Duke Mako (Shark)

[Teaos]

 

Yes I realise the writing is hard to see. I'm going to have to work on that.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll64/Tinslay/DukeMako.jpg

 

Here are some pictures:

 

 

The box in which it came in:

 

 

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll64/Tinslay/024.jpg

 

 

 

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll64/Tinslay/026.jpg

 

 

This one is a bit out of focus...

 

 

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll64/Tinslay/023.jpg

 

 

The celluloid barrel with green flecks

 

 

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll64/Tinslay/025.jpg

 

 

Hope you enjoyed the review.

 

Regards,

 

Jeremy

Edited April 4, 2009 by Teaos

[hari317]

Beautiful celluloid, thanks for sharing. Does the pen give out a whiff of camphor? I would also be interested to know if the barrel is translucent.

 

Regards,

Hari

 

[Teaos]

Beautiful celluloid, thanks for sharing. Does the pen give out a whiff of camphor? I would also be interested to know if the barrel is translucent.

 

Regards,

Hari

 

The barrel isn't translucent, but what is camphor? Is it that kerosene smell you get from resin pens?

 

EDIT: The pen does have a faint odour, but quite light and pleasant. Hope that helps.

 

 

Jeremy

Edited April 4, 2009 by Teaos

[lovemy51]

pretty pen, no doubt! possibly the worst pen i own (no, i'm sure it is the worst i own!!) it won't write, no matter what i do... i'm serious, i've done everything, from adjusting the tines, changing the feed, using different inks... you name it. it writes a couple of words on paper and dies!!!!

 

i'm glad you like yours. thanx for the review!

[Teaos]

pretty pen, no doubt! possibly the worst pen i own (no, i'm sure it is the worst i own!!) it won't write, no matter what i do... i'm serious, i've done everything, from adjusting the tines, changing the feed, using different inks... you name it. it writes a couple of words on paper and dies!!!!

 

i'm glad you like yours. thanx for the review!

 

Actually having used it for a few days now it's starting to skip a lot and lost its original smoothness. Looks great, but sadly I can't write with it anymore

Edited April 6, 2009 by Teaos

[lovemy51]

pretty pen, no doubt! possibly the worst pen i own (no, i'm sure it is the worst i own!!) it won't write, no matter what i do... i'm serious, i've done everything, from adjusting the tines, changing the feed, using different inks... you name it. it writes a couple of words on paper and dies!!!!

 

i'm glad you like yours. thanx for the review!

 

Actually having used it for a few days now it's starting to skip a lot and lost its original smoothness. Looks great, but sadly I can't write with it anymore

 

i'm sorry about that! dukes are very good pens... sadly, not in the case of the Mako (IMO).

Edited April 6, 2009 by lovemy51

[hari317]

The barrel isn't translucent, but what is camphor? Is it that kerosene smell you get from resin pens?

 

EDIT: The pen does have a faint odour, but quite light and pleasant. Hope that helps.

Jeremy

 

Hi Jeremy, Camphor is one of the main ingredients in the manufacture of cellulose Nitrate and hence such celluloid gives out a whiff of camphor, it is a pleasant smell actually.

 

Regards,

Hari

 

[Teaos]

By the way, does anyone know if the Duke nibs are removable? I've tried twisting and pulling but the nib just won't budge. I tried switching the nib holder with my Duke D10. It screws on all right but the cap won't clip in place :bonk: Such a pretty pen and such a waste...

[lovemy51]

By the way, does anyone know if the Duke nibs are removable? I've tried twisting and pulling but the nib just won't budge. I tried switching the nib holder with my Duke D10. It screws on all right but the cap won't clip in place :bonk: Such a pretty pen and such a waste...

i've taken the nib out a million times... maybe more. they are friction fitted. try applying heat to it (i've used a small hair blow-drier) then, kinda like pulling and twisting the feed and nib together, just pull that baby out.

[Teaos]

By the way, does anyone know if the Duke nibs are removable? I've tried twisting and pulling but the nib just won't budge. I tried switching the nib holder with my Duke D10. It screws on all right but the cap won't clip in place :bonk: Such a pretty pen and such a waste...

i've taken the nib out a million times... maybe more. they are friction fitted. try applying heat to it (i've used a small hair blow-drier) then, kinda like pulling and twisting the feed and nib together, just pull that baby out.

 

How do you put it back in then?

 

[Souldrifter]

I bought my Mako from Norman at Hisnibs.com at least six months ago and haven't had a lick of trouble with it. Course, maybe there /is/ something to that whole tuning the nib before the pen is sent out deal.

 

Interestingly, my box is different. It's rectangular.

[Teaos]

Glad to see your pen is working, Reginleif. May I ask who tuned it for you?

 

I exchanged the nib of the Mako with my D10, now it works much better, although the line is a bit too wet. Still it's better than skipping.

