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Hats Wouldnt Fly posted:Platinum pens tend to have a really good seal. I recently picked my Platinum standard up after a couple months of not using it and it took two letters to get started. Even the preppy is great at not drying out. Derp, yes, I meant Platinum. I got the two confused. I love my 3776 and keep it in my laptop bag because it can withstand not getting used very often, which is a bit of a shame because it writes pretty dang well. I don't have any Pelikan pens other than the cheap Future that got me into this whole hobby years back, but as an inveterate coffee-hound, I've been meaning to see if I can pick up one of the limited edition M200 Cafe Cremes.
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Feb 2, 2017 23:58
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| # ? May 12, 2024 16:32 |
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Wow! I wrote Fountain pen revolution to tell them about the poor packaging of my pen and they offered to send me a free pen! Had my choice between a F.P.R Indus or Jaipur. They are out of Serwex. Chose a Indus. My email was very nice and I was not asking for any repair. Great customer service! Iznogood fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Feb 3, 2017 |
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Feb 3, 2017 00:01
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404notfound posted:I need to cut down on my number of inked pens, or I need a way to keep them airtight when not in use. I just refilled my Lamy 2000 with more Iroshizuku Kon-peki, and I forgot how bright it can look and how much shading it has. The past few days of using it has been a pretty saturated, shading-less blue, probably because the ink inside had dried up somewhat. I have found, in general, that Japanese made pens have pretty good cap seals. I'm a big fan of Pilot, and my CH912 and Legance are both very reliable writers, even when not used for a while.
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Feb 3, 2017 00:05
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Found a $15 Amazon gift card I had forgotten from Christmas, just ordered a medium Pilot Metropolitan and will report back Monday. 
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Feb 4, 2017 20:26
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I bought a Zebra V-301 fountain pen for like 2 dollars. Don't. It was a miserable experience. Like after writing my signature 4 times I wanted to break it it half.
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Feb 4, 2017 20:56
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Does Zebra make anything that isn't total garbage?
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Feb 4, 2017 21:24
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Heath posted:Does Zebra make anything that isn't total garbage? I like their G301 gel pens... but obviously vastly prefer a fountain pen
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Feb 4, 2017 21:42
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signalnoise posted:I bought a Zebra V-301 fountain pen for like 2 dollars. Don't. It was a miserable experience. Like after writing my signature 4 times I wanted to break it it half. Don't those have a wick type feed, rather than a channel feed?
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Feb 4, 2017 22:20
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Heath posted:Does Zebra make anything that isn't total garbage? The Sarasa pen is very nice for buying in packs of 12 when you need something you can give away without it being a lovely Bic. Until I discovered a way to not lose a good pen, Sarasa was my go-to rollerball gel whatever pen. For someone who wants like a .4mm-.5mm fountain pen, is there anything as smooth as a rollerball for under like 30-40 dollars? Or even a ballpoint? Rollerballs don't get that thin without being disposables, it seems, and I need something that looks relatively professional. I got a Lamy Safari rollerball and I like it, but using it in a Hobonichi Techo, the stroke is just too loving big. NeurosisHead posted:Don't those have a wick type feed, rather than a channel feed? Dunno. They use cartridges but the ink was incredibly difficult to get to flow steadily. I've reached a point in my life where I don't struggle to make poo poo work, so I gave up pretty much immediately because gently caress 2 dollars. I want something that works well and doesn't frustrate me if I'm going to be using it on a daily basis.
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Feb 4, 2017 22:48
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I've gotten into using fountain pens over the past few months - I started off with a Pilot Metro 3 years ago and wrote with it here and there. That was a medium nib and saw that with me being left-handed, was getting into trouble with smearing. So I invested in a fine nib Metro for my office. I don't smear at all, but as a left-hander, it's a challenge to write with a fountain pen. What are some tips? I usually write hook-handed so that the pen is actually above where I'm writing, rather than below it. Are there any left-handers here that have alternate ideas, or ways to practice with different writing positions? I've also picked up some Rhodia planners for work and a journal for my notes and such. Now I'm writing letters to friends and family and really having fun. It's been a great conversation piece at my office and with friends - especially with how people believe that texting and emailing can be so impersonal.
