Kaweco Sketch Up Clutch Lead Holder Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

The Kaweco Sketch Up Lead Holder is a brass instrument for holding lead between 5.4 and 5.7mm thick. It comes with one 5.6mm 5B graphite lead, so you'll probably want to order refills (see below) along with your lead holder.

The Sketch is a solid instrument with an octagonal barrel. It is 10.3cm in length, 13.8cm in diameter, and weighs 1.5oz. It does not come with a clip, but you can add one if you like for $6.75.

The clutch mechanism looks like something out of Alien or Terminator. In other words, it's pretty cool. You press on the back push button to open the clutch and insert the lead. This is also how you advance or retract the lead.

The push button is removable, and integrated inside is a lead sharpener. This lead holder is like a James Bond gizmo–a removable push button with a secret sharpener, a clutch mechanism that could be used to crush someone's pinky while interrogating them, and a pencil, too!

The Sketch feels comfortable in the hand, and although it is heavy, the weight is balanced. I didn't feel any fatigue using it to sketch. However, JetPens also offers plastic versions if you think the brass might be too heavy (see below).

The lead itself is soft and malleable. You can draw fine lines when the lead is sharp and use the sides for softer, thicker lines. Because the lead is so soft, it smears easily, so keep a good, soft eraser handy.

My daughter is the real artist in the family. She used the Kaweco Sketch to draw this griffin. Pretty impressive, huh? (I'm a wee bit biased).

Here's a closeup of the lead on paper.

The sketchbook used for these drawings is the Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Premium Sketchbook for multimedia. It is an excellent 62-page sketchbook, with a hardback cover and archival 150gsm paper. The pages are sewn and the notebook lies flat if you bend back the binding. These are available at Dick Blick for $15.99.

You can order the Kaweco Sketch Up Clutch Lead Holder from JetPens for $36.00. A brass chrome version is also available as are three plastic versions (3.2mm in gray, black and mint) for $19.00 each. A variety of refills are available, including Kaweco graphite 3-pack ($6.50) and Kaweco colored lead 3 packs (in blue, red, yellow, green) ($6.50). E+M offers a pack of eight colored leads for $10.00.

Kaweco Skyline Sport Fountain Pen Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

The Kaweco Skyline Sport is one of Kaweco's many diminutive fountain pens. Only 4.1 inches long when capped, the pen lengthens to 5.2 inches posted which makes it comfortable for writing. The pen's body is made of plastic, and the nib is steel. The Skyline Sport comes in three colors: gray, black, and mint. I chose mint because it is an unusual color and reminds me of spring. I don't really see much of a difference between the Skyline Sport and the Classic Sport. JetPens says that the Classic is 5.3 inches posted vs. the Skyline at 5.2 inches, but they look the same length to me. The only other difference I could find is that the Classic comes with gold-plated nibs and the Skyline with chrome-plated.

The packaging is nothing special--just a simple black, cardboard box with the pen in a plastic sleeve. The pen comes with one blue cartridge, so if you buy a Kaweco, plan on ordering additional cartridges and/or purchasing a converter to use your own bottled ink.

The pen is simple but beautiful, with clean lines and minimal adornments. The cap has a metal medallion on top with the Kaweco logo, and "Kaweco Sport" is engraved on the pen's body.

The pen does not come with a clip, though you can purchase one for $6.75. The clip I bought for my original Kaweco Sport isn't very functional. If you exert any pressure to clip it to a notebook or a pocket, it slips right off the barrel. I like the design of Kaweco's new deco clips, so I might buy one just to enhance the Skyline's appearance.

Because I don't like being limited to cartridges, I purchased Kaweco's squeeze converter ($3.00).

The converter is tiny and is impossible to fill without a huge mess. I tried filling the converter first, dipping its opening into the ink and squeezing, and I wound up with Diamine Mint all over my hands. Then I attached the converter to the nib unit and tried filling through the nib. No matter how many times I squeezed the converter, I could only get a tiny amount of ink to go in the sac. So, I resorted to squeezing, pulling the nib out, turning the tip up, tapping on the sac to get the ink to go to the bottom, and quickly dipping and squeezing again. After several attempts and very inky fingers, I was able to get the converter mostly full.

To put it bluntly, the converter is a pain to use. It might be better to purchase a syringe to fill the converter or to fill empty cartridges. Or you can easily convert the Kaweco into an eyedropper by putting silicone grease on the threads and filling the body of the pen with ink. One other thing I discovered about the converter: dark inks stain the plastic sac.

I was looking forward to trying Kaweco's broad nib. My Kaweco Sport has a fine nib that writes quite well. I wanted to see if the broad nib offered more line variation. Unfortunately, I'm disappointed with the broad nib.

After writing with it for a day, my hand grew tired because I had to put a good amount of pressure on the nib to get the ink to flow. I soaked the nib and feed in some pen wash while I was at work, rinsed, reassembled, and let the pen sit for a while, nib down, to let the ink soak into the feed. This seemed to help, at first. I got good ink flow and the pen wrote smoothly. But after a few pages, the flow petered out, and I was having to use some pressure again. The nib probably needs adjusting.

I don't really expect much from a $23.75 pen with a steel nib. But my other Kaweco writes quite well, and I don't have to use any pressure at all. From what I've read on the fountain pen forums, Kaweco nibs vary in quality from pen to pen, which is unfortunate.

Interestingly, the difference between the fine and broad nibs isn't all that noticeable. I expected the broad nib to be much wider than it is. When put side-by-side with a fine nib, the broad nib looks substantially larger.

