New Dunn Pen Tattler Model

January 30, 2012

So, a number of months ago, Richard announced a new pen was coming out from the Gate City Pen and Ink company. Obviously,

this was the New Dunn pen. This was looking to be one of the best pens Gate City had come out with, and three months (roughly)

later, it was released. I bought my Tattler model the morning it went live on Richard's website, and it was shipped a few weeks

later due to Richard being away at a pen show. I ordered it originally with a fine nib.

First Impression: 9/10

Opening the well packaged box revealed the standard box used for Bexley pens that was re purposed for Gate City pens. Nothing

special, but a red, clear, and black pen against a satin background was a very nice contrast.

Design: 10/10

It is intended to be a faithful recreation of the original Dunn pen Tattler model, and it certainly comes across

as such. It is probably made of better materials than the original, too, and thus will stand the test of time better.

Nib: 9/10 & 10/10

A little unorthodox rating, but necessary. I do not have a picture of the original nib in here, but I do of the new one.

As I said at the beginning, I ordered this pen with a fine nib. I used it until just last week. This was the nib that scored

a nine out of ten. It came from Richard, so of course it was smooth, wet, and adjusted to my taste. But I wanted something

special from the beginning. I just didn't have the funds to do it right then. With some Christmas money I received from

my family, I purchased a custom 14K gold flexible nib from Richard! I only have two pens with flexible gold nibs, and this

makes both of them look like steel nibs. I love this nib! I can use it for anything. Fortunately, I have enough control over

it to use it for general writing, but I also can flex good with it, it's just sloppy. Sorry for that in the next picture.

Filling System: 8/10

This pen can hold a ton of ink! Great thing for how much ink the flex nib uses, however. It works almost flawlessly.

The only thing I do find a tiny bit frustrating about it is I have to wait five or six seconds before pushing the plunger

down again after an upstroke to let the pen fill to its fullest for that stroke. This is the only pen I need to do this

with, and I don't know why. Normally it would be a bigger deal, but the directions somewhere say to pause for about five

seconds, so I can't dock them too much. One other thing that brought it down another point is the fact that the white plastic

tube is open on the end. After the first week of use, I had some green ink starting to seep out a little from the pump handle.

I just took it apart, cleaned it, and put some more sac cement in than Richard had in the first place when he assembled the pen.

No big deal, but for the price, it could have been better.

Overall: 46/50

It was a very good buy in my opinion. I love this pen! I think it will be in my current rotation for quite some time.

The pen itself was two hundred and twenty five dollars, and I think what you get justifies the price. I will not reveal

the price I paid for the custom flex nib however. I don't know if Richard wants me to reveal that or not, and better safe

than sorry.

Ink used was Visconti green, what you see in the pen is the last of it. Paper was just cheap 20 lb paper from Staples.

I know, it feathers like nothing else on this paper, but I use some nice journals that have card stock pages one of my

professors gave me, and it writes like a dream on that stuff.

Here are a few more photos. Sorry some of them are blurry, but with the camera and set up I have, it'll have to do.

Edited January 30, 2012 by PenEngineer

January 30, 2012

Thanks for the review! Between the neat filler, and the hypnotizing effect of watching ink slosh around in there, I'm surprised you end up doing any work at all!

This one is next on my list. However, now that I've seen the "tattler" version, I think I will go with the classic black. It would be neat to see the inside, but I don't like the look of the clear body with the regular black cap and red knob. But hey, to each their own.