[Pen/Pencil Review] Noodler’s Piston-Fill Liquid Ink Rollerball
I still have a couple of Dallas Pen Show pens to review. This week’s a liquid ink rollerball from Noodler’s that I picked up at the Dallas Pen Show. I want to say they were giving them away, but I may have bought it because I love the one from J. Herbin so much.
This one is different from the J. Herbin. It’s a piston-fill chamber instead of a cartridge. The piston is covered with a clear plastic twist on cap on the base end of the pen. The grip is black rubber sealed into the clear plastic barrel. It’s easy to see the ink levels. The cap is also clear with a threaded seal. The name of the company is etched into the metal clip.
The pen fills by dipping the metal roller ball tip into the ink about halfway up the black grip and twisting the piston on the base end. And that may be where I had a bit of “user error”. I filled the pen with Kraken Black – a Cryptid ink from Scribal Workshop. I either overfilled it or…something… because quite a bit of it leaked into the cap. Again, it might be my fault. Or not… there is a bit on the Noodler’s website that says if there are drops of ink in the cap to remove them with a cotton swab. It seems to come from the rubber grip between it and the point.
I rinsed the whole thing off to get it clean… and now I can’t seem to get ink to come out of the roller ball tip. The point is nice. It’s a relatively fine point, and would make a nice line if I could get some consistency out of it. But maybe I just need to dump the ink and try something else, because this isn’t working. I’m getting ink on my hands, not on a page. I’ve been trying to work with it, but I’m getting frustrated. It shouldn’t have this much of a learning curve.
I got it to work ONCE – for the writing sample. Then it started leaking.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 0.0 – I’m trying to get it work. It probably did the first time I used it, but now… I’m frustrated and have ink on my hands. It looks like it should be awesome. IF this was supposed to be used with ONLY Noodler’s Ink – they should’ve said so.
2. Grip and feel – 1 – It’s a good length and diameter. The rubber grip gives it some cushion and comfort.
3. Material – 1 – It’s a clear plastic demonstrator. It’s got a milled piston with a cover and a descent cap.
4. Overall Design – 0.5 – It should be awesome. I love the idea. But this one is failing between the leaking and the need to probably clean out the ink (that’s designed for fountain pens) and find something else to use in it. The fact that you’re locked into the piston fill – so you can’t even attempt a cartridge makes it less flexible than it could be.
5. Price Point – 0.0 – It’s a bit on the pricey side – the website says $14. Which I know I didn’t pay that at the Dallas Pen Show (and I’m glad I didn’t because right now… I’d be a lot more frustrated than I am). IF what I’m dealing with is user error…okay, but still, it’s a lot to pay for the HOPE that it’s going to work like I know it should.
That’s 2.5 of 5 bronze pencils.
