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Dogwood Fleet posted:It's political season and I'm volunteering by writing a bunch of thank you notes on a bunch of postcards. What are some good inks that don't feather a bunch that are hopefully colorful but not too colorful? Postcards can come in contact with the elements, so I would go for a waterproof ink. My first thought is Sailor Storia Night Blue. Blue never offended anybody.
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Jul 16, 2018 22:46
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KWZ Iron Gall Gummyberry. You can have fun watching the color change as the ink dries.
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Jul 17, 2018 00:21
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Finally got one of my Grail pens. After chatting pens with stealie72 I decided to Pike around eBay for a bit. I put in a bid on eBay that was kind of a long shot but ended up winning. Love it so far.. good writing pen and love the look... Not bad for a 76 year old pen.
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Jul 18, 2018 19:28
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Man, that's so pretty...
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Jul 18, 2018 19:36
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Stacked celluloid is the best looking material bar none.
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Jul 18, 2018 20:11
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tater_salad posted:Finally got one of my Grail pens. After chatting pens with stealie72 I decided to Pike around eBay for a bit. I put in a bid on eBay that was kind of a long shot but ended up winning. Yesss Vacumatics are such pretty pens!
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Jul 18, 2018 20:29
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My next Target is a pelikan 140 green but for now I'm holding off since I've bought quite a a few things. Easterbrook nib for pen that's had a dead fees Restored Easterbrook j pen for my son's birthday Restored Easterbrook j pen for me Red wearever of some kind Vacuumatic...
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Jul 18, 2018 20:33
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tater_salad posted:Finally got one of my Grail pens. After chatting pens with stealie72 I decided to Pike around eBay for a bit. I put in a bid on eBay that was kind of a long shot but ended up winning. Very nice. I like those colors quite a bit.
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Jul 18, 2018 20:49
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I don't know how anyone decides on a grail pen to aim for. There's so many pens over $500 that just look incredible. I think the only thing I have in mind myself is the 149. I love big pens and seeing YouTube videos of people writing with one just looks amazing and pleasing. That said that's basically $800 more than I could ever really see spending on a pen. Edit: Some of these high end flex pens by Aurora and what not. Are they actual flex like vintage flex or something else? Sankis fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Jul 19, 2018 |
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Jul 19, 2018 05:41
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Sankis posted:Edit: Some of these high end flex pens by Aurora and what not. Are they actual flex like vintage flex or something else? They're nowhere near vintage flex. No modern pen on the market is anywhere near vintage flex. If we're talking grail pens, for me it's the Vermilion Emperor.
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Jul 19, 2018 05:54
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I can't imagine having a 500+ dollar pen unless it was like a hundred year old vintage antique. I splurged on a Murex for 200 as a gift to myself for passing exams and I feel guilty even carrying it around. My ideal Grail pen would be one of those old Watermans with the silver filigree. They're historic and dignified. Someone posted a loving amazing one on the FP Reddit the other day that was up for sale but it was definitely gonna hit 300+ dollars but god drat for a minute I was about to get my credit card out.
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Jul 19, 2018 06:38
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grack posted:They're nowhere near vintage flex. No modern pen on the market is anywhere near vintage flex. Why is it, exactly, that vintage flex is apparently loving LosTech? Is it just that its not something that can be easily mass produced? Is there a material cost or something that makes it not economically feasible? It seems, from my limited understanding, that Flex of any kind was basically non existent from the mid 50s through 2010 or so. Sankis fucked around with this message at 10:02 on Jul 19, 2018 |
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Jul 19, 2018 09:58
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Nibmaking is really expensive to get into, and the demand simply isn’t there — no matter how many posts you see about it on FPN etc
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Jul 19, 2018 10:20
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I look at old pens I think look cool. The vacuumatic was a steal at $90 usd. I look at things like montblanc and would never pay what they are worth / asking they don't look sweet and I'm not spending 100s on things that kind of look plain. My "Grail" pen list are pens I can't / won't impulse buy, that I need a 'reason' to buy (this was something good happening at work) , and one that I'm going to look for a good example of at a good price. This pen I tossed an 'aww fuckit' bid of $95 and won. Which was way better than other prices I saw. I also don't look for perfect examples, I want one that isn't beat to poo poo but not prestine because I use all my pens as much as I can.
