Nemosine Singularity

[DustyR]

Is the grip section plastic or metal? C. S.

 

 

Plastic

[Omaslover]

Interesting pen at an affordable price.

[inkfade]

I have two of these, one over three years old (black) and one just a few months (clear demonstrator I converted to eyedropper). I love them. They are reliable, can take a beating, and are cheap to replace if need be.

[Charles Skinner]

I had an Indian eyedropper that I really liked, but it "burped" and I could not stop it from being a real problem. Does your eyedropper burp and lead ink? C. S.

[LizEF]

I had an Indian eyedropper that I really liked, but it "burped" and I could not stop it from being a real problem. Does your eyedropper burp and lead ink? C. S.

 

I've also eye-droppered this pen (with a 0.6 mm stub nib) and have not had any burping problems.

 

That said, there's a guy at my work for whom nearly every pen he uses - even not eye-droppered - will burp. The primary difference - when he tests one of my pens and hands it back to me, it is noticeably warm to me. My suspicion is that anyone whose surface temperature is enough above normal will risk causing pens to burp (unless they manage to warm them up before use).

 

(Apparently this isn't that unusual - people's normal body temps range between a few degrees rather than all of us being 98.6 F.)

 

Just something to consider. (Along with the usual suspects like a nib that doesn't fit right, ambient temperature / pressure changes, and whatever else I'm missing.)

[inkfade]

I had an Indian eyedropper that I really liked, but it "burped" and I could not stop it from being a real problem. Does your eyedropper burp and lead ink? C. S.

 

My Nemosine Singularity that I converted to eyedropper has never leaked or burped, and I've had it eyedroppered for over a month now, and often carry it out and about with me. I just made sure I put enough silicone grease on the threads. I also did not use an O-ring, mostly because I didn't have any, but I have no idea if that would make a big difference or not with this particular pen.

[LizEF]

... I also did not use an O-ring, mostly because I didn't have any, but I have no idea if that would make a big difference or not with this particular pen.

 

Mine does have an o-ring on it. No idea if it's necessary. Apache Sunset has worked its way up to the top threads - but this is my first eye-droppering, so I may not have used enough silicone grease... Certainly there's no evidence of the ink working its way onto / under / around the o-ring. I've only had this thing a couple of weeks.

 

From your experience, it doesn't appear to be needed if you grease sufficiently. From my experience, the o-ring causes no harm.

[inkfade]

 

Mine does have an o-ring on it. No idea if it's necessary. Apache Sunset has worked its way up to the top threads - but this is my first eye-droppering, so I may not have used enough silicone grease... Certainly there's no evidence of the ink working its way onto / under / around the o-ring. I've only had this thing a couple of weeks.

 

From your experience, it doesn't appear to be needed if you grease sufficiently. From my experience, the o-ring causes no harm.

 

Idk about greasing so much. When I went to switch inks, I had a hell of a time unscrewing the barrel. I finally got so frustrated I grabbed a wrench, which eventually worked. (I had cloth between the wrench and pen, so it wasn't scratched. ) Nonetheless, I have never worked so hard to unscrew a barrel and I don't know if it had to do with the grease. Would that make it harder or easier to unscrew if it had been closed for a month or so?

 

I should probably buy some O-rings since I'm getting eyedropper fever. I'll add them on to my next order from Goulet, they're cheap enough.

[LizEF]

 

Idk about greasing so much. When I went to switch inks, I had a hell of a time unscrewing the barrel. I finally got so frustrated I grabbed a wrench, which eventually worked. (I had cloth between the wrench and pen, so it wasn't scratched. ) Nonetheless, I have never worked so hard to unscrew a barrel and I don't know if it had to do with the grease. Would that make it harder or easier to unscrew if it had been closed for a month or so?

 

I should probably buy some O-rings since I'm getting eyedropper fever. I'll add them on to my next order from Goulet, they're cheap enough.

 

I have no idea whether the grease makes it harder to unscrew - I wouldn't think so. I bought the Platinum Preppy O-rings from Goulet, and they fit well enough - so that should work for you. I'll try to remember to report back when mine goes empty and I unscrew the body for cleaning.

 

Meanwhile, I accidentally dropped mine (don't do that) on the garage floor - only about a 2.5 foot drop, but onto concrete. It landed on the end of the cap, and oddly, it now has cracks at the other end - on opposite sides of the cap threads below the metal band. How that works, I don't know - shock waves? I'll be buying another, and this time be extra careful with it...

[inkfade]

 

I have no idea whether the grease makes it harder to unscrew - I wouldn't think so. I bought the Platinum Preppy O-rings from Goulet, and they fit well enough - so that should work for you. I'll try to remember to report back when mine goes empty and I unscrew the body for cleaning.

 

Meanwhile, I accidentally dropped mine (don't do that) on the garage floor - only about a 2.5 foot drop, but onto concrete. It landed on the end of the cap, and oddly, it now has cracks at the other end - on opposite sides of the cap threads below the metal band. How that works, I don't know - shock waves? I'll be buying another, and this time be extra careful with it...

 

Cracking is a well-known problem with the Nemosine Singularity. It eventually happens with most of them. I have a black one over three years old, and the plastic below the metal band on the cap finally began chipping after about two years. I went ahead and broke the rest of the plastic off to make it look more even. To be honest, it doesn't bother me because it doesn't affect writing at all, and aesthetically I never notice it. The plastic on my demonstrator is already developing hairline cracks (and I've only had it about a month) and eventually I know I'll have to do the same to it that I did to my black one. No biggie for me, but for other people it might be a problem.

