Shane of The MIG Shed has been on Fountain Pens Australia for several years ago. At some point the topic of me reviewing one of their pens came up and today before what became a successful Kickstarter campaign I was send this pen for review.
The MIG Fountain Pen was originally a hand made pen that has taken a few different versions over the years, I believe, until it got to a point where it was able to be mass produced and turned into a Kickstarter. The campaign reached all of its stretch goals and the pen came in brass, copper, titanium and black (titanium oxide coated brass). As I had already received this Fountain Pen I backed the campaign with a bolt-action ball point that I will use at work.
The pen I received for review is Brass with knurled brass grip but the grip is also available as a grid pattern with different materials.
Unlike too many manufacturers and designers who try to obfuscate where the products is made, assembled or designed, MIG are very up front about production. They have designated their mass produced products as “+61”, a reference to Australia’s country calling code. In a page on their site they discuss the reasoning behind outsourcing manufacturing for some of their products. I appreciate the openness with this.
Details
The brass is just that, brass. As a material this is not an unfamiliar material. The machining is very crisp with seemingly very fine tolerances. You can’t see of feel the seems, granted the seems also occur near the textures grip section.
The clip is at an angle but I am told this was an issue with early production tests (of which this is from) and is not an issue with final production versions. The clip is fairly small and made of steel. It is the size of the whole cap, more or less, and a simple shape. My clip is quite firm but easy enough to clip onto clothing. The clip also contains the only branding with M I G etched vertically into it. The cap itself is fairly small. Both the finial on the cap and the body are the same with a flat round brass cut with smoothed edges.
Nib
Iridium Point! Sometimes a phrase that is not well received among the fountain pen community. That is because of “IPG” nibs, or “Iridium Point Germany”. IPG nibs are often extremely cheap nibs with no quality control at all. They may write and if they do they often won’t feel good. But this is not an IPG nib! It is a Schmidt Iridium Point! Schmidt is a major nib maker like JoWo and Bock and you’ll get comparable quality with all three brands. They aren’t perfect all the time but they have decent quality control and are mostly consistent.
The nib has some generic filigree, an F in a stylised box in the centre and the “Schmidt Iridium Point”. The pen is a well designed and comfortable piece but the nib won’t win any design awards for aesthetic but it doesn’t have to either. It still looks good on the pen and the most important thing is that it writes well. Out of the box this wrote really well. Good flow and no baby’s bottom is a good start!
The nibs is decently smooth with only a little bit of feedback. The flow is consistent as is the line width. Writing with the pen is comfortable even if the pen is fairly narrow. The weight is also quite comfortable.
The line width is quite decently fine for a Western nib. Both Lamy Fine nibs are noticeably broader. This Schmidt Fine is around the same width as a Sailor Fine which is pretty good! It is broader than a Pilot Fine, however. Overall a very nicely sized fine nib!
Dimensions and Comparison
Shown above in its full pen size the MIG Fountain Pen also comes in the Mini Size so that is compared below as well as giving its dimensions. The pen a cigar shape (maybe cigarette shape is closer, especially in its Mini arrangement)! It tapers a little at the end of the barrel but is otherwise straight. It has a short cap which means most of the length is still holdable.
| Pen | Capped | Uncapped |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot Custom 92 | 14cm | 12.2cm |
| Platinum Century #3776 | 14.1cm | 13.2cm |
| Sailor Pro Gear | 13cm | 11.6cm |
| Lamy 2000 | 14cm | 12.5cm |
| Lamy Safari | 14cm | 13cm |
| MIG Brass Fountain Pen | 13cm | 11.8cm |
| TWSBI Eco | 14cm | 13.2cm |
| Montblanc 146 | 14.3cm | 13cm |
| Pelikan M805 | 14.1cm | 12.7cm |
| Weight | Capped | Uncapped |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot Custom 92 | 20.1g | 12g |
| Platinum Century #3776 | 25g | 14g |
| Sailor Pro Gear | 24.9g | 16.1g |
| Lamy 2000 | 26g | 17.1g |
| Lamy Safari | 29.8g | 19.9g |
| MIG Brass Fountain Pen | 50.9g | 37.1g |
| TWSBI Eco | 20.8g | 12.3g |
| Montblanc 146 | 29.8g | 19.9g |
| Pelikan M805 | 29.4g | 20.9g. |
It is a weighty pen! It is heavier than all other capped pens shown here when uncapped! That shouldn't be unexpected from a metal and brass pen of course.
| Pen | Capped | Uncapped | Posted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaweco Sport | 11.2cm | 10.4cm | 14.1cm |
| Kaweco Liliput Fireblue | 9.6cm | 8.7cm | 12.3cm |
| MIG Brass Fountain Pen Mini | 9.5cm | 8.3cm | 11.4cm |
| Franklin-Christoph Model 45 | 10.5cm | 10cm | 13.2cm |
| Weight | Capped | Uncapped |
|---|---|---|
| Kaweco Sport (with clip) | 13.5g | 6.3g |
| Kaweco Liliput | 24.7g | 14.5g |
| MIG Brass Fountain Pen Mini | 40.5g | 26.6g |
| Franklin-Christoph Model 45 | 12.4g | 9.3g |
In its Mini arrangement this pen is shockingly small! Capped it is smaller than the Liliput but uncapped and posted it is smaller both times! It has a little more girth still. It is noticeably smaller than the Sport and the Model 45! All of these pens are cartridge only.
Conclusion
This is a well designed thoughtful pen with a well build and solid construction. This should be a pen that handles bumps and falls very well. It is comfortable and it writes well. It’s also nice for me to support a local pen maker.
I also think the price on this is very respectable! While on sale at the time of writing, the prices for the full pen are: Titanium (AU$149.95), Copper (AU$139.95), Brass (this pen) (AU$119.95), and Black (over brass) (AU$149.95). These are all very decent to me. The Mini Conversion Kit comes in at another very respectable AU$29.95. You can also mix and match some parts if you buy the additional kits (additional grips are AU$32.95). I think the prices on this pen are really quite decent, especially for its quality.
As an aside the bolt action titanium pen I backed and received is an excellent work pen for me.
Congratulations to Shane on the successful Kickstarter!
✒︎ ✑ ✒︎ ✑
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please let me know in a via the comments, Instagram, or contact me directly.
You can find my ink collection here and my pen collection here. Is there something you’d like reviewed? Let me know!
For blog updated you can follow @macchiato_man on Twitter, subscribe via email, or like my Facebook page. Check out the sponsors of this blog as well!
I was not compensated for this review and everything here is my own honest opinion. There are no affiliate links in this review. I was sent this pen for the purpose of an honest review.