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Chas McGill posted:Have any of you used the Lamy Joy? I like the look of it and it seems to be similar to the Safari in construction. It's basically a longer Safari with an italic nib, Gwrtheyrn is right that the nibs are interchangable. Is there anyone selling Pilot Metros in the UK not at crazy inflated prices?
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Feb 4, 2013 16:54
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Pigasus posted:I want to get a set of beginner's fountain pens. I'm considering getting the Pilot Metropolitan, a Lamy Safari with an extra fine tip, and an italic pen. I haven't figured out which italic pen I would get, but I have this $6 Sheaffer pen that I found at Staples and it's the worst fountain pen I have ever used. It just feels so abrasive when I write on the page. Any suggestions for a pen with an italic nib at <$30? A Pilot 78G in bold would fit the bill. http://www.stationeryart.com/writing-instruments-fountain-c-21_24.html?sort=4a&currency=GBP Four different colours and Hong Kong post is pretty fast, I normally get them just after a week in the UK.
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Mar 2, 2013 05:27
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Brightman posted:Hero 616 pens are a real crap-shoot due to their crumby quality control. You can just as easily get a great one as you can one that is basically a nail stuck in an ink tube. The one I got wrote pretty drat well at first, but it has since degraded a bit and is now fairly mediocre to bad. The 616 jumbos from YC Pens and YesPen on eBay have been brilliant, quality wise. I mention specific sellers because apparently there's a roaring trade in knock-off 616s, which is part of the reason people have such contrasting opinions of the pen.
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Mar 6, 2013 20:22
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GabrielAisling posted:It didn't feather at all, actually. I was just worried because the paper made the pen drag so much that it was too rough and mess up the nib. If it's got a steel nib, like the Lamy, you shouldn't need to worry about damaging the tines unless you're putting loads of pressure on them, or scribbling away on sandpaper.
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Mar 9, 2013 16:57
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lucifer chikken posted:I seem to be having less-than-stellar luck with pens. New Noodler's Brush Pen dumped a cap full of Heart of Darkness on my lap, so I guess I can't leave that inked up for even a couple hours. But more troubling, I noticed that my handwriting sucks especially bad with my new Lamy Safari because the nib itself is wiggling and slips off the feed very easily. It writes like those really lovely pencils with loose lead after you sharpen them write. Not good. If you still have problems after SnakesRevenge's advice, you could try contacting Lamy customer support, they've been great to me in the past. Also, regarding Noodler's pens, is there a reason people have such high expectations? Is it because he makes nice ink? My impression was that they were just rebrands of cheap Indian pens, like the flex was a Serwex something or other.
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Mar 16, 2013 18:57
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Vitamins posted:I don't get the Noodlers pen hype either. Sure some of his inks are great, but why would anyone bother buying a $20 pen that may or may not work rather than a more expensive on that's almost guaranteed to work? They seem pretty poor quality for what they are, but I guess trying to make an affordable flex pen is pretty cool. Maybe it's because there's a lot of people that seem to like the Noodler dudes The original pens are far cheaper too, work just as well. Maybe its the yank yellow peril fears? Reminds me off a guy who sells Chinese pens at an insane markup, I want to say hisnibs.com? A Jinhao X450, normally around a fiver being sold for around £20? Sounds legit. Apparently it's because he personally check each one with his all-American hands.
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Mar 16, 2013 19:32
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attitude?
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Vitamins posted:That's actually genius. Might have to buy a load of those Hero 10 packs and sort out the good pens, then sell them marked up for convenience. You don't even need to buy pens that are notoriously faulty, just buy a bunch of those Jinhao 159s for about £5 a piece, and sell them for £30. You don't even need to check them! 
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Mar 16, 2013 21:18
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PaganGoatPants posted:I think I'm going to get a Lamy Safari as a starter pen, but should I get a medium or fine nib...nub...tip? The medium writes quite thick, and the fine is barely any different, so I'd chose between medium or extra fine, depending on how you write.
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Mar 17, 2013 00:32
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duckfarts posted:
The irony of using the name of a man who famously shunned material possessions to sell a vastly overpriced trinket. But isn't that the vast majority of Mont Blanc's catalogue these days?
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Mar 20, 2013 19:07
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Ephphatha posted:What about a nice green-black? I've been working through pretty much all the green samplers from ILovePens and have only got through about 5 colours so far. Haven't found any I like yet (I've tried Private Reserve Ebony Green, Private Reserve Sherwood Green, Pelikan Adventurine and one more sample which has since lost the label). Diamine Green/Black is a really nice one, more of a foresty green than some, which seem a bit blue.
