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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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kim jong-illin posted:Hot drat, I got my TWSBI Vac 700 today and the nib sizing is wack. I ordered a 1.1 italic stub and the line it produces is closer to a Lamy 1.8 italic. Utterly gorgeous pen and beautifully smooth writing action but the enormous nib width makes it pretty wet and it feathers a fair bit even with inks that usually don't feather at all. Sorry you are having trouble with your TWSBI and disappointed with the nib. Did you by any chance try swapping out and using the other nib that came with it? Also, are you unscrewing the end when you write? I've read that these 2 issues cause a lot of grief for people with the VAC700. I have a TWSBI VAC 700, as well, and when I first got it, I was initially very disappointed with it. I was even considering sending it back for a refund or replacement. Then, I tried swapping out the nib and learned how to screw/unscrew the end when I write to control the ink flow. It is now one of the my favorite pens. The nib is friction fit and quite easy to remove and replace (I think Goulet/Ink Nouveau has a video up about it), maybe you can get another nib if the above ideas don't work?
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Jul 31, 2013 16:37
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My buddy had a birthday last weekend, and I got him a Pilot Metro with a couple bottles of ink. He says he loves them, but I can't shake the feeling that it was the nerdiest gift. 
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Jul 31, 2013 16:58
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laertes22 posted:Sorry you are having trouble with your TWSBI and disappointed with the nib. Did you by any chance try swapping out and using the other nib that came with it? Also, are you unscrewing the end when you write? I've read that these 2 issues cause a lot of grief for people with the VAC700. Oh I'm not disappointed with it, it's a gorgeous pen. It's just not going to be the kind of pen I can replace my Lamy Safari with at work because it puts out too much ink to dry quickly enough. I'll experiment with some different inks (already noticed Pelikan Onyx dries much faster than Noodler Eel Black in this pen) and unscrewing the end to see what happens. I have a Goulet replacement nib as well, so I'll give that a pop too. Thanks for the advice!
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Jul 31, 2013 17:35
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^^^ Unscrewing the end is actually likely to increase the ink flow and make the nib wetter. You have to unscrew it because it's a plunger pen, so if you don't do that then as you use ink up nothing enters the chamber to replace it and so the pen dries up.Aramek posted:My buddy had a birthday last weekend, and I got him a Pilot Metro with a couple bottles of ink. He says he loves them, but I can't shake the feeling that it was the nerdiest gift. Assuming you live in the US, you use a fountain pen = people already look at you funny. Don't sweat it anymore, your fate is to be that guy who uses fountain pens always.
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Jul 31, 2013 17:36
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Kessel posted:Assuming you live in the US, you use a fountain pen = people already look at you funny. Don't sweat it anymore, your fate is to be that guy who uses fountain pens always. I love handing over a Metro or a TWSBI when someone asks to borrow a pen. Half the time they don't know what to do with it and it's hilarious to watch. That being said, I gave my groomsmen TWSBI 540s, and they thought it was the neatest thing ever. Hell, my dad got a Vac 700, and he's hooked!
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Jul 31, 2013 20:28
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Thinking about converting my metro to eyedropper fill, as it seems solid enough and has a sealed body. Anyone done this?
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Jul 31, 2013 20:30
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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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Solkanar512 posted:I love handing over a Metro or a TWSBI when someone asks to borrow a pen. Half the time they don't know what to do with it and it's hilarious to watch. That being said, I gave my groomsmen TWSBI 540s, and they thought it was the neatest thing ever. Hell, my dad got a Vac 700, and he's hooked! But then they'll use pressure and ruin the nib forever 
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Jul 31, 2013 20:44
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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? I tried this (and ended up pissing off a bunch of folks on FPN when I asked). What basically happens is that the pen starts releasing way too much ink. I had drips in some cases. It's such a shame, it would make that pen perfect. As far as reaction between metals is concerned, I looked it up, and the corrosion effect would have taken years to show up. Luisfe posted:But then they'll use pressure and ruin the nib forever Most of the people I hand a pen to are deathly afraid of applying pressure then decide that they just don't like the pen. What can you do?
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Jul 31, 2013 21:35
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At work yesterday I got to find out why one shouldn't cheap out on converters. I had picked up a plunger style converter that fits standard international size pens for $0.25 at the local stationery store a few weeks ago and filled it with some Pelikan brilliant black. Took it to work for the past week and was loving having my pen and not having to worry about changing cartridges when I ran low.  Then yesterday I noticed that somehow ink had leaked past the plunger and started filling the body of the pen and there was now ink coming out of the threads above the grip and all over my hand.  Now I'm buying a standard international converter on Goulet Pens. Oh, and a Metropolitan, since they're on sale. And adding the Con-50 to the Metropolitan since I don't like the Con-20s that well. And since I'm paying for shipping anyway, why not grab a bottle of Noodler's Air Corp Blue Black...  My five dollar order is rapidly approaching fifty. 
