Review: Osprey Pens' Milano (in chased ebonite) with Zebra G and EEF Flexpert nib units

June 3, 2021

A bit over a month ago I got an Osprey Pens Milano in chased ebonite, with both the Zebra G (dip pen) nib unit and the EEF Flexpert nib unit. What follows are some reactions.

(1) EEF flexpert notes:
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I had hoped this would be similar to Fountain Pen Revolutions ultraflex EF nib, but finer. However, I was rather disappointed to find its flex is extremely minimal.

Here's a "head to head" writing comparison, with the same ink (Herbin Cacao du Brésil):

I don't know if the less fine sizes of the Flexpert are flexier, or if the #6 EEF on the Madison is flexier, but this one was pretty disappointing I have to say, in terms of flex.

(2) the Zebra G nib unit:
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It's a bit fiddly, that's one thing that can be said.

It has a tendency to quickly get somewhat starved of ink and thus railroads rather frequently. I tried with a variety of inks. The Noodler's Black, Herbin's Cacao du Brésil and Perle Noire, some Diamine inks, a de Atramentis Document ink, and they all seem to behave similarly.

As a sort of workaround to the apparent ink starvation, twisting the converter and flooding the nib unit (a bit tricky not to flood it too much, of course) seems to temporarily help, but eventually it seems to dry up again.

Looking at the construction of the pen, I don't think the feed is the problem. The feed seems plenty 'wet' and well made. I think the issue is to do with the converter. I noticed that when I would unscrew the nib unit, there would frequently be an air bubble/ink bubble at the top of the converter:

And the bubbles were fairly 'resilient' too, resistant to 'popping'.

So I'm thinking perhaps that it's the converter->nib unit 'interface' where the ink starvation is occurring.

One thing I've tried which has helped *immensely* is adding a small amount of Vanness's "White Lightning" additive. It's not exactly a silver bullet, but it improves things greatly.

My guess is that the surfactant in the additive lowers the surface tension of the ink enough that these sorts of air/ink bubbles aren't as easily able form and retard the ink flow. (Or else, perhaps the bubbles aren't the actual problem but just a side effect of the flow from converter->nib unit.)

I doubt the Vanness's additive is the only one which might work. I presume any surfactant might also help, including just dish soap (though I'm a bit leery of mixing dish soap with inks). Maybe Noodler's "Eel" inks or similar might also be helpful here? (I don't know, I don't own any.)

In any case, the "White Lightning" 'trick' has made using the Zebra G nib on the Milano a much better experience. It's still not problem-free, but that's probably to be expect with a dip-pen "mod". I think it tends to work bit after a few minutes of writing too, perhaps body heat warms the pen enough to make the ink flow better too.

(3) the Milano chased ebonite pen itself
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The pen body itself is very beautiful (as are the pictures of other models on the website, particularly the Nikko ebonite OKA-RED) and feels very nice in the hand. The chasing is attractive. The clip is attractive as well as functional, and even the OSPREY branding on the clip looks nice. (In comparison to Fountain Pen Revolutions ebonite pens - which are also very nice pens, often with attractive pen bodies, but with metal furnishings that look very cheap, and somewhat ugly branding.)

I also like the screw posting - it's nice to have a way to post where I'm not worried about putting stress on the ebonite body.

The blind cap is nice in theory, but: (a) you have to make sure it's screwed pretty tightly on, or else it gets unscrewed when unposting the cap; (b) I don't end up using it. Since there is no ink window and since it doesn't involve any more unscrewing anyway, I just end up unscrewing the nib unit from the body and filling it that way (or else removing the nib unit and just 'eyedroppering' into the converter directly).

(4) Conclusions:
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It's possible my EEF Flexpert is unusual, but at least based on my experience, if you're looking for a normal stainless steel flex nib, the FPR ultraflex is probably a better bet.

