Kaweco Piston Sport - A Quick Review

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

Those of you who know me, know that there are a few brands where I am a little crazy about and the Kaweco Sport is one of them. I have them in gold trim, silver trim, clear, frosted, and aluminum (the other metal versions don’t really appeal to me), so I was super stoked about the Kaweco Piston Sport fountain pen when it was announced over a year ago. It was only released in Black and as of this writing, there aren’t any other colors announced either. So I finally caved and asked the Bossman if I could borrow the one he used for his review of the AL Piston Sport. He said no because he had already given it away, but he ordered the Classic one for me from sponsor Pen Chalet so I could review it.

In looking up details for this pen, I realize that vendors had different names for this pen, so I went to the Kaweco website for the definitive name, which is the Kaweco Piston Sport Classic. There is also the Piston Sport AL (aluminum) which is what the Bossman reviewed, but this review is for the Classic, aka plastic, version. Classic also means that it has gold-colored trim, as opposed to Skyline, which is silver trim (other series also have silver trim, like Frosted or Ice, etc.).

Kaweco Piston Sport Classic.

The way to tell that you have a Kaweco Piston Sport (left) as opposed to a regular Kaweco Sport (this one is Honey), is the gold ring by the blind cap.

At the beginning of April 2025, I inked up the Kaweco Piston Sport with Franklin-Christoph ATL ‘23 ink, and I’ve used it 8 times over the last three months. It wrote without issues upon inking with the F-C ink, which has average flow, and I’ve had no issues with it despite not using it consistently during that time. It would write immediately regardless of how long it had been since I last used it - I’m sure there was at least a one month stretch in there (also, another shout-out to Fountain Pen Companion for making it easy to have these stats).

Uncapped, you can see that there is an ink window, which makes it easy to see ink levels.

Inking the pen requires removal of the blind cap, the presence of which prevents users from accidentally turning the piston knob.

I had wondered if the piston filler would make the nib write wetter/broader, but it gave me the expected line width for a Fine (it is available in Extra Fine to Double Broad). I was able to remove the nib unit from the Piston Sport, which also has an o-ring to prevent leakage. As I am currently traveling, I don’t have any of the non-plastic Sports with me to confirm, but it looks to be the same nib unit that is swappable with those models. You can also pull the nib and feed from the housing and swap it with other Sports as well (I don’t generally do this since I have other Sports I can swap from, and the Piston Sport is still inked up).

The Piston Sport’s nib unit unscrews easily. (Pardon the “fancy” backdrop, aka paper towel, lol.)

The Piston Sport nibs (left) next to the regular Sport.

Used both the Piston Sport (Fine) and the Honey Sport (Broad) to continue writing out Hamilton lyrics. The line widths are what I expected for both. The ink in the Honey Sport is Diamine Candlelight from the 2021 Inkvent.

With the regular Kaweco Sport costing around $28-30, I expected the Piston Sport to cost more, and it does, coming in at $75 MSRP. I know that there are other piston filler pens that cost less (TWSBI Eco/Swipe/Go, Nahvalur Original, Monteverde MP 1 are some that come to mind), but if you really like the form factor of the Kaweco Sport with the added ink capacity (1.2ml vs 0.7 ml cartridge or 0.5 ml mini converter), the Kaweco Piston Sport is a pretty good choice, especially when the AL Piston Sport comes in at $160. If Kaweco starts offering this pen in other colors, my wallet will be in trouble, but until then, I’m good with this one.

(Disclaimer: The Kaweco Piston Sport was purchased by the Bossman at a discount from sponsor, Pen Chalet. I purchased the Honey Sport separately.)

DIY Kaweco Event at Flax Pen to Paper

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

I was so excited when Kaweco announced that they would be releasing a special DIY (Do It Yourself) Kaweco but it would only be available at in-store events. I kept seeing events popping up at vendors at times/places that I couldn’t attend so I thought I’d just have to hunt for a used one down the road. Thankfully, the stars and schedules aligned and I was able to make the trek to Flax Pen to Paper this past weekend and assemble my own Kaweco! Spoiler alert: this article contains pictures of the DIY process, so if you’re planning to get one done and you don’t wanna see what’s involved, scroll to the bottom and look at the haul instead 🙂

I love the signage for the DIY event as well as Custom Nib Studio and Saiko Stationery!

Ryan Finnegan of Saiko Stationery also did a pop-up at the store! I was good and didn’t buy any washi tape but I might have picked up some other stuff…

After the first rush of customers, I was able to start working on my DIY Kaweco! I’m so excited!

This big box is shipped to the vendors around the world who had signed up to participate in the DIY event.

The various pen parts are inside, including different nib units, grips, etc.

Here are the parts for my pen (not including the box and sticker.)

I put the inner cap onto the metal post thingy (yes, that’s the technical term and I’m sticking to it, lol) and then put the cap on top of that. The inner cap helps prevent evaporation.

Time for the finial to go on the cap!

Voila!

Time for the nib to go into the pen!

That was easy!

*All done! *

All of the steps were very easy to follow (especially since Ryan walked me through it!) and the machine was also very easy to use - no significant strength required! I did not keep any of the packaging as there was nothing highlighting that this was a DIY Kaweco, other than the silver engraving on the pen cap itself. It does not come with a converter.

