I know I am late to the party, but I think the squeaking of the threads is due to the hardness and lubricity of the specific resin formulation. The priority was a crystal clear cured resin, the consequence was the squeaky thread engagement. Probably because only a minimal amount of plasticizer used.
Great review. I have two of these, one with a delicious dark blue ink and the other with a very deep jade green ink. They get a lot of comments when I use them. I bought the Pelikan m205 Demonstrator and it is very well made but does not compare well to this pen. And neither of mine did squeak at all. Again, great review.
Really appreciate you going into detail about the practicality of using this pen.The makers of this pen took the art of ink filling to a whole new level! Add to that the 'squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak' and this pen is probably not one for me. On a lighter note, it's probably best not to leave the syringe with the red ink lying around lest it lead to awkward queries about your life style😀!
Great in-depth review as always! I just have one minor suggestion if I may. Don't use silicon grease on those threads. When I have to address the issue of squeaky threads, I simply apply a little Flitz paste (available on ebay) to the offending threads and run the part back and forth several times and then remove it with a soft cloth and an ear swap. Repeat as necessary. This micro-polishes the threads and eliminates the need for messy silicon grease, especially on threads that are exposed. Cheers, Steve
Thanks Steve! That's a good suggestion and I hadn't heard of Flitz paste before, I'll have to give it a try. One downside with silicon grease although it can help lubricate the threads, when they get inky it tends to stain the silicon grease. I'm not sure if it would do that with Flitz paste, but one potential downside with silicon grease. I would presume that as Flitz is a micro-polish that you'd be wiping it away so there's nothing to be attracted onto where it was on the threads?
@@PenultimateDave Hi Dave, once the micro-polishing is complete and the paste removed the threads should not attract anything. I have used this method many times and it has never failed me. With silicon grease there is also the chance that you could inadvertently have some on your fingers and if you contact the nib that could be disastrous, so I only use silicon to seal the threads on eye-dropper pens. Cheers, Steve
That's a shame, I have a lot of JoWo nibs, I have some medium, most are broad and I find them the most consistent in nibs compared to Schmidt and Bock nibs. I'm sure there are equally some nibs out there that can have issues, I've just not seen them myself. What were the problems you had?
Other than priming the feed when filling, how often is the shutoff valve used when writing? Or is it just left fully screwed in most of the time? Is there a noticeable difference in the writing when the valve is opened?
I actually use the shutoff valve all the time. When the valve is closed it won't stop ink flow like a lot of power vac fillers, it just reduces ink flow. I have a broad nib on my Opus 88 and I find it writes a little on the dry side when the valve is closed, so I open up the valve when I write with it. All you have to do is unscrew it, not pull the valve / rod back. So very important to note the valve does not shut off ink flow, especially for when flying, as I know some people prefer to have a valve that will shut off completely. Where others actually find it more of an annoyance in having to unscrew the knob every time to write with on the pens that do shutoff the ink flow.
My cap threads were squeaky too when I first got my pen, and I was concerned because this is something that would get on my nerves. I don't typically like putting silicone grease on cap threads because it invariably gets on my fingers and the grip while writing which I don't like(nothing wrong with that, necessarily, just my personal preference) so I let it go. After a day or two, the squeak went away all on its own. I'd be curious to know if yours stops squeaking over time as well (without the silicone, of course) or if others have had a similar experience.
That's interesting, I definitely could see that maybe over time the squeak reduces. I did try using one of the pens for a day without silicon grease but it didn't reduce in the squeaking so I silicon greased all three so I can't try now.
Darn!!! Kind of not what I was expecting of this pen, frankly it didn't convince me... But on the other hand I saw your reviews of Santini pens and decided that those 100 bucks will rather go to a Santini once I save enough money, this hobby and people like you will lead me to bankruptcy!!! LOL
@@PenultimateDave Totally true, and what is better is that my 5 year old daughter is already taking interest in fountain pens so at least 2 generations are guaranteed to keep the collection alive 😁 Regards.
I have the orange version with the 1.5mm stub and I love it!
I know I am late to the party, but I think the squeaking of the threads is due to the hardness and lubricity of the specific resin formulation. The priority was a crystal clear cured resin, the consequence was the squeaky thread engagement. Probably because only a minimal amount of plasticizer used.
Great review. I have two of these, one with a delicious dark blue ink and the other with a very deep jade green ink. They get a lot of comments when I use them. I bought the Pelikan m205 Demonstrator and it is very well made but does not compare well to this pen. And neither of mine did squeak at all. Again, great review.