[LizEF]

Cracking is a well-known problem with the Nemosine Singularity. It eventually happens with most of them. I have a black one over three years old, and the plastic below the metal band on the cap finally began chipping after about two years. I went ahead and broke the rest of the plastic off to make it look more even. To be honest, it doesn't bother me because it doesn't affect writing at all, and aesthetically I never notice it. The plastic on my demonstrator is already developing hairline cracks (and I've only had it about a month) and eventually I know I'll have to do the same to it that I did to my black one. No biggie for me, but for other people it might be a problem.

 

Yep, I knew about the cracking before I bought it - wanted to see for myself, and can't blame them for this. Still, I'm hoping the makers find a way to improve the plastic (TWSBI seems to have). In the meantime, I'll wait and see how it does until I'm ready to place another order, then I'll probably buy another, because there's just something about this pen that I love - appearance, size, grip shape, feel of the plastic... (The one with the cracked cap could live at work with a boring permanent blue ink in it.)

[TSherbs]

 

Yep, I knew about the cracking before I bought it - wanted to see for myself, and can't blame them for this. Still, I'm hoping the makers find a way to improve the plastic (TWSBI seems to have). In the meantime, I'll wait and see how it does until I'm ready to place another order, then I'll probably buy another, because there's just something about this pen that I love - appearance, size, grip shape, feel of the plastic... (The one with the cracked cap could live at work with a boring permanent blue ink in it.)

Only my demonstrator model has done this. My opaque colored versions have not cracked at all (all of them over two years old).

[LizEF]

Only my demonstrator model has done this. My opaque colored versions have not cracked at all (all of them over two years old).

 

Good to know, TSherbs! Too bad I really like demonstrators...

[inkfade]

 

Yep, I knew about the cracking before I bought it - wanted to see for myself, and can't blame them for this. Still, I'm hoping the makers find a way to improve the plastic (TWSBI seems to have). In the meantime, I'll wait and see how it does until I'm ready to place another order, then I'll probably buy another, because there's just something about this pen that I love - appearance, size, grip shape, feel of the plastic... (The one with the cracked cap could live at work with a boring permanent blue ink in it.)

 

Honestly I'll probably eventually buy another Nemosine Singularity demonstrator. It looks so good when eyedroppered. I can't believe at one point I thought demonstrators/eyedroppers were ugly.

[LizEF]

Speaking of burping... After I had used up the Apache Sunset I eye-droppered the pen with, I switched to using the converter that came with the pen, and this had burping problems with two inks (Diamine Misty Blue and De Atramentis Steel Blue). I've never had this problem with other pens.

 

Is it safe to assume that this problem is caused by the converter? I have other Standard International converters I can try, if that might fix the problem. If not, I guess I'll go back to eye-dropper and see how other inks behave. (Eye-droppering worries me slightly, in case the barrel cracks; and I don't use ink that quickly, but if it's the only way to avoid burping...)

 

Thanks!

[Charles Skinner]

I have one of these great low cost pens! One of my favorites! I have a question about the nib. It does not have ----- at least mine ----does not have that tiny bit of some sort of metal on the extreme tip of the nib. Is this what makes is such a great writer? And, if this metal is important, why is it left off on this pen?

 

C. Skinner

[LizEF]

I have one of these great low cost pens! One of my favorites! I have a question about the nib. It does not have ----- at least mine ----does not have that tiny bit of some sort of metal on the extreme tip of the nib. Is this what makes is such a great writer? And, if this metal is important, why is it left off on this pen?

 

C. Skinner

 

I'm assuming you have one of their stub nibs - 0.6mm or 0.8mm. These don't get tipping material. The lack of tipping material isn't what makes it such a great writer - that's just caused by the well-made nib. The tipping is pretty much mandatory for a "round" nib (EF, F, M, B ), but not for stub nibs - at least, none of my stub nibs have tipping material - as far as I can recall (maybe the Pilot Vanishing Point stub does). I expect it's left off because it's easier and/or cheaper to make a stub without tipping material and not crucial to have it.

Edited December 6, 2018 by LizEF

[Sailor Kenshin]

I'm assuming you have one of their stub nibs - 0.6mm or 0.8mm. These don't get tipping material. The lack of tipping material isn't what makes it such a great writer - that's just caused by the well-made nib. The tipping is pretty much mandatory for a "round" nib (EF, F, M, B ), but not for stub nibs - at least, none of my stub nibs have tipping material - as far as I can recall (maybe the Pilot Vanishing Point stub does). I expect it's left off because it's easier and/or cheaper to make a stub without tipping material and not crucial to have it.

I have both! The .6 and .8....and I just happen to have the 6 loaded now. I love these pens. I have one in about every nib.

 

My little Pelikan 1x-something is an italic with nice tipping, though.

[SteveID]

New vendor listings seem to indicate that Nemosine has discontinued the Singularity, with some listings for it as low as $9.95US on closeout, and Nemosine's own site showing many models of the line as 'sold out'.

Not stopping some of those devious eBay sellers listing particular models for over $60US.

 

All things must pass, apparently.

[Misfit]

I noticed it was no longer listed on a “tab” like the Fission and Neutrino on the Nemosine website. I guess that is the reason it was showing up at $9.95. Pity, but as you said all things pass.

 

I like the two I have. Get them while you can, so you can have a Black Hole pen too.