The Zebra G nib unit is very interesting though. I don't have other modern Zebra G "mod"s to compare it with, so that's a limitation of my review. My instinct is that the converter is holding it back somewhat. (On the up side, it doesn't seem to tend to leak or spit though.)

So, it's fiddly, but there is a joy in being able to use a dip pen on a fountain pen.

When it works, it's a pleasure to be able to write as if with a dip pen, but without having to keep dipping it in ink. So, perhaps the best way of thinking of the Milano+Zebra G nib unit is not as a "fountain pen" (that mindset is more likely to frustrate you, as it doesn't have the same set of 'amenities' as a normal fountain pen), but rather as a Magic Dip Pen.

June 7, 2021

That's a very good-looking pen. I've also not had much luck with fountain pens designed for dip nibs. You mention that it uses a converter; does that mean it can use ink cartridges? I've tried some FPR pens designed for ink cartridges with their flex nibs and feeds, and I found ink starvation an issue. Can the pen be eyedroppered? I'm not sure if it's the plastic feeds or the narrow cartridge/converter mouth, but I have come to the preliminary conclusion that flex nibs work best with ebonite feeds and dedicated filling systems (piston fillers etc). But take that advice with a grain of salt as I'm not terribly experienced with this stuff.

June 7, 2021

It is possible that the Zebra nib has not been properly prepared. Pull it out and wash/stick in a potato/lick with tongue (all serious ways to clean oils from the nib).

June 7, 2021

Thanks for the review! I've tried Ackerman, Desiderata, & FlexibleNibFactory for using a dip nib in a fountain pen but haven't seen an Osprey in person yet. This is the only modern chased ebonite pen I know of.

I'll second the notion of trying it eyedroppered for better ink-flow, but my BlueDew was still fussy with eyedroppering and a lot of flow-enhancer in the ink, it worked a lot better with a different ink & IDK why 😕

June 7, 2021

10 hours ago, SoulSamurai said:

That's a very good-looking pen. I've also not had much luck with fountain pens designed for dip nibs. You mention that it uses a converter; does that mean it can use ink cartridges? I've tried some FPR pens designed for ink cartridges with their flex nibs and feeds, and I found ink starvation an issue. Can the pen be eyedroppered? I'm not sure if it's the plastic feeds or the narrow cartridge/converter mouth, but I have come to the preliminary conclusion that flex nibs work best with ebonite feeds and dedicated filling systems (piston fillers etc). But take that advice with a grain of salt as I'm not terribly experienced with this stuff.

I assume it could use ink cartridges that have the same screw end as the converter (I don't use a lot of cartridges so I'm not sure.)

The only FPR pen I have is a Jaipur mk. ii, which has an ebonite feed and their twist piston filler on it, and that one is extremely wet and rarely starved of ink. So I'm thinking that perhaps there's something about the ink flow rate that a converter/cartridge of this style can put out and that it's right on the margin of what is needed for a dip pen nib. (For the Osprey, the feed is also ebonite, and I don't think it's a feed issue.)

I don't know about eyedroppering it. The finial/blind cap end unscrews, as I mention, so that would be my worry. It does screw on pretty tightly, and I imagine that adding silicon grease to the threads on that end could improve matters. It's a tempting (if potentially messy) experiment to try at some point.

9 hours ago, Aether said:

It is possible that the Zebra nib has not been properly prepared. Pull it out and wash/stick in a potato/lick with tongue (all serious ways to clean oils from the nib).

I don't think that this issue, but I'll clean the entire thing soon, feed, collar, and nib, and I'll give the nib a good scrub (perhaps in preference to a lick) just to make sure.

43 minutes ago, ASCIIaardvark said:

Thanks for the review! I've tried Ackerman, Desiderata, & FlexibleNibFactory for using a dip nib in a fountain pen but haven't seen an Osprey in person yet. This is the only modern chased ebonite pen I know of.

