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Dryden Designs Fountain Pen

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Much agreement here. In the old days there was a “pen shop” near me. He was super knowledgeable and stocked all the major brands. I’d go in and shop every few months and see what was new. There was nothing like holding a pen and dipping the nib and writing with it before buying. Feeling the weight and dimensions of a pen was / is a fundamental part of the process. Amazon reviews are totally suspect. There’s vine where people get the product for free, fake reviews, the my husband loves this ones, and as described. But I skim them looking for recent reviews first. Usually look for bad reviews first and I get a sense of what’s what. YouTube reviews are a great suggestion I haven’t watched many of those for many purchases.

With these pens I was concerned with the number of reviews related to QC, parts falling off and a few bad reviews that prompted the company to reach out and send a redesigned pen. If true that’s odd. Anyway I’ll keep an eye here and hopefully you all will keep sharing your thoughts and I hope the shipping situation isn’t that bad.
 
J

Jughead

Looking forward to your thoughts when it arrives,,,
Note I didn’t say review 😂
Captainjonny has experience with a lot of other pens so I have no reason to suspect it will be a dud. I'm always on the hunt for a good hidden gem.

Another overlooked and often derided pen is the Scriveiner but I tried one out and thought it was a good pen for its price.

I liked some of the classic lines in the Dryden's Amazon listing:

"Gorgeous barrel you can stare at forever."
"Elegant medium nib that writes like a dream."
"Putting your thoughts into writing to make your dreams come true."
"Make executive decisions by smoothly signing your signature on the line."

I mean, come on. How can you not buy one??
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Captainjonny has experience with a lot of other pens so I have no reason to suspect it will be a dud. I'm always on the hunt for a good hidden gem.

Another overlooked and often derided pen is the Scriveiner but I tried one out and thought it was a good pen for its price.

I liked some of the classic lines in the Dryden's Amazon listing:

"Gorgeous barrel you can stare at forever."
"Elegant medium nib that writes like a dream."
"Putting your thoughts into writing to make your dreams come true."
"Make executive decisions by smoothly signing your signature on the line."

I mean, come on. How can you not buy one??
True.
If I saw “this nib can also cut through a shoe” I’d be hooked.

Another confession from me ive added mechanical pencils to my obsession list. Once I discovered.9 and 1.3 leads the whole world opened up.
 

brucered

System Generated
True.
If I saw “this nib can also cut through a shoe” I’d be hooked.

Another confession from me ive added mechanical pencils to my obsession list. Once I discovered.9 and 1.3 leads the whole world opened up.
Ha.

I actually saw a Ginsu "original slicer" in a store yesterday and told my son, 'that can cut through a shoe". I was tempted to buy it, as the store has a no questions asked, no risk, 100% return policy and we have some old shoes destined for the donation pile.
 
My favorite mechanical pencil: Pentel Sharp Kerry (.5 and .7).
I used a mechanical pencil every day during my working career (cheap Japanese & expensive German models). About 22 years ago, I purchased the Sharp Kerry and I fell in love with it. Very high Japanese quality, great mechanism and super reliable. I had both the .5 and .7, but preferred the .7. I highly recommend this mechanical pencil, if you are not familiar with it.
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
I just had to look and picked a random sample of each of these wildly-disparate fountain pens on Amazon and here's how the ratings play out. Numbers are the "Star Ratings."

Pilot Custom 823

5-62%
4-7%
3-18%
2-5%
1-8%

Dryden Designs Standard Fountain Pen

5-64%
4-16%
3-8%
2-4%
1-8%
It's not just a matter of percent at each star level, it is also the number of total sales for the particular item.
An item that has a 64% rating with 100 sales is less convincing than an item with a 64% rating with 2000 sales.
Amazon ratings are some of the least reliable in any retail market. Some people rate the item as bad because of delivery time or color errors and some rate it good because the box was nice or it "looked good" without even trying it first.
The higher the number of total reviews/sales helps kick some of that idiocy aside.
 
