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My 580AL medium had ink starvation problems from day 1. It was one of my first pens and I broke the feed trying to “fix” it. I bought a Broad replacement nib which has been perfect. As others have mentioned, I also am not crazy about the narrow section.

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My 580AL medium had ink starvation problems from day 1. It was one of my first pens and I broke the feed trying to “fix” it. I bought a Broad replacement nib which has been perfect. As others have mentioned, I also am not crazy about the narrow section.

 

I also do find their broad nibs work well and are safe from Ink starvation problems noted earlier, but the line's can be wide for me for most of the work I have to do.

 

But I do in fact like the combo of having a drier Broad nib if I'm going to use a broad nib. Or in the past when I was trying out broad nibs, I liked to use drier inks with them like Diamine Eclipse, Noodler's ACBB, Noodler's Walnut, and even Sailor Kiwa-Guro worked well to tame the Broads of a few pens.

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I bought a Vac Mini a couple of years ago and was initially disappointed as it was a very dry writer. However, over time my view and experience has changed. Either through use or matching the right ink to the pen, it is no longer a dry writer. It will never lay a river down like some of my pens, but it writes quite well and I have come to appreciate it. It is one of the pens that I keep filled all the time and use a lot. I am thinking of buying a Vac 700.

 

I dragged my Vac Mini M (Monblanc Permanent Grey) off the pen stand this afternoon after an extended hiatus. Impressively, it wrote without hesitation - as it has since I first got it. I was also reminded just how good it feels in the hand. My only gripe is I'd forgotten the trick to get the cap posted with the clip right side up. :) That still takes a couple of tries. I'm still a solid fan. It's a very nice pen.

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I also do find their broad nibs work well and are safe from Ink starvation problems noted earlier, but the line's can be wide for me for most of the work I have to do.

 

But I do in fact like the combo of having a drier Broad nib if I'm going to use a broad nib. Or in the past when I was trying out broad nibs, I liked to use drier inks with them like Diamine Eclipse, Noodler's ACBB, Noodler's Walnut, and even Sailor Kiwa-Guro worked well to tame the Broads of a few pens.

 

 

 

You might love my pen, then -- it's a hesitant, dry B! But you would not like the broken clip, courtesy of TWSBI.

 

I left out editorial comments in my first post, but now having read of a similar experience from another forum member I will add that I also got a bit of an "attitude" from TWSBI CS.

 

Hopefully this information will be of benefit to others. I know that I would never buy a product that has a history of not working properly right out of the box, a history of failure (cracks), and that is backed by poor customer service.

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I have 6 580's and 2 Eco's now with no issues with any of them. I have also picked up a few extra nibs for other sizes from Goulet with have also worked out of the box.

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I must say at the start that I LOVE my TWSBIs, but I have had two different experiences with TWSBIs.

 

I purchased my first TWSBI from Ty Lee's pens shop in Taipei. I loved the feel and colors (it was a 580 with red, white and blue accents and Taiwan star on the top), and it had a nice, fine nib. Great pen! But when I brought it home - I live is arid Nevada - it would not start up. It didn't matter what ink I used in it, it would not start up unless I primed it under running water. Ugh. But, whenever I traveled to a less arid place, it would start up with no problems.

 

I ended up purchasing another 580AL, and a couple of Minis, in medium and stub nibs. All worked reasonably fine when I was on a trip, but when I would return to Nevada, they had the same issues.

 

I ended up giving them to my daughter who lived in a humid environment.

 

Fast forward to this last summer. I was in a car accident that changed my life. With head, neck and shoulder injuries, even writing was difficult. And I could not use some of my heavier pens. I was given a TWSBI Eco with a 1.1 stub nib. And that is when my opinion of TWSBIs began to change. It didn't matter what ink I used or what paper I used, the pen would write, and write and write. It was very comfortable in the hand and was very stable for my very light grip - much lighter now since the accident. I ended up buying another Eco with a 1.1 stub nib. Same thing. Both pens have been wonderful! Neither pen has given me any problems. I just ordered my third one. I absolutely love them and they are the pens I reach for when I have an extended writing session.

 

What is sad, is that I have a number of wonderful fountain pens that are just too heavy for me now. I've had to put them away to wait for the day when I can comfortably use them again. In the meantime, I am recovering . . . slowly . . . but I am recovering.

"Today will be gone in less than 24 hours. When it is gone, it is gone. Be wise, but enjoy! - anonymous today

 

 

 

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I must say at the start that I LOVE my TWSBIs, but I have had two different experiences with TWSBIs.

