Sheaffer Prelude Fountain Pen Medium Nib

So, this year marks 100 years of Sheaffer pen manufacture, Walter A. Sheaffer founded his company with 7 employees in Fort Maddison, Iowa in the back of his jewelry shop to capitalise on his idea of a lever filling system for fountain pens, and he we are 100 years later still using Sheaffer pens. So what follows is a review of my Sheaffer pen.

index card test

The medium nib on my Sheaffer writes a very controlled and precise line, thou as with all most fountain pen inks smudging is always an issue, that lays down and assured and accurate line even on the more fibrous/rougher papers, not just the smooth 80-150gsm papers, when using Sheaffer ink, which in this case just so happens to be their turquoise cartridge ink, although this does not seem to have scanned very well or accurately, so please refer to the third picture for a true to life representation of the ink colour.

Feathering test

 On 80GSM plain paper (above) the nib and ink combination does not exhibit any feathering tendency's either when writing or rough sketching, of course this can change from paper to paper as it relies on the paper quality more than anything, but on plain copier paper of 80GSM feathering does not occur, so draw you own conclusions form that for the use your intending.

Ink colour representation

As you can see the ink colour is on the light side of turquoise when flow has been established, when starting a new cartridge the first few strokes are considerably darker, so if consistency through the document is important, a special letter or greetings card message then I would recommend getting flow going before writing.
Generally the ink is very good value, plenty of writing in a standard Sheaffer cartridge, although I must worn the writer of the messier ilk that the ink is very stubborn, more so than many other inks and will take a lot of washing to remove from fingers and clothing, if any little accidents happen.

This particular model is the rainbow colour style, similar to gun metal finishes but with a gold ground to the body and cap.

The pen comes in a nice presentation case, covered in faux metallic gold leather and a standard twist to fill Sheaffer converter for bottled ink users.

The pen itself has a nice feel in the hand, neither too heavy or light, just right, for me at least, a nice firm capped and lidded feel, with very little or no play in either position. The screw barrel also feels very firm when full screwed on, to the point that a couple of times I have had trouble and a bit of effort expanded when unscrewing for cartridge replacement.

The pocket clip is reassuringly firm and will perform adequately in most situations.

The finger grip part of the barrel is finished in plain black plastic, which is comfortable to hold for long periods of time, and perfectly adequate for this every day pen, some like a metal grip but i prefer plastic, it's all about personal choice, so decide what is best for you and stick with it.

 The nib does exhibit a very wet writing profile but thankfully does not seem to lay down too much ink when writing. The ink delivery is the standard and usual plastic veined affair found across a multitude of fountain pens, does the job perfectly well and as expected.

Notebooks...

I have a bit of a thing for notebooks too, the paper kind.

So much so that even I readily admit that I have too many.

But that's not the point, I  use them everyday, not all of them of course, this is just the stock for future use, which is always being added to, and, bar a few exemptions, they are all bargain finds, from various sources, more of which later.

Within these notebooks I also class generic organisers, such as the three in the second from top row in the photo below (#2); the black A5 (petrol station gift), green A5 (Wilkinson) and brown FC Barcelona A5 (FCB shop) examples are my regularly used ones.

There are some other interesting types and paper below, more of which later, examples of paper quality and writing reviews will follow in the days and weeks ahead.

#1 Collection Part 1

Above are some interesting examples (#1), the blue and yellow hard backed A5 books in the middle are actually Miquelrius manufactured notebooks, only ever seen for sale in Barcelona Airport duty free shops, the Warhol inspired hardback A5 in the same row was a discount shop find, many years ago no, with no distinguishable maker, although I suspect it is a named maker as the paper quality is very nice.

Bottom left and top right art punched index card folders, with subject dividers, I'm not sure what I will ever use these for but I've got them for when I do and that's the important point. Top left are 2 packs of punched rainbow index cards, not refills for the two folders, but the smaller 3" inch size, a folder for these was not included as its identical in all aspects other than size to the red and blue examples shown.

