What Can You Tell Me About Taccia?

[nightwing]

I don’t know too much about Taccia pens other than what I’ve read in the reviews and on other sites. I do know that it’s an American company founded by a woman named Shu-Jen Lin, and that European resins and German nibs are used to make these pens. The nibs are from the same company (JoWo, I believe) that manufactures the nibs on Edison pens. I’m interested in finding out whether all Taccia nibs are interchangeable with Edison nibs – does anyone know this? Also, can anyone comment on the smoothness of Taccia nibs in general? I’m interested in the Taccia Overture, but there are no reviews of that pen on FPN.

 

Anything you can share would be great. Thanks!

[MidnightBlue]

If they're the same nibs as an Edison, then........if they're tweaked properly before leaving the shop , you'll be fine. Thanks

[Ghost Plane]

I think Brian Goulet did a video on the nib swapping on Ink Nouveau or else he said he was doing one. I forget which :embarrassed_smile:

[dwwst12]

I can't comment on the nib-swapping, but I can tell you that the one Taccia steel nib I have is a terrifically smooth, trouble-free writer. I bought a Taccia Portuguese medium nib for about $35 new. It wrote perfectly out of the box, no alterations. It's a small pen, so it has a couple of drawbacks -- among them, an extremely tiny converter! But it's one of the best nibs-for-the-buck that I've ever purchased.

 

I now have my eye on the Nightlife!

[Ghost Plane]

How stiff are the nibs? Do they run comparable widths to Italians or Pels?

[georges zaslavsky]

I have test written one and it was very convincing too bad it wasn't piston filled.

[tonybelding]

Is it really an American company? The Taccia website gives a customer support address for "Taccia by ITOYA", which in turn leads me to ityoya.com, which belongs to "ITOYA of America, Ltd., a subsidiary of ITO-YA Ltd., Japan".

 

Regarding the actual pens. . . I got a Taccia merit which is a large, nicely made pen, and I think is a bargain in the sub-$100 space.

[Ghost Plane]

I have test written one and it was very convincing too bad it wasn't piston filled.

If you found the nib performance decent, that's praise indeed

[Solstice]

How stiff are the nibs? Do they run comparable widths to Italians or Pels?

 

I'd like to know more about this too. I got interested in the Merit when I was browsing at Goulet and saw the orange creamsicle body. It would be a perfect addition to my mini collection of tropical/summer color pens, but I'm not sure whether I would prefer medium or fine. I have an entry-level Pelikan (the P55) in fine that works well for me, so if the Merit fine is similar I'd probably go with that.

[AtomicLeo]

I own a Taccia Momenta and and Alto. For money, Taccia pens are the best in the market. The grey silver swirls in my Momenta pen are stunning. Online pics can not show the depth of color. The nibs are some of the best steel nibs I own. However both pens must be daily writers are they are almost impossible to start. I also had trouble with the converter in my Momenta pen. It would not set firmly in the feed and in fact, was so loose I was afraid to fill it from an ink bottle. Unfortunately, I could not replace the converter with a standard K5 Schmidt. It was a good fit in the feed but there was something in the interior of the pen the prevented me from screwing the body back into the nib section. I contacted Taccia by email to see if I could get the converter replaced and received no response. I tried three times and nothing. Not even a "We'll get back to you" email. I seem to recall posts on FPN that the Merit also had similar converter issues but in that pen you could replace the converter with a K5 Schmidt converter. Since I had such a terrible experience with the complete lack of customer service, I will not buy Taccia again. YMMV.

[nightwing]

Is it really an American company? The Taccia website gives a customer support address for "Taccia by ITOYA", which in turn leads me to ityoya.com, which belongs to "ITOYA of America, Ltd., a subsidiary of ITO-YA Ltd., Japan".

Hm, you might be right, there. I just checked, and according to this post, Taccia seems to be an American based company, but the "country of manufacture is unclear" (The footnote number is wrong - look at #3, not #2).

[nightwing]

<snip>

Out of curiosity, where did you purchase your pens from?

[tonybelding]

I seem to recall posts on FPN that the Merit also had similar converter issues but in that pen you could replace the converter with a K5 Schmidt converter.

