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Twsbi Vac 700


tonybelding

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Rudyhou, if you weren't aware, TWSBI has a bundle promotion going on right now- both a 540 and a Vac700 for $100. Thought you would like to know if you were thinking of getting the Vac700.

 

thanks for the info! just ordered mine :) d'you know whom should i contact if i want to make changes in my order? there are several e-mail addresses in the "contact us" tab (i want to change the colour of the 540)

On a quest to find the best black ink there is {on hold until i come up with good criteria}. Test subjects:

Caran d'Ache Carbon; J. Herbin Perle Noire; De Atramentis Black Edition - Black; Lamy Black; Montegrappa Black; Parker Quink Permanent Black; Pelikan Brilliant Black 4001; Sailor Kiwa-Guro Pigmented Nano Black.Not final list, PM me with further worthy test subjects

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Have had a blue TWSBI 700 for some time and wanted to like it. However the nib was scratchy and dry and despite playing with it, it never really improved to the point where I would choose it as a writer. I have just fitted a 1.1 stub from The Writing Desk, and the pen is transformed! Just filled with tsuyu-kusa and it is flowing beautifully and is as smooth as butter to write with. Should have done this ages ago! Many thanks to Anna & Martin!

I also have a Pilot 823 and an Onoto Heritage Plunger and this is now as smooth as either of those.

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I love my Vac 700. It hasn't gone a day without being used. I just wish it had a two-tone nib since you can clearly see the nib at all times thanks to the clear cap.

EDC: Pelikan M200

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Great review! I love my sapphire vac with the jowo fine nib. I have been thinking of getting another, probably a smoke or clear one this time around and with a medium or 1.1mm stub nib. Thanks again for the review!

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  • 3 months later...

Thank you for the amazing review!! It actually inspired me to order a clear TWSBI vac 700 M, and it arrived just about a week ago.

I don't have any experience with the earlier vacs, but it seems to me that TWSBI's quality control still leaves quite a bit to be desired. The nib was terribly misaligned with the feed and the tines were also a bit off. The nib also kept skipping very slightly and looking through a loupe, I found a tiny baby's bottom! ;) So I aligned the nib slit with the feed slit (it seems that the feed is slightly asymmetrical), balanced the tines and got rid of the baby's bottom with some Micro-Mesh. And now the pen is definitely one of the smoothest writers I own (it even rivals with my Pelikan M405!!!) and the flow is just right - nice and wet. So I'm really happy with the pen and maybe even happier than I would have been if the pen had worked perfectly straight out of the box as I really love all kinds of tinkering :D

Anyway, I really love the simplistic design of the pen and adore the vacuum filling mechanism!

 

Thanks again for the brilliant review!

 

-Ville

Fuelled by Curiosity

995662539_DPsignaturecopy.jpg.82b2b31da7a575233c06ed77d4186eb1.jpg

 

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UPDATE: Today my clear Vac 700 failed. And by "failed", I mean broke. As in fractured.

 

I had dropped it a few times from desktop height onto a carpeted floor, not onto a hard surface. When ink started getting on my fingers, I thought it was merely drops that had jolted out into the cap and then gotten back onto the grip section. However, after wiping it off, my fingers kept getting ink on them, and the feed kept getting saturated. I emptied and flushed it out, then took it apart, and I found the feed housing had cracked open and nearly come apart in two pieces.

 

Yes, this is the same pen that I dubbed the ne plus ultra of fountain pens only a short while back. I gushed about it. I gave it my highest recommendation. Never before has one of my pens gone from hero to zero this quickly. I mean, here I was thinking maybe TWSBI had finally sorted out all their issues and parts breaking was behind us, and then this happens. Maybe it's time to give up.

 

Then again, maybe this is a freak thing that will never happen again. But it sure is a let-down. -_-

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To be honest Tony, I don't recall hearing of any other 700s that broke or cracked; 580/540s, yeah, but not 700s. Maybe the impact was harder than you would have expected, especially if it was dropped "a few times"?

