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SnakesRevenge posted:Admittedly it's more costly than the one pen you planned on months back, but Iroshizuku Tsukushi is an absolutely gorgeous brown with just a bit of red in it. Definitely worth a look/ink sample at least
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Sep 13, 2013 18:01
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Diamine Ancient Copper is also worth trying out. One of my favorites for sure.
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Sep 13, 2013 18:43
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Meldonox posted:I have a Preppy I plan on converting once the cartridge it came with runs out, but I'm terrified of it doing something like that. If I had more confidence with it I'd use it instead of my 580 and Safari for my boring colors, but my black and blue-black are Noodler's bulletproof monstrosities. As much as I like 54th Mass I don't know if I want to commit my 580 to it. I keep an eyedropper Preppy full of Baystate Blue. Converting is so easy and it holds a gob of ink, but as was suggested earlier it just sits on my desk and never travels anywhere. The Pilot 78G is also an easy eyedropper conversion and has a screw-on cap that seals up pretty tight. PlushCow posted:Months ago I thought it was silly to spend $20 on just one pen, ONE PEN, I could get a box of ballpoints with that, but now spending $100+ on a pen and some inks I just don't know sometimes! Y'know I still don't feel the need to spend a huge amount of money on a pen. I'd say $50 would be my upper limit for a new pen; when I'm browsing websites I lose interest and stop looking once I get much over that price point. If I was going to pay the big bucks it would probably be to get something vintage. Although speaking of new pens I've been thinking about getting a Kaweco Sport to use primarily as a purse pen. Does anyone know how well they do in a bag being jostled around? (since that seems to be kinda what they're made for...) Everything Burrito fucked around with this message at 01:47 on Sep 14, 2013 |
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Sep 13, 2013 23:22
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Got some syringes, so I mixed some inks. Syo-Ro translates to something like Dew on Pine Needles, apparently if you mix it half and half with Chiku-Rin and add in several drops of HoD it turns it into just Pine Needles. I also used the syringes and a can of air to clean out the pen my grandma gave me recently that's from the 40s or 50s. It's some Sheaffer model that's light purple with a gold mesh all over it, takes cartridges, which it still had an empty one, so clean that out and loaded it up with the Pine ink I just made. Writes like a nail unfortunately, but it does write. Actually looking into Sheaffer vintage pens it looks like a 60s pen with a Triumph nib.
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Sep 14, 2013 00:46
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Might be a Skripsert - did she have a case for it or have it as part of a matched pair?
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Sep 14, 2013 18:43
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:Might be a Skripsert - did she have a case for it or have it as part of a matched pair? That's it! Man I've been trying to remember the name Skripsert all day to help identify what the pen is. Definitely sounds like a Skripsert with the 'gold mesh.'
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Sep 14, 2013 18:48
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If Brightman's got the set still some of 'em are mildly sought after. I personally never got along with post-lever Sheaffer's; I have a Craftsman just to round out the collection, but I don't really enjoy it.
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Sep 14, 2013 18:54
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Yeah I had a white and gold set for a while before selling it on, nice pens. I've never used a lever Sheaffer, mine have all been from the post-lever era. Currently I've got a (dead at the moment)Snorkel Crest, and a slim Targa, both great pens. Sheaffer has to be my favourite of the North American pen manufacturers.
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Sep 14, 2013 19:08
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Im skipping back on the discussion but if you're worried about preppies cracking the simplest thing is not to carry one around. They're cheap enough that you can get a few and keep them in whatever location you write. I have 3 different ones at work and a couple at my home desk. Converted they don't run out of ink for a long while. Keep the entry level ($15+) ones around when you travel and save the super nice ones for well, nice occasions.
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Sep 14, 2013 19:51
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:Might be a Skripsert - did she have a case for it or have it as part of a matched pair? No case, and I don't remember if it was a pair, but if it was she doesn't have it's match anymore. I remember her saying it was a graduation gift from her brother. I sorta wonder if the reason I'm having trouble writing with it is because she wrote with it so much that it's used to however she writes. Oh, looked up Skripsert just now and that's it. It's a Lady Sheaffer Skripsert VI made sometime between 1958 and 1964, the cartridges were Skrip ink so that's where the name comes from. An ad for the pens says this one had a silver nib, but I think it might mean color-wise because nothing else seems to make mention of that and the nib itself just says "Sheaffer Made in USA". Looks like it cost 10 bucks back in the day and goes for about 60~75 now, I'll have to let her know, she'd probably get a kick out of that. Actually it's like 60 for the pen and 85 for the set, but yeah, the mechanical pencil is missing.
