TWSBI Micarta Review

I'm feeling guilty about this review for many reasons.

One, this pen was loaned to me by the wonderful Ionsomnia many a moon ago. This is his pen in the review, we discussed it and the additional nibs he sent with it several times, and I sent it back in a timely fashion. But I never posted the review, because...

Two, the TWSBI Micarta was discontinued. Version 1 only came with a gold plated nib and clip, plus it had some feed problems that TWSBI wanted to correct. Version 2 corrected the feed issues and added a clipless version to go along with the gold furniture model. Now we are talking.

Three, I bought the clipless model, swapped in a silver steel crispy bold cursive italic nib, and fell in love. And you can't get one now, at least not easily through direct channels.

But this is a great pen and it deserves to be talked about, so here we go.

What the heck is Micarta? That is probably the most often question asked about this pen if I had to guess. I had no idea either, but learned from Wikipedia that it is "a brand name for composites of linen, canvas, paper, fiberglass, carbon fiber or other fabric in a thermosetting plastic". To me, that sounds like scrap repurposed to make a new material, and that is kind of neat.

You can see some of the material and texture in the Micarta pen body, and it has a feel that is warmer than that other acrylic pens. I found myself just holding it on more than one occasion because it felt so great. That is also partially because the barrel shape is fantastic, fitting my hand as good as any pen I own.

These partially natural materials do have some downside though, primarily the ability to be stained by ink. Kind of a problem in a pen, huh? Ionsomnia found that out by dipping the pen in an ink bottle to fill it. I found out by having a bad feed in mine. As you can see below, a crack caused the ink to spread, soaking the inside section threads and the front exterior edge of the grip section.

TWSBI replaced the feed for me, which works fine now, and I didn't ask them to replace the pen. Why? Wabi-sabi. Old me would have had a conniption and would have wanted a new, pristine pen as a replacement. New me has found the beauty in acceptance of imperfection. That acceptance is why I was finally able to purchase my first Nakaya and not worry if it might get dinged or scratched. It's my pen, and things happen, and it's ok because the pleasure of using a pen far outweighs being afraid to take it out of the pen case.

So my Micarta is not perfect, but it is mine, and I love it. That's why I'm guilty about this post, because I think a lot of you would love this pen too. Maybe TWSBI will surprise with a Version 3 one day.

TWSBI Vac700 Review

You will find wildly varying opinions of the TWSBI Vac700 across the internet. For some, it fits their needs perfectly. For others, there are too many design quirks to overlook. Without first hand experience myself, I fell into the second camp. The Vac700 didn't speak to me from the get go, and reading reviews of the pen only solidified those thoughts.

A kind reader named Becky fell into that second camp too, although she only found that out after making the purchase. She didn't care for the Vac700 (for reasons we will get into) so she offered to send it to me. Not loan it to me. Not sell it to me. She knew I'd be interested in checking it out and had no love for it, so she just flat out gave it to me. That says a lot about the pen, but also how awesome Becky is. Thank you!

She sent me the Smoke model with a bold nib and my first impressions on the feel and appearance were positive. It's no secret I am a TWSBI fan, so I knew I would like a lot about what the Vac700 had to offer. But there are several things that keep this from being a pen I can recommend blindly like the TWSBI 580.

First off, the size of the Vac700 is a barrier to entry. That's fine, because that is part of what this pen is. It has a vacuum filling system so the pen requires a larger ink tank to accommodate the plunger and bigger than normal ink capacity. It's a feature, but the size and weight may be uncomfortable for those with smaller hands.

Secondly, there are some interesting design elements in play here. The big one for me is the extra large step down from the barrel to the grip section. Again, it's almost a requirement due to the mechanics of the filling system, but it does get in the way when I am writing. Not horribly, but noticeably.

The brushed clip is another oddity. It doesn't affect the performance of the pen but it is a strange choice when the rest of the chrome is polished and shiny and the clip is dull. Each chrome element on its own is fine, but mixing finish styles on the same pen does not work visually.

It's not all bad though. The filling system is the primary feature of the Vac700 and it works well. A few pumps of the plunger and you have more ink capacity than you know what to do with, keeping even the most prolific writers happy for days. The nib is great too, which I fully expected. I hadn't use a TWSBI bold nib before this pen and it is fantastic. It is really smooth and a joy to write with.

In the end, poor comfort outweighs good performance for me. Your mileage may vary, so make sure to read up on the TWSBI Vac700 if you are interested in making a purchase. It may be the perfect pen for you. If not, it makes for a beautiful paperweight.

More TWSBI Vac700 reviews:

Pentorium

FP Geeks

Ed Jelley

That One Pen

FP Quest

TWSBI Inkwell Review

When I first became interested in fountain pens and the variety of inks that are available, I made a large bet on Noodler's Heart of Darkness. This was at a point in my fountain pen journey before I knew about ink samples. So, I purchased a 4.5 oz bottle of Heart of Darkness from Amazon that I soon discovered was impossible to use with a fountain pen converter because the bottle opening was too narrow. It was meant to be used with an eyedropper only. I was disappointed, to say the least.

I got by with a syringe for a while. I filled my converter pens with the syringe after dunking it in the large bottle.

Then I discovered TWSBI. I love the two TWSBI pens I own, and their inkwell caught my eye at first because it was, well, eye-catching. But I soon realized that this would be my solution to the awkward Heart of Darkness problem I got myself into.

So what makes this inkwell special? It makes filling TWSBI pens extremely easy, and also works with all other fountain pens.

Before we dive in, it's important to note that only the TWSBI Diamond and Mini lines work with the proprietary TWSBI port on this inkwell.

How it works with TWSBI fountain pens

Using the inkwell with TWSBI fountain pens is a piece of cake. Simply give the inkwell a light shake and unscrew the top lid to expose the TWSBI refilling port. To fill a TWSBI, just unscrew the nib section and plug the barrel section into the port on the inkwell. Fill the pen as usual, remove the barrel section from the inkwell, and replace the nib section. That's it! No mess, no fuss.

There's a small metal tube that goes into the bottle that allows the pen to draw up the ink. If you don't think very hard about it, it seems like magic as you fill the pen.

How it works with all other fountain pens

For all other fountain pens, the inkwell works like most every other bottled ink out there. Unscrew the second lid section to expose the traditional ink filling cone. The cone is rather large, so I imagine it will accommodate most fountain pens no matter their size. Filling is the same as other ink bottles -- dunk the nib into the ink, and fill the pen. The downside to this method is the clean-up after filling the pen. Let's be honest, the clean-up isn't difficult, but the TWSBI filling method is so cool!

I really appreciate the quality of the TWSBI inkwell. The 50 mL reservoir is made of glass, and the lids are made of aluminum in your choice of color. This inkwell solved my Heart of Darkness problem, and I've even considered getting another (or more) just because I like how it looks so much. If you have a troublesome ink bottle, then this just might be the inkwell for you.

The TWSBI inkwell is available on Amazon in an assortment of colors.