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Forgive me if this has already been done, but I thought it would be nice to have a list of inks that clean easily from TWSBI pens. I know that not everyone is bothered by staining, but for those of us who want to keep our pens unstained it would be nice to hear which inks others have used with success. I'll start by listing inks that I've used that rinsed out with no trouble. J. Herbin Poussière de Lune Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu-kusa Diamine Asa Blue Diamine Eau de Nil Diamine Macassar Diamine Red Dragon Montblanc Corn Poppy Red Pelikan 4001 Turquoise Pilot Iroshizuku Yu-yake De Atramentis Jane Austen Diamine Amazing Amethyst

I just got the notice from Goulet that the TWSBI Eco Summer 2017 special edition turquoise pen is in stock. I ordered both an EF and a 1.1mm. Beautiful color! Now, I have to be patient until they arrive...

Hi, I'm deciding between two mid-priced piston fillers; either the TWSBI 580 or Conklin Heritage Word Gauge. Apart from the small price difference which pen would you choose and why ? Especially like to hear from those who have both. TWSBI pros: easy to disassemble and clean Cons: chance of cracking/fragile, #5 nib limits availability of nib options (eg italics, gold flex and specialty grinds etc) Conklin: pros: no history of cracking, #6 nib more freedom of nib options (eg italics, gold flex and specialty grinds etc) cons: not designed to be disassembled Thanks

Can anyone explain to me why they like the designs so I can appreciate it more? I don’t mean to be rude or criticize people for what they like, I am just curious why you like the look of these pens. Just please reply! I really want to know what the appeal is. Thank you for your help! W. Major

Hey guys! Normally post in the Japan pens forum but I picked up a TWSBI 580ALR from Mark Bacas with a special nib grind and I wanted to share some info about it. First off - the ALR is just like an AL except the cap band has a difference finish(?) and most importantly the grip section is 'ribbed.' The lines on the grip section feel amazing, really good to the touch. I consider it an upgrade from my AL, but you do have to be careful not to get ink in those lines because you would have to clean it out. Mark Bacas is a popular nibmeister. You can see his work at https://www.instagram.com/nibgrinder/ I got the 580ALR with a Blade Turk grind and if I had it to do over again I would send him my nicest pen because it's an amazing grind. The Blade Turk is a mini-architect grind with a gentle curve so you get a controlled gradation of line width from Platinum UEF to Japanese M. It's a really versatile tool. Anyone could just pick it up and write with it, but if you vary the angle up or down you can variation in width. An artist could probably build a whole career around this nib, as the more you use it the more you get to know what it can do and get the line widths you want without even thinking about it. Here's a video demo I made of the pen & nib: And here's an additional photoset: https://imgur.com/fpngallery/eXPLoO9 Mark Bacas deals TWSBI pens so I think you can just order a nib from him already ground to load into your TWSBI. This gives some additional options for nib types normally only found on Japanese pens, for example... or various architect grinds. Anyhow, I really love the pen and I'm considering sending him my King of Pen to work on next. This Blade Turk is just such an interesting and unique grind. I'd recommend it for any artist but also anyone who just wants an interesting fountain pen nib that is still appropriate for every day use.

I already had some staining on one from Noodler's black, and had some shimmer left over in another one from Colorverse's Gluon, both inside the barrel where the small grooves are. What are the inks I should definitely stay away from if I don't want to permanently stain the barrel? Are there specific colors that stain more than others? What are the easy to wash out inks?

I've wanted to try a gold nib in my Rose Gold 580 for a while. Not because there was anything wrong with the stock nib, but, well, just because. Each time I ended up with a nib from an unrecoverable vintage pen, I'd give it a try. Every one was the wrong size - too long, short, broad or narrow. When I ended up with this Skyline nib, it looked about right when compared side by side, so I pulled the nib and feed and it just slid in. I had to do a bit of heat setting to get the feed in contact with it, but it now writes very well. The feed doesn't supply enough ink to allow it to flex to its full extent without railroading, but it's smooth and very pleasant to write with. Mario

Hello everyone, I am willing to buy a TWSBI ECO fountain pen. But If I do then it will be my most expensive fountain pen. I just need to have some feedback from the TWSBI Eco users here. As the pen is made up of a transparent plastic body, does the portion holding the ink gets stained with the ink colour? And is the body prone to cracks and scratches?

The lip around the feed holder cracked on my fine nib for my TWSBI mini. Fortunately, I contacted TWSBI and they were able to send me a brand new feed holder, free of charge. Wonderful, exactly what I wanted. When I asked for how to then replace the feed holder, I was told you just had to pull and wiggle it out (so friction fit). Well, after probably an hour of trying that and sore fingers, it hasn't budged. And i'm starting to bend some of the fins on the feed. So, anyone had to do this and if so, any advice? I know earlier I did a cursory search of FPN and couldn't find anything on this. Also, the lip around the nib/feed is now completely gone from my efforts in trying to remove it, so I don't have that to help me (or hinder...)

