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Besides the low cap-off time, it sounds very much like there's an air exchange issue in the feed of your Cross pen. This would definitely explain the sudden stop in ink flow after writing smoothly. It might be a good idea to pull the ink cartridge and give the feed and nib and good cleaning and see if that helps. You can stick a little ball of sticky tack in the collar of your ink cartridge to prevent it from drying while you're cleaning your pen.
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Dec 7, 2014 06:59
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 17:57 |
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Zorblack posted:I also greatly prefer the weight of the all metal Metro or Stratford. He clued me in on a fancy pen shop located nearby, and my penlust threatens to run rampant and strong. Glad I'm not the only one who finds the safari too light compared to the metro. Feels rather insubstantial in the hand.
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Dec 7, 2014 09:09
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Alder posted:Italic nibs are nice but there's no need to pay much for it as many FP companies offer calligraphy sets too. Some examples would be Sheaffer No-nonense, Pilot Parallel, and Manuscript FPs. I suggest sets unless you have a nib preference and line variation is more noticeable in greater widths. Doesn't the Plumix nib fit the Metro as well?
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Dec 7, 2014 17:59
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NeurosisHead posted:Doesn't the Plumix nib fit the Metro as well? Yep.
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Dec 7, 2014 18:49
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I recently bought a Jinhao x750, because although I've had troubles with Jinhaos in the past the possibility of swapping out the nib and having a nice writing, but dirt cheap pen was enticing. However, after swapping the medium Jinhao nib for a Noodler's fine no. 6, the pen only writes after forcing ink out with the converter, a laborious and messy process. Yet from how it writes when it wants to write, I'm still tempted to throw good money after bad. Does anyone know if feeds are somewhat standardized as nibs are, so that a no. 6 feed can be swapped the same way that a no. 6 nib can be? Could I even put a whole Pilot Varsity or Platinum Preppy feed--nib assembly into the more substantial steel body of a Jinhao?
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Dec 7, 2014 22:20
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Ok, so I mentioned earlier that I wanted to practice handwriting and fountain pen use. That's going OK, but these cheap rear end disposable Pilot Varsity pens seriously bleed through anything thinner than watercolor paper. Any suggestions on a cheapish pen, with a good tip for frequent use (not calligraphy) that preferably comes with ink that could reasonably be used on notepaper? I use pretty nice Cambridge notebooks, so we're not talking translucent 99c notepads.
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Dec 7, 2014 22:38
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Annath posted:Ok, so I mentioned earlier that I wanted to practice handwriting and fountain pen use. Pilot Metropolitan. Seriously, it's in the thread title for a reason.
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Dec 7, 2014 22:53
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Annath posted:Ok, so I mentioned earlier that I wanted to practice handwriting and fountain pen use. Agreeing with the poster above on getting a pilot metropolitan. Alternatively, a Lamy Safari if you love plastic pens.
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Dec 8, 2014 01:10
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If you're really worried about bleedthrough, the safari tends to write drier than the metro for the same nib sizes
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Dec 8, 2014 02:11
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Annath posted:Ok, so I mentioned earlier that I wanted to practice handwriting and fountain pen use. Solumin posted:Pilot Metropolitan. Agreed. But first give one of those translucent 99c notepads. Well, maybe not literally, but the point is that the price of the paper is not always an indicator of how nice it will be for your pens. I've had luck with store-brand legal pads and paper I've stolen out of my printer when nicer paper feathered right out. You just don't know until you try. Actually, try the cheap paper AND get a Metro. It's a nice pen. 
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Dec 8, 2014 02:43
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khamul posted:I recently bought a Jinhao x750, because although I've had troubles with Jinhaos in the past the possibility of swapping out the nib and having a nice writing, but dirt cheap pen was enticing. However, after swapping the medium Jinhao nib for a Noodler's fine no. 6, the pen only writes after forcing ink out with the converter, a laborious and messy process. Yet from how it writes when it wants to write, I'm still tempted to throw good money after bad. A) Did you clean the pen and feed first? B) Did you try the original nib? I've personally found Jinhao nibs quite usable, and putting in a Noodler's non-flex isn't what I'd call an "upgrade". C) If neither of those pan out it's likely the nib isn't laying flat on the feed.