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Aug 1, 2013 06:23
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Also, Tsuki-yo and other Iroshizuku inks are the best way to spend too much money on not-pens. Welsper fucked around with this message at 07:24 on Aug 1, 2013 |
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Aug 1, 2013 06:26
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Kessel posted:Assuming you live in the US, you use a fountain pen = people already look at you funny. Don't sweat it anymore, your fate is to be that guy who uses fountain pens always. One of my favorite idiotic stories is the time I swapped pens in class, and the woman sitting next to me thought I'd done a magic trick, since the color changed. She told me to tell people I was a wizard instead of the truth :3 As an aside, if you wear pants with proper slacks-style pockets, don't sit on a curb. I'm pretty sure I lost my 45 at a rest stop that way  Well, it's that or I packed it away somewhere; it sure as hell wasn't in my pocket or my car when I checked.Also, being that guy isn't all bad. If you're still in school, older teachers get kinda nostalgic about them, and sometimes you can end up selling a Metropolitan for $20 in a bar to a friend!
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Aug 1, 2013 07:17
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Welsper posted:I thought metropolitans can't take the con-70 due to size? They can't. They come with a Con-20 (ugh) and they can take a Con-50. Goulet "helpfully" offers the Con-50 as an add-on on the Metropolitan order page. It's only $5.50 more... Pens, guns, and woodworking. Why couldn't I choose inexpensive hobbies?
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Aug 1, 2013 07:23
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Magnus Praeda posted:They can't. They come with a Con-20 (ugh) and they can take a Con-50. Goulet "helpfully" offers the Con-50 as an add-on on the Metropolitan order page. It's only $5.50 more... My innumeracy aside, isn't a con-20 preferable to a con-50 due capacity? It's why I swapped to the con-20 in my vanishing point.
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Aug 1, 2013 07:26
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Welsper posted:My innumeracy aside, isn't a con-20 preferable to a con-50 due capacity? The con-20 has more capacity, yes. The con-50 is a piston fill rather than a squeeze-bulb fill, however, making them far easier to use (in my opinion) and easier to judge how much ink is remaining. Besides, there's only like 5-10 fewer pages worth of writing with a con-50. I'll save the con-20 for a Plumix or something.
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Aug 1, 2013 07:41
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Fair enough. While we're on the topic of Pilot, has anyone got an opinion on the new Justus 95?
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Aug 1, 2013 08:01
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More importantly, the Con-50 is legendary among Pilot collectors for being a piece of poo poo compared to the 20 (better capacity) and the 70 (better capacity and the ink doesn't stick to the drat converter walls, making it difficult to clean.)Welsper posted:Fair enough. Tried it at a store. A genuinely interesting idea and fun to write with but I honestly have no idea if I could use it as a daily writer without actually bringing it home and subjecting it to the daily grind.
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Aug 1, 2013 10:49
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Welsper posted:Fair enough. Very neat idea. I just get the feeling from looking at it that it would be a jack of all trades master of none. For that price I would perfer to have more pens...?
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Aug 1, 2013 17:26
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My sister mentioned that there's a place in San Francisco called FLAX - which sells Noodler's ink and a staggering amount of stuff that's art and stationery related. I'm going to check it out during lunch today!
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Aug 1, 2013 18:35
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Anyone have any advice on grinding down nibs? I want to slim down my 1.1 stub italic TWSBI Vac 700 nib because the line's too wide for daily use. I have a replacement nib so it doesn't matter if I damage this one (all part of the learning process!)
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Aug 1, 2013 19:02
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kim jong-illin posted:Anyone have any advice on grinding down nibs? I want to slim down my 1.1 stub italic TWSBI Vac 700 nib because the line's too wide for daily use. I have a replacement nib so it doesn't matter if I damage this one (all part of the learning process!) Here's the best site I've found for an instructional. http://www.marcuslink.com/pens/aboutpens/ludwig-tan.html
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Aug 2, 2013 20:19
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So I just passed my professional license exams and want to treat myself to a nice gold nib and pen. So far my favorites have been my F singularity and F safari; do you guys have any suggestions as to what pens I should start looking into? And what price ranges will I start out at?
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Aug 3, 2013 02:29
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I suggest a Lamy 2000. It's usually around $120, which is the starting point for gold nibbed pens. Other gold nibbed pens in the $100-$200 bracket: Pilot Vanishing Point Namiki Falcon Sailor 1911M Pilot Custom 74
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Aug 3, 2013 03:19
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Get a nice vintage Parker '51.
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Aug 3, 2013 07:22
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e: nevermind
Welsper fucked around with this message at 10:04 on Aug 7, 2013 |
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Aug 7, 2013 09:47
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My order from wonder pens got here today. Quick shipping, nicely packed (not quite as overkill as goulet). Came with a free fortune telling fish, that for some reason my wife thinks is the best thing ever. Would recommend for any canadian goons. Also thanks to whoever posted them. Got a 1.1 italic nib for my al-star and a big bottle of noodlers red-black. Really enjoyed a sample of it.
