My Twsbi Arrived!

[jmj75]

My TWSBI (F nib) arrived today and after using it for several hours I have to say that I am quite impressed with the build quality and nib performance given the price. I have the piston leak problem many people here described, ink between the seals but not past the second seal. I'll give it a clean and apply some silicone when I am out of ink and ready for a refill to see if it helps.

 

I have a lot of respect for people who have an idea and actively peruse making it a reality. My hat is off to you Speedy, I look forward to seeing more of your work .

 

-jmj

[speedy]

My TWSBI (F nib) arrived today and after using it for several hours I have to say that I am quite impressed with the build quality and nib performance given the price. I have the piston leak problem many people here described, ink between the seals but not past the second seal. I'll give it a clean and apply some silicone when I am out of ink and ready for a refill to see if it helps.

 

I have a lot of respect for people who have an idea and actively peruse making it a reality. My hat is off to you Speedy, I look forward to seeing more of your work .

 

-jmj

 

Glad you like the pen. I feel happy for you.

[SilentK]

My TWSBI (F nib) arrived today and after using it for several hours I have to say that I am quite impressed with the build quality and nib performance given the price. I have the piston leak problem many people here described, ink between the seals but not past the second seal. I'll give it a clean and apply some silicone when I am out of ink and ready for a refill to see if it helps.

 

I have a lot of respect for people who have an idea and actively peruse making it a reality. My hat is off to you Speedy, I look forward to seeing more of your work .

 

-jmj

 

Congrats on the new pen! I seriously can NOT wait to try one out for myself, so right now I am a bit envious of all of you. May I ask what you have it inked with? I'm thinking of perhaps getting a pretty colour to put in it that looks good in the demo, also maybe just another excuse to add to my measly, but growing collection!

 

Also, I think that one part of these pens that makes them so great would be the outstanding help and support that I see coming from speedy! I don't think I have seen too many people dedicated to their product like this, so I would just like to give a hats off to speedy!

Edited July 31, 2010 by SilentK

[jmj75]

FYI I refilled my pen and put a thin layer of Silicone Grease on the lower and upper seals, the thicker grease I purchased from a hardware store and not the thinner one that came with the pen. This seams to have solved the leak between seals. I used a small amount to retain the "clearness" of the upper part of the barrel when putting the piston back in. Overall I'm happy with the pen...it's a pretty good rough-and-tumble-everyday pen...

 

-jmj

[jniforat]

ah, yes. i plan on ordering my Twsbi beginning of September, along with the mechanical pencil that will soon be available. I cant' wait for the Vac-fill Twsbi pen

[Sproctor]

ah, yes. i plan on ordering my Twsbi beginning of September, along with the mechanical pencil that will soon be available. I cant' wait for the Vac-fill Twsbi pen

 

J -

 

That my friend, will wind up being one of your very best purchases so far. I've had my pen now for more that a month. Now that the nib is "broken-in" the pen has turned into pure delight to write with... smooth as silk. I might have to send it in to a nibmeister down the road and have some grinding done. Typical of German nibs, the EF is really a F or almost a M by Asian standards... The second piston that Jim sent me, pretty much corrected the leak-by issue I had, so truly I am a very happy camper! Oh, and one tank of ink is good for practically writing a whole book! Sure is nice not to have to pull and fill a converter after writing a couple of pages. I might have to pick up another one too, to have turned into a stub or cursive italic.

 

As for the pencils, I still am waiting for the retractables to arrive... so I can't really speak about them yet. The fixed-pipe ones I have are truly precision writing instruments as I suggested in that other thread, with just the right amount of "heft" if someone were to ask me. I think they are about 22gm if I'm not mistaken.

 

All & all, I totally agree TWSBI is really coming out with some exceptional products for not very much money. With their track record so far, I too can't wait for the Vac-fil to be finished either. Come to think of it, do you still have my email address? Please drop me an email, I have an idea that you might like...

 

Very Best Wishes & Kindest Regards,

 

Stephen

[akellens]

I just ordered mine a couple of days ago.

All these stories about people enjoying their Twsbi really makes me hope shipping from Taiwan to Europe will be fast :-)

[jniforat]

ah, yes. i plan on ordering my Twsbi beginning of September, along with the mechanical pencil that will soon be available. I cant' wait for the Vac-fill Twsbi pen

 

J -

 

That my friend, will wind up being one of your very best purchases so far. I've had my pen now for more that a month. Now that the nib is "broken-in" the pen has turned into pure delight to write with... smooth as silk. I might have to send it in to a nibmeister down the road and have some grinding done. Typical of German nibs, the EF is really a F or almost a M by Asian standards... The second piston that Jim sent me, pretty much corrected the leak-by issue I had, so truly I am a very happy camper! Oh, and one tank of ink is good for practically writing a whole book! Sure is nice not to have to pull and fill a converter after writing a couple of pages. I might have to pick up another one too, to have turned into a stub or cursive italic.

