Jeb's Nazca

[watch_art]

So for the last couple of weeks I've been talking with John of JEB's pens. Jebspens.com

I decided after seeing a review by USMCMom that I had to have one of his pens. I looked at his site and his pictures. I put it at the back of my mind for a while. I looked some more. Sent him an email asking about price and made small talk. Looked at his pictures. Found a few threads he started in the pen turners forum. Looked at the pics some more. And pulled the trigger.

 

First thing we did was pick out a material. I went with a green kryptonite acrylic.

 

He asked me questions about clips and nibs, if I liked the tall finial, what I thought about the section shape, and I told him. And then I changed my mind. Then I changed my mind again. The cap does not post. I had asked him if he could make it post and he said sure -- but like the other things I had changed, I changed it back and asked him to just stick with his original design. I don't really post my pens anyway. So I finally decided to leave it completely alone - just as he designed it. And damn I'm glad I did.

 

We talked for a couple weeks about different things pen related. About making lever fill and button fill pens. About terminology and nib tuning. He comes across as very friendly and was very very patient with me during the whole planning bit of all this. He was also incredibly informative about the whole process. He does all of this on a wood lathe!

 

Once he had other customer pens out of the way, and my green blanks had been delivered, he got started. I begged him early on to take a couple shots of the pen during the turning process and he did. I had no clue what I was really looking at but it was really cool. I'm not going to post all the pics of his shop, but here are some of his shots of the pen.

 

The blanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So in the end he shipped it out and I got it just last Friday (August 19 2011). It came in a little pouch thingy with a new converter. He didn't send any carts with my pen like he normally does b/c he knew from talking to me that I wouldn't have used them. He also put in a hand written note that he wrote with this nib.

 

I tipped the pouch and slid the pen out and WOW. I mean, this thing is just stunning! I turned it over and over in my hands looking at the swirls of black in the green. This thing is well made for sure. Better than I expected - and I expected a lot. I took the cap off and looked at the threads. I was particularly interested in how these would look since done up on a wood lathe. Coarse threads under the cap, fine threads section to barrel. Very nice. I really like the gnarly big threads. I had no idea what ink I wanted to put in it. I went to run some errands and thought about it while I was out.

 

 

 

Just look at that shine!!

 

 

It seems very well made. If I had to pick out a weak spot, it would be the cap lip. The cap wall is sort of thin there, but only in comparison to the other parts of the pen. Compared to some of my other pens it's still quite thick. Seems like a very sturdy pen. I don't plan on dropping it of course and would probably cry if I did. Single turn cap threads, 2 turns to remove the cap. The other threads he can cut are multi start and would probably be less than that. Compared to my Indian eyedroppers that's nothing, but it's also the same as some of my other screw on caps.

 

It is a washer type clip. I think if you wanted the cap wall to be a bit thicker it would hide the clip ring a little bit, but I'm not bothered by it at all. I think it looks really nice. But also the transparency of the acrylic has something to do with this, too, he said. Certain materials won't show through as bad, others would show through even more.

 

All the bits screw together very well and it all fits nice and tight and snug. The threading is all perfect. No issues at all.

 

 

 

 

It's not too heavy and not too light. I've handled a few acrylic pens this big and a bit bigger that were lighter and they just felt awkward. The barrel is pretty thick and gives it a nice heft. It feels very good in my hand. And like I said the threads on the barrel are quite coarse. I really like the look of it - it seems unique among pens. He can cut finer threads, but I really like the coarse threads, and wanted to stick with them.

 

The nib is a silver tone #6 from Meisternibs in medium, and writes perfectly. It's probably a 7 or 8 out of 10. Just perfect for me. Very smooth with no skipping at all.

 

I love the way those threads feel under my thumb.

 

It's just a basic C/C filler, but the threads on the section that go into the barrel are fine enough that I may just grease em up and make it an eyedropper pretty soon. Something about the back end of the section that I REALLY liked was how tightly the converter fit in. It's a big pet peeve of mine when I'm turning the converter knob and the whole converter turns. That will never happen with this one. The converter fits in nice and tight. Perfect.

 

 

The price was right too. For a custom made pen it was an outright steal!

$150 plus shipping!!

I'm already thinking of which of my other pens I might sell to fund a couple more of these bad boys.

 

I'm in love.

 

If you have any questions please ask!

Cheers!

 

Here are a ton of comparison shots. It's a big pen capped, but opened up it's on the average side of big.

 

 

Pelikan M1000, Pilot VP, Bexley 10th Anniversary pen, Noodler's piston filler, Esterbrook J, JEB's Nazca, Lamy Studio, Parker "51", TWSBI 530, Edison Herald Grande.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stipula Etruria, JEB's Nazca, Deccan M1000.

 

 

 

Here's a detail of some writing. It's a mix of Private Reserve Spearmint with Montblanc black. It's a great shading dark green. Just perfect in this pen! I think the black is about 25% of the volume.

 

Edited August 29, 2011 by watch_art

[yachtsilverswan]

Holy cow! That's a big green pen. More girth than a Pelikan M-1000. Very nice acrylic. And your ink mix looks a lot like the gone but not forgotten MB British Racing Green ink.