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Feb 4, 2017 23:05
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signalnoise posted:For someone who wants like a .4mm-.5mm fountain pen, is there anything as smooth as a rollerball for under like 30-40 dollars? A Faber Castell Loom in Fine or Extra-Fine. FC steel nibs are known for their quality and it fits the price range. It's the best steel nibbed pen I own when it comes to smoothness.
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Feb 4, 2017 23:15
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Ringo Star Get posted:I've gotten into using fountain pens over the past few months - I started off with a Pilot Metro 3 years ago and wrote with it here and there. That was a medium nib and saw that with me being left-handed, was getting into trouble with smearing. So I invested in a fine nib Metro for my office. I don't smear at all, but as a left-hander, it's a challenge to write with a fountain pen. Fellow southpaw here. I actually taught myself to write right handed when I first got into fountain pens, so I'm ambidextrous now. That worked for me, but I don't necessarily recommend it, since it was so time consuming. I was also a hook hand writer, which I think is fairly common for southpaws. There are plenty of websites and YouTube vids about proper pen grip position. I would recommend checking those out and seeing if you can drop the hook. I found practicing writing on a blackboard/whiteboard helped a lot with this. You can also tweak the angle/position of the paper to reduce smudging. I honestly didn't know people held their paper at an angle (I always wrote with the paper straight up at a 90 degree angle), and adjusting this helped a lot.
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Feb 4, 2017 23:16
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I'm naturally a hook-writer too, but I forced myself to learn how to write with my hand under the line. As a plus, my writing is a little neater now, and I have less trouble writing along a straight horizontal on a blank sheet of paper. If you're going the route of retraining your hand, I also suggest learning to write with the arm/shoulder instead of with the fingers. Fountain pens require a lot less pressure to write with and so cause less strain, but it doesn't help if the strain is mostly coming from gripping the pen too tightly and wiggling your fingers to write.
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Feb 4, 2017 23:40
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Megabound posted:A Faber Castell Loom in Fine or Extra-Fine. FC steel nibs are known for their quality and it fits the price range. It's the best steel nibbed pen I own when it comes to smoothness. Is there anything a bit slimmer? For example the Lamy Logo? I tried out my wife's Lamy Safari medium nib, and it wrote really smoothly to me. Like, not as smooth as a rollerball, but it worked and I didn't have to do anything special for it. Would a fine nib Lamy work as smoothly as the medium, or do I really gotta get something special for fine print fountain pen smoothness? Also is even opaqueness with black ink just not going to happen, or can I get some rad custom ink to avoid the inconsistent color depth seen here:  Editititit: For reference, if I could get what I really, really want, I would use this: Montana Black Dye Ink In a marker, it does this in one stroke: 
signalnoise fucked around with this message at 01:10 on Feb 5, 2017 |
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Feb 5, 2017 00:39
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That's an ink property, I find Noodler's Black to be nice and even. The finer you go, the greater chance you have of it being scratchy or nail-like. The body on the loom is thinner than a Safari, with the grip section being about the same diameter but not triangular.
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Feb 5, 2017 01:06
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signalnoise posted:Also is even opaqueness with black ink just not going to happen, or can I get some rad custom ink to avoid the inconsistent color depth seen here: That variation in color is called shading, and believe it or not, it's a quality that some people lust after in an ink. It's something you don't see with normal ballpoints, and adds an extra sense of depth to your writing. Some inks shade more or less, so you can try to find one that has little/no shading. It also helps if you write on cheaper/more absorbent paper. Shading is a result of varying amounts of ink pooling and sitting on top of the paper when it dries up; cheaper paper will absorb the ink immediately and show less variation.
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Feb 5, 2017 01:17
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404notfound posted:That variation in color is called shading, and believe it or not, it's a quality that some people lust after in an ink. It's something you don't see with normal ballpoints, and adds an extra sense of depth to your writing. I see. Maybe I'll get accustomed to it? Probably will happen when my penmanship isn't garbage.
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Feb 5, 2017 01:24
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signalnoise posted:Also is even opaqueness with black ink just not going to happen, or can I get some rad custom ink to avoid the inconsistent color depth seen here: For a really black ink, Platinum Carbon Black is about as black as you can get.
