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grack posted:You're right, because the correct answer is "They're both made by TWSBI and thus both suck and will run up your phone bill making calls to phone sex hotlines" For anyone who can't keep a post-2015 TWSBI in one piece, might I recommend a very excellent pen called the Lamy ABC
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Feb 13, 2018 04:10
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Trustworthy posted:For anyone who can't keep a post-2015 TWSBI in one piece, might I recommend a very excellent pen called the Lamy ABC I'm not allowed near anything that splinters  All jokes aside, do you know how my 580AL broke? The threads on the nib unit snapped in half. The tiny-rear end little thin plastic threads on the nib unit, which some jackass designer decided would be perfect to hold on the entire grip section of the pen. We can go back and forth on TWSBI's quality control but that is lovely, lovely design. grack fucked around with this message at 04:31 on Feb 13, 2018 |
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Feb 13, 2018 04:28
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My dad's holy grail with fountain pens was always to find ones that had a fine italic nib and metal-threading-into-metal nib/body connections, because all the plastic-into-metal ones tend to strip out and split and fall apart and leak. He loved my Rotring pens, but they don't make italics in the 600/Newton series, so the Kaweco Al-Sport was his perfect model, fwiw
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Feb 13, 2018 04:51
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I mean, I asked that question having already been warned that merely touching a TWSBI will cause it to explode into flaming lava shards that's will fly at the speed of sound into the eyes of all my loved ones, so I knew the risks going in. I wish Rotring still made fountain pens. I really like the look of theirs, but a used fountain pen sounds like a hassle.
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Feb 13, 2018 05:44
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Rotrings are excellent pens, machined from billet brass and intended to last forever, so buying a used one is perfectly fine. The big hassle is that even a cheap 600 costs like $250 and up these day.s
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Feb 13, 2018 05:47
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Sagebrush posted:Rotrings are excellent pens, machined from billet brass and intended to last forever, so buying a used one is perfectly fine. Yep, every used price I've seen is also way out of my price range.
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Feb 13, 2018 05:50
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Just got my 580 with a stub and drat that thing puts out a ton of ink.  I've got dark swans in English roses (this batch looks maroon and not the dusky pink I feel in love with) and the page just looks juicy after I write something.... I'm not sure if a stub is for me.
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Feb 13, 2018 15:07
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I just have to brag that I dropped the nib unit from my VP, bent the nib over, and was able to actually fix it (including tine alignment) as far as I can see under a 30x loupe. Writes just as smoothly as it did before, no ink leaking overnight either. The scariest part was bringing the tines back together though, crossing them didn't come very naturally.
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Feb 13, 2018 15:39
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A pen review If I had unlimited money I might also consider picking up the Noon and Twilight models, but I'm not so I won't.
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Feb 13, 2018 16:53
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Demon_Corsair posted:Just got my 580 with a stub and drat that thing puts out a ton of ink. Try wiping your nib off really well. Mine tends to just barf ink all over the place when I first fill it until the nib and the feed get cleaned up some. I think what happens is that the fins on the feed get saturated.
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Feb 13, 2018 17:13
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uXs posted:I lost my pen I'm pretty sure. Gonna ask at work if someone's found it but I don't have much hope. Was a black Lamy Scala. Nice pen, even though the grip showed fingerprints a bit much. For everyone who was lying awake at night mourning this great loss, I actually found it. Was still on the floor in the office. Hot drat.
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Feb 13, 2018 17:15
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howe_sam posted:A pen review  Can you type out your thoughts? My cursive parsing is garbage these days. I'm of very mixed emotions about Visconti based on the QC issues I've seen posted.
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Feb 13, 2018 17:41
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It says "Very stiff. Not very wet. Nib feels very Sailorish, graphite pencil, well tuned, no skips hard starts. Feels like a dang club in the hand. Stupid gorgeous material, metal(? looks literally like "medtal" to me) section is eh, and threaded cap means the lines of the body & cap don't quite line up, but it's better at that than my other Opera-style pens. All in all a Good Visconti."
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Feb 13, 2018 17:54
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Eric the Mauve posted:metal(? looks literally like "medtal" to me) I have no idea why I wrote meatul there  yes, that's supposed to say metal
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Feb 13, 2018 17:59
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howe_sam posted:I have no idea why I wrote meatul there Clearly you meant to write "meatful", as your pen is marbled like a good ribeye steak. Also, a dry, feedback-y Visconti nib? That's new.
