September 2011
4 posts
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...
3 tags
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...
3 tags
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...
4 tags
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...