I would not reccomend TWSBI for beginners, I find that the nibs are way to finicky. I needed to tune mine a bit before it wrote well. Pilot and Lamy are great out of the box.
I haven't had this experience with TWSBI. They used to have somewhat more finicky nibs before they switched to using Jowo nibs. I've found the nibs on TWSBI pens to generally be pretty well adjusted Jowo nibs. They aren't the same level of quality control as Japanese brands but are probably better than any European brand.
Plus they have a really good lifetime warranty. If your nib has issues, call them. They will probably send you a replacement.
Funny, I've had the opposite experience. That might be down to things like hand size, how you hold the pen etc.
I've had 3-4 Lamy pens and they have all ended up wither being given away or thrown in the bin because the nibs tend to be either dry or scratchy for me. I think I have only one regular Pilot pen and it works well for me. (I did try a flex nib Namiki Falcon, and that just didn't work at all for me. Namiki/Pilot are the same company, right?).
I haven't been in the fountain pen world for a couple years, but it was typical for everything except the Japanese pens to have consistency issues. I wouldn't fault this on the OP's usage habits with his regards to TWSBI issues. I've heard they've gotten better, but again, haven't been buying for years at this point.
Namiki is the same as Pilot yes. The flex falcon's are notably scratchy, and it's a well known issue. The general cheap pens (i.e. the metropolitan and co) are amazing, both in consistency and performance. The Falcon nibs on their #15 pens (most famously the 823) don't have the scratchiness, but can have flow issues.
quantgenius|2 years ago
Plus they have a really good lifetime warranty. If your nib has issues, call them. They will probably send you a replacement.
bborud|2 years ago
I've had 3-4 Lamy pens and they have all ended up wither being given away or thrown in the bin because the nibs tend to be either dry or scratchy for me. I think I have only one regular Pilot pen and it works well for me. (I did try a flex nib Namiki Falcon, and that just didn't work at all for me. Namiki/Pilot are the same company, right?).
suzakus|2 years ago
Namiki is the same as Pilot yes. The flex falcon's are notably scratchy, and it's a well known issue. The general cheap pens (i.e. the metropolitan and co) are amazing, both in consistency and performance. The Falcon nibs on their #15 pens (most famously the 823) don't have the scratchiness, but can have flow issues.