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Aw man, I accidentally dropped my favorite pen, and now the nib is bent to all poo poo. God drat it. Fortunately, it was the cheapest pen I've got (The Universal Stylo Neon). Unfortunately, I can't find another one of those anymore  Oh well. Maybe I can fix the nib later on but god drat.
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Jun 25, 2013 01:53
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I got an order from Gouletpens today. A Monteverde Intima in Neon Green and a bottle of Rohrer & Klingner Alt-goldgrun. I like them both so far! The ink looks more gold in the photos than on the paper. The writing is in a Clairefontaine notebook in which everything takes a long time to dry, but I expect it so it's not an issue.   
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Jun 25, 2013 03:46
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RustedChrome posted:I got an order from Gouletpens today. A Monteverde Intima in Neon Green and a bottle of Rohrer & Klingner Alt-goldgrun. Oh wow, that ink is fantastic looking. I think it'll be next on my list.
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Jun 25, 2013 03:48
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I noticed after cleaning my 580 a few days ago, it had these really deep scratches on the inside of the barrel. Emailed Twsbi and 2 days later I had a replacement barrel from them. I also ordered a charcoal safari which is really nice, I think I need to give it a good clean since it skips every once in a while. I hate that the Twsbi isn't more comfortable for me and I'm hoping eventually I can transition to it once I use the Safari more.
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Jun 25, 2013 21:36
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I've got the new nib unit for my Namiki/Pilot Vanishing Point, and the pen's back to its best! Yay. It's a broad nib, and it writes very well, very smooth, shown here with Pilot Blue/Black cartridges. As you can see from the second pic, the black coating is rubbing through to the brass (?) but I'm OK with that - just a bit of wabi-sabi. I'm happy to have it back in my pocket. 
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Jun 26, 2013 10:43
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WilliamAnderson posted:Oh wow, that ink is fantastic looking. I think it'll be next on my list. Yep, just placed an order with goulet for an R&K writing set including that ink, the black, and a glass dip pen (as well as a grid notebook and syringe set to make it easier to fill my Invincia from sample pots). Considering shipping to Australia is always around $50 I figure I might as well make it worth it :/.
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Jun 26, 2013 13:31
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Luisfe posted:Aw man, I accidentally dropped my favorite pen, and now the nib is bent to all poo poo. God drat it. Post pictures. If it's a newer pen you can probably find a replacement nib easy enough since everything these days comes from the same 2 or 3 nib makers. QuiteEasilyDone posted:I think it's something with my batch of HoD. It seems to want to run down the tines on my other pen as well. Noodler's inks are infamous for nib creep. It's probably something to do with Nathan Tardiff's special blend. I have a few pens I won't use Noodler's in (including my Namiki Falcon) because the nib creep looks "wrong." Hello! I own 45+ fountain pens of various styles and ages. My collection is mostly vintage with an emphasis on vintage flex and British makes. I'm still hunting for a good full-size 52 (though I have two 52 1/2Vs that please me). ChickenOfTomorrow fucked around with this message at 07:26 on Jun 27, 2013 |
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Jun 27, 2013 07:14
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I am going through some noodlers samples, and am finding that the Noodler's Liberty's Elysium is hard to start, and just not the vibrant blue I was looking for. Love the noodlers red-black though, seems to work great. Are the bullet proof inks generally harder to start?
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Jun 27, 2013 18:42
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Outside of Heart of Darkness and I believe Zhivago, yes. Unless you absolutely need a bulletproof ink, I wouldn't bother, as all but wetter pens with a fairly good nib surface will exemplify this issue. There are tons of amazing inks made by Diamine and Iroshizuku that have way better properties and similar colors. Engeika online has Iroshizuku for $15/bottle (plus shipping) but if you're in the market for a few colors you like from samples you get elsewhere (iSellPens and Goulet), it's the best place to shop outside of the nibmeisters' pages, such as Richard Binder and Mottishaw of nibs.com.
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Jun 27, 2013 18:47
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Iroshizuku inks have a - in my opinion, well-deserved - widespread reputation for very good flow and almost no problems starting, even if the inked pen has been left sitting for a long time. If you've never tried one of the inks in the line, you owe it to yourself to at least give it a shot!