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Mar 21, 2013 21:27
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Xovaan posted:I loved my preppy eyedropper. My Hero and 78G leaked everywhere (and the Hero actually cut my thumb and index fingers six times so deeply I almost needed gauze for the whole area) but that thing was a champ. You tried to tattoo yourself, didn't you?
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Mar 29, 2013 22:22
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I went a bit overboard on eBay, and now own about 40 pens of varying brands. The trick is sticking with reliable sellers and not buying ones that don't list company and model. Haven't spent more than a tenner a pen and ended up with some really great ones.
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Apr 2, 2013 18:31
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Meldonox posted:1. I really dig Diamine Epinard for its color. Are there any other solid green-black or olive-black inks out there that I should look at? Did you perhaps mean Sailor Epinard? My favourite green/black is Diamine's. One of the first inks I bought and still one of my favourites. It's a shame you can't get Noodlers in the UK. I mean, the bloke sounds like a bit of a oval office, but he makes good inks so who cares?
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May 26, 2013 01:45
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Meldonox posted:Eh, I think it's a pretty American thing to be hesitant to subsidize someone's brand of crazy unless you agree with it. For instance, the polarizing presentation on Rome Burning likely scared off some and made the product an instant purchase for others. I'm sure there are poorly photocopied handbills rambling on about the feds "TAKIN ARE FREEDOMS" originally penned in the stuff specifically because of what it says on the bottle. I'm guilty of letting my purchases be influenced by ideology to some extent myself--I avoid a fast food chain here that puts Bible verses on its packaging. Although I probably would avoid them anyway because it's unhealthy, the creepy religious packaging is the first thing that comes to mind when I decide I don't want to eat there. I might be able to make an exception in this case, though, because at least this guy seems to be passionate about creating a quality product and has some really cool ink to show for it. For all of his insane tea party ramblings, I imagine most internalise it a bit like Tom Cruise: horrid beliefs, but otherwise a nice guy and good at what he does (acting or ink making) and the crazy is overlooked. That fast food place sounds fantastic though; it's one of those Americanisms I'll never be able to wrap my head around. A weird blend of nationalism and religion. Could make a line of waterproof inks with a 'these colours don't run' theme.
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May 26, 2013 04:14
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I always hated Parker Black, because it was nowhere near. It's a kind of dark grey. Waterman Black was better, but I found my favourite black by accident: Diamine Eclipse. On swabs it comes out as a very dark indigo blue, but in writing it's a deep black, with a slight bluish hue if it catches the sun.
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Jun 7, 2013 19:49
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For Pilot 78G/Metropolitans, as well as some Jinhaos and Heros, http://stationeryart.com/ is a fantastic shop that I found recently. They're cheaper than ebay, and shipping is very reasonable (under £2 to the UK.) They have some pricier pens such as Sailor and also sell mechanical pencils and the like.
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Jun 11, 2013 00:16
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Teach posted:Great - another SA thread costing me money. I've just bought a TWSBI Diamond of some description, and a replacement nib unit for my Namiki Vanishing Point (I dropped the pen, bending the nib. I bent it straight-ish, but it wasn't the same.) They should be with me soon, and I'll do a couple of little reviews. But until then... They're not bad inks, and you shouldn't have any problems with them. I personally don't like Quick Black and Blue (the only two I've tried) but that's personal taste. The black is a kinda dark grey and the blue is really boring. The one thing you shouldn't use in a fountain pen is dip pen ink, like India Ink, which has sediment or something that clogs up the feed. Some really old ink also does this, as I found out to my cost. 30 year old Waterman Brown 
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Jun 12, 2013 20:50
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DurianGray posted:Ah, I reread the kickstarter and they do mention that "We were able to partner and work with the best manufacturer in the industry. Our manufacturer have spent the past 25 years perfecting fine writing instruments for industry leaders like Parker and MontBlanc." Maybe they meant one of those pint/half litre refill bottles? 
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Jun 29, 2013 05:22
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:! I got one for a couple quid off ebay, and despite the nib being bent down about 45 degrees, it's one of the smoothest pens I own. Definitely recommended.
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Jul 8, 2013 17:44
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The only problem I ever had with moleskines was that the ink took an age to dry. If you're in the UK, Sainsburys have A5 lookalikes for a fiver that are absolutely fantastic. Only real downside is that the covers are quite soft and can get dented easily.
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Jul 29, 2013 18:22
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| # ¿ Apr 30, 2024 13:18 |
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The new Hero knock off Lamy Safaris are here: Hero 359 I'm honestly curious how well they'll work compared to their Lamy counterparts.
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Oct 12, 2013 17:37
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