So today I got to my dusty now pen holder and took out 3 Twsbi ECOs which were sitting there unused for around 2 years half-inked. They did not dry! To my surprise they even wrote from first nib touch to the paper, amazing! The inks were quite decent quality as well, Iroshizuku Kon Peki, Sailor Yama-Dori and Souten, so that may have been a factor too, colours however did come out much darker than normally attributing for some H2O loss.

My preordered TWBI ECO in yellow arrived in the mail today. YAY!!! I was thrilled to see that it wasn't a dull orange-yellow or an eye-stabbing neon yellow, nor yet a depressing school bus yellow (which never fails to look dingy to my eye). Nope! What I have is a sunny cheerful yellow. See it below! Now I just have to ink this pretty pen up ... but though I would like to use a yellow to yellow-orange ink (but nothing mustard-like) I don't know which ink I should use. Would anyone like to offer up any suggestions as to which ink I can pair up with my new pen? Please and thank you!

Disclaimer: English is not my first language and this is my first review. The history on how I got the pen: A bit more than a year ago I started really getting invested in this hobby and the wonderful world of fountain pens, even though I have used them for my whole life preferring the feel of a nib rather than a rollerball. I wanted to buy my first own fountain pen (still using the OHTO Tasche that my father gave my for my 12th birthday, it was very beat up, but still working fine) that would be my new workhorse for school. A fountain pen that could take a beating (still in school), did not work on cartridges, was easy to clean, is pretty, reliable, has a nice fun factor and is somewhat unique (not the cigar shaped black and gold ones you see everywhere). The last one meant for me that the nib would not be a nail, but have some give that I could play with. After weeks on end looking up on fountain pens and falling deeper and deeper in this rabbit hole I settled on the one fountain pen that I just couldn't take my eyes off: the TWSBI precision fountain pen with a 40ml bottle of Diamine velvet blue, bought at Cultpens. The nib: 9/10 The nib is a steel JoWo #5 nib. I got it with an EF nib since my writing is pretty small and I often times have to utilize crappy paper. The nib is stamped with the TWSBI logo. It is a decently wet writer and quite smooth, which is nice since it is an EF. It has a tiny bit of feedback, which I like. All in all, a very nice nib, which is expected of a JoWo Build quality: 8.5/10 This pen is almost entirely made out of aluminum. The barrel and cap are made out of a solid milled out rod of aluminum and have a brushed finish. The section has the same finish which is nice since it makes it not slippery even with sweaty fingers after a long writing session. The piston operates very smoothly and has not shown any signs of issues within a year of use. The clip is strong but not too stiff, it works just fine and will hold the pen in place. The facets line up when capping the pen, although I have found some examples of where this hasn't been the case. (hence the point reduction) The pen has an inkwindow which is an acrylic clear section of about 4mm in length. This inkwindow is very usable since you can see the ink clearly sloshing around but there are some (barely visible) seems. Writing experience: 9/10 The pen is not a light one but I like that. You do not need to post the pen but it can be done. However, the balance shifts to the rear of the pen when you do that since the cap isn't light either and sits quite high on the back of the pen. When not capped the balance is just right and the metal is nice and cool to the touch for the first few minutes. The section is on the thin side which could be an issue for people with big hands combined with thick fingers. It is not an issue for me, in fact, I find the section to be very comfortable. The pen is a piston filler so it has great ink capacity, being able to write pages and pages on end. This nib offers a bit of line variation and I find that really nice to have. It gives a little extra to your writing. All in all, a nice experience even with boring tasks. Summary: I really like this pen and do not know why so little people care about it. It writes really well and gives me joy every time I use it. If you have any experience with JoWo nibs the nib will not surprise you but the pen might. The modern and industrial design makes it an eye catcher and having the ability to completely disassemble the pen (and I mean completely) is a feature I wish more pens would have. If you have $80 dollars to spare on a very nice pen that competes with pens of a much higher price, consider this pen. Thank you for reading and if you have any tips or suggestions, I would be glad to hear them for future reviews.

Hi All I just wanted to let you know that I lurked for a while and read your advice on buying my first fountain pen. Many people recommended the TWSBI Vac700R as a good starter that is quite reliable. A few people emphasized to consider what size pen to get. They saved me from making a bad choice with the Lamy (my original preference) which has too small a diameter for my hand. I bought the TWSBI from Pulp Addiction in fire affected Victoria. I chose the fine nib. After writing for a while I changed my mind and went from a fine nib to a medium.I wanted to let everyone know how pleased I am with it and say thanks. Also, I wanted to thank the people who have done the detailed ink reviews and detailed ink swatches and spectrometer analyses. You have been a big help in making some choices of red/brown colored inks which for some reason I find stimulates me to write. Warm regards gary

Hi everyone! Has anyone seen the news about the new model of TWSBI Eco-T in Mint slated for release next week on 16 Dec 2019? So far, I've seen it here, here , and here. (Edited to add: And here.) I have about 7 TWSBI Ecos and a single TWSBI Diamond 580, but I haven't yet purchased an Eco-T. Is the performance the same as an Eco or 580? Or is it different enough to warrant getting one? I confess, the lovely translucent mint color is making it hard to resist buying it. It looks like the palest of chrysocolla, the gem-grade variety ... which, had the pen parts been made of the actual gem material, would price this pen right out of a lot of people's budgets (but would have been hellaciously awesome!) Anybody have an opinion about the Eco T they feel like sharing with a newbie?

