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Went yard sale scoping today and picked up a Sheaffer cartridge pen with a 304 nib for $5, got it home, flushed it out and it works like it's brand new. Something to use as a day to day when my Ahab gets on my nerves. Does anyone else have issues with J Herbin Rouge Hematite ink? I have a bottle of it, and it seems to constantly gunk up my pens. I have used it in an Ahab, a Plumix, and this Sheaffer pen now, and in all 3 the feed dries up super quick. I love how the ink shades, but it's an exercise in frustration to get ink flowing. I picked up a Goulet B Nib for my Ahab [the flex nib drives me up the wall] to see if that helps. Count me in for the TWSBI crew, I am looking to pick up a TWSBI 540 or 580 next. Verdugo fucked around with this message at 03:35 on Jul 14, 2013 |
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Jul 14, 2013 03:32
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blowfish posted:Keep in mind that red ink in general tends to be more gunk-prone than other inks from the same manufacturer. Even, say, Pelikan red will leave a layer of crud quite quickly. Especially since this one is two tone with green pigment included. Bah. Time to sell the bottle on eBay I guess.
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Jul 15, 2013 04:43
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Arcturas posted:Why not? You can sign in any color ink you want, most of the time. I resist signing legal documents in black out of habit -- I can see wanting to make sure it's distinct. On the subject of Baystate Blue, my reccomendation is to buy a sample first. Baystate Blue is the devil's ink, due to a dexterity malfunction I spilled it on my sink and it immediately stained the porcealin, it took a ridiculous amount of scrubbing to clean. Super stubborn on fingers too. It also permanently stained the pen I put it in. Put it in a pen you don't care too much about and test it first. I wound up ditching the bottle after that. My wife bought me a super crappy fountain pen from Target's clearance rack. It's purple and has an Alice in Wonderland motif on it and looks like garbage -- but it writes super smooth, uses international carts too. So cheap though that the cap has cracked in two spots. Wish I could pull this nib out and use it on my day to day pen. Verdugo fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Jul 15, 2013 |
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Jul 15, 2013 20:09
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I got my Goulet broad nib in yesterday for my Ahab and wow. The difference between this and the flex nib is day and night. I know they are for two different styles, but the broad nib just glides on the paper and stays wet as opposed to it drying out every time I put the pen down. I'm using De Atramentis George Washington in it, which is a really rich black. Probably should have gotten a medium, but at this point it doesn't really matter.
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Jul 16, 2013 17:57
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laertes22 posted:Also, for the guys that have bought Noodler's Ahab flex pens, I am a bit curious about those. I really like the aesthetic of the Ahab, as well as the size and the grip. However, I have no experience tinkering with or fixing my pens, and I have heard that Ahab's don't necessarily work great straight out of the box. Re: Ahab Flex. You need to tweak the nib and feed once you get it. Once you get it where you want it, you don't have to worry about it until you need to clean your pen. I've been using mine daily for a few weeks now with no issues, outside of putting the J Herbin Rouge Hematite in it. It's super easy to disassemble and assemble, everything screws / unscrews and the nib / feed are friction fit. I just don't like the flex nib as much as I thought (needs too much work to press down) and put in a Goulet nib instead. I'm tempted to grind the noodler's nib down to see how super flexy I can make it. There's a good video on Goulet pens about it [no link, I'm at the office]. Verdugo fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Jul 17, 2013 |
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Jul 17, 2013 16:25
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xilixliadon posted:Did my best to locate anything related to it on google, but the best I could find was someone saying they like the wenliang 652 (http://dofastandwell.blogspot.com/2011/01/fabulous-fountain-pen.html), and an old post selling a panda themed wenliang pen on fountainpennetwork (http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/117834-dancing-panda-fountain-pen/). Lots of pens on eBay like that in a similar series, no Disney style specifically, all starting at .01 USD with free shipping from Hong Kong. Makes me wonder how they make any money doing it. Back before I was into fountain pens as much as I am now, I bought a bunch of metal rollerball pens from China the same way, they came packaged super nice, with bookmarks and the pen wrapped up nicely and a chinese postcard, and I didn't pay more than .30 usd for each of them.
