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I just bought a Kaweco Liliput with a broad nib. It's perfectly decent, they are not expensive pens there is no reason to pick it apart. But...there is one thing that I would like to improve. The nib seems to be aligned, but the nib runs dry and is prone to skipping. Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing? Is there a quick and easy fix that I can do if I'm not experienced in adjusting nibs? Might it help to slide a razor blade between the tines? I would be grateful for any advice. On a totally different note, Does anyone know a nib man in berlin? I have a Parker Sonnet that needs a minor adjustment.

Backdrop:I have been using Fountain Pens since I was a child. After I got a job, it was possible for me afford some premium pens from Indian Standard. The Fountain pens available in local market were all chinese or cheap so I bought various pens from various online stores. Then I came across an Indian online shop(NAYY) I purchased a Jinhao X450 , then a Demonstrator combo set at a really competitive price. Impressed by the customer service , I decided to give other pens a try and purchased a Pilot MR, then a Chelpark Sona, then a Pilot Tank and subsequently Oliver F27. I did not have an ebonite pen in my collection. The store owner suggested me to go for a pen launched in its own brand name namely ASA Athlete. I loved the pen, its balance and its looks. I liked the nib and the feel of ebonite. With Lamy Safari the pen became my second choice to write for long duration. I ultimately decided to try for more. When I found a limited edition is coming out of the box with an option of German nib, the temptation was too much to resist. I might have been the first customer to buy the pen, who knows, cause I immediately bought it. And I loved this pen too. Basic Details: Crystal LE is basically an ebonite eyedropper pen which has been hand crafted. The cap top and the blind cap is made up of transparent acrylic which looks like a crystal. Neither of these parts can come out. They have been securely glued. Its a huge pen with a 15 cm length and average of 13 mm section diameter. Looks: The pen is eye catchy and beautiful. It looks and feel like a costly pen and I should say costlier than what it actually is. The crystal looking top peeking out of the coat pocket catches attention of those around. I had actually a few colleagues asking about the pen. The pen is simply too large and too beautiful to ignore. It is a dominating and bossy looking pen. The crystal blind cap magnifies everything beyond it and under light looks shimmering and beautiful. Feel: The pen is on heavier side compared to Athlete, it may be because of the 'crystals' .However ebonites feel sort of weightless and weight was never an issue for me since I have got large hands. The section is thicker than say Athlete and a Lamy. The grip is excellent. Because of large nib size a person can maintain a comfortable stance while writing. The threads never interfered with the grip, rather they aided it. Because the pen is quite thick it comfortably rested in the space between the index finger and the thumb. The balance is good enough, though the pen writes best when not posted. When posted the pen becomes, at least for me, too large to manage. Nib and the Feed: Pen uses a typical ebonite two channelled Indian feed which we see in almost every hand made indian pen. It can be easily heat set. Though I am sure need to do so would rarely, if ever, arise. I would have loved to see some other finned feed in a pen of such quality and beauty. However, I am not the one who is producing the pen. I am merely a customer who is appreciating it. I am very sure that there must have been compelling reasons for not using such feed. What I found was that by adjusting the extent of insertion and alignment of the nib and feed it was possible to control and adjust the flow of the ink. I adjusted mine and now my Medium nib pen is writing an Indian Fine and I am pleased. However the nib, I am talking of the German nib available as an option, is superb. It is a German Bock, Steel Duo Point nib. I liked the Athlete nib, but I can swear on my love for the fountain pens that this nib is the best nib I have so far used. I have used a lamy nib and an Schmidt M and Schmidt fine nib. I have also used Pilot MR fine, Pilot Tank M, Parker Vector F and M, Parker Frontier F , Waterman M. This is the best among them. It has no feedback. It is super smooth. It is sturdy and strong which would not need an adjustment every now and then. I call it the best because other nibs when wrote smooth had no flex and this nib has both. It has decent flex and it is, as I have said, super smooth. It has an added advantage of being duo point i.e. capable of writing on both sides. What else do I need? I bow before those who created it and I thank them who made it available to me. Since the nib is so good the pen writes equally well. The writing in all the previous paragraphs has been done with this pen and nib. However following photograph would reveal the flex of the nib. The writing sample also shows how the reverse side of the nib writes. In short I liked the pen. I am glad that I have it.It's an handsome eyedropper. Please comment if you have any queries or if you liked the pen.

