Thoughts on the Omas 360 Mezzo

[Stephen-I-am]

Can anyone comment on the Omas 360 Mezzo? I haven't been able to find out much about it. I understand it's a smaller version of the 360 full size?

 

I was wondering what filling system it uses and how if feels posted. If you know, please post. Thanks.

 

Stephen

[Immoteus]

The 360 Mezzo is cartridge only; the pen is briefly covered here. I'm not sure if Omas uses international cartridges; if they do you can purchase International cartridge convertors.

[Deirdre]

It uses regular-size cartridges and won't accommodate a converter -- there's really no way to get one in, because you slide back the body and slip the cartridge in. I don't usually post the cap, but I find this an easy pen to write with posted or unposted. I love mine.

[greencobra]

Mine took international cartridges. You unscrew the end and it pushes the nib and cartridge tray forward. The last turn when drawing back the nib with cartridge is a hard one, it turns very tight while the cartridge is pierced. You almost think it's going to break.

 

It's not a very long pen unposted. I found that for my large hands, posting was the way to go. The cap was so light I don't think it made a difference with balance.

 

The only reason I sold it was I didn't want to limit use to cartridges only. It started quickly when a cartridge was inserted, wrote smooth and was fairly wet. Oh, and I thought cleaning was a little tough because I could never get the water stream directly into the section and nib with the carriage in the way. I know, more info than you asked for, sorry.

[Deirdre]

Hmm, could have been international cartridges. Honestly, I haven't used it for a couple months because I have had other pens to play with.

[Stephen-I-am]

I don't mind the additional comments. I take it that only a short international and not a long international will fit?

 

Stephen

[omasfan]

Hi! My girlfriend has two of 'em. They are nice pens which take international cartridges. As others have said, no way to use them with a converter as only one cartridge at a time fits into the cartridge slot.

 

Here is what I consider the pen's weakest point: The cartridge cart mechanism (the hole thing slides open so that you can insert the cartridge) is prone to failure. It gave up the ghost on one of her pens. Be forewarned for I have heard that this has happened to other owners, too. It spent 14 weeks in Italy and came back nicely repaired. My girfriend had had the pen for two months when the failure happened, and that was just too early for a pen to betray such a substantial flaw. Moreover, she has maybe operated the mechanism 20 times at the most. Needless to say that the owner of such a faulty expensive pen is to pay for shipping to Omas' distributor in the U.S. (Kenro) as well as for the return shipping ($20 flat rate, payable to Kenro). With the recent spike in price that the 360 mezzo underwent, it is not quite more expensive as per Dec. 2007 but Omas is also trying to make their new 360 more competitive by making the 360 Mezzo more unattractive (read: expensive).

After all has been said and done, I gotta say, though, that the 360 mezzo in my view is quite more attractive than the new 360. The 360 mezzo is a scaled-down version of Omas old 360 model. Without the temperamental cartridge mechanism it would be an almost perfect pen. Be advised that it uses a smaller nib than the regular old 360 models. It has kept the nice hard rubber feed though.

 

It's a nice pen and if you really like it, get it. But do not pay retail price or anywhere retail for it. It's just not worth that much money. Especially after they've raised the price on this pen a few weeks back.

Edited January 7, 2008 by omasfan

[davidv7]

Hello!

 

I have mine (blue) for two months now. I purchased it used here on the marketplace. The mechanism is a joy to use and watch - a little masterpiece of ingeneering.

It is very balanced (posted or not). And it takes ONLY short international cartidges.

It is the smoothest writer I have (OK it is very hard to choose the overall best one from this, the Visconti Pericle and the Delta Dolce Vita OS). Never skips and it is not afraid of any kind of paper.

 

I recommend it Fully.

[tcheuchter]

My better half has one. Along with her new Omas Arco Milord, they are are her favourites.

[handlebar]

While i have not owned a Mezzo,i did own the 360 once.Traded it straight away for a burgundy Milord with italic nib.

I liked the look and design of the 360 but just could not get into the grip and hold.My writing suffered.

So off it went.

 

At least i kept the trade in the Omas family though!

 

Jim

[Precise]

I just bought an Omas 360 that takes cartridges on ebay. I did not realize when I bought it that it only takes cartridges. I've never used cartridges. Perhaps this is the time to start. I have a few questions:

 

1. It didn't write after inserting the cartridge into the empty pen. I tried shaking it but it still didn't write. But it began to write after only a few minutes of storage, nib down. Are there any tips for getting started?

 

2. It looks like it holds two cartridges. The top cartridge was empty, but it appears that I can put a full cartridge there, pointed away from the nib. Then I'll always have a spare.

 

3. Any advice on favorite cartridge brands?

 

It skipped. But it had a baby bottom. I did SRE Brown's BB fix and it stopped skipping. I'd previously done that successfully on a few other pens. It writes very smoothly.