 

As for the pencils, I still am waiting for the retractables to arrive... so I can't really speak about them yet. The fixed-pipe ones I have are truly precision writing instruments as I suggested in that other thread, with just the right amount of "heft" if someone were to ask me. I think they are about 22gm if I'm not mistaken.

 

All & all, I totally agree TWSBI is really coming out with some exceptional products for not very much money. With their track record so far, I too can't wait for the Vac-fil to be finished either. Come to think of it, do you still have my email address? Please drop me an email, I have an idea that you might like...

 

Very Best Wishes & Kindest Regards,

 

Stephen

 

 

i +1 all of that!!

 

email sent too

[Ernst Bitterman]

My TWSBI (F nib) arrived today and after using it for several hours I have to say that I am quite impressed with the build quality and nib performance given the price. I have the piston leak problem many people here described, ink between the seals but not past the second seal. I'll give it a clean and apply some silicone when I am out of ink and ready for a refill to see if it helps.

 

I have a lot of respect for people who have an idea and actively peruse making it a reality. My hat is off to you Speedy, I look forward to seeing more of your work .

 

-jmj

 

Well said, and welcome to the club. If you've got some of the slightly lower quality firm silicone grease, you might try that rather than the really good stuff supplied with the pen-- it doesn't forestall the seal issue. That said, the reason I haven't tried the firmer grease is because I haven't finished the load of ink I've got in it yet, and it's not getting to the dry side of the piston.

[logantrky]

I got mine today too! )))))

[Pjake]

I really want to get one of these. When the issue is resolved (in terms of build), I'll dive in.

 

Peter

[riff raff]

[...] The second piston that Jim sent me, pretty much corrected the leak-by issue I had, so truly I am a very happy camper! [...]

When did you receive your replacement piston?

[kapnij]

Got mine last week, very new to this but it's a pretty nice pen. Fine could be finer but as another poster said it's par for a non-Japanese fine.

Is the piston leaking thing just an aesthetic thing if ink isn't making it past second seal?

[Sproctor]

[...] The second piston that Jim sent me, pretty much corrected the leak-by issue I had, so truly I am a very happy camper! [...]

When did you receive your replacement piston?

 

Hi Mike,

 

The one I received was a "tested" piston, not the new 1.5 version. I already had an order coming from Taiwan anyway with the new TWSBI pencils and I requested that they throw a piston in and they did.

 

Very Best Regards,

 

Stephen

[stine4115]

How, where, how much? does one go about ordering one of these pens. Thanks very much for the information/help?

[JLukeW]

How, where, how much? does one go about ordering one of these pens. Thanks very much for the information/help?

 

They're $40 + shipping (they 'should be' $100), and they should be on eBay, but I don't see them listed right now. Try a search for "Twsbi".

[kapnij]

ebay store is here

 

http://stores.ebay.com/twsbipenstore

 

Looks like nothing available right now though

[tonybelding]

I want to add some more comments about mine, things that may have been overlooked before. . . . .

 

I like a cap that seals well and prevents the pen from drying out, and this is something I've noticed varies a lot with different pens. The TWSBI has an O-ring on the outside of the section that makes an airtight seal with the cap. That's something I've never seen done before. In addition, it looks like the section butts up nicely against the inner cap. So, that makes two chances to prevent evaporation: sort of a belt-and-suspenders approach. If the cap is vented at all, I don't see it. The O-ring provides some resistance when screwing the cap on or off. You can really feel it making the seal, and it should make it practically impossible for the cap to loosen and come off by itself.

 

The cap band is pretty hefty and completely protects the end of the cap. The clip is also pretty solid. The impression I keep getting from this pen is "robust". Not elegant, not refined. . . It's a solidly-built, manly pen.

 

That goes for the size too. It's the largest pen that I can squeeze into my Mignon leather pouch with some degree of comfort. It completely fills the pouch, the flap just has room to close properly, and the cap band actually distends the leather just a wee bit. I wouldn't call it an oversized pen, but I'd call it a "full-sized" pen by modern standards.

 

Mine has a leaky piston. I disassembled and cleaned the pen, added some silicone grease (thick grease, not the runny stuff it came with!), and it seems to have helped. It should work OK until the v1.5 replacement pistons arrive. We've been told everybody who bought a pen with the old pistons will receive a replacement part, so that's covered.

 

When drawing ink, it doesn't seem to fill as fully as my Pelikan. There's always an air space between the piston and the incoming ink. However, given the size of the pen and the ink reservoir, it still holds plenty.

 

My biggest issue was the nib. I got a M nib, and mine was a dry writer. Holding it up to the light showed the tines touching at the tip -- no visible gap, no light coming through. I borrowed a page from "Da Book" and forced the blade of a utility knife between the tines to pry them apart a little. (This is a risky procedure that has been known to break nibs, and Da Book warns against using it on expensive pens! Lucky this wasn't an expensive pen, eh?) The result was good, as there's now a slight gap between the tines, and the ink flow has become just about perfect for me.

 

Once the new piston parts are shipping and the pens are readily available in quantity, I predict these are going to be hugely popular.