FPR Airmail 58C w/ FPR stub Handwritten Review:

[manoeuver]

Overall: not wowed by the FPR stub, but it's totally usable (after some simple smoothing) and I've got a bunch of spare nibs to practice grinding.

The pen is super classy looking and a pretty good platform. I like the Airmail platform for these reasons:

• variety of nibs: fine, medium, stub and flex.
• CHEAP replacement nibs, great for grinding yer own.
• Eyedropper. Nothing to break really.

I really like FPR and what they do. I encourage all of you to drop a bit of your pen loot directly into India and try some of these pens.

thanks!

[Carole]

Signor, this is quite choice. The loupe picture xspecially. Do you mind if I pepper the thread with questions? I've been wanting to get this exact pen.

--what kind of fiddling was needed to write more better? brass shim, feed hack, or beyond that?
--any verdict on the flex nib?
--was the underwhelming part mostly due to the smooth issue? if it was 1.1 would that have been more whelming?

Thanx for a mighty fine review.

[manoeuver]

Thanks for your kind words; ask away!

no fiddling as severe as shimming, hacking or the like. I think the ink I used first may have had some grit or other obstructive particulate matter in it. I scrubbed the nib and feed and inked it with my trusty habana brown and that about did it. It was hard starting for a bit but I should have let the feed saturate longer than I did.

I like the FPR flex nib better than I like the Noodler's flex nib. It is very simple and not super noodly-loose but it's flexy and cheap and it works. I suck at flex writing and am far from an expert flex nib evaluator.

I would have been pleasantly whelmed by a 1.1mm stub or thereabouts. It's hard to get much stubbishness out of such a fine nib. The scratchyness is something I can fix in minutes and therefore a very minor quibble for a pen at this price point. I'm currently in the process of grinding one of the extra nibs I got with this shipment to a juicier stub, I'll post those results once I have any.

thanks again!

[caribbean_skye]

If you were underwhelmed by their stub, what nib would you recommend for a first-type buyer of theirs if they were to get this pen? Thanks for sharing the review.

[manoeuver]

You're welcome! For a first time buy just get the default nib.

And as long as you're ordering, get a couple of the cheapie serwex pens and grind em down to stubland.

[manoeuver]

Update! I did some grinding last night and....



the rough grind... took off just about the whole tipping ball:


A tad Oblique, perfectly suited to my hand.




comparison to an original unmolested nib:

[KrazyIvan]

Very nice, man. At one time that F stub would have suited me. Not anymore. I am in love with my 1 mm-1.1 mm nibs.

[manoeuver]

Thanks Ivan. My sweet spot is in the 1mm range too. My Vac700 stub is considerably finer, I keep eyeing the 1.1 nibsets online...

[Bogon07]

Neat review. There is something stylishly retro about the pen itself.
I can see you are not a man to triffle with, you've sandpapered that nib to within an inch of it's life. It gives your lettering some nice variation now.

[manoeuver]

Thanks!
yes, the nib was screaming for mercy the whole time.
I said, 'shaddap nib, you work for ME now.'

it gets really gruesome when I have to change a tire on the car.

[southpaw52]

Great review, I like the product offerings FPR..