Search the Community

Hi All I currently use an undetermined diamine blue colour (kind of blue black), and as I move the ink around in my VAC700 demonstrator, droplets and smudges are left behind. I know the interaction between barrel material and ink chemistry is complex, so I’ll address my question only to TWSBI owners. Does any TWSBI demonstrator-owner happen to have a blue black or similar colour ink that does not leave such droplets behind? (Does that even exist?) Please share your pictures! Thanks! Bart

Hi all, I just purchased my first decent fountain pen, it's the TWSBI Diamond 580AL in silver with an extra fine nib. I was reading around and noticed that there were a lot of mixed reviews on how scratchy the extra fine nib was, and I was wondering what everyones personal experience was? Also, I read that the 580al is a huge improvement to the previous models as the ones made before the 580al had cracking issues. Is this still an issue with the 580al? How do I go about storing and taking care of the pen? I want to take this to class everyday and I'm wondering if you all could send me recommendations for a case or a holder of some sort? Lastly, is there a big difference between the extra fine and fine nibs for this pen? I've seen written samples for both and I couldn't tell the difference whatsoever and I'm not sure if what I've seen is accurate or even for the right pen. Thanks for your time everyone!

PIF: TWSBI Vac 700 in translucent blue - actually it's a frankenpen, as the nib is a smooth Jinhao medium. The new owner has to order replacement rubber seals (the two rubber thingies at the end of the plunger rod, which are essential for filling the pen and for the shutoff function, keep coming loose), which can be had at postage cost from TWSBI (whatever the problems with their pens, the customer service is exemplary in my experience). I'm going to send the pen on Tuesday, so please send a PM if you are interested by Monday, explaining in brief the reasons for your interest. Please remember to PIF too when you are done with it, not sell it.

Just bought my third TWSBI, a Vac 700, at Wonderpens in Toronto: I love my first two so much that I wanted to try the novel filling mechanism (which is delightful to use btw). A sales clerk at another pen store (which doesn't sell TWSBI) was very dismissive of the brand, saying he'd heard that the barrels crack very easily and you have to be careful not to overtighten them or otherwise stress the various connectors. Has anyone else heard of his happening on a more than normal basis? I've had my Diamond 580 for almost two years and my Eco for about eight months, and no problems at all with either of them: they seem exceptionally sturdy and durable, as far as I can tell.

A TWSBI Diamond 580 1.1 mm stub landed here a year ago and is still going strong after several fills of Diamine Violet. The duo is so pleasing to use that there has been no reason to switch inks. For maintenance, a rinse between every few refills is all it needs. That makes it an easy-keeper as well as good to use and highly unlikely to fall out of my rotation. How long have you had a TWSBI in use? Have you found it easy to maintain?

Hello, I recently got back in to fountain pens and have been conflicted as to my next fountain pen. My first pen was a crappy jinhao, which was quickly followed by some other unknown Chinese knockoff of a lamy, and then shortly by a borrowed blue-gold waterman expert (it's my mom's. I love writing with it but want my own pen because she'll get mad at me if I damage it because it was really expensive at the time and is no longer available). and before anyone says anything, I personally don't like the more inexpensive Lamys, I don't find them to be comfortable. More recently I have also tried out a rOtring 600 (currently discontinued) which I like, however the lack of a knurled grip on the model I have, the cap, and terrible balance when posted are huge put-offs. I have come down to a somewhat wide list and can't decide on what to get: The Noodler's Konrad (probably one of the ebonite or acrylic ones) The Kaweco Sport (basically any of them, but most likely one of the non-metal ones as they cost less) Any of TWSBI's pens (basically all of TWSBI's pens fit my criteria, however I can't pick one over the other) As you can clearly tell these are relatively inexpensive pens. I am a student right now, which is why these pens are all pretty inexpensive. I want to bring the pen around with me to my classes. I walk between all my classes up and down a 3-story building and it's pretty long. I store my pens more diagonally or horizontally when not in use (when they are in my bag, as my backpack rests at a diagonal angle across my back). I like to be able to post my pens, as it means I don't need to keep track of the cap as I don't like holding the cap in my other hand, however most times I post my fountain pens or someone else's I find it to be either unbalanced or just uncomfortable as the edge of the cap irritates the side of my hand (this is especially the case on the Waterman, where when I post it the edge of the cap digs into my hand slightly). in case it matters, I use purple/violet ink, currently I am using the J. Herbin scented Violet ink (I love this stuff), however I am considering switching to something like Waterman's Tender Purple or some other purple/violet ink (suggestions?) I really like the look and design of the Kaweco, but the use of a converter is a bit of a put-off as I would prefer I be able to fill it once and have it last me a while. I like the look and design of the Noodler's a lot too however I worry it may require fidgeting with which is something I really would rather not do (and if I don't like the flex nib I could always replace it with some other nib, but then I need to do that... Again with the fidgeting). And on the topic of the TWSBI pens, they basically all fit my criteria, they appear to be a safe bet but I can't pick one in particular (580 vs classic vs mini vs maybe the vac700 or vac mini) I just can't decide. Help would be very greatly appreciated.

