KenCrooker.com

Fingers Were Meant to be Inky

/ / Babble, Ink / 9 Comments

I’m So Bluuuuuuuu…For Youuuuuuuuu!

A comparison of ten medium blue fountain pen inks (Blackstone Barrier Reef Blue, De Atramentis Steel Blue, Noodler's Navy, Levenger Empyrean, Noodler's Ottoman Azure, Pelikan Edelstein Topaz, Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki, Robert Oster Blue Sea, Robert Oster School Blue, Toucan Bright Blue). This image shows the water test in progress.

A Comparison of Blues Similar to Noodler’s Navy

Google+ has a really nice fountain pen community going. It’s not super busy there, but a group of dedicated regulars keep the conversation going. There’s a lot of information sharing, show-and-tell, and (of course) questions & calls for recommendations. Regular contributor Nathan stopped in to ask for recommendation: He was looking for a blue similar to Noodler’s Navy, but that was even more water-resistant.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!!!

I knew that Noodler’s published a
… Read More

/ / Fountain Pens, Reviews / 3 Comments

Think Pens Couture Review (Vacation & Violino)

Think Couture Fountain Pens (Vacation and Violino) Uncapped, with the pens laying down beside their caps

I’m not sure whether to include these pens in my “Took a Flyer” file or my “Impulse Buy” file. I guess I’ll copy this review and place it in both files. Like I really have files.

Think Pens Couture Fountain Pens: Vacation & Violino

Price: $45.00 each
Nib: Medium
Filling System: Cartridge/Converter (Standard International)

About the Company & Pens:

Okay, so I’m going to do something a little different with this review and look at two pens instead of just one. Although the two pens have different designs, they employ the same “guts” internally, and they are part of the much larger “Couture” line of pen designs. The problem with Think Pens is that… Read More

/ / Fountain Pens, Ink, Paper, Reviews / 1 Comment

Quick Look: Cheap Composition Notebooks

The covers of Five Cheap Composition Notebooks, four from Norcom (Brazil, Colombia, USA, Vietnam) and one Casemate (China)

“Back to School” Means Dirt-Cheap Notebooks! Are They Any Good with Fountain Pens?

Fountain pens are wonderful. That’s a given. But because they use water-based ink, they’re really not suitable for most run-of-the-mill paper (see what I did, there?). Fountain pens aren’t very popular in the US, so most of the everyday paper found here is a poor match for pens that use water-based inks. Ballpoints and gel pens effectively make up the entirety of American daily writing instruments, so manufacturers only need to supply paper that works well with those inks…which, really, any crappy paper can do.

So that leaves us poor fountain pen users stuck buying higher quality paper, mostly imported from France or Japan. These papers are great, but they’re pretty expensive compared to… Read More

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Tactile Turn Gist Fountain Pen Review

The The Tactile Turn Gist Fountain Pen, uncapped, with the cap laying down and the pen resting on top of it

This pen represents the first time I backed something on Kickstarter. It’s also my first hand-machined fountain pen. It also has my first titanium nib. Lotta firsts with this one.

Tactile Turn Gist Fountain Pen

Price: $118.00 ($79 for the pen + $39 for the nib)
Nib: EF (Titanium)
Filling System: Cartridge/Converter (Standard International)

About the Company & Pen:

Tactile Turn is a tiny machine shop down in Richardson, Texas that designs and creates a modest line of consumer products, catering mostly to the everyday carry (EDC) crowd. The company’s current products include the Pruner and Parer razor handles and the Mover and Shaker rollerball pens. The new (and exciting) addition to their lineup is the Gist fountain pen.

The Tactile Turn Gist Fountain Pen in its Box

Tactile Turn’s products are all made from rugged, durable, and attractive materials, including stainless steel, titanium, copper, brass, and polycarbonate. They’re made to take a beating, keep functioning as intended, and look snazzy doing it…. Read More

/ / Fountain Pens, Reviews / 2 Comments

Cross Dubai Fountain Pen Review

The Cross Dubai Fountain Pen, capped and laying on top of the writing sample

From the “What the Hell Were They Thinking?” Files…It’s an ugly, pitiful little thing, but I guess it gets the job done.

