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farenheit451 posted:What make of Parker? I have a Parker Urban and it's the best pen for me. I'm using Parker ink though. Have you tried rinsing yours out with ammonia solution? Perhaps the reason it's skipping is grease on the nib somewhere. IM Premium. Shiny chrome specifically. Where would I find an acceptable ammonia solution?
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Apr 23, 2013 01:15
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Xachariah posted:IM Premium. Shiny chrome specifically. Where would I find an acceptable ammonia solution? Just a couple of tablespoons of pure unscented in a quart or so of water is all you need.
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Apr 23, 2013 01:29
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Vitamins posted:So I went to the Northern Pen Show yesterday. It was the first pen show I've been too and it was a great experience. I just Googled all these pens you've brought up, never hearing any of them before, and holy Jesus, they're all like above $500.  And you thought you would've bought more than just the one on a whim?It was a difficult decision enough for me as it is to buy a pen that's $60 (and then finding out that a $4 pen I own writes better, God drat). I can't fathom what can make a pen cost that much other than it being made of precious metals. Mind you, I probably do not share your definition of "dirt cheap". With such a fascination for expensive pens, what exactly do you do with them, other than the blatantly obvious? Do pen lovers lead the way toward striving for beautiful penmanship? A desire to write and send letters in the post instead of email? Is it for the image you send to others when you sign checks or agreements? How this thread got me into fountain pens for the first time was a revival for an old hobby of mine in calligraphy when I was in elementary school and simply because I thought they looked beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. If I didn't know any better, I'd be glad just buying any of those cheap Chinese fountain pens off eBay if they looked gorgeous enough. But now I want to know what really drives people into collecting and using fountain pens. If you can think about spending that much on pens, your handwriting *EDIT: VVVV Yoshi Jjang fucked around with this message at 05:14 on Apr 23, 2013 |
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Apr 23, 2013 02:53
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Ask yourself if the people who own expensive cars are always great drivers.
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Apr 23, 2013 03:13
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I've never hosed up writing so badly that 13 people ended up dead at a farmer's market either.  The Namiki ink sampler on Goulet Pens was out last time I checked, but I'm considering dropping $50 for a sample of each type and playing around with them. I love my Namiki Falcon but I can't decide if I want a green, red, or purple ink yet to complement my dark blue. Of all the things to obsess over in this world. 
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Apr 23, 2013 04:58
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Yoshi Jjang posted:I just Googled all these pens you've brought up, never hearing any of them before, and holy Jesus, they're all like above $500. Ok I'll try and answer all the points in your post as well as I can. Firstly, let me just say I'm just a lowly university student, living off the student loan I'm fortunately eligible for. I don't come from a particularly well off background, but I have gotten good enough at budgeting that I can afford to make a couple of large value purchases a year without affecting other aspects of my life, like being able to eat  Fountain pens to me are just like any other hobby. Previously I spent my money on building PCs, and more recently I bought a lot of gear for archery. I put pens into the same category. I've also never bought a pen for it's RRP, I will only buy it when there's a decent discount on it. Those pens I mentioned may all cost over $500, but that is at retail prices. I've never bought a pen at a price anywhere near that as I just don't have the money. With that Visconti Master Crystal I said was "dirt cheap", it retails for about £750 and usually you'd be hard pressed to find one for much cheaper than that. It was on sale for £200. Compared to the actual value of the item it was dirt cheap, but in the grand scheme of things it's still an expensive purchase, so it's how you define the word cheap which would have any bearing on if you thought it was a good purchase or not. What makes higher end pens more expensive is obviously the material used (whether thats precious metals like gold or silver, or overlays etc.), and the craftsmanship that has gone into it. Most of the pens that I own have something unique about them which draws me to them. For example, my M90 has a nib that is just an extension of the body, and the Hastil is made of a unique steel and each part of the pen is specifically made to complement the other parts. For example the cap off my pen may not fit another Hastil because each one is made as a separate entity. While I would say that I collect fountain pens, I wouldn't say that I'm a collector. Collector implies that they sit in display cases without ever being inked, but I will put a pen into rotation as soon as I buy it. I don't see the point in a pen that isn't used, because at the end of the day it is a tool for writing and I see them as pointless if you don't use