Hello all, I have a TWSBI Mini with a Medium nib and, some time ago, lost the o-ring on the piston knob that prevents over-tightening of the cap upon posting. Does anybody know where I can buy a replacement o-ring, or am I just SOL? On the attached image, I marked where the o-ring is normally located in red. - J

I have had a TWSBI Eco for a few months now. Using it off and on as a daily writer. In the past month and a half or so, I hadn't used it at all. The ink in it had started misbehaving for some reason so I decided it was high time I cleaned up the pen. I disassembled the pen. While removing the piston assembly, I heard a slight cracking noise. Thinking nothing of it, I proceeded to flush the pen, clean the piston and barrel and then attempted to reassemble it. Everything came together fine except the piston knob. For some reason it wouldn't want to screw back in fully. With the piston fully retracted the knob wouldn't sit flush on the barrel. With the piston deployed, the whole piston assembly came loose. I was sure I had broken my pen. It took me two days to decide to write to TWSBI's customer service to ask for help. I thought I wouldn't hear back from them for a least a couple of days... 20 minutes later Philip Wang had written back, with a very reassuring message that started like: "I am not entirely sure what you did with your pen, but I can guarantee you that it is not broken". He then gave me a couple of tips, pointed me towards a video explaining how to put the pen back together. He also mentioned that, if all else failed, I could mail it to them to have it repaired, free of charge. I watched the video, figured out where I went wrong and was able to bring my Eco back to life. Seriously, TWSBI, congratulations and thank you for such a stellar after sales experience. I didn't expect such a speedy response and such engagement to help me repair my pen. This is the kind of customer experience that makes me want to keep on being a TWSBI customer.

I am plannning to buy a demonstrator starting pen- The TWSBI Eco or Lamy vista. How do they compare? TWSBI Eco in medium or fine. How does the medium on TWSBI Eco compare with other mediums? How does the fine compare with others? Lamy Vista in fine or extra fine. How does the fine compare with a Lamy medium? Is there a huge difference between them? Is the extra fine REALLY fine? How do these pens compare with each other on the basis of writing, comfort, durability and looks? Thanks for any help provided. (I need replies as soon as possibe as I have to order it today so as to get it close to my birthday on the 26th) Thanks again.

I've been intending for some time to put up a brief post about the TWSBI Eco as a great pen for nib swapping - but with general busy-ness it's never quite happened, till now. When people started buying the TWSBI Eco, and looking into nib swapping options, two things were immediately apparent: first, that the pen lent itself to this kind of activity, given the ease with which nib and feed can be removed; and second, that TWSBI didn't seem interested in selling nibs to swap in to this pen. What makes this a little maddening is that the Eco nib is quite clearly the same as for the TWSBI Diamond Mini, Vac Mini, and Classic pens - but the nib assemblies for these pens aren't exactly cheap, and the nib and feed are jammed in so tight that the risk of damaging the feed is pretty high. My first thought was to try the nibs I already had on hand, from Fountain Pen Revolution - which are great, smooth, and inexpensive nibs. But there was a problem (in my experience at least): the nibs sat a little proud of the feed, and ink flow was poor to non-existent. Others more enterprising than me have gotten around this by heat setting the nib and feed - but plastic feeds (apparently) aren't as amenable to this as ebonite, and I wasn't game to try it. Besides, that would require me to re-heat-set the feed if I wanted to reinstall the original nib. My second thought was to try some Bock #5 nibs I had lying around - but these, frankly, were too small and very ill-fitting. Enter fpnibs.com, a small Spanish-based company run by Pablo Carrasco and Esther Durán who buy, customise and sell JoWo nibs - including the kind of nibs that TWSBI use in their Eco, Mini etc. For an amazingly low price (~€6), you can buy a plain stainless steel nib that will fit perfectly; for maybe another €0,50 you can buy the same nib with ruthenium coating. Add to that the amazingly low prices on their custom grinds, and suddenly the Eco becomes an exceptionally versatile pen. Here's a snap of my collection - most of it, anyway (note the 4 top nibs are generic JoWos' the bottom 3 are TWSBI nibs for comparison): http://i.imgur.com/wMCtTfW.jpg Here's a close-up of the custom grinds I requested on three of the nibs - two cursive italics and an architect grind: http://i.imgur.com/OHYofyv.jpg A side-on and and an under-side shot of the architect nib, for completeness (please forgive the poor focus): http://i.imgur.com/KFutS0i.jpg http://i.imgur.com/OnMbAqK.jpg I've been extremely impressed with the quality of these nibs - both the stock nibs and the custom grinds. So much so, that I recently ordered two #6 nibs (stainless steel), to add to my collection - plus the rhodium-plated gold B nib for a Diamond 580 that sparked my initial interest in Pablo's workmanship. Standard disclaimer, I've received no freebies of any kind from this company - but am more than happy to recommend them to anyone interested in customising their TWSBI (or other) pens. Feel free to ask any questions - sorry I haven't got any recent photos of these nibs in action, but I've been away on holiday and (two of) my Ecos stayed home...