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Dec 8, 2014 03:05
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grack posted:A) Did you clean the pen and feed first? I cleaned the whole thing several times, and the Noodler's F nib was a drastic improvement over the Jinhao M nib. The problem is that neither writes well. I only used water to clean the pen though, but I think I'll go back and try a drop of dish soap and clean out the feed, and use pliers to fit the "shank" of the nib more closely onto the feed. I don't think the feed is made out of the same material as Noodler's pens so it would probably not be profitable to try to heat set the plastic. I guess I'll tinker with the nib and use some diluted soap to make sure the feed is clean.
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Dec 8, 2014 15:02
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khamul posted:I cleaned the whole thing several times, and the Noodler's F nib was a drastic improvement over the Jinhao M nib. The problem is that neither writes well. I only used water to clean the pen though, but I think I'll go back and try a drop of dish soap and clean out the feed, and use pliers to fit the "shank" of the nib more closely onto the feed. I don't think the feed is made out of the same material as Noodler's pens so it would probably not be profitable to try to heat set the plastic. I guess I'll tinker with the nib and use some diluted soap to make sure the feed is clean. Well, good luck. The feed is plastic and not ebonite so definitely don't try to heat set it. If you're going at the nib with pliers you should have a loupe or strong magnifying glass around to make sure you don't mess up the tine alignment.
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Dec 8, 2014 18:18
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Just bought my first pens: TWSBU 580AL in orange and a Pilot Metropolitan in black, both fine nibs. Didn't buy any actual bottles of ink, but I signed up for Goulet's Ink Drop and bought a sampler pack of black inks, and between the two I'll have like 25 samples to go through before I have to commit to anything. Looking forward to practicing my handwriting a lot over winter break.
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Dec 8, 2014 19:06
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Ok. About to go into a shop and choose (and probably buy) an FP for $150-200. Can you guys give me tips on makes to look for and to avoid re build quality/reliability? I don't want to choose a pen I like only for it to die on me. I'll be using it for drawing as well as writing. Obviously I will try a number of pens and will get something that feels good and that I like the look of (and something for the right price) but obviously reliability isn't something you can judge in shop. BTW, is there a paper thread or do we do that here?
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Dec 8, 2014 23:11
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I'm a trainer for an insurance company, and two of my new agents showed up today with brand new Metropolitans and questions about inks. 
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Dec 8, 2014 23:34
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Josef K. Sourdust posted:Ok. About to go into a shop and choose (and probably buy) an FP for $150-200. Can you guys give me tips on makes to look for and to avoid re build quality/reliability? I don't want to choose a pen I like only for it to die on me. I'll be using it for drawing as well as writing. Obviously I will try a number of pens and will get something that feels good and that I like the look of (and something for the right price) but obviously reliability isn't something you can judge in shop. I really don't think at that price point in a retail store you're going to find anything of truly questionable build quality or reliability. Keep in mind you'll probably be paying a slight premium for being in a brick & mortar store, but the advantage is that you get to try out a bunch of pens. As far as paper, that ends up here, too, typically. Are you looking for recommendations for a notebook, loose leaf, notepad...?