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Jul 19, 2018 11:40
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grack posted:If we're talking grail pens, for me it's the Vermilion Emperor. If you're comfortable with Yahoo Auctions Japan you can get a red urushi Ban-ei from the late 80s early 90s for a fraction of the price (though still not cheap). The team of four craftsmen who made those pens were commissioned by Pilot to make a prototype for the Emperor, so there's a direct linkage to the one you're after. Danitrio and Visconti also commissioned runs of Ban-ei pens in the 90s, which now tend to be much more expensive than the domestic market ones. For, I dunno, 30,000-50,000 JPY (varies greatly depending on condition and packaging), you get a handmade oversize urushi pen with known provenance, a big gold nib (roughly Pilot 15 or 20) handmade (not just tuned) by nibmeister Kabutogi Ginjiro, and something which is still pretty usable day to day. Since the pens are relatively recent you might not need to change the cork seal, and if you do, they come apart much easier than something 50-60 years old.
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Jul 19, 2018 11:50
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I'm grailing hard for the Water Surface raden VP, but I just can't justify spending $600 on a pen, assuming I can even find one since it's out of production. I found a blank that has a nice mother-of-pearl speckle pattern, and I'm working with someone to get it turned. That'll run under $100 and I'll at least have something really nice and pretty on a black background. There's blanks made with paua shell but nowhere close to Water Surface or Galaxy raden.
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Jul 19, 2018 15:19
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My grail pen is probably something urushi. I like the Namiki Yukari Royale in Vermillion, but really want something in the dark red urushi. I'm hoping to find something to fit the bill at the DC pen show. If I hit lotto, I'd also get a MB blue hour. Those are something special as well. Regardless of how expensive a pen I may buy, I will want to use it.
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Jul 19, 2018 17:49
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Moral_Hazard posted:My grail pen is probably something urushi. I like the Namiki Yukari Royale in Vermillion, but really want something in the dark red urushi. I'm hoping to find something to fit the bill at the DC pen show. If I hit lotto, I'd also get a MB blue hour. Those are something special as well. Regardless of how expensive a pen I may buy, I will want to use it. I'm kinda repeating my last post but if you're into vermillion urushi you've really got to look into stuff like: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g269170341 (auction complete, no relation to seller) There's not much information about them online in English but that way you can read the entire existing body of knowledge in an evening!
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Jul 19, 2018 18:08
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How would you suggest buying? Direct or through an agent? Also what are the best ways/keywords to search for?
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Jul 19, 2018 20:05
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grack posted:How would you suggest buying? Direct or through an agent? Also what are the best ways/keywords to search for? I think you'll have to use an agent like Fromjapan, Buyee or White Rabbit - they all have different pricing structures so do have a look to see what suits you best. Ban-ei pens almost never have branding on them so you'll have to learn to recognize them by sight. Sellers often don't label their auctions precisely. If you can find your way into the fountain pen section you can then run searches for "挽栄" (Ban-ei), "warranted" (not unique to Ban-ei, but they often have this on the nib), "GK" (Kabutogi Ginjiro often - but not always - signed his nibs, which tends to be the only brand identifier on these pens), "酒井" (Sakai, the name of the lathe master and leader of the team), or "土田" (Tsuchida, the name of the guy who did final assembly and another name for the pens generally). There are a couple threads on FPN and some posts on Bruno Taut's estilofilos.blogspot.com which should help get you started identifying your targets. Good luck!
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Jul 20, 2018 01:25
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My dad picked me up a Lamy Safari Apple Green for my birthday, I’m just two away from having my Mon-Fri Raibow set of Safaris, should I want to do that instead of 992’s!
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Jul 20, 2018 01:57
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Dad Hominem posted:I think you'll have to use an agent like Fromjapan, Buyee or White Rabbit - they all have different pricing structures so do have a look to see what suits you best. Awesome, thanks for the info.
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Jul 20, 2018 07:43
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Dad Hominem posted:I think you'll have to use an agent like Fromjapan, Buyee or White Rabbit - they all have different pricing structures so do have a look to see what suits you best. This is really good stuff; thank you. 
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Jul 20, 2018 16:14
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 I emptied a bottle 
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Jul 23, 2018 21:59
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I'd have to stop buying Inks to be able to do that.
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Jul 23, 2018 23:19
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howe_sam posted:
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Jul 24, 2018 01:50
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I've used over half of the original bottle of Kon Peki I bought with my first pen two years ago. 
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Jul 24, 2018 01:57
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What is the zeitgeist opinion of a competitor to a Metro? I like the weight and balance, and before I just buy another Metro it'd be nice to know what else is out there. Definitely not looking for something super lightweight. Cool colors are a plus. Lamys need not apply, already got one.
