Questions About The Twsbi Vac700

[SoulSamurai]

Hello. I've been tempted by the TWSBI vac fillers for a while, but It's recently occurred to me that they might have a certain advantage that I hadn't considered before, and I was hoping to find out from people who actually own the pens whether they actually do. What I'm wondering is whether the piston seals the body when screwed shut in such a way that it's possible to remove the nib unit while the ink compartment stays sealed? The idea being that if so it would allow you to easily and safely change the nib unit without having to empty the pen, making it a good pen for testing different nibs in.

 

On a related note, does the 700 work with Jowo nib units?

[Karmachanic]

I don't own Vac700. I do own eyedropper, CC and piston filler pens and regularly change nibs without discharging the ink. Simply hold the pen with the section higher than the end of the barrel. Gravity works!

[SoulSamurai]

I don't own Vac700. I do own eyedropper, CC and piston filler pens and regularly change nibs without discharging the ink. Simply hold the pen with the section higher than the end of the barrel. Gravity works!

Gravity? What is this thing of which you speak?

 

Obviously I realise that it's possible with other pens, I just figured that, IF the Vac 700 body seals independently of the nib unit, that it would make things easier and cleaner. Plus there's a specific use case I had in mind that would not be possible with just any pen, but it's something that I don't think would matter very much to most people.

[Karmachanic]

Gravity? It didn't exist until one day in the 1680s when an English chappie was sleeping it off under tree. Awakening, bleary eyed, he had an Eureka moment and gravity was born.

 

Anyway. As stated I have no Vac700 but believe it functions very much like a Pilot Custom 823, Koloro, Conid, classic Japanese eye droppers and possibly others, in that the rod functions as a shut-off valve. Shutting the valve isolates the ink reservoir from the feed. However between the feed and the shut-off there is, now, a much smaller reservoir which allows one to write for several pages. If one wishes to write longer simply loosen the valve a turn or two.

 

So if one closes the valve on the V700, removes the nib unit and vigorously waves it about, ink will decorate the walls.

 

This is my understanding. Might be helpful, or not.

Edited July 15, 2018 by Karmachanic

[CAG_1787]

In my 700, the sealing end of the vacuum rod presses directly up against the section. Removing the section will leave you with just an open ended tube (and a waterfall of ink, were it full).

[SoulSamurai]

In my 700, the sealing end of the vacuum rod presses directly up against the section. Removing the section will leave you with just an open ended tube (and a waterfall of ink, were it full).

This is what I was afraid of. Oh well, thanks for clearing it up!

[FountainClogger]

What you thought is possible. It is not necessary to remove the section in order to remove the nib. The nib unit unscrews from the section which itself can remain sealed by the shut off valve if the plunger knob is screwed shut. That is: the main reservoir (barrel) and the section won't communicate and there won't be any ink leakage outside even with a full barrel. However, there will be ink in the nib unit. You'll get your hands a little bit dirty anyways.

In this video you can see how to disassemble this nib unit.

 

[SoulSamurai]

Cool, thanks for posting the video. By the way, I'm still hoping someone can confirm whether or not it's possible to use JoWo #6 nib units with the 700R?

 

(Please don't answer saying "you can pull the nib": I am aware of the fact that you can pull a standard #6 nib and swap between normal pens that use #6 nibs, but I'm thinking about using the pen with a non-standard nib in a JoWo compatible unit where I would NOT be able to simply pull the nib and install it in the TWSBI unit).

[FountainClogger]

Cool, thanks for posting the video. By the way, I'm still hoping someone can confirm whether or not it's possible to use JoWo #6 nib units with the 700R?

 

(Please don't answer saying "you can pull the nib": I am aware of the fact that you can pull a standard #6 nib and swap between normal pens that use #6 nibs, but I'm thinking about using the pen with a non-standard nib in a JoWo compatible unit where I would NOT be able to simply pull the nib and install it in the TWSBI unit).

 

Honestly, I don't know about that. However, judging from my TWSBI VAC 700 nib unit and other Jowo #6 nib unit images they look quite different.

Edited July 16, 2018 by FountainClogger

[Karmachanic]

Edited July 16, 2018 by Karmachanic

[SoulSamurai]

Please don't answer saying "you can pull the nib"

 

<video showing the nib being pulled>

 

I guess the logic here is that you didn't SAY to pull the nib, you just posted a video that SHOWED pulling the nib?

To be clear I am not planning on installing a JoWo nib in a Vac700R.

 

What I am interested in doing is installing a Desiderata dip nib unit into a Vac700R. As I understand it these are compatible with pens that use JoWo style nib units. The idea here is that it might potentially be possible to leave the nib in the pen for a longer period of time without worrying about it rusting if I seal the body and clean and dry the nib before capping the pen, as the nib will not be exposed to the ink.

 

So, does anyone have both a JoWo nib unit and a TWSBI Vac700R, would they be willing to see if the JoWo nib unit fits the TWSBI? And hey, if by some coincidence someone actually has a Desiderata nib unit and a Vac700R and would be willing to test the compatibility, then that would be even better!

[Steveg58]

I can do that but both pens are currently inked up so you might have to wait a while.

 

Then I realised I could do this now. I pulled the ink cartridge from my Ranga Majestic and unscrewed the Jowo #6 nib unit. I then compared it to my spare Vac 700R nib unit. The nib units are NOT interchangeable. Once you unscrew the Vac 700R nib unit from the section you can see that although the diameter seems the same as the Jowo unit the Vac 700R steps down at the rear end so that the threads are 4-5mm diameter rather than the 6mm of the Jowo.

 

It then occurred to me to try and fit a Jowo #5 nib unit into the Vac 700R section. No go. The spigot at the back of Jowo nib unit will not fit through the hole at the back of the Vac 700R section so I could not get the threads to mesh to test the fit. The Vac 700R nub unit body diameter prevents trying it in the pen section that the Jowo #5 nib belongs to.

 

Dead end here.

Edited July 22, 2018 by Steveg58

[Karmachanic]

 

 

I guess the logic here is that you didn't SAY to pull the nib, you just posted a video that SHOWED pulling the nib?

To be clear I am not planning on installing a JoWo nib in a Vac700R.

 

 

Why would Pablo, a Jowo dealer, pull the nib if he could simply install a Jowo unit?

[SoulSamurai]

I can do that but both pens are currently inked up so you might have to wait a while.

 

Then I realised I could do this now. I pulled the ink cartridge from my Ranga Majestic and unscrewed the Jowo #6 nib unit. I then compared it to my spare Vac 700R nib unit. The nib units are NOT interchangeable. Once you unscrew the Vac 700R nib unit from the section you can see that although the diameter seems the same as the Jowo unit the Vac 700R steps down at the rear end so that the threads are 4-5mm diameter rather than the 6mm of the Jowo.

 

It then occurred to me to try and fit a Jowo #5 nib unit into the Vac 700R section. No go. The spigot at the back of Jowo nib unit will not fit through the hole at the back of the Vac 700R section so I could not get the threads to mesh to test the fit. The Vac 700R nub unit body diameter prevents trying it in the pen section that the Jowo #5 nib belongs to.

 

Dead end here.

 

Thank you, that helps a lot.

[SoulSamurai]

 

Why would Pablo, a Jowo dealer, pull the nib if he could simply install a Jowo unit?

I don't know who Pablo is, but I take it that you're saying the video suggests that the answer is "no". Fair enough.

[Driften]

The Vac 700r uses Jowo made nibs and I have also put a Bock #6 in mine, but you have to pull the nib and feed out and change just the nib. Nothing else is going to screw into a TWSBI but a TWSBI.