Ohto Fine

[SincerelySpicy]

This is my first review here. Tell me what you think.

 

Inexpensive but not cheap—to some this may seem to be an oxymoron, but to the penny-pinchers among us, it is something constantly sought after. I have to admit, I’m certainly not overly frugal, and I wasn’t exactly looking for something inexpensive when I found this pen. But once I set my eyes on it and its price tag, I knew that I might have found a pen that perfectly fits the description.

 

http://www.personal.psu.edu/evs5011/WebStorage/IMG_4072.jpg

 

The Ohto Fine is a pen that probably won’t appeal to those who seek expensive looking fountain pens. It has a simple, unadorned, brass and aluminum construction, reminiscent of the simplicity seen in modern minimalist designs. The barrel and cap create a long, unbroken and straight-sided cylinder with the ends cut off on a bias, and both ends are finished off with slightly smaller cylinders, also cut on an angle, extruded from the ends. The pen is accented with a simple clip that lightly contrasts the angular nature of the rest of the pen with its gentle curvature, and the design as a whole has a certain understated elegance.

 

http://www.personal.psu.edu/evs5011/WebStorage/IMG_4093.jpg

 

The Fine has an all-metal construction that gives the pen a feel of quality. As I pick it up, I notice the initial coolness quickly dissipating as my hand warms up the metal. The metal gives the pen a nice weight. Even though it isn’t a heavyweight pen, it certainly doesn’t have that cheap pen lightness to it. In fact, I was quite surprised by the weight when I first picked it up. The main portion of the barrel and cap is made of aluminum, and it appears to have either a matte paint or an anodized finish, and the ends and section are chrome-plated brass, giving the pen a nice contrast in finish.

 

http://www.personal.psu.edu/evs5011/WebStorage/IMG_4103.jpg

 

The Fine has one intriguing design feature that can be seen when uncapping and posting the pen. The cap pulls apart with a light pop as the inner cap releases its seal, and a faint click as the clutch releases the section. Once off, I realize that the actual lip of the cap fits neatly underneath the outer aluminum portion of the barrel, which along with the matching portion of the cap, is also cut on a bias. A closer look at where the barrel and section meet reveals a gap into which the lip slips in. Turning the pen around to see the barrel end, I notice the same thing, which helps the cap post very securely without risking damage to the barrel and maintaining the perfect cylinder of the design.

 

 

http://www.personal.psu.edu/evs5011/WebStorage/IMG_4111.jpg

 

Unfortunately, this pen didn’t come with a converter, and since I hate using cartridges, I had to buy one separately. Although the Fine uses international cartridges, the inner diameter of the barrel doesn’t allow some piston converters to fit—the metal portion is sometimes a bit too large. Going through an extensive search on the Internet landed me with a schmidt piston converter that fits snugly in the barrel with no clearance problems.

 

The pen is 5.5 inches capped and 6.75 posted but it’s only 3/8 of an inch in diameter. Because of this, the Fine may be somewhat thin for people who are used to larger pens. But since I prefer thinner pens, I found this pen to be pretty comfortable. Writing with the pen is a remarkably wonderful experience, especially for a pen of this price. The nib is engraved “Iridium Point Germany” with some scrollwork that I have to say does not really match with the rest of the design. The stiff steel nib provides extremely smooth strokes leaving trails of even, moderately wet lines. Flipping the nib over and using the top surface provides an equally smooth stroke, slightly thinner than writing normally. I was really surprised by how smooth the nib is—it is even smoother than some of my higher end pens. However, there is one minor problem with this line of pens. It is only available in one unidentified nib size that runs somewhere around what I consider a medium-fine.

 

 

The Ohto is certainly not expensive, but it definitely doesn’t have a cheap feel to it. At $20 plus an extra $5 for the converter, this pen is a steal in my opinion even though it is about double the Japanese retail price of 1,050¥. I bought the pen from Jetpens.com, the only place in the United States I found that sells the Ohto Fine, and it’s pocket-sized cousin, the Tasche. In all, this pen is very pleasant to use, and even though it wasn’t expensive, it will definitely be used as much as any of my more expensive pens.

 

 

Happy writing!

Ernie.

 

Update:

I left the pen to sit unused for a week and a half (just in case you're wondering, I wrote the review about 8 days before I posted it here.) and there has been absolutely no appreciable drying in the pen since. The nib writes as perfectly as before, without any flow problems at all. I am realizing that this pen is one of the best pens that I have ever used in my life.

Edited September 21, 2006 by SJM1123

[Inkanthropist]

Thanks for an excellent review, Ernie.

 

Neil

[dwmatteson]

Wow, Ernie -- what a great find! A very nice review, too.

