Posts filed under Fountain Pens

Schon DSGN Peek Fountain Pen Review

“I love engineered plastics!”

This is one of those phrases us pen fans wouldn’t say in mixed company. But here, among pen friends? Absolutely. And in my case, it is true. Give me all of the weird barrel materials-such as Ultem and Peek-that make for fun and unique fountain pen barrels.

This review is going to focus on the Schon DSGN Full Sized Peek Fountain Pen. What is Peek? Known as Polyether ether ketone, it is a thermoplastic used in applications that require high chemical and/or temperature resistance. For example, bearings, pistons, pumps, and a wide range of medical implants.

Do fountain pens need the high tolerances that those parts require? Not necessarily. But what Peek offers pen makers is a barrel material that is ultra light and exceedingly strong. This pen checks in at around 15 grams, with thin barrel walls that will be able to withstand much more than typical plastic barrel pens in the same weight class.

Schon DSGN Peek and Ultem — *The Peek features the same o-ring setup as the Ultem, which you can see on the left.*

Being a specialty material, you might guess that it comes with a cost. Peek is expensive, and poses different machining challenges than traditional acrylics and metals. That cost, $285 with a steel nib, does come with several Schon DSGN added features, such as internal o-rings throughout the grip section, barrel, and cap, making this a perfect pen to eyedropper fill. It’s quite a piece of work.

If there is one knock on Peek, it’s that many consider the color of the material to be-let’s see how I can be nice here-uninspiring. It’s 1980’s computer tower beige, and that’s it. That’s the color Peek comes in. I dig the weirdness, but it is not for everyone. I always make sure to have a fun ink color loaded up, such as magenta, to bring some excitement to the page. For my latest fill, I decided to go with a classic: Rohrer & Klingner Alt-Goldgrun.

The Schon DSGN Peek doesn’t have to be eydroppered. It is designed to fit standard international converters, which is what I use most of the time. I don’t need the mass ink capacity that eyedroppers offer, and I’ll admit that using a converter is safer if you think this pen might be banging around in a pocket or purse. It is tailor made to handle that, but I still lean towards converters the majority of the time.

Schon DSGN does offer a few mix-and-match options with the Peek barrel and the two colors, Amber and Black, of Ultem barrels. You can swap in a different grip section color between the three, and even swap into an Amber Ultem grip section to fit larger #8 size nibs. Mine is full Peek, but I did add a bit of uniqueness with the nib itself.

At the San Francisco Pen show this past Summer, I bought one of Schon DSGN’s Full Sized Aluminum Barrel Fountain Pens, and had the option to add a Custom Nib Studio Mini Naginata-togi grind on a Jowo #6 Broad Steel nib. Yes please, I would like that very much! The standard Peek fountain pen is designed around the Jowo #6, so when I bought my pen second-hand I didn’t need a nib, and added this one right in.

This level of mix-and-match and cool materials is why I love stationery so much. Standard pens and paper give me plenty of these options, but fountain pens are the true playground. The Schon DSGN Peek is a perfect example.

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Posted on January 30, 2023 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Schon DSGN, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Benu Skull and Roses Fountain Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

If you were one pen brand, which brand would you be? I'm Benu. Sure, we'd all like to think we're Nakayas, but I've met me. If I were to anger a wizard and he turned me into a pen, I'd end up something like this pen. If I'm lucky.

This new wild offering from Benu is part of the Skull and Roses Collection, which comes in three colors of fountain pen and rollerball configurations, all in this gorgeously decorated cigar shape. It's available in all transparent red, all black, or in this striking two-tone version.

The pen is made from lightweight acrylic resin. The background has a crackled matte texture and the decorative overlay is shiny, which gives it fantastic dimension. The carved shapes are of thorned branches, leaves, and roses, with the skulls circling the middle cap band. The overall effect makes it look like the vined porch pillar of a Gothic mansion.

The cap screws off to reveal the clear-red grip section. It's long and narrow with a taper toward the nib, and very comfortable to hold. Some may find it a bit too narrow. The pen overall is fairly small. The cap doesn't really post, as all the texture on the pen body prevents it from getting a good grip. The texture does prevent the pen and cap from rolling away, however, so you can set the cap aside with confidence.

While the texture looks sharp, it feels smooth, so it doesn't interfere with the comfort of writing at all. And the pen is so light that the shapes don't dig into the hand at all.

