Smiggle Mini Fountain Pens :)

June 8, 2006

Has anyone used or seen one of these around? I live in Australia and bought a few of these Smiggle brand Mini Fountain Pens from Myer Department store for AU$2 ($1.49 US)

For cheapness, i was surprised that they wrote quite well. The nib is fine and it feels like writing with a Lamy Safari. Ink is black and writes smooth and wet (as most fountains pens of all prices do )

I think the they refill with Universal Cartridges, but i'm unsure. (i'm gonna pipette fill them anyway).

Has anyone run into fountain pens cheaper than this? I would find it hard to think of a fountain pen that costs less than $1.49 US ($2 AU)

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/pactio_kiss/P0608_214910.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/pactio_kiss/P0608_215005.jpg

I thought they were VERY good value. They look cute and stylish. C'mon - $2AU is the price of a 600ml bottle of Coca Cola !

I noticed that the Nib has written on it "Beifa"

Edited June 8, 2006 by kissing

June 8, 2006

I haven't come across them, but as I live 6 hours from the nearest Myer, I'm hardly surprised.

They do look pretty cute. How long are they? How does the nib write - fine, medium etc? They take short international (4cm) cartridges do they?

Would you be willing to send a couple to QLD? I can drop you $20 via PayPal, Bank Deposit, or AU Post MO.

I don't have any fountain pens under $40, so I'm reluctant to leave any at work, in the car or to loan to people, so these little pens look they might be useful.

June 8, 2006

i was only able to buy 3 of them coz they were sold out. ("Smiggle" appears to be popular among students)

However, i found this link for you which offers Mail Order within Australia (just what you've been looking for )

http://www.smiggle.com.au/welcome.html

(click "Email Orders" or "Locations" ---> "Mail Orders")

The name of the product would be "Mini fountain Pens"

the length of the pen (cap off) is 10cm

15cm when posted.

The nib writes like a Fine point

I am unsure whether these are Universal Cartridges, but they are 4cm in length. Here is a picture if it helps at all:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/pactio_kiss/P0608_225741.jpg

Seeing that they actually came with detached cartridges suggests that these pens are not single-use-then-dispose pens.

When its your first time filling up, it requires lots and lots of squeezing of the cartridge to get the ink to fill up the feeding section and reach the nib (you will realise when u get the pen, because the pen is made of transparent plastic). Once you get the ink running - nice smooth writing for just $2

Enjoy

Edited June 8, 2006 by kissing

June 14, 2006

I discovered these pens in October 2005 & stocked up during a Christmas sale (AU$1.70 each). The larger Myer stores had them through Feb. when I left AU. Check NSW Myer stores in this order for the best inventory: Parramatta, North Ryde, and Chatswood.

The pens are not intended to be disposable; the universal cartridges fit them. When I insert my new cartridges, I ensure that I press the cartridge in hard until I hear a snap. Then I gently squeeze the sides of the cartridge a few times. Here in the U.S. I was able to buy a converter from Pendemonium (sorry, no idea what brand to ask for as they fit the converter for me at a pen show).

I used my Smiggles at work, and my only quibble was that a clip broke off in my bag. An attempt at gluing it back on did not work (at least not for long).

I am no longer able to find these wonderful pens on the Smiggle website. I e-mailed them about two months ago, explained how great the pens were, and asked about buying their excess stock. They have not replied.

The pens are approximately 11cm long when capped & 15cm long when posted.

I'd guess that the nibs are fine--definitely not broad, anyway. They write well.

I was able to buy them in three colours--blue, purple, and pink. The cartridges contained black ink.

In a later post, I will tell you about other places to buy fountain pens in Sydney.

June 14, 2006

Dang!! They dont sell them anymore ??

Then i better make sure the ones I have last as long as they could !!! I'll keep an eye out on the Myer store i got them from if they bring any more in

The nibs were a bit too extra-fine for me, so I sand-papered the nib a bit so it writes a bit thicker. I'm glad i got good results (i wouldnt do it on a pricey pen). As with refills...I dont know about you, but the refills seem to cost just as much as the pen. I filled the empty cartridges with Quink using a syringe/pipette . They dont write as smoothly with Quink than the ink they originally came with, but its still a wet writer.

June 15, 2006

I don't know if they are still available or not, but I have not been able to find them on the Smiggle website the last two times I looked.

kissing, would you please elaborate on how you converted one of the nibs to an oblique stub nib?

June 16, 2006

hmm.... cute.

June 16, 2006

I don't know if they are still available or not, but I have not been able to find them on the Smiggle website the last two times I looked.

kissing, would you please elaborate on how you converted one of the nibs to an oblique stub nib?

I wouldnt advise the Oblique Stub nib thing i did, because it was a very rough job (i wasnt even intending to get satisfactory results).

I used a wire cutter to cut the tip off in the shape of an oblique nib and sand-papered it while holding it in the angle i would write in. I used some of the advice on grinding found at: http://www.marcuslink.com/pens/nibs.html

I dont have any proper fountain-pen tools. Just an average guy with some imagination and basic hardware tools

Other than the roughly engineered "oblique nib" i made, i had a better success making the Extra fine nibs into Fine/Mediums that have superior ink flow with light sand-papering with the nib grinding at the paper at the angle i would write in. It was a lot of trial and error work, and you may end up with unpleasant, scratchy results (which thankfully i didnt end up with). If you're sentimental about your Smiggle pens because they are not widely sold anymore..might be a better idea if you played it safe, but I did get good results after some simple sand-paper grinding.