Comparing TWSBI Fountain Pens
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- In this video I compare several styles and nib sizes of TWSBI fountain pens. I compare the Diamond 580, Diamond Mini, and Eco models. I continually forget the "I" at the end of TWSBI and then later forget to test each pen with loops, but you should still get the idea--ha ha.
I've put links below to where you can get all of the different models. Goulet Pens is not shipping right now, so I've also included amazon and Yoseka Stationery links.
TWSBI Ecos: amzn.to/3eNDEx4 or www.gouletpens... or yosekastatione...
TWSBI Diamond 580: amzn.to/31A0qEy or www.gouletpens... or yosekastatione...
TWSBI Diamond Mini: amzn.to/2NF227V or www.gouletpens... or yosekastatione...
Tomoe River Paper notebook: yosekastatione...
TWSBI is one of my favorite fountain pens, and I have a wide range. I have a TWISBI Vac, and it’s been great. If you purchase one, make sure you buy the Vac ink filler (I’ll edit with the exact name later), because it makes ALL the difference. Great video, thank you.
It seems like we have a lot of the same tastes! I love fountain pens.
Thanks for the comparison, I was thinking of getting the Rosegold diamond but now that I see how large the pen is posted I will stay with my mint eco! I do love the sound of a TWSBI cap going on and off the pen.
The nibs really are nicer on the Diamonds--you might want to try the diamond minis. I find them the perfect length and then you benefit from a better nib. You won't get that satisfying sound though because the cap screws on.
Two points, both opinions. Your line with differences are almost always to do with the ink. And I believe that gasket is to help grab the cap when posting.
I have only two TWSBI pens now, and ECO, and a Diamond 580 ALS. Both are very good writers, but I'm not fond of piston fill pens, and I hate vac fill. I don't like piston fill because I both need and want to change inks often, and this is far, far easier with cartridge/convertor pens. I can clean at least seven cartridge/converter pens in the time it takes to clean one piston fill, and I don't have to worry about ink waste, or waiting until that big reservoir is nearly empty.
Maybe it's the European influence, but we have very different views on things. I never post any pen, with the exception of a couple of pocket pens that have to be posted. Posting a pen is primarily done in America and Japan. Japan has an excuse because of the way they hold a pen to write in their own language. The only reason I can think of for Americans to post so much is because they usually grow up using ballpoint pens in school that need posting.
Very, very few pens are made to be properly balanced when posted. This includes the ECO and the 580. You find the 580 a little small and light to use unposted? It looks gigantic in your hand, and while it may be light unposted, the balance is where it should be, which is at the nib. I'm a man with fairly large hands, and the 580 is a good deal longer than it needs to be to use unposted. Many pens are not even made to post, even though I see a lot of videos where Americans are forcing the cap down on the barrel.
Brian Goulet speculated that Europeans don't post to prevent theft, but that really has nothing to do with it. The reason most Europeans don't post pens is twofold. One reason is simply that the great majority of pens are designed to be balanced without being posted. Posting moves the balance point, and this causes hand fatigue during long writing session, even when the balance feels fine at first.
The other reason is that most still start using fountain pens as children, and are taught early that few things are as annoying as someone who is constantly posting and unposting a pen in a classroom, at a lecture, at a conference table, etc. It's like having someone chewing bubblegum and constantly popping bubbles.
This is far worse with snap on caps, of course, but it isn't good with screw on caps, either. Not constantly posting and unposting is also more convenient for the user. You hold the cap in your left hand, using your lower three finger, with the opening up. When there's a pause in the writing, you rest the pen in the cap, holding it in place with your thumb and index finger. The stops the annoyance factor, and is more convenient for the user.
Add reason number one and you have two very, very good reasons not to post a pen. Unless you're an American who grew up using cheap ballpoint pens, or a Japanese who uses a pen while holding it far mr vertically than just about anyone else.
As for paper, I test pens and inks on the "cheapest" paper I use on a regular basis. I don't need to know how a pen or ink behaves on Tomoe River, I need to know how it behaves on lesser papers. If it works well on these papers, I know it will be great on Tomoe River. If it doesn't work well on these papers, how well it behave son Tomoe River doesn't matter. I still can't use that pen or that ink on a regular basis.