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Jul 18, 2013 17:49
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cobalt impurity posted:Unremarkable pen with an up-its-own-rear end design philosophy. If it were $20 cheaper I'd consider getting one but there's no way it could outclass the Metropolitan. Guy doesn't seem to have done much research outside of "this fountain pen. you buy.": - He says you can use most inks, and says to go to an art supply store. Inks I've seen at art supply stores are shellac based inks, not water based. - Says it won't feather because of the nib. That depends on the ink. And the paper. - He compares it to $200 fountain pens. He needs to compare it to $40 pens, because it's way over priced. My Lamy Safari is a lot nicer than this pen. - Says it won't leak. Neither will my Noodler's Creaper and it's sub $20. Verdugo fucked around with this message at 23:23 on Jul 18, 2013 |
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Jul 18, 2013 23:16
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Solkanar512 posted:I sure hope he's able to actually manage that sort of production in a reasonable amount of time, otherwise he's going to piss off a whole bunch of people new to the hobby. I wouldn't be surprised if these pens were already made out of China / Hong Kong.
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Jul 19, 2013 14:02
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The Entire Universe posted:I honestly wonder if the overpriced kickstarter FP is the new cupcake shop/frozen yogurt shop/antiques picker store/nanobrewery. Man, I just need to come up with my combination brewed frozen yogurt antique cupcake moustache iPhone hand turned pen accessory and I'll have it made. The iBrewYoPenStache Retro. One good thing about this kickstarter, it made me buy a pen. Not his of course, but a cheap Hero from eBay. According to Kickstarter's TOS, there's no obligation for him to provide any kind of real service after the product sells, or even refunds for unhappy people. I bet he's using a facility like one of these http://www.mfg.com/seo/en/profiles/Index-Fabricator-Shandong-China_en.html and taking advantage of people who "yearn for the olde dayse of writing." Probably why you can get any nib you like with the kickstarter as long as it's a medium. Customer service is throw out the pen that's returned, and pick out another one from the box and mail it to the customer and hope it works. Or blame the customer for nib problems. Meanwhile awesome people like the Goulets [who provide amazing customer service] are getting screwed by companies like Sailor. Verdugo fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Jul 19, 2013 |
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Jul 19, 2013 20:59
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http://www.gouletpens.com/J_Herbin_1670_Anniversary_Ink_p/h150-26.htm I have used about 10ml of it. Already gone. Sorry folks. Verdugo fucked around with this message at 18:02 on Jul 22, 2013 |
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Jul 22, 2013 15:57
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Kessel posted:Hurf durf http://inkofmefondly.blogspot.jp/2013/07/new-release-hero-summer-safari-fountain.html I'd love to get my hands on one to see how it writes. What a blatant copy, down to the italicized "HERO" on the barrel instead of Lamy. vvv Agreed. If HERO was smart, they'd make their own kickstarter and pocket hipster millions. Verdugo fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Jul 24, 2013 |
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Jul 24, 2013 04:08
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Prathm posted:Is a stub or italic nib going to work if you are a lefty? As a lefty, I used the stub nib on my Plumix with no issues, but I tend to write with the nib parallel to the page instead of at an angle. Also scale on Goulet is definitely weird. I sent back my broad nib, the line was super thick and wet. Verdugo fucked around with this message at 19:47 on Jul 24, 2013 |
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Jul 24, 2013 19:43
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Prathm posted:I'm not sure I understand. How is the nib parallel to the page? I worded that wrong, I think. Instead of holding the nib at an angle, so you get the classic calligraphy italic style writing, I hold the nib so the angle is parallel to the top of the paper, straight left and right so it has wide upstrokes and downstrokes and thin side to side lines. Being a weird lefty I usually have my paper tilted at a crazy angle to achieve this. I write like that normally too, with the pad at an "extreme" angle (45 degrees off of center). This eliminates the lefty hook. I have a lot of lefties in my family and we all write that way. I find it hard to mantain the "tilted" angle to have nice italic handwriting being a lefty. The nib that comes with the Plumix pushes and pulls nicely, I think because it's more a music style nib (it's marked "M") instead of a true italic or stub nib. Verdugo fucked around with this message at 20:18 on Jul 24, 2013 |
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Jul 24, 2013 20:16
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I picked up a bottle of De Atramentis Johann Sebastian Bach http://www.gouletpens.com/De_Atramentis_Johann_Sebastian_Bach_p/da1106.htm from Goulet with my latest order. I was concerned about quality because the bottle was so inexpensive. I like the color, it's a burgundy brown that shades with hints of purple and black. Looks like vintage ink when it dries. My problem is it bleeds through whatever I put it on and feathers a little in my Ahab. No real nib creep though which is nice. Not anything I can't deal with, and it doesn't stain like crazy.
