Pen Review: Karas Kustoms Fountain K

in
fountaink-header

Karas Kustoms Fountain K - Steel nib (F - Bock)
Length Capped: 134mm
Length Posted: Not meant to be posted.
Length Uncapped: 124.5mm
Section at Thinnest Point: 9mm
Section at Widest Point: 10mm
Weight w/Ink & Cap: 28.2g
Weight w/Ink & No Cap: 18.9g
Fast Writing: Keeps up very well.
Line Variation: Very little line variation, which is to be expected with a steel nib
Upside Down Writing: Very very scratchy, I wouldn't recommend it.
Wetness: I find this to be a pretty wet writer, even with some drier inks.
Pros: Amazingly durable, great grip section, unique and modern design, USA made, lots of color, nib, material and section combinations.
Cons: I'm not the hugest fan of Bock nibs, though I was able to get this one to write very well (of course after a tine adjustment), which was a pleasant surprise.  I really have no complaints at all about this pen - it's officially in my top 2 pens and is the pen I now use most often!

Ever since I bought my Karas Kustoms INK, I have been a huge fan of the Karas Kustoms brand.  That pen was one of my most used pens for a long time.  One thing about it that didn't *quite* fit me, was the pen was a bit on the large side.  The grip section itself wasn't, but the pen itself was just a bit large and a tad heavy.  When I saw they were producing a fountain pen version of their Render K, I was so excited to get my hands on one.  My boyfriend was nice enough to get me one in my favorite tumbled aluminum finish for my birthday, and I was certainly not disappointed.

The Fountain K comes in 3 different metal options - aluminum, copper and brass.  The copper and brass are raw materials, so they will develop a patina over time from the oils on your hands.  The aluminum versions come in just standard polished aluminum, raw tumbled aluminum (pictured), and in a variety of anodized colors (the new turquoise looks amazing! (though it's painted and not anodized)).  In addition to the many color options for the body of your pen, you can choose from a copper, brass, silver, tumbled aluminum (pictured), or black grip section.  With so many options, you can definitely make this pen your own, which is what sets Karas Kustoms apart from almost any other pen manufacturer.

After opening up my Fountain K and holding it in my hand, my first impression was the weight difference between this pen and the INK.  The pen is also quite a bit skinnier all around.  The widest part is at the top of the pen at the knurling, and it continuously tapers to the bottom.  The tumbled aluminum finish is smooth but with a tiny bit of texture, so you have a nice tactile feel when using it.  The grip section is a traditional taper and flare and is a very comfortable width for my hand size.  The knurling at the top of the cap gives it a nice industrial look, which I love.

Being a metal pen, you'd think the threads would make a lot of noise and would be tight and hard to open, but that is certainly not the case with this pen.  The threads are silky smooth, and after about a day of use they don't squeak at all.  The pen and cap have a very positive close, and has a really satisfying sound to it.

The original Fountain K pens were shipped with the Schmidt nib on them.  Not too long ago, they made the switch to Bock for their nib production.  I was a little concerned with this change as I've had some pretty rough experiences with inconsistency on the Bock Kaweco nibs in the past.  I also have the Schmidt nib on my INK and I really love it.  The Bock on the Fountain K shipped with the tines misaligned, so the initial writing experience was less than stellar.  However, after adjusting the tines the nib was very smooth and laid down ink well with no skips or hard starts.  I do love that the Bock nibs offer a black option as well as a titanium option, though the titanium is only available on the INK due to some inconsistencies on the smaller nib size - so that was a bit of a disappointment.  I would love to see Bock get that issue corrected because I think this pen would look beautiful with a titanium nib on it.  Nib options for the Fountain K go from EF-B and in steel or 14k gold.

