Twisbi 580?

[Riptide]

I have been looking for a sort of upgrade from my pilot metropolitan and I was concidering the twisbi 580. I am very new to the fountain pen hobby and I would like to know if the 580 is worth while. Or maybe some pens that are a better next step. I would like to keep price under 60 dollars

 

Thanks!

[TheRealScubaSteve]

The 580 is a wonderful pen as is the Eco which is only $28.

[langere]

I agree with TheRealScubaSteve. It's a excellent pen and a lot of fun - go for it!

 

Erick

[deacondavid]

The 580 is a wonderful pen as is the Eco which is only $28.

 

Agreed! If you're worried about jumping to the ~$55 pricetag for the 580 (which I find to be a very good pen), the ~$30 for the Eco is a gentler step for a very good pen in its own right.

 

What sets the two apart? The 580 is bigger, has a wide range of nib units that are easy to change and a nice bottle filling system that can be used to avoid the mess of standard fills. If you're looking for a really wide stub nib, there's a 1.5mm stub available for the 580 which is not offered for the Eco. I also think that the 580 is a stunning-looking pen. I wish that they had continued to produce the colored demonstrator models that they offered on the 540 and 530, but the pen is still a great way to show off a beautiful ink.

 

The Eco has a great price, is a little bit smaller than the 580 (but not much) and, if you like to post your caps, is a much better design. While I don't think that the design is quite as nice at the 580, it is far from an ugly pen.

 

Oh... I can not emphasize this enough - do not try to post a 580! It will not end well. I gave my brand-new 580 to my wife, who was intrigued by it. She solidly posted the cap and then sprayed a lot of Noodler's Polar Black on her laptop trying to pull the cap off. She steered clear of my pens for a long time after that. I have only recently started getting her to try things again (I think she is ultimately going to swipe my Decimo from me).

 

Both are piston-fillers (which means that they have huge ink capacities), easy to work on, come with tools, silicon grease and instructions on taking the pen apart. The nibs are very good in both pen models - at least the nibs I have tried (I've tried the extra-fine, fine, 1.1mm stub and the 1.5mm stub). The company is very good at supporting their products and will send replacement parts, even when you are the one who messed up the pen (I broke the feed on a VAC700 when I was experimenting with a non-TSWBI nib swap and, even when I admitted my fault, they sent me a replacement within a week).

 

Some folks are down on TWSBI - the 580 (and especially, its predecessors (the 530 and 540)) has a reputation for parts breaking. Personally, I have not had a failure that wasn't my fault (and the only one is the broken feed on the VAC700 that I mentioned above). I own two Ecos, a 580, a 540 and two VAC 700s. I think that they're all very good pens and great pens for the money. My only reason why I don't carry them on a daily basis is that I happen to prefer the finer nibs that the Japanese manufacturers offer to the German ones that TWSBI uses. Still, when I am doing some writing that calls for a stub nib, I'm usually going to pull out a TWSBI. If I have a lot of writing to do, I am likely to pick up my 580 or a VAC 700.

 

Personally, I think jumping to either pen would be a good next step pen for you. Just be careful - you may suddenly find yourself with a whole range of them (as I did)!

Edited September 23, 2015 by deacondavid

[langere]

deacondavid, what a wonderful response! Much more detailed than my post and much more useful.

The one thing to keep in mind is that the nibs that TWSBI uses are "nails" in the sense that there is no feedback at all. But that is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

Erick

[deacondavid]

deacondavid, what a wonderful response! Much more detailed than my post and much more useful.

The one thing to keep in mind is that the nibs that TWSBI uses are "nails" in the sense that there is no feedback at all. But that is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

Erick

 

Thank you for your kind words. I agree that the Jowo nibs that TWSBI uses are very "solid". If folks are looking for any sort of nib give (don't even think about them having ay sort of flex), they should look to another manufacturer. If the Jowo/TWSBI nibs weren't smooth writers, the stiffness would not be to my taste. Fortunately, they are. Very good nibs + very good features + very good design + very good support + very good for tinkering + great price = an excellent deal. At least, they are for me.

Edited September 23, 2015 by deacondavid

[Riptide]

Awesome! Thank you for all your advice!

[Fuzzy_Bear]

I just bought one at the pen show in Dallas. Being from the pen show, I did not get the box. My only advice, make sure the nib it's snug before you fill. Mine was loose and kept having BIG drips.

[Lubee]

There great pens for the price, I have one as a daily user, along with a Metropolitan (and about 6 other brands!). As others have mentioned the nibs are stiff and smooth but I prefer this to a springy nib.

 

Never had a problem with build quality.

[Padawan]

I have got both and still use both (Pilot MR M, International and TWSBI 580 Al Silver).

TWSBI 580 cannot fully substitute Pilot.

Pilot is zero-maintenance cartridge pen with metal barrel and cap. There is nothing that can be broken there. International type cartridge (I use Waterman long mainly) can be replaced on the go.