a tool for its intended purpose. I'll happily use my most expensive pens daily, I'll take them to uni and write notes. The pens I buy aren't anything to do with image at all. While people who know something about fountain pens will be able to appreciate the unique parts of each pen, most of the people I encounter day to day won't be able to tell me a thing about them. I buy pens for personal reasons, not to impress anyone else. I like simple and unobtrusive designs. Obviously there are people out there who buy pens for the benefit of others, just like people who like to sit in a busy area in their Ferrari while never taking it above 60mph. Personally, I think my handwriting is awful, and I'm working on trying to improve it. Having a nice tool for that makes it all the more enjoyable. I love writing in itself. I think it's amazing that people can express their thoughts and have a permanent copy of them on a piece of paper. I personally think that writing is an artform in all its permutations and I don't think I'll ever tire of it. I love calligraphy and I'm very jealous of people that are able to do it, as I'm not very good at it at all and don't really have the spare time to practice it at the moment. At the end of the day, a cheap 10 pack of Chinese pens will probably write extremely well, and may even write better than a more expensive pen like in your case. But I like the extra small things you get with spending some more money at the end of the day. Whether that be a more exotic metal or nib material, a more complex design, or better writing performance. It's a very personal hobby, much more so than any others I've been a part of, just because it is so subjective. While one person may like the way one pen writes, another may outright hate it. Same with the pen design, same with the pen material etc etc. There are people out there that are willing to pay a lot more than me for pens and I personally can't understand what would drive someone to want to spend $30,000 on a pen, but different strokes for different folks I guess. Hopefully that'll help you understand where I'm coming from more clearly.
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Apr 23, 2013 09:08
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I've found that if you budget like an adult it doesn't matter if you buy $400 fountain pens. It's a hobby like anything else, and we all know there's an entire forum dedicated to hobbies that make your wallet and future childrens' college funds truly cry. Now, the real problem? Being interested in both.  Sweet pen dude. 
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Apr 23, 2013 18:22
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Xovaan posted:I've found that if you budget like an adult it doesn't matter if you buy $400 fountain pens. It's a hobby like anything else, and we all know there's an entire forum dedicated to hobbies that make your wallet and future childrens' college funds truly cry. Dorkroom also. Maybe not to the same degree.
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Apr 23, 2013 18:37
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Yaay my chinese Hero 616 10 pack just arrived. Now what the gently caress do I do with 10 hero 616s (also a Hero 721, a Hero 7021 and a Baoer 388, the two heros for gifts, the Baoer for me) http://dx.com/p/baoer-exquisite-stainless-steel-fountain-pen-silver-golden-143839
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Apr 23, 2013 19:30
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Frig, I was just washing my Noodler Ahab out and knocked it onto the floor. Now the tip has a nice bend in it. What are my options at this point? 
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Apr 24, 2013 05:42
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fivre posted:Dorkroom also. Maybe not to the same degree. Actually my girlfriend's into cameras and her friend is a professional photographer and I can say without a doubt he's spent more on his equipment than I have on all ~six of my car projects. Combined. poo poo's terrifying to think about.  Anybody have any luck ordering Sailors from Morita? http://morita.ne.jp/hikkigu/sailor/professionalgear-morita-original.htm shadysight posted:Frig, I was just washing my Noodler Ahab out and knocked it onto the floor. Now the tip has a nice bend in it. If the feed isn't damaged I'd say try bending the tines back carefully using a pair of needle nose pliers with some soft or rubber material at the end to prevent scratching but anything past this is gonna cost more than just replacing the nib.
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Apr 24, 2013 07:56
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shadysight posted:Frig, I was just washing my Noodler Ahab out and knocked it onto the floor. Now the tip has a nice bend in it. Gouletpens.com just started selling a full range of nibs that will fit that pen, should you fail to get it working again by trying to bend things back into shape. That'll probably be your easiest option, though it'll only save you a few dollars over just buying a new Ahab.
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Apr 24, 2013 09:37
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SnakesRevenge posted:Gouletpens.com just started selling a full range of nibs that will fit that pen, should you fail to get it working again by trying to bend things back into shape. That'll probably be your easiest option, though it'll only save you a few dollars over just buying a new Ahab. Also of note, the Goulet nibs are not flex, so your writing experience will be different.
