil with which I do my drafting work. Every single person to whom I’ve showed the pencil ends up buying it.
I really want to see Uniball start making premium versions of this pencil (rubber grips, metal, etc). This could be their mechanical pencil platform for the next decade.
Do yourself a favor, buy one.
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Parker IM
just tested a Parker IM in a medium nib, inked with Parker Quink Black.
Grade:C
This is a really disappointing pen. First, the pen writes like broad nib. Second, the pen’s grip is slippery and too small. Third, the ink laid down by the pen is not smooth. There is a lot of skipping.
Some positives of the pen are that it has a nice weight and is made of a high quality durable stainless steel. The pen’s appearance is professional and definitely draws attention.
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Lamy Safari Vista
I just picked up a Lamy Safari Vista in a fine nib. It’s my first foray into fountain pen. All I can say is that I love it.
Grade: B+
The pen has a cool see thru outer plastic. It has smooth writing and a nice ink flow at the nib. The default ink included with the pen is not the greatest (I picked up some Noodlers Air Corps Blue Black. I’ll use it when the default ink runs out).
The pen is nice and light. It has good control and smooth acceleration on paper. Occasionally can feel a little scratchy if moving really fast, but otherwise smooth.
The major negative with the pen is the grip. It’s a strange three sided grip. It takes a while getting used to.
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Pilot Easytouch Pro Medium
This is Pilot’s version of the well regarded uni-ball Jetstream RT. It comes pretty close. I give it a B+.
I tested a blue ink RT. Very smooth inkflow (just a touch less smooth than the Jetstream). No skipping. Solid crisp line. The barrel is nice. It’s rubberized and fits well in the hand.
I have one complaint. The barrel does not have a window to see the ink level. Any premium pen like this should have an ink level window as a standard feature.
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Uniball Signo Bit 0.7
A+
I tested the needle point. It’s just a great pen. No bleeding. Nice control. The grip is great (except that it’s a little too narrow).
There not much to say except that I love this pen.
The ink is a smear proof gel ink. It produces a nice skip free, consistent thickness line. No ink bleeding. Nick thick ink. The needle point feels very sturdy and won’t break under fast, high pressure writing.
The barrel is nice. It’s clear and it’s easy to see the amount of ink.
My only gripe is that is that the barrel is too narrow and too short. This is a minor criticism. If you have large hands or thick fingers, then this pen is not for you. I hope uniball makes a thicker version of the Bit.
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Pilot Precise V7 RT Needle Tip
This pen gets an A. I tested the blue needle tip.
I really love this pen. I am normally not a fan of needle tips, but this one has caught my attention.
It produces an even, skip free line. The movement over paper is reasonably smooth for a needle tip. The grip is rubberized and is comfortable. The barrel length is standard. The pen styling is fairly conservative and reasonable for the office. The blue ink, which I tested, is a dark purple-blue. It gives the writing some gravitas.
The ink is watery, but the needle tip minimizes bleed through the paper. It’s a water-based ink and washed off neatly from your hands.
I do have some concerns about the durability of the needle tip. I’ll be testing it pretty vigorously, so we’ll see if those concerns are valid.
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Bic Triumph 730R 0.7mm
The Bic Triumph get an A-.
So, I am not as enamored with this pen as many other bloggers. I tested the 0.7 roller in black.
Let’s talk about some of the good things about the pen. First, the ink flow is smooth and consistent. It lays down a nice thick powerful line. Second, the pen is absolutely gorgeous. It looks great. It’s the perfect length. It’s got nice metal accents and a sturdy clip. Third, it’s refillable. That’s a nice touch. Fourth, the pen is super smooth on paper. The pen accelerates nicely as I write.
But, it’s got a bunch of weaknesses. First, the ink just bleeds right through paper. A pen this expensive just shouldn’t bleed so easily. They should be using a thicker liquid ink preparation. Second, the barrel is too narrow. This pen becomes uncomfortable will long use. Third, the grip is plastic and not the nice rubber grips that premium pens should always have.
I want to like this pen. I will try the 0.5 needle tip in the future and report back. I also want to see this pen in an RT version with a rubber grip. There is a lot of potential here. With a little refinement, the Bic Triumph could become one of the world’s great pens (in the same class as the Jetstream and the G2).
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Bic Z4 Rollerball
The Bic Z4 0.7 Roller is a B+.
I tested the green roller from Staples. It was on sale for Fifty cents.
I like the pen. The ink flow is pretty consistent. It skips slightly if I try to write fast. If I write at regular speed, though, the line is even and skipfree.
The ink is watery. It easily bleeds through the paper. It gets absorbed quickly enough that I think that lefties could use the pen without any problem.
One nice feature of the pen is that it glides smoothly over the paper. It is not scratchy at all.
The pen is shorter than most. It feels great in the hand. It has thick rubber grip over the barrel.
Overall a pretty decent pen.
