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Anybody do calligraphy ITT? I'm interested in trying it out, and I'm curious about a few things: -Any highly-recommended calligraphy/brush lettering/hand lettering books? I'm mostly interested in silly blackletter, uncial, and bookhand styles rather than big flowing ones like copperplate, but I'd give anything a try. -I've got some Pilot Parallels and I like them a lot, but what would be a good option for a pen holder? I'm kind of dazzled by the number of options when it comes to nibs and I've found some compatibility charts but I'm not really sure what I'm looking at. I'd also be interested in using a holder and nibs for sketching so it'd be nice to have a variety of nibs available. -Do fountain pen inks work fine with that style of dip pen? I always used india ink and the like back in college, but I'd much rather use some of the pretty inks I have handy due to my fountain pen
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Jul 26, 2019 17:42
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MockingQuantum posted:-Do fountain pen inks work fine with that style of dip pen? I always used india ink and the like back in college, but I'd much rather use some of the pretty inks I have handy due to my fountain pen It's quite hit and miss. A lot of fountain pen inks are too runny and won't stick nicely to a dip nib. I don't know how you can figure this out in advance, so try to look for really specific reviews or just be ready to experiment.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:46
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Dad Hominem posted:It's quite hit and miss. A lot of fountain pen inks are too runny and won't stick nicely to a dip nib. I don't know how you can figure this out in advance, so try to look for really specific reviews or just be ready to experiment. Good to know. I'm not going to spend too much time worrying, honestly, since I've got the inks already. Worst case is that they don't work well and I just have to use standard art ink or whatever.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:52
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MockingQuantum posted:Anybody do calligraphy ITT? I'm interested in trying it out, and I'm curious about a few things: There are a lot of books, they each have different lettering styles in them, and you can get them for free from your local public library system. Interested in answers about dip pens; I only really use Pilots Parallel (and a couple wide-nib Sheaffers but they're not as good) with either Parallel or J. Herbin ink.
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Jul 26, 2019 18:58
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I'm in a mood of buying cheap Chinese pens right now. I got myself a Hero 9296, and It's an ok pen I guess. The nib is pretty fine, and writes smoothly, though, depending on the ink, it is a bit hard to start. The pen is uncomfortable to hold, though, it's small, and I have large hands. It is good for jotting down things and writing in margins I guess. Still, it's fine for the price. I also got a Hero 395 and I absolutely love it. It looks cool af, and while it is a bit on the heavy side, the nib is fantastic and has a good amount of flex. Well worth $5. 
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Jul 27, 2019 11:28
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Feka posted:Just checking in to say I followed the advice in the title and got a Pilot Metro. As previous posters have covered, there's inks, nibs, and pens. Do you like looking at pretty colors? Do you perhaps journal or write letters where non-business colors might be appreciated? Do you have special needs that aren't fulfilled by your current blue ink (e.g. waterproof ink)? Inks might be the next rabbit hole to go down. You can collect samples before buying bottles to save some cash, and samples don't take up much space to store. Do you wonder what those ink colors look like in different nib sizes? Fancy trying a fancier handwriting style, or even just adding a little flourish to your every day writing with a stub nib? Nibs might be next if so. The Metro does take other nibs in Pilot's cheaper tier of pens, but Pilot doesn't sell them outright so you have to buy the pen to get the nib (that may or may not be a bad thing). Other pens, like the Lamy Safari/Lamy Al-Star (same pen, different body material) have very easily swappable nibs and have a wide variety of nibs available. A cheap Chinese pen with a #6 nib (like one of the Jinhao) and a set of #6 nibs for it can also work fairly cheaply to help you figure out what you like. More expensively, some pens come with screw-in nib units. Do you wonder if your Metro could be more comfortable? Do you see the pretty acrylics on some of the newer pens and just want to collect pretty colors? Want a pen that gets mistaken for a vape (my TWSBI Eco!)? Wonder if a different filling mechanism would be fun? Want to collect all the colors of one year of production run of a vintage pen? Want a status symbol as a pen? This is definitely the most expensive rabbit hole to go down. I spent a lot of money on pens until I figured out what I like and now I don't buy unless I see something that I have been looking for to fill a hole in a collection (my 1945 Parker Vacumatics) or I can't NOT have the pretty color (my Edisons). If I were you (and I was, once, though I started with a Lamy) I'd perhaps get a cheap pen or two, and consider some different nibs for them as many do have swappable nibs if you get to looking. A few ink samples thrown in would fun too. Or just realize you have a nice thing going with a pen & ink combo you like and don't worry about it. Maybe buy some nice paper or a pretty journal instead?