I originally posted this in First Stop. It was my first post. I subsequently realised that the reviews are meant to be posted here. http://asapens.in/eshop/image/cache/data/Athlete/Athlete-20-500x500.jpgASA Athlete: The pen with a character This review is my first and is intended for a layman. There is usually no best. No best book, no best car and no best movie. Same goes with fountain pens. However, recently I found or discovered a pen which comes very near to being the best in my present collection. This pen was bought from ASApens.in and was named Athlete. I quite enjoyed writing with it. I call it the pen with a character . As you can perhaps see, the pen is made of ebonite i.e.a hard rubber but feels and looks like wood. How many of us can boast of using an writing instrument made of ebonite. Not many, I guess. Believe me when I say it, the feel of ebonite surpasses plastic, acrylic or even metal. You won't feel the weight. You will not experience the pressure and pain on the tips of your finger while writing for long hours. Your hands will not sweat as much. Moreover, the balance of the pen is very significant when it comes to writing for long durations. This pen has perfect balance. at least for me, posted(putting the cap on the end) or unposted. Despite being of such a large size, I never felt its size or weight even once. Pardon the cliche, but the pen is literally light as a feather. The wooden ebonite body has been polished to give it a matt black finish. It adds to the aesthetics of this pen. The pen looks classy and visually appealing. It catches the attention of those around you, provided they care about pens. The 'Athlete' has got a personality of its own. Its exterior speaks of its being a no nonsense , efficient and durable pen. When you keep it with other pens, it dominates them with its presence. Athlete is an eyedropper. For a layman, this means that its barrel is filled with ink, unlike say Parker vector or Hero 360. Usually in an eyedropper, the air bubble inside gets warmed up with the heat of the body and expands. This results in burping which means that your page can get ruined and you may end up with a big and sizable blot on your paper. But, thankfully, this is not the case with this pen. I ended up a complete tank and I found no burping. The wooden body apparently acts as an insulator much better than plastic. The ink flow increased when the ink levels dropped but there was no burping. Another problems which eyedropper pens face is leakage. None here though. The cap fits securely and the barrel is securely attached to the nib and feed section. It was a new experience for me. An Eyedropper fountain pen that doesn't leak.!!! The best part is nib. These nibs are apparently made in Germany. The engraving says that they are Iridium tipped. You can feel their superior quality. If the best fountain pen you have is a Parker Vector, you would be blown away by the smoothness of the nib. The nib does not have a glossy smooth feel which many a chinese fountain pens have. That is being too smooth to like. There is a very little feedback, which I love, because I can feel myself writing and I can feel the nib gliding on the paper. The nib is a dual tone size #6. For a lay man this can be translated as fairly large nib. Not the largest, but quite large. Having a large nib means that if you have large hands like mine and many of other adult men, you wont be forced to write too close to paper and while writing you can maintain a comfortable hand stance.Moreover the grip section was long and smooth. I got the nib with tines separated. I thought that it would be an issue. But it was not. There was no rail roading. No issues with writing at all. I found the nib and the pen to be made for each other. The feed was a pretty simple ebonite one. It had deep channels. Which is perhaps the reason behind the wet writing. Writing samples of the pen and the comparison with Pilot 'Tank', Pilot MR and Lamy are included. The ink used is commonly available Chelpark and the paper is a JK A4 size paper. The service of ASApens.in was excellent. When I bought the pen I used the option of getting the fountain pen checked which is not available on any other indian site. The sellers are professionals. One can any time mail them or call them in respect of any queries related to fountain pens. I called them and they didn't disappoint me. Now, let me answer the most difficult question about this pen. What I didn't like about it? Well, I liked everything. But I should add a caveat that this is an eyedropper pen which needs a little maintenance just like a samurai sword does . And the cap if left posted may leave a round mark on the matt finish. However, the pen is available in many colors on ASApens. Lastly if you feel the ink flow increasing it would be wiser to refill the barrel pen instead of waiting for the ink to be over. Overall, I recommend this pen. It's a great value for money and a daily writer. One can use it daily without impunity. One can show it off or keep it entirely to himself. It is a work horse, a no nonsense pen. It is one macho of a pen, that dominates other pens and the paper. The pen with a 'Character'. The review is also available on my blog. Hope it was helpful. I am soon going to write a review of Doctor Deluxe. A under 3$ pen that quite surprised me with its performance. I call that the reliable housemaid.

Hi Everyone! I'm brand new to the FPN and have been enjoying reading all the great discussions and information here. A company called yalebowls.com makes hand turned bowls and pens from old trees (and even bleacher seats) that either die or need to be removed around the Yale University campus. Since I went there, I thought it would be cool to own a fountain pen souvenir. It looks like a kit pen? But what kind of nib is that? "AYACO" something? Is it just a rebranded IPG nib? I only just bought my most expensive pen as a TWSBI Micarta V2 since they're being discontinued. I love that pen very much! But I'm cautious at spending $100 for pens that don't actually write well. I'm going to guess that most of the cost goes into the novelty of owning some historical wood, rather than in a fine writing instrument. But what are your thoughts? Here is the website: http://www.yalebowls.com/categories/Pens/Fountain/