Thomas Bates

Brief Thoughts

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Stocking Stuffer Pens

Another pack picked up fron Pen Swap - this was a pack of 8 pens being offered for a very reasonable $35, if I recall correctly. Some of them will be ink test pens, some will eventually be nibgrinding practice. (…)

Preview

(not all pictured)

List of Pens

I’ve been quite pleasantly surprised with these pens. I bought them with every intention of eventually practicing nib grinding on them. With the exception of the Duke 209, which has a Fude nib that I wanted to test. I had the opportunity, but something fell out of the cap and since then it has a bad habbit of drying out, so I am considering it broken for now.

All of these are in M nibs, and owing to my bad habbits, I think every one of them is inked right now.

I don’t have too many specific thoughts on any of these. They all seem fairly reliable. The Baoer 51 is an exceptionally dry writer which isn’t my preference. That said, the 508 lays down a generous line. The Jinhaos are both very nice - I have one inked with a Random Allocation/Modern Beaker ink, and the 159 is inked with Noodler’s Q-Eternity.

The Hero 9038 has another Random Allocation ink, and is quite a nice writer. While overall the pens are nice, most all of them are quite heavy and not as well balanced as some higher-end pens. This is particularly noticeable on the 159. The 159 is an exceptionally cheap “inspiration” from the Montblanc 149. The 149 is significantly lighter and better balanced. The Parker is perhaps the best of the bunch, surprisingly.