Has anyone heard anything about the TWSBI 899 or is this just another prototype they're testing that we'll never see come to market? It was featured next to a Diamond 580 on Instragram yesterday: https://www.instagram.com/p/BKipSxYjTtr

HI Team I have bought a TWSBI Classic from there website. The Cost is $50+$30.22(Shipping). They shipping is Fedex Prority Pak. Any body have any Idea how long it will take. and what will be custom duty. And are there any problem on this pen?

During the weekend I was playing around with Pentax Takumar lenses from the 1960s and 1970s, mounted on a Canon EOS M body. This image was created with a Takumar 85mm f1.9. TWSBI Vac 700, inked with Sailor Jentle miruai, 1.1 mm italic. The image with the lens was shot with the Canon EOS 22mm f2 kit lens.

I'm planning to buy a new pen, in the US$ 40 – 100 range (big range, I know ), and narrowed my options down to these (in no particular order): Faber-Castell LoomSheaffer 300Faber-Castell Ambition BlackTWSBI 580Pelikan Pura Which one would you choose and why? Also, if you can, which one you would not choose and why? Best! Marcelo

Hello Fellow FPN users I want to know where can i buy Kaweco & TWSBI pens in India, especially in Delhi or Mumbai....?? Any help will be really appreciated....?

TWSBI ECO - 1.1 Stub Nib This is the first non Indian pen I am going to review and I hope you all like the review and please leave the comments if you like. The same has been reviewed at my blog and you are welcomed to visit my blog to check the reviews : LINK This pen actually took almost 4 months to come into my hand. Even though I have TWSBI 580 Al Orange but I was more excited about the ECO. This pen was bought from Frank of FONTOPLUMO. It was booked as soon as it was launched and Frank was kind enough to hold the pen for more than a month and he was even kind enough to hand over the order to a visiting friend (Kapil Apashankar) in Netherlands and i must also mention this that the pen was on hold despite me not making the payment. And in the end I bought not just Eco but lot more pens for myself which will be reviewed here slowly. Also let me take this opportunity to thank Kapil for taking all the pain of collecting the pens and sending it across to me from Pune. So this is review about TWSBI ECO. TWSBI ECO DESIGN AND BUILT : 04/05 The pen came in a no nonsense plastic box and the pen and the accessories were well packed. I took the white color model. The pen currently comes in two colors: Black and White. However there are certain other colors being proposed by TWSBI on their blog. It’s a well designed elegant pen and even though it looks chunky when capped. It’s a beautiful pen when inked. TWSBI ECO – Beauty Shot The barrel is clear acrylic which is again of good quality and is circular instead of faceted design of TWSBI 580 or VAC. The grip section is also clear acrylic and you can see the ink flowing to the feed from barrel to section and feed. I kind of love the demonstrators. They actually take the color of the ink you put in. Looks lovely. TWSBI ECO – Capped The pen is actually one piece from grip section to barrel, only knob being different. Some people have not like the cap design but for me it’s just okay and carries the design cues from the faceted design of 580 or Vac. The cap and piston knob both have faceted design. All the trims are chrome silver finish and the centre band of the cap has TWSBI and ECO imprinted on the band. TWSBI ECO – Cap View TWSBI ECO – Cap Clip View TWSBI ECO – Cap and Piston Knob – Faceted TWSBI ECO – Cap Inner View The best thing about the pen is the rubberized O ring at the joint of piston knob and barrel which really helps in secure posting of the Cap. One thing to be noticed here is that apart from the nib and cap clip there is no metal part in the pen. Also like the O ring at the bottom there is one more O ring at the front of barrel which ensures the Cap doesn’t slip of and is securely closed. Below image shows the pen capped and uncapped for comparison. The pen is just tad smaller than TWSBI 580 when it is capped. I love the pen and I believe there is no good quality piston filler demonstrator in this price range. Below are the few images showing the comparison of the pen with others. TWSBI ECO vs Parker Sonnet vs Pelikan M200 Cognac – Capped TWSBI ECO vs Parker Sonnet vs Pelikan M200 Cognac – Uncapped and Posted The pen is similarly prized as Lamy Safari and I believe this is better bet. BALANCE : 05/05 The pen is very well balanced whether the cap is posted at back or not. Its a sizable pen and it is just a tad bit longer than 580 when posted.The pen posts really well and securely but for me its amazing when writing with cap not posted at back, but thats my personal preference. The pen is 139 mm when capped and 168 when cap is posted at back. Below are the images showing the comparison of writing with cap posted and cap unposted. TWSBI ECO – Writing Unposted TWSBI ECO – Writing Posted NIB & INK FILLING MECHANISM: 05/05 The pen I am reviewing comes with friction fit 1.1 Stub nib and boy it writes so amazing. Loved the nib and the ink flow. 1.1 Stub gives you a crisp writing with lovely welcome feedback. I love it. Yes the nib is friction fit and is easily removable. Nib is #5 steel nib and option of EF, F, M, B and 1.1 Stub is available on ECO. TWSBI ECO – Nib Unit Side View TWSBI ECO – Nib Unit Top View TWSBI ECO – Nib Unit Bottom View The ink filling mechanism is via Piston which is the best considered ink filling mechanism. The pen holds almost just less than 2 ml of ink. TWSBI ECO – Piston Filling Mechanism The piston knob is easily removable via plastic wrench that is supplied with the pen. There is also silicone grease supplied with the pen. Below are the images of my handwritten review and the writing sample: TWSBI ECO – Handwritten Review – Page 1 TWSBI ECO – Handwritten Review – Page 2 TWSBI ECO – Handwritten Review – Page 3 CONCLUSION: I am totally in love with this pen and the my iroshizuku ink looks stunning with this pen. The pen actually takes any color you want with the ink you put in the pen. Buy it – thats my advice. Beautiful quality product at surprisingly low price (25 Euros) with TWSBI lifetime warranty. The review has been posted simultaneous at my blog. Kindly visit blog for more detailed reviews here : LINK

