Bulow X79 Review

[Fountain Pen Mike]

Hello there!
I am new to fountain pens, and on a limited budget. So what I have been doing is shopping xfountainpens.com's clearance section. I purchased their Bulow X30 a while back, and it turned out to be a wonderful pen. Writes beautifully and smoothly, little to no skipping, no hard starts, etc.
So I purchased another of those, but also saw their Bulow X79 Palais Plaid Hooded Fine Nib Fountain Pen, and thought, "why not give that a try"?
I suspect it is the same nib as in the X30, which I absolutely love.
Below is a pic of the two pens I purchased, with the X79 in the forefront.



I think they are both quite attractive pens, especially at the price point. Both have metal bodies, so though not heavy, have what I think is a good weight to them. The Palais' plaid finish IMO is gorgeous. There is one tiny flaw in the finish. I suspect there is a basecoat of gold lacquer, over which different transparent colors are overlaid to achieve this finish. Similar to the Candy Apple finishes on many custom automobiles. There is one tiny spot where it looks like a small speck of the top coats flaked off, leaving the gold finish underneath exposed. If you look closely you can see that below.



It's a small thing, and at this price point I don't have a problem with it.
I have had this pen now since the 27th of June, or thereabouts. Some background on how the pen is used.
I am a lay preacher, Sunday School teacher, Deacon, etc. As such, I find it necessary to make notes in the margins of my bibles, study guides, etc, as well as make outlines for sermons, lessons, etc. With the fineness of these papers, a fountain pen, especially one that lays down a lot of ink, can be problematic. And a fine nib can have other issues. If it is not a smooth writer, if it has a lot of "tooth", if it has a very sharp point, it can rip right through this type of paper.
I absolutely love these fine, hooded nibs. They write very smoothly, so that they do not pierce or tear the pages. The line they lay down is fine enough for small writing, but not so fine that it is difficult to read, or so fine a line that the distinctiveness of the ink color does not stand out well.
I don't get a lot of stops and starts, hard starts, skipping, etc. I will note here that I store my pens nib down. Yes, I understand about the possibility of nib creep, but have not experienced it yet, and if I do, I don't mind a little bit of ink on my fingers. Bleed through to the other side of the pages, while probably somewhat dependent on the ink you use, is no worse than the medium ballpoint pens(Cross, Quill) that I have used prior to the fountain pen.
IMHO, realizing I'm fairly new, if you like fine nibs and are on a budget, or if you are searching for a pen that will serve you well on delicate paper, these pens are worthy of consideration.

[3l3phant]

I'm new to them to and looking for good inexpensive pens. Excellent review - Definitely going to look into picking one up!

[notimetoulouse]

I imported a Bulow into the UK three years ago, can't remember the model name, but it was a special edition based on the Jinhao 159 with dark blue swirls and Xpens own fit fine Knox nib. It's effortless to use with the nib as smooth as butter. I think I paid $14 for it plus a bit extra for the specialist nib. Dollar for Dollar one of the best value pens I've bought.

And as an amazing coinkidink I'm sat here at my desk inking it up with Diamine Majestic Blue, had a quick look on the web just in case there was a sale on and found your review.

With a chance like that happening, I'm off to buy a lottery ticket! Thanks for your review Mike, I have two 'Yongsheng' Chinese pens with the same nib setup as yours, both extra fine and very smooth to use.

[AmeliaAT]

I ran across this pen, and since I enjoy all things plaid, almost jumped to buy it, but then stopped to check out reviews. It may be inexpensive, but I still wouldn't want to throw money away if it didn't write.

 

Thanks for your review! I now feel comfortable buying the pen and giving it a try.