Paper Mate Mini Roller

After much delay I finally got my hands on the Paper Mate version of the ink cartridge roller ball. I posted a while ago about a W.H.Smiths version and its disappointments here: http://pensetc.blogspot.com/2013/04/whsmith-euro-cartridge-mini-rollerball.html. Lets see what Paper MAte have managed to do with their version.

At first glance the construction is virtually identical to the inferior (in my opinion) W.H.Smith's version, but once the top is removed (a very reassuring) and the barrel unscrewed the difference can be felt immediately. Barrel has a very reassuring tightness to it and long screw action to attach/detach. this is not coming loose. Surprisingly the pocket clip is also very firm, which first impressions would lead me to believe it will not stand up to much use, but so far its proved to be very robust.

The pen in capped configuration really is very compact, roughly 5 cm's long, very pocket friendly. a nice tactile and comfortable weight to hold and carry.

Nothing particularly striking about its appearance, other than the size and the cartridge refill aspect, it will not draw attention in use especially, but it's a nice one to have just for the fountain pen experience in a roller ball form factor.
Especially if you have a favourite cartridge only ink.
Here we can see the pen breaks down to 3 roughly equal parts; cap, barrel and nib section.
Here we can see better the long screw to attach nib section to barrel, as you can see, in comparison to the pen over all length it a large percentage of the pen, very reassuring construction points. As can be seen, the lid is longer than the barrel, which causes some issues, more on this later .

And now the issues, as can be seen the cap posted pen is not much longer than the capped pen. This is the main problem, strangely enough I don't think the cap sits low enough on the pen when posted. This results in the pen cap coming loose during writing, very easily, and when this happens the pen is to short (for my hands) to rest against the join of thumb and forefinger.
Which all results in a constant fiddle to stabilize a wobbly and wandering pen, just like the W.H.Smith's version.

So taking into account these similar issues does this point to a design problem and flaw in these mini roller ball/cartridge pens? I would hope not as I really like the concept, I do think a simple redesign and indeed a full size pen would be ideal for this concept.

A nice surprise is the inclusion of 8 standard euro cartridges with the two pens, 6 in the box and one in each pen, not bad value for £0.99, though it would have been nice to maybe get some colour variations instead, perhaps 4 of each colour. I also wonder if these pens would be ok to use with registrars ink or pigment ink, for drawing and document signing etc. Perhaps there is an experiment i need to conduct.

Below is the standard writing test, I think it writes very much like a fountain pen, purely down to the ink, no smudge test this time as it's all down to your ink choice.

Cult Pens Mini Fountain Pen

New post centering on my favourite pen site for browsing and drooling over which pens I want next, I am of course talking about www.cultpens.com.
Cult pens have taken an interesting and bold step, manufacturing their own pen, and not just any old style of pen but a mini fountain pen.

And here it is, the Cult Pens Mini Fountain Pen in all its glory, it is a bit hard to tell from the pictures just how big this pen actually is, so here are the dimensions direct from www.cultpens.com description:

Barrel diameter: 9.5mm, stepping up to meet the 10.5mm cap

Length capped: 105mm, uncapped: 93mm, posted: 123mm

Weight: 20g

Some more details:

"There's a choice of five nib sizes, from EF to BB. The nib is the same German-made steel nib from Bock that features in Kaweco's highly respected AL Sport, Liliput and Dia pens, among others; so not only is it a good quality, smooth nib, but it's easy to replace if it's ever damaged accidentally, or if you just decide you fancy a change of width."

I have really high hopes for this pen, I will certainly be getting one soon, soon as i can justify it to myself, even though it is a very reasonable price. I think it could well become a favourite everyday pen, ideal for pockets and notebooks. Only time and use will tell, stay tuned for a full review once I get one. One note, for some reason this pen wants to make me trying it with the extra fine nib, not sure why, but I'm strangely excited by the thought.

They also have a huge range from various manufacturers of ink cartridges to fit this, and other, mini pens, a colour to suit every desire surely. If anyone already has one, please let me know, or even get in touch for a guest post.

Lamy Safari White Medium nib

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Here we have my newest addition to the pen addiction/collection/habit, a Lamy Safari fountain pen.

I'm sure many people know these pens, probably many owners reading this blog too, but this is my first Safari, I have owned Lamy pens before (now sadly lost over the years) but never a Safari, guess I've been a late arrival to the fan club. This is my daily user at present, as is usual with any new pen I get.

I tend to use my newest pen for a while, at least till the cartridge/refill runs out then move on to the newest pen or go out on a mission and buy a new pen, but with the Safari I have actually bought refill ink cartridges to keep it as a daily user, I guess that must say something for this pen, what though I will not commit to.

Obviously it's a white model with a medium nib, I've never actually seen a new Safari supplied with anything other a medium nib, anyone else? I know fine, broad and I believe italic replacement nibs are also available, but for now I'll stick with what it comes, whilst I like fine writers I'm not very good (read delicate/careful) with them so I find it best to avoid them, although lately I am finding myself becoming more and more drawn to a fine nib, especially for pocket notebooks, i like the idea of filling a page with fine, neat and small writing, this usually only last a few lines or days until i become lazy and slipshod.

The pen has a reassuringly firm feel to the pocket clip and capping responds with a discernible, if not audible, click. They are a very popular pen so I have high expectations of its robustness and life expectancy. 

Test time! So we can see that even though this test paper (the same one I use for all my pen tests) is very fibrous, not as smooth as normal writing or copier paper, the line put down by the pen does not bleed at all, surprised me! The nib does not pick up any fibers and exhibit dragged feathering like some do, I can only put this down to the nib split being very fine and tight, a good sign in any fountain pen.

