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Gah this loving thread, started reading it and within a day I bought another fountain pen (black pilot metropolitan). I'm considering selling most of the pens I have actually, they're all cheapies: Lamy Safari, Lamy Aluminum, Noodlers Ahab, Parker Frontier. I might keep the small green Noodlers flex, it's actually quite nice, I much prefer it over the two Ahabs I had (one I broke). But other than that I would probably sell them all and start over with nicer pens. I hope the metro can be one of those nicer pens, despite it being in the same price range.
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May 8, 2013 11:58
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I have a buncha inks already though, I really like Noodler's Bay State Blue, so insanely nice but ack it discolors everything you use it in and beware spilling it. Lets see I have: -Noodlers Bay State Blue -Noodlers Midnight blue -Noodlers Blue Eel (thought it would be slippery and super easy to write, but BBS does it better) -Noodler's X-Feather black Mostly noodlers, I also have some Sheaffer Skrip in various colors. I've found that I put ink in a pen, then use it an put it away and next time (can be weeks) it's all dried up again. So I think I'd do better with a smaller amount of pens that I change the ink more often in. Maybe just one or two.
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May 8, 2013 13:18
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Took a Dremel to my Ahab and ground away some metal to make it more flexible, I find it much nicer to write with now. Got the idea from here: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/240492-noodlers-ahab-ease-my-flex-mod/ I didn't mind doing it since I didn't much like the ahab, niv wasn't very nice and it had flow issues. Seems to be doing better now and the nib feels smoother.
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May 15, 2013 07:38
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Is there a european source for good yet cheap writing paper? Goulet pens have a nice selection but shipping costs kill the profitability dead. I am mostly interested in french ruled paper. Also got my Pilot Metropolitan from them, a real classy pen, loaded it up with Eel Blue and it's a real smooth writer.
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May 16, 2013 05:39
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Yeah I work in an office and A4 is the standard. A3 is just two A4's put next to each other size wise, and an A5 is half the size of an A4. Based on that I bet you can figure what an A6 or an A2 would be.
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May 16, 2013 19:51
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:You could also try some other irongall inks. Rohrer+Klingner make a good one, Diamine make one, and there's the old reliable ESSRI. ESSRI is my favourite iron-gall. That pen they got for sale there with the ink, is it any good? Is it somehow designed for use with this ink or am I just thinking too hard about this?
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Aug 13, 2013 06:09
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Went and bought another fountain pen, but only a cheapo Pilot Penmanship, mostly because I heard you can put the nib in a Metropolitan. BTW has anyone used the Konrad ebonite or acrylic noodler's pens? They're pretty expensive for a Noodlers pen IMO, is the quality much better? And what's preferrable, ebonite or acrylic? The ruby acrylic looked kinda nice, the ebonites where much more subdued and most of my pens are like that already.
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Dec 18, 2013 12:45
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I dunno if I will use the body at all more than just to test the nib. I thought it was quite ugly looking but maybe it will surprise me. OTOH I really like my metropolitan, favorite pen of the lot (buncha noodlers and two lamys).
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Dec 18, 2013 19:03
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Anyone else using a Pilot Parallel with 6mm wide nib for a highligther? I don't but that's the plan. I would if possible move the nib to some other pen as the standard body is quite ugly.
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Dec 20, 2013 18:43
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I have some noodler's pens I was gonna try it with, but on FPN I did find this: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/230002-suggestions-for-pilot-parallel-frankepen/
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Dec 22, 2013 21:06
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I can't speak from experience but I would love to be able to afford a Namiki Falcon, esp. a customized one with extra flex added. Definitely on my "will buy at some time in my life" list. While youtubing I also found it compared against a pencil called a Stipula model T with titanium nib, looks very classy and is in the same price range as the Falcon. Falcon looks nicer IMO though.
