Danitrio Densho Tamenuri

[AKAGodSent]

After hearing so many great things about Kevin (winedoc) and loving some of the pens he had on his site (www.internetpens.com) I decided I should finally try one out. I don't have too much experience with fountain pens in general but I wanted to try out all the different types of pens that people here think are a must, and from what I've seen, Danitrio is one of those pens. I contacted Kevin to first find out about a totally different pen and when Kevin found out what my preferences were he recommended the Densho and I picked out the Tamenuri color. I have yet to try any flex nibs and being told by at least one FPN member that I should give one a try I decided to experiment. At first I wanted the F Flex Nib but Kevin said that I would probably be happier with the XF Flex Nib since it runs wider. In the end this proved quite true as it runs wider than my 1911 Sailor F, so I was glad to have taken Kevin's advice. All in all, he's a great guy to deal with, I'm sure I echo many here when I say that, but it is true. He responded to all my questions and concerns, tested the pen out for me, sent the pen with instructions which I then even went so far as to confirm with him via PM (can never be too careful!). The pen was sent out on Tuesday and I SHOULD have had it on Friday but USPS claimed to have come by my house and left a notice since, supposedly, no one was hope. The truth is that I was home all day on Friday and this isn't the first time USPS did this, worse, is that they did NOT leave any type of notice and it was only thanks to tracking the order online that I was even aware a delivery attempt was made. This of course is not Kevin's fault and as I said this is not the first time USPS did this. So on Saturday I went and picked up my package .

 

The outerbox:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b19/akagodsent/IMG_0773.jpg

 

The box the pen is held in:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b19/akagodsent/IMG_0774.jpg

 

Inside the box, you can see the pen, the piece of cloth it comes with, the eye dropper, and on the left, folded up, are the instructions and a writing sample of the pen.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b19/akagodsent/IMG_0776.jpg

 

The pen cap is very simple yet very nice, with Danitrio running down the gold. It's quite sturdy and looks great with the Tamenuri color of the rest of the pen.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b19/akagodsent/IMG_0777.jpg

 

The pen itself isn't light, this is the pen on the Danitrio 'pen pillow' I bought from Kevin a while back with my Perchin MP5. It is longer than the MP5 and I think weighs a bit less, but not a light pen by any means.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b19/akagodsent/IMG_0781.jpg

 

Now, the nib. As I'm new to fountain pens I have yet to figured out how to get a good line variation with the Flex that this nib offers. It is a wonderful writer in and of itself without the flex, so it's quite easy to use on a day to day basis on whatever writing tasks you need to get done. The nib is quite smooth, surprisingly so, and even with my fast style of signature there is no skipping, few pens would measure up to that. This will undoubtedly be one of my favorite writers as soon as I find the perfect ink for it. At the moment it has Noodler's Old Manhattan, but as Kevin cleaned the pen out I think when I put in the Noodler's it mixed in with some of the water that was left over in the nib section and that made it run a little watered out, which I do not like at all. I also made the mistake of overfilling the pen by a little and as I tightened the nib some of the ink got out and onto my hands, so, to all those reading this, follow Kevin's instructions to the letter . I'll eventually give this pen a good wash and let it dry for a few days and put in some Aurora Black, hopefully that will give me the color I want.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b19/akagodsent/IMG_0778.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b19/akagodsent/IMG_0779.jpg

 

 

Filling the pen is by eye dropper and not hard at all, the only hard thing is measuring when the right moment is to stop and not overfill the pen. The section in the back has to be unscrewed 2-3mm for the pen to write continuously, otherwise I'm told you'll get a page or so out of the nib before the ink runs out. You can leave the pen unscrewed for the day and screw it back up at the end of the day. The pen feels good in my hands, very smooth surface and a lot of fun to write with. Highly recommended, both seller and pen!

Edited January 27, 2008 by AKAGodSent

[blak000]

Great review. You've got an impeccable taste in fountain pens, and building yourself quite a collection, too. That Danitrio looks very nice!

[goodguy]

This is a very nice review Yan.

Thank you for sharing us all with your new pen.

It is not a common thing to own such a pen,I am sure you will have a lot of good times with it.