 

This pen looks like a good candidate for introducing people to fountain pens. It seems like it would be similar to what most people are used to in terms of ballpoint/roller ball/gel pens, so it wouldn't be a huge jump.

 

I love the cap-posting design, even though I don't post the cap when I write. Another pen to go on the wish list.

 

Don

[Ann Finley]

Ernie--very nice job on the review! I'll have to admit, though, that the topic heading threw me...When I saw Quality, Cheap--I thought it was going to be a pen you didn't think very highly of. Glad that was not the case, and you found one that you like a lot.

 

Though I'm generally not fond of c/c pens, and don't like cartridges either, I like the looks of this pen. It reminds me of my Rotring Esprit in anodized aluminum, which is one of the c/c pens, at least for now, I'm keeping. The Rotring Esprit M nib writes like a fine and is especially good when I don't want a fast-flow/quick dry ink to feather.

 

If you will, keep us posted on how the Ohto does with various inks, and when the ink is left in the pen for a week--does it start right away, etc.

 

Best, Ann

[Maja]

Great review, Ernie! (and very nice photos, too, I might add )

 

I had never heard of this brand (Ohto) before I read your review (EDIT: I read a review---and commented---on an OHTO Tasche here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...?showtopic=6177 ). May I ask where you purchased it and roughly how much $$ it cost?

 

Please keep posting reviews here!!

Edited September 24, 2006 by Maja

[SincerelySpicy]

The price and where I bought it is at the end of the review.

 

And I just added information about leaving it unused at the end of the review.

[wdyasq]

I have an OTHO Tashe. It is light, writes well and is one of my favorite pens. The only thing I don't like is it uses cartridges.

 

I got mine from Jet Pens and got good service fom them.

 

ROn

[SincerelySpicy]

I have an OTHO Tashe. It is light, writes well and is one of my favorite pens. The only thing I don't like is it uses cartridges.

 

I got mine from Jet Pens and got good service fom them.

 

ROn

You know, tryphon enterprises (www.tryphon.it) sells international converters that are the same size as the short international cartridges that you can possibly use in your Tasche.

 

I personally didnt get to use one yet, but I think they might be the perfect thing for pens like the tasche that only takes short international cartridges.

[churl]

I bought an Ohto Fine from jpens.com and thought I'd add a few thoughts.

 

(1) Bexley converter does NOT fit this pen. I thought the Waterman converter fit, but it in fact does not fit either. After 2 days of use, the converter fell off inside the pen barrel. Have not tried the Schmidt converter, but it's next on the list.

 

(2) Its line is approximately on par with a Lamy Safari fine nib, maybe a shade fatter.

 

(3) It is actually pretty heavy, and has a lot of metal.

 

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/254/448933656_34a2a5ee0b.jpg

Edited April 9, 2007 by churl

[Keng]

Could this converter fit? Link: http://www.pendemonium.com/ink_monteverde.htm

 

[churl]

The problem with converters really is that they are too wide. Most of these converters are not having trouble with length.

 

The Bexley converter was too fat to seat on the feed assembly, and also did not fit in the barrel.

 

The Waterman converter fit in the barrel, but was still a shade too big to properly reach the feed.

[SincerelySpicy]

The generic schmidt converter fits perfectly in both the section and in the barrel. However, it has to be the schmidt converter that is made entirely of plastic (black and clear) not the one that also has a portion made of metal.

[churl]

Just an update. I tried a long international cart and it didn't fit. The short international cart is the only one that fits so far for me.

[elalan]

Nice review. I have two Tasche pens and they are great. Will try to acquire one of these as well. I have a hypodermic that I use to refill the Ohto cartridges, seems to be a reasonable compromise. I suspect that eventually the Ohto cartridge will get too loose? Is that the ultimate problem with refilling cartridges?

[churl]

Just an update. I managed to get the Bexley converter to work, but it took a little shoving. The problem for the Bexley converter was not the barrel but getting it to sit on the feed.

[aukestrel]

The generic schmidt converter fits perfectly in both the section and in the barrel. However, it has to be the schmidt converter that is made entirely of plastic (black and clear) not the one that also has a portion made of metal.

 

Hi,

 

I really appreciated your review. I am trying to find a converter for my OHTO Fine. Which Schmidt are you talking about?

 

K5 Schmidt Converter Universal - #R131 - http://www.isellpens.com/Images/Ink/Schmid...ters%20r131.jpg

 

Schmidt Converter Universal - Screw In #R141 - http://www.isellpens.com/Images/Ink/schmid...crew%20r131.jpg

 

Thanks for any help,

 

AuK

[yr21]

Hi,

I'm wondering if there are finer nibs available for this pen? Do anyone know what fits?