Bottom right is a Muji aluminium A6 folio folder, this is what i use when I know I'm going to be making a lot of notes, factual or descriptive notes, not creative notes, Muji refill paper and their notebooks in general I find take a pencil very well, among some of the best pencil notepaper I've used. Top middle are 2 ASDA (Wal-Mart for American readers) A5 black 3 pocketed ribboned cream plain and squared notebooks, two of which are in my daily users, see further below.

#2 Collection Part 2 

Above (#2) second from right on the bottom row are two very interesting new pocket notebooks, from Miquelrius they are marketed as Stonepaper, essentially they are waterproof, so much so that in store displays have example books fully immersed in water, how exactly the stone comes into play is never really explained beyond what can be found on the Miquelrius website, "gypsum, limestone and marble mixed with resin and we have stone paper", check back soon for a paper test with these books, I'm very excited myself to see how they take ink and stand up to water in the real world. More on Miquelrius and these Stonepaper notebooks.

#3 Every day users

#4 The ever trusty Sharpie method of spine labeling

As you can see I have used the ever popular and trusty Sharpie method for labeling the spines, though it's fine for these everyday books I would personally use a labeling machine for long term archiving, mainly because my writing is terrible and even more so when trying to write on a spine.

Cretacolor Classic Black 5.6mm Leadholder

The Cretacolor.43000, an unusual name for a lead holder/clutch pencil, is definitely from the budget end of lead holders (or clutch pencil, whichever you prefer), but is very well made never the less. Comes supplied with a 5.6mm black 2B (not actually identified on site, but my guess at lead softness) 123mm long lead, more leads are available in Graphite, White Pastel, Sanguine Oil, Sepia Light, Sepia Dark, Graphite 4B, Charcoal, 2B, 4B & 6B, as well as light/dark sepia & Sanguine, from various manufacturers via Cultpens.

The written line is variable through the written word and sentence, a very soft variable writing head which lays down a very dark and easy sliding line. The integrity of the deposited graphite is as you would expect very susceptible to smudging, both wet and dry, but I would not use this as a heavy writer, more of a sketch pencil for travel and flow charting etc.

The Clutch action is very firm and reassuring, though how long this will last will only be told through prolonged use. If your after a budget lead holder either for travel/pocket then I would certainly recommend this one, with plenty of options for lead colours and hardness options you should be able to kit out a sketch kit for not much investment at all.
All available from www.cultpens.com, free shipping for orders over £10 and shipping worldwide available.

Schneider Slider Memo XB *UPDATED*

The Schneider Memo XB is a very nice smooth writer, ink flows easily and instantly from first use, what the actual names means is open to discussion, thou it may have something to do with it being marketed as a scholars, or pupil as the manufactures website has it, pen, but as a "memo" pen, then its does it's job admirably, writing quickly and efficiently with a quick drying time. Ink is also "wipe proof" when used with highlighters and waterproof, some nice considerations and presumably why its marketed as a school/pupils pen. A nice range of colours is also available, apart form the normal blue. black and red, there are Green, Orange, Violet an Lilac (these are my interpretations of the colours on official website, as there are no supplied colour names by the manufacturer), each colour having its own barrel colour combination, the inner black part barrel of test pen changing to math ink colour.

The drying time is acceptable for any but the quickest of left handed writers, I am not left handed so please let me know if a "dryer" pen is best, with a strong, even and medium thickness line, again stated by manufacturer as 1.4mm, laid down easily and with little effort. Presumably due to the Viscoglide (R) - Technology used by the German manufacturer.

Below is a plain paper ink test with bleed through. As you can see its a nice fine dark and constant line with very little show thought to reverse side.

Written line test, plain "copier" paper

Bleed thought test, 80 gsm plain white copier paper

The body of the pen itself is very comfortable, light and easy on the hand, with a slight rubbery feeling to the bulk of the covering (blue bits). The pocket clip feels very strong and has a reassuring heft in it's spring, this pen is going nowhere in every day use and carrying, the cap itself fits snugly over the nub and even more snugly when mounted for writing, a stop lug is in place to prevent over fitting (see second picture below).

All in all a pleasant and promising everyday/pocket pen. The nib itself is stainless steel and wear resistant. The pen does not appear to be user dissemble, so i would say it is a disposable.

See www.schneiderpen.de/en/ for more info, using the penfinder to find this pen, and to browse the other products from manufacturer.