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Sep 15, 2013 10:18
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Brightman posted:No case, and I don't remember if it was a pair, but if it was she doesn't have it's match anymore. I remember her saying it was a graduation gift from her brother. I sorta wonder if the reason I'm having trouble writing with it is because she wrote with it so much that it's used to however she writes. They did actually make some of the Triumph nibs out of a Palladium/Silver alloy but weren't marked as such. I have one in my snorkel but I think mine's Australian. They're extremely stiff nibs, which I personally quite like.
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Sep 15, 2013 12:23
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Hot drat that commemorative 50th Vanishing Point looks classy. For anybody that owns a VP, does the clip get in the way of day to day writing?
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Sep 15, 2013 18:24
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aldantefax posted:Hot drat that commemorative 50th Vanishing Point looks classy. For anybody that owns a VP, does the clip get in the way of day to day writing? I've heard of people saying that it does, but I've never personally had any problem with it. I love my VP.
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Sep 15, 2013 18:29
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aldantefax posted:Hot drat that commemorative 50th Vanishing Point looks classy. For anybody that owns a VP, does the clip get in the way of day to day writing? Do you have a link to the pen you're talking about? Is it the wooden one?
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Sep 15, 2013 18:49
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aldantefax posted:Hot drat that commemorative 50th Vanishing Point looks classy. For anybody that owns a VP, does the clip get in the way of day to day writing? Depends on how you hold the pen when you write. I think a good way to think of it is like the triangular grip of the Safari. The VP clip is like that spot between the two flat parts of the Safari's grip.
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Sep 15, 2013 19:47
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404notfound posted:Depends on how you hold the pen when you write. I think a good way to think of it is like the triangular grip of the Safari. The VP clip is like that spot between the two flat parts of the Safari's grip. This. Grab your favorite pen and look at your grip. If your finger touches your thumb it may bother you, if it doesn't, then you'll be good to go. Also holy poo poo with that maple. I don't want to spend that much on a pen, but I'm feeling some temptation on this one.
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Sep 15, 2013 21:43
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If you don't want to pay that much for a maple pen, Pilot actually already makes the Custom 742 in maple: ($200, size 10 nib, converter) http://www.pilot.co.jp/products/pen/fountain/fountain/kaede/ OR if you want to spend the same amount as that Capless (which is a limited edition pen and might be a bit tougher to get) you can get Pilot's flagship 845 in a very special wood - Japanese yew: (size 15 nib, converter) http://www.pilot.co.jp/products/pen/fountain/fountain/custom_ichii/ I have played around with the latter and it's absolutely gorgeous - lighter than the normal 845 but feels just as solid and of course writes just as well. Both are available in Western markets through the usual importers or reputable eBay sellers.
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Sep 16, 2013 04:47
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Solkanar512 posted:Do you have a link to the pen you're talking about? Is it the wooden one? Correct. Goulet Pens will be stocking some when they roll out later this year.  
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Sep 16, 2013 07:25
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I imagine if ink gets on the wood it's game over.
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Sep 16, 2013 20:44
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Ahhhh curse bullet proof inks all to hell. I keep finding colours I really like, but all the bullet proof ones start like a bitch! Should have never ordered any samples of the crap. Annoying Starters: 54th Massa, Bad Blue Heron, to a lessor extent Baystate Blue, noodleres blue-black. Works for Me: Noodlers Red-Black, Dragons Napalm, Army Green, HoD for some reason. Bad Blue Heron was the first one I found that had 'nib creep' on my lamy. http://i.imgur.com/ufOqcmD.jpg Also, that wooden pen is sweet. I would stain the hell out of it in 10 minutes.
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Sep 16, 2013 22:55
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That's actually part of why the Pilot Ichii costs so much - they apply a special pressure process to the wood so that it hardens up. Science! Not sure if they are doing the same for the VP, since Pilot has been completely scant on details.