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Jun 27, 2013 19:20
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But if you want to split hairs, Zhivago is only partially-bulletproof - the black component is permanent but the green isn't. Is stylos.se officially closed now, or are they still selling off their stock before closing? They had good prices on Rohrer & Klingner, even if you factored in shipping. I like Iroshizuku because of their vibrancy and R&K because the majority of their inks are easy to clean. (Apart from the Esterbrooks most of my vintage pens are a pain in the rear end to clean because they're lever-fill, so a bulletproof ink is going to triple my work. Esterbrooks don't count because you can just remove the renew point to get to the sac.) [Edited because I can't spell Iroshizuku.] ChickenOfTomorrow fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Jun 27, 2013 |
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Jun 27, 2013 19:24
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Rodney Chops posted:I am going through some noodlers samples, and am finding that the Noodler's Liberty's Elysium is hard to start, and just not the vibrant blue I was looking for. Love the noodlers red-black though, seems to work great. Are the bullet proof inks generally harder to start? I also loved the red-black sample of Noodlers I got and may grab a bottle at some point. For blues, I'm loving the bottle of shin-kai I grabbed. Got momiji for a red next time I refill. Heart of Darkness is still the black to beat.
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Jun 27, 2013 19:34
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I did get a big bottle of HoD and you guys are right in that starts great. Interesting that the other bullet proofs are tougher. The HoD compared to all my roller ball black pens is way darker, happy with it. Xovann I think you are right, I simply don't need a bullet proof ink so I'm actually going to avoid them from now on. (I've seen those tests where a page is soaked in water? Who would keep that page of writing anyways? Maybe for legal reasons is all I can think of.) Chicken you may be onto something with the cleaning, haven't had to clean my pen out yet, but I can see it being a pain. All and all, I'm really glad I got samples of these inks instead of just picking one. I was of the mindset that Ink is Ink it can't make that big of difference unless you are incredibly pro. Not true, they are all noticebly different and I got pretty much all one brand. I will try a bottle of Iroshizuku next. I have a technical desk job that varies between computer work and pen/map work. I leave my pen's cap off and use it a bit every few minutes. Starting easily after sitting for a while would be perfect. (Although the noodlers red-black seemed to be great for this also.) Pulling my hair out with the elysium one. Thanks pen goons, helpful as always.
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Jun 27, 2013 20:18
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Rodney Chops posted:I will try a bottle of Iroshizuku next. I have a technical desk job that varies between computer work and pen/map work. I leave my pen's cap off and use it a bit every few minutes. Starting easily after sitting for a while would be perfect. (Although the noodlers red-black seemed to be great for this also.) Pulling my hair out with the elysium one. Have you considered a desk pen? I have a pair of Esterbrook desk sets I picked up for use at work and they did just fine with Rohrer and Klingner Morinda and Aurora Black. The only time I had trouble was when I went on holiday for a week and the red pen was hard to start when I returned; the black was still great. I know there are modern desk pens available from the Japanese brands, and vintage Esterbrook desk sets were about $50 on the 'bay when I picked mine up last year.
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Jun 27, 2013 20:31
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Xovaan posted:Engeika online has Iroshizuku for $15/bottle (plus shipping) but if you're in the market for a few colors you like from samples you get elsewhere (iSellPens and Goulet), it's the best place to shop outside of the nibmeisters' pages, such as Richard Binder and Mottishaw of nibs.com. I'd love to give these inks a shot, however I'm curious about the permanency of the inks. I had a bad experience with Private Reserve "Naples Blue" where I could place my hand on a dry sheet of notes and find that the notes had transferred to my hand.
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Jun 27, 2013 20:36
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They're extremely not-permanent, but they won't do anything like that. Just don't get any water or sweat on it (like any other ink) and it won't smear. I am half way through a bottle of Tsuki-Yo and my girlfriend writes pages and pages with it and hasn't had an issue yet. Iroshizuku really is one of the best inks on the market.
