TWSBI Micarta

By Glenn Craig

October 2014

Some of the photographs that illustrated this article were not preserved when the original site went offline.

 

I received this pen about a month ago and have written with it everyday since. I bought it used from a Pentracer and have not regretted it for one second. The nib is a B nib and very wet and smooth. A perfect nib for quick writers, block printers, and flourishing signatures. Normally, I prefer fine or extra fine but this one makes for a very pleasant change of pace.   I can leave the cap off writing occasionally,pausing,writing pausing for over an hour and there is no noticeable drying of the nib and hard starting to the nib flow. A great pen for meetings. The Micarta as I understand it, is a material made of cloth and resins compressed and dried. Then it is shaped for various uses such as knife handles and now pens. I like the look and feel of this material it seems so 'earthy and natural'. It reminds me in some ways of my own bamboo pens, very simple, understated, functional and no unnecessary bands, rings, or adornments. It is more refined than my bamboo pens and the nib is indeed better than mine. This is the second generation Micarta with an inner cap. The cap seals well and the nib is always ready to write. It is cartridge/converter fill and I use Waterman long cartridges in it which I refill with a syringe using Parker Blue Quink or Aurora Blue. This pen writes well with all three inks tried and I imagine the look would be great with a dark black such as Noodlers, Aurora and others. This will be a keeper pen for the foreseeable future...especially since it is no longer in production. Too bad I would have liked to get one with a fine point nib. If you happen to see one at a pen show I can highly recommend you try it you may just love it? I am very pleased with mine. Nice large size, medium weight, good balance, comfortable to hold, interesting material and colours.   All in all...A winner! Thanks for reading, Glenn

  

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