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Apr 24, 2013 14:19
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Yay, gave away 3 Hero 616s (everyone happy with them, particularly my cousin whose birthday was yesterday, she loved it since apparently she keeps multiple diaries, gave her a bottle of quink as well  ). Inked one for myself. That still leaves 6 pens I don't have an idea what to do with haah (spare 616s do not diminish me wanting more pens of different varieties but why the gently caress I want more I already got like 6 perfectly good pens to use everyday). drat. This is what my dad must feel like with knives and other poo poo he likes to acquire. Edit: I want more inks as well.
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Apr 24, 2013 18:02
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Luisfe posted:Yay, gave away 3 Hero 616s (everyone happy with them, particularly my cousin whose birthday was yesterday, she loved it since apparently she keeps multiple diaries, gave her a bottle of quink as well Sign up for the Gouletpens.com Ink Drop. $10/mo for 5 random samples of ink. Best way to branch out in order to start figuring out what you might like.
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Apr 24, 2013 18:48
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Well, I tried fixing it, but it doesn't look or feel quite right.SnakesRevenge posted:Gouletpens.com just started selling a full range of nibs that will fit that pen, should you fail to get it working again by trying to bend things back into shape. That'll probably be your easiest option, though it'll only save you a few dollars over just buying a new Ahab. RustedChrome posted:Also of note, the Goulet nibs are not flex, so your writing experience will be different. Thank you. This wasn't what I wanted to hear, but I guess there are more expensive pens I could have busted to learn about about the limits of replacing nibs, and that I need to be more careful with them. I was more upset last night. My Ahab certainly looks more expensive than my Lamy pens but I had forgot it's actually cheaper. Since I was never of huge fan of the way it pistoned ink into it, this might actually be an opportunity to try some new. I'm also thinknig about trying the method that Noodler describes of carving up the feed to make more ink flow, since it isn't working too well now anyway. shadysight fucked around with this message at 19:13 on Apr 24, 2013 |
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Apr 24, 2013 19:10
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Just got a Pilot Metro since I have an exam tomorrow where the instructions are "Pick one of four essay questions, write for an hour and a half on that question" and I wanted something with a thinner line than my Lamy Safari with an M nib. Dang, this thing was only $15? It's got a nice weight, it writes really well, comes with a converter, and the cap even makes a nice sharp, satisfying click when you put it on. The grip on the Safari is more comfortable in my opinion, but this one is still really good.
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Apr 24, 2013 20:10
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My collection so far is missing a flex pen. Does anybody know the differences between the Noodler's Nib Creaper, Ahab, and Konrad flex pens? The Fountain Pen Network seems to be offline, so there goes looking there for comparisons.
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Apr 24, 2013 20:14
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Luisfe posted:Yaay my chinese Hero 616 10 pack just arrived. I see they have other pens on that site that are like $20-$30 each. Are those any good, or are they as hit-and-miss as the 10-pack Luisfe bought?
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Apr 24, 2013 20:53
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They seem to be non-branded pens which I wouldn't bother with at all. The Jinhao/Baoer ones are usually a bit better but they are still very hit and miss at least in my experience. You can get Chinese pens for much cheaper off of Ebay usually so I wouldn't deal with DX unless you really like the look of one of those pens.
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Apr 24, 2013 21:08
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I've finally gotten frustrated with Legal Lapis. As much as I adore the colour, the ink seems to just vomit itself out in every pen I try with it, besides the fine Safari. Has anyone else had issues, or dealt with this? Any tips?
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Apr 24, 2013 23:07
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Anyone know how long Goulet pens takes to ship to Europe? My pen shipped 3 weeks ago and I haven't gotten anything yet.
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Apr 24, 2013 23:38
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Great Horny Toads! posted:I see they have other pens on that site that are like $20-$30 each. Are those any good, or are they as hit-and-miss as the 10-pack Luisfe bought? The 6 to 10 bux pens (Heros and Baoers) on DealExtreme are perfectly serviceable. No idea about the slightly more expensive ones.