Here is the nib in question, you can see the M to denote the nib width, medium in this case, notice also the slight raised collar around the base of the nib/barrel connection, this is the "clicky" mechanism that secures the pen top to pen barrel. At first i was dubious whether the smooth finger indentations would actually produce enough grip to be secure, but after continued use and various writing situations they do they job surprisingly well. The ink deposits you see have been there since the very first ink was run through the pen, in this case Lamy original purple, at first I was concerned that this would be one of those pens that deposited a lot of ink in the cap when they have traveled, in a bag, pocket, side of a book walking around, but on reflection its obvious that even with all the movement and bag carrying this pen has been through that it is actually a very good performer in that respect. If anyone has any other thoughts on that subject please do let me know, use the comments section down below.

As you can see, the cap interior does show ink traces, some of which must have come from the nib splashing while being transported, but hardly enough to cause concern or to class the pen as leaky. All in all I'm very pleased with its performance as a travelling pen, I may well give it a thorough test when we go on holiday in a couple of months, from which I will also being doing another Spanish stationery shop haul, so keep checking back for updates on some (hopefully) interesting finds.

The Lamy cartridge, inserted and in operation, is one of the larger/longer variety, not yhe Euro cartridge, this tends to be more common in European made pens and those that are classed as school/learner fountain pens. I have a slight preference for the Euro cartridge, purely because they are more widely available in non-stationery shops, having said that the fact hey use Lamy specific cartridges is not a problem, after all most pen makers do use some sort or variation of their own specific cartridge form. Notice also the aperture in the barrel of the pen.

Here is a close up of the aperture; apologies for the blur, my camera is not macro equipped, a useful feature enabling viewing of the cartridge in use to judge who close to empty the cartridge is, it means you will not have to carry a spare around with you all the time, or be for ever undoing the barrel to check levels, handy for an everyday pen, and at just the right level to give you a fair amount of ink left, yet still be close enough to empty and need to have new cartridge around.
In conclusion, my first Lamy Safari has been a very positive experience, is it my favourite pen and can I see where the big following comes from? I'm not sure yo be honest, I'm sure for some people its the perfect pen and no other will do, for me, I'm undecided as yet, I can see the plus points and the good points, only time and further use will tell if I find it as perfect a notebook pen as others do.

W.H.Smith Euro Cartridge Mini Rollerball

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W.H.Smith is a UK retailer of books, stationery, magazines and much more besides.
A great national chain of shops for fetishists like us, admittedly their prices are higher than online shops but I do believe it's good to patronise them for some things and to check out new stuff before buying.
These pens I bought a long time ago, having only recently got round to using them properly, I was so very excited and intrigued by them but ultimately disappointed, let me explain.

 They are unusual in that they are rollerballs that are;

1. Refillable and,
2. Accept a Euro cartridge, just like a fountain pen.

They are/were sold in a twin pack with the standard 2 cartridges free, one each of blue and black for a nice change, instead of the usual blue only. Each having a colour corresponding ring on the barrel/nib end connection.

They are a "mini" variety of pen, more of which later, as you can tell from the size of the lid in relation to the unposted pen length in the above picture, comprising a cartridge accepting barrel and standard style rollerball veined delivery system.

The clip is suitably strong enough to work with any pocket, a nice clear design appeals to me and gives a nice look in general to the pen, as well as aiding viewing of ink levels of course.

The writing nib is very fine, something I like, but of course that is all up to personal taste, the written line is very fine and precise, consistent and great for those who like a very small letter size, ideal for pocket notebooks, or so I first thought.

Although the written line is very fine, it is very easy to control and still lays down an even and useable thickness, a very strong fine line, some fine line pens are too fine to be usable and result in skipping and faintness of letter. (apologies for the cropped scan).

Here we can see the disassembled pen, clearly illustrating the comparable size of lid, barrel and nib/ink delivery section, further highlighting the "mini" size of the pen, another reason why I initially thought the pen would be ideal as a daily "pocketer".
I find them very difficult to write with for one main reason, when the cap is posted to the end of the barrel the length is very comfortable and perfectly acceptable for extended writing or quick notes, what isn't is the behaviour of the cap when posted. it simply will not stay on teh barrel, it doesn't fit far enough down the barrel to retain a secure fitting, the slightest movement will dislodge the cap, sometimes even popping of itself without any encouragement, meaning that it's almost impossible to use (for me) as the barrel without a posted cap means the pen is too short and "falls" into the hand, wobbling about without the bracing against the hand option.

And here is the Euro cartridge accepting nibe section at the business end as it were, pushing onto the cartridge accepting post is very easy and retains cartridges snugly and securely without any danger of leaking or coming loose in normal use and transportation, but there is still a let down coming...

The pen in normal, everyday use and transport is very wet, in that it leaks a lot, not from the actual writing nib, but from the junction of ink delivery veins and surrounding barrel, so much so that after every use the pen leaks ink all over the fingers gripping it, more than is acceptable and tolerable, both pens exhibited this behaviour. This got to such a point that I had to dispose of both pens, sadly, I was very optimistic and excited with these pens.
One last point, W.H.Smith no longer sell these pens and for a long while I didn't see them or anything similar for a long time, until I came across these...

These form Paper-Mate are virtually identical to my eyes, bar the odd design difference and packaging variation, hopefully from an international maker the leaking will not present in these as much as in the test models above, full test and review coming soon.

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.