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Sep 17, 2013 00:02
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I am totally loving over my converter pen. The pen is nice, we're cool, but I hate the converter (lamy) with a passion because: a) dunking the pen in the ink bottle (noodlers 3oz one) leaves the pen messy and gets ink all over my hands (not a good look when I have to shake hands with people for work). And before anyone asks, I don't literally dunk the whole pen in the ink bottle, it's just hard to gauge depth when I can't see inside and the ink goes a little higher up the pen than it should. b) the converter doesn't suck up any ink through the nib. At all. c) removing the converter from the pen and filling on its own works, but is messy as hell in the previously mentioned bottle. Soon it won't work because I'm almost half way through the ink supply, and the converter isn't long enough to reach much deeper. Is there a solution I should be looking into to still have the fountain-pen-goodness but without the mess? Should I try an inkwell (warning: I'm a bit of a clutz)? Find a pen with a different filling mechanism? What should I be researching? Captain Postal fucked around with this message at 03:42 on Sep 17, 2013 |
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Sep 17, 2013 03:40
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Captain Postal posted:Is there a solution I should be looking into to still have the fountain-pen-goodness but without the mess? Should I try an inkwell (warning: I'm a bit of a clutz)? Find a pen with a different filling mechanism? What should I be researching? If you don't want to dunk your pen, or syringe fill, that leaves the nifty TWSBI filling bottle system. It works great, but only with their pens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmVilb_m0Y4
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Sep 17, 2013 04:04
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Captain Postal posted:Is there a solution I should be looking into to still have the fountain-pen-goodness but without the mess? Should I try an inkwell (warning: I'm a bit of a clutz)? Find a pen with a different filling mechanism? What should I be researching? Cartridges? If you want to keep using bottled ink rather than cartridges, investigate the TWSBI Diamond and the TWSBI Diamond inkwells. They are built to complement one another so you can fill the pen without really having to touch the ink. Oh and you can attach an international converter to the TWSBI diamond inkwells, if you use a pen that takes int'l cartridges - LAMY's not one of that flock though. If you fancy vintage, probably the premiere pen to avoid inky fingers is the Sheaffer Snorkel.
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Sep 17, 2013 04:07
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Or just syringe fill, it's easy.
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Sep 17, 2013 04:12
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My order from Wonderpens arrived! Incoming poo poo camera phone pics. The silver pen is a Jinhao 126 and the black and gold pen is a Jinhao 165. For being $7 Chinese pens, both of them look quite nice in my opinion. They're both made of metal and feel quite solid and robust in the hand and the caps fit with a nice click.  Here's a small sample of writing. Both pens write really smoothly. The 126 is a fine nib which is a treat since I tend to print small letters when taking down notes and a thin line keeps things easier to read later on. I find the narrowness of the body combined with its weight means the pen is more balanced and easier to write with when the cap isn't posted. The ink I used with the 126 is Waterman's Inspired Blue ink and I like it. It reminds me of Lamy Turquoise which is probably my favourite Lamy ink. The 165 is a medium nib and writes fairly bold like my Lamy Safari M. The 165 was filled with Platinum's Black ink which fades slightly grey but remains matte unlike Lamy Black which features this odd reddish sheen. This is my first foray into converter pens and bottled inks and so far, I'm liking it. For day-to-day writing I'm still biased toward my Preppy with blue black disposable cartridges for their fuss-free refill and write nature, but I'm going to make use of my new converter pens as much as possible.
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Sep 17, 2013 04:14
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Captain Postal posted:b) the converter doesn't suck up any ink through the nib. At all. This is not normal. Are you sure the converter is seated properly and there's nothing blocking ink in the section? You also might not be dipping deep enough - the entire metal portion of the nib must be submerged. The grip will get inky but if you have tissue on hand it should be possible to keep your hands clean.
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Sep 17, 2013 08:11
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breathstealer posted:This is not normal. Are you sure the converter is seated properly and there's nothing blocking ink in the section? You also might not be dipping deep enough - the entire metal portion of the nib must be submerged. The grip will get inky but if you have tissue on hand it should be possible to keep your hands clean. I exaggerated a little. Some ink comes up, but the converter is probably <25% full when fully drawn. It very well may be that the pen isn't submerged enough, which comes back to me not being able to see what's happening inside the bottle and being too conservative to keep the grip clean when guessing depth. That TWSBI ink well looks perfect, except I am quite fond of my lamy studio. I assume I can't get an international adapter for it? I will try a sheaffer snorkle if I ever see a metal one (what's a reasonable price point for a good one?). I'm considering getting another pen, would it be worth looking into a piston filler? Maybe a bigger piston would draw ink better. edit: I was also thinking about a montblanc ink bottle. How are they for size? Captain Postal fucked around with this message at 10:01 on Sep 17, 2013 |
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Sep 17, 2013 09:51
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Captain Postal posted:I exaggerated a little. Some ink comes up, but the converter is probably <25% full when fully drawn. It very well may be that the pen isn't submerged enough, which comes back to me not being able to see what's happening inside the bottle and being too conservative to keep the grip clean when guessing depth. Another thing you can do is once you fill it up via the converter, Empty it and slowly suck ink back up. Do this a few times and you'll see that it fills it up more.
