What's new

Fountain Pen Revolution 1.0mm stub nib. disappointing

Just got in a brand new FPR 1.0 mm stub nib, cleaned it, popped in into my TWSBI 580 and.....
wow. Just a wet blobby mess of ink coming out of the end of my pen. It performs just like a super wet Broad nib, no line variation at all. :bored:

The nib advertises as 1mm downstroke and 0.3mm horizontal, but all the lines come out equally thick. Their Broad nibs have a 0.7mm stroke, so this nib lays down a ridiculously heavy line which with my handwriting just looks terrible.

It's also a very balky starter, but I'm not going to try to fix that until I decide if I'm keeping it.
 

nemo

Lunatic Fringe
Staff member
I have also been disappointed with with Indian pens. They look nice but I need to use my pens, seriously, without fiddling around. I finally got one working nicely by harvesting a feed from a Sheaffer school pen but that's not right. Haven't had trouble with the nibs but then again, I haven't tried an italic.

Is it an eyedropper? Those can often be a blobby mess.
 
^ He's talking about the nib, not a pen from FPR. One of the Flex nibs that they sell at FPR that he tried putting into a TWSBI 580 and it's not working out.

On the subject of Indian pens...I have a few and for the most part they've been good. My 3 custom handmade Rangas work fine (though two of them have modern Jowo nib units with plastic feeds). The other one, an entirely-ebonite affair (feed included), is an eyedropper and burps when the ink level gets below 50%. This is apparently common for eyedroppers, especially those with Ebonite feeds, which makes me wonder what the advantage is to the huge ink capacity if you can only use half the ink before problems arise.

The 3 Indian pens that gave me the most problems were the Noodlers ones. Big surprise there.

The biggest issue with Indian pens seems to be the nibs, though. None of them that I've tried have been good (meaning the Wality, Airmail, etc. branded ones, not the German Jowo nibs). They're generally acceptable, but need work to be pleasurable to write with. I've considered the FPR flex nibs after seeing a few YouTube videos featuring them, but I never get around to ordering them. And I figure that if I ever want more Indian pens, I can always go back to Ranga. They've always done right by me, and they make good pens.
 

nemo

Lunatic Fringe
Staff member
I stand corrected. My auto-ignore on anything TWSBI is working nicely, though. :thumbup:
 
The Nemosine pens at Xfountainpens.com have 0.6 and 0.8 Stub nib options, but I don't know if they're #5 or #6 size. The Nemosine nibs are available in both sizes, but I'm just not sure which size has the smaller stubs. You could email XfountainPens and ask.
 
I went through a phase of pens from fpr. Many are pretty and some offer good value. Others perhaps not so much.

Most everything I've had needed tuning to my liking. Fine for me, I like to tinker. But a common theme I've noticed is that there's usually residue from manufacturing on feeds and nibs. Everything has needed a real thorough going over with a toothbrush and some soapy water, at which point it usually behaves well.

I'm not certain this'll be the problem with your nib, but you can try it for nothing without sacrificing your ability to return it.

I'd also encourage you to drop Kevin an email. One of the benefits of fpr is good customer service, so if perhaps your nib wasn't shaped properly and missed qc, I'm certain he'll put it right.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
I have a Pelikan M200 that came with a stub nib that was at least a 1.0 (sorry, can't remember exact size) and it's a great writer. You don't want to try and write small with a big stub, but it definitely should show line variation and not be messy - but it is a generous line. I also have a 1.5 from Goulet Pens as a replacement for an Edison pen that works great. Sounds like something is wrong with yours.
 
$tmp_16102-0326161103~21718966337.jpg

Sorry for the bad quality... I'm at work.
 
The Nemosine pens at Xfountainpens.com have 0.6 and 0.8 Stub nib options, but I don't know if they're #5 or #6 size. The Nemosine nibs are available in both sizes, but I'm just not sure which size has the smaller stubs. You could email XfountainPens and ask.
I've had very good luck with a Nemosine Singularity with a 0.8 stub. FPR pens have not been particularly good to me...I've tried normal, stubs, and flex, and so far none would get my recommendation.
 
Top Bottom