Small Brass And Inxpensive Pocket Pen

[Beechwood]

I cannot find a name on this pen although I have seen other people describe it as an Alpha.

 

Kaweco Sport pens look good to me, I like their styling although I have owned four of them and they have all been troublesome in terms of flow, I am sure its just me that has been unlucky. So wanting a pocket pen that looked a little like a Kaweco I went off to see what was around.

 

I saw a review of a small brass pen on You Tube and liked what I saw, the price on ebay was under £4 delivered and delivery was less than 2 weeks from China. This pen has a Kaweco - esque cap, some say that the body looks a little like an early Pelikan 100, for the price it was worth taking a bit of a chance.

 

The pen arrived today and I am really impressed by the quality of manufacture, the general feel and weight of the pen in the hand is all good, a clip was included and also a converter.

 

The pen writes with a little more flex, perhaps give would be more accurate, than you might expect from Chinese pens in general and it writes very nicely with a nib that is on the fine side of medium.

 

A change that I made from the start was to take a some 100 glasspaper and form it in the shape of a cigarette to just ease the inside of the cap, it is said that it can mark the barrel.

 

For £4 it is a nice alternative to the Jinhaos, something a bit different.

 

The seller on ebay is rainbowuu

 

 

I have photographed the pen alongside a Junior Duofold so that you can compare the size, I have large hands but cannot say that the pen feels particularly small to me.

Edited June 28, 2019 by Beechwood

[Callinewbie]

I've seen references to the Delike Apha as a Kaweco Sport knock-off...maybe that's what this is. Someone who has that pen can probably confirm.

[Beechwood]

You could be right, I have just done a search and could only find a Delike with markings on the pen and a steel nib, this pen has no markings and a gold or gold coloured nib.

[Karmachanic]

The Delike Alpha marking is on one facet of the cap. That you do no see it in a photo does not necessarily mean it's not there. At the same time, there are those who have removed the marking, just as there are those who have changed the nib. The fude nib on mine was gold coloured.

 

This pen takes a standard international converter, unlike the Kaweco.

 

It is my understanding that Delike ceased manufacturing these pens. Selling for around £16 at this time.

 

to add: And then there's this

Edited June 29, 2019 by Karmachanic

[Honeybadgers]

delike alpha.

 

the $5 ones are suspected to be factory rejects.

 

I swear by my alpha. i put a 14k eversharp manifold nib in it after a patient threw the pen and ruined the nib.

 

My alpha was a fairly early one and only has delike on the clip. On the barrel, it says "war and peace" in the lacquer.

 

I sanded off the lacquer from mine with some 1600 grit then 3000 grit sandpaper. Turned out gorgeous.

 

Honestly, I think the alpha is far better than the kaweco. That extra centimeter makes the pen usable unposted and permits a proper converter, and the rounded shape makes it slide into a pocket better than the kaweco.

 

It's such a minor change but it translated into me using my kaweco sport less than 3 times, but my alpha has been continuously inked for two years. The alpha is really the best pocket pen in my opinion.

[MuddyWaters]

it is so tough the threat is to the other co-inhabitants of its pocket

[Beechwood]

I can no longer recommend this pen, the nib has too many irrrparable faults,

 

I have other similar pens from Delike with War and Peace on the cap, this pen is not one of those.

[Karmachanic]

Swop in a #5.

[txomsy]

delike alpha.

 

the $5 ones are suspected to be factory rejects.

 

Sorry to disagree. I already posted about these pens in a thread about the Delike Alpha (if I remember well). Would probably need to make a more proper review.

 

They cannot be factory rejects, have too many differences:

 

- This pen is longer than the Alpha (by about 1cm, 12cm in total capped, 14.5cm posted).

 

- The nib/feeder are not hosted in a nib unit, but are instead directly inserted into the section, pressure fit, and require a lot less pressure to disassemble than it takes to extract the nib/feed from the Alpha's nib unit (which is screwed in the section).

 

- The lacquer/varnish that gives it an aged look is darker on these than in Alphas. These look older. They are typically offered in "aged brass", "shiny golden", "brushed steel" and "shiny steel" finishes. No blue or black ones.

 

- The clip is different too: whereas the Alpha's clip is plane, flat, straight cut, this one is curved with a diamond-shaped end. It does also fit tighter than the Alpha's clip (which I find usually excessively loose). This has yet to fall off the pen in mine.