But when you write with it, the portion of the broad nib that actually touches the paper is small.

Writing samples from the broad and the fine nib just don't look very different. The broad nib seems more like a medium, if that.

The Skyline Sport is made of plastic, and it feels rather cheap in the hand. The plastic has a few rough spots, but overall the grip is smooth and the threads aren't annoying.

However, as you can see in the photo of my older Kaweco Sport, the plastic scratches easily with everyday use. Posting the cap leaves indentations in the barrel.

One advantage of the Kaweco Skyline's small size, is that it fits easily into a pocket or purse. My Kaweco Sport kept getting lost in the depths of my bag, so now I keep it in the zippered plastic pocket of my small Midori notebook (it won't fit in the pen loop because the cap is too big).

Pros

• Small, convenient size
• The Skyline model comes a unique mint color as well as black and gray
• Inexpensive. but you get what you pay for
• If you are lucky enough to get a decent nib, the Kaweco writes quite smoothly

Cons

• The pen seems cheaply made, has some rough spots, and the body scratches easily
• The cartridges hold a small amount of ink
• The converter is fiddly and messy to use
• The broad nib, so far, writes dry and requires pressure to keep the ink flowing

You can purchase the Kaweco Skyline Sport Mint at JetPens for $23.75. Cartridge refills cost $2.30 for six. The Kaweco squeeze converter is $3.00. And a chrome Sport N Clip is $6.75.

Kaweco Zequenz Notebook Review

I've said it before, and I'm going to say it once more — there really is a notebook out there for every niche purpose, and the Kaweco-branded Zequenz dual notebook is why I'm repeating myself.

So, what's so special about this notebook? Well, it's two notebooks in one. Where most notebooks that feature two types of paper figure out a way to fit both types into the same binding, Kaweco and Zequenz went in another direction. What we have here is a bizarre double-sided notebook. If you look at the book from the top, the covers seem to form an S shape, with binding inside both curves of the S. In theory, this seems like a pretty great idea. Want lined paper? Great — just open one side of the notebook. Ready to switch to plain paper? No problem — just flip that bad boy over and you're all set.

As much as I wished a novel idea like this was successful in practice, I just can't say so in this case. I was a big fan of the show Flight of the Conchords back in its day, and there's a scene in the show where Bret, while trying to be thoughtful, glues his buddy Jemaine's cell phone and camera together, dubbing it a "cameraphone." It was really sweet of Bret to go out of his way to upgrade Jemaine's phone and camera, but Jemaine later admits that he thinks Bret kind of ruined his phone and his camera. Yep, I feel the same way about this notebook.

The notebook looks interesting from the outside, but once you start using it, it quickly loses its appeal. And, bear in mind that I'm just one dude with his own picky preferences for writing instruments and stationery, so don't let that dissuade you if double-sided, thick notebooks are your bag.

Comfort

One of the big things that made it difficult for me to like this notebook was the thickness. When you put two notebooks back to back, it stands pretty tall when laid on a desk. It's probably an inch and a half or more in height. Also consider its small footprint, and you have a notebook that is difficult to write in. I might be alone this (I've never talked to other people about this preference), but I don't enjoy writing in notebooks or pads that are very tall. It just doesn't fit with my writing style and grip as I feel like there's nowhere for my hand to rest. If I put my hand on the table like I normally do, then my wrist is at an awkward angle due to the tall notebook. If I try to keep my hand off the table, I have to float my writing hand above the notebook, and this just produces unreadable scrawls.

Stiff binding

Another issue that I couldn't ignore was how stiff the binding is. It's impossible for this notebook to lie open without assistance from your other hand. Otherwise, it just snaps shut. It doesn't appear to get any better with use, either.

Paper quality

The paper quality — this is where I was truly disappointed. Why? Because Kaweco put their brand on the covers. If a fountain pen company places their logo on a paper product, one has reasonable cause to believe that the paper plays well with fountain pens, right? That was my assumption, and therefore you can understand my disappointment when I tried out a few pens on both sides of the notebook and discovered there was lots of bleeding, feathering, and show-through. These problems weren't isolated to wet, wide nibbed pens, but any fountain pen — even small nibbed Japanese pens. I was disappointed by the paper performance, and honestly I think Kaweco should be ashamed of putting their logo on it.

Apart from the feathering/bleeding issues, the paper has an unpleasant tooth that seemed to catch nibs at inopportune moments. Overall, definitely one of the worst papers I've tested.

The band closure

On another note, this notebook also includes an elastic band that you can use to keep the notebook closed. This band also includes a small pen loop that does a pretty awesome job at keeping your pen secured to the notebook. It's really tight, and can therefore require a bit of work, but it's also very secure and makes you feel like your pen is safe for your travels.

The downside to this elastic band is that it isn't attached to the notebook. It's a separate piece and requires two hands to operate both when removing or placing on the notebook. It's a nice feature, but I just wish it was as easy to use as your standard Rhodia/Leuchtturm/Moleskine band.

Conclusion

Basically, don't buy this notebook unless you want a double sided book that you intend to use with gel pens and ballpoints. The unique attribute of this notebook isn't enough to outweigh the fact that it just doesn't perform as a notebook. At the end of the day, notebooks are for writing in, and this one doesn't do a great job in that regard. I think notebooks that are branded by pen/pencil makers are a great idea, and I hope that Kaweco continues with this by selecting a better paper partner for their future products.

(Kaweco provided this product to The Pen Addict at no charge for review purposes.)