J

Jughead

It's not just a matter of percent at each star level, it is also the number of total sales for the particular item.
An item that has a 64% rating with 100 sales is less convincing than an item with a 64% rating with 2000 sales.
Amazon ratings are some of the least reliable in any retail market. Some people rate the item as bad because of delivery time or color errors and some rate it good because the box was nice or it "looked good" without even trying it first.
The higher the number of total reviews/sales helps kick some of that idiocy aside.
That makes sense. I never pay attention to reviews when buying pens but have read them when buying something like a coffee grinder where there aren't really another reviews around anywhere to reference.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
My favorite mechanical pencil: Pentel Sharp Kerry (.5 and .7).
I used a mechanical pencil every day during my working career (cheap Japanese & expensive German models). About 22 years ago, I purchased the Sharp Kerry and I fell in love with it. Very high Japanese quality, great mechanism and super reliable. I had both the .5 and .7, but preferred the .7. I highly recommend this mechanical pencil, if you are not familiar with it.
Looks nice. But .5 and .7 is too thin, faint and brittle for my use. .9 is amazing. 1.3 throws down a thick line. This line has proved to be a winner for me.

Staedtler 0.9mm Mechanical Pencil Night Blue Series​

 
J

Jughead

Received the Dryden Designs today so here are a few notes:

I checked out the nib under the microscope and it looked good so I rinsed it out with some Dawn and water then put some Waterman Mysterious Blue in the supplied converter by dipping the nib into the ink bottle. The converter worked well.

I will say right now I totally concur with Captainjonny on this one. The nib is smooth in all directions and laid down a consistent line with no hard starts or skipping and is a joy to write with. I was using my standard paper, HP32 printer paper for testing.

In an earlier post I compared the Amazon reviews between this pen and the Custom 823. I own a medium-nibbed Custom 823 and I can honestly say this $14 pen writes pretty much as nicely as the 823 does.

The cap threads are fake. The the cap is actually a snap-on but it snaps on quite securely. No idea how well it seals.

The finials are very odd-looking but other than that it's a decent-looking pen. I think the silver ones are the nicest-looking ones. The red is pretty gaudy but that's why I chose it.

A very nice writer, definitely worth the $14 and a good recommendation by Captainjonny if you ask me.

tempImageBhm3Ym.jpg
 
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J

Jughead

My favorite mechanical pencil: Pentel Sharp Kerry (.5 and .7).
I used a mechanical pencil every day during my working career (cheap Japanese & expensive German models). About 22 years ago, I purchased the Sharp Kerry and I fell in love with it. Very high Japanese quality, great mechanism and super reliable. I had both the .5 and .7, but preferred the .7. I highly recommend this mechanical pencil, if you are not familiar with it.
I'm also a big fan of the Kerry. I like 0.7 leads. I have a small collection of mechanical pencils and it's my favorite.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Received the Dryden Designs today so here are a few notes:

I checked out the nib under the microscope and it looked good so I rinsed it out with some Dawn and water then put some Waterman Mysterious Blue in the supplied converter by dipping the nib into the ink bottle. The converter worked well.

I will say right now I totally concur with Captainjonny on this one. The nib is smooth in all directions and laid down a consistent line with no hard starts or skipping and is a joy to write with. I was using my standard paper, HP32 printer paper for testing.

In an earlier post I compared the Amazon reviews between this pen and the Custom 823. I own a medium-nibbed Custom 823 and I can honestly say this $14 pen writes pretty much as nicely as the 823 does.

The cap threads are fake. The the cap is actually a snap-on but it snaps on quite securely. No idea how well it seals.

The finials are very odd-looking but other than that it's a decent-looking pen. I think the silver ones are the nicest-looking ones. The red is pretty gaudy but that's why I chose it.

A very nice writer, definitely worth the $14 and a good recommendation by Captainjonny if you ask me.

View attachment 1964363
Curious why you washed out the new nib with Dawn?
 
Curious why you washed out the new nib with Dawn?
Flushing a new nib and feed with very dilute Dawn is common advice on new pens to remove any manufacturing grease or oils that the pen may have collected. Typically, a half pint of warm water, nothing more than hand-hot, two drops of Dawn stirred into the water, flush the pen using the converter as much as you like and then repeat with cool clean water. Dry thoroughly with a kitchen towel. If I was being pedantic I would fill the pen with ink and then empty the pen down the sink.