I have looked at the Pelikan M205 Demonstrator but for me it's just too small.
Really appreciate you going into detail about the practicality of using this pen.The makers of this pen took the art of ink filling to a whole new level! Add to that the 'squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak' and this pen is probably not one for me. On a lighter note, it's probably best not to leave the syringe with the red ink lying around lest it lead to awkward queries about your life style😀!
Great in-depth review as always! I just have one minor suggestion if I may. Don't use silicon grease on those threads. When I have to address the issue of squeaky threads, I simply apply a little Flitz paste (available on ebay) to the offending threads and run the part back and forth several times and then remove it with a soft cloth and an ear swap. Repeat as necessary. This micro-polishes the threads and eliminates the need for messy silicon grease, especially on threads that are exposed. Cheers, Steve
Thanks Steve! That's a good suggestion and I hadn't heard of Flitz paste before, I'll have to give it a try. One downside with silicon grease although it can help lubricate the threads, when they get inky it tends to stain the silicon grease. I'm not sure if it would do that with Flitz paste, but one potential downside with silicon grease. I would presume that as Flitz is a micro-polish that you'd be wiping it away so there's nothing to be attracted onto where it was on the threads?
@@PenultimateDave Hi Dave, once the micro-polishing is complete and the paste removed the threads should not attract anything. I have used this method many times and it has never failed me. With silicon grease there is also the chance that you could inadvertently have some on your fingers and if you contact the nib that could be disastrous, so I only use silicon to seal the threads on eye-dropper pens. Cheers, Steve
I've had nothing but problems with JoWo nibs, but this is a nice looking pen at a nice price.
That's a shame, I have a lot of JoWo nibs, I have some medium, most are broad and I find them the most consistent in nibs compared to Schmidt and Bock nibs. I'm sure there are equally some nibs out there that can have issues, I've just not seen them myself.
What were the problems you had?
Other than priming the feed when filling, how often is the shutoff valve used when writing? Or is it just left fully screwed in most of the time? Is there a noticeable difference in the writing when the valve is opened?
I actually use the shutoff valve all the time. When the valve is closed it won't stop ink flow like a lot of power vac fillers, it just reduces ink flow. I have a broad nib on my Opus 88 and I find it writes a little on the dry side when the valve is closed, so I open up the valve when I write with it. All you have to do is unscrew it, not pull the valve / rod back. So very important to note the valve does not shut off ink flow, especially for when flying, as I know some people prefer to have a valve that will shut off completely. Where others actually find it more of an annoyance in having to unscrew the knob every time to write with on the pens that do shutoff the ink flow.
@@PenultimateDave Bah...that stinks, what's the point of having a shut-off valve that doesn't SHUT-OFF ink flow??
that pocket scale looks cool! where did you get it?
Amazon I think, just search for digital scales and you'll probably find a lot.
i love the koloro demo broad.i ts my favourite broad so juicy,but my omat broad isnt such juicy as demo.why?same jowo nib is ,this is my question dave
My cap threads were squeaky too when I first got my pen, and I was concerned because this is something that would get on my nerves. I don't typically like putting silicone grease on cap threads because it invariably gets on my fingers and the grip while writing which I don't like(nothing wrong with that, necessarily, just my personal preference) so I let it go. After a day or two, the squeak went away all on its own. I'd be curious to know if yours stops squeaking over time as well (without the silicone, of course) or if others have had a similar experience.
That's interesting, I definitely could see that maybe over time the squeak reduces. I did try using one of the pens for a day without silicon grease but it didn't reduce in the squeaking so I silicon greased all three so I can't try now.
Is the clip removable?
On my Koloro Demonstrators the cap finial is glued in place so you cannot remove the clip.
@@PenultimateDave Thanks for the answer!
Hi Simon Joha,
I was able to remove the clip on my Koloro demonstrator. Mine was not glued .
Darn!!! Kind of not what I was expecting of this pen, frankly it didn't convince me... But on the other hand I saw your reviews of Santini pens and decided that those 100 bucks will rather go to a Santini once I save enough money, this hobby and people like you will lead me to bankruptcy!!! LOL
Well you know what they say...? You can't take the money with you once you're gone, might as well spend it now!
@@PenultimateDave Totally true, and what is better is that my 5 year old daughter is already taking interest in fountain pens so at least 2 generations are guaranteed to keep the collection alive 😁 Regards.