ChickenOfTomorrow fucked around with this message at 07:26 on Jun 27, 2013

ChickenOfTomorrow fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Jun 27, 2013

ChickenOfTomorrow fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Aug 13, 2013

ChickenOfTomorrow fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Sep 7, 2013

1. Sheaffer Craftsman. Touchdown (plunger) fill, open nib. As I've previously mentioned, I don't get along much with it but feel I 'need' it for a complete collection.
   
2. Super fancy supermarchée pen: a Reynolds. I'll talk more about Reynolds on a later item.
   
3. Cracked ice Conway-Stewart 27, owned by my grandfather. Lovely smooth nib, in a popular colour for collectors and with a wide gold band.
   
4. Pelikan Pelikano from 1989. This was the sort of pen I used in school, though not the exact pen.
   
5. Chinese made Cross Century II; an inferior version. Has a dent in the lid, which Cross refused to fix under their "lifetime" warranty.
   
6. Peter Pan pen. The nib needs re-tipping, hence the label on the barrel.
   
7. Custom-made celluloid by Shawn Newton; the first celluloid pen he ever made. The material is "purple web" and it looks boring unless it's in full light.
   
8. Parker 45 flighter. One of my Dad's pens, I still have the box, warranty papers, and receipt from a stationery store in Bath. I believe he bought it in his last year of University or just after getting his degree.
   
9. Chelpark piston-filler from India. I pulled out the flexish steel nib and swapped it with one from another pen.
   
10. Esterbrook desk pen, red-tailed. An uncommon tail colour.
    
11. Esterbrook desk pen, clear tailed.
    
12. Esterbrook desk pen, black-tailed. Pen itself has a "State Farm Insurance" imprint.
    
13. Parker '51 in a deep Burgundy, though the light makes it look red. Made in Newhaven in 1953, this was my step-grandfather's pen. The barrel was cracked, but I was lucky enough to source a replacement from 1954.
    
14. Pilot 78G, black barrel, M nib. Originally glossy, I mattified the body with careful abrasion so now it doesn't show fingerprints.
    
15. Mont Blanc Monte Rosa. One of my mother's school pens, the nib is 14C and capable of flex but the feed won't keep up. I have never seen another Monte Rosa in this model; usually they're older and have a gold-trimmed resin cap, or more recent and have a Parker 45 style hooded nib.
    
16. Irish-made Cross Century II. An older version of number 5, with a gold nib and better-made overall. This pen was a graduation present from my grandmother.
    
17. Conway-Stewart 58. Another of my grandfather's pens; I haven't used it since it returned from being restored but the nib is a Duro stub.
    
18. Blue LAMY Safari. Another pen from my Dad, he bought this shortly before he was incapacitated.
    
19. Red mottled Reynolds pen. Reynolds were a French pen brand, and their inexpensive stylo-plumes were my pen of choice in school. I could spend hours in the pen aisle of French supermarkets staring at all the pens on offer. I got rid of or lost all my fountain pens when I moved to the USA, and so had to seek out and buy replacements - at much higher prices, since they're no longer made.
    
20. Flat-top Parker in "Black-Tipped Jade." This is from the year before Jade became an official colour in the Duofold range, so I can't rightly call it a Duofold. Currently inked with Squeteague; nice firm nib with a Lucky Curve feed.
    
21. Waterman 21/2 V in black chased hard rubber (BCHR). Currently inked with Rohrer + Klingner Alt Bordeux. The nib gives good variation and the chasing and imprint are so crisp you could swear this pen was just made. Some bastard nicked the pressure bar, so it's been out of commission for a few months until I got a new one put in.
    

ChickenOfTomorrow fucked around with this message at 07:49 on Sep 18, 2013

1. Esterbrook J, in a "root beer" brown. The nib is a 2048 Flexible Extra Fine Falcon, hence the weird shape/look. Esterbrook renew-point nibs are steel, so even the ones labeled "flexible" won't approach the flex of a good vintage gold nib; it's nicer feeling than the Noodlers flex nibs, though.
   
2. My first restoration, a "Nova" pen most likely made by Mentmore. One of the fins is broken off the feed, so I don't flex it much when I use it.
   
3. Mabie Todd Swallow in BCHR with nickel hardware. The barrel has a crack, which is a pain in the butt because hard rubber cracks can't really be fixed. One possible solution is to pop in a brass sleeve to reinforce it but since that's p expensive and the crack isn't in a load-bearing area I just pretend it doesn't exist. Should I ever want to sell it on I'd probably do the sleeving.
   
4. Burgundy twist-fill Mabie Todd. Twist-filling died out pretty soon after it was introduced, and for good reason; filling with more than a mere dribble of ink requires slow and careful operation.
   
5. Gold-filled Wahl in "Greek Key" design, with a #2 nib. This is a glorious pen, and if it weren't so gaudy it would be my daily user. The nib has incredible variation and snapback.
   
6. Gold-filled Eclipse with a Twinpoint nib. The nib has a little crack above the breather hole so I don't push it.
   
7. BCHR Eclipse, with a Pick nib. This is a Frankenpen, but the nib's a flexy stub so it's not the kind of unholy creation that gets hunted down by villagers armed with pitchforks.
   
8. Aiken-Lambert "Lady Dainty" from Richard Binder's monthly pen tray. Snagging a pen from that tray is danged hard; you have to order within the first 3 minutes after it's posted or everything will have gone.
   
9. British Parker Slimfold, from Newhaven. Either my grandmother or mother's pen, this came to me with a mangled nib that required some expert attention. Now it's a flex stub and a happy writer.
   
10. Namiki Falcon, resin, soft medium.
    
11. Conway-Stewart 58 in blue hatch. Another of my grandfather's pens, this one has the date of acquisition (June 1949) sellotaped onto the lid. During restoration I could have had the label removed, but it's been on there ever since my grandfather got the pen and the cellulose tape might have chemically bonded with the celluloid of the pen, or something.
    

1. Red mottled hard rubber (RMHR) pen, branded "Ty-phoo Tea For Indigestion." These pens were available by mail-order; all you had to do was send a few shillings and plus clippings from Typhoo containers. The nib, a 14k Warranted, is very fine and very flexible.
   
2. BCHR Ty-phoo tea pen, with a silver accommodation clip. The underside is very browned, most likely due to storage in a damp area. Again, a 14k warranted nib that's small in size but very flexible.
   
3. Waterman 3, from Canada. The first owner of this pen took off the newer-style clip and replaced it with the clip from a Waterman 33. The nib's a nicely-behaved flexible Ideal.
   
4. Peter Pan pen. Unlike the blue one, this one has a fully functional nib.
   
5. RMHR/woodgrain Waterman's 42 1/2V. Small, pretty, flexible, woodgrain.
   
6. Pick pen. Pretty much an exact copy of the Pick pen that gave its nib to the Eclipse in an earlier post, this was a Greg Minuskin purchase. Purchasing from Minuskin, like Binder, is more competition than consumerism.
   
7. Eyedropper-fill Chelpark with an Indian steel "flex" nib (like the Noodlers flex nibs).
   
8. Noodler's Konrad in Narwhal.
   
9. Purple Reynolds pen (a sibling to the red Reynolds posted in an earlier batch), with a steel "flex" nib.
   
10. BCHR "Higbee Company" pen. May have been made by Mabie Todd.
    
11. RMHR Waterman 12 eyedropper with a slip cap.

ChickenOfTomorrow fucked around with this message at 01:37 on Sep 28, 2013