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Jul 27, 2019 14:27
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If anyone has ever wanted to try a vac-filler on the cheap, the new Wing Sung 3013/Paili 013 is now selling for under $5US on eBay. I have one and the filler works well, and it uses the Pilot Super Quality type nib.
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Jul 27, 2019 17:48
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My purse was stolen out of my car and it had my Pilot VP and favorite PenBBS with custom nib in it aaaaaaggghh
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Jul 28, 2019 09:04
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grack posted:If anyone has ever wanted to try a vac-filler on the cheap, the new Wing Sung 3013/Paili 013 is now selling for under $5US on eBay. I have one and the filler works well, and it uses the Pilot Super Quality type nib. Got one with F nib, because, hey, another cheap pen.
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Jul 28, 2019 11:09
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ENEMIES EVERYWHERE posted:My purse was stolen out of my car and it had my Pilot VP and favorite PenBBS with custom nib in it aaaaaaggghh Oh no that's a nightmare. 
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Jul 28, 2019 16:07
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Thanks for the recommendations everyone. I'll definable will try some stuff and spend more money than I should. 
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Jul 29, 2019 13:36
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ENEMIES EVERYWHERE posted:My purse was stolen out of my car and it had my Pilot VP and favorite PenBBS with custom nib in it aaaaaaggghh The worst part is that they probably have no idea how valuable those are.
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Jul 30, 2019 00:17
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If you're looking for inks to try this is a good starting point https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34LytgBbhAc All in all, a solid list (Oxblood in particular is a sneaky good pick), but I'd definitely replace a few of their choices for stuff Goulet doesn't sell, like my beloved Omaezaki Azure Sea.
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Jul 30, 2019 18:24
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 my PenBBS 355 came. It's purple and iridescent. So pretty.
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Aug 1, 2019 11:54
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PenBBS pens are dangerously cheap. Is there any model that's particularly better than another, or are they basically just different barrel styles?
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Aug 1, 2019 14:21
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Pixelante posted:That's a super neat story. Would love to hear about other restorations if you do more. A bit late, but thanks! This one is way simpler, but maybe the experience could help someone fix their pen. Apologies for the potato-phone quality photos. Parker 21, mk.1, green. Was at 1€ with no bids, so I thought, why not. I had a prior bad experience with 21's: I got a pretty red Super 21, with a cracked barrel that someone had repaired with cello-tape; the tape had since long desintegrated and everything was sticky. I managed to fix the barrel, but the nib, which looked good, wrote terribly. I tried to straighten it, used way too much force, and the tip broke. I ended up making a stub-nib out of it, so it now writes with a pretty line variation. I hoped I had got a lemon, since 21's seem to be regarded as good writers, and so I was eager to try this new one. Now, older 21's have a terrible reputation for being brittle. This one was no exception, and I got a nice double-whammy: cracked barrel and cracked hood. The former meant it would not close completely and was slightly loose; the latter that it lost ink when writing, giving pretty Diamine Blue fingers. So DOA, unless I wanted to replace both nib and feed. I figured, 1€ pen, so let's experiment a bit and try to solvent-weld it. I have seen other, probably better, solvents recommended on the Internet: after trying what I had on hand, I stuck with acetone. What worked for me was to polish the hood with fine grade (600) sandpaper, then apply acetone to the crack while the plastic dust was around it, press it for a few seconds so it'd close, then sandpaper around again and repeat. After a few cycles, it looked like this:  Now it did not leak, although a few pores were still resisting: you could see tiny drops of ink flowing to the surface, though it dried before staining my fingers. To remedy this, I cleaned it up and added a bit of shellac over the crack, let it dry and sandpapered the excess away. The barrel cracked in two parts as soon as I touched it. I used the same procedure, though I found it was simpler to just dip the top side in ketone for a few seconds in order to attack the edges, press, clean, repeat. At first it looked like nothing was happening, apart from the acetone eating the outside plastic up, but it seems that it takes a while to dissolve this plastic; soon the edges were clearly melted and they started sticking together under pressure. When it got to that, I let it dry, and they hardened right up.  I screwed the barrel back, and it stays tight. I have no doubt that excessive force would crack the barrel open again, but as it is, it can stand being closed without getting loose or opening, so it's good enough to be functional. Last step was to polish away all the sandpaper and ketone marks. I did a first run all over with finer sandpaper (1000, then 2000, then 5000, though the latter did nothing that I could see), then used car wax. Probably should have used pure carnauba wax, but the local auto-parts shop only had normal polishing paste of unknown composition. To be honest, it worked wonders. There are still sandpapering marks on the more affected zones, but the pen shines.  As for the writing... eh. It writes better than the red Super 21, but it was still a really dry writer when I got it. Opened the nib up a bit with care and now it's wetter, but I have the impression that too much messing with it would also break it, they are really delicate. No scratching, a nice fine line with a bit of skipping if you get on the nib's bad side. Really hard nib too, no hints of flexibility.  Overall, it is an OK pen, it writes well enough. I am testing it over a few days to see how the repair holds.