 

From the thread title, I was expecting something completely different -

 

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr131/yachtsilverswan/bwm_nasca.jpg

 

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr131/yachtsilverswan/1991_bmw_nasca_27_sb.jpg

 

The 1991 BMW Nazca.

Edited August 21, 2011 by yachtsilverswan

[hari317]

Very nice pen Shawn. I love the long top over the clip, makes it easy to pull the pen out of the pocket. Are the cap threads with multiple starts? About 1 turn to remove the cap? Is it a washer type clip?

 

Best

hari

[watch_art]

Thanks!

I've never used MB Racing Green so can't comment there, but I love this color.

 

Single turn cap threads, 2 turns to remove the cap. The other threads he can cut are multi start and would probably be less than that.

It is a washer type clip. I think if you wanted the cap wall to be a bit thicker it would hide the clip ring a little bit, but I'm not bothered by it at all. I think it looks really nice.

 

Something I forgot to mention is that the cap does not post. I had asked him if he could make it post and he said sure -- but like the other things I had changed, I changed it back and asked him to just stick with his original design. I don't really post my pens anyway.

[markiv]

Thanks for sharing. The captop reminds me of vintage Onotos - quite pleasing.

Good value for money there.

Keep us posted on the eyedropper usage.

 

I am not big on acrylic but boy they have some fancy designs - I love this Fiji Fern design (bit expensive though - comparable to Ebonite).

I might have to reconsider.

[watch_art]

Thanks! And wow that Fiji is NICE looking. Hmmm....

 

I'll post as soon as I load the barrel up with ink. The threads are finer than those on my Platinum Preppy, and it holds ink just fine with only grease, so I'm sure this one will too.

Edited August 21, 2011 by watch_art

[watch_art]

Okay, went through a converter of ink already. That was fast!

Greased the threads and loaded with ink. It holds 4ml quite well. No leaks!

[watch_art]

Here are some pics to show how snug the converter fits into the section, and a shot to show barrel thickness.

 

 

 

 

 

Did I mention that this thing holds 4ml of ink?

[raging.dragon]

That is a big pen. Bigger than an M1000 and about the same size as the Deccan Masterpiece. Nice.

[watch_art]

It is big. His Dhaulagiri center band is a bit bigger and next on my list. I like this thing so much I'm thinking of selling my M1000 to buy a couple more of his pens. Crazy huh?? I love my Deccan though. I think I've just fallen in love with custom pens - and this guy makes great pens at prices that don't scare me.

I'm in love.

[Lothianjavert]

Gorgeous pen! The size looks wonderful too- I like big pens. I looked at his website and really really like the little clipless. It might be short(ish), but the diameter is about the same as the big Nazca. They sound like great pens at a great price. I've been trying to get my husband to make some pens. He made a kit one yesterday from birdseye maple, but I'm really pushing for him to try something like this.

 

Your green ink is perfect and the shading is just lovely! I might have to mix up a batch like that. Looks great with your pen!

 

Thanks for the great review with great (gorgeous!) photos!

[watch_art]

Thanks for the comment! Most of the photos are John's remember. The ones farther down with the poor lighting and bad angles are mine.

 

I love this ink, too. I'm going to buy more of these two inks just so I can keep mixing them together. It's too pretty not to keep up with!

[jandrese]

Very nice, thanks for sharing! I have a feeling Jeb is going to be very busy soon.

[watch_art]

Get in now while you can! I've already ordered my second one. Edited August 22, 2011 by watch_art

[MCWB]

Get in now while you can! I've already ordered my second one.

Eagerly awaiting the review. Stunning pen, considering one myself!

[opus7600]

That acrylic looks like the long lost brother of the stuff Appleman used to make my highlighter.

 

Glad to know you've got options on the finial - if I did one of these, I'd take a shorter cap. No, scratch that. I'd definitely do one of the banded pens. That's pretty neat stuff.

[jimhughes]

Holy Krap, Batman, I've been snoozing again. John uses Meister nibs from Brian Grey. Who will customize them if you want someting other than his stock F, M, B Steel Nibs. That's fantastic, Jim

[USMCMom]

That pen turned out beautifully, Shawn!!! I still love my "Strawberry" and have been talking to John about others. LOL The size and weight of his pens are perfect for me. John does fantastic work!

 

 

[watch_art]

I'm still using the mess out of this one over all my others. Love it! Can't wait for my next one to come in!

 

As far as nib mods Mr. jimhughes, I'm sure anybody can modify the nib who normally modifies nibs. If you let John know what you want, and who you're preferred nib meister is, then he can ship it to them, and then to you. Nothing unusual there.

[jimhughes]

John was kind enough to offer me several options as you mentioned. I was, am , just excited that he's using the high class, smooth as silk nibs like Brian Grey has in the Edisons. I have 5 Edisons, about 3 with Steel nibs and these are great, smooth writers. With 4 ml of ink and ED use, it's going to take you awhile to run out of ink.

I wasn't sure you'd mentioned that John was using the same nibs as found in Edison Pens, so I wanted to spread the word a bit. Jim

Edited August 31, 2011 by jimhughes