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Here's a question for ye, TWSBI: "tee double-u ess bee eye," "twis-bee," or "toos-by" ?? I say the latter in my head, as "w" is a Welsh vowel pronounced "uu," but I don't want to go into a pen store and sound like a twerp. Also, LAMY: "lame-y" or "lamb-y" ? Fake edit: Are there even any pen stores in Cleveland, OH? Googling brought up nuthin'.
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Sep 9, 2013 03:10
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milpreve posted:Here's a question for ye, TWSBI: "tee double-u ess bee eye," "twis-bee," or "toos-by" ?? I say the latter in my head, as "w" is a Welsh vowel pronounced "uu," but I don't want to go into a pen store and sound like a twerp. Also, LAMY: "lame-y" or "lamb-y" ? "Twisby" and "Lah-mee." That's how they'll most be pronounced in youtube videos and suchlike.
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Sep 9, 2013 03:19
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cobalt impurity posted:"Twisby" and "Lah-mee." That's how they'll most be pronounced in youtube videos and suchlike. Thanks. I know, I'm a dork. My parents brought me some lovely red translucent ink from a small shop in Paris. It's a shellac ink. Can I do anything with it? I know shellac is bad for fountain pens...
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Sep 9, 2013 04:37
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cobalt impurity posted:Great idea! There's one for the parts of a pen, but I guess there are a few more esoteric words that would be helpful to have there. Feel free to toss in ideas of what I should add, folks! Take your pick from the definitive glossary.. Seriously, I know I mention Binder a lot, but anyone who is interested in pens should spend a little time poking around his site, especially the glossary and articles. They are very well done and hugely informative.
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Sep 9, 2013 07:02
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milpreve posted:Thanks. I know, I'm a dork. Get a dip pen starter set and learn you some calligraphy. It's super fun! We could have a whole separate thread about dip pens and nibs, although I think it's a similar crowd. But under no circumstances put it in a fountain pen, unless you hate said pen and want to destroy it.
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Sep 9, 2013 07:17
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Was in Tokyo today to meet with a friend, decided to take a trip down to K. Itoya. Holy poo poo, there is some fancy stuff there, and I say this as someone who collects FPs both new and old and has quite a large personal collection. If you enjoy fountain pens and want to look at some seriously expensive poo poo you have no idea who buys, you owe it to yourself to check the store out if you are in town. Super-exclusive Itoya-only pens with five-digit figures sitting happily alongside normal Pilots, Sailors and Lamys, and a cheerful shop staff who will happily take pretty much anything out for you to hold and gawk at. Pen geek heaven.
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Sep 9, 2013 10:51
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DimpledChad posted:Get a dip pen starter set and learn you some calligraphy. It's super fun! We could have a whole separate thread about dip pens and nibs, although I think it's a similar crowd. But under no circumstances put it in a fountain pen, unless you hate said pen and want to destroy it. It's not been great for most of my calligraphy purposes because it's pretty translucent. I do award scrolls for my local SCA medieval recreation group, which is why I asked them for a nice red ink. It just doesn't stand out enough to write capital letters and people's names, but maybe a different paper will have better results. I know people talk about the pros and cons of iron gall ink, but is oak gall ink fountain pen friendly? I can find out exactly how it was made, if that makes a difference.
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Sep 9, 2013 12:46
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Demon_Corsair posted:E: Pushing sure helps even though I know that's a cardinal sin. Yeah, this will destroy your pen. I suppose you can push it down once to widen it, which will probably help the flow. But writing while pushing down is very, very bad because that will just keep putting pressure on it all the time, which will break it. Besides, one of the advantages of having a (good) pen is that you don't have to push down, making it much more comfortable to write with. Just get one that has the correct flow for your writing style.
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Sep 9, 2013 14:27
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milpreve posted:I know people talk about the pros and cons of iron gall ink, but is oak gall ink fountain pen friendly? I can find out exactly how it was made, if that makes a difference. Oak Gall and Iron Gall are the same thing, actually. From what I've gathered, it's OK to use in fountain pens, but you want to make sure that you perform good maintenance and cleaning and make sure not to let it sit in the pen for too long. Do know that it can be somewhat acidic, so if you're worried at all about archival quality stuff you might want to be careful.
