ystudio Brassing Portable Fountain Pen Review

Finally.

For a pen that has been a personal favorite of mine for years, I am finally putting pen to paper and writing my review of the ystudio Brassing Portable Fountain Pen.

What has taken me so long? I can’t really say, other than I use it a lot, which, for some reason, puts it in a different mental work queue. It even got to the point where I used it so much, and raved about it on top of that, that I just assumed I had reviewed it. It was only when I went to search for the link of the review to share that I realized I hadn’t. Repeatedly.

I’ve had plenty of opportunity to review it, too. It was my first ystudio product, and since then, I’ve reviewed six other ystudio products. But never this one.

As the origin story goes, I first saw this pen shared by my online friend Patrick Ng and my jaw dropped. I had to have it, but as with many products from the Asian market, it was tough to acquire. I kept a keen eye on the situation, eventually discovering a shop named Kohezi in Amsterdam, who became my first ystudio dealer, and where I acquired this pen. That was in November, 2016, and it has been in regular use since.

The style is what first drew me to the Brassing Portable Fountain Pen. Hex barrels have been used in pens for quite some time, but the way this one was executed is unique enough to make it stand out from the pack. The lines are clean, and are set off by brass highlights peeking out from under the black exterior coating.

The black coating is what gives this pen its Brassing name. Over time, it will wear with use to show more of the underling brass barrel. I see more wabi-sabi in the grip section that I do in the black paint, but I do have plenty of dings on the exterior edges, giving it the well-loved look this pen deserves. You can speed up the Brassing effect with the included sandpaper, but I decided not to go that route with this pen.

The top of the pen features an integrated lanyard loop, where you can slide through the provided leather rope, and tighten it up with a brass bead. There is even an external carrying tube you can slide the lanyard through for added protection, although I haven’t seen mine for years. The leather rope and brass bead do reside permanently on my pen.

As much as I love the design of this pen, it wouldn’t be worth a mention if it didn’t perform well, and feel great doing it. In use, I would consider the Brassing Portable Fountain Pen to be a small pen. The grip section is narrow, and tapers down towards the provided #5 gold-plated steel Schmidt nib. The Schmidt nib works perfectly well, but I swapped it out for a Franklin-Christoph Steel #5 Broad Nib, with a Mike Masuyama Cursive Italic grind. It’s a mouthful, but it has proven to be the perfect compliment to this pen for years.

(Side note: Schmidt and Jowo #5 nibs are swappable, but the same #6 nibs are not due to feed differences.)

I honestly cannot speak highly enough of this pen. It’s not for everyone - with possible questions around size, barrel materials, nib choice, and cost - but I’ve found it perfect for me. The way it feels in my hand. The way the cap clicks on. The way the barrel lines up. The way the brass hits just right. The way the lanyard allows me to fidget with it. And, most importantly, the way it writes.

Luckily, since I bought mine, ystudio products have become much more accessible. Kohezi is the best choice in Europe, and even worldwide if you are looking for some of the more rare releases. In the US, distributor Kenro brought ystudio in earlier this year, meaning you can check out their full product lineups at all of my site sponsors - JetPens, Goldspot, PenChalet, and Vanness Pens.

ystudio keeps doing good work, and I keep adding them to my library. The Brassing Portable Fountain Pen was my first, and despite the competition from their own catalog, it is still the best for me.

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Nakaya Long Piccolo in Ama-Iro with a Cursive Italic Reversible Grind by Mark Bacas: A 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.)

Back in May, I purchased a Nakaya Long Piccolo in Ama-Iro from my friend Rick Liebson. It came with a luscious BB nib. The Nakaya Long Piccolo is a body shape produced only for Aesthetic Bay, so nabbing one of these isn't easy. Plus, Nakaya stopped producing pens in the Ama-Iro finish in 2019. I was thrilled to add such a unique pen to my Nakaya collection.

The Long Piccolo is significantly longer than the regular Piccolo, measuring 5.9 inches/150mm in length capped as compared to 5.1 inches/130mm for the regular Piccolo. Uncapped, the Long Piccolo is 5.1 inches/130mm in contrast to the regular Piccolo, which is 4.6 inches/116mm. It's not a heavy pen at all, weighing only 19.7 grams inked and unposted (posting Nakayas is not recommended).

On the left is the Nakaya Piccolo Watching the Moon Cat. On the right is the Nakaya Long Piccolo in Ama-Iro.

Otherwise, the Long Piccolo has the same design elements as the regular Piccolo: conical finials, a body that tapers slightly outward in the middle, and a noticeable step-down from the barrel to the grip.

The Ama-Iro finish is gorgeous. It's sky blue, but with a grey cast that keeps it from being too bright.

The nib started as a double broad (BB). Unfortunately, I failed to take a photo of the nib before I had it ground. I did write with it in my journal, and, although it was smooth as silk, it was too broad and mushy for my handwriting.

I sent the pen to Mark Bacas and we discussed possible grinds. Originally, I thought the BB might make a good Predator nib. But Mark advised me to consider a reversible grind: double broad cursive italic with the nib in normal position, and fine with the nib upside down. Just look at this amazing nib now!

The BB cursive italic is smooth and forgiving yet offers a precise writing line with lots of character.

The reverse is also smooth, and the fine line it produces is the perfect width.

You can see the line width difference between the two sides here:

This nib is so much fun to use, and the ability to have a BB cursive italic and fine line with just a flip of the nib makes it versatile.

If you're interested in nib grinds that go beyond the normal options (Cursive Italic, Italic, Oblique, etc.), be sure to check out Mark Bacas's site. I now own two pens with his special nib grinds (a Predator and this Reverse Grind) and I keep both inked all the time.

(I purchased the Nakaya Long Piccolo and got the Reverse CI grind from Mark Bacas with my own funds.)

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Zebra Clickart Knock Sign Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

These Zebra Clickart pens have all the joy of a felt-tip marker with the convenience of a clicky pen. The 6mm tip is fine enough to use for writing or sketching, while the side of the bullet-shaped tip also works for coloring and filling in. They're very versatile and perform better than I expected.

The pen body is in white plastic with a molded roll-stop, but no clip. I wish they had clips, but the lack of one does mean they fit more nicely into overstuffed pen pouches. Since this pen is available in 36 colors, your pen pouch is bound to need all the extra room possible. The tip of the pen is conical in plastic the color of the pen's ink, and the clicky knock is also in the ink color, so you can easily see what color you're selecting from either end. The clicky knock has a very satisfying click. An A+ on the fidget scale.

The felt tip is a fine bullet shape. The tip makes a nicely thin line, and holding it at an angle creates a bolder line. It has the feel of a marker, with that familiar feedback and scritchy sound.

I was skeptical about a click marker's ability to not dry out, and even more surprised to see these don't have any sort of trap door that closes off the tip when it is retracted. The tip just retracts, chilling there in the barrel, open to the air. The secret lies in the ink, according to the specs. It will apparently not dry out for a year, so long as it is kept retracted when not in use. This magical ink absorbs moisture from the air, so it may not work as well in arid climates.

The ink performs beautifully on paper, with rich colors and good coverage. It does feather and bleed a bit on cheap copy paper, though--like just about any marker will. I think these would be excellent for sketching and art, perfect for coloring books, and super fun for planner decorating. I have blue-green, peach-pink, and dark brown here. They cost $1.65 in open stock, or $41 for a set of all 36 colors. I think that's a very good value and I definitely want all the colors.

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

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Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!