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Jun 27, 2013 21:04
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Thanks, jerks. I just impulse bought two bottles of Iroshizuku. At this rate I'll have spent more on inks than pens pretty soon...
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Jun 27, 2013 21:21
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It's okay. Just never get into automotive hobbies and you'll be fine.  ...
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Jun 27, 2013 21:25
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Arse, I got my Lamy 2000 today and I'm not happy with the nib I usually write with a 1.1 italic nib so I got a broad nib for the 2000 because the sampler on gouletpens.com made it look closest to the line thicknesses I get with an italic nib. Now the 2000's arrived and I hate the broad nib - it leaves way too much ink on the paper so the drying time is excessively long and it makes my handwriting look very sloppy. Looking at a two to four week turn-around time to get the nib changed to a fine by Lamy as it has to go back to Germany for a nib change. In some positive news, I'd recommend Noodler's Walnut Brown to anyone looking for a good brown-black ink. It starts off as a light black colour but rapidly dries and fades into a rich, dark brown that looks very slick and smart.
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Jun 27, 2013 21:35
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I'm completely wrecked on Iroshizuku inks. It's all I will ever buy or use from here on out. I do wish their black was more dark, it's what has held me back from getting some.
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Jun 27, 2013 21:37
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I snagged their black and their golden brown. We'll see how they go. I thought about a blue, but I have a noodlers' and a Quink blue-black, plus a noodler's green and burgundy, so I don't really need mroe blues or other colors. I might get a nice red or orange though - the burgundy is nice, but can be a touch pink at times.
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Jun 27, 2013 21:42
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Thanks for the info!Xovaan posted:It's okay. Just never get into automotive hobbies and you'll be fine. I'm hosed, I'm saving up for a BRZ.
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Jun 27, 2013 21:57
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kim jong-illin posted:Arse, I got my Lamy 2000 today and I'm not happy with the nib Just buy another! You can never have too many pens! I officially ran out of space in my two 22-slot pencases last month. I then bought another pen because I'm a sucker for Minuskin's "bargain" vintage posts.
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Jun 27, 2013 22:09
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Arcturas posted:I snagged their black and their golden brown. We'll see how they go. I thought about a blue, but I have a noodlers' and a Quink blue-black, plus a noodler's green and burgundy, so I don't really need mroe blues or other colors. I might get a nice red or orange though - the burgundy is nice, but can be a touch pink at times. Assuming the golden-brown is the "bamboo" one, whatever that's called, I wasn't very happy with it. A friend of mine gave me a half-bottle because HE didn't like it, and after a few fills in different pens, I'm not really impressed. I love every single other Iro ink that I've used though. My faves are fuyu-syogun and yama-budo. You have to pronounce the ink names like you're a samurai in a Kurosawa movie for best effect.
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Jun 27, 2013 23:22
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I'm definitely interested in the samples from Goulet. $1.25 for noodlers samples and 2.50 for Iroshizuku has me pretty tempted to drop 10 or 15 dollars on some new inks to try out. I'm not really a fan of writing with blue ink but I'm interested in some dark blues / blue-blacks as well as a nice green color. Hopefully shipping isn't crazy as I haven't looked into it that far yet. E: Looks like only 4 bucks for a sampler pack shipped here. That's pretty reasonable. Baller Witness Bro fucked around with this message at 23:42 on Jun 27, 2013 |
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Jun 27, 2013 23:39
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Platypus Farm posted:Assuming the golden-brown is the "bamboo" one, whatever that's called, I wasn't very happy with it. A friend of mine gave me a half-bottle because HE didn't like it, and after a few fills in different pens, I'm not really impressed. I love every single other Iro ink that I've used though. My faves are fuyu-syogun and yama-budo. You have to pronounce the ink names like you're a samurai in a Kurosawa movie for best effect. It'a Grain of Rice (Ina-Ho), and the black one is Charcoal Bamboo (Take-Sumi). I think I have a minute or two to cancel the brown if it's the one you were unhappy with, and get something else. :EDIT: Okay, I canceled the Ina-Ho. I'm tempted by the Yama-Budo, but as I said I've already got a bottle of Noodler's Burgundy. Is it significantly superior? Arcturas fucked around with this message at 00:05 on Jun 28, 2013 |
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Jun 27, 2013 23:50
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:Just buy another! You can never have too many pens! At £100+ a pop, definitely not! It's £10 to ship it to Germany and get the nib changed, which is a better way to go. I can fall back on my Lamy Safari with my favourite 1.1mm italic nib and my new favourite ink: Noodler's Walnut Brown. I really wish there was a better Noodler's stockist in the UK. There's only one reseller and they have such a small collection that's usually sold out. Gouletpens.com has a massive range and is always in stock but I get slammed with custom charged on top of what I've already paid. So frustrating because I love the huge diversity of Noodler's ink as well as the bottle/label design (Tiananmen Red has the best label I've seen yet).