I'll second the notion of trying it eyedroppered for better ink-flow, but my BlueDew was still fussy with eyedroppering and a lot of flow-enhancer in the ink, it worked a lot better with a different ink & IDK why 😕

I've been vaguely tempted to order a Ranga pen that takes a Jowo unit and get one of the FlexibleNibFactory's Zebra G units, but right now this is the only dip pen nib-taking designed fountain pen I have, so unfortunately I can't currently give a direct comparison. My suspicion is indeed that eyedroppering would likely address intermittent ink starvation issues (at the cost, of course, of typical eyedropper issues).

The chasing is interesting (& nice!) - it's different from the standard vintage ebonite chasing styles that I've seen (herringbone, rings) in being a fairly deeply cut chequerboard.

June 18, 2021

Aelfattrum, your experience with the Zebra G Flexpert was so similar to mine that you inspired me to bring it out of the drawer, refill it, and tinker with it to get it to work better. I have the Flexpert insert in the inexpensive Scholar pen.

Like you, I thought the converter was faulty. It never fills more than 1/2 full in the usual way so I fill the converter with a syringe. I tried adding a tiny bit of dish detergent to the converter but it didn’t help us much as the White Lightning seemed to do for you (with Diamine Majestic Blue).

The pen as still steadily railroading, so I gave up and began to flush the pen. I noticed that it was comparatively more difficult to squirt water through the nib and feed with my bulb syringe than with other pens so I began to think of the feed. I honestly cannot remember if I had ever dissembled the pen before, but when I did I noticed that there are three narrow grooves running the length of the feed that looked crusty. Even after soaking and scrubbing with a toothbrush, I could still see residue so I cleaned/scraped these grooves out with an Xacto knife. I may have enlarged them slightly as well, but I had little to lose. I don’t know if the residue was original or not, but the pen was always railroading for me. I replaced the nib as well.

After reassembly, it doesn’t seem to railroad any more. (Fingers crossed.) Inkflow is moderate and keeps up with my roundhand script but I am not attempting any big Madarasz swells.

Hope this helps.

June 19, 2021

Thanks for the info. I'm inspired to keep fiddling.

June 20, 2021

@GrayspooleThanks for the report! When I next clean out the pen I'll try really cleaning out the feed - I wonder if widening the grooves could help, as perhaps you did? I'm still 80% convinced a lot of the problem is in the converter - or the converter/nib-unit connection.

June 20, 2021

Good luck! The next time I clean the pen, I may try to enlarge the grooves even more. I am thinking that I might like a little more ink to the nib.

February 5, 2022

Great review! I got a Madison today and I started playing with it. I will post later.

February 20, 2022

I've got two milanos, one red okka ebonite, another in this. I have both the flexpert zebra and stainless, as well as a variety of their regular nibs.

Honestly very much like the pens and nibs. Great value for what you get. The EEF steel nib is a particular favorite of mine, and the broad/double broad are lovely after a little tuning, both quite stubbish.

February 28, 2022

On 2/19/2022 at 7:30 PM, Honeybadgers said:

I've got two milanos, one red okka ebonite, another in this. I have both the flexpert zebra and stainless, as well as a variety of their regular nibs.

Honestly very much like the pens and nibs. Great value for what you get. The EEF steel nib is a particular favorite of mine, and the broad/double broad are lovely after a little tuning, both quite stubbish.

I have kept mine inked since I got it. I'm looking at the Red ebonite next. What a great value and a fun pen.

September 4, 2022

Thanks for the great review!

I have two Osprey Milanos and one Scholar. I honestly love them all (including the one that has their No. 5(?) EEF Flex nib.

But ALL THREE leak ink where the converter screws into the section. Osprey had excellent customer service and sent me three replacement converter units, but unfortunately all three of those also leaked.

I still love the pen, but now I make sure to use silicone grease and a reckless amount of torque to mitigate the issue. It’s not 100% fixed, but it happens less frequently*.

*Please note that I’m typing this with a blue hand because the Scholar got an attitude and jettisoned some expensive blue water at me in a meager show of defiance.