This pen has been a complete pleasure to use, and has found it's place in my main daily carry. Karas Kustoms has taken the pen world and turned it on it's head by adding some rugged and unique designs.  I am excited to see what they choose to do next.  If you're interested in a Fountain K for yourself you can grab one straight from Karas Kustoms' website, or from a retailer such as Goulet Pens.  Prices range depending on the materials you choose from $75 - $215.

Thanks so much for reading!
- Lori

Ink Review: Diamine Shimmertastic Magical Forest

in
magical-forest

Diamine Shimmertastic Magical Forest
Pen: Pilot Metropolitan (M)
Paper: Rhodia 80gsm
Shading: moderate
Saturation: low to moderate
Flow: medium wet
Dry Time: short; 13-15 seconds with a Pilot medium

The sheening and shimmering inks craze has been in full force since J. Herbin debuted their 1670 line of inks with gold flecks in them.  Since that time, Diamine took shimmering inks to a whole different level and released their "Shimmertastic" line.  The Shimmertastic line currently consists of 10 different colors, most of which were new colors that haven't seen a simmering version before from other brands.  Magical Forest was my first test of these new inks, and I have to say I am very impressed with its balance of subtlety and uniqueness.

One of my favorite things about this ink that is different than some of the J. Herbin inks, is that is has a silver sheen, or flecks, whereas the J. Herbins had a gold sheen.  I feel like silver goes well with almost any color, and pairing it with this green was a great choice.  As far as the ink properties themselves, the ink writes moderately wet, but not too wet.  I got no feathering or bleeding on my Rhodia pad or any other typical fountain pen papers.  The dry time was good at around 14 to 15 seconds with a medium Pilot nib.  The sheen itself shows up pretty well in good lighting, but it also doesn't overwhelm the color of the ink.  This might be good and bad depending on the person - myself, I like the balance a lot.

Chromatography of the ink reminds me a lot of the tie dye t-shirts we wore in middle school - very bright blue and yellow.  The ink compares closely with Diamine Woodland Green or Noodlers Gruene Cactus (it sits right in the middle).  

I really enjoyed my time with this ink.  If you're a fan of a heavy sheen or fleck in your ink, this one may not be heavy enough for you, but I feel it has a very nice balance.  Its a mid-range green, so you could easily use it in your day to day without a lot of distraction from the work you're doing.  It behaves wonderfully on most papers, and had a quick to moderate dry time.  One downside is the price - it runs $20 for a 50mL bottle at most ink vendors, whereas other Diamine inks are around $15 for 80mL.  It is a couple bucks cheaper than the J. Herbin 1670 inks, though, and you get a much bigger variety of colors that sheen.

Thanks for reading! Drop a comment and let me know what other inks you'd like to see a review of!
Lori

Pen Review: Kaweco AC Sport Carbon

in
AC-Sport-header

Kaweco AC Sport Carbon - Steel Nib (F)
Length Capped: 107mm
Length Posted: 131mm
Length Uncapped: 100mm
Section at Thinnest Point: 9mm
Section at Widest Point: 10mm
Weight w/Ink & Cap: 22.2g
Weight w/Ink & No Cap: 13.4g
Fast Writing: Keeps up fine.
Line Variation: Very little line variation, but you can squeeze out a tiny bit.
Upside Down Writing: Very scratchy, but it can be done if needed.
Wetness: Fairly wet writer.  This ink did contribute to that some.
Pros: Lightweight, portable, Kaweco style & dependability
Cons: May be too light for some; cannot be used long without posting; nib can be a tad scratchy.

Parts of the Pen:

Like all Kaweco Sport models, the pen features a fairly long cap with an octagonal facets.  The body is cylindrical with a step down at the end leading to an end cap with a rounded top and a dimple in the middle.  The section is tapered and flared, and has a small grouping of threads at the top where the cap screws on.  Finally, the finial is very slightly conical and features the 3-syllable Kaweco logo.  The carbon parts on the cap appear to be applied as stickers, so you do have a bit of a gap between the carbon and the aluminum edge.