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Jul 29, 2013 22:01
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Got my Hero 616 the other day. I must have lucked out because it writes nice. The included converter SUCKS however. A silicone bladder and really crappy metal housing over it. Took forever to get it filled to a decent level. If it didn't have a tiny hole in the end I'd be tempted to convert it to an eyedropper pen.
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Jul 31, 2013 14:05
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SnakesRevenge posted:I have the best luck pulling the housing off and just giving that ink sack 5-6 good squeezes. That's exactly what I did last night. Was afraid to at first because the sac seemed so flimsy, but screw it, the pen was cheap enough.
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Jul 31, 2013 16:32
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xilixliadon posted:Thinking about converting my metro to eyedropper fill, as it seems solid enough and has a sealed body. Anyone done this? In this review http://blog.shopwritersbloc.com/fountain_pens/pilot_metropolitan_fountain_pe.html they claim it's not suitable due to the metal body. I'm guessing because it might react with some inks? I've never done it myself.
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Jul 31, 2013 20:37
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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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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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Got my new inks and nib from xfountainpens.com, they sell #6 nibs to fit the Ahab for about 7 bucks. The one I bought sucks though, I wish I would have ponied up through Goulet instead. I think the nib might be defective as it writes super dry and scratchy, at .6mm even after cleaning up the nib a bit. I'm used to 1.0mm stub nibs after using my Plumix nib in a Metropolitan for the past few days. With the postage with sending it back and everything else it's not much savings. They do free shipping if you spend $15 though, as opposed to Goulet. I also picked up some inks at around $5 a bottle. Antique Crimson - Chesterfield Ink is a nice deep crimson that writes really smooth and shades nicely. Tourmaline - Chesterfield Ink 25ml Bottle is a very pretty hunter green. I inked up my Ahab with the Antique Crimson for work. Went to swap out the ink in my ahab and the o ring is already stretched out, and won't seal -- so I'm going to have to go back to the plunger until I can find the rest of the rings i bought. On the subject of Preppys, my wife has her preppy inked up as an eyedropper and carries it around daily in her purse with no issues. They look really fragile but they're not that bad, especially with how cheap they are to replace. Verdugo fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Sep 12, 2013 |
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Sep 12, 2013 02:28
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404notfound posted:Cost of replacement isn't the concern. It only takes one bad barrel to ruin a purse, a shirt, a pair of pants, or worse--especially if you use waterproof inks. Personally, I wouldn't risk it. Agreed. I haven't run into any trouble with them. My preppy is actually in better shape than my ahab is.
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Sep 12, 2013 02:41
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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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aldantefax posted:I'm going to a pen posse in San Francisco this Sunday! I'm not sure what to expect other than maybe someone from this thread showing up. I'm going to eat a bunch of Chinese food. It's funny. I don't live in San Fransisco (or anywhere close) and I am a member of that group on facebook. There are some nice pens featured there, especially the custom ones.
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Sep 19, 2013 14:02
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:Last time I went I sat near an ac-tor dude talking about his custom Nakaya for 45 minutes. He ordered a multiple-thousand-dollar pen, requests a kanji of his own name in maki-e, waits 6 months for it to be completed, and when he gets it the kanji is 5 degrees off from the center of the zogon when the pen is assembled. This is the worst thing ever and the pen is Maybe it's a good thing then. Most expensive pen I have right now is an Ahab 
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Sep 19, 2013 18:28
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kim jong-illin posted:If I want an italic/stub nib in a Pilot Metropolitan, what are my options? Buy a Goulet nib and slot it in? Is the nib even removable? The Goulet nib is a #6 and will not fit in that pen.