Well...my adoration for the TWSBI Eco may be waning a bit. In spite of my loving care for both (black and white), the white one refuses to stay posted. The cap feels snug and firm when initially posted, but a moment later, it falls off. Again. And again. Another FPN member shared their video review mentioning the problem, but it was so soon after the Eco release, many of us assumed his pen may have been an anomaly. Now that mine has gone from a perfect poster to one that spits off the cap (less than a month's worth of use), I'm curious as to whether or not other Eco owners are finding the same...? So bummed.

Over time, I observed that the 580 could not find much use, primarily because my writing preferences have graduated towards softer and larger nibs along with time. So here comes the saviour from TWSBI - The Vac 700, with a bigger nib of #6 size, and a vacuum plunger mechanism. Personally, I prefer the concept of an ink shut off valve. If you are looking for a review of the 580, here it is. If you like the blog view along with pictures, just click below: TWSBI VAC 700 with a VAC 20 Review TWSBI TWSBI (pronounced Twiz-Bee) refers to San Wen Tong, i.e TWS spelled backwards and it means ‘Hall of Three Cultures’ and if you wish to know more, the information is available on their website. BI at the end. refers to writing instruments. Ta Shin Precision has manufactured a range of things starting from toy lego parts to high-end writing instruments, for several luxury brands (both American & Japanese) for well over 40 years. So that’s plastic, metal & precision, precisely what’s required to make and sell a good looking writing instrument, under a brand name. Which luxury brands? They don’t reveal those due to privacy agreements. I have reasonable doubt from various reviews that one of them is Levenger. Also, the shaft mechanism inside Pilot Custom 823 seems similar to the one in the Vac 700. TWSBI sources its nibs from JoWo (earlier it was Bock & Schimdt), Germany (same as for Faber-Castell Stock Steel nibs). PRESENTATION Clean, clear and minimal packaging! A transparent pen lying inside a clear plastic case, encased within a brown cardboard box with adequate cushions of foam. There is an instruction sheet on filling & disassembly of the pen, highlighting the pen parts. Below the white pen-holding shelf, you will find the 7mm TWSBI wrench, couple of O-rings for the filler collar and a vial of silicone grease in two push slots. Neat! DESIGN - TAPERED TRANSPARENCY (4/6) The VAC 700 used to come in four transparent colours - Sapphire, Amber, Smoke & Clear. Now TWSBI has retained the production of the clear model only. I was looking for a clear model, since I already have a few other coloured demos. The build of VAC700 is sturdy and it seems that a substantial amount of acrylic has been used. Honestly, it never felt cheap nor does it feel luxurious. I think this pen endorses practical utility rather than art, with which you will probably associate a Visconti. More of an industrial look, for which I like this pen. Plastic & Acrylics economise both cost and weight of fittings. Most of it is visible engineering & the use of a steel plunger rod along with rubber piston and valve seals can be seen from the outside. The barrel and cap are made of thick polycarbonate, with a protective heat treated layer to increase resistance to scratches & abrasions, thus preserving the crystal transparence. The blind cap and the section exhibit translucence with smoky hue and I strongly fill that its takes out some beauty element out of the equation. But then, I wanted the clear one to enjoy the ink colour itself. The cap feels substantial and unscrews with one and a half turn, revealing a nicely sized steel nib. There is a metallic collar for the nib unit, supplying necessary chrome accents for the aesthetics part of it. The smoky translucent blind cap has a rather broad ring making the mark for usage and disassembly. The barrel is smooth and rounded with a decagonally cut blind cap, which fails to prevent the open pen from rolling away. The pen rolls on the broad steel ring below the blind cap. The acrylic orchestrates light well and dazzles the ink inside the barrel. The cap has a widish chrome band carrying a laser engraved TWSBI on one side of it and VAC 700 TAIWAN on the other. The finial carries a vibrant red & silver TWSBI logo of three pillars within a dome of transparent acrylic. The clip has a frosted aluminium feel and finish and is spring-loaded within a visible system with a chrome tassie. The cap has a geometrical decagonal cut, though the clip prevents any rolling away. The frosted look & feel of aluminium and somewhat stands out unevenly compared to the overall dazzling steel chrome trims. The cap is moderately heavy (@13g). You can also see a transparent inner cap, which