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Firstly, I know I made a huge mistake/boo boo...am daft, etc. insert word if choice. Trust me, Ive used them all, and then some. I bought this: "The plain version of the Viceroy style. Purchased in 1988. The nib is a medium point and the original. On the pen cap there is a tiny dent, barely visible. Pen number 4635 YOL 925 . Hallmarked. Wooden box and YOD guarantee" When I got it, it wouldn't write...I tried soaking, gently(no chemicals whatsoever, not even Fairy) patience, multiple flushing s etc. still wouldn't write. Long story short, contacted seller, who was adamant it wrote when he sold it, and he thought I may have damaged it in my attempts to fix. He offered a return, but conditional on him sending it to a repairer(and I had no way of knowing whethervId be named/charged for repair etc) Got myself so upset( lot of life stuff going on, recently widowed, am very fragile right now, can cope with very little) and wondering if I had in fact damaged it, that I closed the eBay case and Sid I'd get it fixed myself. I know that sounds stupid, buI really couldn't cope with the hassle. So. Asked my friendly penman if he'd look at it, explained it all, upshot is that it has a crack; this is what he said(and he also said that there was very little chance that I had done the damage): "have just taken a good look at the forward part of the section, and there is definitely a spiral shaped crack in it that extends for about 5 or 6 mm. As such, you are unlikely to ever get a decent ink flow from the nib. You would need a replacement section. Your pen is quite an old model, and YOL no longer make sections of this type, so i don't really know where you'd get one from. " Does anyone have any suggestions(other than trying to contact the seller on eBay....already did, no response, and as I was stupid enough to close the vase, he is in the right) Is there any other nib unit which would fit, or anywhere I could get a replacement without spending a fortune? Hope this makes sense.... Alex

I bought a Pilot Plumix a while ago as my first stub nib pen. Though initially I had a bit of fun with it, I find I don't use it much - even while I use my flex nibs quite a lot. I thought it was a little bit of money wasted, until today when i found out I could use it as a flat-head screwdriver. With reborn purpose, I think I'll be using this pen a lot more now. Has anyone else found alternative uses of/for stub nibs, or am I the sole madman here? (Embracing for hatemail. Don't worry, I do take proper care of my other pens.)

My first TWSBI is supposedly on its way and in anticipation am already thinking of playing around with nibs. The question is, which nibs will fit the ECO? The other TWSBI nibs might fit? Also, what size non-TWSBI nibs will fit? How does one remove the ECO nib: screw off, pull off, or knock out? And if you've switched in some other nib, feel free to post your results.

Hello, All! My daughter will be 8 next month and she wants an Edison pen in Hawaiian (Unicorn Barf). She does use fountain pens and while I understand wanting a pen, I can't seem to justify a $150+ pen purchase for an 8-year old. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good, less expensive alternative? I looked at the Noodler's Konrad pens, but none of the colors were right. Thanks if advance for your help!

I've admired the look of the fireblue Kaweco Liliput, with its cool metallic sheen, but the pen itself is a bit too small for me, I'm afraid. Is there a fountain pen with a similar look that might be larger? Over 130mm capped perhaps. And maybe something not super-heavy like the Chinese metal body pens? And hopefully less expensive than the Kaweco?

Hello, if this has been discussed before, feel free to point me in the right direction. :-) We all know whether any given ink works well for you depends on the pen in which is used, the nib size, and the paper you write on, but I am interested in learning what are the best overall inks members know about, in any and every pen or paper. After some experience, though not a lot of different inks, I am forced to the conclusion that the safest and overall best performing ink I know is Lamy blue for the following reasons: 1-Least likely to clog or stain a pen, at least any pen I have tried 2-Among the least likely to bleed through bad paper, little if any feathering in most papers I tried 3-Excellent drying speed, though probably not the fastest of them all. 4-Attractive dark, saturated color always for an ink apparently intended for cheap paper. 5-Flows well on dry pens, seems to work well on wet pens. The point of this topic is, I love Lamy blue, but I wish to find other inks (and other colors) that meet the above characteristics. Based on other comments, I have tried other popular inks, with the following results Lamy black: dries fast, but much more likely to bleed through, unattractive gray black, some residue left inside the pen, though not nearly as much as Noodler's black Noodlers black: one of my favorites, but seems temperamental with the weather, some of my pens don't like it much, and it leaves visible residue inside bladder pens that I cannot wash off, though I cannot prove that is bad for the pen. Great on cheap paper though. Hero carbon ink: another favorite, dries fast, good color, but tends to clog some pens, can feather badly on some papers. Quink black: one the safest inks for pens available, apparently, but it has bleed through issues in my tests on cheap paper, and the color is kind of dull. Noodler's X-feather: competes very closely with Lamy blue when it comes to not bleeding through cheap paper, but sometimes Lamy blue actually bleeds through less on some paper, and X-feather is not really usable in high quality paper because of very slow drying, and it clogs some of my pens. I have tried other inks with mixed results, but none of those others comes close to the above in terms of usability with any pen, nib, or paper (X-feather is mentioned only because of how well Lamy blue performs compared to it for its intended purpose, it is otherwise troublesome when not used as intended). Hopefully what I am after is not too confusing. Thanks in advance. :-)

Hi guys, I'm in the market for paper of consistent stock that is suitable for both printing AND writing with a fountain pen (think marginalia, forms, and ink reviews). Since joining the forum I've heard lots of rave reviews for that HP laser paper, but unfortunately, that won't work because I can't get it: it's not available in local shops, and I can't seem to find it online unless maybe it's from the US, and that won't do because it's bound to cost a ton to ship (paper is heavy, maaan). So: what other papers with similar traits can you think of? (Double the points if you know for a fact they're available to the european market!) Here's what I need: - A4/letter - printable (inkjet - doesn't have to be fantastic, printing quality's where I can compromise) - FP frisky (there's FP friendly, and then there's FP frisky...geddit?) I like mine smooooth (don't care about drying...love Clairefontaine & Rhodia) and heavy (at least 80gsm) - white (for the odd ink review). No need to go OTT and make it blinding white, but still, white, not cream/ivory. Usual bribes refreshments and/or rewards available - cookies/bacon/booze, kittens/puppies/wabbits etc

What is your backup pen? or do you have one? What is the sidekick that you carry for when you need to make carbon prints or in situations where a fountain pen is not suitable (when writing on plastic coated paper). My side kick is the Lamy Swift Palladium. http://www.lamy.com/produktdaten/content/e34/e526/e554/330_swift_Palladium_TR_eng.jpg