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Feb 13, 2018 18:24
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RichterIX posted:Try wiping your nib off really well. Mine tends to just barf ink all over the place when I first fill it until the nib and the feed get cleaned up some. I think what happens is that the fins on the feed get saturated. I think I'm just used to ef and f nibs. Never really had a pen that writes this thick before. E: Think with this bad boy I just need to write a bit larger then I normally do. Demon_Corsair fucked around with this message at 18:29 on Feb 13, 2018 |
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Feb 13, 2018 18:27
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Solkanar512 posted:I just have to brag that I dropped the nib unit from my VP, bent the nib over, and was able to actually fix it (including tine alignment) as far as I can see under a 30x loupe. Writes just as smoothly as it did before, no ink leaking overnight either. When I was dumber I kept the clip on my hip pocket and didn’t realize that when I moved my leg the pocket was pressing the button and extending the nib. One day in the car it got hooked by my seat belt and bent a good 45 degrees to the left. I bent it back and writes just as well if not better than before (slightly finer, since I write with the paper at a very steep angle to my body.) they’re the best pens.
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Feb 13, 2018 18:46
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That’s secretly why I like the Fermos (twist design) over the standard VPs. No chance of it going off in your pocket.
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Feb 13, 2018 18:47
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grack posted:Also, a dry, feedback-y Visconti nib? That's new. Most of my recent Viscontis have been tending more towards the dry side, but not like this one. And I personally enjoy the feel of writing with the River Thames because it is so much like a Sailor nib, you feel like you're writing, but it isn't harsh in any way, I think it might be due to the ruthenium coating on the nib. Anyway, a comparison of stiffness and wetness.   Inks are top to bottom Bung Box Clown Tears, Asa-Gao, and Kobe Brick Red.
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Feb 13, 2018 18:51
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I like ‘em stiff, wet and of doubtful provenance and quality
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Feb 13, 2018 19:16
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Kessel posted:That’s secretly why I like the Fermos (twist design) over the standard VPs. No chance of it going off in your pocket. I would love the idea of the Fermos if there was a little more variation in colors. I admit I'm a sucker for colors other people find boring and would just love either a matte black or gunmetal black VP.
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Feb 13, 2018 19:23
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I ordered some of those blues and some alternatives to Burma Road Brown, along with a "surprise me, I am stupid" ink sample packs from Goulet. Apparently destiny wants me to use Apache Sunset because a goon sent me some last year for Secret Santa and I just got another vial of it.
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Feb 13, 2018 23:42
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I'm glad I found this thread. I've had really bad handwriting for my entire life (I came in last place in penmanship for my entire school in grades 4-7, and in high school my teachers often demanded I turn in my work typed.) I decided to work on improving my penmanship a couple of years ago. A friend who is a professional artist suggested that I take up both fountain pens and dip pens, the logic being it would force me to be more careful and deliberate with my writing. It worked. My handwriting has steadily improved, to the point where it is generally legible. During this time I have also fallen in love with fountain pens, and have managed to pick up many over the last couple of years. I rotate through them on a daily basis, taking a different one to school each day. I'm constantly looking for new ones to add to the collection (I have 3 arriving next week) and I really like the idea of ordering blanks and making my own. Thanks again for making this thread, it really made my day to see the discussion!
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Feb 14, 2018 00:34
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Good stuff! I suggest you try to learn a few new scripts. I had atrocious penmanship in the first few grades of school but it sharpened right up after I got to fourth grade and had a teacher who made everyone write with a fountain pen and learn this particular Italic script: that one is meant to be written semi-cursive, too, so it's quite fast  e: the lowercase e is different from the way I learned it but close enough
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Feb 14, 2018 00:38
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I just checked the tracking on my PenBBS orders. The 323 that didn't go out for a day or two after the two 308s is zipping along. They all wound up in Suzhou, but the 323 just moseyed on past the two 308s, pulled down their pants, and kept going. I think customs was all "hey no butts" and now they're stuck there forever. At least my Hawaii Superparty pen arrives first! I Still would have wanted that autumn color if they still made it. In other news, I decided to retry Burma Road Brown in one of my "vintage" Senator Windsor pens. That ink tends to dry up and stop coming out of any of my Jinhao x750s, and I remember the Windsors being wet. Well, the ink pisses into the cap. This is the end of my Noodler's honeymoon, isn't it?
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Feb 14, 2018 08:44
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Rocko Bonaparte posted:I just checked the tracking on my PenBBS orders. The 323 that didn't go out for a day or two after the two 308s is zipping along. They all wound up in Suzhou, but the 323 just moseyed on past the two 308s, pulled down their pants, and kept going. I think customs was all "hey no butts" and now they're stuck there forever. At least my Hawaii Superparty pen arrives first! This probably isn't related to your specific issue, but Chinese New Year is in a couple days, which might be slowing certain things down...? v  v I just noticed that a bunch of my go-to Chinese eBayers currently have "out of the office, expect a short delay" messages on their eBay accounts.
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Feb 14, 2018 14:52
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No, it’s almost certainly related. Nothing moves much during CNY.