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Dec 25, 2013 08:15
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I really like this old noodlers pen that I bought for a few bucks used. It's one of these eye droppers that you only get when you order a bottle of ink like Nikita. I use mine as a dedicated BSB pen and with the fine nib it doesn't even feather on newspaper paper and dries instantly, it's a real good combo for "official" writing, filling out forms, signatures and the like. It had starting problems but I took it apart and cleaned it good, it was caked with dried old ink, setting the nib and feed differently also helped I think. I'm not sure they come with the inks anymore, based on product pictures they got some other pen instead now that isn't as nice looking. Which is too bad as it's a genuinely nice pen. I also got my pilot penmanship and I am quite impressed by that pen as well, at least the nib, it's really nice extra fine. I use it with X-feather and that's another super solid combo for official paperwork.
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Dec 31, 2013 09:32
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I really like Noodler's X-feather, it and Baystate blue are my two favorites. Sadly I only dare use BSB in a select few pens. X-feather works in everything though.
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Jan 7, 2014 19:25
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Got a Jinhao X450 today with the chinese calligraphy nib. I quite like it for writing text rather than cursive, really really smooth writer, loaded it up with Sheaffer Skrip (Purple) and it makes a pretty shopping list.
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Jan 8, 2014 19:28
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Tulip posted:Could you explain a little bit more about what "Chinese Calligraphy Nib" means? I imagine you don't mean a brush and a quick google says that it's "bent" but i'm not getting a good picture in my head as to what it looks like. The nib is bent upwards like on this pen here, varying how much you angle the pen from paper produces line variation: http://www.leighreyes.com/?p=1545
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Jan 8, 2014 23:16
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I did this last night and I have to say it works quite well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9Qnd1Z6LHg I opened up the feed on my Ahab and I think I overdid it, it's a seriously crazy gusher now. Better go look at that video by nathan how you undid it...
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Jan 22, 2014 13:17
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Solumin posted:Are the free Noodler's pens that come with large bottles of ink any good? The one I have feels pretty cheap, but I figure that doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of the nib. I like my demonstrator eyedropper pen (comes with the nikita ink, I actually bought the pen 2nd hand without the ink), good pen to keep BSB in. I really like blues and wouldn't mind a tip for a good, benign and well behaved alternative to BSB myself. Lots of blues out there but no idea how they really stack up in real life. Currently I use Eel blue which is nice, but not the same color as BSB at all. His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 09:41 on Feb 6, 2014 |
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Feb 6, 2014 09:39
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Everything Burrito posted:I had kind of a manic period where I bought a bunch of pens but now I feel like most of my needs & wants are met and haven't had a real urge to buy for a while. I think some of that has been curbed by looking at pretty pens and seeing that they only come in F or M nibs which is totally boring. Same here, I practically only use two pens now, mainly my pilot Metropolitan and an ivory Jinhao X750. Noodlers Eel blue in both of them.
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Mar 9, 2014 10:00
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I don't care about bulletproofness at all myself, cheques probably went out of style in the 70s here. Never used one in my life. Some water resistance would be nice though, so I got BSB for that, also because it's beatiful, but I tend to use Eel blue more than anything else.
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Mar 26, 2014 08:00
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Is there a good rollerball pen that can use bottled FP ink? And that is not Noodlers.
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Mar 26, 2014 14:15
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Solumin posted:http://www.gouletpens.com/Rollerball_Pens_s/883.htm Kaweco has always had a good rep and I found this last night: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/88179-kaweco-eyedropper-roller-ball-pen/ Cartridge rollerball, can be converted to eyedropper rollerball, Monteverde makes a converter for it as well. Sounds excellent. edit: Bought one from jetpens with some cartridges. Probably turn it into an eyedropper: http://www.jetpens.com/Kaweco-Ice-Sport-Ink-Cartridge-Roller-Ball-Pen-Medium-Point-Yellow-Body/pd/7996 His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 12:05 on Mar 27, 2014 |
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Mar 27, 2014 08:50
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Now I want a kaweco with a nib too 
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Apr 1, 2014 06:44
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Converting the Kaweco ice sport into an eyedropper was a bad move. Turned the pen into a leaky mess, not from the threads but from the feed. Maybe a rollerball feed is different but it wasn't as awesome as I had hoped. Looked very nice with the clear body and ink though, sigh.
