Thursday, 7 July 2016
So, as some of you may know, the TWSBI pens seem to have cracking issues, and TWSBI have done an amazing job to get them fixed, but with the Eco, they have seemed to have failed a small bit on my part, I am not degrading them as a company, most of their pens are amazing, but my Eco that I have has had some cracks in the section, only two small ones, but I still know they are there, and I could be writing then a blob of ink had just dropped out, and you know how much that pisses me off?
I love TWSBI pens, they are cheap and the quality is okay, but when it comes to cracking, it seems they have let it down a bit, I do hope that if they bring out another cheap pen, they fix these cracking issues, and I know I may get some back lash, but come on, I am allowed to speak my own mind!
Now I am not saying to not go and buy from them, I am just saying that I thought that I would never have the issue, but seems like I am wrong.
By the way, review of the pen coming up!
I love TWSBI pens, they are cheap and the quality is okay, but when it comes to cracking, it seems they have let it down a bit, I do hope that if they bring out another cheap pen, they fix these cracking issues, and I know I may get some back lash, but come on, I am allowed to speak my own mind!
Now I am not saying to not go and buy from them, I am just saying that I thought that I would never have the issue, but seems like I am wrong.
By the way, review of the pen coming up!
Thursday, 26 May 2016
"The views and opinions in this review are of my own, I have not been compensated to give false views of the product in question, if I like an item, I will say so, if I do not like it, I will be honest and explain why I do not like the item, no fake views."
This review is of a pen that I have had on my radar for a while now, but never took the time to order it, I have had it for a few months now, so my opinions are genuine.
The Hero 616 is a nice light pen, for those that like lights pens, this would be a pen for you, but those that do not like light pens, will have to steer clear from this pen, otherwise it may be of interest to you.
The pen is a light one, coming in at only 13g capped, and 8g uncapped, the cap also weights 5g, so most of the weight is in the body of the pen, but do take note, that this pen has ink in it, not like that would make much of a difference, right?
The nib was scratchy when I wrote with it for the first time, I checked the tines under a loupe and it needed to be fixed, so I did so and was only left with some mild feedback, but this was not the end of it. The pen was fine for a while, then I got it out recently and wrote with it, it was scratchy as all get-out, so off to the shop I went to get some really fine sand paper and used it on the nib, after some work, it is smoother than before.
The filling system is a captive converter, but the converter is the press style, not the most effective when it comes to drawing up ink, unless you remove the nib and feed, then fill it via a syringe or an eyedropper.
The pen is okay, for the value it is a perfect every day writer, but do note, that the nib may not be perfect on all of the pens.
This review is of a pen that I have had on my radar for a while now, but never took the time to order it, I have had it for a few months now, so my opinions are genuine.
The Hero 616 is a nice light pen, for those that like lights pens, this would be a pen for you, but those that do not like light pens, will have to steer clear from this pen, otherwise it may be of interest to you.
Overview
The pen is a light one, coming in at only 13g capped, and 8g uncapped, the cap also weights 5g, so most of the weight is in the body of the pen, but do take note, that this pen has ink in it, not like that would make much of a difference, right?
The pen is well balanced in the hand, and the length is not bad either, at 13.7cm/5.8inches capped, and 12.7cm/5inches uncapped, it would make for a nicely unposted pen, but if you like to post your pens, it is 13.6cm/5.6inches, it's not bad and I would not mind posting it every now and then.
The pen is a Parker 51 knock-off/clone, and is black in colour, and the cap being chrome in colour. The nib is a steel hooded nib, and is of medium width.
Writing Performance
The nib was scratchy when I wrote with it for the first time, I checked the tines under a loupe and it needed to be fixed, so I did so and was only left with some mild feedback, but this was not the end of it. The pen was fine for a while, then I got it out recently and wrote with it, it was scratchy as all get-out, so off to the shop I went to get some really fine sand paper and used it on the nib, after some work, it is smoother than before.
The nib and feed do well to keep up, but the nib is wet, when I first got it, it was one of the most wet pens I had, but that made it a bit more smoother when it was having issues with the smoothness.
I rather the other types of pens, like the non hooded nibs, as they are a lot smoother than most of these Chinese hooded nibs.
Filling System
The filling system is a captive converter, but the converter is the press style, not the most effective when it comes to drawing up ink, unless you remove the nib and feed, then fill it via a syringe or an eyedropper.
Personally, I prefer the piston type converters than these ones, as these ones do not fill as much as I would like to.
