I Swear It’s Not A Junk Drawer!

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

The other day, I was listening to the AskTPA portion of Episode 549 when a listener asked how Brad and Myke store and keep track of the various converters, cartridges, etc. and I got all excited because I could share my own crazy solution - IKEA Alex drawers! Well, not all of the drawers, just one in particular (Drawer #2), is where all the little bits and pieces go. Sounds like a junk drawer to me, Kimberly. I swear, it’s not!! Unlike the usual stuff you’d find in the other drawers like staplers, tape, and Post-It notes, Drawer #2 keeps almost all of my pen-related accessories corralled within arm’s reach. Converters, cartridges, clips, tools, you name it and it’s probably in there.

Ok, it does look a little like a junk drawer, but it’s actually full of useful pen stuff!

I won’t go through everything that’s in the drawer cuz I’m trying to keep this short (yeah, right), but you can see there are cartridges, converters, little bottles of ink (mostly J Herbin 10 ml), clips and other items. Let’s take a closer look at some of the stuff inside the drawer.

I keep proprietary or branded cartridges in their own little baggie. Pro tip: write on the sticky side of a Post-It so that you can see what it says when you stick it to the inside of the bag.

Way more standard international converters than a normal person should have, along with a few threaded ones, a spare Parker converter, and some Lamy converters.

I clean and store empty cartridges after I’m done with them; they are particularly useful with proprietary cartridges so I can use any ink I want.

The left one houses a variety of standard international cartridges, the top has Montblanc carts which are standard international-ish. And the bottom bag has a variety of Pilot, Platinum and Lamy and other carts.

The 3 major Japanese brands have proprietary cartridges and converters so I have separate bins for Pilot, Platinum and Sailor. Bins of various sizes help organize different products/brands, at least until they are overflowing.

The Pilot bin overfloweth.

Aside from cartridges, I also have a bunch of different Pilot converters (Con-40, Con-20, Con-70, the discontinued Con-50), as well as metal cartridge caps for the Vanishing Point/Decimo, and blue squeeze pipettes for cleaning Pilot Parallels.

Drawer #2 also houses miscellaneous accessories and tools such as cotton swabs (useful for cleaning small inky messes, Parafilm (for sealing up ink samples), colorful standard international converters, piston tools, TWSBI Pipe, adapters, o-rings, clips, rollerball attachments, small syringes, you get the picture.

Some of the stuff you should probably keep but don’t know where to put them. Ok, maybe this sounds a little like a junk drawer.

The cartridges, converters and other tools pretty much take over Drawer #2, so I need another drawer to store nibs. I have a lot of pens that use removable nib/nib units like Jowo, Bock, Schmidt, etc. So I generally remove the nib units from those pens and store them separately; this way I don’t have to uncap a bunch of pens to look for a particular nib.

One of the test tube racks that house my Franklin-Christoph nibs - these are for Jowo #6 nibs.

I use Avery round labels on top to note the brand, size (5, 6, 8, etc.), nib size (F, M, B, etc.), grinds like SIG, CI, etc. There are rectangular labels that have the same info on the body of the vial.

I have a few nib racks filled with other sizes like Jowo 5, or other types like Bock, TWSBI, Lamy, Retro 51, etc. When I need to pick a nib for a certain pen, I will enter it into the Fountain Pen Companion (FPC). As I mentioned in the FPC article, I use FPC to track my currently inked as well as pen/ink usage. This allows me to enter a pen with a particular nib and grind, which is how I know what nib is in what pen. Then I store the empty vial on the side of one of the racks (along with the other empty vials), until I have cleaned the nib and am ready to put it back inside the vial in its proper spot in the rack.

Pro tip: when cleaning nibs/nib units, keep them next to the pen barrel so you know what nib went with which pen. Pro tip, part 2, don’t put pens with similar nib sizes next to each other so they don’t get mixed up. I will often clean a Jowo 6 nib and then a Jowo 5 nib or a non-Jowo nib before cleaning another Jowo 6. Pro tip, part 3, don’t let your cleaning pile get out of hand so you can avoid nib mixups in the first place (note to self, pay attention to this tip, lol).

All of these little tips and tricks, along with bins and baggies, help me stay organized and able to find accessories and nibs easily. Hope you found some of these tips helpful!

(Disclaimer: All products shown are my own, purchased and accumulated over the past 5+ years in this rabbit hole.)

Kaweco Original Fountain Pen with 250 Nib Review

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

There's no denying how prevalent the design of the Kaweco Sport is in the stationery world. There are several different models of the Sport that all feature the same faceted barrel and minimal style. It's a thing of beauty, and I'd bet that most fountain pen fans have at least one in their collection. But what if you're not a huge fan of the pocket pen size, the lack of a clip, or the small nib that comes on the Sport models? In that case, the Kaweco Original Fountain Pen is meant for you.

The Kaweco Original is a modern take on a classic design that looks like a Sport model has been stretched a bit to a more standard length. Oh, and it has a clip built in to the cap. The chrome accents against the matte black body are classic Kaweco all the way, and those facets on the body and cap remind you of all the Kaweco Sport models that came before it.

The branding on the pen is normal for Kaweco; there's a "Kaweco Original Germany" stamped on the side of the body, "Kaweco" is stamped into the clip, and the top finial has the traditional "Kaweco" split into three parts in a circle pattern. This is all standard for all of Kaweco's pens (as long as the pen also has a clip. The nib also features the round logo stamp along with a nib size indicator and some minimal scroll work around the edge of the nib shoulders. All of this is right in line with all the other pens in Kaweco's lineup.

Aside from the additional length, there's one other major difference with this pen compared to other Kaweco pens — the nib size. Most Kaweco pens comes with their 060 size steel nib, which is the smaller sized nib that fits the Sport models quite well. The 250 nib size on this pen is quite a bit larger, but fits the longer and wider body perfectly. I've seen this nib on the Supra, and I know a couple other models come with it, but it's still somewhat hard to find on Kaweco pens. It's a $25 upcharge, but I think it's totally worth it. The nib was buttery smooth out of the box, and the writing experience is great. I've taken to writing without posting the cap since there's a good balance with just the pen body due to the extra length.

Another thing that the longer body affords us is the ability to use a standard size cartridge converter! Another rarity with many Kaweco models, you will have no problems popping a standard converter in here to use your favorite inks. I opted for a Kaweco cartridge this time around, but I tested the fit with a converter to be sure. I've tried all the small Kaweco converter, and they either don't work well, don't hold enough ink to be worth the hassle, or they're just fiddly and unreliable compared to cartridges. Being able to use a standard converter is fantastic. I just wish Kaweco included one in the box at this price.

The Kaweco Original with the larger 250 nib comes in a $125 (the smaller 060 variant is $105.50). The Kaweco AL Sport starts at around $76, and I think the Original is fairly priced given the additional body length, the larger cap and clip, and then of course the large 250 nib. You can save a few bucks with the 060 model, but I'd strongly urge you to go with the large 250. It's perfect on this pen.

You can pick one of these up with an EF, F, M, or B nib in either the 250 or 060 nib size, but matte black with chrome trim is the only color option. If you enjoy the timeless design of the Kaweco Sport but want a little longer body, this is the pen made for you!

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

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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.

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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