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Apr 16, 2014 13:50
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I haven't been to this thread in a while but my pen usage has shrunk down a lot, to one in fact. It's (big surprise) the pilot metro, with the original M nib. It's my favorite by far because it's the least fiddly, best working and best looking. e: those new noodlers konrads look nice, but they're too expensive for a noodler's IMO, or for a pen in general. So metro keeps on winning and being used. His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 10:33 on Dec 9, 2014 |
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Dec 9, 2014 10:29
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Hey would an ultrasonic cleaner be good for cleaning fountain pens or could they take damage from it? After using fountain pens for some years I found the ones that have have staid with me are basically the pilot metro. All the noodlers ones I sorta think are trashy and don't work properly or need too much fiddling. I don't use them any more. I was also disappointed with the Kaweco Sport, it leaked. I mainy use the Metro and the Pilot Plumix and with baystate blue or eel blue. The Lamys also work, but just so boring somehow, I don't like to use them either.
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Jun 27, 2016 07:42
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Haven't been here in a few years, but my pilot metro is the one pen I still use, also have another pilot that sometimes gets used, all my noodlers and such went into the trash. Anyway I really really like baystate blue but it feathers like crazy on the cheap paper I got at work, which is where I get most practical use out of it. Has there been any new inks that can compete with baystate blue but aren't as prone to feathering? I also don't like to water it down, destroys the blue brilliance quite fast. E: Blue eel would be my 2nd favorite, it is not as resistant to getting wet though, like not at all. Otherwise I would probably use it. His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 08:47 on Feb 21, 2018 |
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Feb 21, 2018 08:41
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I found a fountainpen at a yard sale, research shows it's like this, don't have any pics of the pen in question but it looks just like this: https://www.penworkshop.co.uk/evergood-paris-button-filler-1940s.html I thought it was an eyedropper because when I screwed off the top there was nothing inside except black stuff that I got out with a small bore brush. But it's apparently a button filler. Never heard of that before but the inside of the pen is basically empty now.
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Aug 20, 2020 08:54
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This pen is missing not just the sack but the button mechanism as well, which is why I wondered if it was an eyedropped and the gunk that fell out was like dried ink. I can't seem to get it apart more, maybe if I pulled out the nib. But I tried writing with it just using whatever water and old ink left in the pen after flushing it and it felt pretty good to write with so I wouldn't want to mess with that.
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Aug 21, 2020 08:03
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Jiru posted:I wouldn't personally mess with the nib. Usually, unless it is glued together, the section can be removed from the body without much trouble. It may be screwed in or friction fit, you may need to tinker with it a little to find out. Don't force it. If it doesn't seem to bulge in either way, you can leave the pen in water for some hours. As the inked sac degrades and starts leaking, usually a good amount of ink gets into the section-body joint and can stick it together, but many inks readily dissolve in water. Well the whole pen is a unibody design, unlike the more modern pens I have got where the lower portion could be unscrewed and you could easily get at the filler mechanism. So I don't see a way to get at the area behind the nib and feeder other than pulling it out. Which is why I am thinking of just turning it into a eyedropper pen.
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Aug 21, 2020 09:14
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Gonna have to go over this real close with a loupe, but I cannot see a seam or anything so I could screw apart the body, but maybe it's just hidden real well. We'll see what I find.