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Jul 24, 2018 02:47
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TWSBI Eco but it's closer to $30 I think. Good pen though. Will always hold a special place in my heart for getting me back into fountain pens after bouncing off two metros. Very affordable piston filler. I think also the Pilot Prera (with the little smiley face) and Platinum Preppy, but probably the metro is better than both of those. There is also the Pelikan Pelikano Twist but that's probably closer to a Lamy Safari (though I haven't written with one so don't know for sure).
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Jul 24, 2018 03:01
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My twsbi eco is part of why I cleaned my metro and Safari and tossed them in a case where they get zero use now.
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Jul 24, 2018 03:25
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MJP posted:What is the zeitgeist opinion of a competitor to a Metro? I like the weight and balance, and before I just buy another Metro it'd be nice to know what else is out there. Definitely not looking for something super lightweight. Cool colors are a plus. Lamys need not apply, already got one. Various Jinhaos (x450,x750,159) and the platinum plasir look to be pretty comparable metal bodied pens to the Metro.
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Jul 24, 2018 03:26
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Lowness 72 posted:I think also the Pilot Prera (with the little smiley face) and Platinum Preppy, but probably the metro is better than both of those. Just clarifying for pen noob educational purposes... Kakuno is the cheap Pilot with the smiley face. Prera is a fancier Pilot model that most people would consider to be a step up from the Metro (although IMO it's a freakishly tiny pen if you're not into posting). Trustworthy fucked around with this message at 14:06 on Jul 24, 2018 |
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Jul 24, 2018 03:41
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If you're into Chinese pens, the moonman m2 and the wingsung 601 can both be had for about 20 bucks each (cheaper if you import it yourself) and I adore both of mine. Edit: Those are both pretty lightweight, though. Look into the Jinhao 159. Its probably my favorite pen to hold since I have big hands. i just wish that size of pen wasn't mostly relegated to >$500 range.
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Jul 24, 2018 03:57
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Trustworthy posted:Just clarifying for noob educational purposes... Kakuno is the cheap Pilot with the smiley face. Prera is a fancier Pilot model that most people would consider to be a step up from the Metro (although IMO it's freakishly tiny pen if you're not into posting). The Prera is fantastic for its (Japanese) price. Most of Pilot’s cheap pens can be used as a source of nibs, it fits a converter despite being a pocket pen, and snapping its cap on is so satisfying. I still adore mine even if I mostly avoid c/c pens lately.
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Jul 24, 2018 04:36
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Does anyone other than Jinhao make cheap, unbelievably tacky, but still perfectly functional pens? Something around this level of tackiness: https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1559982516.html?pid=808_0000_0131&spm=a2g0n.search-amp.list.1559982516& (Gonna get one of those for my nephew and tell him it’s Dumbledore’s pen or something)
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Jul 24, 2018 06:37
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What is an empty ink bottle?
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Jul 24, 2018 13:38
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Professor Shark posted:What is an empty ink bottle? I think you can order them this way, so you can say to people "See I need to order more inks this one ran out". So it doesn't look like you just keep buying new inks all the time.
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Jul 24, 2018 13:53
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vkeios posted:The Prera is fantastic for its (Japanese) price. Most of Pilot’s cheap pens can be used as a source of nibs, it fits a converter despite being a pocket pen, and snapping its cap on is so satisfying. Yeah I don't like the Prera's size, but everything else about it is great. Writes like a boss. Love that snap. For anyone looking at inexpensive Pilots, I'd also recommend the Lucina. It's just big enough that the size doesn't bother me, and if you drink a few beers and squint just right you can almost pretend it's an old Duofold.
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Jul 24, 2018 14:14
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Professor Shark posted:What is an empty ink bottle? My dirty secret is the only reason that bottle is empty is because it was getting hard to fill from so I decanted the last few mills into some sample vials. But the 823 is a thirsty pen so the remaining ink won't last long.
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Jul 24, 2018 15:02
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DoctorTristan posted:Does anyone other than Jinhao make cheap, unbelievably tacky, but still perfectly functional pens? Something around this level of tackiness: That's so awesome. Can't wait for my nieces and nephews to be old enough to do stuff like this. Also, your avatar text is some of the best lines from the best sci fi series. I'm so glad it's available for streaming now. Professor Shark posted:What is an empty ink bottle? I have three go-to inks for work and after months of using them regularly every work day, I think the level in each bottle has dropped maybe 10%. I'm glad I stopped buying ink. Also, starting to get stoked for the DC pen show. I've saved up money to get something nice. I'll probably get two more bottles of ink, Sailor Sobouku and Iroshikuzu Asa Gao.
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Jul 24, 2018 15:23
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