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Sorry to hear that Tony, it seems substantial enough to withstand a few drops. As you said, maybe just a freak accident. I'm a bit on the fence about my 700, most of the enjoyment I've gotten from it come from others curiosity in it honestly.

 

In your initial post, what ink is that in the last picture? Turquoise-ish in color...

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I'm so sorry to hear that! :( But at this point we'll just have to hope this was an abnormality more than a rule and won't happen again....

Fuelled by Curiosity

995662539_DPsignaturecopy.jpg.82b2b31da7a575233c06ed77d4186eb1.jpg

 

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In your initial post, what ink is that in the last picture? Turquoise-ish in color...

 

That is Noodler's Legal Lapis, available through Pendemonium. It's a waterproof and "bulletproof" ink, and it's one of the wettest inks I've ever seen. I have found that I prefer wet inks in the Vac 700.

 

BTW, I had Noodler's Texas Blue Bonnet in it when it broke. TBB has become my favorite blue, despite a few quirks.

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And in a bitter ironic twist, my Bexley Corona disassembled itself yesterday. I was trying to screw the cap off, but the body screwed apart instead. This HAS happened before, but I sent it to Bexley for repair and figured it wouldn't ever happen again. Apparently Bexley couldn't be bothered to apply any sort of adhesive or do anything more than simply screw it back together and ship it back to me.

 

When your TWSBI fails one day, and your Bexley the next, what do you turn to?

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To be honest Tony, I don't recall hearing of any other 700s that broke or cracked; 580/540s, yeah, but not 700s. Maybe the impact was harder than you would have expected, especially if it was dropped "a few times"?

 

This has cropped up on the board before. The Vac700 doesn't task this piece (the "feed holder" on the disassembly photo @ Raven's March) with holding the section together, so the failure rate seems to be far lower than on the 540 and 580. On the Vac700, it does seem to be the sole weak link in an otherwise reliable chain.

 

edit - reading Tony's symptoms, ("When ink started getting on my fingers, I thought it was merely drops that had jolted out into the cap and then gotten back onto the grip section. However, after wiping it off, my fingers kept getting ink on them, and the feed kept getting saturated.") I get a sense of deja vu reading similar sounding accounts about the Twsbi Mini.

 

Maybe their feed sleeves are fractured? I've read that they are in there very tight. Could the threaded areas have sheared, causing the ink weep, while staying in the pen due to a tight friction fit?

Edited by Flounder

Latest pen related post @ flounders-mindthots.blogspot.com : vintage Pilot Elite Pocket Pen review

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Maybe this will help clarify what happened...

 

http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/twsbi_vac_700_broken.jpg

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Maybe this will help clarify what happened...

 

http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/twsbi_vac_700_broken.jpg

Hello, I wonder if there are really supposed to be two O-rings at the flange of the cracked piece? I would think if designed for one, the force needed to compress two to bring the piece into position, could put enough tension on the piece to pull it apart. I could see this being a manufacturing error with the O-rings sticking together and the second coming along for the ride. It might be informative if someone else with this pen could check to see if they have one or two O-rings at this location.

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I love the twsbi's they are great pens and under the hundred dollar mark. And the clear is beautiful with the ink inside. I was curious if anyone has ever plated nibs and trim on one to give it a look similar to the aurora 88 black demonstrator. I was thinking of picking up a second clear one and attempting to have this done but im not sure it is possible.

Edited by them700project
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LinnT good eye!. I don't have a vac but on my 540s and my mini, there's only one o-ring there. Tightening enough to accomodate the extra o-ring would definitely put extra tension on the plastic there, with the most expected outcome being a fracture right along where that image shows.

http://stubblefield.me Inks Available for Sample Exchange: Noodler's Black, Blue Black, Apache Sunset, Private Reserve Black Cherry, Sherwood Green, Tanzanite, Velvet Black, De Atramentis Aubergine, J. Herbin Lie de The, 1670 Rouge Hematite, Bleu Ocean, Lamy Turquoise, Rohrer & Klingner Salix, Sheaffer Skrip Blue-Black, OS Red Rubber Ball, Parker Quink Blue (India version)

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