prevents the nib from drying out. FILLING SYSTEM (4/6) As a plunger filler, it does have a good ink capacity around 1.8~2.3 mL (a full fill which is easy to do from an inverted Vac 20 bottle or repeated air removal filling). The smoky translucent blind cap unscrews with three complete turns. The rod is made of stainless steel and is resistant to most of the commonly used inks. For IG (Iron Gall) and Pigment Inks, care must be taken to clean the pen several times, to prevent clogging or deposit accumulation inside the ink passages. With the usual ink bottle, the pen fills to around two-thirds of its capacity, once the nib is completely dipped in ink and the plunger is pushed back in. This can give a good amount of ink inside with a comfortable volume of 1.5 - 1.8 mL. Sometimes, I have to repeat it several times to create a good vacuum, an issue I never had with the Custom 823 or the Homo Sapiens. The Custom 823 takes only a second vacuum to fill well. But YMMV. Cleaning the pen could be a similar ritual accompanied with some shake and I suggest you do it on a regular basis, for the ink stains if left may look ugly with time, and might require a light ammonia solution to go-off. Else you could just disassemble the shaft mechanism from the barrel and clean the transparent barrel with some a light dishwashing liquid water solution. And as mentioned in the manual, while writing with the pen, you would need to keep the piston-knob slightly unscrewed & pulled to the first stop (at a 4 mm distance) relative to the chrome ring. This will displace the conical valve rubber seal below the piston seal, to allow passage of ink to the feed. Given the high ink capacity of these pens with plunger filling mechanism, it has been introduced to prevent ink-leakage. And this is a nice thing to have, if you intend to carry the pen by air. The feeder hole looks like a channel to enable efficient ink suction. A problem I have landed up with this piece is that while filling it from a VAC 20 bottle, there are some ink drops coming out of the rear end of the filler collar. I emailed TWSBI Customer Service and Philip asked me to replace the filler O-ring with the spare one, which is actually thinner. However, this did not solve the issue completely and Philip was kind enough to have his factory send an immediate replacement of shaft mechanism. We both think that the inner O-ring of the shaft mechanism is the culprit. FILLING WITH THE VAC 20 INKWELL (INDEPENDENT RATING - 5/6) The VAC 20 inkwell comes within a small cardboard box. Unlike the well packaged Diamond 50 bottle, the packaging is pretty plain. It’s made of plastic and weighs around 20 grams without ink. Ink Capacity is 20 mL, of course (Thus VAC 20, but wait, what about VAC 700! ). The below bottle is around two-thirds filled. The bottle used to come in five simple variants - black, orange, red, green & blue top-caps and occupies a fraction of space taken by the Diamond 50 inkwell. The new one however is called VAC 20A and it has an additional insert for the VAC Mini. You have to remove the top cap for filling the VAC 700. The base cap has the threads of the VAC 700 pen inside, so as to fit the pen precisely. And with an inverted configuration you can pull/push the plunger to suck the ink to full capacity of the pen. And there is no need of cleaning the VAC700 after filling ink, as only the feed area is exposed. Cool ! The outer cap has a good sealing tube and I never found any ink leakage from the bottle itself even after keeping it inverted in my backpack for 2 days. Personally, I find it comfortable as a travelling inkwell since the dimensions are minimal and the base bottle offers the height of ink to completely immerse nibs of most pens with standard nib sizes. The only quibble I have is: when you fill ink in any other pen, the base cap (black) has to be unscrewed and it exposes the broader opening of the bottle. The secure bottle acting as a pen stand is now gone. The inner taper of the base cap block sections of most of the similar sized pens (except VAC 700 & a few slimmer ones). Besides it’s priced pretty decent (in US), and you do travel with 20 mL of your favourite ink. DISASSEMBLY (6/6) In cases where the piston has become stiff or there is any leakage of ink from the rear, it would require you to disassemble and self-service the pen. You can find two spare O-rings with the wrench and silicone grease. You can have a look at a 700 disassembly video. I like this one. Make sure you thoroughly flush the pen with water before disassembling it. Rotate the blind cap counter-clockwise, till it rotates freely. Pull out the blind cap till it comes to an end stop. The same thing you do while longer writing sessions. Fit the wrench below the blind cap on the area of the filler collar which has two parallel cuts on the otherwise circular