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Aug 21, 2020 12:41
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Damnit, dropped my pilot on the floor, broke the feed, nib seems whole. Wonder if I can replace it with a nib from one of the noodlers pens I got that I don't use anymore. Gotta say after many many years the three best pens I have are the pilot metro, black lamy with a wide nib and another pilot with a super thin nib. All the noodlers I have ever bought turned out to be disappointing in the end, never stayed working and I got tired of fiddling. Noodlers inks have worked well for me though, my favorite looks wise is baystate blue but it feathers too much, so I mostly use the eel blue. I'd love to find something like baystate, permanent but not as feathering on cheap paper and copy paper.
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Oct 29, 2021 05:15
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VelociBacon posted:I dropped my pilot on the ground and broke the nib, let me mail you my feed? Are they any different from nib size to nib size? Mine was an F, as in gently caress I Dropped my Pen. Appreciated, though I think it might have to go a very long way (I'm Finland) and is perhaps a bit overkill to send so far. I think I got a medium nib on this pen. I've been thinking of buying raw ebonite and turning it on my lathe to make my own feed, something I thought about over a year ago I think.
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Oct 29, 2021 07:53
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Got some new inks. Diamine Registrars Ink which is an iron-gall ink, I think it writes pretty well though it feels kinda faded, it gets darker with time I noticed. I also got two regular blues in tiny bottles, Florida & Kensington Blue. Put the latter in my 1.1 stub lamy and the IG ink in my Lamy All-star with the F-nib. I thought the Kensington blue felt scratchy which is a marked difference from Noodles blue eel which I had earlier which just glides on the paper. Blue Eel is one of my favorites but it has some feathering issues IMO, but the diamine is no better in that regard. Looks almost identical when dried, so out of the two Noodlers is my preference. The 1.1 stub nib usually works well with mosts inks, I think though it might be better served with a lighter ink since it lays down a heavier line. Might work well with the IG ink.
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Nov 5, 2021 09:27
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Xun posted:Im gona buy the inkvent calendar! Im gona do it! I've never had an advent calendar in my life so I'm really hype, although mostly for the ink. Really? Never a chocolate calendar so you get a candy every day?
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Nov 5, 2021 14:59
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Sankis posted:Its a curse. Once you regularly use any paper even slightly above average you come to realize just how much of the world uses the absolute cheapest paper possible. Well I gotta say the iron gall stuff I am using now has excellent feathering characteristics. The look is notihng special though, some fading, kinda blue-black. But overall I like it, since I want a bulletproof ink.
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Nov 8, 2021 08:05
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stealie72 posted:One can buy like 6-8 Jinhaos from aliexpress for the price of the ahab, choose the three that are at least decent, then go to town tuning the nibs to have three pretty good pens. TBH all the pens I've bought from Noodlers ended up broken, not working very well. So I thought they have been pretty bad value for money. Ink is good though. My overall best pen was the pilot metro until I dropped it and it broke. I've never tried the more expensive pens and I honestly never will put that kind of money into a pen.
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Feb 2, 2024 05:37
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sb hermit posted:please post in the thread if you find a good quick-dry ink for left-handed people Fountain pens are the reason I can now write right handed as well as left handed.
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Feb 8, 2024 07:52
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Refilled a few of my pens (all Lamys now), this time I ran them through my ultrasonic cleaner and hoo boy that thing made them clean. Never had such good results before. And man while I don't rate noodles pens very high, BayState blue is the prettiest ink I have ever seen...
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Feb 25, 2024 11:08
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I have a 6 liter model (and wish I had a bigger one) that I use for more heavy duty stuff, but I think they're all pretty much the same once you get to this size, that a normal consumer would buy anyway. I once had a real cheap one for small stuff like glasses, but wasn't impressed by it.
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Feb 27, 2024 10:55
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 09:03 |
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Ordered a customized notebook for my old old car, because the factory service book was full. I couldn't even get another oil change anywhere.  Noodlers BayState Blue out of my Lamy  17 more oil changes, at my rate it's 1 per year, car is 34 years old, 50 should be doable.  Vistaprint has a real nice site for making your own notebooks and other stuff.
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Mar 5, 2024 17:57
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