New "caiso" Bulkfiller Revealed !

[Tojusi]

Wilrijk or Conid Place is only a 45 minute drive from home, so next saturday I will collect my demonstrators ( yeah, I could not choose ) at the factory. I can assure you the people at Conid did a hell of a job in solving some teething problems with the CAISO concept. It was worth waiting.

 

 

Just received confirmation, via an email not official, of my order (#6 flat) being shipped next week.

 

So, did Eugen-of-Savoy manage to pick up the pens this past Saturday? Are they nice?

 

Has Glassjaw received confirmation of shipment?

 

Has any other purchaser heard anything new?

 

My pen is a streamline version and one of the very low numbers. I have not heard anything about the shipment schedule.

[glassjaw003]

Nothing as of yet. Still hopeful for shipment information this week.

[DGH_Nomad]

I haven't heard any news yet either, but I was a later order so I assume that everyone else will be receiving their pens before I see mine. There's no doubt that they're staying busy with the new release.

[fountainbel]

Dear CAISO fans,

I've been at Conid today for a CAISO brainstorming meeting ,and Werner asked me to brief you on the actual situation

Werner fully understands you are all anxious in getting your CAISO, please be assured we do our very best to get it out as soon as possible.

As you surely know, quality is not an idle word for Conid , and aiming for perfection we discovered the feed design needs further improvement.

In house development of a perfect CAISO feed proved to be a rather complex task , which implies a learning curve.......

We kindly ask you all to be patient for another 2 weeks, shipping out a pen which is not perfect would be worse both for you and Conid.

In compensation for the repeated shipping delay Werner will include a nice present with your CAISO.

I've seen the present and it is both practical and beautiful, I'm sure you will enjoy it !

Francis

[cunim]

 

Dear CAISO fans,

I've been at Conid today for a CAISO brainstorming meeting ,and Werner asked me to brief you on the actual situation

Werner fully understands you are all anxious in getting your CAISO, please be assured we do our very best to get it out as soon as possible.

As you surely know, quality is not an idle word for Conid , and aiming for perfection we discovered the feed design needs further improvement.

In house development of a perfect CAISO feed proved to be a rather complex task , which implies a learning curve.......

We kindly ask you all to be patient for another 2 weeks, shipping out a pen which is not perfect would be worse both for you and Conid.

In compensation for there long wait Werner will include a nice present with your CAISO.

I've seen the present and it is both practical and beautiful, I'm sure you will enjoy it !

Francis

 

Francis, thanks for clarifying the delay in shipment, which is understandable. I do have an issue, however. Orders should be acknowledged, invoices issued, questions answered - that sort of thing. These routine interactions can be done by someone less busy than Werner, and would tend to make customers feel more valued.

[DGH_Nomad]

 

Dear CAISO fans,

I've been at Conid today for a CAISO brainstorming meeting ,and Werner asked me to brief you on the actual situation

Werner fully understands you are all anxious in getting your CAISO, please be assured we do our very best to get it out as soon as possible.

As you surely know, quality is not an idle word for Conid , and aiming for perfection we discovered the feed design needs further improvement.

In house development of a perfect CAISO feed proved to be a rather complex task , which implies a learning curve.......

We kindly ask you all to be patient for another 2 weeks, shipping out a pen which is not perfect would be worse both for you and Conid.

In compensation for the repeated shipping delay Werner will include a nice present with your CAISO.

I've seen the present and it is both practical and beautiful, I'm sure you will enjoy it !

Francis

Thanks for the update! I don't think (most) anyone minds waiting for the perfection of the feed, but the updates are great to have. It's rare for innovation, in any industry, to move quickly.

[sd10521]

Thank you for the update!

[Doc01]

Hello Francis,

Is there yet a tentative shipping date for the CAISO?

My order was in and paid for 11 weeks ago.

 

Thanks,

Doc Mitchell

[glassjaw003]

Hello Francis,

Is there yet a tentative shipping date for the CAISO?

My order was in and paid for 11 weeks ago.

 

Thanks,

Doc Mitchell

 

Hello Doc,

 

We have all been waiting for quite a while. In fact, I paid for mine in full 15 weeks ago.

There has been more than enough trouble along the way, and truth be told I wish this was not the case. Alas, it is.

I can say, however, that today I received an email from Werner. In this email he states that there are two options.

Option 1: Wait a little longer, for a perfect feed.

Option 2: Be send the CAISO now, with an imperfect feed.

I am not sure if option 2 includes receiving a new feed once completed.

 

I have decided to wait. I have waited since almost the beginning of this thread, so I will wait until the pen is perfect.

 

Cheers,

LG

[Doc01]

Thanks LG,

 

Knowing Conid and my pleasure with my regular flat top from them, option 2 should not exist.

My Conid is by far the best & smoothest writer in my collection, some of which are way more expensive.

I will be selling 1 or more of them, starting with the Visconti Opera Master.

 

Seeing an end date is near helps. I can start getting excited again.

 

My post was premature, not looking for and seeing Francis latest post.

