(Please Vote) Has Your Twsbi Cracked?

[Thor_Odinson]

I love my 580. I owned one for a few weeks before it was stolen. Bought another because it's my favorite pen.

[bongo47]

Yep, mines the first Eco to crack !

That's a real bummer. Any word on getting it, or parts parts replaced?

[TrinityTam]

There wasn't an option in the poll but I'd like to report that the nib unit housing on my Micarta (clipless) cracked twice. It was sent with a tiny hairline crack that mysteriously kept leaking ink until Philip walked me through a disassembly process and i discovered it. He graciously replaced the nib unit and adjusted my nib.

 

I eventually cleaned out and put away the pen for a year (working fine at the time). Just a few weeks ago when I took the pen out again, I unscrewed the nib unit to check and there were cracks all over the housing. Good thing I checked before inking it up. I ordered a Vac 700 nib replacement and just received it today. It's installed and working fine (so far).

[Left FPN]

Don't own one ?????

 

Why put that in the poll.

[SNAK]

2 x Mini

1 x Vac 700

4 x 580

 

None of them cracked for me or has shown sign of cracking. The oldest one is about 3 years old. I use them regularly, at least 4 TWSBI's are inked at any given time.

 

I carry them in pen cases, and I don't post the caps of my pens (except the Mini's which has the threads to twist on the cap).

 

Added: I'd forgotten about the new Eco's.

2x Eco as well.

Edited September 10, 2015 by SNAK

[sirgilbert357]

Well, I just added my vote. Three days before having the pen a full month, my Mini Classic's nib & feed holder broke. I have no idea how. I was taking it apart to clean it and did not mean to actually extract the nib and feed from the holder, I was trying to get the whole nib assembly out of the sleeve it slides into and it all just pulled out rather easily. That's when I noticed the holder was broken.

 

Philip has a new part on its way to me; though not for free...cost me 3.00. I found that odd, but I *did* say "Let me know if I need to pay anything". So, meh...

[Oldtimer]

I should and will vote 5 times because I have 5 TWISBIs that have not

cracked

[ThirdeYe]

The only TWSBI that I've owned is a 530. I have only inked it maybe 2 or 3 times, but it has not cracked (yet). I've heard they were quite prone to cracking, so I use it sparingly.

[sirgilbert357]

The only TWSBI that I've owned is a 530. I have only inked it maybe 2 or 3 times, but it has not cracked (yet). I've heard they were quite prone to cracking, so I use it sparingly.

 

Yeah, that's no fun...if mine cracks again, I'll get the replacement part from Philip to make it whole again and then sell it. I can get the nib type I got this pen for in other types of pens...but I sure would miss it. Love the size and dimensions...and capacity...

[2n7000]

No cracks in my 580 but it's rarely inked up and used.

[Moynihan]

interesting.

as of 1:47 pm CDT (U.S.) on 10/15/2015, of those who own the model, crack %:

530 48%

540 58%

Classic 10%

Mini 33%

VAC 700 21%

580 15%

Eco 5%

 

Build quality, aging, both? Difficult to separate that part out.

 

Note: Owner of 580, 580AL, Eco

[jchch1950]

I had been a promoter of twsbi pens thinking that I will like to support a new pen company.Lately one of my 530 pen just went wrong in any possible way. the piston broke,the section crake and in got all stain.Then I send an email to twsbi asking to buy a new barrel and get no answer.Now I think that my investment in 8 pens was terrible mistake.

[amberleadavis]

You can contact TWSBI through here or via the email address in another post. They have been very good about answering emails in my experience.

[T4TEXAS]

I agree. I had a concern - foundless as it turned out - and my email was replied to same day with a courteous explanation.

[amberleadavis]

I really don't know that this is a fair poll, since like others here, I own many TWSBIs. Of my more than 20 540s, some did develop cracks, most did not. All were replaced promptly and without any fuss. None of my more than 5 580s or 5 700s have ever developed cracks. (Yes, I own a lot of TWSBIs)

 

I purchased TWSBIs to be my lifelong Frankenpen. When I am old and can no longer afford to buy pens, I will always be able to make a few TWSBIs to test out my ink collection.

[Amberjack]

My only TWSBI is a black diamond mini that I've had for years. No cracking, smooth, wet nib and writes first time every time even after sitting for days. Maybe I'm just lucky but I love mine.

 

Jack

[SalaciousBCrumb]

I've had my Diamond 580 (Clear) for a year or so now, a few months back it cracked where the clip and top cap meet. Nothing out of the ordinary in terms of use. Just regular clipping on elastic pen holders and fabric pen rolls. Love the pen though. It's a great value for the price. It seems people have had luck contacting Speedy for replacement parts... I'll give that a whirl.

[bijou3owl]

My Mini has had a tiny crack on the grip for a while now, but it wasn't compromising anything major structurally for the pen so I ignored it. Last time I disassembled the pen, however, I found the feed hood thing had separated in two, the break being where the o-ring is. The pen is still usable, but when the M nib units are back in stock at Goulet I'm going to snag one (it's currently outfitted with a stub, and I've discovered I'm not a fan of stubs, which is why I'm buying a new nib unit instead of contacting TWSBI for a replacement). I've had the pen about a year, and it's given me a lot of flow issues. I'm curious to see how the pen works with a different nib unit.

[abstract49]

I've had my Diamond 580 (Clear) for a year or so now, a few months back it cracked where the clip and top cap meet. Nothing out of the ordinary in terms of use. Just regular clipping on elastic pen holders and fabric pen rolls. Love the pen though. It's a great value for the price. It seems people have had luck contacting Speedy for replacement parts... I'll give that a whirl.

 

I've had my Diamond 580 clear, and my Vac 700 smoke, both for well over a year, probably more like two years. No problems with either (except I don't really like vacuum fillers, and I don't know why I bought it; but it does write well for an oriental F). And then, I did get too aggressive with disassembling the 580 for cleaning once, lost the tiny nut inside the cap; TWSBI replaced the whole cap for reasonable shipping charges only.

[Lloyd]

My 530 cracked a few weeks ago. TWSBI replaced it with a 580 using my 530's (awesome) nib. It took about 1-2 weeks.