section. Rotate counter-clockwise till the collar comes out of the inner threads. There is an O-ring on the collar (at the end of those threads ideally) that goes inside the barrel, to prevent leakage of ink. (the same ring for which spares are provided) Then you can pull off the shaft mechanism along with the blind cap from the barrel. The nib unit can be easily removed by first unscrewing the grip section from the barrel Since, nib is friction fit, you may remove the nib and feed from the unit, in case there is some heavy cleaning required (in case of a bad flow, sometimes the feed is coated with grease which restricts ink-flow). Make sure you carefully apply adequate amount of silicone grease with a earbud/toothpick to the sides of the conical frustum like rubber piston seal/lip before reassembly. Don't use any grease on the conical valve seal, else the grease may block the section slit, thereby the flow of ink. NIB - ALL THAT MATTERS (6/6) This is a silver accented stainless steel nib from Jowo of size#6. It carries off the TWSBI traditional dagger-like design well. Across four stock widths - EF, F, M, B and two special widths of Stub 1.1 & Stub 1.5, this looks pretty industrial and minimalistic. The nib/feed unit can also be taken out of the sleeve after unscrewing the section. The tail end specifies carries the nib width, while the name TWSBI along with the logo rest above the tail. There is some simple scroll within the symmetry of its tines, reflecting the rather industrial look of the pen. A black plastic feed with a adequate feed channel for ink suction provides the inflow of ink. The thin fins ensure an acceptable buffer capacity, although I have always found better feeds in Pilot & of course the Pelikans. The feeds are said to be a bit brittle. So suggest you take care if you are replacing the nib. These are sourced from JoWo. Earlier, TWSBI used to source its nibs from Schmidt and then Bock, which is incidentally the nib-supplier for Faber-Castell smoothy nibs too. The nib being a medium is a juicy wet delight to write with. And it lays a line which runs a tad thicker than Japanese Medium/European Fine nibs. More of this in the last section with writing sample. PHYSICS OF IT (6/6) – RELATIVELY SPEAKING The pen even without ink, does have a good balance in terms of both weight and length. The pen is not meant to be posted for the likes of me. The grip is quite comfortable for me, with a girth of 1 cm for me. The weight of the pen is mainly due to the steel/aluminium metal parts along with the steel rod used in the shaft mechanism. Uncapped Length ~ 13.2 cmCapped Length ~ 14.4 cmNib Leverage ~ 2.4 cm #6Overall Weight ~ 32 g (Cap Weight ~ 13 g)Max Ink Capacity ~ 2.3 mL Capped and uncapped comparisons with a Pelikan m805 and a Pilot Custom 823, run below for your reference. An uncapped vac 700 along with others. ECONOMIC VALUE (5/6) The VAC700 retails at around Rs 9,500 ($ 141 @ 67 INR/USD) here and I got it from Manoj (of Manoj Pen Mart) at around Rs 4500, in exchange for another sparsely used TWSBI. The pen retails at USD 65, in the US and cheaper in other countries. A major problem with ordering it from TWSBI’s website is the heavy FedEx shipping charges, and also un-calculated duties to be paid for. Thankfully, Pradeep (FPN@Prads) arranged an exchange of the 580 with Mr. Manoj, I had to pay a fraction of the Indian MRP for the Vac 700. I bought it from Mr. Manoj (of Manoj Pen Mart, Fort, Mumbai). OVERALL (5.2/6) This nib is wet and smooth with most of the inks. Since, I am used to a few large pens, I did not find a problem with either the heft or the balance of Vac 700. Many people don't find the heft/weight comfortable. There is no noticeable line variation but the #6 nib does render some spring, which can cushion your writing. The medium nib lays a line which runs a tad thicker than Japanese Medium/European Fine nibs. The pen feels balanced for my hands both with or without pressure and given the tapered profile of the section, it has a good grip. I have used single fills of Waterman Florida Blue & Sailor Yama Budo inks in rotation, and the pen nicely in the case of Sailor ink. Being a wet writer out of the box, the Medium nib puts up a nice juicy line, which takes around 22-25 seconds to dry a Sailor Yama Dori ink on MD Paper. The spring and length of this steel nib reminds me of the fact that a good steel nib can always be of joy. However, if you ask me to compare the Custom 823#15 nib with this steel nib, I would say it’s great but the 823-14k nib wins in terms of cushion, softness and additional spring by a fair margin. REFERENCES TWSBI 580 Diamond Review FPN TWSBI History Disassembly - Removing ink shut off valve (Warranty might be voided) Thank you for going through the review. You can find some more pen and paraphernalia reviews here.