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Aug 1, 2019 17:58
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COOL CORN posted:PenBBS pens are dangerously cheap. Is there any model that's particularly better than another, or are they basically just different barrel styles? The 456 is probably the best model they make. It's well made and the vac-fill mechanism is very reliable. I'm also fond of the 355, but the filler is a little bit finicky. It's a syringe-filler with a detachable piston similar to a Conid Bulkfiller.
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Aug 1, 2019 18:01
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Cultpens is having a 10 percent off sale plus a free pen pouch with spend over 100 gbp. Also the gbp is at an all time low against the usd. If you were thinking of an m800, now is the time! I'm seriously thinking of picking up an M1000. Not sure if it's really worth it due to the size. Anyone here have experience with both? My M800 is easily my favorite pen.
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Aug 1, 2019 18:24
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They’re very different pens. The 1000 nib has a bounce that is very love it or hate it. Anecdotally, most people I know that own both either like one or the other, not both
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Aug 1, 2019 20:24
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howe_sam posted:If you're looking for inks to try this is a good starting point Is it wrong that I actually caught myself blowing on my phone trying to dry that video faster
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Aug 1, 2019 20:42
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Lowness 72 posted:Cultpens is having a 10 percent off sale plus a free pen pouch with spend over 100 gbp. gently caress. God damnit. That's a hell of a deal.
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Aug 1, 2019 21:13
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Speaking of moving past Pilot Metros and opening the Fountain Pen Pandora's Box, does anyone here have a Kaweco Liliput? I discovered this thing recently and fell in love with the Fireblue variety of it. It seems like a fantastic little pen for carrying around in my tiny bag, but I'm not sure if it'll be a good fit for my first non-Pilot Metro pen. Mostly, I'm curious about how the EF nib on the Liliput compares to the line of the Fine-nibbed Pilot Metro, as I'm veering more and more into Tiny Handwriting territory and thus a thin line is becoming more important.
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Aug 2, 2019 00:44
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The EF on a Kaweco would be pretty comparable to a Fine on a Metro. The Lilliput is, as it's name suggests, absolutely tiny and very thin. If that's okay with you, I'm sure you'll like the pen just fine.
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Aug 2, 2019 01:53
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What's a good option in the $50-100 range for something that'll be office appropriate? I mark up sales orders and other pieces of sales paperwork all day long and I need a pretty fine nib, but I value smoothness and a Jetstream isn't quite cutting it. We use cheap recycled paper. I want as glassy as I can get under the circumstances.
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Aug 2, 2019 03:30
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:What's a good option in the $50-100 range for something that'll be office appropriate? I mark up sales orders and other pieces of sales paperwork all day long and I need a pretty fine nib, but I value smoothness and a Jetstream isn't quite cutting it. We use cheap recycled paper. I want as glassy as I can get under the circumstances. Cheap paper is probably always going to cause problems because of the roughness and the propensity to pick up fibers in the nib.
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Aug 2, 2019 03:40
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:What's a good option in the $50-100 range for something that'll be office appropriate? I mark up sales orders and other pieces of sales paperwork all day long and I need a pretty fine nib, but I value smoothness and a Jetstream isn't quite cutting it. We use cheap recycled paper. I want as glassy as I can get under the circumstances. If you want to try, a Pilot Custom 91 or 74 might work for you. You can easily get them in your price range off of Amazon.