The nib is a Schmidt #5, which works well with this smaller pen size. It writes nicely and is less of a firehose than my other Benu pens have been. It's smooth and the Fine point is a true Fine. It comes with a converter and also takes standard international cartridges. Of course you must fill it with your most Gothic ink on hand.

This model of Benu costs around $163, in keeping with the brand's other special edition offerings. It's a very fair price, and less than I'd have been willing to pay for it.

Benu continues to surprise and delight me. I'm with you in all your skulls and sparkles, Benu. We're kindred spirits.

(Luxury Brands provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on January 19, 2023 by Sarah Read and filed under Benu Pen, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

PenBBS 469 Double Ended Fountain Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

The double-sided writing instrument certainly isn't a new thing. I'm sure we've all used or seen a doubled sided pencil at some point, or even a double sided Sharpie — one end a normal fine point Sharpie, and the other end a broad chisel tip. Pencil, pen, marker — they're all more useful than their single-ended counterparts!

A natural progression to this type of writing instrument is double ended fountain pen. I've seen them before, but normally only from bespoke pen makers, and not in a large quantity. If you wanted one and knew where to look, you could get one fairly easily. But it required some know-how and persistence. You couldn't just order one online in a matter of minutes. Well, the PenBBS 469 makes that possible. Curious about whether a doubled ended fountain pen would be useful or not? You can scratch that itch for $50.

We've reviewed several PenBBS pens here over the years, and they generally pack a lot of value into a relatively affordable package. I've personally been surprised and delighted with the other pens I've used from this maker, so I was intrigued when I saw the double ended fountain pen on JetPens a few months ago.

The color variant I'm using here is called Misty Mountains. It's a clear acrylic with some light and medium blue stripes that swirl through the material in a really pleasing way. There are a few other color options to choose from, and I think they all look really interesting.

Regardless of what material you like, the most striking feature of these pens is the middle area where it's obvious that something unconventional is happening. You can see two separate cavities right in the middle, which is the first indication that this pen is not your normal fountain pen. On closer inspection, you'll see that there are also two caps. And with that comes two separate nibs and feed systems. Essentially, this pen is two eyedropper pens connected back to back and divided by a small wall in the middle to keep the ink reservoirs separated.

I really love how everything about this pen is perfectly balanced. Each side of the pen is exactly 50% of the overall size. The caps are the same size, the ink reservoirs are the same size, the nibs are the same size, and the grip sections are also identical. The only difference between the two ends is the nib tip size. One side is fine while the other is medium.

Filling the pens is really simple. They use an eyedropper filling system, so you just unscrew one of the grip sections, fill the reservoir with ink, and replace the section. Repeat on the other side! There are o-rings on the end of the section to keep any ink from seeping out over time, and the fit and finish is really tight and well done. I have no concerns over either end leaking.

Writing with each pen is also what I've come to expect with PenBBS! The steel nibs are smooth, true to size, and perform really well. The grip is comfortable and the pen is still well balanced even with the extra length. Unfortunately, you can't post the cap on back of the other cap, so you're left holding or storing the cap while writing.

Despite the nibs being the same overall size, I was really surprised to see that they have different decorative scroll work designs. I assumed they would have identical decoration with just a simple "F" and "M" to differentiate them.

The only real complaint or disappointment I have about this pen is the lack of nib options. The perk of having a fountain pen with two ends is being able to have two dramatically different writing experiences (along with two different ink options). If I had my way, I'd choose an EF or F nib on one end and a cursive italic or stub on the other end. The fact that PenBBS limits this to one choice — F and M — is disappointing. I assume that this limitation is a cost saving measure. Can you imagine the headache of trying to stock these pens with all the possible nib combinations? Can't say I blame them for limiting the options, but I just wish they'd settled on a more interesting pairing! Even if custom italic and stub nibs aren't an option, I could pick a broad nib and have someone do a custom grind with something interesting. A medium nib doesn't have as much material to work with, so custom grinds are even a bit limited.

Despite the lack of nib options, this is still a really fun pen. Just having the ability to pack two different inks into a single pen is really cool. The clear body really shows off the ink washing around inside the ink reservoirs, and the blue swirls add even more visual interest. It's a conversation starter for sure.

At $50, the PenBBS 469 is a great price for two great pens in one body. I'm not sure how long they'll be available — this looks like what could be a short term experiment. If you are curious about a fountain pen with two ends, go for it! Trying it out with this pen is a great testing ground before deciding you want to go the full custom route.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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