Hi All, I recently travelled with my new vac-700, so I closed the shut-off to stop any leaks. When I came to write with it again (and had used up the ink in the feed), I opened up the shut-off, but it look a very long time before I could start writing again! How long should it take, do you think, for the ink to get to the nib after re-opening? Edit: By the way, in case it matters, the ink in Montblanc toffee brown and the nib is a broad.

I bought my Vac700 in late March 2015 (i.e. just over a year ago) and it has seen moderate use. The large ink capacity makes it ideally-suited for use at conferences or on longer trips, and I enjoy writing with it. The pen has probably been fully inked-up and subsequently cleaned out about half-a-dozen times, perhaps as many as ten times since I got it. There is now a specific problem with the pen, and I have a few questions for you: 1) Have you experienced a similar problem? 2) Is my diagnosis correct (could there be something else causing it, and if so, what?) 3) Any suggestions on how best to proceed? Here's my problem: When I last tried to fill the pen, it would not fill - it somehow failed to make the necessary vacuum, and couldn't get more than a dribble of ink into the barrel. I disassembled the pen for the first time, made sure everything was properly clean and lubricated and properly reassembled. Of course, the problem persisted. So I took it apart again and looked at everything under a loupe. I discovered that there are actually two O-Rings on the end of the barrel (the part that screws in). The larger O-Ring is the more obvious, and the smaller O-Ring is easier to overlook. The problem seems to be with the smaller O-Ring. It actually seems a little flimsy, and it has become a little 'floppy' or stretched over time. That is, it no longer makes the necessary tight fit with the thread. See picture. (Image: end-of-barrel unit, with O-Rings highlighted) I was surprised to see this part failing so quickly, particularly if it is crucial for the pen's operation. I don't know why a problem with that O-Ring should cause the vacuum to fail - the larger O-Ring is fine, and should be sufficient by itself. But in the absence of any other obvious cause, I'm assuming that the perished smaller O-Ring is indeed the problem. I am therefore looking to replace it. It's only a small part, and I can probably find it cheaply at my local DIY/hardware store, but that's a hassle (the store is not all that local). Also, I'm wondering whether this is a potential issue for others, and whether I should approach the company I bought my pen from. Any thoughts in response to my questions? Have I missed something? Thanks!

