Franklin-Christoph 40 Pocket (Masuyama Needlepoint)

[dneal]

If a picture is worth 1000 words, then here are 4000.

 

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa163/roomdog/Pens/Pocket40016_zps813225f1.jpg

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa163/roomdog/Pens/Pocket40017_zps5cf92c1e.jpg

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa163/roomdog/Pens/Pocket40015_zps51b19a63.jpg

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa163/roomdog/Pens/Pocket40018_zpse08d9e91.jpg

 

When I saw this, I thought "super Kaweco". I had to have one. I almost always have an EF Kaweco sport in my pocket, and it is the most "handy" pen I own. I have a Midori Passport, and use the EF nib mainly to fit a lot of items in the calendar insert. Seeing that FC offered a Masuyama needlepoint, I went a little crazy and got one in 18k.

 

A few thoughts:

- No, it's not worth 10 times the price of a Kaweco Sport.

- It is very well made, although it is impossible to keep clean or free of fingerprints/dust/etc...

- It will scratch once posted, and you pretty much have to post it to use it.

- The Masuyama needle-point is exactly what it says. It has a scratchiness (which I think is unavoidable), but is surprisingly smooth... all things considered.

- It displaced my Kaweco... (poor Kaweco )

[hot cocoa]

I've been tempted by the needlepoint nib, but wondered about the scratchiness. One expense spared!

 

My clipped FC Pocket 40 w/masuyama stub is a champ. I can't say I prefer it over my Kawecos, but it has an elegance they definitely don't. I'd prefer if they'd put the block threads on the section toward the nib, like they do with the Model 03, and maybe someday they will...or come out with a new pocket design with that option.

 

Anyway, you have a great pen there, and good points on your review.

[avlisyar]

I recently purchased a Pocket 40 with a Masuyama Bold CI nib.

Like hot cocoa said, it is a champ and just fun to write with. I will

say that it replaced my Passaporto as my pocket pen.

 

I now have two (2) Franklin Christoph pens and I am impressed

with the quality of the build. I am surprised that we do not hear

more about these.

[Blue_Moon]

I love F-C pens! However, I had a bad experience with my first Kaweco (Ice Sport) and it turned me off. I never bought another Kaweco.

 

Regarding the scratchiness, F-C's customer service is so great, I bet you could contact them and they'd fix it for you.

[dneal]

Kaweco's out of the box are 50/50. They're easy to tweak/adjust, and write great with a little effort if you get a troublesome one.

 

Regarding the needlepoint on the FC - Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. "Toothiness" might have been a better word. It is very smooth, all things considered and is very useful for the Midori.

[Edwaroth]

No, I have a Masuyama needlepoint on my po40...it is not toothy but scratchy and rough. Feels rather like a dip pen nib. But I love the precise line it lays down!

Edited May 2, 2014 by Edwaroth

[raging.dragon]

[...] Regarding the scratchiness, F-C's customer service is so great, I bet you could contact them and they'd fix it for you.

 

This isn't a defect, it's just the nature of a needlepoint nib: the tip is too fine to make it perfectly smooth. A larger nib will will glide over the texture of the paper; whereas, a needle point is so fine it will follow and drag against the texture. That's the price one must pay to get the finest possible line, and for most it just isn't worthwhile.

Edited May 20, 2014 by raging.dragon

[Edwaroth]

I have had Japanese fines that write just as fine and are far smoother than this one. I also have a "1901" in EF that writes like most mediums. This is what turns me off to American made pens...they follow too closely the European standard of what a nib should write like. For benefit, I also have owned an Intrinsic M02 with fine that wrote just wonderfully, and fine.

[dneal]

I have had Japanese fines that write just as fine and are far smoother than this one. I also have a "1901" in EF that writes like most mediums. This is what turns me off to American made pens...they follow too closely the European standard of what a nib should write like. For benefit, I also have owned an Intrinsic M02 with fine that wrote just wonderfully, and fine.

 

Seeing how the American companies use European (German) nibs, it's not surprising that they follow that standard.

 

I think the reason people find asian F/XF/XXF nibs "scratchy" is not just because they are so fine, but because they weren't designed with upstrokes in mind. Printing with the needlepoint, which uses predominately down and cross strokes is no big issue. Writing in a loopy cursive can be though.

[Lamyrada]

I kind of heard that it is not worth 10 times the price. If you knew what you know now about it, would you buy it? I have never owned or tried a KAweco and I am looking for an EF nib on an eyedropper. What will it be; Kaweco or the Pocket 40?

[4lex]

I have F-C 20 with steel needlepoint nib. The nib is not scratchy at all but will give a fair amount of feedback on poor quality paper. It is a pleasurable experience on quality paper but the line is really thin, almost to thin for cursive writing. I regret not getting the extra fine instead. I should listen to FC advise... But if you like needlepoint nibs this is as good as it gets. Great if you have to write a lot of small numbers.