 

My Merit came with a cheap converter. It's possible to fit a K5 into it, but it's a very very close fit. It's so close that it actually forms an air seal when opening or closing the pen, with the converter acting like a piston inside the barrel. When closing the pen, the air can force its way past the piston seal inside the converter and cause ink to blurt out!

 

I meant to drill a tiny vent hole, but never got around to it. I also tried using it as an eyedropper pen at one time, and it seemed to work OK. The ink window really was useful for that.

 

Regarding the nibs. . . They are made in Germany by JoWo and are the very same nibs used in Edisons. They are high quality.

 

Although my experience with the Merit was mostly good, I've got to say I'm more likely to spring for a Bexley or an Edison given the chance. They don't cost that much more.

[nightwing]

This has all been very informative; thanks, everyone. I won't be purchasing a Taccia just yet, but I'll keep my eye on them.

[Russ]

I have high regard for the Momenta, and use one quite regularly. Yes, the supplied converter was weak. But the pen's construction was sturdy and its JoWo nib is superb once adjusted for flow and smoothness. For about $100, it was a great buy.

[penspouse]

I can't comment on the nib-swapping, but I can tell you that the one Taccia steel nib I have is a terrifically smooth, trouble-free writer. I bought a Taccia Portuguese medium nib for about $35 new. It wrote perfectly out of the box, no alterations. It's a small pen, so it has a couple of drawbacks -- among them, an extremely tiny converter! But it's one of the best nibs-for-the-buck that I've ever purchased.

 

I now have my eye on the Nightlife!

 

I love my Taccia Portuguese. The nib is incredibly smooth. I originally hated the VERY small ink capacity until I turned it into an eye dropper. (Remove cartridge or converter, spread a small amount PURE silicone grease around the threads, fill the barrel with ink and screw on the nib.) It now holds A TON of ink.

[GouletPens]

Is it really an American company? The Taccia website gives a customer support address for "Taccia by ITOYA", which in turn leads me to ityoya.com, which belongs to "ITOYA of America, Ltd., a subsidiary of ITO-YA Ltd., Japan".

 

Regarding the actual pens. . . I got a Taccia merit which is a large, nicely made pen, and I think is a bargain in the sub-$100 space.

 

To clear this up, Itoya is Taccia's relatively new distributor, they have nothing to do with the making of the pens. Itoya also distributes Sailor in the US, which is likely why the address trails back to Japan.

 

I'm glad to see some conversation about Taccia. I've been interested in their pens for 2 years since I saw them at the DC pen show. It's true I'm selling them now, and I must say the build quality impresses me more than I thought it would. The pens are all fairly large, with big #6 nibs. I plan to do a writing comparison test for all the nib sizes, but haven't had the time yet! I'm going to try to make that a priority.

[ommoran]

I can't comment on the nib-swapping, but I can tell you that the one Taccia steel nib I have is a terrifically smooth, trouble-free writer. I bought a Taccia Portuguese medium nib for about $35 new. It wrote perfectly out of the box, no alterations. It's a small pen, so it has a couple of drawbacks -- among them, an extremely tiny converter! But it's one of the best nibs-for-the-buck that I've ever purchased.

 

I now have my eye on the Nightlife!

 

I love my Taccia Portuguese. The nib is incredibly smooth. I originally hated the VERY small ink capacity until I turned it into an eye dropper. (Remove cartridge or converter, spread a small amount PURE silicone grease around the threads, fill the barrel with ink and screw on the nib.) It now holds A TON of ink.

 

I will second this. I have a Portuguese Imperial that I love. I also have an Aviator ballpoint, and think it is fantastic. I will in the future be adding another to my collection, I'm sure!

[AtomicLeo]

<snip>

Out of curiosity, where did you purchase your pens from?

 

Bought them from pencity.com. They tried several converters in their store with another model and couldn't find an acceptable replacement. That's when I attempted to get some answer from Taccia and got nothing.

 

Converters, unfortunately, are not well-thought out by a lot of pen companies (Pilot comes to mind!)., but what really ticked me off was the compete disregard when I tried contacting them directly about the problem. So I won't be buying another one. But the nibs are fantastic and they are the most beautiful pens for the money on the market today.

[penspouse]

<snip>

Out of curiosity, where did you purchase your pens from?

 

You might want to try Todd at isellpens.com. I have been very pleased with his customer service.