Some people who report poor pen performance when it is first used are surprised at the difference in ink flow when they perform a simple warm water flush.
 
J

Jughead

Curious why you washed out the new nib with Dawn?
It's just a habit I've acquired and I figure the cheaper the pen is, the more likely it is there will be some kind of "gook" (as Fletch would say) on the nib. I actually used my homemade pen wash which is one part ammonia to 9 parts water and a couple of drops of Dawn.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
It's just a habit I've acquired and I figure the cheaper the pen is, the more likely it is there will be some kind of "gook" (as Fletch would say) on the nib. I actually used my homemade pen wash which is one part ammonia to 9 parts water and a couple of drops of Dawn.
I very seldomly use pen wash but I have some. I have one pesky nib I wonder if that might help.
 
J

Jughead

I very seldomly use pen wash but I have some. I have one pesky nib I wonder if that might help.
Actually about the only time I ever use it is with new pens but I always have a Mason jar of it around. I do find that sometimes, especially with clear demonstrators, it can help get the last vestiges of ink out of some of the nooks and crannies a little better than plain water alone.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Your mix of ammonia, water and dish soap is particularly useful on vintage pens, I have had pens that were left with ink in them during the 1930s but have come back to working condition.
I have one pen nib that always feels scratchy to me. I’m wondering if it’s a cleaning issue.
 
I have one pen nib that always feels scratchy to me. I’m wondering if it’s a cleaning issue.

Probably not. I don't know the strength of your eyes for close ups but I need a loupe or reading glasses so that I can really see the detail of a nib when it is pointed towards your eyes. It should look like [][] with both sides of the tines being together and even, sometimes it just needs a thumbnail to line them up correctly.

If they are lined up but it is still scratchy then the nib might just need smoothing. You can buy Micromesh sheets to do the job but I try and use things I can find around the house such as polished aluminum or polished copper, a metal softer than a steel nib.

Wet the metal and then work the nib on the metal in figure of 8s, a minute should do it and then try your normal handwriting on the metal, try not to use pressure. Finally, a polish by writing on glass. I don't know if flint is available where you live or if your Home Depot type stores have something called Chinese water stones then these are useful in gently smoothing.

A well known nibmeister uses Arkansas stones for nib smoothing and produces great results, he has skills far in excess of mine.

Avoid wet&dry or honing stones, these are much too rough.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Probably not. I don't know the strength of your eyes for close ups but I need a loupe or reading glasses so that I can really see the detail of a nib when it is pointed towards your eyes. It should look like [][] with both sides of the tines being together and even, sometimes it just needs a thumbnail to line them up correctly.

If they are lined up but it is still scratchy then the nib might just need smoothing. You can buy Micromesh sheets to do the job but I try and use things I can find around the house such as polished aluminum or polished copper, a metal softer than a steel nib.

Wet the metal and then work the nib on the metal in figure of 8s, a minute should do it and then try your normal handwriting on the metal, try not to use pressure. Finally, a polish by writing on glass. I don't know if flint is available where you live or if your Home Depot type stores have something called Chinese water stones then these are useful in gently smoothing.

A well known nibmeister uses Arkansas stones for nib smoothing and produces great results, he has skills far in excess of mine.

Avoid wet&dry or honing stones, these are much too rough.
Thx for the info. In the past I tried figure eights on a grocery bag. Not sure where I read that. Didn’t do anything. Going further presses my fear of screwing it up. I should send the nib to the mfg but I’m too lazy.
 
My thanks to Jughead for posting his review of the Dryden. This was a great sanity check for me. My second Dryden came, and writes as good as the first one. I tried to find out if Michael Dryden was real, or a fake Western front name (and "story") for a Chinese company. The Las Vegas address on Amazon is an office in a business park South of the airport (viewed on Google Maps), and is the office of YJE Tax Accounting Company (not Dryden, and I did call them to confirm). There is a lot of conflicting information about this company, and Michael Dryden online...so it took me a couple hours of research. There is a real Michael Dryden in London who is an artist. So he may be the actual developer of the pen and the Dryden Designs company, OR someone has appropriated his identity to represent the pen company. In today's world, nearly everything is smoke and mirrors.
 
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