tankerjohn
A little poofier than I prefer
Nice!
The Kaweco Thread
- Thread starter andrew98
- Start date
tankerjohn
A little poofier than I prefer
Kaweco Student update...
Wow, I love this pen. It’s a solid workhorse. The fine nib is uninspiring, but very functional. Paired with the Monteverde Black Ash cartridge, it writes well on everything from doctors’ office forms to the cheap GI notebooks I use at work. Best of all, it starts up everytime and hasn’t leaked a drop or given me inky fingers. And, of course, it looks great too!
On the one hand, the Student has become my go-to for work and EDC and I don’t want to mess with that. But on the other, it seems ripe for experimentation. Reading around the internet, I see people have successfully eyedroppered Students and swapped nibs with vintage #2 gold nibs. The Kaweco stub nibs look pretty highly rated as well. So I’m excited about the potential for this pen, even if I’m content to keep it a champion note taker for now.
Wow, I love this pen. It’s a solid workhorse. The fine nib is uninspiring, but very functional. Paired with the Monteverde Black Ash cartridge, it writes well on everything from doctors’ office forms to the cheap GI notebooks I use at work. Best of all, it starts up everytime and hasn’t leaked a drop or given me inky fingers. And, of course, it looks great too!
On the one hand, the Student has become my go-to for work and EDC and I don’t want to mess with that. But on the other, it seems ripe for experimentation. Reading around the internet, I see people have successfully eyedroppered Students and swapped nibs with vintage #2 gold nibs. The Kaweco stub nibs look pretty highly rated as well. So I’m excited about the potential for this pen, even if I’m content to keep it a champion note taker for now.
I do like the look of the student FP apart from........the silvered finger end. If it were black to match the rest of the barrel I'd have one in the blink of an eye.
Any how enough of my awkwardness. Good to hear you enjoy the student. I'd leave alone for a few months befor modification or see if I could get hold of another, possibly used or at a cheaper price so I wouldnt loose anything if it all went wrong.
Any how enough of my awkwardness. Good to hear you enjoy the student. I'd leave alone for a few months befor modification or see if I could get hold of another, possibly used or at a cheaper price so I wouldnt loose anything if it all went wrong.
tankerjohn
A little poofier than I prefer
That’s an interesting point. Esthetically, I don’t mind it the chrome section; I like how the chrome looks with the black barrel. But I can see how it is not everyone’s cup of tee. I believe the Allrounder and Dia 2 have matching barrels and sections. Functionally, the metal section front-weights the pen, which I also like, especially when the pen is posted. I don’t find it too slick. Although, since the nib is smallish, I usually hold the pen higher up, on the threads.
If I ever see the Vintage Blue Student on sale, I’d be very tempted to snap it up. But I’m also interested in saving my sheckles for a Dia 2, if I could ever figure out how to talk SWMBO into letting me spend $100 on a pen.
I see what you mean about the Dia, both looks and price. Strange though that the ballpoint version (best for work for me) of the student in any of its colours looks great to me with the chrome tip.
tankerjohn
A little poofier than I prefer
LOL, I don’t know. Is the chrome section and stainless nib just too much shiny metal all in one spot? Maybe the ballpoint looks more balanced.
Yep. It's the chrome thing.
So as I'm at home today I dug out my Chinese no name Kaweco sport copy. I say no name as it simply has no ID, love, hate slogan on or about it. It wrote very, very dry, skipping, missing and generally not very good even for £1.89 with free postage. So in the box it went.
Today I took it apart, it's the same twist and pull as the Kaweco. Gave it a good clean and passed a razor blade down the feed unit. A bit of grud came out right on the tip, but this could have been small shavings from the blade. Anyway, back together again and a cart of Pilots' own brand black ink. Result .......well simply put, great. Here's a pic along side my long term EDC Sport AL.
The testing was done with quink blue black but it's now full of pilot black.
I haven't cleaned the AL sport for several months so the copy is in the pocket for now.
As you can see even though it's a fine
It writes like a medium, it's also a tadge longer than a kaweco.
So a decent enough pen for the money.
Today I took it apart, it's the same twist and pull as the Kaweco. Gave it a good clean and passed a razor blade down the feed unit. A bit of grud came out right on the tip, but this could have been small shavings from the blade. Anyway, back together again and a cart of Pilots' own brand black ink. Result .......well simply put, great. Here's a pic along side my long term EDC Sport AL.
The testing was done with quink blue black but it's now full of pilot black.
I haven't cleaned the AL sport for several months so the copy is in the pocket for now.
As you can see even though it's a fine
It writes like a medium, it's also a tadge longer than a kaweco.
So a decent enough pen for the money.
Any new kaweco users out there? I know theres some new colours avalible with a semi transparent nib unit. Any one seen them?
tankerjohn
A little poofier than I prefer
No new Kawecos for me (yet). But I’ve been immensely enjoying the one I have. I have, on a few occasions, been tempted to tweak it with a stub nib or something like that. But it’s such a perfect note taker and daily workhorse, I can’t bring myself to mess with it.