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Dec 8, 2014 23:56
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Magnus Praeda posted:I really don't think at that price point in a retail store you're going to find anything of truly questionable build quality or reliability. Keep in mind you'll probably be paying a slight premium for being in a brick & mortar store, but the advantage is that you get to try out a bunch of pens. Yes, I figured it would cost me a little extra but I like supporting actual shops. Also as I have no real idea of what I am after, I'll need to actually handle items. Glad that I'll be above "possibly cruddy" quality price point. Will report how it works out. Hoooo... Paper, well, I'm an artist so I know a fair bit about paper for drawing. I usually use cotton or wood-cotton blend, Ingres paper by Hahnemuhle, Fabriano, Canson and other European makes. For writing I have used Gallo and Three Candlesticks. I'm primarily interested in tips about letter writing pads and envelopes, high end, pref. with some cotton content but not necessarily - watermarks particularly welcome. I had quite a nice pad of letter paper with a watermark made by...Woolworths. Yeah, that puzzled me too. Anyway, Woolworths went out of business in the UK so I doubt I'll ever see another pad like that. So any letter-writing paper tips welcome!
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Dec 9, 2014 00:21
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It's here! It's here!  
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Dec 9, 2014 00:31
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Josef K. Sourdust posted:I'm primarily interested in tips about letter writing pads and envelopes, high end, pref. with some cotton content but not necessarily - watermarks particularly welcome. I had quite a nice pad of letter paper with a watermark made by...Woolworths. Yeah, that puzzled me too. Anyway, Woolworths went out of business in the UK so I doubt I'll ever see another pad like that. Clairfontaine and Rhodia have nice writing pads for sale. There's literally no limit to how much you can spend on HQ paper. Three Candles is fine for letters and I just use normal envelopes. For tips it's important to be sure you're writing the recipient's correct address on the front. Also, umm try not to forget about your pen pals and write frequently if possible.
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Dec 9, 2014 00:59
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404notfound posted:It's here! It's here! I ordered mine 12/5 from JetPens and it's listed as "packaging" in my order status. e: VVVV yeah, knowing that you ordered on the 4th makes me feel a bit better. I ordered right before I posted here about there being 14 bottles left in stock at JP. They probably just didn't get to processing the order until today. NeurosisHead fucked around with this message at 01:22 on Dec 9, 2014 |
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Dec 9, 2014 01:08
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I ordered on the 4th, but I also live about ten minutes away from JetPens. The last time I emailed about picking up an order in person, they were in Milpitas, but maybe I should check again now that they've moved to San Jose...
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Dec 9, 2014 01:17
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When I ordered mine I think it estimated the arrival as the 15th which was fine by me because I'm out of town and would hate for it to sit in the mailbox until I got home.
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Dec 9, 2014 02:42
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I ordered a bottle after seeing the post in here and it arrived a day later, but I'm in Oakland so they just had to drive it across the bridge.
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Dec 9, 2014 06:09
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Josef K. Sourdust posted:Ok. About to go into a shop and choose (and probably buy) an FP for $150-200. Can you guys give me tips on makes to look for and to avoid re build quality/reliability? I don't want to choose a pen I like only for it to die on me. I'll be using it for drawing as well as writing. Obviously I will try a number of pens and will get something that feels good and that I like the look of (and something for the right price) but obviously reliability isn't something you can judge in shop. If you are crossing the 100-dollar mark for the first time I think one of the best pens you can get is a Lamy 2000. Enormous capacity, classic design, very no-nonsense daily writer sort of pen.
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Dec 9, 2014 07:37
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404notfound posted:I ordered on the 4th, but I also live about ten minutes away from JetPens. The last time I emailed about picking up an order in person, they were in Milpitas, but maybe I should check again now that they've moved to San Jose... I have asked this before, but their warehouse is somewhere other than here so you can't do local pickups for JetPens. The situation may have changed from mid-2013, but it depends on where they actually ship stuff out of - their office is just that around here and doesn't carry any local stock.
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Dec 9, 2014 08:02
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I haven't been to this thread in a while but my pen usage has shrunk down a lot, to one in fact. It's (big surprise) the pilot metro, with the original M nib. It's my favorite by far because it's the least fiddly, best working and best looking. e: those new noodlers konrads look nice, but they're too expensive for a noodler's IMO, or for a pen in general. So metro keeps on winning and being used. His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 10:33 on Dec 9, 2014 |
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Dec 9, 2014 10:29
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Annath posted:Ok, so I mentioned earlier that I wanted to practice handwriting and fountain pen use. I recommend the Platinum Preppy. They have a fine nib and write wet, but not too wet for composition notebooks as I recall. I still use one on a semi-daily basis along with my more expensive pens. They're easy to refill with bottled ink if you can't find the cartridges.
