A little bit of history Namisu is a small Scottish design house that’s been turning out metal (and more recently ebonite) pens for around five years, with names like the Nexus, Nova, Orion… and here, the Ixion. Namisu has launched several of its pens via Kickstarter, and in June 2017 the Ixion appeared. It promptly smashed its goals and — after some drama — landed in our reviewers’ hands in early 2018.
We’ll get this out of the way: all of our reviewers (and many other backers) were disappointed with the purchase experience. Namisu delivered four months later than promised, which is not unusual for Kickstarter, but its communication and customer service along the way was poor. Caveat emptor and all that.
How it looks The Ixion is a full-size metal pen, available in titanium, brass and aluminium, with optional contrasting metal section and finials. Like the other Namisu models, the Ixion is clipless, but it won’t roll away due to the distinctive dodecagonal cap.
Our reviewers between them had brass, black alu and blue alu versions, and universally agreed that this is a good-looking design. The ability to change the colour schemes by swapping over parts is a great way to make the Ixion yours.
How it feels As you’d expect, the brass version is weighty; the aluminium less so. Either way, it feels good in the hand, and should you choose you can put on a steel or brass section to change the weight balance. The section is long and comfortable. The cap posts securely and deeply. Nothing to complain about here.
How it fills With a generic converter, or a standard international cartridge. Move along, nothing to see here…
Crucially, how it writes… And here’s the bone of contention. Two of our three reviewers had a wonderful experience with fine and extra fine steel nibs writing perfectly out of the box.
However, one unlucky reviewer suffered from two duff nibs, one Ti and one steel. The nibs are #6 Bock units that screw simply into the section, so you’ve got complete flexibility to swap nibs around with other pens or buy replacements quite inexpensively. Just as well, as a number of other buyers we’ve chatted with on social media have suffered from quality control issues (including nib problems and premature wear on the barrel anodising) and found Namisu’s customer service somewhat lacking.
Pen! What is it good for? The Ixion would make a great daily writer for someone out and about. With a metal body and an inexpensive, easily replaced nib, you don’t have to worry about damage.
VFM The Ixion is actually very keenly priced, with the “standard” Kickstarter price for an aluminium version coming in at £33. For a full-size metal pen that’s pretty competitive. The price is likely to be higher at retail, of course.
If this isn’t quite your cup of tea, but almost… You might want to look at the metal pens from Karas Kustoms, which also use Bock nibs and give you a huge range of customisation options.
Our overall recommendation If you like metal pens and value the ability to swap nibs and customise components, you’ll enjoy the Ixion a lot. Just make sure you know what you’re getting into; there’s a risk of QC issues and you may not get the kind of support you’d expect.
Where to get hold of one Right now, it’s the used market only. The Kickstarter has closed and the Ixion isn’t yet up on Namisu’s website for retail purchase.
This meta-review references:
- Scribble’s hand-written review
- Alison’s review
- Ant’s review
A little bit of history Glaciers, weathering and tectonic plates were all involved to a greater or lesser extent in separating the Lothian volcanoes from the kingdom of Fife, but ever since the Forth Bridge became the world’s largest project management metaphor, both sides of the firth have been part of an on-and-off industrial heartland. That engineering heritage was recently sparked in to life in one local business unit by the Kickstarter project which brought Namisu into being, and they’re now producing a couple of models in an increasingly diverse range of materials. Some of us have been interested since those heady Kickstarter days, but the word is spreading fast…
Where to get hold of one Right now, buying from
