Newton Acadia 1.1 Mm Stub

[Altruism]

Edit: I should probably mention that I totally FUBAR'ed the name of the pen. It's actually Acacia. *Face palm*

 

Hi all!

 

I bring you a review of a fountain pen that was "purchased" by me through a Kickstarter campaign held by Shawn Newton (AKA watch_art here on FPN!). The campaign was created in effort to give children fountain pens, and those who pledged a certain amount were gifted a fountain pen as a thank you. Although the campaign ended you can see its past details here

 

On to the juicy part: The review!

 

When I received the pen, it came with a thank you note, as well as some pretty impressive packaging . The pen came in a white tube that can probably survive a good blow by a hammer thus protecting the pen significantly. I'd say I love the packaging more for its utility than anything, as I feel it's more important to receive a pen intact rather than in a beautiful box in pieces.

Here's a picture of what it came with (including the thank you note!)

 

 

Note: The Black pen on the left, the Pelikan M1000, is just there for a side-by-side comparison. This was DEFINITELY not included with my donation. The top white thing was the tube the Newton Acadia came in.

 

The facts:

 

I will call this the "Newton Acadia." I received a 1.1 mm stub nib made of steel. The pen measures at a massive:

1) 6.5 inches capped (165.1 mm)

2) 7.5 inches posted (190.1 mm)

3) 5.5 inches uncapped (139.7 mm)

 

It's weight (I do not have an objective measuring device sorry!) is quite light. Inked up, the Newton Acadia definitely feels a tiny bit lighter than a TWSBI 540 Diamond inked up.

 

Filling Mechanism: Standard international cartridge (not included) or Converter (Included). Since the converter is pretty much common knowledge the majority of you know it can hold a decent amount of ink.

 

How does she write?

 

Small sample picture of the Newton Acadia next to a 1 US Dollar* (for size comparison), it was written with Noodler's BP Black on G Lalo Verge de France White paper: Picture

*Note: The dollar was not included in the original packaging.

 

 

The Newton Acadia writes well. The Newton Acadia is not too scratchy; not too smooth. I like to try to give an objective view especially when it comes to personal opinion; some just like their nibs scratchy while others don't. Therefore, I like it when it comes to middle ground, as it can usually satisfy both groups.

 

In terms of wetness, the pen can write a bit on the dry side. However, I've only written with it for one day, and maybe it needs some time to adjust** or fully saturate. Because of it's dryness it has made my Noodler's Black shade (in an unpleasant way) a bit on the grey side when writing on (a rare!) occasion, however, I've never had this pen skip on me yet. The shading incident may have been a product of my poor penmanship or just a slight deviation in my writing posture causing poor nib contact to the paper. Nonetheless, I am willing to admit that this pen is adequate for daily use and I'll probably be very happy to have it around as an 'Everyday Carry' pen.

**To clarify: At the time of this review, I am currently in New York during the peak of summer where humidity is often +90% and temperatures have been a sweltering +85 F (~29.4 C). I've also had this pen inked for less than 24 hours.

 

To spend a day with her.

Fine print: I have an average size hand (medium medical gloves fit quite snug on my hand, and a smidge tight)

Because of her light weight, and her large robust.. ahem.. body form structure, she was very comfortable to grasp. Although she was large, her size had no influence on how she felt while being held. While writing she was very well balanced, but writing posted changed the balance a bit toward the back end of the pen. However, I should note that it in no way changed my feelings about writing with this pen (posted or unposted). It felt natural and pleasant to write with either way.

 

Using her to write for long periods of time was comfortable, mainly because of her light weight, and perfect form. The downside to using her to write for short amounts of time was the amount of rotations it takes to take off her cap (takes three full rotations as opposed to a TWSBI 540 which takes ~1.5, or a Pelikan M1000 which takes a little over 0.5 rotations).

 

In terms of appearance. She has this cigar like shape, but was very pleasing to look at. I could just stare at her alllllllllllll daaaaaay. She was confused by a person or two for being an actual cigar (to be honest she smells like one too :hmm1:).

 

 

When writing on cheap copy paper, she preformed like any other fountain pen. The only difference on cheap copy paper I've noticed is that it feels a bit more wet when writing (versus the G Lalo previously mentioned), but still has the same amount of scratchiness. Nothing too significant to report.

 

Final Word.

 

The Newton Acadia will probably make it as a short term everyday carry pen for me. I say short term as for my particular working-writing style, I write in short bursts and will be forced to recap my pen and put it in my pocket. The long process of uncapping and recapping my pen can get in the way over the course of a full work day. However, when I go back to class, I would proudly have this pen sitting on my desk (so long as my professors do not confuse it for a tobacco product), and use it to scribble things such as I am David ! Yognaut on my papers, or do the accusatory idea of jotting down notes. And for my final word, I am quite sad that I cannot share this pen physically with all of you, so I hope that you can vicariously feel how much I enjoyed using this pen through my review.

For those who want a rating for this pen**** I would give it an 8/10

**** I always feel ratings do not do the pen justice, as one Fountain Pen user prefers one specification versus another user who may prefer the exact opposite!

 

Thanks all for reading. Please be sure to thank Mr. Shawn Newton for making this review possible for turning out such a lovely pen. Be sure to give him thanks and a word of encouragement for the lovely campaign he started.

Edited July 19, 2012 by watch_art

[terminal]

Edit: I should probably mention that I totally FUBAR'ed the name of the pen. It's actually Acacia. *Face palm*

 

For just a second I read this as "The name of the pen is *Face Palm*"

 

LOL

 

Because of her light weight, and her large robust.. ahem.. body form structure, she was very comfortable to grasp.

 

Hilarious

 

 

Great review! I was wondering who ended up with that pen.

[Altruism]

After such an epic fail like that I should rename it Face Palm and have it etched in on the pen. Anyone who asks will be referred to this thread.

[watch_art]

Wow! Thanks so much for the awesome and honest review!

Can't believe I missed this earlier.

 

I added the pics into the review.

 

 

Thanks!

[breaker]

nice review and pics!

thanks!

[georges zaslavsky]

looks like a very nice pen thanks for sharing

[Altruism]

No problem! Thanks for spending the time to read it

 

Glad to share it with you guys. Was hoping it would give more recognition toward watch_art his project is awesome and wish more people would check it out!

[raging.dragon]

So is this one the oversized model?

[watch_art]

Yep - 16mm thick at the barrel threads.

You can see a few more of the same (similar) size here -

http://newtonpens.wordpress.com/2012/07/27/how-big-is-big/

[Altruism]

So is this one the oversized model?

Yep! As in the review the measurements are:

1) 6.5 inches capped (165.1 mm)

2) 7.5 inches posted (190.1 mm)

3) 5.5 inches uncapped (139.7 mm)

 

and as Shawn added, (at its thickest point), it is 16 mm.

 

I'd be afraid to have this thing in my pants pocket, for fear of embarrassment :embarrassed_smile: