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dino. posted:So I got a little too excited when the Dragon's Napalm came in. While filling the pen, I got ink on my fingers. What do I do? Option 1: Find some flesh toned ink and get that on your inky fingers til they match the other ones. Option 2: Get a bag of Chee-tos and eat them until your other fingers match the inky ones. Option 3: Forget about it and if anyone asks become really freaked out about this strange stuff on your fingers.
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Nov 22, 2013 22:16
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 11:25 |
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Open the fuel tank on your bike every morning before work and dip your fingertips in, problem solved. Or white spirit/meths.
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Nov 23, 2013 00:04
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I had an accident filling one of my pens and walked around with green fingers for like three days because that poo poo would NOT come off. I'm usually a little inky around the fingertips but this was bad because it had run down between all of my fingers and across my palm; I'd pretty much spilled it everywhere and was more concerned with cleaning up the pen and the sink before I washed it off my hand so it had time to really set up.
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Nov 23, 2013 01:12
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Everything Burrito posted:I had an accident filling one of my pens and walked around with green fingers for like three days because that poo poo would NOT come off. I'm usually a little inky around the fingertips but this was bad because it had run down between all of my fingers and across my palm; I'd pretty much spilled it everywhere and was more concerned with cleaning up the pen and the sink before I washed it off my hand so it had time to really set up. I think you had pretty good priorities there.  My sink is still kinda a little gray around the drain from all the acrylic painting I did a while back.By any chance, does anyone know is ink from newspaper or books could be dissolved away, leaving the paper blank? I know with loose leaf paper it can be done with water alone, but I heard that the ink from offset printing is oil based, so alcohol supposedly might work. I prefer blank paper in comparison with grids, and just imagine how useful it would be to get any paper and repurpose it for arts and crafts... 
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Nov 23, 2013 01:35
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You can find both newsprint and unlined paper bound up in notebooks in any arts & crafts store or the art supplies section of any Target or the like. Most fountain pen paper companies also sell unlined notebooks of almost every size/binding. While you probably could wash paper to make it blank, it would be way easier and more economical to just recycle old newspapers (and books I guess if you really want  ) and buy what you wanted to use. It would damage the integrity of the paper, anyway.
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Nov 23, 2013 01:39
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For cleaning, use a cuticle brush, you can find them in drugstores, and just scrub up for awhile. I haven't had to deal with anything that bills itself as bulletproof or permanent (though I do have bulletproof black Noodler's) but rinsing the majority off quickly with the scrubbing action tends to work. I hear but cannot corroborate that shaving cream is also a good ink lifter from body parts.
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Nov 23, 2013 02:25
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Dumb maintenance question time! So I've been using the TWSBI 580 as my daily pen for a fair bit now, refilled it once (first fill was about a half fill, didn't quite understand what I was doing), and have been generally having a really good time. I don't really plan on using anything other than Noodler's Black in it for any foreseeable future. How often should I go about cleaning the pen? Every few refills? I have no concept of how much crud will build up and how much cleaning should be done as preventative maintenance. I'm not even sure to what extent I should go to with cleaning it. A full dismantle and clean or just a flush and gentle scrub of the nib and feed? Also, I noticed the 580 came with a small container of some silicon lubricant, where exactly is that used and should I be bothering with it when I'm cleaning it? And while I'm at it, is there any general 'go-to' cleaning guide? I've seen a few, including TWSBI Diamond specific ones, but given that I know absolutely nothing its hard to tell good advice from bad. Aside from that I'm still trying to figure out if the flow issues on the tablets I use (Whitelines) are due to the paper or due to the pen. I seem to get way more consistent flow on regular copy paper than I do on the Whitelines pads. Although the copy paper is borderline excessive, I assume the increased absorption of the paper is just drawing out more ink. I generally get a pretty good flow on the Whitelines pads but it gets finicky sometimes for reasons I can't quite discern -- at first I thought it was just due to how I was holding the pen and using it in general but I've ruled that out by this point. Given how the paper seems to resist feathering in the extreme I'm starting to suspect its the general culprit. As to why it sometimes gets better or worse though, really hard to say. Tend to have to use slightly more pressure on the Whitelines tablets to generate an even look. vv Thanks! twinight fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Nov 24, 2013 |
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Nov 24, 2013 22:04
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twinight posted:Dumb maintenance question time! So I've been using the TWSBI 580 as my daily pen for a fair bit now, refilled it once (first fill was about a half fill, didn't quite understand what I was doing), and have been generally having a really good time. I don't really plan on using anything other than Noodler's Black in it for any foreseeable future. How often should I go about cleaning the pen? Every few refills? I have no concept of how much crud will build up and how much cleaning should be done as preventative maintenance. It's good practice to clean your pen after every other fill. Just mix up some rinse and run it through the pen using the pen's built-in filling mechanism, just like you would do if you were filling it with ink. Flush it like that a few times until the rinse runs clear, then flush it out several times with clean water to get the chemicals out of the feed. You won't be harming anything by doing it after every 3 fills, or once a month, or whatever's most convenient for you. To make some good, general-purpose pen rinse, just use a 10:1 ratio of water to pure ammonia, then add a drop or two of ordinary dish soap and mix well before use. That's what's in the store-bought pen flushes, so don't bother paying $12 or whatever for 8 ounces. You don't really need to take it apart or scrub anything. TWSBI Diamonds are great for taking apart and fiddling with because they were meant to be user-serviceable, but there's no real /need/ to do so. The silicone grease is to lubricate the piston if it starts to stick or have too much resistance when you're filling the pen. You will rarely need to do that. There was an instruction pamphlet that came with the pen on how to disassemble and lubricate it, and there are some videos on youtube, if you ever want to get into that. The only "go-to" cleaning method is to run pen rinse through the feed until it runs clear, then flushing it out with plenty of water. There are other things people do like floss the tines with a brass sheet, but that's not so important for just daily maintenance on a single-ink pen.
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Nov 24, 2013 22:17
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If you are using the same ink, just fill it up again, no need to clean or flush it at all unless it's giving you problems. There should be no buildup or crud if you are using it regularly.
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Nov 24, 2013 23:33
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Just got an email from gumwater, a pen/ink store that launched last year and I shopped at a couple of times. quote:Unfortunately, we are going to have to close our doors for good, but we would like to clear out as much of our inventory as possible and pass some great deals on to you, our customers, as a "Thank You" for your support over the years. Everything is 20-25% off, including their Noodlers, Diamine and J Herbin inks.
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Nov 26, 2013 18:04
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Kakuno came in. Inked up with the stock cartridge it came with and gotta say I'm impressed. I actually think I like it better than my Safari. 
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Nov 28, 2013 02:39
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I used a friend's Kakuno the other day. It's ridiculously good for ten bucks. (also the nib has a smiley face so by definition every other fountain pen sucks)
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Nov 28, 2013 11:21
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I remember we had fountain pens at primary school, when we learned proper handwriting. When are you using a fountain pen, nowadays? Special occasions, or all the time?
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Nov 28, 2013 12:29
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Serious Sam posted:I remember we had fountain pens at primary school, when we learned proper handwriting. I use them all the time. The last time I used a ballpoint was about 6 months ago because apparently some people don't like you signing documents in bright green.
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Nov 28, 2013 13:01
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Serious Sam posted:I remember we had fountain pens at primary school, when we learned proper handwriting. All the time, unless I have to write on carbon paper or plastic bags for work.
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Nov 28, 2013 14:41
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Serious Sam posted:I remember we had fountain pens at primary school, when we learned proper handwriting. All the time. They write do much better than a lovely ballpoint pen.
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Nov 28, 2013 15:37
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I'm sick of noodler's flex not working right. Are there any other alternatives?
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Nov 28, 2013 21:16
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teraflame posted:I'm sick of noodler's flex not working right. Are there any other alternatives? For full on flex your best bet is a vintage pen 100% There are some soft nibs from Pilot, like the one on the Falcon, which will get you some (small) line variation, and flex nibs from Richard Binder are available on Edison pens (though that will cost you many, many times what the Noodler's did) What is bugging you on the pen? I was a lot more satisfied with my Ahab after preforming a quick modification to the nib with a Dremel ( following instructions from this thread ). SnakesRevenge fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Nov 28, 2013 |
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Nov 28, 2013 21:49
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Kessel posted:I used a friend's Kakuno the other day. It's ridiculously good for ten bucks. I was thinking of buying a couple of these, but I'm having trouble finding anywhere that sells them for under $20. The Rakuten site is NOT cooperating with me. 
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Nov 28, 2013 22:34
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Julet Esqu posted:I was thinking of buying a couple of these, but I'm having trouble finding anywhere that sells them for under $20. The Rakuten site is NOT cooperating with me. Rakuten + small package shipping = $12.50 total shipped to the United States. Pen owns. New favorite next to my Falcon. 
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Nov 28, 2013 22:39
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I want to do it, but every time I try to add it to the cart I get an error message. I can't figure out if I'm stupid or the page is.
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Nov 28, 2013 23:02
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Julet Esqu posted:I want to do it, but every time I try to add it to the cart I get an error message. I can't figure out if I'm stupid or the page is. I did it fine. Are you using Rakuten USA? I use a fountain pen daily. Usually it's my Metro, sometimes it's my Konrad with a Goulet nib. I'm hoping Santa brings me a TWSBI for Christmas, just got some Heart of Darkness. Wifey has a Metro with the Kakuno Fine point nib installed and she loves it. Everything I use now is black blue or blue black so I have no issues using it at work. Except for some Johann Sebastian Bach ink which is a vintage looking [supposedly] brown-black.
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Nov 29, 2013 03:04
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Hey guys. I have something I want to ask about a particularly expensive pen that probably needs repair. It's a Montblanc Meisterstuck 149 which I found in my apartment. I have no idea how I got it and when I found it I didn't know what it was.  Which ended up with me doing this with the piston.   I definitely want to get this fixed. Please tell me this can actually be repaired and how much it may cost me.  Also, I was looking at the nib and I see that it's different than what's on the website.  What's the difference between these two nibs? Just curious.
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Nov 29, 2013 04:13
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Either carry it into a Montblanc boutique or send it to their repair facility. You're probably looking at around $200 for the repair which will also include a complete overhaul including nib tuning. The nibs vary a bit from year to year, most of mine vary a bit, even within the same model line. That's a nice pen, you going to keep it?
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Nov 29, 2013 05:06
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iostream.h posted:Either carry it into a Montblanc boutique or send it to their repair facility. You're probably looking at around $200 for the repair which will also include a complete overhaul including nib tuning. Oh jeez of course it's $200 for repairs. I found a boutique a few minutes away so I'll check tomorrow. What's worse is that I found out this pen is my mom's and she's been looking for it for a while now. If it's that expensive to fix I'll have to get it fixed after the holidays.  quote:That's a nice pen, you going to keep it? After finding out exactly what it was, I wish I could. Sadly, it's not mine to keep.
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Nov 29, 2013 06:55
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Verdugo posted:I did it fine. Are you using Rakuten USA? Yep. Followed the link in the OP. So after spending the quite a while completely failing at my attempts to order from that site, I figured what the hell and tried it with my Kindle. And it worked just fine. So apparently Kindle is better at ordering from Rakuten than my computer is. I don't even know...  I'm happy it finally worked, though. Cute new pen for me! 
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Nov 29, 2013 06:56
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Mad Lupine posted:Oh jeez of course it's $200 for repairs. I found a boutique a few minutes away so I'll check tomorrow. What's worse is that I found out this pen is my mom's and she's been looking for it for a while now. If it's that expensive to fix I'll have to get it fixed after the holidays.
