I finally got my hands on a 1.5mm Pilot Parallel pen, and figured I would offer a quick review of my initial impressions. I did a quick writing test using the black ink that came with the pen, and wrote in a Leuchtturm 1917 journal.
Overall, I really like the pen. It's pretty smooth, and had excellent ink flow between the nib plates. It does take a little getting used to, though. You have to make sure to keep the nib flat on the paper and apply even pressure. It's not that hard, but it is easy to mess up as you write quickly across the page. You can notice a few spots where I definitely had issues. (Some were near the spine of the journal, where the pages had some curvature to them.)
You can even turn the nib sideways to make very thin lines, or write in broad strokes across the page.
Pros: For $10, I don't know that you'll find much that will write this well. Good ink flow. Easy to use. Smooth nib, if you keep it flat on the page. There's no top or bottom of the nib, so you can write with either side and it's the same on both sides. (So, easy for beginners, I guess..?) Versatile line width and a lot of variation when writing.
Cons: Looks and feels cheap. Wider versions of these pens will burn through ink quickly, so setting it up as an eyedropper would be wise with those pens. Appears to be a non-standard cartridge size and converter, but I could be wrong.
Feel free to add your own thoughts below.
Here's a handwriting sample. My writing is not exactly a shining example of proper form, but it gets the point across. I'd love to try a true italic or oblique nib sometime, but this is a pretty fun place to start. And affordable, too!
Overall, I really like the pen. It's pretty smooth, and had excellent ink flow between the nib plates. It does take a little getting used to, though. You have to make sure to keep the nib flat on the paper and apply even pressure. It's not that hard, but it is easy to mess up as you write quickly across the page. You can notice a few spots where I definitely had issues. (Some were near the spine of the journal, where the pages had some curvature to them.)
You can even turn the nib sideways to make very thin lines, or write in broad strokes across the page.
Pros: For $10, I don't know that you'll find much that will write this well. Good ink flow. Easy to use. Smooth nib, if you keep it flat on the page. There's no top or bottom of the nib, so you can write with either side and it's the same on both sides. (So, easy for beginners, I guess..?) Versatile line width and a lot of variation when writing.
Cons: Looks and feels cheap. Wider versions of these pens will burn through ink quickly, so setting it up as an eyedropper would be wise with those pens. Appears to be a non-standard cartridge size and converter, but I could be wrong.
Feel free to add your own thoughts below.
Here's a handwriting sample. My writing is not exactly a shining example of proper form, but it gets the point across. I'd love to try a true italic or oblique nib sometime, but this is a pretty fun place to start. And affordable, too!