I received the pen as a free sample from www.cultpens.com when purchasing other items, I can heartily recommend them for any of your pen, refill and ink needs, free delivery on orders over £10 and ship worldwide.

Include the book the test quote is from in the comment area for personal kudos, all tests will have an (CLUE) opening line from a literary work.

I have a "thing" for pens..

Top Row L - R: 

Pilot V-5 HI-TECPOINT 0.5, BLACK; STAEDTLER Lumocolor permanent black Fine; 

Berol Italic black Medium; Stabilo Write-4-all permanent black Superfine;

Plus* Grey Fine&Jumbo double ended.

Top Left: 

Faber-Castell 4 PITT artist pen Sanguine Superfine, Fine, Medium & Brush.

Left Column: 

LETRASET Promarker Built Environment & Greys permanent twin-tip sets.

Middle Row: 

Pilot V Super Color Marker Cartridge Type Refillable Orange Chisel Medium;

Cumberland Pencil Musuem entrance pencils; 

Pilot V Super Color Marker Cartridge Type Refillable Red Chisel Medium;

Pilot V Super Color Marker Cartridge Type Refillable Blue Bullet Medium.

Bottom Row:

10 Pack TESCO Fibre Tip Pens Assorted;

Pilot V Super Color Marker Cartridge Type Refillable Black Chisel Bullet Medium 

Generic Glitter Gel Pens Gold & Silver;

ARTLINE Calligraphy Pen Metallic Gold & Silver;

Muji Calligraphy Brush Pen Black.

Top Left:

Cross Century Fountain Pen & Fibre Tip Lustrous Chrome.

Left Middle:

Generic Fineliner 0.4mm Assorted colours Fine.

Bottom Row:

Pentel Fibre Tip Black; STAEDTLER Lumocolor permanent black Fine;

Papermate Flexigrip Ultra Med Black; Wilkinson's Gel Roller Black; 

Parker Vector Fountain Pen Little Prince Edition; 

Cretacolor Classic Black 5.6mm Lead holder; ASDA Generic Mini Fountain Pen.

Top Right:

 Shaeffer Rainbow Fountain Pen; "Daddy's Pen" Ball Point; 

FC Barcelona Projector Ball Point; Generic Promotional Ball Point; Pilot Dr.Grip Ball Point; Muji Mini Ball Point;

Left Column:

Promotional Roller Ball; Generic Highlighters Pink, Orange & Yellow Chisel Tip;

Stabilo Swing Cool Highlighter Yellow Chisel Tip;

Faber-Castell Textliner Triangular Pencil Gold, Orange & Silver;

Cross Bullet Roller Ball;  Sharpie Pen Fine Red, Blue & Black;

Pilot V-5 HI-TECPOINT 0.5, BLACK; Plus* 0.7mm 4 Colors Mini;

Middle Column:

Cretacolor Classic Black 5.6mm Lead holder; Schneider Slider Memo XB Ballpoint

TESCO Ball Point Rainbow Selection; Plus* 0.7mm Retractable Ball Point;

Parker Ballpoint.

Right Column:

Pilot V-Ball 07 Blue Roller ball; Milan Capsule 0.7mm Mechanical Pencil;

WHSmith Own Brand Euro Cartridge Roller ball;

NOVOTEL Promotional Mechanical Pencil;

Cixi Zhouxiang Tianyi Stationery 2.0mm Auto-Pencil TY-820 spare assorted leads; 

Pentel Mechanical Pencil P205 0.5mm; Parker Vector 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil;

Pentel Sharplet-2 0.5mm mechanical pencil; Rotring Core Fountain Pen XB Nib;

Parker Vector Fountain Pen M Nib; ASDA Scholars Fountain Pen; 

Hero Pen Duke Fountain Pen.

Top Middle:

Pelikan Self Fill Fountain Pen Ink bottle.

Yes, i have a "thing" for pens and Sharpies too (see above), of all sorts, writing and drawing.
So, what is the point of these pictures? Well, I will be testing all of them and posting my thoughts, critiques and pictures of ink tests here, so, if you in the least bit interested in pens, for writing or drawing or just for having, keep checking back for updates and comparisons.