 

I purchased my first TWSBI from Ty Lee's pens shop in Taipei. I loved the feel and colors (it was a 580 with red, white and blue accents and Taiwan star on the top), and it had a nice, fine nib. Great pen! But when I brought it home - I live is arid Nevada - it would not start up. It didn't matter what ink I used in it, it would not start up unless I primed it under running water. Ugh. But, whenever I traveled to a less arid place, it would start up with no problems.

 

I ended up purchasing another 580AL, and a couple of Minis, in medium and stub nibs. All worked reasonably fine when I was on a trip, but when I would return to Nevada, they had the same issues.

 

I ended up giving them to my daughter who lived in a humid environment.

 

Fast forward to this last summer. I was in a car accident that changed my life. With head, neck and shoulder injuries, even writing was difficult. And I could not use some of my heavier pens. I was given a TWSBI Eco with a 1.1 stub nib. And that is when my opinion of TWSBIs began to change. It didn't matter what ink I used or what paper I used, the pen would write, and write and write. It was very comfortable in the hand and was very stable for my very light grip - much lighter now since the accident. I ended up buying another Eco with a 1.1 stub nib. Same thing. Both pens have been wonderful! Neither pen has given me any problems. I just ordered my third one. I absolutely love them and they are the pens I reach for when I have an extended writing session.

 

What is sad, is that I have a number of wonderful fountain pens that are just too heavy for me now. I've had to put them away to wait for the day when I can comfortably use them again. In the meantime, I am recovering . . . slowly . . . but I am recovering.

 

Have you tried the Sailor inks with the 1.1?

 

I tried sailor Jentle Miruai with a 1.1 and the lubrication and descent flow made it even smoother/easier to write with with less probability of edging :happycloud9: .

 

It's not just Miruai. Many other Sailor inks have this lubrication to varying degrees, whether it be Bungubox, Kobe (some are very lubricated), Pen House, all of which are made by sailor with the same bottle shape.

 

You know, in case it makes it easier. There's wet inks that do a great job like that, like Heart of Darkness, DA aubergine, Aurora Black, but there's something about those sailor inks (Lubrication, good consistent flow). They make the best inks IME.

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Have you tried the Sailor inks with the 1.1?

 

I tried sailor Jentle Miruai with a 1.1 and the lubrication and descent flow made it even smoother/easier to write with with less probability of edging :happycloud9: .

 

It's not just Miruai. Many other Sailor inks have this lubrication to varying degrees, whether it be Bungubox, Kobe (some are very lubricated), Pen House, all of which are made by sailor with the same bottle shape.

 

You know, in case it makes it easier. There's wet inks that do a great job like that, like Heart of Darkness, DA aubergine, Aurora Black, but there's something about those sailor inks (Lubrication, good consistent flow). They make the best inks IME.

 

Yes, I am a fan of Sailor inks - well some of them. As you said, some are more lubricated than others. I haven't tried Miruai, but I love Nioi Sumire and Souten. I haven't purchased any Bungubox or Kobe inks. Because I have been paying all the medical bills due to the accident, my budget is fairly limited for extras right now.

"Today will be gone in less than 24 hours. When it is gone, it is gone. Be wise, but enjoy! - anonymous today

 

 

 

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Yes, I am a fan of Sailor inks - well some of them. As you said, some are more lubricated than others. I haven't tried Miruai, but I love Nioi Sumire and Souten. I haven't purchased any Bungubox or Kobe inks. Because I have been paying all the medical bills due to the accident, my budget is fairly limited for extras right now.

 

The only Bungubox I have is silent night. I love it, it's different, but I will say that it's the same quality as the Jentle's I have, which I was able to purchase when they were more affordable.

 

So it's not a surprise that Sailor could raise the price of Jentle's to that of Bungubox's. I only have a sample of one Pen House ink (very lubricated) and I read Kobe #51 has very high lubrication.

 

I am inclined more towards the Kobe's, Pen Houses, and Bungubox's because their colors are richer. The Jentle's I do have are on the darker side (Miruai, Doyou, Shigure) so it's easier for me to read.

 

I prefer rich dark inks like Heart of Darkness, Kiwa-Guro, Noodler's Walnut, and I'd even be one of those atypical's who'd purchase a Bungubox Black ink (I love black and dark rich inks :happycloud9: .