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Sep 9, 2013 16:43
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DurianGray posted:Oak Gall and Iron Gall are the same thing, actually. From what I've gathered, it's OK to use in fountain pens, but you want to make sure that you perform good maintenance and cleaning and make sure not to let it sit in the pen for too long. Do know that it can be somewhat acidic, so if you're worried at all about archival quality stuff you might want to be careful. Great! I have a giant eyedropper vial of ink, then. My friend and I made a batch for a scribal competition, and I have a ton left. I fell in love with the Chalana and the Ebony desk pen designs, but the price.... Are there cheaper pens that look similar (slim)? I can't even justify a $20 pen yet, but come Christmas I can probably save enough for something nice. Just not Sailor price nice.
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Sep 9, 2013 17:55
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Iron gall is soluble in ammonia, so it's actually pretty easy to clean. I have a huge bottle if JB's Pen Flush, and you could also get Goulet's flush or just buy some ammonia and mix your own.
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Sep 9, 2013 17:57
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My lamy safari has a weird "blot" of ink on the top of the nib, right on the line. I can't seem to get rid of it, is that normal?
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Sep 9, 2013 20:24
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Xun posted:My lamy safari has a weird "blot" of ink on the top of the nib, right on the line. I can't seem to get rid of it, is that normal? That is called Nib Creep and is "normal" but typically thought of as aesthetically off-putting. Using a different ink may cause that not to happen. I generally don't have issues with Iroshizuku inks and nib creep for instance, whereas HoD will do it sometimes, and my Diamine ink seems to do it all the drat time.
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Sep 9, 2013 20:42
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Xun posted:My lamy safari has a weird "blot" of ink on the top of the nib, right on the line. I can't seem to get rid of it, is that normal? Being far less helpful than the lord Brightman: Richard's Pens is a magnificent source for all things fountain pen, though I'd be very cautious about many of the fixes he prescribes until you know quite a lot about the pens and their workings. Also, I did a thing today. My safari simply stopped writing overnight so rather than trouble shoot it I went totally hog wild, purging the feed, replacing the nib, and inspecting the whole thing under a loupe. In the end, I ran a brass sheet through the old nib and found that it was disgustingly gunked up with my precious El Lawrence. I could have just cleaned it out, rinsed, and re-inked and been fine. This served another purpose, as it gave me a fresh start from the nib that I learned how to write with a fountain pen on.
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Sep 9, 2013 21:06
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They came! They came!   
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Sep 10, 2013 02:08
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Demon_Corsair posted:Right now I'm just using one of the lovely disposable Pilot V-pens, but I have never had an issue with them until I switched to better paper. I used to use those in school, they often just kind of... stop working. Plenty of ink left, but nothing doing. You can't take them apart, so it's really just an issue of being a cheap disposable.
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Sep 10, 2013 02:45
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GrAviTy84 posted:They came! They came! I really like my Pilot Metropolitan. I bought it in anticipation of signing some important paperwork and I've been using it daily. I switched out the nib for a nib from the Pilot Plumix [Pluminix] which is an "M" style nib and it writes amazing. I was leaning for the black like yours, but I switched to the gold zigzag. Worst part about it is my wife wants it now so I may wind up giving it to her to use since I have my Ahab.
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Sep 10, 2013 19:14
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angerbot posted:I used to use those in school, they often just kind of... stop working. Plenty of ink left, but nothing doing. You can't take them apart, so it's really just an issue of being a cheap disposable. It was a brand new pen. Which makes me wonder if it just needed some time to start flowing properly. It seems to work fine now. So it's either that or I was able to subconsciously learn to hold it at just the right angle.
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Sep 10, 2013 20:36
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What's better than pen delivery day? Surprise pen delivery day! The stone pen from Kickstarter that I completely forgot about, or rather I wasn't expecting because I thought the guy was doing updates for every shipment prior to them going out, came in yesterday.  Pen is made from banded malachite with gold trim, the cap screws onto the end if you wanna go crazy and post it but doing so ruins the balance horribly. The nib is a pretty meh "Iridium Point Germany" one though, fairly scratchy, but the pen looks great and I'm pretty sure I can switch the nib out (it's either a #5 or #6 size nib, thinking a #5). There's a chance it might get better after a bit of breaking in, it isn't so scratchy if I write lightly with it, also has a bit of flex in it but I'm going to try avoid doing that too much.