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Sep 24, 2013 21:51
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Kerbtree posted:So, I've picked up a 10-pack of Hero 616s. As expected, they're misaligned and generally poorly assembled. However, the drat section appears to be glued-on. Has anyone else run into similar? Any advice for getting them off? After unscrewing the feed and nib assembly, the converter doesn't look like it comes off. I gave up and took the pen apart to cannibalize the feeder tube for my Ahab. It's destined for the "fountain pen job lot" pile I have going for eBay.
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Oct 15, 2013 20:53
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Weird. Mine unscrewed fine. Anyhow I picked this pen up, it needs work but I don't know if it is even worth fixing. The SF Bay Pen Posse People on Facebook think it's a Sheaffer but it doesn't have any imprints except "IRIDIUM POINT" on the nib. Anyone have any idea what pen this is? It looks like it should be a button filler, but the button assembly is missing. The little black cap on the bottom unscrews and part of the assembly falls out. It also needs a new nib. :S I think I wasted money on this piece of junk.  
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Oct 16, 2013 04:18
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:Verdugo - if you rub the pen with your fingers enough to get the thing warm, what does it smell like? Camphor/vapo-rub/tiger balm? Burning tyres? Because I live in Mississippi, it's a hell of a drive to talk fountain pens :p I'm going to check it out tonight, I haven't had the chance to look at it in depth since my original post.
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Oct 16, 2013 20:30
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:Verdugo - if you rub the pen with your fingers enough to get the thing warm, what does it smell like? Camphor/vapo-rub/tiger balm? Burning tyres? I finally got a chance to give this pen some tlc. The nib itself is gold/brass colored but it's worn down to a steel color on the mangled nib. The pen body itself isn't celluloid. I guess that puts this pen in the camp of cheap plastic pen knockoff as opposed to the diamond in the rough I thought it was.
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Oct 17, 2013 03:04
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cobalt impurity posted:Before I even read the body of your post I got excited about that face! It's pretty neat. Only thing I'm not happy about is the triangle grip -- I absolutely hate using those. I have a Plumix and a Lamy ABC and they are both put up because of the horrible grip. Maybe I'd buy that and one of the new Animal metros and switch the nibs out.
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Oct 23, 2013 16:00
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I'm debating on picking up a Goulet 1.1 Stub for my Konrad, after using the stub nib on my wife's Pilot Metro [that we stole from an old plumix]. Do their stubs write big and wet like their other nibs?
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Oct 25, 2013 19:29
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pienipple posted:Just got my Pilot Metro and this heartily deserves all the praise it gets. Got one for my wife from Goulet and she loves it. Now maybe I can have my gold one back.
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Nov 4, 2013 14:51
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Anyone else feel [outside of this thread] if you're not spending $300 on a pen, any questions / concerns you have about stuff is just flat out ignored? Whether it be from pen manufacturers, other fountain pen communities, etc. Examples: I've had some staining issues with my Ahab and my Konrad. Asked Noodler's about it directly, completely ignored. Brought it up with some fountain pen people, "lol, the pens are essentially disposable, so buy new ones. Or ask this ancient samurai pen master if he can help, but it'll cost you 3x more than the pen to even have him look at it." Maybe the reason I bought these in the first place was because I'm a poor and can't afford a $300 pen right now, but I can afford a $10 replacement part. Issues have been fixed, but it's frustrating. Needed to vent.