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Sep 17, 2013 12:47
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Captain Postal posted:I exaggerated a little. Some ink comes up, but the converter is probably <25% full when fully drawn. It very well may be that the pen isn't submerged enough, which comes back to me not being able to see what's happening inside the bottle and being too conservative to keep the grip clean when guessing depth. As far as I'm aware, there are only two full metal Snorkel models. There's the Masterpiece which is made of solid gold and is extremely rare, you're looking at a few thousand dollars for one, minimum. There's also a Triumph version which has a gold filled cap/barrel/clip and is also pretty rare, I've personally not seen one up for sale in the few years I've been collecting pens.
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Sep 17, 2013 16:42
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Captain Postal posted:I exaggerated a little. Some ink comes up, but the converter is probably <25% full when fully drawn. It very well may be that the pen isn't submerged enough, which comes back to me not being able to see what's happening inside the bottle and being too conservative to keep the grip clean when guessing depth. This is your problem right here. Stick the pen in further so the grip's immersed in the ink and then you'll be able to fill the converter up completely. Wipe the grip off with a tissue afterwards and it'll be clean and you won't get inky fingers.
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Sep 17, 2013 17:09
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Also if anyone else owns a TWSBI Vac 700 and can't work out how to fill it completely, this video shows you how - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUfDj48imQg - no more annoying 75% full barrels! I'm super happy with my Vac 700 now I've ground a Goulet 1.1i nib to a finer stub that gives me some line width variation but isn't as absurdly wide as the stock 1.1i nib - much more comparable to a Lamy 1.1i now.
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Sep 17, 2013 17:11
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Is there any way to make the nib on a Preppy more fine?
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Sep 17, 2013 17:15
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kim jong-illin posted:This is your problem right here. Stick the pen in further so the grip's immersed in the ink and then you'll be able to fill the converter up completely. Wipe the grip off with a tissue afterwards and it'll be clean and you won't get inky fingers. If you don't have inky fingers, you're not a true fountain pen user.  Bought some #6 nibs from xfountainpens.com and they are super disappointing. They are not the right curvature to fit properly in an Ahab or Creaper, so I just flushed 6.99 down the drain -- should have gone w Goulet in the first place. The Goulet nib I bought is nice, but even at XF has a super thick line. Hopefully their stub nibs are a lot nicer. I lost my stub Metropolitan to the wife, who has appropriated it for her own daily use.
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Sep 17, 2013 17:26
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kim jong-illin posted:Wipe the grip off with a tissue afterwards and it'll be clean and you won't get inky fingers. Heck, if you buy LAMY ink, the bottles have a plastic container in the base that's full of blotting paper. I'm ont a fan of LAMY ink, but I do like their bottles. I'm thinking about taking a picture of my collection (40+ pens, minus 4 Mabie Todds that are out being repaired). Any interest? I don't want to flood the thread with pictures no-one cares about. I've got writing samples too, but they're in a notebook I'd have to scan.
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Sep 17, 2013 23:20
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:Heck, if you buy LAMY ink
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Sep 17, 2013 23:39
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Verdugo posted:If you don't have inky fingers, you're not a true fountain pen user. Like the rest of you fountain pen dorks, I'm just a poser But seriously, it's not acceptable to have inky hands when you have to meet with people and make friends for work. But I like my fountain pen posing so that's why I'm looking at solutions. Will try multiple-drawing-through-nib next time I refill.
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Sep 17, 2013 23:40
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What's wrong with syringe-filling? Grab a cartridge, empty it out through use, then use a dull syringe to pull ink from the inkwell & fill the cartridge. I haven't done it, but I assume you just poke through the hole in the tip where the pen accesses the cartridge reservoir. You'd want different cartridges for each color of ink, and I am not sure if you can pick up empty/clean cartridges from somewhere, but that's what I'd try. (and I totally get your concern about inky hands. I'm in the legal field, and that'd be rather embarrassing, except possibly with really old partners who still hand-write everything)
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Sep 18, 2013 00:02
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Buy some ink-NIX, it's great at removing ink stains. But if you get a Noodler's bulletproof or iron-gall on anything with organic fibres (e.g. a cotton shirt) it's never coming out. Those inks react chemically and the only way to remove them is with a laser (and even that's not certain; Nathan insists his BP inks are laser-proof). I have a stash of empty int'l short cartridges and Pilot cartridges "just in case", but both are readily available with ink already inside them.
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Sep 18, 2013 00:03
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I use syringes and still get dirty. I'm thinking of just getting some disposable gloves. That seems like a simple solution thats relatively cheap.
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Sep 18, 2013 00:31
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