Enjoy

[AKAGodSent]

Thanks guys, I'm glad you enjoyed the review and, hopefully, the pictures

[Martius]

I've got the raw ebonite version of this pen and it is wonderful. However, I found the flow to be far too heavy to allow for decent line variation with the flex. I ended up slightly springing the nib trying to get decent line variation (the thing was writing so we that I was getting almost an M line on the EF with no flex). I had to bend the tines back into proper alignment (no easy task with a sprung nib - try never to overflex a nib) and I ended up reducing the flow somewhat in the process, which I consider a good thing. Now the pen produces great line variation with little pressure.

 

On a side note, these pens have great flow. I applaud the person who designed the feed - it has never skipped on my once and has never laid down anything close to a dry line. These really are special pens that deserve the utmost care and respect.

 

And you really can't beat the design on the nib. I wish I could afford a Tamenuri Densho of my own!

 

Best,

Summer Greer

Edited January 28, 2008 by Martius

[FrankB]

This is a good review with good pix. Thank you.

 

I also have a raw ebonite version of the Densho, and I find mine to be very light weight. I guess pen weight is very relative. I think mine is well balanced and very comfortable to hold.

 

My nib is a stub, which I think is a B stub, and it flows ink well but it has yet to overwhelm me. I give mine an 8/10 for ink flow (based on Richard Binder's ink flow scale). I can get some moderate line variation with mine. The important thing for me is that it is fun to use and my penmanship looks pretty darned good with this nib.

 

I have yet to experiment with a Danitrio flex nib, and I suppose I need to do that with my next Dani pen. Since I like M to B nibs, I should probably try a "F" flex.

[tcheuchter]

Thank you for the splendid review! Must get one but still reeling from the damage done at the Philadelphia Show last weekend.

[AndyHayes]

I also have the raw ebonite. It's a nice pen and I can understand why so many people are clammering to get hold of one. Mine is fitted with a broad nib, but is about to be swapped out for a stub. If that works out well then I shall be selling my soul to buy an urushi Densho. Still struggling over colour choice, purple, black or the tamenuri.

 

I think that your review is pushing me towards the tamenuri though! Thanks for the review and the excellent pics too.

[AKAGodSent]

I've got the raw ebonite version of this pen and it is wonderful. However, I found the flow to be far too heavy to allow for decent line variation with the flex. I ended up slightly springing the nib trying to get decent line variation (the thing was writing so we that I was getting almost an M line on the EF with no flex). I had to bend the tines back into proper alignment (no easy task with a sprung nib - try never to overflex a nib) and I ended up reducing the flow somewhat in the process, which I consider a good thing. Now the pen produces great line variation with little pressure.

 

On a side note, these pens have great flow. I applaud the person who designed the feed - it has never skipped on my once and has never laid down anything close to a dry line. These really are special pens that deserve the utmost care and respect.

 

And you really can't beat the design on the nib. I wish I could afford a Tamenuri Densho of my own!

 

Best,

Summer Greer

 

 

You're right, the flow is very nice and I guess I also have the same problem with limited line variation...but I'm definitely not about to go exploring on my own what this pen is capable of and start fixing and moving things about . Although Kevin's written sample had more line variation than I've been able to get so I guess I'll have to keep practicing.

[AKAGodSent]

This is a good review with good pix. Thank you.

 

I also have a raw ebonite version of the Densho, and I find mine to be very light weight. I guess pen weight is very relative. I think mine is well balanced and very comfortable to hold.

 

My nib is a stub, which I think is a B stub, and it flows ink well but it has yet to overwhelm me. I give mine an 8/10 for ink flow (based on Richard Binder's ink flow scale). I can get some moderate line variation with mine. The important thing for me is that it is fun to use and my penmanship looks pretty darned good with this nib.

 

I have yet to experiment with a Danitrio flex nib, and I suppose I need to do that with my next Dani pen. Since I like M to B nibs, I should probably try a "F" flex.

 

Without ink it's lighter, and I'd say it holds a good amount of ink, but I can't say it's as light as an Aurora 88 which I remember being very surprised as to its weight. It's a little heavier than my 1911 Sailor but a little lighter than both the MP5 and the Visconti Black Storm which I have inked at the moment.

 

And thank you again everyone for all the kind words

Edited January 28, 2008 by AKAGodSent