 

Incidentally, on various threads here, there have been negatives about the triangular body. I've always loved my triangular mechanical pencils and ballpoint pens. And I love this Omas too. I recall that SRE Brown raved positively about the Omas grip.

 

Thank you,

 

Alan

Edited September 18, 2015 by Precise

[Precise]

Some of you probably know this already, but Montblanc cartridges don't fit. The diameter is stepped, with the largest portion 7.4mm, which is too large to fit in the pen.

 

It came with cartridges of 7.0mm diameter.

 

By the way, I forgot to mention another reason for buying this pen is the snap cap. I find such caps more convenient than screw caps.

[Precise]

I found a way to use a cartridge converter if it is removed and dipped into the bottle to fill it.

 

The converter must not exceed 76mm in length and all that I measured were ok. But, the critical dimension is that it must not exceed 7mm diameter anywhere. Most failed this because the metal ferule near the knob was too fat. But the converter in my Parker Urban is ok. It's 73mm long, so I made a little spacer to put on the knob and extend it's length. I installed it, and it's working.

Edited September 20, 2015 by Precise

[stevesurf]

Actually great news on the converter. I'm going to keep that in mind as I love the 360s I wish someone on FPN would make a spreadsheet on all the pen-cartridge-converter compatibility

[jar]

Actually great news on the converter. I'm going to keep that in mind as I love the 360s I wish someone on FPN would make a spreadsheet on all the pen-cartridge-converter compatibility

I'd be cautious about that. Parker converters have a much wider nipple diameter than International Standard converters and is unlikely to work in any Omas.

[Precise]

I'd be cautious about that. Parker converters have a much wider nipple diameter than International Standard converters and is unlikely to work in any Omas.

I measured the diameter of the international cartridges and the Parker converter with a digital caliper. Both are about 7mm. Incidentally, the Montblanc cartridges are 7mm in one portion but step up to 7.4mm towards the back. They will not fit in the Omas Mezzo cartridge holder

[Precise]

Whew!!!

 

Elsewhere there are discussions of rotating the Omas 360 nib. Many of us want to rotate the nib counter-clockwise (when viewed end-on).

 

I slit some very soft and thick-walled surgical rubber tubing, wrapped it around the root of the nib, gripped it with pliers and rotated it. It took a lot of force and the nib was distorted by this abuse. The most noticeable distortion was that the arc of the nib (viewed end-on) was closed up somewhat. I opened it up by bending it with a wood stick, but ended up with a gap between the nib and the feed. I managed to reduce it somewhat by bending with the nib in place.

 

The nib was now rotated 30 degrees CCW. It wrote smoother than any pen I own, but I think that was attributable to it now being much wetter. I presume the nib-to-feed gap was the cause of wetness because the slit in the top of the nib looked ok. After a few hours of horizontal storage, the pen needed a shake to start writing. I think that the ink in the gap had dried and/or drawn back. I decided to remove the nib and bend it back into proper shape to eliminate the gap.

 

I easily removed the nib by immersing the bottom of the pen, to a depth of about an inch beyond the nib, in 160F water. Then grabbed the nib, at its root, with a towel and pulled straight out. I spent about 20 minutes restoring it to the proper shape. Then I held it in the towel and attempted to push it back into the pen body. It would not go. But again immersing the end of the body in 160F water for 30 seconds allowed me to push it all the way in easily.

 

The nib is now rotated 20 degrees CCW and is writing relatively dry, as I prefer. So, at the moment I'm much relieved and happy. If it fails to start after storage, I'll add another post.

 

The most important thing I learned is that despite a thick rubber cushion, pliers distorted the nib. But immersing the end of the pen in 160F hot water allowed me to easily pull the nib straight out with a towel and fingers.

Edited September 20, 2015 by Precise

[jar]

I measured the diameter of the international cartridges and the Parker converter with a digital caliper. Both are about 7mm. Incidentally, the Montblanc cartridges are 7mm in one portion but step up to 7.4mm towards the back. They will not fit in the Omas Mezzo cartridge holder

Too funny.

 

Measure the inner diameter of the throat; that is what is important. It must match the outer diameter of the piercing feed.

[Precise]

Too funny.

 

Measure the inner diameter of the throat; that is what is important. It must match the outer diameter of the piercing feed.

Do you know of a specification for international standard cartridges? My search failed to find that.

 

I certainly agree that the inner diameter of the throat is important. But the 7.4mm O.D. part of the MB cartridge prevents using in the Omas 360 Mezzo. That's too is important.

[jar]

Do you know of a specification for international standard cartridges? My search failed to find that.

 

I certainly agree that the inner diameter of the throat is important. But the 7.4mm O.D. part of the MB cartridge prevents using in the Omas 360 Mezzo. That's too is important.

 

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

If something will not fit then it is not going to be a problem. It will not fit.

 

If you try using a Parker standard converter in an Omas it will absolutely be a problem; it will leak.