Twsbi Vac700 Review

[Ambrose Bierce]

A special thanks to Amberleadavis and her Borrow a TWSBI program for making this review possible.

 

Appearance & Design (1-10) - TWSBI always does an extremely good job with the looks of their pens. Very modern and sleek look to it, while still being reserved and calm. I love it. Score (10/10)

Construction & Quality (1-10) - Some issues I had with my Mini is that it had a few minor construction issues that lead to me feeling the pen was more fragile, no such issues are present in the Vac 700. This pen has been through quite a beating, having been shipped to multiple people and used by them all, and still works as if it was brand new. Again no complaints here. Score 10/10

Weight & Dimensions (1-10) - So my first thought when I pulled the pen out of it's packaging was "Dear God this pen is huge." Here are the dimensions: length capped - 147mm, length uncapped - 134mm, weight 32g, and here is the big one, length posted - 175mm. That's right 175 millimeters. Just to put that into perspective a Montblanc 149 posted is 165 mm posted. This pen is definitely not messing around. The huge size feels really good in hand though, and make it feel like you are using a pen worth a lot more than just 65$. I would give this a higher ranking, but I can definitely see some people not liking it due to size, so Score 7/10.

Nib & Performance (1-10) - This nib has had some work done to it by ArtsNibs, but exactly what that work was I am not sure. The Vac700 has been historically plagued by dry nibs, and this one is not (big) exception to that rule. The nib is wet, but I would like my broads to be wetter than this. I think the nib has also been turned into a sort of stub, but also with that I get a lot of scratchiness on right strokes unless the nib is positioned correctly. But when the position is right the nib is buttery smooth and a joy to write with. Score 6/10

Filling System & Maintenance (1-10) - As the name suggest, this is a vacuum filling pen. Which is super cool. I have had no issues with the vacuum wearing out, or the anything really being wrong with the system at all. Since it is a TWSBI you can fully disassemble the pen, so this one gets full marks here. Score 10/10

Cost & Value (1-10) - I am not exactly sure what to do here. I love the pen and want one of my own now, but I just don't know if it is worth the 65$ asking price. Nothing is wrong with the pen, but I just don't think I make a connection with it. Score 6/10

Conclusion (1-10) - So the selling points of this pen are it's really cool filling system and massive size. If that attracts you than this pen is a no-brainier. All in all I really enjoy the Vac 700, but I think I will stick to the slandered piston filling TWSBI's for now. Final Score 8.1666/10

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sHStLbwjOQw/VLGaEHtcKUI/AAAAAAAAAKY/dPChc_UPBZM/s1600/DSCN0253.JPG

Check out this review and others on my blog http://fpinkgeek.blogspot.com/2015/01/twsbi-vac700-review.html.

Edited January 11, 2015 by FP_Ink_Geek
Please post the full review here.

[amberleadavis]

Ambrose - of the new name - thank you for the review and the shout out!

 

This nib was one of the ones Art did early on in his stubbing and it was tuned first for his penmanship and later, we used the three Vacs to determine what style/grind worked best for me. Arts' work has continued to improve.

 

Overall, I'm a HUGE fan of Art's work.

 

As for the Vac.... Well, I love this Vac (but it is sharp), my favorite Vac (the Amber) has left me for a life of luxury in a foreign country. (The amber Vac now gets loving attention and is never abused). The blue Vac sits unused in my friend's desk and the last vac is on it's way home, but it still acts funky.

 

Overall, I prefer the 540. I use my 540s DAILY and I love them. I will continue to buy 580s as gifts and I will continue the loaner program. Thanks for the great review.

[Ambrose Bierce]

Ambrose - of the new name - thank you for the review and the shout out!

 

This nib was one of the ones Art did early on in his stubbing and it was tuned first for his penmanship and later, we used the three Vacs to determine what style/grind worked best for me. Arts' work has continued to improve.

 

Overall, I'm a HUGE fan of Art's work.

 

As for the Vac.... Well, I love this Vac (but it is sharp), my favorite Vac (the Amber) has left me for a life of luxury in a foreign country. (The amber Vac now gets loving attention and is never abused). The blue Vac sits unused in my friend's desk and the last vac is on it's way home, but it still acts funky.

 

Overall, I prefer the 540. I use my 540s DAILY and I love them. I will continue to buy 580s as gifts and I will continue the loaner program. Thanks for the great review.

I could see why you would love the Amber one Mrs. Amber . And yeah I would agree that Art did a good job here with the nib, and if it had been ground to my writing angle instead of yours I could see that issue I have with the right strokes being obsolete. But I would say that after the experience with this pen I will most definitely look into getting some work done by Art with my personal TWSBI

[amberleadavis]

One of the clear Vacs I had suffered extreme staining (Nostaligic Impressions Purple). With a little scrubbing, it cleaned out of the VAC, it never came out of Lamy.

[wikeh2004]

 

...

Weight & Dimensions (1-10) - So my first thought when I pulled the pen out of it's packaging was "Dear God this pen is huge." Here are the dimensions: length capped - 147mm, length uncapped - 134mm, weight 32g, and here is the big one, length posted - 175mm. That's right 175 millimeters. Just to put that into perspective a Montblanc 149 posted is 165 mm posted. This pen is definitely not messing around. The huge size feels really good in hand though, and make it feel like you are using a pen worth a lot more than just 65$. I would give this a higher ranking, but I can definitely see some people not liking it due to size, so Score 7/10.

...

 

Yes, it is larger than my other pens, but I don't post it (don't post the 530 or 540 either). I only post my TWSBI Mini. It's not overly large if you do not post. Really big juicy nib. I bought one of the first Vac 700's and had some feed issues. I sent it back and Philip kindly worked on it and sent it back with an updated nib and feed. I'm sure the later ones are fine.

[amberleadavis]

This one has the second feed and nib not the original. This pen was one of the first Vacs.

[flstrider]

I have three vac700 with Goulet B nibs. All are great. They are all wet writers. I geta lot of comment when I use them. I only carry three pens and they are TWSBI Vac700s.

[graystranger]

I have two Vac-700's and have found that my Goulet nibs (1.5, B, M) all write wetter in the Vac-700 pens than the TWSBI nibs of the same size. Not sure what is the cause, as they look perfectly identical, all the slits and tips look the same, but the difference is very dramatic. I used the 1.5 Goulet nib with J. Herbin Rouge Hematite in signing my Christmas cards, as the extra ink flow really made the gold sparkle stand out better than the TWSBI nib did.

 

I am wondering if the curvature of the Goulet nibs are slightly different from the TWSBI nibs. If it is the difference is so minor I cannot tell placing the two nibs together. So, I use the Goulet nib when I want a very wet writing pen and use the TWSBI nib when I want a more conventional ink flow.

 

These VAC-700's were from mid 2013 so they are the TWSBI Jowo nibs, same manufacturer as the Goulet nibs.

[amberleadavis]

I think the Goulet nib by Jowo is different and the feed may be different. We should probably ask on the nib thread.

[veryred]

I have a 700 black smoky with B nib. All is perfect to me, except the feeling of the grip.

[Aetheric Continua]

Awesome review The Vac 700 is a great not-very-expensive (in the FP world, of course) vacuum filler. I have one of the new models (with a JoWo <M> nib) but it's still noticeably dry while putting a Goulet 1.5mm stub turns it into a gusher.

 

I may eventually try out the 580, as this is my only TWSBI and many people seem to love the Diamond series.