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Nov 29, 2013 07:02
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Bit of a new pen owner, the only ones I have are a pair of Lamy Safaris to get myself used to fountain pens, one for work and one for home. They're both filled with converters. The one is filled with Diamine Oxblood and the other with Noodler's Blue-Black. The issue I'm having has been the one using Oxblood ink. Ever since I've had it, it seem like ink has been creeping up the reservoir, onto the nib, and down onto the exterior of the section. It was only a bit right at the top of the section to start, just like I had just finished filling it, so I'd just wipe it off then move on. Recently however, the ink is basically all down the section and I can'e even open the cap without covering myself in ink. I carry the pen in my shirt pocket pointed up, so I don't even know how the ink is travelling so much, gravity should be keeping it in the drat pen. I've replaced the nib once thinking that might be the issue but it wasn't; it's leaking worse now than before. The seal on the converter is fine, it's completely dry when I remove it. The second pen is starting to exhibit the same initial small leakage the first pen had. Is this a storage or behavioral issue on my part, or an issue with this particular pen? I have no idea what I could be doing that's causing these pens to leak this badly.
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Nov 29, 2013 07:15
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really dumb question, how do you properly fill a pen with a CON-50? I have been dipping the entire pen into the ink, twisting the mechanism on the con-50 a few times. But I only get maybe half a page of notes before it starts to run out again. I swear it used to load better, do I just need to give it a good flushing out? The nib seems to be almost fully immersed in the ink, so I think there is still enough in the sample to give it a decent filling. Or is this just baystate blue making my pen self destruct?
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Nov 29, 2013 17:41
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Demon_Corsair posted:really dumb question, how do you properly fill a pen with a CON-50? In all likelyhood the intake is just above the ink line of the sample vial and has been sucking off foam from the very top. I fill all my pens with removable converters using ink syringes these days. It's less messy, you don't need to wipe down the pen after, and you can suck up every drop from a sample vial with them. They're only fivebux at goulet and are a very long term investment: http://www.gouletpens.com/Goulet_5ml_Ink_Syringe_Set_p/gpc-inksyringe.htm As far as BSB goes, you might want to read the following page on richardspens. In addition to the giant caution window, there appears to be a significant amount of FPN activity on the subject. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=pens/nam.htm
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Nov 29, 2013 18:47
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Demon_Corsair posted:really dumb question, how do you properly fill a pen with a CON-50? As Lord Girlyman said above, "almost fully immersed" may not actually be immersed enough. Often pens require submerging up to the section as the ink intake is right at the base of the nib. BSB has pretty much no effect on filling as far as I've read. BSB is the most polarising ink ever made. On one hand you have people that worship it, and on the other hand some people think it killed their wife and children. The only precautions you need to take with BSB over other pens is to not use the aforementioned Namiki/Pilot translucent feed pens with it, avoid using it in demonstrators as it'll stain, and avoid spilling it on stuff especially natural fibres as it's designed to permanently bind with them. But there's plenty of other inks around that'll stain stuff permanently as well so take that as you will. I've just started using syringes to refill cartridges and I can't praise them enough. Much less potential for mess with slightly more effort to fill a pen. No brainer as far as I'm concerned.
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Nov 29, 2013 18:56
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As an added benefit, Demon Corsair, if you have a Hobby Lobby near you, you can get a dozen cartridges in a bunch of different colors [or in all black] for $4.99 and you can usually get 40% off on top of that with a coupon - the Parallel Pen uses the same carts and those Pilot / Namiki carts are the same size as the CON 50 converter. I like Syringe filling better than piston fill / squeeze fill carts, I have several empty Pilot carts I can use. I completely disassemble and rinse out my pen anyway between fills so it's not too much extra work. I use the squeeze one (Con-70?) in my Metro and it's pretty nice. I dislike Baystate Blue, because of how stainy it is, but that's because I'm clumsy. It permanently stained the sink and floor in my bathroom, had to basically grind it out of the tile and sink to get them clean.
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Nov 29, 2013 19:08
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Squeeze is CON-20, lovely twist is CON-50, very good twist is CON-70.