Review:

Kaweco is always coming up with new creative spins on their classic style fountain pen, and the AC Sport Carbon is a good example of that.  This pen features a nice matte aluminum finish and is embellished with a nice genuine carbon wrap around the barrel, and on every other panel of the unique octagonal cap.  The pen comes in 4 different colors - Red, Champagne, Silver and Black.  

As far as how the pen writes, if you've used any other Kaweco sport pen, it functions pretty much the exact same in my experience.  This pen uses the same steel nib that comes standard on all of the other Kaweco Sports/Skylines, so the added price doesn't add anything to the writing experience itself.  I admittedly have had my hits and misses with Kaweco nibs, but this one performed fairly well.  I had a bit of an issue with scratchiness, but discovered the nib tines were misaligned out of the box.  Once that was corrected, it performed well with no hard starts and only a slight "toothiness."

One issue that kind of bugged me about this pen was that lint and dust seems to settle in the small gap between where the carbon ends and the aluminum edge begins on the cap.  It's not noticeable at a distance, but up close it's pretty easy to see.  That is one small improvement Kaweco could make to this pen to bring it up a notch.

Final Thoughts:

Overall I really enjoyed using this pen, much like all my Kaweco pens.  The style is something that very few other companies have mimicked successfully, and it is another great spin on a classic design.  Whether the extra cost is worth it is really up to what added style is worth to you.  The Kaweco AL Sport, which is just the standard aluminum body Sport, retails for $80, and the AC Sport Carbon retails for around $128 - so close to an extra $50.  I think if you really like the carbon look, it's worth it to go ahead and pick it up.  If the cost isn't worth it to you, try the AL Sport, or even the classic Sport which has a plastic body.  All are great pens for on-the-go. 

Thank you so much for reading, and thank you to Kaweco for sending this pen for review!
- Lori

(Kaweco has provided this product at no charge to The Desk for the purpose of review - I have since chosen to purchase the pen from them.  My opinions are honest and without bias - visit the About Me page for more details).

Ink Review: J. Herbin 1670 Stormy Grey

in
stormy-grey-header

J. Herbin 1670 Storm Grey
Pen: Pilot Metropolitan (M)
Paper: Rhodia 80gsm Dotpad
Shading: Moderate
Saturation: low
Flow: medium wet
Dry Time: 9 seconds

I picked up a sample of this ink a month or so ago, and have been using it in my Metropolitan for a while.  I've gotten a few requests for a review on it, and I was very happy to oblige.  Grey being my favorite ink color, I have thoroughly enjoyed using it.

The shade of grey that this ink exhibits is a mid-range grey, leaning more dark than light.  If I were to imagine what "stormy grey" would be, this would be it.  It is reminiscent of the dark storm clouds, with just a tiny hint of blue underneath.

Of course one of the biggest draws to this ink is the gold fleck that gives your written word a brilliant glittery sheen.  On my Rhodia pad, the sheen stands out very well, but not so much as to drown out the color of the ink itself. Its sister ink, Emerald of Chivor, has a bit more gold sheen in my experience, though with the lighter color, it works very well.

Stormy Grey has a moderate amount of shading, and gives a good balance between shading and saturation.  Dry time is rather exceptional at 9 seconds for my Pilot medium nib.  I kept the ink in the pen for roughly a week, and did not have any trouble cleaning it out - much like Emerald of Chivor.

In comparison to other greys I've used, Stormy Grey is closest to Graf von Faber Castell Stone Grey, leaning just a bit cooler on the color scale.  Noodler's Lexington Grey is a close second, and matches better on paper than it does on the swab.

Overall, I really enjoyed using Stormy Grey.  I still am not really on the glitter/gold fleck ink bandwagon, but for those that are I think this is a great choice.  Being a huge grey ink fan, I loved the color more than anything else.  If you're interested in a bottle for yourself, you can pick up a 50mL bottle for $26.00.

Thanks for reading!