The other down side of this pen, is that when you clean it, you have to take so much time to do it, and it is not as easy, with the nib and feed being hooded and all, may as well buy another pen that does not have this type of converter.
Ease Of Cleaning?
The other down side of this pen, is that when you clean it, you have to take so much time to do it, and it is not as easy, with the nib and feed being hooded and all, may as well buy another pen that does not have this type of converter.
Over All Thoughts?
The pen is okay, for the value it is a perfect every day writer, but do note, that the nib may not be perfect on all of the pens.
The converter may be an issue with those that write a lot, as you may need to fill it more and more, depending on the situation, and the silicon sac in the converter can break over time, mine came to me with a pin-hole in the tip of the sac, but it still fills like normal.
Writing sample
The pen itself, with the cap on.
The pen, uncapped.
The pen posted.
The pen, uncapped, showing the filling system
Monday, 16 May 2016
Let me start off with saying thank you to the lady that sent me the just under half bottle of Iroshizuku Yama-Budo free of charge, I will keep her name disclosed from my readers so that she does not get swarmed with requests for free ink, as I was going to pay for shipping but she decided to just send it to me, and I thank her so much for her generosity, now, onto the review.
This ink is really nice, a pretty magenta colour that is vibrant but not as in-your-face as many other inks out there, the ink has nice flow and is a quick drying ink, but that depends on the paper you use, if you use this ink on really cheap paper, it will dry within' 2 seconds, but on Rhodia paper it drys within' 5 seconds.
Let's talk about the ink bottle for a minute, because I LOVE the packaging this comes in, granted I have not got the packaging from this bottle, but when I do get some Iroshizuku ink for myself, I will be taking pictures of the box for sure, but the bottle is amazing, it has a really thick glass bottom, and it is quite heavy, also the ink volume is 50ml, the cost for this ink in Australia can vary from $40+ and $50+, depending on where you buy it and if it has free shipping.
This is one of my favorite inks, I have been wanting to get it for ages now, and the bottle is now0 nearly empty, as the ink level is near the "Nib Dip" in the bottom of the bottle, I can fill a few more pens with the ink I still have at the moment, I think I will transfer the ink to a sample vial for easy filling, and the great thing about the bottles is that I can reuse them for other inks, and the label must be an easy one to remove, as I have seen people without the labels on the bottles.
Writing samples and an image of the bottle below! Image of the bottle from Gouletpens.com
This ink is really nice, a pretty magenta colour that is vibrant but not as in-your-face as many other inks out there, the ink has nice flow and is a quick drying ink, but that depends on the paper you use, if you use this ink on really cheap paper, it will dry within' 2 seconds, but on Rhodia paper it drys within' 5 seconds.
Let's talk about the ink bottle for a minute, because I LOVE the packaging this comes in, granted I have not got the packaging from this bottle, but when I do get some Iroshizuku ink for myself, I will be taking pictures of the box for sure, but the bottle is amazing, it has a really thick glass bottom, and it is quite heavy, also the ink volume is 50ml, the cost for this ink in Australia can vary from $40+ and $50+, depending on where you buy it and if it has free shipping.
This is one of my favorite inks, I have been wanting to get it for ages now, and the bottle is now0 nearly empty, as the ink level is near the "Nib Dip" in the bottom of the bottle, I can fill a few more pens with the ink I still have at the moment, I think I will transfer the ink to a sample vial for easy filling, and the great thing about the bottles is that I can reuse them for other inks, and the label must be an easy one to remove, as I have seen people without the labels on the bottles.
Writing samples and an image of the bottle below! Image of the bottle from Gouletpens.com
Sunday, 15 May 2016
Mwuahahaha, time for another review! Keeping up with the cheaper pens, we have one from China, this is the Baoer 3035.
The pen, the nib and the cap and barrel is stainless steel, the nib is a Medium width and can be pulled out along side the feed for easy cleaning and tuning, it comes with a standard international converter, the pen has a black jewel at the end of the cap, and the clip is springy, but I feel I can over do it with not much force.
The writing experience was perfect with this pen, after getting it, I flushed it out and let it dry, then went ahead and inked it up, at the moment I have Omas Turquoise that I got as a sample from someone (You know who you are!), ink flow is nice and wet on Rhodia paper, but on the paper that I used in this review (Review of it coming up!) was more absorbent, but still held up to the ink, and wetness will vary on different paper, same with dry time.