This is probably a very naive question, but I have gotten hold of a TWSBI eco which is the very first piston filler I try (and by the way, great nib for the price), so please bear with me. When I fill it, the piston sucks ink from the bottle but it also sucks air, i.e., like half of the barrel gets filled with ink and the other half is empty (or in other words, the ink level goes up slower than the piston, for every 2 mm that the piston goes up, I get 1 mm of ink). Its this just a physical limitation with piston fillers and "just the way it is", or am I doing something wrong and the barrel should fill fully?

Hi, I took my Vac Mini apart for a thorough cleaning today and found an o-ring when emptying the tank of my cleaner. I have no idea where it goes, but I bet someone here does. Any idea based on the attached photo? Thanks!

​Sorry i mistakenly called it WingSung, so many new pens came out lately and they are so similar. anyway, it may look like TWSBI ECO but its not in the same league at all Great for rough use , not for showing off. ​

So, lazy Sunday here and was just swiping through my IG feeds and caught a glimpse of a green acrylic pen that got me interested. Was thinking probably an Italian manufacturer that I follo or Moonman related pen but was nicely surprised that the it came from the official TWSBI Instagram. They are calling it the Aurora and will be a Limited Edition pen released on 18th of March (tomorrow!) so for those interested can prepare their wallet. Flat top and bottom, green swirly acrylic and a piston filler. The price is defined though at $100 which will make this the most priciest TWSBI pen ever released CMIIW. Here is the picture of the pen along with the TWSBI home link: https://www.twsbi.com/ (photo courtesy of TWSBI)

What is the best Demonstrator pen for a budget of under 50 dollars?

Hi everyone — I've been lurking on the info forums for months, so I'm glad to finally join. Thanks to all for being such a cool community. I snagged my first fountain pen late last year and fell in love. I do much of my writing by hand, and fountain pens have changed my literary life for the better. I'm originally from Colorado but currently live in Providence, RI. My three favorite pens so far: Platinum 3776 (my only gold nib), TWSBI Eco, and Noodler's Ebonite Konrad. Still searching for that everyday-writer ink though... Happy writing.

Hi, so, since most of us who love fountain pens can't really seem to stop buying pens, I thought it'd be cool to see how many pens you have in your pen collection. So, How many Fountain Pens do you have in your pen collection so far?

Hello FPN! I'm a 17 year old guy from Michigan and I've recently become enamored with fountain pens. I've mustered up enough money to buy two Lamy Safari's (one of which unfortunately someone decided to steal from me at school) and a Joy with a 1.5 italic for calligraphy as well as a bottle of Private Reserve Avacado. However, I'm looking to buy another ink or two (probably more later on), and some other pens once I eventually get some money. Since I picked up the first one a few months ago I haven't been able to stop writing. (An added benefit is that I'm writing more notes in class and actually enjoy doing so!) I always used to be that guy who had a ton of different pens, but I never really loved ballpoints because there was not too much special about them. Pens were a tool, that's it. A friend at school got a TWSBI mini as a gift for his birthday and he showed it to me and I have to say I thought it was one of the coolest things I'd seen in a while. I eventually gathered up enough to buy my first fountain pen (a Lamy Safari F for $20.) That's where it started. I bought another one which someone took, and a Lamy Joy for Calligraphy. As I mentioned, this is the only pen I use now. I am actually excited about writing things now because they are such a joy to write with. I haven't really been able to explore many inks yet, but I have been perusing the index of inks for hours at a time looking at the hundreds of options. From what I've seen, I love colors that are quite unique and rich. I guess I fall on the edge loving bold and subtle inks for every day use. I love Avacado because it's a really unique color I haven't really seen before, and don't see around often. I'm currently eyeballing J. Herbin Bleu Pervenche. Would anyone like to suggest some inks and pens for me to look into? I'm currently saving up for a TWSBI mini and I'm only about 1/10th of the way there (hah). (If any of you would be so kind, I would greatly appreciate it if you had any samples or anything you would be willing to send! If so, I would be absolutely ecstatic, if not, I won't be disappointed.) Thanks for reading! I am looking forward to reading your responses and towards reaching my goal! Best regards, John

I looking to buy a new pen and I'm tied between the TWSBI Vac 700r and the Pilot Custom 74. I know there quite a lot of differences between the two, but here's why I like them: I love the gold nib and smooth writing of the Custom 74, but I really want to try out a vacuum filler and a larger ink capacity is of great convenience to me, plus I like demonstrators. The Vac 700 sells for around 7,700 rupees whereas the Custom 74 sells for about 8000 rupees. Which one should I go for?

Here the diagrams of my little and very simple origami "stiloforo" for fountain pens. On this site more pics + tutorial https://sites.google.com/site/cartedartificio/home/easystand ;-)

Where can I buy nib Tuning Supplies like micro-mesh and mylar paper in India?