[His Nibs]

I bought my Mako from Norman at Hisnibs.com at least six months ago and haven't had a lick of trouble with it. Course, maybe there /is/ something to that whole tuning the nib before the pen is sent out deal.

 

How about that!

 

[lovemy51]

I bought my Mako from Norman at Hisnibs.com at least six months ago and haven't had a lick of trouble with it. Course, maybe there /is/ something to that whole tuning the nib before the pen is sent out deal.

 

Interestingly, my box is different. It's rectangular.

you could be right and buying thru nisnibs.com is the way to go, but wow!... at $65 i can buy me a nice vintage... anything!!!... say two, nice P21 super!!!

 

Teaos, to get the nib/feed back in, just put the nib over the feed where the tines align with the feed channel and wiggle it back in. just follow the look of the other FP's you own to see how the nib and feed align.

[His Nibs]

Glad to see your pen is working, Reginleif. May I ask who tuned it for you?

 

Hi Teaos,

 

If I may be so bold as to answer for Reginleif

 

As I mention on each page of my website:

 

IMPORTANT SERVICE NOTE: Every nib that ships from His Nibs is closely examined under high magnification and

tuned or adjusted if needed. About 85% of modern nibs need some adjustment out-of-the-box from the manufacturer

for an optimal writing experience. Most commonly, the tines of the nib are misaligned -- which would cause

scratchiness at the minimum; the slit between the tines is partially or fully closed -- which would starve the nib of ink and

at best cause skipping; or the slit between the tines is too wide -- which will either again cause skipping, or conversely,

flooding. There are other factors -- such as separation of the nib from the feed -- that are inspected and repaired

before any pen leaves the Palace.

 

 

 

[Teaos]

So expensive though...

 

Well I guess you either pay little for something that doesn't work or pay a lot for something that does...

[His Nibs]

I bought my Mako from Norman at Hisnibs.com at least six months ago and haven't had a lick of trouble with it. Course, maybe there /is/ something to that whole tuning the nib before the pen is sent out deal.

 

Interestingly, my box is different. It's rectangular.

 

Duke produces quite a few different pen boxes...and in most cases they're not made for specific pens. The model I've always received in that shagreen box is the Mini Torpedo. It certainly fits with the the theme of the Mako though.

[Souldrifter]

I bought my Mako from Norman at Hisnibs.com at least six months ago and haven't had a lick of trouble with it. Course, maybe there /is/ something to that whole tuning the nib before the pen is sent out deal.

 

Interestingly, my box is different. It's rectangular.

 

Duke produces quite a few different pen boxes...and in most cases they're not made for specific pens. The model I've always received in that shagreen box is the Mini Torpedo. It certainly fits with the the theme of the Mako though.

 

Eh. I really don't care much about the box to be honest. Only in cases of special editions where it matters, like my Pelikan Sahara. Frankly, I like the rectangular one better anyway.

[ccvinylman]

Hi, Teaos,

 

Thanks for your great pen review and your super-great pictures!

 

Been thinking lately about purchasing a celluloid Shark. I've never knowingly bought a celluloid FP and am curious about the material. I remember buying some sheets of celluloid awhile back. They're sometimes used to make guitar-picks, though I used them for a fine-art project. I really liked the scent!

 

As for the idiosyncracies and shortcomings of the pen, I agree with His Nibs, above, that the majority of all fountain pens, particularly the new ones right out of the box, do require some adjustments, sometimes minor and sometimes major! Even highly regarded brands such as Platinum, Sailor, Montblanc (yes, Montblanc) need tweaking, and I say that not because I'm a neurotic perfectionist; rather, I have found out through experience (and yes, I've bought pens from the three manufacturers I just cited) that I need to adapt those nibs--and virtually all nibs--to my unique writing style.

 

Rest assured, I'm not a one-note Johnny who harps on smoothness, smoothness, smoothness. I like smoothness, but it is certainly not my single criterion for judging the worth of a nib. Frankly, the smoothest nib I've ever written with is a Rotring medium stainless steel nib, which came attached to a 1995 Millennium FP. The pen looks like a Jackson Pollack painting. I really like it! And yes, the smoothness of the nib is truly the nonpareil ​of smoothness.

 

When I take the plunge and buy a Mako Shark, perhaps I'll publish my own review.

 

Thanks again for yours.

 

Don (aka Sir Nibs)

[displacermoose]

Be aware that though the sharks look great, they have a horrible plastic inner cap that cracks as soon as you look at it. It is not removable so it is impossible to permanently fix. This will keep the cap from sealing well, and may very well cause your pen to dry out, hard start, etc.. I have two sharks and although they look great and when they write they write beautifully, they aren't consistent enough for me.

 

ETA: One of the things I love about FPN are the necro-threads.

Edited June 25, 2017 by displacermoose