Monthly Archives: May 2021

John Sanderson pens

Meta-review, , ,

 

 

 

 

 

A little bit of history  John Sanderson might not yet be a name widely known in pen circles, but he has been turning pens for more than forty  years, combining extensive knowledge of engineering (as a former metal and print press engineer) and a life long passion for working with wood, with impressive results.

For this meta-review, he supplied seven pens in total:  three ‘oversize’, and four more traditional sizes, in a wide breadth of materials, nibs, trims and designs.

A custom pen maker, John can pretty much design whatever you want: from a tiny clipless pocket midget to a huge heavily adorned behemoth, and anything in between. Reviewing such a broad range could be risky, but John was up for putting his designs to the test!

How they look These are beautiful to gaze at, with clean lines, interesting combinations of materials and colours and high quality, handmade argentium silver trim.  Designs we sampled included a huge diamondcast oversize pen with a mid-century modern “sci-fi” theme clip, through to slender combinations of wood burls (including one made of pine cone hearts suspended in resin) with complementary acrylic resin sections.

 

How it feels  John’s pens were all well balanced, light (often in spite of their size), and comfortable to hold for long writing periods.  There was a broad range of barrel diameters, from slender 10mm right up to jumbo 14-15mm sections, but most were felt to be comfortable and sections were ergonomically designed.

The threads were, for the most part, smooth and unobtrusive, and the one grip section which a reviewer found a touch uncomfortable could doubtless have been returned for a bit of smoothing-out if needed.

How it fills  All the pens were supplied with standard international Schmidt K2 style cartridge converters.  These are easy and convenient – and of course there are also cartridges available, for barbarians.

Crucially, how it writes…  These pens were supplied with either Bock or Jowo steel nibs for demonstration purposes, but being customisable, gold, titanium, platinum etc. would all be options (at a price) and John can also accommodate Pelikan nibs and the like into his section designs.

This means all the pens we tried were smooth, comfortable writers with ink flow that is typical of standard Bock and Jowo nibs.  As we expect to use pens, not just look at then, this is all good news.

VFM  Prices for a custom pen by John start at around £100 and go up from there towards £220 – depending on design, choice of material, trim features and nib choice.  This means these are an ‘investment’, but with such an experienced maker, if the end product isn’t quite what you wanted, it can be adjusted and rebuilt until it is.

Value on a custom pen is hard to judge, but these ooze quality and the reviewers all like the very bright, shiny, tarnish-resistant argentium silver which really sets the trim levels apart from others.

The only way is ethics  John is open and transparent to deal with.  There are no upfront costs and pens are only paid for once received and tested by the customer; this is fair and straightforward and makes procuring a custom pen through John an enjoyable and guilt-free process.

 

Our overall recommendation  All our reviewers felt these pens oozed quality, showed a huge breadth of skill with materials, metalwork and design and were very tempting – at least one of us has independently purchased a Silver Burl since reviewing.

Where to get hold of one : Direct from the maker at https://silverburlpens.com/

This meta-review references:

Thanks to  John himself for lending us such a special set of his creations.

Dodecagon and on and on

Meta-review, ,

A little bit of history  One of the most frequent questions we get asked here at the Inkdom’s secret bunker is what can be sensibly procured for careless beginners with small-ish hands. We don’t want to put them off with a lousy writing experience, but then again we’d rather it didn’t cost a fortune when the pen is sat on, melted over a Bunsen burner or lost on the school bus. Venerable British firm Manuscript, which has been supplying study desks since the days when that ink-well hole was in every-day use, turns out to be still in the business of providing a solution. Of course we had to give it a try!

How it looks  The Dodec has a slim barrel with, as the name suggests, twelve sides. The plastics in use range over sky blue turquoise, magenta, black and transparent finishes. With knurled grip sections the overall look is economical and functional, which is pretty much the Dodec proposition in a nutshell. There’s no mistaking it for a boring old ballpoint, though.

How it feels  Light and easy to handle – as long as you don’t grip that non-slip section too tightly. The nibs feel positively laser-guided on the page, though; there’s no tactile clue as to how astonishingly inexpensive the Dodec is.

How it fills  This is a straightforward cartridge filler, for most purposes. The dimensions are built to a budget and the barrel is actually too tight a fit for a standard Schmidt converter. However, the long ‘international’ cartridges sold by Waterman and Pelikan fit perfectly and allow for a useful squeeze when the nib has run dry – which can happen occasionally.

Crucially, how it writes…  Now here is where it gets more complicated than might have been expected from the tiny price tag. For Dodecs sport two completely different types of nib! The ‘handwriting’ nib is essentially a folded or butterfly design, which writes amazingly smoothly without employing a harder metal on the tip. It’s a great introduction to what a proper fountain pen feels like, and in the unlikely event of wearing it out a replacement is very, very affordable. The italics, meanwhile, are of the classic ‘crisp’ variety and come in a dizzying range of sizes which encourages experimentation – they’re fun to use but can also produce seriously impressive results too.

Pen! What is it good for?  The handwriting pen is obviously great for beginners but often impresses even grizzled gold nib fanatics, so it serves as everything from first fountain to everyday shopping-list-compiler. The italic nibs are made for having fun with, but even proper calligraphers approve. The Dodec is built down to a budget and this occasionally shows up as inconsistent ink flow, but reseating the friction-fit nib and feed when required is a very simple job. In return, you can afford to abuse them a bit and innovate. 

VFM  Shop around and you can often pick these up about £1.50 a go. You’d be hard-pressed to find a decent ballpoint at that sort of price – if such a thing even existed, of course. That’s hard to argue with, really.

The only way is ethics  Made right here in Blighty and using fairly minimal packaging, there’s not much to worry over and a fair bit to feel good about.

If this isn’t quite your cup of tea, but almost…  The rest of the Manuscript range is probably worth a look instead. Some people do prefer the rounder, less nobbly ‘Classic’ from the same stable, which is similarly stonking value.

Our overall recommendation  A Dodec costs less than a something a barista could make for you once upon a time, and you’ve had a year off from that so, seriously, what are you waiting for?

Where to get hold of one  The handwriting and italic versions of the Dodec can often be found in ‘thrift’ outlets like Boyes and The Range, as well as from educational stationers in bulk. If that doesn’t appeal, plenty of online retailers and art supply shops stock a full range and you can even buy them from Manuscript direct. Try an online search for ‘Manuscript Dodec’ and you may be pleasantly surprised.

This meta-review references:

Thanks to  Manuscript for kindly furnishing us with samples to show what the Dodec can do.