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Jun 27, 2013 23:50
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kim jong-illin posted:I really wish there was a better Noodler's stockist in the UK. There's only one reseller and they have such a small collection that's usually sold out. Gouletpens.com has a massive range and is always in stock but I get slammed with custom charged on top of what I've already paid. So frustrating because I love the huge diversity of Noodler's ink as well as the bottle/label design (Tiananmen Red has the best label I've seen yet). Well, it's a trade-off... We get Noodler's, you get Pelikan Blue-Black (and possibly Mont Blanc Lavender, if the scuttlebutt I hear about that ink's disappearance over here is true), and easier access to one of the best iron-gall inks out there, ESSRI. A member of my local FP club tells me one of his chums lives in Singapore and travels to the USA fairly frequently. Every time he flies back home, he has 10+ bottles of Noodler's ink in his luggage! Last time I visited my family in the UK I came back to the US with one new bottle of ink. It was Noodler's Luxury Blue. 
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Jun 28, 2013 02:05
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Arcturas posted:I snagged their black and their golden brown. We'll see how they go. I thought about a blue, but I have a noodlers' and a Quink blue-black, plus a noodler's green and burgundy, so I don't really need mroe blues or other colors. I might get a nice red or orange though - the burgundy is nice, but can be a touch pink at times. I would honestly take Noodler's Heart of Darkness over the Namiki black. It's probably the blackest ink you'll use and is probably the best ink Noodler carries. Before investing in inks, I'd recommend getting a sample kit online of all your favorite colors. That way, you're weighing risking $26 on ink bottles that take forever to deplete versus $26 on ink samples that cycle pretty fast and gets you a solid idea of what you want, albeit at a less than economical path. But two bottles in (Shin-Ryoku and Tsuki-Yo) and already I'm sitting at the same cost of an entire sample collection of Namiki inks, and at the rate I write-- even with school-- I'd probably only be about 50-60% through them at this point had I gone that route, given the amount left in each of my bottles.
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Jun 28, 2013 03:46
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Xovaan posted:I would honestly take Noodler's Heart of Darkness over the Namiki black. It's probably the blackest ink you'll use and is probably the best ink Noodler carries. Interesting! I find Aurora black to be a deeper black than HoD, but my go-to black is X-Feather because sometimes ya gotta deal with crummy paper.
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Jun 28, 2013 03:53
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Somewhat Heroic posted:I'm completely wrecked on Iroshizuku inks. It's all I will ever buy or use from here on out. I do wish their black was more dark, it's what has held me back from getting some. Are you using Kiri-same or Take-sumi?
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Jun 28, 2013 03:57
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kim jong-illin posted:Arse, I got my Lamy 2000 today and I'm not happy with the nib How much writing have you done with the pen? I also recently received a Lamy 2000 in broad, and had similar troubles my first day of writing. Now it's dropping a much more reasonable amount of ink and dry time is quite good on the rhodia pad I just grabbed to test with. I have Noodler's Heart of Darkness in the pen at the moment.
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Jun 28, 2013 04:51
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Welsper posted:Are you using Kiri-same or Take-sumi? I have Kiri-same and Kon-Peki. I know the Kiri-same is a cool gray on purpose (I love the color). Haven't tried their version of 'black' yet.