On a separate but related note, I found a bunch of nice looking restored vintage piston-filler Kawecos on EBay selling for fairly reasonable prices. I’d be tempted to pick up one of those before buying another modern Kaweco. But who knows? They are just cool pens.
On a separate but related note, I found a bunch of nice looking restored vintage piston-filler Kawecos on EBay selling for fairly reasonable prices. I’d be tempted to pick up one of those before buying another modern Kaweco. But who knows? They are just cool pens.
I took a look as well and will be buying one. I ordered a vintage Lamy last month, will get some pictures up here soon. The shipping from Germany was pretty quick too.
No, but dang that is nice.
I picked up a 1960s Ratio 44. Inked it up tonight and will post pictures here in a few moments on the acquisitions thread.
Nice lamy.
I've been mixing some inks and I'm currently using my AL raw sport with a violet / purple quink mix of quink red & old bottle of quink blue. Not brilliant but fun messing about.
I've been mixing some inks and I'm currently using my AL raw sport with a violet / purple quink mix of quink red & old bottle of quink blue. Not brilliant but fun messing about.
Vintage Sport, pre-war advertisement. Kolbenfüller back then.
tankerjohn
A little poofier than I prefer
90 day(ish) update: I'm still digging the Kaweco Student! I'm using it as a daily workhorse and haven't messed with the nib at all. Early on, I thought about swapping in a stub, but the fine nib writes so nicely and a stub would be much less useful for the type of writing I do with this pen.
Dislikes: we'll get the negative points out of the way
- the nib is pretty small, like disproportionately small. I keep telling myself it doesn't bother me, but still kinda does
- the grip section is very narrow, making it somewhat uncomfortable to use for long periods. I've tried to use it for some session writing, but no bueno. The fine nib is kind of boring for personal writing anyway.
- a standard Schmidt int'l converter doesn't fit
Likes: now the good stuff
- it doesn't leak! Not on my fingers. Not in the cap. The flow is absolutely perfect. That's a big deal to me.
- along those lines, the nib is perfectly tuned. Not too dry, not too wet. Starts up every time. Can't ask for more.
- the fine nib is the perfect size for noting taking and filling out forms - meatier than a ballpoint, but fine enough to fill in boxes and not feather like crazy.
- the nib might be small, but that does contribute to its daily usefulness. its not flashy and i can use the pen at work without announcing "hey everybody! I have a fancy fountain pen!"
- fits nicely in a shirt pocket
- super classy retro design, even in black. Maybe especially in black.
- very well balanced
- perfect fit and finish. Just exudes German quality.
The name "Student" is not super exciting, but honestly fits the personality of this pen well. It fits a niche for notetaking so well. I suppose that would be less the case if it had a broader nib or if I had smaller hands. But such as it is, this pen fits in most every pocket I have and writes well on most any paper I encounter. It looks classy doing it and keeps me looking classy because I don't get ink smudges all over my hands when I use it. I wouldn't consider the Student a good candidate for an "only pen" or desert island pen. But it does more than earn its spot in the rotation.
Dislikes: we'll get the negative points out of the way
- the nib is pretty small, like disproportionately small. I keep telling myself it doesn't bother me, but still kinda does
- the grip section is very narrow, making it somewhat uncomfortable to use for long periods. I've tried to use it for some session writing, but no bueno. The fine nib is kind of boring for personal writing anyway.
- a standard Schmidt int'l converter doesn't fit
Likes: now the good stuff
- it doesn't leak! Not on my fingers. Not in the cap. The flow is absolutely perfect. That's a big deal to me.
- along those lines, the nib is perfectly tuned. Not too dry, not too wet. Starts up every time. Can't ask for more.
- the fine nib is the perfect size for noting taking and filling out forms - meatier than a ballpoint, but fine enough to fill in boxes and not feather like crazy.
- the nib might be small, but that does contribute to its daily usefulness. its not flashy and i can use the pen at work without announcing "hey everybody! I have a fancy fountain pen!"
- fits nicely in a shirt pocket
- super classy retro design, even in black. Maybe especially in black.
- very well balanced
- perfect fit and finish. Just exudes German quality.
The name "Student" is not super exciting, but honestly fits the personality of this pen well. It fits a niche for notetaking so well. I suppose that would be less the case if it had a broader nib or if I had smaller hands. But such as it is, this pen fits in most every pocket I have and writes well on most any paper I encounter. It looks classy doing it and keeps me looking classy because I don't get ink smudges all over my hands when I use it. I wouldn't consider the Student a good candidate for an "only pen" or desert island pen. But it does more than earn its spot in the rotation.
I think that holds true for all Kaweco pens. Sometimes there is truth in stereotypes (says the first generation American with German parents).
Someday I’ll pick up a brass kaweco. Just a cool looking pen.