 

- There is absolutely no marking that can help identify the pen or its maker. Not in the barrel (no "War and Peace" inscription) nor in the nib (it only contains "Iridium point" and decorative band.

 

- It comes with no nib choice, only one option that is like an M. Nibs are golden looking (in all the brass finish ones I have), not silvery/steel as in the Alphas. I find that this golden finish fits better the aesthetics of this pen. Writes rather well.

 

- The cap threads are in a plastic insert, which may be more loosely fixed than modern Alphas (though older Alphas were reported to have it loose too). The plastic thread insert in one of mine fell off after less than a week. It is deeply inserted inside the cap, so if it does for you, do not do as I did, don't apply acrylic glue to the plastic insert 'cos it will stick to the mouth of the cap before you can insert it entirely. BTW, that was one among many, so it is not such a big issue, but talks of lower QC.

 

- On the other hand, the cap does fit tighter than the Alpha. Every time I open it, I get a swosh! or pop! sound that I have never found in the Alphas. So it is tighter too.

 

- The converter is a cheaper slide-type converter with a tiny ball to break surface tension. BTW, just checked. And, surprise! it looks as if some tiny brass shavings have stained the converter. The shavings may come from the body's threads, which, oddly, are not in a plastic insert, but directly engraved in the brass body, in contrast to the cap threads. So maybe it wasn't as well finished as the Alphas (which BTW are neither as well finished IMMHO as the Kaweco).

 

- No packaging (no nice metal box like in the Alpha). You get the pen only.

 

This has become my preferred give-away pen now. It's metal. Its clip is safer. It's easier to maintain, clean and disassemble. Its cheaper. All in all great to introduce young sportive people to FPs. I haven't found any flaw with the nib in any of ~10 pens. Plus it is very easy to swap for another #5. Indeed I'm considering swapping a semiflex nib in one or more of them. I reckon the one I have inked now has some hard-starts, but it is loaded with IG ink, so I ain't sure who's the culprit.

 

The length, nib/feeder and nib itself do, IMMHO, set them apart clearly from the Alpha's. Other differences may be argued, but these are, again IMHO, most telling.

Edited August 1, 2019 by txomsy

[txomsy]

Some (terrible) pics to compare:

 

 

 

[Beechwood]

You are right, it is not a Delike pen.

 

There is a review of the pen here

 

 

The reviewer has the polished version but the brand is the same, Iraurita, the spelling may be bit off.

 

I wrecked mine before making it better. The nib didnt write on the first downstroke of the day, in order to fix it I removed the feed and broke it, after that the nib was stuck fast in the section, so I pulled it out and ruined that also. The nib was very malleable, could it be all gold?

 

The nib has been replaced by a stock IPG and a feed from the spares box, it now works very well indeed, I like the pen a lot.

 

And thankfully it doesnt have War and Peace on the cap which I think is a feature of the Delike.

[txomsy]

Iraurite is a name made up by Chinese producers to refer to the nib tipping. Iridium is rare and difficult to find, so most iridium nibs are actually alloys, often of iridium-group metals (like platinum, palladium or osmium). The Chinese seemingly came up with a new patent to purify iridium oxide and what (FWIW) is referred to as iridium/iraurita in the patent text, and use the same name to refer to their own nib tipping (which must also be some kind of iridium or iridium-related alloy.

 

From what I understand, "iraurita" is also a name for native gold mineral with some iridium/platinum contamination (iridian gold). No one would rely on it for nib tipping, specially if duration is the goal. But the name is close enough to be catchy.

 

So, it seems that actually, "iraurite" refers to an iridium or iridium-like alloy (according to GB/T 26717-2011 --as seen on a Google Books search of "Iridium vs Iraurite") wielded on the tip of an acid-resisting stainless-steel nib.

 

Some have reported "Iraurita" to be the name of the company that makes the nibs. I haven't found such a company name though.

 

From what I've read, it seems that Iraurite and Iridium may be used interchangeably in Chinese products and patents. So it would be the Chinese equivalent for "iridium" tipped nib.

[txomsy]

BTW, that one in the video seems to be a separate knock-off or maybe a related one, it costs double, also uses a nib unit, and the clip is different. It also seems almost the same size as a Delike Alpha.