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Jun 28, 2013 06:06
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kim jong-illin posted:Arse, I got my Lamy 2000 today and I'm not happy with the nib I hate to be "that person," but did you clean the pen before you tried it out? I also generally try to give a new pen a whole week to see if it has any little quirks about it or how to hold it properly. I hold my Vista a different way from my Metro a different way from my TWSBI. If you cleaned it and gave it a decent trial, then I hope the new nib works out for you!
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Jun 28, 2013 13:59
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Arcturas posted:It'a Grain of Rice (Ina-Ho), and the black one is Charcoal Bamboo (Take-Sumi). I think I have a minute or two to cancel the brown if it's the one you were unhappy with, and get something else. Yessssss, yama-budo has a way richer, deeper color. I'm pretty sure the one I'm thinking of is ina-ho. It's very, uh, not punchy. When I get a $26 jug of ink, I want it to hit me in the MOUTH with colors. Yama-budo does that! I like a lot of the really obnoxious noodler's colors, but realistically, there's no reason to worry about the cost of a bottle of ink. Yama-budo and HOD are my two go-to inks, and after having a bottle of HOD for three years, it's about half empty, and the yama-budo has about 2/3 left after a year and a half. But yeah, seconding a trip to Gouletpens.com. Grab some cheap pen (or an expensive one!) and load up on samples. If you tell the Goulets (remember, pen store people are always real people, as weird as that is on this here internet) that you're new to iroshizuku stuff and just want to try all of it! They'll probably give you a bunch of extras
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Jun 28, 2013 14:01
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Ina-Ho is a little odd, I was expecting a light brown, but it really is more of a gold. I like it better now that I've started putting it in the flex nib I have since it can have some decent variation. I also got that color with Chiku-Rin which can get really bright to the point of almost being unreadable with a fine nib, but works out stupid well with my Apple Green Safari with italic nib. Right now I have it in a fine nib and it's weird watching it dry because before it's dry you can't hardly see it, so you sorta watch words appear on paper in a delay. Here's an old picture from when I got those inks:  Sometimes I think my Syo-Ro might've been mislabeled as it seems to be lacking green. Also I've been thinking of mixing these, but I'm not sure which ones or how much, so I'll probably have to do some experimenting later to see if it'll work out at all.
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Jun 28, 2013 15:33
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Thanks for the advice on samples. I think I will try a huge sampler pack in a little while. I figure I'll probably be fine with the Iroshizuku Black since I won't have an HoD to compare it with. Also, I have a vague idea that it'd be easier to clean out of clothing if I should spill a little, and since I have to wear a suit all the time I appreciate not automatically staining everything. Hence the Noodler's "OH MY GOD FORGED CHECKS" line of thought isn't really my favorite.
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Jun 28, 2013 15:37
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Arcturas posted:Thanks for the advice on samples. I think I will try a huge sampler pack in a little while. I figure I'll probably be fine with the Iroshizuku Black since I won't have an HoD to compare it with. For sure - non-permanent fountain pen ink is really easy to get out of pretty much anything, assuming you give it a nice soak. Noodler's HOD though, yeah, isn't coming out of any loving thing ever. edit: THE FED CAIN'T TAKE NOTHIN FROM ME
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Jun 28, 2013 16:34
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The reason that I prefer bulletproofs is the fact that I love studying on a boat, unfortunately boats are bound by water and water tends to go everywhere and there's always the chance of a MOB senario... as I've accidentally proved before. I keep my pens in the Cabin and out of the way, but there's always the chance that an unexpected hydration event may occur when I'm transfering my logs, pads, and documents. Similarly I've found that rollerballs don't work too well in that environment if only for the fact that they tend to jam at the worst times with salt in the balls always.
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Jun 28, 2013 17:41
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That sounds like a delightful place to study. I wish I had that kind of environment to study in, but yeah, I can see why you'd prefer a HoD or something. For me? If my office floods it's almost certainly a fire sprinkler thing, in which case we hope and pray our off-site electronic backups work. If it's a straight-up water level rise? Then about a million other people are under water and nobody will care about my office.
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Jun 28, 2013 17:53
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