MohShuvuu posted:I'm not actually sure if it's a broken VP or not, but the nib moves around a bit when I write with it, so it's very awkward to write with. Something like a retractable metro would be perfect. Your VP is busted, on mine the nib is absolutely rock solid when extended.
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May 3, 2018 18:59
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MohShuvuu posted:I'm not actually sure if it's a broken VP or not, but the nib moves around a bit when I write with it, so it's very awkward to write with. Something like a retractable metro would be perfect. Yeah, there's something wrong with you're pen. Do you tend to write with a heavy hand?
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May 3, 2018 19:55
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MohShuvuu posted:I'm not actually sure if it's a broken VP or not, but the nib moves around a bit when I write with it, so it's very awkward to write with. Something like a retractable metro would be perfect. Mine BARELY does this too, but I love it. The fact that it minutely trails behind the actual place I'm pointing the pen's body while writing smooths out my bad writing.
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May 4, 2018 04:53
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grack posted:Yeah, there's something wrong with you're pen. Do you tend to write with a heavy hand? I do not.
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May 4, 2018 08:50
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Kessel posted:I’m at the Chicago show if any of you are here. I'll be there tomorrow morning. I'll be the guy who awkwardly wanders up and mutters "Uh, hey, I'm, uh, from the goooooooon group...?"
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May 4, 2018 13:38
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Trustworthy posted:I'll be there tomorrow morning. I'll be the guy who awkwardly wanders up and mutters "Uh, hey, I'm, uh, from the goooooooon group...?" If you walk up with some variant of the stairs question I’m doubling your prices. I’m awake but it’ll take me a while to set up. The Musubi table is outside of the main ballroom, in the open foyer, right in the centre under the skylight. I will be hosting the expert table on paper at the Saturday night mixer, and I’ll also be doing a detailed sit down interview with the BYOB podcast later today.
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May 4, 2018 13:41
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Kessel posted:If you walk up with some variant of the stairs question I’m doubling your prices. Streisand Effect going on here. Now we all know how to embarrass Kessel in public.
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May 4, 2018 13:47
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What stage of the hobby is the "how the gently caress did I get ink on my hands I haven't even touched a pen in hours" because i'm there now and I think I am going crazy.
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May 4, 2018 15:38
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I got Aurora Black alllll over my hands trying to get the inner cap off. It then dawned on me that I had an interview coming up that week. Like my hands looked like a coal miners hands or something. I bought a box of latex gloves after that. Highly recommended. Now my only issue is my ink towel is leaking ink onto the counter top. It's supposed to absorb that!
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May 4, 2018 16:21
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The other night I dropped my metro straight onto the nib while charting. Cue me going "Oh dear something is rattling", going to check on the converter and "OHGODNO". This is the second time in as many weeks.
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May 4, 2018 16:52
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Sankis posted:What stage of the hobby is the "how the gently caress did I get ink on my hands I haven't even touched a pen in hours" because i'm there now and I think I am going crazy. A few of my pens have a habit of leaking into the cap, which then gets onto the section or (if I post it) on the back end of the pen. Which then gets onto my fingers, and I don't notice until later. Fortunately I don't use any red inks, so there's never that momentary freakout of "is that blood and where did it come from"
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May 4, 2018 17:58
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MohShuvuu posted:I do not. Yeah, the nib is loose. It absolutely shouldn't be moving around on you.
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May 4, 2018 19:33
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Kessel posted:If you walk up with some variant of the stairs question I’m doubling your prices. One of the pen bloggers in my city was telling me about meeting you, and the sentence was halfway out my mouth before I had to cut off at "oh that guy, he also hangs out on...uh, some website".
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May 4, 2018 20:03
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Dad Hominem posted:One of the pen bloggers in my city was telling me about meeting you, and the sentence was halfway out my mouth before I had to cut off at "oh that guy, he also hangs out on...uh, some website". SA has grown up enough that we no longer need to feel shame about hanging out here — the misogyny and bullshit of yesteryear is mostly under control. It’s the shame of hanging out on a decade-old forum that’s the real issue. Which city is this? Also, nobody has introduced themselves as a goon yet.
