Copic Sketch Marker And Refill Review

(This is a guest post by Nick Folz. You can find more of Nick and his work on his blog, Smallberry Drive, Twitter, and Instagram.)

My first brush with Copics was a review about their excellent doodle packs, which I was smitten with. I really dug the Ciao Dual Tip Marker, which was the meat and potatoes of the set. So I wanted to dive into another marker of theirs a bit more and test out the refill system. I went with their Sketch Marker color R29, Lipstick Red.

Copic’s reputation in the marker industry usually precedes them (if you are unfamiliar let me summarize: they good). Their Sketch series is very similar to the Ciao, both have the dual tip and both are refillable. The Sketch are a bit more expensive but have more color options and hold more ink.

The chisel and brush tips are great and add levels of versatility to the marker. The Copic ink is amazing, it is thick and impressive and you can layer it for added saturation and darkness. It plays well with most types of ink, both under and over, and can be blended with other Copic colors. I don’t do much with the Copic blenders, but I have seen miracles preformed with those things.

The Copic Various Ink refill is great. A narrow tip delivers new life to the marker and is a must have to get the actual value out of the pricey markers. There are a few ways to refill: slowly drip ink onto the chisel tip to fill the reservoir, or pull the tip out and fill directly into the middle of the marker. The later is the quicker, if possibly messier, option. The chisel tip is easy to remove and replace, so I recommend that method.

I LOVE the color of this thing. It has unlocked so many options for me. I have been doing silhouettes in red and inking details in black. I am smitten with this technique. The consistency of the ink makes this possible without looking like a streaky mess. Adding pops of color to black and white is joy and I am glad I have the refill to keep the party going. I have refilled the marker twice and haven’t even used a fourth of the refill ink.

If you have tried out Copics and like them, then I highly recommend you go for the refillable variety and stock up on some ink. You can find Copic refills and Copic Sketch markers and sets at JetPens.

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

J.B.’s Perfect Pen Flush Review

The deeper I fall down the fountain pen rabbit hole, the more interested I become in tools that help me maintain them. Micro mesh and brass sheets are two of my go-to items, and J.B.’s Perfect Pen Flush has been added to the list.

You will see bottles of J.B.’s around pen shows, and for good reason. It can clean out some of the oldest and hardest to reach ink in fountain pens of any age. I’ve always told myself I didn’t need it, and truth is, you may not either, but there are many situations when it comes in handy.

Flushing with water

Most modern cartridge and converter pens are easy to clean. Take them apart, run the parts under the faucet, power clean with an aspirator if possible, rinse, dry, repeat. No need for anything special. But as my tastes change toward unique filling systems or older pens bought second and third hand, sometimes a little extra cleaning is needed. That’s where J.B.’s Pen Flush comes in handy.

Flushing with J.B.'s Pen Flush

According to the instructions, you should flush your pen with water until it is as clean as possible. Then, follow the same process with J.B.’s. Finally, flush the pen with water once more. The initial step gets most of the ink out, with the pen flush taking care of any extra ink the original water flush didn’t get. The last step cleans the pen and has it ready to be inked once more.

These steps have worked well for me when cleaning out pens with a vacuum filling mechanism, especially older pens. The only step I don’t follow is that I pour J.B.’s into a small bowl to clean from as opposed to using the bottle directly, which the label recommends. It is usable over and over again, so I make sure I have a good batch of pens to clean so I am not wasteful with it.

Looking good!

One thing I need to try that others have done is to soak finicky parts overnight, like nibs with gunked up feeds. It also works well with a Q-Tip inside demonstrator barrels to make them shine once again.

J.B.’s Perfect Pen Flush is an excellent addition to your pen cleaning arsenal. Keep a bottle with all of the other tools you use on a regular basis. It will come in handy when you need it.

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

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The Aurora 88 70th Anniversary LE Fountain Pen with Flexible Nib: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

I was beyond excited when I first heard that Aurora was coming out with a flexible nib. I pre-ordered the blue 88 with flex nib as soon as I could. But then I started hearing some ambivalent feedback from pen shows, and my excitement waned. Fortunately, Kenro sent Pen Addict a test pen so I could try out the flex nib for myself.

