Review: BlueDew flex nib fountain pen

If you want the Zebra G nib performance without the constant ink reloads, BlueDew flex nib fountain pen is the one for you.

BlueDew is based in Singapore and they make a fountain pen with a customised flex nib designed for calligraphy. On their website, they say "Vintage flex were often mislabelled, overpriced, and needed additional care and maintenance. Dip pens simply aren’t a good portable option."

Official retail price is US $88. Global shipping is $12 and shipping within Singapore is free.


A hard pen case is included with the purchase.


The cover is hard and snaps onto the case with magnets.


Texture on the side.


Leather-like texture on the cover.


The pen is available in two colours, blue and white. I bought the blue because it looks more striking.


The gold-coloured pen clip is extremely stiff. Top and bottom are rounded off nicely.


The BlueDew name is shown prominently on the side of the body.


I would have preferred a cleaner look because the marble like design of the body is really beautiful. The body is also slightly transparent so you can see through to the nib and ink convertor.


The pen is considered light to medium weigh and is comfortable to gold. It measures 14cm when capped, and 12.5cm without the cap.


The cap can be posted and the weight is still quite balanced.


Design of the nib is quite simple. Note the 2 extra slits on the sides, and the horizontal strips perpendicular to the main slit.


The nib is made with stainless still and coated to produce the gold-like colour.


The feed looks like it's made with ebonite but I can't confirm since the website did not mention the material used for the feed and pen. Overall build quality of the pen seems quite good.


There are some misalignment with the fins of the feed. The fins run vertically, but some fins look like they are made with two parts, top and bottom, but not aligned perfectly. It's a minor cosmetic issue that thankfully doesn't affect performance.


The ink convertor also has the name BlueDew on it.


This pen can be dismantled completely very easily for a thorough cleaning.


Before you load the pen with ink, I recommend washing the pen with liquid detergent first. This will help with the ink flow and prevent railroading.


This flex nib is said to be able to produce a thin EF to thick 1.5mm line. It does look to me that way. The flex is considered stiff or normal, very similar to the Zebra G nib with pen holder.


This nib is surprising good at hatching. The nib is sharp but still smooth on paper. Compared to the Zebra G nib, the BlueDew nib is noticeably smoother. Horizontal strokes are very thin, download strokes (with more ink) are thicker.


I buy flex nib pens for drawing rather than for calligraphy. Flex nib pens are versatile for drawing because they can produce thin and thick lines depending on pressure. The sharp point allows you to draw details with precision.


The drawing and writing performance is very similar to a Zebra G nib except there's no need for ink reloads that often, and the BlueDew nib is slightly smoother. The Zebra G Nib is noticeably scratchier maybe because it's sharper.


Sketch on the left was drawn with BlueDew and the right with Zebra G nib.

I don't write calligraphy but I'm pretty sure this pen will be good enough for calligraphy. You just have to go a bit slower with the broad strokes to allow ink flow to catch up to prevent railroading.

The flex nib performs as expected. I've never used vintage flex nibs because so I don't know how soft a vintage flex can be. The BlueDew flex nib has the same flex as a Zebra G nib and the similar stiffness.

Overall, I'm quite satisfied with my purchase.

You can get this pen from BlueDew.com.

Oh, do check out other flexible nib fountain pens I've featured on my blog at https://www.parkablogs.com/tags/flexible-nib

Comments

How do you think this one compares to Noodlers flex nibs or FPRs super flex? is it softer? I have a very light hand and hard to flex nibs are very uncomfortable for me.

In reply to by Paper (not verified)

@Paper
This feels like a steel nib so it's not considered soft flex. Noodlers nibs are also not soft flex either. FPR may be slightly softer. But all considered stiff.

The best comparison I can give you is to get a pen holder with Zebra G-nib and draw with that. That's the same experience you get with BlueDew, except there's no need for constant dipping this time.

Thanks for the excellent review as always Teoh!
I purchased this pen a month ago and it just arrived in my home in the US.
Filled it with ink, and the initial feeling is - stellar!
Can wait to take it out for a spin!
miked

Based on your review, I purchased two of these nibs.
I am a long-time FPR Ultra-Flex nib user/modifier. I recently saved up for months to buy a Franklin-Christoph 14K Flex nib and I sent it off to be modified by Custom Nib Studio...Only for it to be lost in the mail.
$220 gone...I am so very sad and angry!!!
Hopefully this Blue-Dew nib will soothe my pain...

I just bought a bluedew pen that came quite a bit different than your example. My nib and feed are bound together in a nib unit and I can't seem to get them out. To me it looks like a cheap Scheafer Broad nib calligraphy set almost? in that the feeder tube extends all the way into the converter and doesn't seem to want to be dislodged. Any tips for getting this nib out?

In reply to by Jeremy Hand (not verified)

@Jeremy Hand
Maybe the nib and feed are stuck. See if you twist the nib & feed and try to wiggle them out.

Otherwise, you can try the more risky method. Cover the nib & feed with paper (thick) or cardboard, use a plier (clamp at the sides not on the fins), and twist to loosen.

These are interesting! Do you think the nib would fit into other pens? It looks very similar to the Zebra G nib so I wonder if the dimensions are the same and you'd be able to put it into pens like Desiderata, Osprey or Ackerman.

Hi Teoh! Do you think that the nib can end up rusting?

Mine just shipped! My plan is to fill it with platinum carbon ink, and use it for quick expressive linework sketching, with occasional flex when I need it. Do you think Platinum Carbon will perform well in this pen without the need of glycerin or any such modifications? Still new to fountain pens, would love to use this day one with my favorite ink

@Casey
My bottle of Platinum Carbon Ink has ink particles around the bottle opening. That's to say that the ink is pigmented and it's best to wash your pen if you don't use it for long periods of time.

Another ink option to consider is the waterproof Sailor KiwaGuro which is safer. But from my experience, this ink becomes non-waterproof after some period of time which is weird.

Rotring Ink is also quite safe. Another one is DeAtramentis.

Those are waterproof inks.

If you do not need waterproof inks, then it's safer and you will have more colour options.

Add new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Filtered HTML

  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Comment Notification, please choose "All comments". "Replies to my comment" does not work.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------