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May 4, 2018 21:35
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Kessel posted:SA has grown up enough that we no longer need to feel shame about hanging out here — the misogyny and bullshit of yesteryear is mostly under control. It’s the shame of hanging out on a decade-old forum that’s the real issue. Sure, but you try to do a respectable one line summary in polite company. "You see, a bunch of people got together online to fund a hot dog stand..."
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May 5, 2018 04:54
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"It's a giant internet forum with several boards dedicated to various hobbies, media, stuff like that. There's a thread about fountain pens."
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May 5, 2018 06:58
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Parasol Prophet posted:"It's a giant internet forum with several boards dedicated to various hobbies, media, stuff like that. There's a thread about fountain pens." I've used that line before. It's better than, "We're like 4chan, just older and wiser."  I found this place through a goon who rides motorcycles, since I'm also into that. My employer's office supplies catalog includes the "Red N' Black" notebooks. I ordered the large spiral-bound ones and I think that the notebooks are on par with Rhodia. They're made in the UK. I'm hoping to get to the DC pen show in August.
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May 5, 2018 11:54
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Yay, I got to meet Kessel! We talked about stairs for a while, then made about an hour's worth of hilaaaaaarious Johnny Fiveaces in-jokes, then put on our fanciest silk shirts (wolves for him, flames for me) and loudly debated the relative hotness of nearby women. (j/k it was normal and good)
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May 5, 2018 18:05
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Picked up a blue carbonesque VP in medium off eBay. Beautiful pen. Seems heavier than my matte black one though. Maybe just my imagination
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May 5, 2018 18:23
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Parasol Prophet posted:"It's a giant internet forum with several boards dedicated to various hobbies, media, stuff like that. There's a thread about fountain pens." I've said a couple of times something like "it's a general discussion forum with a lot of subforums where you can post about motorcycles, coding, food, literature, whatever." Then they ask "what's it called?" and I have to try and explain why it's called Something Awful without saying it started as a site to mock people for putting terrible stuff on the internet
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May 5, 2018 18:28
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Occasional TWSBI-related meltdowns (mostly by me) aside, this thread is just about the sanest place on the internet to discuss fountain pens.
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May 5, 2018 19:48
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You guys all saw that New Yorker article right? https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/comments-from-the-fountain-pen-forum
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May 5, 2018 19:49
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Lowness 72 posted:You guys all saw that New Yorker article right? One of my favorite games is picking a random page on an FPN thread and seeing how far off-topic the discussion has veered.
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May 5, 2018 20:27
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grack posted:Occasional TWSBI-related meltdowns (mostly by me) aside, this thread is just about the sanest place on the internet to discuss fountain pens. Especially since iznogood stopped waking up every morning and throwing a new Lamy 2k down the garbage disposal, or into a dog's mouth, or under a steamroller. 
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May 5, 2018 21:11
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I decided to take a break from the shiny plastic and bought a Big Boy pen. Nice writer, still not convinced. If it only came in some nice, eye-searingly bright colours.
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May 5, 2018 21:41
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grack posted:I decided to take a break from the shiny plastic and bought a Big Boy pen. Always has been and always will be one of the best out there.
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May 5, 2018 21:49
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What nib did you get
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May 5, 2018 22:10
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grack posted:I decided to take a break from the shiny plastic and bought a Big Boy pen. plastidip it neon green.
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May 5, 2018 22:10
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Trustworthy posted:Yay, I got to meet Kessel! We talked about stairs for a while, then made about an hour's worth of hilaaaaaarious Johnny Fiveaces in-jokes, then put on our fanciest silk shirts (wolves for him, flames for me) and loudly debated the relative hotness of nearby women. I should print Johnny Fiveaces on a diary cover
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May 5, 2018 22:14
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Lowness 72 posted:What nib did you get Medium. A touch on the wide side but still very usable. My pen, at least, doesn't have an issue with a small sweet spot. It writes quite well even at off-angles.