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Dec 9, 2014 16:51
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404notfound posted:It's here! It's here! My bottle arrived over lunch today. Too bad all my pens are all full at the moment. A problem that will be solved by my solution to all my gripes with the resin Falcon (too light, tiny converter capacity): Metal Falcon 
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Dec 9, 2014 19:42
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Speaking of Stormy Grey, it's back in stock over at Goulet Pens. http://www.gouletpens.com/h150-09/p/H150-09
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Dec 9, 2014 20:06
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khamul posted:I recommend the Platinum Preppy. They have a fine nib and write wet, but not too wet for composition notebooks as I recall. I still use one on a semi-daily basis along with my more expensive pens. They're easy to refill with bottled ink if you can't find the cartridges. I have 2 and the plastic is way too fragile for any long term writing. Although still it's a good value, if you're not 100% certain of the FP hobby.
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Dec 9, 2014 20:18
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Edmond Dantes posted:Speaking of Stormy Grey, it's back in stock over at Goulet Pens. I just got the email too. Hooray for someone other than me who hasn't ordered it already from somewhere else.
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Dec 9, 2014 20:27
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Edmond Dantes posted:Speaking of Stormy Grey, it's back in stock over at Goulet Pens. Ordered along with a Lamy italic nib to use it with fuuuck yeah
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Dec 9, 2014 20:30
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Alder posted:I have 2 and the plastic is way too fragile for any long term writing. Although still it's a good value, if you're not 100% certain of the FP hobby. Wrap the top of the barrel and the bottom of the cap with a short strip of clear packing tape.
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Dec 9, 2014 21:01
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My much beloved TWSBI mini has gone missing and I'm looking to try something new as a replacement. Is the Kaweco Sport comparable, or is there something else that is around the same size for less than $150? I am a lady with small hands, and the grip on the Sport looks like it might be too wide at first glance.
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Dec 10, 2014 02:57
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NeurosisHead posted:I just got the email too. Hooray for someone other than me who hasn't ordered it already from somewhere else. Oh, I signed up for the e-mail just because. I don't have anyone currently in the states who'd be willing to bring it over and having it shipped all the way here is a blanket list of bad ideas (customs, taxes, literal import restrictions that may or may not apply to ink). I'll get it eventually. Yes I will.
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Dec 10, 2014 03:11
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Aergo posted:My much beloved TWSBI mini has gone missing and I'm looking to try something new as a replacement. Is the Kaweco Sport comparable, or is there something else that is around the same size for less than $150? I am a lady with small hands, and the grip on the Sport looks like it might be too wide at first glance. The Pilot E95s feels quite nice in my lady hands. It's around $130 in most of the US retailers I've seen but I got a Japan import for under $100 on Amazon. It's a really sharp looking pen as well.
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Dec 10, 2014 03:25
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Aergo posted:My much beloved TWSBI mini has gone missing and I'm looking to try something new as a replacement. Is the Kaweco Sport comparable, or is there something else that is around the same size for less than $150? I am a lady with small hands, and the grip on the Sport looks like it might be too wide at first glance. The Kaweco Sport isn't that wide and there are a whole range of different nib/color/material options in the line. If you want something compact you could also look at the Ohto Tasche or Kaweco Lilliput.
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Dec 10, 2014 03:40
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Just got an e-mail from Massdrop saying the 2-pack of Pilot Metropolitans for 24 bucks is back on sale, if you missed out on that last time or just want more Metros.
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Dec 10, 2014 18:27
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 17:57 |
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Quick question! Grey ink: which one? Should I just go for Stormy Grey? If not, Kiri-same or Fuyo-syogun?
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Dec 10, 2014 19:33
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