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Feb 14, 2018 17:24
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If that's the case then it's the Chinese New Year every time I order stuff from China. I just assume I draw the short straw on customs every time. I first wrote that to be pissy, but I actually think last time I did a pen order was around this time last year . . .
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Feb 14, 2018 19:30
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Picked up a Lamy Safari (with the M nib and the starter royal blue ink cartridge) as baby's first fountain pen recently, and I absolutely love how a fountain pen feels. It just glides across the paper in a super satisfying way. The only issue I'm having is the paper I'm writing on. I tend to rotate between graph paper for work notes and Moleskines for private stuff, and I'm getting bleedthrough on both. It's not AWFUL in my Moleskine, but definitely not ideal. Is there a better ink I could be using that's more suited to a Moleskine notebook? Edit: alternatively, a notebook recommendation that is easily available in Europe and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Drone fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Feb 14, 2018 |
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Feb 14, 2018 19:32
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Drone posted:Picked up a Lamy Safari (with the M nib and the starter royal blue ink cartridge) as baby's first fountain pen recently, and I absolutely love how a fountain pen feels. It just glides across the paper in a super satisfying way. I'm sure there is but the quick answer is that Moleskine actually has atrocious paper compared to just about everything else in the premium notebook market (and have only gotten worse over the years), and they're generally overpriced due to years of branding and hype. You'll have a hard time getting any ink to not feather or bleed through on Moleskine paper. I'd recommend looking at Leuchtturm 1917, Rhodia, or Clairefontaine if you want paper that works well with just about anything, but is in roughly the same price range as Moleskine.
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Feb 14, 2018 19:47
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MockingQuantum posted:I'd recommend looking at Leuchtturm 1917, Rhodia, or Clairefontaine if you want paper that works well with just about anything, but is in roughly the same price range as Moleskine. Will definitely check out the Leuchtturm then. The brand seems pretty ubiquitous here in Germany (where it's made  )
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Feb 14, 2018 19:56
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Drone posted:Will definitely check out the Leuchtturm then. The brand seems pretty ubiquitous here in Germany (where it's made I will say, I haven't used Leuchtturm in a few years myself, I'm all Rhodia all the time these days, but I remember it being pretty good with a fine Pilot metro nib.
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Feb 14, 2018 20:00
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I use Leuchtterm notebooks at work, they are nice IMO.
taqueso fucked around with this message at 20:11 on Feb 14, 2018 |
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Feb 14, 2018 20:08
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Is it possible to get nice, full size paper (preferably in spiralbound notebook form, preferably top rather than side bound) that's blank? As in, not lined, dotted, or graph? Just plain blank paper? Because I would not hesitate to pay for GOOD paper of that kind, but I'm having trouble finding that. Apparently I'm a real hipster because practically everything I like is so out of fashion that nobody sells it.
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Feb 14, 2018 21:26
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Get Tomoe River paper, have your local bindery spiralbind it for you. (Enjoy the sight of money flying out of your wallet.)
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Feb 14, 2018 21:59
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Eric the Mauve posted:Is it possible to get nice, full size paper (preferably in spiralbound notebook form, preferably top rather than side bound) that's blank? As in, not lined, dotted, or graph? Just plain blank paper? Because I would not hesitate to pay for GOOD paper of that kind, but I'm having trouble finding that. Not that I'm aware of, not that's specifically general writing paper. You can certainly get sketchpads like that but I doubt they'd be great for general writing with fountain pens. The closest I've come across (for A4 at least) is the classic Rhodia pads, which are staplebound, but reasonably rugged. You can find lots of top bound spiral notebooks but they're all line/grid/dot. The other option is to buy some Tomoe River and either get it bound yourself or find some company who'll do it for you... I think the options increase the smaller you go.
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Feb 14, 2018 22:02
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Eric the Mauve posted:Is it possible to get nice, full size paper (preferably in spiralbound notebook form, preferably top rather than side bound) that's blank? As in, not lined, dotted, or graph? Just plain blank paper? Because I would not hesitate to pay for GOOD paper of that kind, but I'm having trouble finding that. You could probably make your own easy enough with a two hole punch, these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0734VTRG6/ref=sspa_mw_detail_1?psc=1 And this paper https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000099O2W/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Which is absolutely fantastic for pretty much any fountain pen or maker, if you have one of those big paper cutters you should be able to make whatever size you want.
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Feb 14, 2018 22:37
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Feb 14, 2018 23:20
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I'm using a Kokyo Campus B5 that I fill up with some Tomoe River that I punch with this goofy free-form whole punch thing. It works perfectly, but I have to relearn each time how to use it.
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Feb 15, 2018 00:06
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Is there a reason I shouldn't buy another Platinum Preppy with a medium nib?
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Feb 15, 2018 06:26
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