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Aug 2, 2019 05:08
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Pixelante posted:The worst part is that they probably have no idea how valuable those are. I hope my pens are enjoying their early retirement in the trash somewhere  Keret posted:Speaking of moving past Pilot Metros and opening the Fountain Pen Pandora's Box, does anyone here have a Kaweco Liliput? I discovered this thing recently and fell in love with the Fireblue variety of it. It seems like a fantastic little pen for carrying around in my tiny bag, but I'm not sure if it'll be a good fit for my first non-Pilot Metro pen. Mostly, I'm curious about how the EF nib on the Liliput compares to the line of the Fine-nibbed Pilot Metro, as I'm veering more and more into Tiny Handwriting territory and thus a thin line is becoming more important. Scuttlebutt is that Kaweco nibs aren't very reliable out of the box, and I personally haven't been much impressed with the two Sports that I've tried. I'd recommend getting it from a retailer who offers guaranteed replace/refund if you're dissatisfied with the writing experience, or who can do nib tuning, or ideally both. Be advised that the fireblue coating wears off after a while with use. Be advised also that you can put it right back on again with a blowtorch! (and a fireproof stand of some kind to support the pen while you blast it.) COOL CORN posted:PenBBS pens are dangerously cheap. Is there any model that's particularly better than another, or are they basically just different barrel styles? I really, really like the 308s. There's something about that classic form factor that just does it for me, and it definitely doesn't hurt that it's the most comfortable pen I've ever written with. No PenBBS that I've tried has been bad (except for the 322 Mian Mian, which is just okay). The nibs have been hit or miss, but the pens themselves are always great.
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Aug 2, 2019 09:56
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MockingQuantum posted:Anybody do calligraphy ITT? I'm interested in trying it out, and I'm curious about a few things: This is a good look at nib holders and nibs (jetpens has a lot of good guides). For blackletter and the like you're looking for the italic nibs. Speedball sells sets like This if you're getting started. Honestly its all relatively cheap so I'd look around. You want a nib holder that's comfortable in your hand and most of the nibs you'll use for calligraphy will be the larger size, the smaller one tends to be for much smaller drawing nibs. Fountain pen ink can be hit or miss with dip pens. The problem you'll run into is that it'll be a bit too thin and run off your nib. If you find an ink you want to use that does this you can add some gum arabic to it to thicken it up without impacting its color. I've used some fountain pen inks that worked fine and others that ran off immediately.  Also I found this site helpful starting out but there's many resources online if you do a bit of snooping around.
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Aug 3, 2019 04:54
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:What's a good option in the $50-100 range for something that'll be office appropriate? I mark up sales orders and other pieces of sales paperwork all day long and I need a pretty fine nib, but I value smoothness and a Jetstream isn't quite cutting it. We use cheap recycled paper. I want as glassy as I can get under the circumstances. eBay up a Parker 25, the short wraparound nib is both smooth and capable of putting down as much pressure as a ballpoint if you need to. It's the one and only FP that's given me solid perfomance on quintuple carbonless. shame on an IGA fucked around with this message at 05:08 on Aug 3, 2019 |
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Aug 3, 2019 05:05
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:What's a good option in the $50-100 range for something that'll be office appropriate? I mark up sales orders and other pieces of sales paperwork all day long and I need a pretty fine nib, but I value smoothness and a Jetstream isn't quite cutting it. We use cheap recycled paper. I want as glassy as I can get under the circumstances. imo flex up a teensy bit on $ and get a pelikan m200 EF or F...
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Aug 3, 2019 19:31
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Yall... I am torn. I will be flying back to the states fairly soon and have been thinking about picking up the burgundy MB JFK in the MB boutique (because of no tax & below msrp.) Should I get that because it’s the cheapest now it will ever be and I like it a lot and might regret it later if I pass it up? Or should I wait a little longer, spend a few hundred more, and shop around for a Dostoevsky which is like my holy grail slam whale of fountain pens?? On the same subject has anyone seen anywhere if the burgundy JFK is a limited time thing, or is it going to stick around as long as the regular blue JFK?
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Aug 3, 2019 19:45
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Doctor Dogballs posted:imo flex up a teensy bit on $ and get a pelikan m200 EF or F... This is my favorite option so far. How fine is fine? I've heard of qc issues, should I prepare for multiple rounds of exchanging it for a new one? I like that smoky quartz a lot. I really like translucent amber pens, like the custom 823. I don't really want to spend $300 on an 823 though, even though it is one of my favorite pens.