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Sep 10, 2013 20:47
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Brightman posted:The stone pen from Kickstarter Are these being sold normally post-kickstarter? That looks fantastic!
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Sep 10, 2013 21:12
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aldantefax posted:Are these being sold normally post-kickstarter? That looks fantastic! Yeah, the Kickstarter was mainly to pay off the equipment he bought and to see if there was sufficient interest. His normal site is Visage Pens, but it's under construction still and will probably be up in a few months once he's burned through all the Kickstarter orders and such. Both sites have some more stone pen porn on them by the way, especially the Kickstarter updates.
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Sep 10, 2013 21:28
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Goulet is supposed to have the Noodler's Russian Series back in stock tomorrow. I'm gonna try and grab a bottle of Rachmaninoff.
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Sep 11, 2013 01:08
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angerbot posted:I used to use those in school, they often just kind of... stop working. Plenty of ink left, but nothing doing. You can't take them apart, so it's really just an issue of being a cheap disposable. I believe I just threw away a black one that I believe had about a quarter of its ink left because it stopped working; glad it's not just me. I should probably buy an actual, good fountain pen rather than disposables. 
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Sep 11, 2013 11:52
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Kheldragar posted:I believe I just threw away a black one that I believe had about a quarter of its ink left because it stopped working; glad it's not just me. I should probably buy an actual, good fountain pen rather than disposables. Yesssssssssssssssssss. Need help picking something out?
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Sep 11, 2013 11:54
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Solkanar512 posted:Yesssssssssssssssssss. I'm open to any and all suggestions.
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Sep 11, 2013 12:44
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Just bought a Lamy Safari, a Pilot Metro and a whole bunch of ink sample from Goulets. I don't even write much by hand what have I done? Time to start writing letters I guess.
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Sep 11, 2013 12:56
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Someone talk me out of (into) buying a Pilot Metro. IF I splurge and buy it, should I get the converter? Rather, pros/cons of converter? I know you can switch the nibs, but I didn't see what size it takes on Goulet. Is it only swappable with other Pilot nibs, or can I order a loose nib from Goulet? My Preppy should come tomorrow!
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Sep 11, 2013 13:06
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Always be converting. Half the fun in fountain pens is trying out different inks to find what best suits your character.
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Sep 11, 2013 13:12
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Kheldragar posted:I'm open to any and all suggestions. For a lot of folks, the automatic response is "Lamy Safari" (or Lamy Vista). However, I would instead recommend the Pilot Metropolitan. I started out with the Lamy as my first pen, and they were fine once I first started, but got shelved as soon as I could get something better. THe Lamys write well and I didn't have problems, but it has this awkward triangular grip that I found annoying (doubly annoying as a lefty). The think the Pilot Metro, which is in the same price range or cheaper, outshines the Lamy in a lot of respects. It has a normal, round grip, a good heft/weight to it, and is well made.It rights like a dream. Even though I have moved on to buy much more expensive pens, that Pilot is still my workhorse pen and always in my daily rotation. One caveat, is that Pilot and other Japanese pens the nib sizes run different. So, a Medium nib on the Metro is like a Fine tip on another pen (and a Fine tip is more like Extra fine). Also, the Metro comes with this kind of squeezee bladder converter. I'm not a fan of it, but some folks are. I went ahead and paid couple extra bucks for the CON-50 converter, which is the twist type.
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Sep 11, 2013 13:14
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I said this before when we were discussing that Kickstarter monstrosity, but the Pilot Metro is a pen that is punching well, well above its price class. You cannot go wrong with it as a starter pen.
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Sep 11, 2013 13:36
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Kessel posted:I said this before when we were discussing that Kickstarter monstrosity, but the Pilot Metro is a pen that is punching well, well above its price class. You cannot go wrong with it as a starter pen. "Punching well, well above it's price class" is the best way I've heard it put. The TWSBI Diamond 580 is also an incredible value for the price if you're interested in a nice but well priced piston-fill pen.
