Jump to content

Desiderata Daedalus Review


rpsyed

Recommended Posts

(This is both my first post and first review)

 

I bought this pen a few weeks ago and have been using it quite a bit. This is my first modern flex pen so I unfortunately cannot compare with either Noodler's or FPR's models (I have three vintage flex pens though.) The pen I originally bought was a purpleheart and cedar wooden pen. Pierre (the make of the pens) had ran into some issues during production (from what I recall the cedar giving him trouble while he was finishing the wood,) so he gave me a choice of either a full refund or a pen made of another material. I told him my preference would be for an ebonite ripple pen.

 

The pen, as many of you I'm sure know, was built with input from members of this forum and was an attempt to build an "inexpensive, high performance, modern flex pen." I think Pierre has succeeded. The pen accomplishes it's lofty goal by using a flexible dip nib instead of a stainless steel or gold fountain pen nib. The downside is that they will eventually wear out and need to be replaced. Fortunately, these nibs seem quite long-lasting. I've been using the same nib for three weeks now and it's still performing great. Smooth, great hairlines, and no sign of corrosion yet. I do keep the pen stored up to not let the nib sit in ink while not in use. Replacement nibs are only a couple bucks though. Even less if purchased in bulk. For me, it's entirely worth it, even if I have to replace the nib each month.

 

The flow is superb. In roughly three weeks of fairly heavy use, I've only had a handful of instances of railroading. While I've only used this pen on either Rhodia or Clairefontaine (I use those papers exclusively), I don't believe this would work well on cheaper papers. However, that is to be expected with any flex pen.

 

The build quality is excellent and I think these pens are a steal at their current prices. I had read a few comments on Desiderata Pen Co.'s FB page saying that the pens seemed expensive which seemed ludicrous to me: it's a hand-turned pen with a hand-made feed and the asking price was well under 100USD. It's unreasonable to compare a hand-turned pen with an injection-molded pen.

 

I would highly recommend this pen to anyone who is familar with fountain pens and their upkeep and wants great flex. Because of the maintenance involved, it might not be a good recommendation for someone brand new, however.

 

For the record, I have no affiliation with Pierre, other than as a satisfied customer.

 

Here's a writing sample (please excuse my terrible handwriting)

The paper is Rhodia R 90gsm and the ink is Rohrer and Klinger Alt-Goldgrun for the Daedalus and the Wahl. Iroshizuku Yama-Budo for the Waterman and Morrison.

 

http://i1371.photobucket.com/albums/ag318/rpsyed/DesiderataDaedalusWritingSample_zps441c4eb5.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 12
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • PrestoTenebroso

    3

  • Venemo

    2

  • rpsyed

    2

  • AZBennett

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

Could you also post pictures of the pen itself? It'd be quite interesting to see. Thanks in advance! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Which nib did it come with? I got one of the prototype pens to test, which had the Zebra G nib on it. It worked fairly well with iron gall ink, but the nib was very scratchy, even on Rhodia paper. I'd love to see one of those with a nib that had real tipping on it, but then the trade-off would be the amount of flex.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could you also post pictures of the pen itself? It'd be quite interesting to see. Thanks in advance! :)

Which nib did it come with? I got one of the prototype pens to test, which had the Zebra G nib on it. It worked fairly well with iron gall ink, but the nib was very scratchy, even on Rhodia paper. I'd love to see one of those with a nib that had real tipping on it, but then the trade-off would be the amount of flex.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I received the Zebra G with my pen. It's not butter smooth for sure, there is some feedback. I think that's mainly from how fine the nib is. From what I understand it will grow scratchy overtime.

 

I apologize, I took these photos with my iPad and when I attached them they are all upside down. I believe better photos exist on Desiderata's FB page.

post-115672-0-02301700-1408299469_thumb.jpgpost-115672-0-57473600-1408299568_thumb.jpgpost-115672-0-66558800-1408299590_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found a link to a website on their facebook, but it requires a password to get in!

The pens look very interesting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What surprises me is his ability to avoid the flow problems I've had with all of my Frankenpens. With fountain pens, the closest I've had in terms of flex to the Desiderata is a MT Blackbird. It was $100 and if the nib cracks or gets sprung I'm basically back to square one. Zebra Gs are $1-2 and available widely. I think Presto is a bright man and on to something. I can't wait for him to build up supplies so I can buy another.

I have no relationship to this company other than being a tester on the original model.

 

Paul

"Nothing is impossible, even the word says 'I'm Possible!'" Audrey Hepburn

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33501
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...