This is more than reason enough not to test with Tomoe River. On top of this, I don't like 52 gsm Tomoe River, anyway. Far too much ghosting for me. I do really like 68 gsm Tomoe River, but I wouldn't waste it by testing pens or inks on it because it's just too expensive, and because I already know the result will be completely irrelevant to me. I both need and want to use several other types of paper, and testing on Tomoe River tells me absolutely nothing about how an ink, or even a pen, will behave on other papers.
Testing on my lowest grade, commonly used paper, however does tell me whether I can use that ink, and sometimes that pen, much at all. In other words, if it doesn't work on my cheapest papers, I can't use it at all except on Tomoe River. But if pen/ink do well on these lower grade papers, I know both will do extremely well on Tomoe River.
Though Tomoe River is far from my favorite high grade paper. I'd rank it fourth or fifth, at best. There are numerous very high grade fountain pen paper out there that most fountain pen users don't even know exists. Even with commonly known papers, I greatly prefer Clairfontaine and Rhodia Premium over Tomoe River.
You clearly have some strong views on posting and paper. To each his or her own:) Regarding posting, most pens feel better to me posted and the ones that don't, I post because I lose caps constantly, so it helps me not lose them. How people handle fountain pens seem to be very individual to each person, so I wouldn't want to generalize. I think each person should use the pen how it feels comfortable to them. Thanks for sharing your opinions though--I wasn't aware of the cultural differences related to posting.
I know this is an older video, but wanted to add that I have multiple TWSBI ecos, with significant shimmer inks in them- still write after not touching for 4-6 months! That cap is amazing!!
Note- all are EF or F nibs 😊
Thanks for sharing your collection!
The gasket on the back is to keep from over tightening, so it won't affect the use of the pen at all 🙂
I've never posted my 580s, because the cap perches so shallowly I'm not convinced that it's designed to post. 🤷
Nicole Look-Christensen I think technically the 580 is not designed to post, but it feels way too light unposted to me which is why I post it. I also am prone to losing my caps when I don’t post. I push pretty hard to post the cap and that works-it’s a tough pen, it can take it.
Hmm I had Schwartz Rose in the same pen with F nib and it got clogged. I had no issue cleaning it, but I tried again a few times and it always ended up clogging :( Too bad, I love shimmery inks in a fine line.
Pens & Planners for life this seems to be the consensus for this pen and ink combo.
How does the Extra Fine nib write, is it scratchy?
Not scratchy at all, but there does seem to be some variation from pen to pen.
My Vac Mini works perfectly. I haven’t bought a Mini because the Mini is smaller than the Vac Mini and the Vac Mini holds more ink.
Do you find the Eco EF to write smoothly? I heard another UA-camr who said that the F and EF have a fair amount of feedback? Just wondering your experience. Thanks!
It can vary a lot. I’ve gotten very smooth F and EF nibs and also some with a fair amount of feedback. I tend to smooth the ones that have feedback. I would go with F over EF if you are concerned about getting a smooth nib-also, the nibs I’ve gotten with rose gold coating have all been very smooth.
Very informative video. I haven’t tried fountain pens...yet. 😁 This was helpful to see and I’m wondering if you could show what’s involved with using and caring for fountain pens. I’m interested in trying them but also afraid I may either become addicted to them or regret the purchase because of the extra work they take. 🤪
TWSBIs are fairly low maintenance and usually just require a cleaning when changing out the ink--which is actually pretty simple. I'll put fountain pen maintenance on my list of videos for the future:)
@@MysteryArts Even easier to clean , cheaper and writing just as beautifully
is the Twsbi Go. It is also very
easy to fill from an ink bottle.
Also the Lamy Safaris write
great too and are also very
affordable😀
tanja blume I haven’t tried the TWSBI go yet-I might need to try it. I have several Lamy Safaris and am not that fond of them. I get way too many hard starts and the ink tends to dry out pretty fast when storing the pens. It might just be my dry environment.
@@MysteryArts How amazing is that, my experience is the exact opposite. I get hard starts with the Twsbis sometimes,
Iroshizuku inks though always
work😊 What I can feel in both pens is "dry"ink as opposed to"wet" ink. I believe
that a lot of the hard starts have to do with the wrong ink
in a particular pen. That is why the Iroshizuku inks are so
perfect. They seem to be uniformly a great consistency.
