On The Brink Of A Conid, A Little Sadly

[tubular]

I would love to have a second Conid but there are so many pens and so little money to go around.

 

This is always true. Once I got my second Sailor (the KOP, after a really perfect Realo) I really thought I was finished lavishing money on pens. But carrying any favorite pen to school makes me uneasy--I've had things stolen by students right off my desk after lectures. So I was originally hoping for a nice little pen, a little on the tough side, unspectacular, unalluring: something I wouldn't horribly miss if something happened to it. If I had stopped with the first Conid I saw I would have been just fine. But the kingsize streamline demonstrator with titanium knobs, once seen, cannot be unseen; the same with the AntwerpPen. The loss of either of those I really would grieve. So this choice feels both provisional and also final. I think I really want two pens, not one, and I just shouldn't do that.

Edited April 8, 2019 by tubular

[tubular]

St. Louis is too far for me, but I hope for your sake they bring everything they have.

 

 

 

 

I understand Conid will be at the St. Louis Pen Show in June, so I am looking forward to seeing a larger variety of their products.

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BCD371B87-796E-4D51-83FD-EEAABAE55413%7D/origpict/conid.png

[OmegaMountain]

 

Really? According to DuPont Delrin ihas metal like properties and is used to used to make, amongst other thing, drive shafts, cam shafts, conveyor chains, bearings, and gears. Haven't dropped mine yet though!

I'm not keen on the idea of trying, but I'm pretty sure I could scratch the (bleep) out of it with my fingernail. Mine has a knick in the piston knob from a small drop - not far and it just bumped something. It's really dense plastic and strong I am sure but it's not got the brittleness that you get with typical resins.

 

Lol - it bleeped ¢rap... Is that foul language now?

Edited April 9, 2019 by OmegaMountain

[tubular]

Does there exist anywhere a table setting forth a comparison of the different Conids and their features? Maybe I 'm doing something wrong, but I've been having to piece together bits of information about what one model has that another one has not.

[peroride]

 

... But the kingsize streamline demonstrator with titanium knobs, once seen, cannot be unseen;...

 

Love that sentence

 

I have been unseeing it for 5 months; it's been on the cart, uncart, so many times, it's in my dreams now

[como]

I read the posts and got a little confused about the Minimalistica cap mechanism. So it's a spring loaded system, kind of like Visconti? Originally I thought it was just a snap-on. Trying to decide on Minimalistica black cap w transparent body vs. Kingsize Cigar-shaped demo. The only thing is that Kingsize price is really steep. I don't care much for the ones with double O rings at the turning knob.

[r3nekton]

No, not spring loaded. "Snap-on" caps generally means there's some kind of locking mechanism when the cap pushes on, like the Lamy 2000 mechanism with the little ears that lock the cap in place. In the case of the Minimalistica, it's held on simply by friction - basically, it's held on in the same way as a cheap ballpoint cap. It's made better, and the rubber o-rings in the cap are placed to make this a firm friction fit, but the visual is the same - your pen cap slides on and is held in place essentially by geometry - the o-ring deforms slightly when you push the cap on, then when you stop pushing it expands against the body. The twist maneuver to remove the cap is because the o-rings hold on tight enough that you need the twist to loosen the cap enough that pulling works to take the cap off.

[como]

No, not spring loaded. "Snap-on" caps generally means there's some kind of locking mechanism when the cap pushes on, like the Lamy 2000 mechanism with the little ears that lock the cap in place. In the case of the Minimalistica, it's held on simply by friction - basically, it's held on in the same way as a cheap ballpoint cap. It's made better, and the rubber o-rings in the cap are placed to make this a firm friction fit, but the visual is the same - your pen cap slides on and is held in place essentially by geometry - the o-ring deforms slightly when you push the cap on, then when you stop pushing it expands against the body. The twist maneuver to remove the cap is because the o-rings hold on tight enough that you need the twist to loosen the cap enough that pulling works to take the cap off.

 

Thanks very much for the clarification. I would prefer a screw-on cap. Ouch my wallet. The Kingsize is about double the price!

[como]

Back to the "still cannot decide" stage... I like the Kingsize cigar-shape, But the Minimalistica has the same mechanics and seems similar in girth, and costs half. I am only sure that I don't want the O rings on the outside, so I only consider the Minimalistica and Kingsize. I also have put them in and out of "Basket" online several times... And nibs suggestions, anyone please? I plan to get a custom grind of Stub. I prefer soft and smooth. Should I even consider Titanium? No experience with titanium nibs except once on an Omas pen, not particularly smooth, but not sure if just that pen, or the titanium.

[SpecTP]

How much does it take to damage one of the #8 titaniums? (Other than by dropping them, I mean.)

 

 

 

 

I damaged mine because I didn't look and screwed it into the CAISO. But it's not any different than any other nib.

[Karmachanic]

I've experienced no capping problems with the Minimalistica.

If you want a soft nib Ti is definitely the answer. It does come with soft pencil like feedback. I have three at present and will be getting a fourth. You'll also get slight line variation from your natural change in pressure whilst writing normally. These nibs have taught me to write with the lightest hand to get the finest line. It's like having two nibs in one.

[como]

I've experienced no capping problems with the Minimalistica.

If you want a soft nib Ti is definitely the answer. It does come with soft pencil like feedback. I have three at present and will be getting a fourth. You'll also get slight line variation from your natural change in pressure whilst writing normally. These nibs have taught me to write with the lightest hand to get the finest line. It's like having two nibs in one.

 

Karmachanic: Thanks very much for your input. If it's the kind of pencil like feedback often felt from British vintage pens like Conway Stewart/Onoto, then I would really like. If it's a custom grind, I hope that it will be really good.