Now, the story regarding this pen, the section is not what came with the body and cap when I first got the pen, this was my first fountain pens that I had gotten, so the story goes like this - I was cleaning the pen, and was trying to remove the nib and feed, but they where stuck and not coming out, so I decided to soak the section in water over night, in the morning, I took the section out and wrapped it up in some paper towel, and then I must have either lost it in moving my room around, or accidentally thrown it away, and now when ever I throw away some tissue from my desk, I pull it all apart to make sure there are no pen sections in them, and so I had to buy another one of these pens, and the one I bought has a black barrel and black cap, but the section fitted perfectly into the silver barrel and cap.
Writing sample, weight and measurements below! *Sorry for bad photos, they where taken using my iPhone 6 and the time of day was really not the best of times...*
Capped - 1.10oz Capped - 31g
Uncapped - 0.60oz Uncapped - 17g
Cap - 0.55oz Cap - 14g
Capped - 13.5cm
Uncapped - 12cm
Posted - 14.9cm
The pen, the nib and the cap and barrel is stainless steel, the nib is a Medium width and can be pulled out along side the feed for easy cleaning and tuning, it comes with a standard international converter, the pen has a black jewel at the end of the cap, and the clip is springy, but I feel I can over do it with not much force.
The writing experience was perfect with this pen, after getting it, I flushed it out and let it dry, then went ahead and inked it up, at the moment I have Omas Turquoise that I got as a sample from someone (You know who you are!), ink flow is nice and wet on Rhodia paper, but on the paper that I used in this review (Review of it coming up!) was more absorbent, but still held up to the ink, and wetness will vary on different paper, same with dry time.
Now, the story regarding this pen, the section is not what came with the body and cap when I first got the pen, this was my first fountain pens that I had gotten, so the story goes like this - I was cleaning the pen, and was trying to remove the nib and feed, but they where stuck and not coming out, so I decided to soak the section in water over night, in the morning, I took the section out and wrapped it up in some paper towel, and then I must have either lost it in moving my room around, or accidentally thrown it away, and now when ever I throw away some tissue from my desk, I pull it all apart to make sure there are no pen sections in them, and so I had to buy another one of these pens, and the one I bought has a black barrel and black cap, but the section fitted perfectly into the silver barrel and cap.
Writing sample, weight and measurements below! *Sorry for bad photos, they where taken using my iPhone 6 and the time of day was really not the best of times...*
Capped - 1.10oz Capped - 31g
Uncapped - 0.60oz Uncapped - 17g
Cap - 0.55oz Cap - 14g
Capped - 13.5cm
Uncapped - 12cm
Posted - 14.9cm
Tuesday, 3 May 2016
Hello my loyal readers, guess who has decided to come back from his time away? >:)
I have been thinking, "Do I really want to retire from reviews? Or keep doing them?" So I decided to make this post, I have decided that I will keep doing my reviews, because I have some new posts coming up, not sure when as I need to buy the items, but there may be some Iroshizuku ink reviews, Pilot reviews, Kaweco and Pelikan reviews, but only time will tell!
I will not be doing any reviews until I get over my cold that I have (I know right, sucks), but until then, you can all moan and groan over how the crappy reviewer is back (I'm going to make my own format for that, by the way :P)
Warm regards,
Ashley Evans.
I have been thinking, "Do I really want to retire from reviews? Or keep doing them?" So I decided to make this post, I have decided that I will keep doing my reviews, because I have some new posts coming up, not sure when as I need to buy the items, but there may be some Iroshizuku ink reviews, Pilot reviews, Kaweco and Pelikan reviews, but only time will tell!
I will not be doing any reviews until I get over my cold that I have (I know right, sucks), but until then, you can all moan and groan over how the crappy reviewer is back (I'm going to make my own format for that, by the way :P)
Warm regards,
Ashley Evans.
Friday, 22 April 2016
I am sad to report, that I am going to Retire from doing pen reviews, we do need to take into consideration that this hobby is expensive, and I just do not have the money to keep on getting pens/ink/paper for reviews, also I have too much on in real life, I may be getting a job soon, so that will make it hard to do reviews, also I have a Cert III in Retail to finish, I have to also finish my 40 hours of work experience, and after that I may have work there, so any days I have free will be spent sleeping from my busy weeks, I will leave the blog up and leave the old reviews up for people to read over, so the last two reviews I posted will be my last ones, until I get the time to do this again, I guess you could say I am going on a long hiatus until further notice, but I will be back, just at the moment I need to Retire for a bit.
I hope everyone enjoys writing with their pens, ink and paper.
All I have to say now, is:
Write on!
~Ashley Evans
I hope everyone enjoys writing with their pens, ink and paper.
All I have to say now, is:
Write on!
~Ashley Evans
