tankerjohn
A little poofier than I prefer
With apologies to @Shave_Rat for hijacking his thread, I wanted to post a 90 day update in case anyone cares or is considering purchasing one of these fine pens.
Again, to get the negative stuff out first, my main gripe with this pen isn't really the pen's fault. It came from Goulet Pens with a bum nib, which wasn't even a Conklin nib. Goulet has been selling this pen with Bock nibs. But anyway, Goulet made good and sent me new Goulet-branded Jowo nib. That nib worked great, maybe a little too great. It was an absolute fire hose. That was great for writing, but not so great for daily use as I tended to get ink on my fingers every time I used it. While I understand that inky fingers is an occupational hazard with fountain pens, and maybe even a badge of honor to some, it is still rather less than professional these days. As I'll get to below, I recently changed the nib a second time to a custom cursive italic. That nib is much better behaved and seems to have solved the gushing problem. I'm chalking up the issue to the Goulet nib (Brian is known to prefer very wet pens, so maybe that influenced how Jowo tuned their proprietary nibs - but that's just a guess) and hopeful won't be an issue for other Duragraph users. Other than the nib shenanigans, there's not much else to complain about. The clip is sort of boring and maybe a touch overly stiff, if I really want to pick nits. And I find the "Est 1898" on the filial somewhat annoying because it's misleading. I like Kenro's Esterbrook "Established...Reborn" marketing better. Its maybe a little too flashy to use at work, but that's my hangup, not the pen's problem.
On to the good stuff. I really enjoy using this pen, especially with the new nib. Speaking of the new nib - its great! Its a #6 Jowo that fit perfectly with the stock feed and housing - an easy upgrade. Ink flow is spot on now. The cursive italic makes my handwriting look better than it is. Plus, something about the crisp line variation encourages me to slow down and try to make my writing nicer. I love the Duragraph's vintage flattop style and appreciate how it is authentic to the original, which was Conklin's answer to the Duafold. The branding is classy, despite the "Est. 1898" thing. The acrylic is beautiful. You will be hard pressed to find better turned acrylic at this pricepoint, though I acknowledge that some of the newer, higher-end, Chinese stuff like Moonman, looks pretty good. Of course, these are made in China too, so you're really paying for the historical American branding and Yaffa's (Conklin's parent company) quality control. Plus, it came with a really nice piston-type converter, which is worth at least $10 right there. The Duragraph has become my go-to pen for journal, letters, and any kind of session writing. It is very comfortable to hold and use. To me, its just the right weight to feel substantial, but not too heavy. Also, its good sized without being comically large. Echoing my thoughts on the Kaweco Student, I wouldn't consider the Duragraph an "only" pen, but it fills an important niche for me.
Again, to get the negative stuff out first, my main gripe with this pen isn't really the pen's fault. It came from Goulet Pens with a bum nib, which wasn't even a Conklin nib. Goulet has been selling this pen with Bock nibs. But anyway, Goulet made good and sent me new Goulet-branded Jowo nib. That nib worked great, maybe a little too great. It was an absolute fire hose. That was great for writing, but not so great for daily use as I tended to get ink on my fingers every time I used it. While I understand that inky fingers is an occupational hazard with fountain pens, and maybe even a badge of honor to some, it is still rather less than professional these days. As I'll get to below, I recently changed the nib a second time to a custom cursive italic. That nib is much better behaved and seems to have solved the gushing problem. I'm chalking up the issue to the Goulet nib (Brian is known to prefer very wet pens, so maybe that influenced how Jowo tuned their proprietary nibs - but that's just a guess) and hopeful won't be an issue for other Duragraph users. Other than the nib shenanigans, there's not much else to complain about. The clip is sort of boring and maybe a touch overly stiff, if I really want to pick nits. And I find the "Est 1898" on the filial somewhat annoying because it's misleading. I like Kenro's Esterbrook "Established...Reborn" marketing better. Its maybe a little too flashy to use at work, but that's my hangup, not the pen's problem.
On to the good stuff. I really enjoy using this pen, especially with the new nib. Speaking of the new nib - its great! Its a #6 Jowo that fit perfectly with the stock feed and housing - an easy upgrade. Ink flow is spot on now. The cursive italic makes my handwriting look better than it is. Plus, something about the crisp line variation encourages me to slow down and try to make my writing nicer. I love the Duragraph's vintage flattop style and appreciate how it is authentic to the original, which was Conklin's answer to the Duafold. The branding is classy, despite the "Est. 1898" thing. The acrylic is beautiful. You will be hard pressed to find better turned acrylic at this pricepoint, though I acknowledge that some of the newer, higher-end, Chinese stuff like Moonman, looks pretty good. Of course, these are made in China too, so you're really paying for the historical American branding and Yaffa's (Conklin's parent company) quality control. Plus, it came with a really nice piston-type converter, which is worth at least $10 right there. The Duragraph has become my go-to pen for journal, letters, and any kind of session writing. It is very comfortable to hold and use. To me, its just the right weight to feel substantial, but not too heavy. Also, its good sized without being comically large. Echoing my thoughts on the Kaweco Student, I wouldn't consider the Duragraph an "only" pen, but it fills an important niche for me.