First, a disclaimer: I am not an experienced flex nib user. I own two Omas pens with extra flessibile nibs and a few vintage pens with semi-flex nibs. I was not willing to push the Aurora test pen too hard (I have to return it, after all). So, keep this in mind as you read my review and look at the photos. It’s possible that users with more experience might get more flex out of the Aurora than I did.

This Aurora 88 70th Anniversary fountain pen is a gorgeous bright orange (a color that will be released later this year). It’s a typical Aurora 88 style, cigar-shaped, with the signature Aurora clip. The pen has a small ink window and is a piston filler.

Of course, what everyone wants to know is, “How is the flex nib?” Well . . .

The nib is solid 14k gold with super long tines. The test nib doesn’t have the usual Aurora scrollwork, but the photos I’ve seen of actual pens for sale show scrollwork on the nibs. The nib tip looks like a fine, though the size isn’t indicated anywhere on the nib itself.

I’ll be perfectly honest. When I inked up the test unit and started writing, I was immediately disappointed. The nib felt pretty stiff like a regular Aurora nib. And while I could get some line variation when I flexed the nib, it was slight.

I worked with the pen for several days, switched out the ink, practiced swirls hoping maybe the nib would loosen up a little, but the flex was still minimal.

I inked my Omas Ogiva Extra Flessibile fine with the same ink, Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo, to compare with the Aurora. What a difference. The Omas nib is springy and exhibits a great deal of flex without much effort. While neither pen flexes as much as a super-flex vintage nib, the Omas beat the Aurora hands down.

The examples below show how the two nibs compare:

Alphabet

Aurora

Omas

Swirls

Aurora

Omas

Sentence

Aurora top, Omas bottom

I canceled my preorder after working with the Aurora. I really wanted to love the pen and the nib, I just wasn’t impressed. While it has some flex, it offers nowhere near the flex that the Omas extra flessibile does. At first I thought maybe I was being unfair comparing the Aurora to the Omas extra flessibile. But then I saw some websites advertising the Aurora as a “super flexible” nib. I think that, if people claim that the nib is super flexible, it should at least be as flexible as the Omas. Unfortunately, it’s not.

Does the nib flex? Yes. Does it flex as much as an Omas Extra flessibile nib? No. Does it flex as much as a vintage superflex nib? Definitely not.

And yet . . . after writing with the nib daily for a week, I have to say that, in spite of the fact that the nib does not flex as much as I’d hoped, it’s a wonderful writer. The long tines offer a different feel from a standard nib, and you can write without flex quite easily.

But here’s the deal. The Aurora 88 70th Anniversary LE fountain pen with a flex nib costs $650. These pens are made of resin. Yes, they are limited, numbered editions (only 188 of each color). Yes, they have special, long-tined, semi-flex nibs. Yes, they write beautifully. But $650 is a pretty steep price for a resin pen with a semi-flex nib. If these were auroloide pens with flex nibs, I wouldn’t hesitate to get one.

Vanness Pens will be stocking the Aurora 88 70th Anniversary Flex Nib Fountain Pen but you have to act fast. The first release in Blue is already sold out. Send them a message to inquire about future releases.

Pros

• The Aurora 88 fountain pen is a terrific cigar-style pen. It’s a good size and weight for most users.
• The flex nib is beautiful and has gorgeous long tines reminiscent of some vintage Aurora fountain pens.
• The nib offers some flex and line variation, and when you write with it normally, it is smooth and the long tines provide a unique writing experience.
• The anniversary pens will be released over the year in a variety of colors to suit many tastes.

Cons

• The flex nib is certainly not a “superflex” nib. It isn’t even as flexible as an Omas extra flessibile. I would call it a semi-flex nib at best.
• The anniversary pens are made of resin not auroloide, and, in my view, they are overpriced. If they were in the $350-$400 range I’d feel better about purchasing one.

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

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, which I am very grateful for.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!