TWSBI 580 requires regular maintenance (comes equipped with wrench, spare o-rings and grease) and is not that bullet-proof, contains much more ink and is much more comfortable in hand.

Writing quality is quite similar.

To even add some fun you can consider buying "TWSBI Diamond 50 Ink Bottle". http://www.twsbi.com/collections/frontpage/products/twsbi-diamond-50-ink-bottles

 

[TheRealScubaSteve]

I'm not sure that I would agree that the Metropolitan is a zero-maintenance pen. It needs to be cleaned the same as any other pen if changing inks. If using the squeeze converter, it's more of a pain to clean in my opinion. While it does have a metal barrel and cap, they are very thin and I wouldn't throw them around just like I wouldn't throw a TWSBI around. I've dropped my TWSBI more times than I'd like to count and it is no worse for the wear.

[Lubee]

TWSBI 580 requires regular maintenance (comes equipped with wrench, spare o-rings and grease) and is not that bullet-proof, contains much more ink and is much more comfortable in hand.

 

 

 

Yes it comes with those tools/spares but I've never found the need to use them on my 580AL. I'm not into talking my pens apart, just give them a clean and flush through when I change ink colour.

[bongo47]

For me maintenance is part of the fun. Another cool feature of the TWSBI is it comes with a wrench. A bit like Noodlers, they seem to assume a level of hobby fiddling. But that said, I'm not sure my TWSBI Eco (only TWSBI I own) requires the level of fiddling my Noodlers do. I have not yet messed with the nib for instance.

 

One design issue with the Eco is that the piston does fully expel the tank's ink. So to change colors you do need to get the wrench out and dump from the back since the section does not come off. And then because I'm impatient, I didn't let the thing dry before filling again, so if got condensation in the upper part. Not a big deal, but I wouldn't have needed to do that if I could have just expelled and flush the pen.

 

Still loving it though and looking to maybe get a Vac next.

[TheRealScubaSteve]

For me maintenance is part of the fun. Another cool feature of the TWSBI is it comes with a wrench. A bit like Noodlers, they seem to assume a level of hobby fiddling. But that said, I'm not sure my TWSBI Eco (only TWSBI I own) requires the level of fiddling my Noodlers do. I have not yet messed with the nib for instance.

 

One design issue with the Eco is that the piston does fully expel the tank's ink. So to change colors you do need to get the wrench out and dump from the back since the section does not come off. And then because I'm impatient, I didn't let the thing dry before filling again, so if got condensation in the upper part. Not a big deal, but I wouldn't have needed to do that if I could have just expelled and flush the pen.

 

Still loving it though and looking to maybe get a Vac next.

 

You can also just flush with water a few times to get the ink out. The leftover water is pretty minuscule and does not really affect the next color. A syringe also fits in the section hole, but I'm not sure that it would be great at getting any water out as mine likes to stick to the sides.

 

If you find the Eco comfortable, the 580 is much closer than the Vac 700 as that has a more significant step.

[bongo47]

You can also just flush with water a few times to get the ink out. The leftover water is pretty minuscule and does not really affect the next color. A syringe also fits in the section hole, but I'm not sure that it would be great at getting any water out as mine likes to stick to the sides.

 

If you find the Eco comfortable, the 580 is much closer than the Vac 700 as that has a more significant step.

Right, in the bigger scheme not a lot of ink, but unless I was doing something wrong, my piston fully extended ended up about a 1/2 inch from the feed. Perfectly good ink with no way out unless I removed the nib, or the back. I chose the back using the wrench. I could have written off the ink and used water feeding it in and out many times, but hey, they gave me a wrench.

[TheRealScubaSteve]

Right, in the bigger scheme not a lot of ink, but unless I was doing something wrong, my piston fully extended ended up about a 1/2 inch from the feed. Perfectly good ink with no way out unless I removed the nib, or the back. I chose the back using the wrench. I could have written off the ink and used water feeding it in and out many times, but hey, they gave me a wrench.

 

You can get all but a drop or two out. After you purge it out, twist the piston back and it will suck in air. Twist it down and the air will push most of the ink/water out. Your method certainly works, of course.

[bongo47]

You can get all but a drop or two out. After you purge it out, twist the piston back and it will suck in air. Twist it down and the air will push most of the ink/water out. Your method certainly works, of course.

Next I need to learn how to put a forehead slap emoji on this reply, cause that's what I need. Thanks, I should have thought of that.

[Runnin_Ute]

Have a 580, is a daily carry most days. Even though it has a modNeified B nib by Art of ArtsNibs.com (Tomahawk mod) Never had an issue with it, even though it has hit the floor a few times.

 

I did have a scare once, with the piston rod coming out the back of the piston itself. Thanks to a Goulet video I was able to fix without to much trouble though. And it works like new.

[Mannyonpil]

Hi, I'm Mannyonpil and I post my TWSBI 580.

 

I just remember to either pull the cap off or twist it only clockwise when I take the cap off. Otherwise there will be a mess.