The Karas Ink is one of those pens I kept adding to my cart, for literally years, without pressing the ‘buy’ button. I was attracted by its design (particularly the clip) and colours, but I guess I wondered whether I needed another fairly generic metal pen in my life, and I also worried about the cap threads being sharp or squeaky. I once owned a Karas Render K, and every time I took the cap off it sounded like I was torturing a mouse.

But hey, in one of Karas’s many sales, I plumped for an Ink in bright orange with a 14k gold nib in fine. The Ink takes standard Bock #6 nib units, and I figured if I didn’t like the pen at least I could salvage the nib.

I don’t normally talk about packaging, but in this case I will. I’ve reviewed the Karas Decograph in the past, which came in an amazing machined aluminium tube. I’ve also reviewed the Starliner, which came in a ratcheting plastic case like a drillbit. Low-tech and charming. The Ink comes in some folded cardboard. It was a bit disappointing.

The pen, on the other hand, is beautiful. The orange anodizing is eye-searing.

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It’s an even, proper orange colour on both cap and barrel — and orange is a difficult colour to get right. The machined clip is the Ink’s flagship feature: it’s a complex 3D shape that’s held inside the end of the cap by two hex bolts.

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It looks like part of a mecha. The clip itself is tumbled to within an inch of its life: there’s not a rough edge on it, and it’s extremely functional. I love it to bits (and that’s coming from a guy that never clips pens to anything).

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The rest of the pen is more sophisticated than it looks. There’s a bevel at the end of the barrel, and a larger one at the end of the cap; a milled line around the cap; and a gentle taper from the cap to the end of the pen. The proportions are really spot on.

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The threads don’t wow me. As soon as you loosen the cap even a fraction, there is a ton of play; the cap rattles as it unscrews. I worry about the cap coming loose in a bag. 1.5 turns gets it off. For what it’s worth, don’t bother trying to post the cap.

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With the cap off, you can see the pretty significant step-down from the barrel to the threads, which are cut deep and with a triangular profile, so they’re a little sharp. You can also see a sadly unfinished inside to the cap…

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The saving grace is the section, which is long and concave. I chose a tumbled raw aluminium finish which has plenty of grip, so I didn’t expect that my fingers would touch the threads.

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Unfortunately, the #6 nib is significantly recessed inside the section (earlier versions of the Ink used a smaller nib; I guess that to avoid reengineering the cap design, it was easier to recess the nib when they switched to a bigger #6).

This puts my fingers closer to the page than I’d like, so I compensate by gripping partly up on the threads. The recessed nib would also trap ink if you filled the (included) converter by dipping the section.

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So all that’s left to talk about is the nib. The 14k Bock impressed me. Great flow, smoothness, bounce, grind. One of my nicer nibs, and a huge relief after the problems I’ve had with Bock’s QC on steel and Ti nibs in the past. Or maybe I have Karas’s QC to thank.

I actually swapped the 14k nib over to my Conid Regular (remember the nib units are standardised) and fitted a Ti nib to the Ink — it seemed to fit better with the industrial design and the tumbled section.

In my last post I scored the Ink a respectable 7 out of 12. It scored 2/3 for practicality — I worry about the finish scratching, and the cap, but the strong clip, easy-clean converter, robust metal body and easy-swap nib make this a no-fuss pen to own. I scored it 2/3 for writing experience, based on the rather nice Bock nib and good size and balance. I’ve written some long sessions and enjoyed it a lot.

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I scored a 1/3 for comfort, based on the cold metal, sharp threads and big step-down. And a strong 2/3 for visual appeal — that orange anodising and unique clip are distinctive and the overall design is cohesive.

Including the 14k nib, the Ink cost me $185 with a discount. Considering it’s a made-in-USA pen with some fairly complex machining, and a gold nib that retails separately for £135 from Beaufort Ink, I think it’s rather keenly priced. RRP starts at $100.

I’m not sure whether it’s a long-term, fall-in-love-with pen, but right now I’m glad I finally bit the bullet and ordered the Ink.