[4lex]

 

Seeing how the American companies use European (German) nibs, it's not surprising that they follow that standard.

 

I think the reason people find asian F/XF/XXF nibs "scratchy" is not just because they are so fine, but because they weren't designed with upstrokes in mind. Printing with the needlepoint, which uses predominately down and cross strokes is no big issue. Writing in a loopy cursive can be though.

I totally agree with you. I think the best nibs are made by Sailor but those of us who can't write in Chinese characters (Hanzi, Kanji, Hanja...) can't really appreciate them. Many people don't realise that you can change the line width on most broad sailor nibs just by adjusting the angle. And yes, they can appear scratchy since they can change from the smoothest down stroke to feedbacky upstroke.

Ever since Americans killed off the penmanship with their Palmer method, our western writing can't really give you the options to utilise the best nibs that are around.

[Lamyrada]

I have two F-C now and will go for a third in the future. then i start to sell or gift those fountain pens that are bot at par for some reason. First aI bought an F nib F-C and then stepped up to a needle point in a pockket 66. I cannot be more delighted. After I read and researched, the Pocket 66 is a delight to draw and sketch with. The Fine nib of the Model 20 is fine enough to write in any paper, smoothly, and it is not a M.M. nib, just the stock nib. I think my next ne will be a regular 66.

[NewPenMan]

Interesting to see this thread..a little bit of history about this great Pen.

 

I got my Pocket 40 in 2016, as Franklin-Christoph was retiring it, so I think I got one of the last ones made. I went for the ice with the Green finial.

 

At first, I did not like this pen. It was the size. I knew it was a "pocket" pen before I bought it, but the size didn't get along with my writing grip.

 

However, by the end of the day, somehow, my hand "got it" and it was solidly a pen I will not ever part with. It isn't merely a great writer, but the size I initially hated I feel now is a very strong asset of this pen.

 

I never write posted with any of my pens, and this one feels so...nimble. It's small and light and I rarely "cradle" it on the meat between my thumb and forefinger...it's just sort of "up" in the air.

 

One of the smartest pen purchases I've ever made and I feel very fortunate to have it.

[Misfit]

I kind of heard that it is not worth 10 times the price. If you knew what you know now about it, would you buy it? I have never owned or tried a KAweco and I am looking for an EF nib on an eyedropper. What will it be; Kaweco or the Pocket 40?

I have 4 Kaweco Sport fountain pens with another on the way. My experience is with broad nibs only, but they have all been good writers.

 

I have one Franklin-Christoph. They have amazing customer service, use interesting materials and have Mike Masuyama nibs. I ordered the broad stub and did not like it, so sent the pen back to get the broad cursive italic. That made me happy with the F-C. Even their broad is not as wide as a 1.1mm. Mine is an Omnis (#31) in Solid Ice and Smoke. The one thing F-C does not do is show the pens with converters in photos, though not all their pens accommodate converters. That threw me at first but I got used to it.

 

So what should you do? Get both! Okay, perhaps not. I think, but would not swear to it, a Kaweco can be eyedroppered. Have you seen the Ice Sports Kaweco makes? Clear section with colored kind of transparent caps.

Edited November 4, 2018 by Misfit

[Misfit]

Franklin-Christoph gives you 30 days to exchange the nib for the price of sending it to them. Its a great option to have.

 

I contacted them, and let them know my preferred nibs and what I liked. They recommended the cursive italic. In the meantime I tried a friends broad stub, so when I ordered the Omnis, I got the broad stub. Mistake, as I noted in my post above. I knew soon enough, and after contacting them about exchanging, sent the pen back. It was a fairly quick turnaround. They were right on what nib I should have bought. They do show writing samples on their website. They show them as white writing on black. Not sure this is the best, but....

 

There are a few threads on F-C Ive read. Customer service was extolled, and the nib exchange was mentioned. One is named close to Who likes or uses Franklin-Christoph.

 

Edited to add links to F-C threads.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/262792-who-is-using-franklin-christoph/

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/336377-calling-all-franklin-christoph-owners/

Edited November 4, 2018 by Misfit

[Honeybadgers]

Get the nib and put it in either a delike alpha or a wancai mini. Both of those pens beat the kaweco in design and quality.

[hot cocoa]

Great thread to bring back from the dead.

 

Sometime after buying my vintage green pocket 40, I bought another one, an Ice w/smoke finial. Aside from a tendency to stubbornly stain (since fixed by FC), I've been hard-pressed to find fault with it. Classy little pens all around, too bad the line's been retired.

 

Looks like the Pocket 20 line is somewhat the successor to the P40, and I'm curious to see if anyone has both for comparison's sake.