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Apr 25, 2013 01:08
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Yoshi Jjang posted:My collection so far is missing a flex pen. Does anybody know the differences between the Noodler's Nib Creaper, Ahab, and Konrad flex pens? The Fountain Pen Network seems to be offline, so there goes looking there for comparisons. I don't have a Nib Creaper. They're the smallest of the bunch, piston-filled with a smaller nib than the other two. The Konrad is also a piston filler, it and the Ahab have identical nibs. One thing to watch out for at least with the regular resin version of the Konrad is that the cap is really shallow and can hit the nib if you don't have it in far enough. The Ahab comes with a weird cartridge convertor that, in my experience, is a complete pain to clean. This can be removed in order to use the Ahab as an eyedropper with a RIDICULOUS ink capacity. Keep in mind that the Ahab has no sort of ink window, so if you don't get one of the (many) demonstrator versions there's no way to tell your ink level without pulling off the barrel. The Ahab and Konrad each write a very fine line unflexed - I would assume the Nib Creaper is the same - and with a little luck and some fiddling can do some pretty cool flexing. I prefer the look of the Konrad (and appreciate the ink window), so it's certainly what I'd recommend. One of the resin ones if you're just looking to check flex off of your list at an easy price, or one of the more expensive acrylic or ebonite models if you're willing to spend a few more dollars. Do some size checking though. From what I understand the ebonite ones are massive pens. I also feel I should mention I really, really, really love my Pilot Falcon. It's many times the price of the others, but it's one of my two favorite pens to write with (the other is my Italix Parson's Essential).
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Apr 25, 2013 03:26
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 My inoxcrom died
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Apr 25, 2013 04:46
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I read that as Inxocrom. Inx o' Crom. Time to give Robert E. Howard a break, maybe. 
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Apr 25, 2013 13:08
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SnakesRevenge posted:
The Falcon is one of the best pens I've used. I feel that even in this price range it outperforms Sailors until the Professional Gear line: you get the aesthetics of a $250 pen with a sturdier, more refined clip and a nib that's equally as fine and soft. I feel the Noodler pens are way too physically large, but I'm a small cigar pen sort of guy I guess.
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Apr 25, 2013 19:00
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Xovaan posted:I feel the Noodler pens are way too physically large, but I'm a small cigar pen sort of guy I guess. You know what they say about guys with small pens... Small hands.
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Apr 25, 2013 21:34
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Has anyone ever given a glass dip pen a shot? Obviously not for forms or schoolwork, but I was thinking one might be nice for trying out ink samples and writing short notes, cards, etc. Someone suggested Goulet's Ink Drop subscription, I want to add that you can go through and pick different archived months, in case there's a month or entire color you're not into. They also sell ink sample packages by brand and by shade, which is awesome. Joining Ink Drop also gets you lower prices on certain things.
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Apr 27, 2013 23:10
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Goulet owns, especially the way they handle ink samples, both individually and in sets. Related to that:  They really pack this stuff up real nice. (Guess who just got a Metropolitan exactly two days after placing an order?) Also:  (Parker hiding at the bottom) I know you shouldn't mix inks in general (at least as far as the mfgs are concerned); but within brands should be fine, right? My bottle of [Noodler's] Dostoevski is horribly light, so I figure if I mix it with some Noodler's Red-Black or Noodler's "Contract"/Legal Blue would make it more solid/darker, or possibly make a nice purple. Also Synnr, is it possible your pens are hella wet? I've heard repeatedly that Legal Lapis is the same as Legal Blue/Contract (Art Brown's, rather than Fountain Pen Hospital): The ink has played well with pretty much everything I've put it in, although I know full well that different batches of ink behave differently. If you have the ability, maybe try mixing it with a similarly colored — but drier — ink and see if it helps any. Or if you have a pen like an Ahab, where you can tweak it to adjust flow, do that. As for glass pens, like the ones J. Herbin sells: I hear they're quite popular for ink sampling/reviews. They're probably pretty reasonable for letters, too. I haven't tried one, but from what I've seen of their performance in ink reviews, they are a bit more saturated than an ink review with a fountain pen or a metal dip pen. I also believe they'll shade a bit less than a flexible nib in a dip pen. That being said, I can see why someone'd buy one and use it. If nothing else, they'll probably look wonderful in the slot on a J. Herbin bottle.