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May 5, 2018 23:32
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Lowness 72 posted:You guys all saw that New Yorker article right? I didn't and that's funny.
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May 6, 2018 20:51
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Hi fountain pen goons. Like many of us, my world is very digital. At work, we use OneNote for everything, so I hardly take meeting notes by hand anymore. At home, everything is google so I'm not even writing down a shopping list with the grease-sticky pencil on top of the fridge. So of course, I did what any rational person would do, and asked for a Pilot Metro for my birthday. Have had it for a week and am completely in love. I'd used lovely cartridge fountain pens in high school in the 90s because I was that guy (so much cheap ink spilled on so much terrible poetry about so many girls with issues), so I knew a bit was I was getting into with a fountain pen, but I am completely wowed by the Metro. Which leads me to looking at vintage pens on ebay last night, because it intersects nicely with a low-grade hobby of collecting interesting pocket ephemera from my grandparent's prime years, mostly some lighters and knives. So of course, laying in bed and half asleep, I throw a low bid on this set, and win: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Sh...872.m2749.l2649 The seller thinks it's a tip-dip plunger fill. Did I buy a nice conversation piece for my desk, or are there decent odds that it may work? I'm kind of OK either way, but would obviously prefer it works so that I can play NASA engineer dress-up with its matching pencil.
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May 7, 2018 13:55
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stealie72 posted:Hi fountain pen goons. I'm relatively new to fountain pens, so maybe I'm wrong, but it looks like the nib is seriously bent. I think it's fixable, but I'm not sure. Also, your post makes me glad I'm older and work in insurance. I still take paper notes for meetings and hand-write out to do list. I've found hand writing notes, even with a lovely ballpoint, helps with memory retention compared to using OneNote and some such.
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May 7, 2018 18:43
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MoraleHazard posted:I'm relatively new to fountain pens, so maybe I'm wrong, but it looks like the nib is seriously bent. I think it's fixable, but I'm not sure. And I hear you re retention, but everything I do is team-oriented so the person taking the notes has to share them with 2-3 people all the time, and one note is just way more efficient for that.
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May 7, 2018 18:54
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Lowness 72 posted:You guys all saw that New Yorker article right? One: Glenn Eichler, as in creator of Daria Glenn Eichler? Two: that fountain pen tag is a pro-click.
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May 7, 2018 19:02
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OK, a more general question before I get myself in trouble on ebay again: I'm sure there are exceptions, but will spending $X on a new production pen get a better pen (one that writes better, doesn't leak all over, doesn't require an unobtanium parts etc.) than spending the same $X on something vintage? I have a heavy antiquing thing going on in my life, but I also want to write with any pens I buy.
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May 7, 2018 20:03
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stealie72 posted:OK, a more general question before I get myself in trouble on ebay again: If you want a working pen, look for "restored" in the listing, but note that they go for modern new pen prices (at least in my very limited eBay experience)
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May 7, 2018 21:42
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Don't buy a vintage pen. They're a lot more trouble than a modern pen and you can get new ones for a fraction of the price that are a lot more reliable. I'm not saying don't ever buy a vintage pen (I have two) but you can end up spending a whole lot on something you haven't got the knowledge or the ability to fix. Restored pens are kind of a gamble too. I bought a Waterman 52 that claimed to be restored with a new bladder, but when I realized it wasn't taking up ink and was leaking I pulled it apart and found out the bladder wasn't even attached to the section. And the nib was a little bent on one side with no way to reliably correct it in a hundred year old pen.
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May 8, 2018 01:42
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Counterpoint: The only pens I own are vintage and if they've been repaired competently they're no more trouble than a modern pen. A lot of it is right time, right place, but you can expensive vintage pens in fantastic condition for pocket change at most antique fairs I've been to.
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May 8, 2018 02:14
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Got it. Buy a Metro. Ordered another color Metro today so I can have two ink colors at once, along with a smattering of $2 pens from China That's sort of what I figured. I love old stuff but something is always dry rotted, burned out, or otherwise in the way of a thing working. I will still end up with old pens, though. Because I can't help myself.
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May 8, 2018 02:16
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