 

Doc

[glassjaw003]

Thanks LG,

 

Knowing Conid and my pleasure with my regular flat top from them, option 2 should not exist.

My Conid is by far the best & smoothest writer in my collection, some of which are way more expensive.

I will be selling 1 or more of them, starting with the Visconti Opera Master.

 

Seeing an end date is near helps. I can start getting excited again.

 

My post was premature, not looking for and seeing Francis latest post.

 

Doc

 

Hey Doc,

 

What nib do you have on your flattop? I love my flattop, very smooth, but it is not my favorite writer only because it is a Ti nib and flexes too much for daily writing. I'd have to say that out of all my pens (I too have expensive ones ) that my moderately priced Franklin-Christoph is my best writer. Super smooth gold nib.

 

I am expecting the gold nib I've ordered for the CAISO to be as good or superior.

 

Thanks,

LG

[Doc01]

LG,

 

I had them grind a med Ti to an italic stub. It came out perfect for me. I have never had a gold nib, may try one someday.

 

Doc

[humzai]

Hey Doc,

 

What nib do you have on your flattop? I love my flattop, very smooth, but it is not my favorite writer only because it is a Ti nib and flexes too much for daily writing. I'd have to say that out of all my pens (I too have expensive ones ) that my moderately priced Franklin-Christoph is my best writer. Super smooth gold nib.

 

I am expecting the gold nib I've ordered for the CAISO to be as good or superior.

 

Thanks,

LG

 

 

Hey glassjaw you know that changing the nibs on these pens is really easy? You can get a bock #6 sized Nib for $20 and it just screws right in.

Edited May 21, 2016 by humzai

[glassjaw003]

Hey glassjaw you know that changing the nibs on these pens is really easy? You can get a bock #6 sized Nib for $20 and it just screws right in.

 

Sure. I remove my nibs all the time for cleaning. But I would not remove the Ti nib from my flatop. While I may not see it as an all day everyday daily writer, I still think it is a great nib. Plus, I have a stainless steel fine from Conid that I could switch to.

 

Thanks!

[humzai]

You might be able to use your Franklin Christoph nib in your Conid as well. They use jowo nibs but if it's a #6 one you can stitch them out. You have to yank the feed and nib out and swap just nibs but it's easier than it sounds.

 

I like my Ti nib a lot but I enjoy swapping them out too.

[Tojusi]

OK, I chose to get the CAISO with the current feed at this time. Here is something for you to drool over:

 

 

 

 

Sorry, this is slightly out of focus:

 

 

[glassjaw003]

How is it Toni?

[DGH_Nomad]

Thank you so much for posting this Tojusi, what exactly is the problem with the feed? I know that Coind has said that the feed needs work but I don't think that they've said much beyond that.

[Tojusi]

On the feed / see message from Fountainbel (Francis) in this thread, dated 10 April. That sets out the design parameters they have set for the feed. It seems that Conid has (or had) issues with their feeds performing up to their own design standard under all pressure conditions. This is why they offered the choise to wait until the feed is perfected or getting the current version of the feed.

 

I chose the current version of the feed. Seems to work OK but of course I have not done any rigorous testing under all pressure conditions.

 

I only have one demonstrator previously (Pelikan M205). This is my first large demonstrator. The CAISO performs well. Opening and closing the cap has a slightly more resistant feel to it than caps usually, or let's say compared with FPN Blue Pearl (which is also a king-size Conid). I assue that this is because of the CAISO system engaging. The cap seals very securely.

 

I have not been super careful with the pen... Don't panic. The CAISO goes into one or two pen leather pouch, and that pouch has gone into a cloth "mini bag" at times with keys and such. This mini bag has then been tossed around, thrown into my gym bag or swimming bag, is then taken out of the swimming bag and pushed into a secure safe locker at the pool after a bike ride - repeat this a couple of times - and I see specks of ink on the inside of the cap. These are like the result of the rough handling and bumps and whatnot when riding the bike, and the specks are small enough that they must have flown loose from the feed.

 

I have the rhodium plated gold nib, bold ground to cursive italic. A very nice grind. The nib is very expressive.

 

The Conid filling mechanism is easy to use and it is nice to see what is going on. Though I must admit, when I tried to do the first fill with water it did not fill up I engaged the seal, pushed down (expelling air into water), and pulled up. No water in the barrel. Flabbergasted, I let go of the knob - and the seal/rod/piston was pulled down automatically! Retry, same result. I realised that I pushed all air out and when pulling up I created a "vacuum" (or rather, very low pressure barrel) which then sucked the piston back down again. I screwed the cap back on, that must have released the CAISO system somehow, and after that I had no trouble with either water or ink.

 

The engineering and manufacture quality of the pen is superb.

 

I like the look and feel of the titanium parts.

 

Conid can be slow to respond to emails, and to get the orders delivered, and this whole CAISO process has been a long slog. But when you hold one of their pens you recognize that they do not compromise on quality.

[DGH_Nomad]

Thanks for your thoughts, I don't think anyone would complain if you wanted to post more pictures! Does the titanium furniture make the pen front/back heavy at all? That's always a consideration for me when using metal pens.