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Feb 5, 2017 01:25
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Noodler's Heart of Darkness is a pure black ink, not a deep brown or blue or gray, with almost no shading, and my go-to for general usage. (I do a lot of technical pen work where you want the line to be as crisp and black as possible).
Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 01:31 on Feb 5, 2017 |
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Feb 5, 2017 01:27
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Mont Blanc Toffee Brown and Corn Poppy Red have very little shading
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Feb 5, 2017 01:29
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I quite like Borealis Black for my black-as-gently caress scribbles. I find it works very well from a stub nib and takes well to cheap paper.
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Feb 5, 2017 02:02
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Re hook vs non-hook chat: I am a righty but the kids I sat next to in kindegarten were lefties so I switched to hooked writing.  Took me a while to unlearn that in college.For non-shading ink, Diamine Sapphire Blue might be up your alley. It also doesn't sheen (show other colors when viewed at an angle). Also look at some of the Lamy inks; I remember one of their engineers on FPN getting all confused about people who wanted shading when to him that was a mark of a poor ink. effika fucked around with this message at 02:06 on Feb 5, 2017 |
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Feb 5, 2017 02:04
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signalnoise posted:Is there anything a bit slimmer? For example the Lamy Logo? I tried out my wife's Lamy Safari medium nib, and it wrote really smoothly to me. Like, not as smooth as a rollerball, but it worked and I didn't have to do anything special for it. Would a fine nib Lamy work as smoothly as the medium, or do I really gotta get something special for fine print fountain pen smoothness? I feel like most of the Herbins I've tried dry mostly flat, but I think that's partially because I pretty rarely write in block letters (except as emphasis); the longer stroke tends to cut down on shading, compared to block letters where you're making a ton of strokes. But I also write on fairly cheap paper, which also tends to cut down on shading. Even then, things like dotted I's or the cross on t still shows noticeable shading, as does punctuation. Another thing that helps is finer points, because there's just less ink in play. My safari fine is pretty smooth, but it also isn't all that fine, relatively speaking. The line thickness of a Euro Fine is roughly like that of one of those papermate felt markers, whereas a JP fine is similar to the Pilot V05 (Fine) Rollerballs). But that fineness does mean you'll feel the paper more, which will be pretty noticeable on cheap paper.
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Feb 5, 2017 03:12
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It's possible to get those Zebra fountain pens to write pretty consistently but you need to pull out the feed and cut it in half lengthwise.
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Feb 5, 2017 04:52
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So what exactly is a Baystate gonna do to my pens?
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Feb 5, 2017 05:21
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Stain them blue. Anything that ink touches will pick up a blue tinge either instantly or over time.
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Feb 5, 2017 05:24
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If you're going to use Baystate Blue you should basically never use any other ink that pen. Baystate Blue is nearly impossible to completely clean and it will chemically react with other inks, turning them in to a jellied lump.
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Feb 5, 2017 06:03
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Several of us keep a jinhao in reserve just for baystate blue. If you're feeling adventurous you can try using a q-tip to scrub out a pen with bleach to get rid of the baystate residue, but that will only work with plastic and might still be too rough on lovely plastic.
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Feb 5, 2017 17:06
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Baystate Purple does it too, right? I have a bottle I really want to try, but figured I should be aware how fast it would wreck a roughhousing pen. I'm okay with dedicating my Charlie to Baystates. Fountain pens are proving a bit risky to take to professional things. I'm finding that most of my pens blorch after transport, even if it's ground--maybe because of the temperature changes in the car? I should probably leave the broad nibs behind next time. I was trying to be careful, but I still ended up with some ink on my neck somehow. Fortunately it was Ina-Ho, but there's an element of risk with fountain pens that I never had with my felt tips. Pixelante fucked around with this message at 18:03 on Feb 5, 2017 |
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Feb 5, 2017 17:53
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Pixelante posted:Baystate Purple does it too, right? I have a bottle I really want to try, but figured I should be aware how fast it would wreck a roughhousing pen. I'm okay with dedicating my Charlie to Baystates. Hrmmm how do I avoid this? I travel a lot
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Feb 5, 2017 18:22
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I travel a fair bit and have been OK so far. I use a platinum 3776 which has that seal tech which supposedly stops the ink explosion issue. I also use heart of darkness because it's so well behaved, no idea if that really matters. I've also heard filling the pens all the way and storing them nib up helps mitigate issues.