Gena Salorino of Custom Nib Studio was on hand to work their magic on folks’ pens, including my newly created Kaweco!

Can you believe that, all this time, I only wrote on their sample pad and never in my notebook? Oops 😃 Glad I finally took my own advice!

Gena ground the broad Kaweco nib to a Cursive Italic and I inked it up with Robert Oster Napa.

In addition to the DIY Kaweco, I couldn’t escape the store without buying these goodies from Flax and Saiko Stationery.

I couldn’t choose between the different packs of stickers from Saiko Stationery, so I got several! Also love the wine “juice box” sticker from Flax and underneath is a Bellroy Lite Sacoche, the link is for Black, but mine is Clay.

I also bought some Uni-ball One P and F gel pens, a PLOTTER Bible-size Fastener Case, Midori metallic transfer stickers and some awesome cards.

I had a great time at the event! Aside from assembling my very own Kaweco, it was so fun meeting people and chatting with them while they shopped or tried Gena’s tester pens (highly recommend, even if you’re not getting anything done). Thank you to Flax Pen to Paper for hosting this event, to Ryan for helping me with the Kaweco (and bringing some super cute Saiko Stationery goods) and to Gena for making the nib extra special! I believe the Kaweco box of goodness will be making its way to the next stop soon (though I was unable to find a list on the Kaweco website), but if you have the opportunity to assemble a Kaweco at your local pen store, I highly recommend the experience!

(Disclaimer: All products and nib services were purchased by me at Flax Pen to Paper.)

Kaweco Sport Piston Fountain Pen Review

Like many Kaweco fans, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the launch of the Kaweco Sport Piston Fountain Pen since they first announced it was in the works a year or two ago. Would it be a modern interpretation of one of their classic designs, or would it be a fully vintage inspired release?

Why not both?

In my head, I fully expected a plastic barrel piston-filler, sort of an upgraded, built out, Kaweco Sport, without a clip. What we got was a throwback exterior design with the Black barrel and Gold clip, but using Aluminum for construction, a more modern material. It’s a perfect combination of old and new, and a bit unexpected if I’m being honest.

As obvious as this is to state, the design is less important for this pen than the piston mechanism. It’s the reason it is being made, and it has to work well. In a smaller pen like this, that is always a question. Can the mechanism fit while retaining the desired barrel size? Does it operate smoothly? Does it allow for enough ink capacity as compared to a cartridge? Is the pen easy to clean? So far, the Sport Piston answers “Yes,” across the board.

The clip is easily removable if so desired.

To access the mechanism, Kaweco uses a blind cap that must be removed from the end of the barrel. Under the cap you will find the twist knob that activates the piston to draw up ink, or to expel water repeatedly when cleaning. The twist is a decent size - not too small to use comfortably - and the piston moves smoothly inside the barrel.

A vintage Kaweco Sport Piston, right.

My first draw from the ink bottle filled the ink chamber to around 75% capacity. That’s in the normal range. I could get closer to 100% if I drew up the ink, kept the nib submerged and expelled the ink, and drew up the ink again. That clears some of the air you get on the initial fill. YMMV.

You can check the ink capacity using the built in ink window, which I think is important for piston-filling pens. According to the product specs, the ink chamber can hold 1.2 ml of ink, while a short international ink cartridge holds 0.7 ml. That’s a decent increase for a pocket pen, with the caveat that a bottle of ink is required to refill it.

I ordered my Sport Piston with a Steel Extra Fine nib, and it is perfect for my handwriting. The ink flow from piston fillers is always something to watch, and this one is metered perfectly. I have yet to have any consistency issues in my lines, and I’ve been using this pen regularly for weeks, filled with Kaweco Royal Blue ink.

While my experiences with the Kaweco Sport Piston have been good so far, there are a few things to consider before purchasing:

— Price: This is an easy one to list first, because at $160 ($170 with a bottle of ink,) it is not a mindless purchase. Is it “worth it?” It is to me, but I’m a Kaweco fan, and was looking forward to this release for a while. Could they have lowered the cost if they used plastic/acrylic? Not by much I don’t think. I’m assuming much of the cost is on the inside of the pen, not the outside.

— Blind cap: There are two things to consider. One, people worry about losing the cap. Valid concern. Two, the blind cap can twist off inside of the pen cap when posted if you twist the pen cap itself when removing it from the back of the pen. It takes almost one and a half rotations to completely unthread the blind cap from the back of the pen, so it would take effort to cause this, but it is not out of the realm of possibility. I’ve had no issues so far, and don’t see this becoming a problem down the line.

— Grip: Out of these three considerations, this is the one I have to think about the most. When my fingers are dry, the satin finish of the aluminum barrel is slick. I need a little moisture to lock in my fingers for a more solid grip, and better writing experience. This is prone to happening with metal barrel pens, especially ones with a smooth grip like the Sport Piston.

Size comparison with LAMY Safari.

For their first piston mechanism release in decades, I think Kaweco did a great job. It’s a throwback design to when this filling system was part of their regular lineup, while bringing modern updates to the pen with the choice of barrel material. Hopefully this is a platform they continue building on because I see many different ways Kaweco can take the Sport Piston in the future.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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