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Nov 13, 2013 22:39
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Zenostein, I inquired through Noodlersink.com -- I figured if they didn't have the answer they could at least direct me towards one.cobalt impurity posted:I've had 54th, Purple Heart, and Heart of Darkness in Pilot, Noodler's, Hero, and TWSBI pens and none of them have been bad, though they are all really creepy and hard starters. As for Nathan Tardiff himself, I don't agree with his politics but I do think it's hilarious to see someone get so completely riled up about ink and rant on youtube about how you can't buy a 15 nib set for a dollar anymore. His inability to take criticism is incredibly off-putting, and I know if I had a genuine complaint about one of his products it would either fall on deaf ears or become my fault somehow. Still, HoD is a very, very black ink Only Noodler's ink I dislike is Baystate Blue. It stains everything it touches with its evil blueness. Ceramic, skin, walls, small children, tile, etc. I had an incident with Baystate Blue and it took forever to get out of a ceramic tile floor. I absolutely love their Polar Blue though, it's my go to document ink. If you buy from Goulet, you can pick up some of their past Ink Drop sample packs on the cheap. A full bottle of ink lasts a deceptively long time, and inks even in the same line are different. Some Diamine inks work great in my pen, others are too dry and immediately cause skipping. Another bonus with the Metro is, if you have a Pluminix, or a Kakuno, or other similar size pilot pen the nibs are interchangeable. I have the stub nib from a Pluminix and a smiley face nib from the Kakuno in my Pilot Metro box. It really is an amazing value for $15 or so. The TWSBI in Rose Gold Goulet has is a really nice pen. I think that's the next purchase once it comes back in stock.
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Nov 14, 2013 16:25
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milpreve posted:Can I get a confirmation that the feed and nib of the Metro are actually supposed to come out? Mine has never budged, and neither the Binders or Tim Girdler could get it out. I can confirm, I swap nibs all the time in my Metro. Feed and nib are friction fit, they pull right out, just like the Plumix/Pluminix. I clean mine religiously between refills. With that being said, I received a package in the mail today from Japan.... Ordered it from Rakuten Shop USA on 5 November, they shipped it 7 November, cost me $12 USD including shipping, received it today. The nib is really nice. Same as the Metro nib but finer, and with a .I opened it, tossed the box, then remembered I was going to take pictures. It also comes with a instruction sheet that I also didn't take pictures of. It doesn't come with a converter but the squeeze one from the Metro works fine. The instruction sheet says the Piston one works fine as well. Verdugo fucked around with this message at 01:16 on Nov 15, 2013 |
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Nov 15, 2013 01:13
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Solkanar512 posted:So I was looking around Rakuten and I'm finding Pelikan Souveran M600s for $220 and Iroshizuku inks for $15 and both for free shipping. Is this site totally legit or are there costs that I'm not taking into account? That's around $100 off of the Amazon price of that pen! Heads up: foreign language ahoy. It came recommended from FPN because god drat I wanted one of those smiley face nibs. Rakuten apparently used to be Buy.Com The website I used was http://global.rakuten.com/en/ -- site is in passable english. The shop I ordered from was あっとエヌ（＠Ｎ） The english email I received said: quote:This e-mail is automatically sent when order information reaches The quote they emailed me was: quote:[商品] After they shipped they hit me with quote:
A pretty enjoyable experience but this is my first time using the service. Edit. Looks like they have them inks. http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/atn/item/ink-50new4c/ ...and yes, I know, I complained about buying a new Ahab and wound up buying the Kakuno. Hooray for impulse buys. Also holy crap, looking a bit more in depth Jet Pens has an insane markup. Verdugo fucked around with this message at 03:57 on Nov 15, 2013 |
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Nov 15, 2013 03:43
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dino. posted:Do you think it could be converted to an eyedropper? I bought one, because that face is so cute. I own a pilot metro, and the free pen that came with the gigundo bottle of noodler's heart of darkness. The bottom of the pen has two vent holes, so not out of the box. I sadly was liberated of my Kakuno's smiley face nib as my wife stole it for *her* metro. :S
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Nov 16, 2013 22:23
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dino. posted:Damnit. Ah well. I have the syringes with which to refill the cartridges. I'm kind of waffling on my next ink purchase. I don't want to get more black, because 4 oz of black ink is probably enough to last a lifetime. I don't want to get blue, because black is good enough for Serious Business. I'm kind of edging towards the Noodler's Dragon Napalm (or however you say that), because that orange is almost red (which is my favourite colour). For such a happy pen, I'm thinking that a happy ink would be a Very Cool Thing. De Atramentis Ocher Yellow is my new favorite Non Blue / Black ink. Got it in a sample pack from Goulet and it's pretty cool. In the Kakuno post the sample from the Metro that I wrote with is that color.
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Nov 17, 2013 21:57
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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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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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