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Feb 5, 2017 18:50
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signalnoise posted:Hrmmm how do I avoid this? I travel a lot Next time, I'm going to stick with finer nibs, and give all of them a good scribble before I need to take notes. The blorching usually happened in the first few minutes of use. (I didn't expect it because I hadn't flown, changed altitude, or left them anywhere below freezing.) Filling after you've travelled might help, but I'm not cocky enough to transport empty pens and ink vials because I always get ink on my hands, and that can take a day or two to wash off. I definitely don't want to explain to the Sheraton why there's a Diamine Oxblood stain on the carpet. I also need to figure out something else to fiddle with. I tend to spin pens when I'm thinking, and fountain pens are never, ever, going to be okay for that.
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Feb 5, 2017 19:00
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signalnoise posted:Hrmmm how do I avoid this? I travel a lot At least on a plane I like to keep them in a dry plastic bottle with the lid closed, they never blorted for me. However I only have medium/fine nibbed pens
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Feb 5, 2017 19:11
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Xun posted:At least on a plane I like to keep them in a dry plastic bottle with the lid closed, they never blorted for me. However I only have medium/fine nibbed pens So basically you're trying to put it in a place where air pressure is normalized, I take it? I had a similar problem with miniature paint bottles blowing their caps. 
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Feb 5, 2017 19:49
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Xun posted:bottle with the lid closed signalnoise posted:trying to put it in a place where air pressure is normalized Wow, that is really smart
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Feb 5, 2017 19:57
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signalnoise posted:So basically you're trying to put it in a place where air pressure is normalized, I take it? That's a thing that works? 
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Feb 5, 2017 20:00
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Pixelante posted:That's a thing that works? Yeah I was just gonna get a cigar tube. Cigars require normalized relative humidity, and relative humidity is a function of air pressure. So it should normalize the air pressure inside if you just seal up a pen in a tube. I'll give it a shot next time I travel, which is the 13th. I have two flights that day actually so it should be a good test. What should I test with, as just a lovely broad-nib fountain pen to see if it leaks?
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Feb 5, 2017 20:10
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signalnoise posted:Yeah I was just gonna get a cigar tube. Cigars require normalized relative humidity, and relative humidity is a function of air pressure. So it should normalize the air pressure inside if you just seal up a pen in a tube. I'll give it a shot next time I travel, which is the 13th. I have two flights that day actually so it should be a good test. What should I test with, as just a lovely broad-nib fountain pen to see if it leaks? Maybe try a similar pen in an empty coke bottle for comparison purposes? A "control pen" on it's own would be interesting as well. (...I'm taking a research methods/stats class right now.  )
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Feb 5, 2017 20:41
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Pixelante posted:That's a thing that works? Apparently, yeah. Unless you open it, obviously. Last time I flew I had a Parker 45 with a cartridge in it. It didn't care at all, worked just fine. But mostly you're just gonna get anecdotes like that, I don't think anyone's really bothered to properly test it beyond "well I did this and my hands aren't covered in ink." After all, it's not like flying with a ballpoint or something. It's probably easier to just stick a pencil in your pocket if you wanna write stuff while flying, though. Although now that I think about it, I feel the TSA might not be terribly impressed by your pointy-rear end drafting pencils.
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Feb 5, 2017 21:32
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| # ? May 12, 2024 16:32 |
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I once flew the day after a bomb scare, post 9-11. They weren't letting anyone have lids on beverages, even the cups from Starbucks. But hey, slopping boiling hot Americano on your seat-mate is way safer than maybe letting someone make a liquid bomb out of their Coke Zero. Glad I wasn't carrying ink back then. They took my loving Advil liqui-caps, so I'm pretty sure an ink sample wouldn't have made it.
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Feb 5, 2017 23:23
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