Kaweco Sport Initial Impressions

[Luke49783]

I received a Kaweco Sport that I recently ordered on Friday. After a quick stop at Lowes on my lunch break, I sat down to do the eye dropper conversion over the weekend. This is only my second fountain pen (first was a Pilot Metropolitan), so my experience is limited.

After inking it, carefully screwing the nib section back on without getting ink on the table, and holding it nib down to saturate the feed, it wrote right away. As I was screwing it back together I realized that I hadn't flushed it, but there don't seem to be any issues. After searching for a notebook and then finding it sitting right in front of me, I started doodling to see how it wrote. The ink seemed to flow well like my Metro does and the smoothness was similar. What struck me as being very different, however, is how quickly the ink dried compared to the Metro. I've been using Diamine Onyx Black in the Metro and filled the Kaweco with Diamine Sargasso Sea. Are two different color inks from the same manufacturer normally that different? The Onyx Black usually takes a second to dry, where as the Sargasso Sea dried so fast that I couldn't get my finger to it to smear it after laying down a line.

The other difference I noticed was the width of the line. After being happy with a medium nib in the Pilot, I ordered the same in the Kaweco. The line width from the Kaweco is much thicker, to the point where I might end up ordering another with a Fine or Extra Fine nib.

 

[Alacrity59]

I'm liking mine as well. Japanese nibs are finer. I made the opposite mistake. Having used medium and fine nibs in other pens I ordered my vanishing point Pilot in extra fine. I can now write verses on the head of a pin.

The one issue I'm having that worries me but has not yet been tragic is that the cap manages to unscrew itself in my pocket. I tighten it quite snug but I worry about over tightening.

 

[Luke49783]

I wondered about the over-tightening issue as well, it doesn't seem like it would be hard to do.

 

[airmech]

I have a medium that I will change to a fine or even an extra fine at some point. As to the cap loosening I will check it whenever I put my hand in my pocket. I does loosen but I have yet to have an incident in the year I ha e been carrying it. A great EDC backup that has never failed to write, even after a week in my pocket without being used.

Tom

 

[SIG9]

Fountain pens are a wonderful tool. However, you are discovering the variability between brands. Part of the joy is in finding the perfect pen for your tastes and writing style.

A fine nib from one manufacturer may be quite different than an fine nib from another. Common thought is that Japanese nibs are one level finer than western nibs.

As for different inks within the same brand drying differently, that too is common. It has more to do with the ingredients in the individual inks than the manufacturer. To some degree it also depends on the paper and the amount of ink the nib lays down.

 

[syngent]

My Pilot nib is pretty soft, I can get everything from a EF to almost a full out B from it, usual writing for my hand has it go between a F and M during writing though

most of my western nibs (Pelikan and Parker) give what they give and hold pretty true to what they are Marked, my Medium Pilot is finer than my fine pelikan though

 

[Snargle]

The one issue I'm having that worries me but has not yet been tragic is that the cap manages to unscrew itself in my pocket. I tighten it quite snug but I worry about over tightening.

I've had my Kaweco Sport for almost two years and carry it quite regularly in my pants pocket. It's eyedropper filled but I've never had a single droplet of ink end up in an unwanted place or had the cap even slightly loosen.

 

[Suzuki]

Just picked up one of these from a local vendor - great little pocket pen for a nice price.

As stated above, the fine nib is close to the width of many brands' medium nibs (especially Japanese nibs) and I suspect the fine nib will work for most people. Also, the fine nib will help stretch the limited ink capacity of the short cartridges (for those who don't want to use the pen as an eyedropper).

While there is now a squeeze converter available, I wouldn't bother with it - I bought one and my view is that it sucks (or rather, it doesn't suck). I've yet to get mine more than 1/2 full and have ordered a couple of sacs to make mine into a bulb filler (aka the Nemo cartrige hack) so I can use bottled ink.

While the pen is on the small side even when posted, its certainly useable and the nib on my pen gives a smooth, wet line with the few inks I've tried in the pen so far. In fact, its one of the smoothest nibs I've found on a pen in the $25 range.

 

[Slivovitz]

Late to this thread, but just thought I'd mention that you don't always have to buy a complete new pen if you just want a different nib. The sections with different nibs can be bought separately from JetPens, among other sellers. Of course, you have to match up the type of Kaweco Sport, aluminum or plastic, with the correct type of section, and you might not find a matching color. Still, I got a black 1.5 mm italic fountain pen section to replace the dark blue rollerball section on my original Sport. Seems a little odd to talk about saving money with all that I've spent on fountain pens, but I guess every little bit helps.

 

[Luke49783]

The more that I use this pen, the more I find that I REALLY like it. As has been said, the nib is very smooth. At first I felt that the medium nib was too wide, but I'm starting to like it. I'd still prefer a finer nib for an every day pocket pen, but for the price I might just pick up another.

I set mine up as an eye dropper right away, so I haven't had experience with the cartridge, but it does look, small. I'm glad that I decided to use it as an eye dropper because the ink capacity is great and so far it hasn't caused any issues.

 

[Doc4]

What struck me as being very different, however, is how quickly the ink dried compared to the Metro. I've been using Diamine Onyx Black in the Metro and filled the Kaweco with Diamine Sargasso Sea. Are two different color inks from the same manufacturer normally that different? The Onyx Black usually takes a second to dry, where as the Sargasso Sea dried so fast that I couldn't get my finger to it to smear it after laying down a line.

I don't have either ink, but ... in my experience with other inks and brands ... yes. Dry times within one manufacturer's lineup can vary significantly.