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Sep 11, 2013 13:57
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wodan22 posted:For a lot of folks, the automatic response is "Lamy Safari" (or Lamy Vista). However, I would instead recommend the Pilot Metropolitan. I started out with the Lamy as my first pen, and they were fine once I first started, but got shelved as soon as I could get something better. THe Lamys write well and I didn't have problems, but it has this awkward triangular grip that I found annoying (doubly annoying as a lefty). That's interesting to me, as I wish I could find more pens with the triangular grip. Are there any non-Safari/al-Star/Vista pins with such a grip?
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Sep 11, 2013 14:05
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Kessel posted:Always be converting. Half the fun in fountain pens is trying out different inks to find what best suits your character. I just put $65 of ink samples in my cart on Goulet, AFTER weeding it down a bit. I have a problem.
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Sep 11, 2013 14:07
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Sarern posted:That's interesting to me, as I wish I could find more pens with the triangular grip. Are there any non-Safari/al-Star/Vista pins with such a grip? Pilot makes exactly one pen with a triangular grip - the Penmanship. It's cheap as poo poo at five dollars. http://www.pilot.co.jp/products/pen/fountain/fountain/penmanship_pen/
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Sep 11, 2013 14:11
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At first I thought I had a problem having too much ink (since I only refill a pen about once a week and I have four bottles of the stuff) but now I realize the issue is I just don't write out enough stuff. Yes, that's the ticket! Not enough writing! (wanna buy more ink)
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Sep 11, 2013 15:42
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I want to get a TWSBI and some kind of nib comparable to a Pilot Prera Fine nib (or an italic or flex, really want to try those out). Do I want to buy the Vac-700 or the 580?
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Sep 11, 2013 15:50
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Kessel posted:Pilot makes exactly one pen with a triangular grip - the Penmanship. It's cheap as poo poo at five dollars. http://www.pilot.co.jp/products/pen/fountain/fountain/penmanship_pen/ If you want to go with an Italic style nib instead, the Pilot Plumix [Pluminix] is around $8-9. It's the same style as the penmanship but has a 1.0 mm italic nib. Available at Goulet and at Target. The Pelikan Pelikano Junior also has a triangular grip, rubberized, with a medium nib. I have one and hate it, I like round grips. Verdugo fucked around with this message at 16:06 on Sep 11, 2013 |
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Sep 11, 2013 15:58
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Sarern posted:That's interesting to me, as I wish I could find more pens with the triangular grip. Are there any non-Safari/al-Star/Vista pins with such a grip? The Omas 360 has a triangular grip and cross section too. That is, if you want to jump in at the deep end with a $400 pen. 
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Sep 11, 2013 16:47
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aldantefax posted:I want to get a TWSBI and some kind of nib comparable to a Pilot Prera Fine nib (or an italic or flex, really want to try those out). Do I want to buy the Vac-700 or the 580? You want them both...No, seriously, you want them both. If you order them in the clear color, them you can swap out the nibs units (which I think are the same for the 580 and the Vac700). Otherwise, if you want the blue or the amber one, you can swap out nibs manually by pulling them out (Goulet pens/Ink Nouveau has a great video showing how to do this). I have both (both are among my favorite pens, and I take them, along with my Pilot Metro, everywhere I go). I personally think that they write about the same, feel about the same in my hand, so not a lot of difference there. The 580 has a piston /twist converter and the bit you twist is right on the end of the pen where some folks post their caps. You can technically post the cap there, but when you go to remove it, it will twist the piston and squirt ink all over you. I've made that mistake. Holds a lot of ink by my estimation and the piston refill system is easy to use. As for the VAC700, I don't think you can post it either. It uses a vacuum fill system...which takes a little getting used to. That having been said, once you figure out the vac system, it hold a metric poo poo ton of ink. I have never actually gotten it dry, as I will inevitably get bored and want to try a new ink LOONNGGG before this thing even gets low on ink. Also, when you are going to be writing for a long time at once, you have to unscrew the end (the part with the handle for the vac/plunger) to increase ink flow. This as well takes a little getting used, however once you are used to it, you won't even think about it anymore. So, which one is better? Which one should you get? The answer is YES. Get them both, eventually. 
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Sep 11, 2013 16:50
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milpreve posted:I just put $65 of ink samples in my cart on Goulet, AFTER weeding it down a bit. I have a problem. I have a worse problem. It looks like I slept through my chance to order five bottles of my favorite UK Series ink. God dammit.
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Sep 11, 2013 17:23
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