-------------

Sorry to hear about your medical bills. Those aren't easy. Most of my purchases for Fountain Pens came last year when I had some money, but even I'm on a frugal basis and am working through what I provisioned during that time.

 

As long as you have 1 good pen, 1 good ink, you're golden... and maybe some Nanami Seven Seas Notebook(s) :happycloud9: .

 

I could survive off a Jinhao x750(<$10), with an Edison nib from Indy-Pen-Dance ($25)(tuned by Linda Kennedy :happycloud9: ) and some Noodler's and be fully satisfied and in heaven with a Seven Seas Writer of course.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Tm3 - I think you can email Phillip Wang at Twsbi for a replacement. They usually need a photo of the issue and will ask you to cover postage costs. I've had a few issues with Twsbi caps and just had them replaced nearly straight away, so that's a great option if you're inclined.

 

You can also replace the TWSBI nibs with alternatives that you like. I've seen people put a Pilot 74 nib into TWSBI 's and other vintage nibs in with great success, so that is an option if you prefer another nib to your TWSBI.

 

Hope that helps!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Tm3 - I think you can email Phillip Wang at Twsbi for a replacement. They usually need a photo of the issue and will ask you to cover postage costs. I've had a few issues with Twsbi caps and just had them replaced nearly straight away, so that's a great option if you're inclined.

 

You can also replace the TWSBI nibs with alternatives that you like. I've seen people put a Pilot 74 nib into TWSBI 's and other vintage nibs in with great success, so that is an option if you prefer another nib to your TWSBI.

 

Hope that helps!

 

 

Thank you for trying to help! Philip Wang was who I corresponded with. He initially seemed genuinely interested in trying to resolve the nib problem but ultimately told me that I just need to buy another nib. Having no guarantee that the TWSBI replacement will be any better than the original, I'm not going to fall for that.

 

I will look into the Pilot 74 option and see if that might be a way to salvage this pen.

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  • 3 weeks later...

One thing I do know is that whomever does TWSBI USA's customer service, phil or whatever his name is, is a gigantic ***hole and really makes any service issues a pain in the arse. He accuses you of all sorts of nonsense before begrudgingly agreeing to do his damn job.

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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  • 2 weeks later...

One thing I do know is that whomever does TWSBI USA's customer service, phil or whatever his name is, is a gigantic ***hole and really makes any service issues a pain in the arse. He accuses you of all sorts of nonsense before begrudgingly agreeing to do his damn job.

 

That is unfortunately very true with regards to my own experiences with TWSBI.

 

I received accusatory insults, was guilty of incorrectness before the problem was even assessed by him in person, I had my concerns invalidated, and was basically in the wrong with any concern and that was after I had purchased and acquired and extensive collection of TWSBI's for my self and friends and family.

 

It does make you feel a little bullied around by them to avoid providing customer service that may cost them or such frugal customer service that is provided. I surmise that they try to avoid that for pecuniary gain or prevention of loss, and I dare say it is done rather aggressively at times.

 

TWSBI does have a commanding, how you say, product niche, but one in the budget region that may allow them and motivate them to provide such customer service. No excuse, but unfortunately Mr. Philip Wang has quite an attitudinal approach to customer service.

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Sad to see these bad experiences, and sadder still to see such invective.

 

As noted in earlier posts, my experiences with TWSBI/Phil have been completely positive.

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Sad to see these bad experiences, and sadder still to see such invective.

 

As noted in earlier posts, my experiences with TWSBI/Phil have been completely positive.

 

I've had three run-ins with him and he was rude, belittling, condescending, and accusatory.

 

I'm never buying a product directly from TWSBI again on amazon because if your package doesn't arrive, he will accuse you of not looking hard enough for it and demand that if it does show up (we're talking about a f**king $20 nib unit here, not a damn VAC700R) he insists that you return the extra to him.

 

I will just buy from Goulet and have them deal with him.

Edited by Honeybadgers

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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Sad to see these bad experiences, and sadder still to see such invective.

 

As noted in earlier posts, my experiences with TWSBI/Phil have been completely positive.

 

It really is a shame.

 

I've had three run-ins with him and he was rude, belittling, condescending, and accusatory.

 

I'm never buying a product directly from TWSBI again on amazon because if your package doesn't arrive, he will accuse you of not looking hard enough for it and demand that if it does show up (we're talking about a f**king $20 nib unit here, not a damn VAC700R) he insists that you return the extra to him.

 

I will just buy from Goulet and have them deal with him.

 

That's exactly what I did. Have my Clear Eco-T coming in today from Goulet.

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