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Nov 29, 2013 19:32
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Lord Girlyman posted:In all likelyhood the intake is just above the ink line of the sample vial and has been sucking off foam from the very top. Yea, its not filling at all. So after watching that video, with a con-50 do I use the feed saturation method, or just take the piston off, fill it and then put it back on? Both of these methods seems less then optimal. Or do you just constantly reuse the cartridges I have been using BSB exclusively in my pilot metropolitan. Guess I should get another one on order soon. Verdugo posted:As an added benefit, Demon Corsair, if you have a Hobby Lobby near you, you can get a dozen cartridges in a bunch of different colors [or in all black] for $4.99 and you can usually get 40% off on top of that with a coupon - the Parallel Pen uses the same carts and those Pilot / Namiki carts are the same size as the CON 50 converter. I found comet was great for getting ink stains out of my counters. Do the cartridges eventually wear out, or are they refillable indefinitely? I guess if you can get 10 for $5 who cares if they wear out.
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Nov 29, 2013 19:53
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I just pop out the converter/empty cartridge, fill it up with ink, pop it back in then let the pen sit nib down for a few minutes while the ink moves down the feed. --------------------------- Edit: Oh, there are some okay black Friday deals on amazon. Rather than list things of note I will just hope this link works. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_n...55&rnid=1069820 Rudeboy Detective fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Nov 29, 2013 |
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Nov 29, 2013 20:40
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Demon_Corsair posted:Yea, its not filling at all. If I am doing cartridge fill I just reuse them. I have one that I've used since the beginning of time and I just clean it out really good between ink colors. However at 10 carts for $3 with coupon if they look too grody I just swap them out. I use the CON 20 in my Metro when I'm not using cartridges. The "Cleaning Converter" works great as ink storage too - I think the Con-20 and the Cartridge have the most ink capacity. Of course with BSB your mileage will vary, I might pop that pen apart and give it a good cleaning first, just in case there's some buildup keeping the ink from drawing up properly into the pen. The feed and nib are designed to pull right out of the section, they're just friction fit in there. Don't spend 8.25 on the Con-20 if you're switching converters. There's a basic "Cleaning Converter" which works well with ink too. I have a couple at home I had obtained with several pilot pens. You may have gotten one with your Metro as well. It doesn't have an ink window but I've been writing with one in my Kakuno since I picked it up with no problems.
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Nov 29, 2013 21:25
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Soliciting purchasing advice. I've got a Lamy Safari with a 1.9mm italic nib, and it's fantastic, i love it. It's also not super great for day to day use, because it's a 1.9mm italic. The weight is great but the grip isn't quite perfect for my hands (it's more or less the right size but my index finger is bent so i wind up twisting if i try to use the griplines 'properly'). How much does this inform my choices for what i should buy as a day to day pen?
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Nov 29, 2013 22:49
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Tulip posted:Soliciting purchasing advice. Just a heads up, I have a Safari with a 1.5 nib and it's still a bit big for everyday use. If you are thinking about a smaller nib, but still italic, I'd go for the 1.1; I have it on a Lamy CP1, which is fantastic, but quite different grip-wise from the Safari so I'm not sure if it's your cup of tea.
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Nov 29, 2013 23:27
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Edmond Dantes posted:Just a heads up, I have a Safari with a 1.5 nib and it's still a bit big for everyday use. If you are thinking about a smaller nib, but still italic, I'd go for the 1.1; I have it on a Lamy CP1, which is fantastic, but quite different grip-wise from the Safari so I'm not sure if it's your cup of tea. Rotring Artpens can be had with a 0.6mm italic nib, I think. e: Tulip posted:Soliciting purchasing advice. You might want to try some pens without the finger grooves then. suck my woke dick fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Nov 30, 2013 |
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Nov 30, 2013 00:23
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I CANNOT EJACULATE WITHOUT SEEING NATIVE AMERICANS BRUTALISED!
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 11:25 |
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Lamy's italic nib sizing doesn't match the majority of nibs: a 1.5 Lamy italic is closer to a 1.1 from TWBSI or other brands. I use a Lamy 1.1 italic on a Safari as my daily pen as well as having my Lamy 2000 custom ground to match.
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Nov 30, 2013 00:26
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