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Aug 4, 2019 19:39
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:This is my favorite option so far. How fine is fine? I've heard of qc issues, should I prepare for multiple rounds of exchanging it for a new one? I have an m800 and i still go back to my m200 fairly often. It's a steel nib but smooth and springy like a gold one. Even has a bit of line variation. QC is sometimes an issue with Pelikan. I had to exchange my m800 due to a bad nib. Pelikan nibs seem to run a bit wider than most western nibs. The fine seems to somewhere between a typical fine and medium in my limited experience. Keep in mind that Pelikan pens have their prices inflated for the US market. Anything above an M200 (or replacement nibs) I'd try to import from the UK. The Smoky Quartz is probably a good but right now since a lot of sites seem to be trying to get rid of them. I know they've been on sale on Goulet for a bit now.
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Aug 4, 2019 19:50
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:This is my favorite option so far. How fine is fine? I've heard of qc issues, should I prepare for multiple rounds of exchanging it for a new one? I have one, and the nib on mine is a bit broader than a safari F. I’d say it’s pretty close to a medium in general terms. I didn’t have any problems with mine, but I also bought it nearly a decade ago; although I would assume nothing much has really changed. They’ve been making those stainless nib units for ages, after all. ENEMIES EVERYWHERE posted:Scuttlebutt is that Kaweco nibs aren't very reliable out of the box, and I personally haven't been much impressed with the two Sports that I've tried. I'd recommend getting it from a retailer who offers guaranteed replace/refund if you're dissatisfied with the writing experience, or who can do nib tuning, or ideally both. I got a sport in F and it only seems happy to work on lovely paper, everything else tends to cause some hard starting issues. That said, I also heard that the ef and b nibs are usually fine, so there’s that. It’s also worth noting that like the Pelikans, you can always get a different nib unit (if you can find someone selling them). Knowing that, I would probably just get an ef, and worry about finding a f if I found it to be too fine.
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Aug 4, 2019 20:45
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:This is my favorite option so far. How fine is fine? I've heard of qc issues, should I prepare for multiple rounds of exchanging it for a new one? My 200 is EF and it really does draw a very fine line while still being very smooth. Both my other Pelikans had/have F nibs and drew a fairly thick line. But those are gold, don’t know how comparable the tip size is on their steel nibs. It sounds to me like EF is probably the move for you. As for QC I would be really surprised if you have any issues. I have even been thinking about picking up another 200 but I dont see the smoky quartz in EF around anymore.
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Aug 4, 2019 23:20
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Picked up a Lamy Joy on a whim. It's a delight to write with, but are they or Lamys in general known for having difficulty staying capped when clipped in a pocket? It's fallen apart like 4 times today. Further, it came with a blue ink cartridge; is this just the standard Lamy blue ink? It's very nice.
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Aug 5, 2019 03:11
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FFT posted:Picked up a Lamy Joy on a whim. It's a delight to write with, but are they or Lamys in general known for having difficulty staying capped when clipped in a pocket? It's fallen apart like 4 times today. I don't put my pens in pockets so I can't help on your first question. The blue cartridge is indeed the bog standard Lamy blue ink. It's a workhorse and has a very useful inkbottle if you decide you want a lot of it.
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Aug 5, 2019 03:20
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I picked up a bottle of their Peridot because of that 10 best inks video and it's quite nice as well. The cheap Noodler flex nib pen I picked up to use with it is, well, cheap.
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Aug 5, 2019 04:45
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Kessel posted:They’re very different pens. The 1000 nib has a bounce that is very love it or hate it. Anecdotally, most people I know that own both either like one or the other, not both Sorry I didn't get to really talk at the pen show. I swung by your table but you were swamped with customers and I had to herd various friends and in-laws who came. I really like your notebooks and definitely want to pick a few up. I picked up a 1000 at the show and I like the bounce. I can get decent line variation on good paper. I also got a an oblique nib for cheap and a couple of inks; Colorverse Sea of Tranquility and Pelikan Tanzanite.
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Aug 5, 2019 16:16
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unzealous posted:For blackletter and the like you're looking for the italic nibs. Speedball sells sets like This if you're getting started. Honestly its all relatively cheap so I'd look around. Cool, I “splurged” ($30, cheaper than dinner with friends at my place yesterday) on a starter kit, case, and ink during Florida’s sales tax free weekend, and I’m having a blast!  
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Aug 5, 2019 17:39
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