Cross Dubai Fountain Pen

Price: $15.00
Nib: Medium
Filling System: Cross Cartridges (No Converter Included)

About the Pen:

If I had to describe the Cross Dubai in one word, it would be “not fantastic.” (But Ken, that’s two words. Shut up!) Thankfully, it only cost $15, because it’s not all that impressive of a writing instrument. The nib is fat and mushy…should probably be considered a broad, not a medium. It dries out fast. The section is slippery. It has an ugly design. It doesn’t come with a converter.

In summary: The Cross Dubai is kind of a loser. Truthfully though, it’s not entirely terrible either. In many ways, writing with it is pretty freaking unpleasant. But when the ink is a’flowin’, it’s kind of appealing, too. A little.

The Cross Dubai Fountain Pen Uncapped with the pen laying down and the cap standing up behind it

Founded way back in 1846, Cross is a huge name in writing instruments. The fact that they’ve been around so long must mean… Read More

/ / Fountain Pens, Reviews / 1 Comment

Monteverde Invincia Deluxe Review (A Frankenpen Special)

Monteverde Invincia Fountain Pen with a Goulet EF NIb

This is a Frankenpen special review for a modified…

Monteverde Invincia Deluxe Fountain Pen

Price: $80.00 + $15 for the nib
Nib: Goulet EF
Filling System: Screw-Type Piston Converter & Standard International Cartridges

About the Pen:

The Invincia was one of the first pens I purchased, and until recently, was the most expensive pen in my collection. When it arrived, I was pretty much blown away by the way it looks. It’s a beautiful pen. All the hardware has a shiny black finish, and the stub nib was black to match. Classy! I couldn’t wait to try it out.

Unfortunately, the pen didn’t write nearly as well as it looked. I think it was a matter of the feed not being able to keep up with the ink demands of the stub nib. It just kept drying up, requiring me to prime the feed (i.e., forcing ink into the feed using the converter)…. Read More

/ / Fountain Pens, Reviews / 7 Comments

Conklin Duragraph Fountain Pen Review

Conklin Duragraph Fountain Pen, Amber, In Box

I took a break from my quest to find the perfect inexpensive Chinese fountain pen to play with something a little higher up the food chain…

Conklin Duragraph

Price: $44.00
Nib: 1.1 mm Italic Stub
Filling System: Screw-Type Piston Converter

About the Pen:

I’ve had my eye on the Duragraph for a long time. I stumbled upon it while perusing the GouletPens site and it immediately caught my eye. To put it simply, the pen is just gorgeous. There were three color models available, all of which looked really nice. The one thing keeping me from making the purchase was that Conklin is run by the same people behind the Monteverde brand. I have a beautiful Monteverde Invincia that just refuses to write.

Knowing the two brands are related, I was hesitant to pull the trigger, fearing that the Duragraph would suffer from the same ink flow problems (both pens have 1.1 mm italic stub nibs). I read a pile of customer reviews on the Duragraph, and no one reported any difficulty in that area.

Soooooooooooo, I finally gave in and ordered one. And boy, am I glad I did.

Conklin Duragraph 1.1mm Italic Stub Nib
… Read More

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Sheaffer Prelude 380 Fountain Pen Review

Sheaffer Prelude 380 Fountain Pen in metallic blue

From the “I expected more from this pen” files…

Sheaffer Prelude 380 Fountain Pen

Price: $41.00
Nib: Fine
Filling System: Twist-Style Piston Converter

About the Pen

I’m on the constant hunt for a fountain pen that puts down an extra fine line, but with the smoothness and wetness of a medium nib. The closest thing I’ve found so far is the Pilot Metropolitan, which really is a brilliant writer. An eBay auction for a Sheaffer with a “fine nib that writes like an extra-fine” caught my eye. I know Sheaffer is a great and respected brand, and the pen looked really pretty, so I decided to take a shot on it. Amazon had the same pen listed for $65, so I thought $41 was a good deal. When it arrived, I cleaned it, inked it up, and this is what I found…. Read More