Yes, and maybe the weather also has an influence. I live
in Western Australia near Fremantle. 🌼
tanja blume I think it is also possible to get a bad nib here and there. I’ve actually replaced one of my Diamond mini nibs that had some hard starts-I replaced a M with an EF and the new nib works like a dream. I kept the M nib so that someday I might try to tune it-I think the nib tines were mis-aligned. I haven’t really gotten into tuning yet, so it’s just been sitting in storage waiting.
Aww no broad?
Thanks to you I finally understand why my TWISBI Eco's medium nib drops lines that look disproportionately wide! Since it's new, I've only had one ink in it and that's (take a guess)....yep, Noodler's Lexington Gray! I was hoping for more line variation between my medium and broad nib. Now I know that when I change the ink in the medium nibbed pen the problem will likely be resolved! 🙂👍
My guess is that another ink will produce a finer fine-happy to help😊
Some of the writing width/size will also be determined by the age of your TWSBI. They currently use JoWo nibs. But used to be Bock nibs. Will this be highly drastic? No. But I do know my Bock 1.1 nibs write much wider than the JoWo nibs, no matter the ink choice
Angel Allis thanks for the info! I wasn’t aware that they had changed nibs.
@@MysteryArts if you ever find yourself with one of the original 530s....they had Schmidt nibs back then
A good comparison, but where’s the broad? 🤔😉 I hope the TWSBI broad isn’t a mega wide line as I’’ve got one coming in the Prussian Blue. Thanks!
I had a broad nib on one of my 580s and ended up switching it out. I found it too broad, but it has been a while since I used it and I have since gravitated towards broader nibs. I need to try it out again.
Mystery Arts and Crafts, thx for the quick reply 🙂 yeh I’ve been fine and just medium all my ‘pen life’. lol. Time to switch it up a gear. Plus, I want to see more ink on the page from some of my inks too. Especially the Akkerman inks I have as I am finding them dry so far in my finer nibs. Not a nice experience. Appreciate the info 😀
You forgot the I in the last one! 👁
Zac vaper I know! I’m not good at multitasking🙂
The regular 580 looks huge when posted!
I agree. The nib behaves in a different way according to the ink ; it is also my experience.
I am left-handed and have had difficulty with fountain pens due to hand position. I have three TWSBI pens with medium, fine and extra-fine nibs, and I love them. I haven’t experienced any issues with writing left-handed.
Good to know for those lefties out there!
very nice detailed review. thaks
How odd, I was just looking into replacing my Ecos with Minis and this video was posted. Those Ecos sure are long. Thank you!
TheTinyCanary I absolutely love my minis-they are my favorite TWSBIs. I didn’t go into this in the video, but a nice feature of the Diamonds (both mini and regular) is that you can swap out the nibs-but mini and regular are not interchangeable. They each have their own special nib units. You can’t do that with the Ecos.
@@MysteryArts Oh no way! I thought the Eco could use the same nib as the mini. All the more reason to make the switch. I do think the Eco is a great cost efficient entry to fountain pens though.
I have enjoyed watching your
ink swatching and fountain
pen videos very much! They
could never be to long for me🤗
Have you had to re apply silicone yet to your Twsbi Ecos or any of them?
I had the piston stuck inside
my pen and had to remove the
nib and feed in order to prise it out, scary. I think I might have waited to long before applying the silicon. Now I am
having trouble putting it
back together properly, the piston knob won't screw all the way down. 🤔
The Twsbi Go and Lamy Safari
and Lamy Al, also write beautifully, and they are great to use with shimmer inks as
they are really easy to clean😊
tanja blume Thank you! I have not had to apply silicon to any of my TWSBIs because they all have been working great. Now that I think about it, I wouldn’t know when that is needed.
@@MysteryArts I think you will feel it, the piston just won't move up and down as smoothly. I noticed it and thought" I'll do it next time" ...
yours might last longer too, as
you are using a few at the same, I only used the one over
and over...😏
Hope you’ll add Vac and Vac mini to your collection !
Already in my collection😊
@@MysteryArts Wow ! A part-2 of this video is needed !
@@sathishrao7926 I'll add it to my list--it might take a little while though.