 

Como

[Mulrich]

You can't go wrong with either the Kingsize or Minimalistica. The Kingsize is definitely girthier but I only notice when comparing them side by side (the Minimalistic is still plenty girthy). I'm happy to post pictures if you want to see comparisons between the two or some other pen.

 

If you plan on switching out nibs you may want to stick with the Minimalistica since #6 nibs are more common and cheaper than #8 nibs. If you don't already switch nibs you probably won't start so this shouldn't be a factor.

 

I don't mind the slip cap on the Minimalistica and depending on how you use the pen it might be more useful than a screw cap. If you tend to cap and uncap your pen often while writing (i.e., lots of short notes) the slip cap will probably be a little more functional.

 

My only real issue with the Minimalistica is the lack of ink window. When I first started using the pen I often mistakenly thought the pen was empty and dumped a lot of ink when I started cleaning it out.

This is a lesson for any Conid, there are two ink chambers. The main ink chamber (i.e., the barrel of the pen) holds most of the ink and is sealed off from the smaller ink chamber when the piston knob is closed. Once the smaller ink chamber is empty you just have to unscrew the piston knob a little to let the ink flow from the main chamber into the smaller chamber.

 

If/when the CAISO is released again I plan on buying a full demonstrator with a flat top and titanium trim. I've tried explaining the mechanism to people and it would be easier to just show them (although 99.9% of people I talk to don't care about pens so maybe I should just save my money).

[tubular]

This is really helpful, r3nekton.

 

 

No, not spring loaded. "Snap-on" caps generally means there's some kind of locking mechanism when the cap pushes on, like the Lamy 2000 mechanism with the little ears that lock the cap in place. In the case of the Minimalistica, it's held on simply by friction - basically, it's held on in the same way as a cheap ballpoint cap. It's made better, and the rubber o-rings in the cap are placed to make this a firm friction fit, but the visual is the same - your pen cap slides on and is held in place essentially by geometry - the o-ring deforms slightly when you push the cap on, then when you stop pushing it expands against the body. The twist maneuver to remove the cap is because the o-rings hold on tight enough that you need the twist to loosen the cap enough that pulling works to take the cap off.

Edited April 9, 2019 by tubular

[tubular]

This is good to know, SpecTP.

 

 

I damaged mine because I didn't look and screwed it into the CAISO. But it's not any different than any other nib.

[tubular]

How do your four titanium nibs differ from one another, Karmachanic?

 

 

If you want a soft nib Ti is definitely the answer. It does come with soft pencil like feedback. I have three at present and will be getting a fourth. You'll also get slight line variation from your natural change in pressure whilst writing normally. These nibs have taught me to write with the lightest hand to get the finest line. It's like having two nibs in one.

[como]

You can't go wrong with either the Kingsize or Minimalistica. The Kingsize is definitely girthier but I only notice when comparing them side by side (the Minimalistic is still plenty girthy). I'm happy to post pictures if you want to see comparisons between the two or some other pen.

 

If you plan on switching out nibs you may want to stick with the Minimalistica since #6 nibs are more common and cheaper than #8 nibs. If you don't already switch nibs you probably won't start so this shouldn't be a factor.

 

I don't mind the slip cap on the Minimalistica and depending on how you use the pen it might be more useful than a screw cap. If you tend to cap and uncap your pen often while writing (i.e., lots of short notes) the slip cap will probably be a little more functional.

 

My only real issue with the Minimalistica is the lack of ink window. When I first started using the pen I often mistakenly thought the pen was empty and dumped a lot of ink when I started cleaning it out.

This is a lesson for any Conid, there are two ink chambers. The main ink chamber (i.e., the barrel of the pen) holds most of the ink and is sealed off from the smaller ink chamber when the piston knob is closed. Once the smaller ink chamber is empty you just have to unscrew the piston knob a little to let the ink flow from the main chamber into the smaller chamber.

 

If/when the CAISO is released again I plan on buying a full demonstrator with a flat top and titanium trim. I've tried explaining the mechanism to people and it would be easier to just show them (although 99.9% of people I talk to don't care about pens so maybe I should just save my money).

 

 

Thank you so much, Mulrich. I don't switch nibs and I don't mind cap turning many times. For me it's important that the barrel is transparent so I can see the action (that's the highlight of this pen :-) I like the black cap on Minimalistica. For the Kingsize the titanium clip and knob will just have to go with a fully transparent pen, IMO. It would be very kind of you if you don't mind posting some photos for size/girth comparison with some commonly known pens. I don't seem to find any size measurement on Conid's site. It's probably just me but I don't manage to find.

[tubular]

I looked at two video reviews last night by ukfountainpens, one of the Conid regular and one of the kingsize. It sounds as if in his experience the regular is very, very nice but has some annoyances but the kingsize is just about flawless (except for the price). But the kingsize isn't something I would feel comfortable carrying around with me outside the house. It can't be the pen to bring blithely to school with me. So I think I will get a Sailor 1911 midsize (to see what the Sailor 14k nib is like--I have only their 21k nibs, which are really, really wonderful but of course vulnerable) for school and then see whether I still want to spend the money on the kingsize.

 

It seems perverse that admiring the less extravagant Conids should have led me to this point. But by this evening I may be thinking differently. And I'm still almost overwhelmingly curious about really all the Conids.

Edited April 9, 2019 by tubular

[Karmachanic]

How do your four titanium nibs differ from one another, Karmachanic?

 

 

Cursive Italics 0.45, 0.7, 0.8 line widths. 0.6 next. Then I stop!!

Edited April 9, 2019 by Karmachanic

[como]

 

Cursive Italics 0.45, 0.7, 0.8 line withs

 

That's great! If it's not too sharp, I might get the CI too. Generally I ask for Stub, just in case the nibmeister grinds CI too sharp.