Kim Jumbo With Flex Steel Nib

June 21, 2015

Kim Jumbo has been reviewed here thoroughly by other members, so I will not go into the details about the pen itself.

I bought a Kim Jumbo with a flex steel nib from a fellow FPN member S-K a few months ago, he customized the ebonite feed and the steel nib. I travel a lot on work and found it hard to practice Copperplate with a dip nib, and hence was searching for something that will help me practice forms while I travel. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to use the pen until now and as you can see from the writing sample I need a lot of practice!

Here is a quick writing sample (pardon the scan, the colour of the ink seems to be greyer than the blue that is visible ot the naked eye),

I do not have any vintage or modern flex pens, so comparisons were not possible. As expected, this steel nib is definitely not as easy to flex as the dip nibs that I use. The tines do take time to settle back once the pressure is released. As long as I do not exert more than the threshold, I have not had any railroading issues with this pen. It lays down a wet line and I have tried with the following locally available paper,

- Bilt 100 GSM Executive Bond: holds well and no seeping or feathering

- Bilt 70 GSM: Holds well but slight feathering

- J&K 75 GSM Copier: Seep through and feathers when I rewrite

- HP 75 GSM: Seep through and constant feathering

The pen is huge (as mentioned in the other reviews) and can hold a lot of ink, but as I've adjusted it for a wet flow I've gone through four refills in the last week.

I have only tested it with Bril Black and a mixture of Bril Black and Camlin Royal Blue. So I'm unsure if it is the ink that is causing the problem.

And the pen with the nib,

The nib and feed are great and S-K wrote to me about being very cautious with replacing them. I must confess that in better hands, the result of the flex might be far greater.

PS: Mods, please move the post if this is not the approapriate section.