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Aug 7, 2013 14:46
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I don't mind the overpackaging that Goulet does, personally, because I can always give the extra stuff to other people (mostly my boyfriend) who ship stuff in the mail pretty often. Does anyone have an ink syringe and think it'd be a good investment? I have a bunch of sample vials that all have a good amount of ink left in them, but not quite enough to be able to draw into the pen normally. I'm afraid of just trying to pull out the nib/feed and pour it in because I know I'll make a mess. Not too interested in eyedropper conversions either (I like to change inks out a lot, so lower capacity is fine for me.)
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Aug 7, 2013 21:17
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I have an ink syringe and use it for converter refills, since I can get the converter much fuller and also it's less messy.
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Aug 7, 2013 21:39
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xilixliadon posted:Here's the best site I've found for an instructional. Thank you for this! The shop he used has everything I need for it and is in my country too, which is a bonus.
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Aug 7, 2013 22:14
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I use a syringe for ink all the time, mostly for cartridge refils but also to fill up eyedropper pens or put ink into vials for travel so I'm not toting a whole bottle around. They're a handy thing to have around. I have a beater pen that I'd like to pull the nib off of -- it leaks and is too damaged to bother with fixing, and as far as I can tell it's just a low-end old pen with a surprisingly flexible steel nib -- but I suspect that it's all glued together because nothing unscrews to come apart. What will be the best way to loosen this thing up, especially if I don't really give a poo poo about saving any of the rest of it? Hairdryer? Heat gun? Open flame? A hammer? 
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Aug 7, 2013 23:52
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I use an ink syringe, I got a 10 pack off Amazon for 7$ http://www.amazon.com/Syringes-Blunt-Fill-Needles-pack/dp/B003EE5GUS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375915970&sr=8-2&keywords=blunt+syringe Much easier and cleaner.
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Aug 7, 2013 23:53
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Everything Burrito posted:What will be the best way to loosen this thing up, especially if I don't really give a poo poo about saving any of the rest of it? Hairdryer? Heat gun? Open flame? A hammer? If you're ever going to own or work on vintage pens, a heat gun will be invaluable. (I will let your use of the f-word with respect to a steel nib go, even though it pains me.)
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Aug 8, 2013 04:02
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:If you're ever going to own or work on vintage pens, a heat gun will be invaluable. I don't know how else to describe it since that's what it does 
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Aug 8, 2013 06:24
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:(I will let your use of the f-word with respect to a steel nib go, even though it pains me.) Hey now, we want to be nice and inclusive in this here thread! Even Richard Binder has repented of his gold snobbery. Strangelet Wave fucked around with this message at 06:41 on Aug 8, 2013 |
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Aug 8, 2013 06:38
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Steel nibs can be great - I love my LAMY and my Reynolds - but you can never make a steel 'flex' fountain-pen nib that performs like a vintage gold nib could. The Noodlers Nib Creaper, the Stipula T-Flex, and the Platinum cool are marketed or purchased based on the mythical magical 'modern flex', but try them in the hand against a vintage gold nib and you'll notice that the feel so very different. The more vintage pens I acquire and use, the more firm I become in this belief. For steel nibs I gladly use the word 'variation', but not 'flex'. Of course, that's just me! (Note to self - scan pen/ink journal to share examples of vintage flex versus modern variation.)
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Aug 8, 2013 07:20
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This isn't a modern pen. poo poo's old, yo.
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Aug 8, 2013 07:52
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Who let all these pen hipsters into my thread? Yeah, modern steel nibs aren't going to be as flexy as vintage gold nibs, but people aren't really doing copperplate as their everyday handwriting anymore either. If you like your vintage nibs that can flex out to a mile, great, but don't anybody sit on a throne and scowl down at the unwashed peons because their writing tool isn't as bendy in places as yours. In unrelated news, flying with a bulb converter sucks. Get a piston converter for your Metro if you want to fly with it and keep that poo poo topped up (or completely empty).
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Aug 8, 2013 10:33
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DurianGray posted:I don't mind the overpackaging that Goulet does, personally, because I can always give the extra stuff to other people (mostly my boyfriend) who ship stuff in the mail pretty often. I got an ink syringe and never stopped using it. Now I wonder why anybody these days still bother refilling their ink the traditional way. Sooo much cleaner to use.
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Aug 8, 2013 11:04
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Nask26 posted:I use an ink syringe, I got a 10 pack off Amazon for 7$ http://www.amazon.com/Syringes-Blunt-Fill-Needles-pack/dp/B003EE5GUS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375915970&sr=8-2&keywords=blunt+syringe I clicked on this and now my Amazon front page is full of needles and I look like a drug addict. It was for my pens!! 
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Aug 8, 2013 17:28
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