The review is a part of the larger TWSBI VAC700 review. You can go to the original post here. I thought that this review could be useful for people, who like me are searching for an inkwell, that's okay for travel, holds a fair amount of ink and does not exactly make a hole the wallet. The full review is also live on my personal blog. Click below if you enjoy pics in a tablet/mobile optimized view: TWSBI VAC 700 with a VAC 20 Review I was looking for an inkwell at a decent capacity & price (that's why skipped the Visconti Travel Inkwell), which could fit comfortably inside the visiting cards slot of my laptop backpack. So here goes the review. The VAC 20 inkwell comes within a small cardboard box. Unlike the well packaged Diamond 50 bottle, the packaging is pretty plain. It’s made of plastic and weighs around 20 grams without ink. Ink Capacity is 20 mL, of course (Thus VAC 20, but wait, what about VAC 700! ). The below bottle is around two-thirds filled. The bottle used to come in five simple variants - black, orange, red, green & blue top-caps and occupies a fraction of space taken by the Diamond 50 inkwell. The new one however is called VAC 20A and it has an additional insert for the VAC Mini. You have to remove the top cap for filling the VAC 700. The base cap has the threads of the VAC 700 pen inside, so as to fit the pen precisely. And with an inverted configuration you can pull/push the plunger to suck the ink to full capacity of the pen. And there is no need of cleaning the VAC700 after filling ink, as only the feed area is exposed. Cool ! The outer cap has a good sealing tube and I never found any ink leakage from the bottle itself, even after keeping it inverted in my backpack for 2 days of travel. Personally, I find it comfortable as a travelling inkwell since the dimensions are minimal and the base bottle offers the height of ink to completely immerse nibs of most pens with standard nib sizes. The only quibble I have is: when you fill ink in any other pen, the base cap (black) has to be unscrewed and it exposes the broader opening of the bottle. The secure bottle acting as a pen stand is now gone. The inner taper of the base cap block sections of most of the similar sized pens (except VAC 700 & a few slimmer ones). Besides it’s priced pretty decent (in US), and you do travel with 20 mL of your favourite ink. So, I give an Overall Rating of 5/6 to the VAC20. The VAC20A has an additional insert, so it would stand a bit taller compared to the VAC20.

Folks, I have been tempted by the ink capacity and price of the Eco, and I like TWSBI nibs a lot, but I carry my pens in my shirt pocket. The Eco does not look good for this at all to me, but let me hear: If the Eco is in your EDC, how do you transport it and carry it around with you? I am a teacher who teaches in several classrooms, so I do not have a desk where I can just leave things out (always risky at a school, anyway). What do you do? thanks

Dear all, Here's my review of the Twsbi Vac 700 with M nib. I have seen another very comprehensive review on here since going to the trouble to write mine, but I feel that the more perspectives are available the better it is for all. Without further ado, here is my review of this pen. http://i.imgur.com/XD5TyEf.jpg http://i.imgur.com/DYdgC9k.jpg http://i.imgur.com/D2e7yvE.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Z0Scpqs.jpg http://i.imgur.com/s6ck6dA.jpg http://i.imgur.com/GQthaXW.jpg http://i.imgur.com/o9dD20G.jpg http://i.imgur.com/CvYIZkX.jpg http://i.imgur.com/DJWCn0b.jpg http://i.imgur.com/jjv83EY.jpg http://i.imgur.com/m1Q1iDW.jpg http://i.imgur.com/BeLhFA6.jpg Some additional notes, I think I had the pen in the wrong way wrong in the case, but you get the idea. Nicely presented. Also you can write with this pen posted even with the shut off open as it posts to the barrel, not to the knob. Personally I feel it's a bit too top heavy to write with posted for prolonged periods of time, but you certainly can do it. Another little thing was that the nib tines were not aligned properly, but I checked this myself before inking the pen up and it was not big deal. I'm looking forward to getting some different nibs for this pen, and also the Vac 20 or Vac 20A ink well. That would really come in handy come exam time. Also the fact that they supply you with the wrench, spare o-rings and silicone grease is a really nice touch. Cheers! [/img]

Hi has anyone idea ... Whether the material on VAC 700 especially the Amber, Smoke and Sapphire is the same as used in 540 ... and is that also more prone to cracks as was 540....

There are oodles of threads about this, but most are years old, so...here's my experience from the past two weeks: Filled TWSBI 580 Domestic TSA (MSP): No problems; pretty obvious the pen held less than 3 oz. of liquid. Domestic flight (JFK > MSP): No problems, even though the pen laid on its side the entire flight, in the small overhead compartment. No leaks, no worries. International security (Dublin and Glasgow): No problems; same as domestic U.S. TSA. Side note: You go through x-ray security twice in Dublin, due to U.S. Preclearance. No questions either time. International flight (Dublin > JFK,): No problems at all; kept the pen nib-up the entire time (expect for when in use---only wrote with it after we reached altitude). Filled Visconti Traveling Inkpots Ditto to all of the above. :::whew!::: To be on the safe side, I slipped the TWSBI into a snack size ziplock baggie before traveling. I'm not crazy, after all. Pretty sure keeping the pen nib-up is a wise precaution, no matter what. Am also fairly certain the reason this pen traveled so well while inked is due to the fact it was initially filled using one of the Visconti inkpots (think: vacuum = no excess air to "burp" out). Just my two cents to share with anyone looking for recent feedback. Safe travels!