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Apr 28, 2013 00:28
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Zenostein posted:I know you shouldn't mix inks in general (at least as far as the mfgs are concerned); but within brands should be fine, right? My bottle of [Noodler's] Dostoevski is horribly light, so I figure if I mix it with some Noodler's Red-Black or Noodler's "Contract"/Legal Blue would make it more solid/darker, or possibly make a nice purple. I've regularly mixed together two shades of Lamy Blue to get a color I like better. One thing I would mention is that the color of my two inks mixed together seems to vary a little bit from use to use, even with the same batch. Once I'm done using this batch, I'll probably stop mixing and switch to something like Noodler's Eel Blue. I also wouldn't use my experience as a reason that mixing is a universally a good idea, because what binder they are using is probably a factor. shadysight fucked around with this message at 02:55 on Apr 28, 2013 |
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Apr 28, 2013 02:12
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shadysight posted:I also wouldn't use my experience as a reason that mixing is a universally a good idea, because what binder they are using is probably a factor. I was wondering about mixing some bulletproof Noodler's inks. If I get the chance to do so, I'll report the results here.
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Apr 28, 2013 02:56
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Synastren posted:I was wondering about mixing some bulletproof Noodler's inks. If I get the chance to do so, I'll report the results here. That's essentially what I'm going to do: I'm just not sure if I want to mix Legal Blue and Dostoevski or Dostoevski and Red-Black. All three are bulletproof to a point. Also, I got my handy Goulet syringe pack today, so I can even be accurate, rather than eyeballing everything! One further thing I will note about the Metropolitan: it's an uneven comparison, given I'm using different inks, but this Pilot M seems to be about as broad as my Parker M (of unknown origins).
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Apr 28, 2013 04:58
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I refilled a pilot varsity with lamy blue with the help of a chopped syringe. End result: Feels good, man, but it seems it still had a bit of the black ink in even if the reservoir seemed empty and it was not writing anymore, since it is writing with a much more blackish tone than anything else I've filled with lamy blue.
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May 2, 2013 09:08
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Luisfe posted:I refilled a pilot varsity with lamy blue with the help of a chopped syringe. Did you wash out the feed/grip section? A lot of ink can get trapped in there, even if it won't come out through writing.
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May 2, 2013 12:06
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cobalt impurity posted:Did you wash out the feed/grip section? A lot of ink can get trapped in there, even if it won't come out through writing. No, since I did not dissassemble it, I used a chopped syringe following this method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEdJyrSEsMc
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May 2, 2013 14:29
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Lurking this thread has caused me to go from zero to four fountain pens and four bottles of ink in about the span of two months and now I'm eyeballing the TWSBI 580 to go with my Diamond 550; god damnit. Thanks, fountain pen thread!  Yoshi Jjang posted:My collection so far is missing a flex pen. Does anybody know the differences between the Noodler's Nib Creaper, Ahab, and Konrad flex pens? The Fountain Pen Network seems to be offline, so there goes looking there for comparisons. I can't speak on the others, but I can confirm that the Ahab has a very fine unflexed line and does a fine job of flexing. Mine didn't need much adjustment to lay down nice lines, but I guess your mileage may vary. If you haven't sprung for one yet, you might as well as it's only $20.
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May 5, 2013 17:32
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So, here's a funny question. I'm writing a story, and I'm writing potential scenes down on index cards. The cards are just SPONGING up the ink. The lines are a lot thicker (double or triple) than they are on regular paper, to the point of making my writing almost illegible. Any suggestions? Is there a certain weight or finish of paper I should be looking for?
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May 6, 2013 00:43
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Great Horny Toads! posted:So, here's a funny question. I'm writing a story, and I'm writing potential scenes down on index cards. The cards are just SPONGING up the ink. The lines are a lot thicker (double or triple) than they are on regular paper, to the point of making my writing almost illegible. Any suggestions? Is there a certain weight or finish of paper I should be looking for? What kind of ink are you using? Index cards don't work well with most types of fountain pen ink. Oxford index cards (especially the coloured ones) are supposed to be less bad. Additionally, try Montblanc Midnight Blue ink - it tends to be usable even on crappy paper. Don't let a pen filled with Midnight Blue dry out ever - it will gum up the ink feed.
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May 6, 2013 12:24
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I CANNOT EJACULATE WITHOUT SEEING NATIVE AMERICANS BRUTALISED!
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I'm using off-the-shelf Waterman stuff. I may just use this debacle as an excuse to order FP-friendly index cards and more ink colours from Goulet... and by "may" I mean "will"
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May 6, 2013 14:29
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