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I recently picked up two of Franklin-Christoph's HPS SIG nibs, ground by Audrey Matteson, in <F> and <M>. I haven't had the opportunity to try one of Jim Rouse's originals, but it is obvious that Audrey's grinds are quite exceptional. Having previously stuck to Cursive Italics, by Mark Bacas, Gena Salorino, and Pablo Carassco, I was looking forward to giving the SIG nibs a spin. They most certainly did not disappoint. Both nibs were exemplary out of the box: crisp enough for delightfully delicate horizontals, and yet smooth enough for quick scribbling on different qualities of paper. Most importantly, both put down a wet line, so the nib feels quite lubricated when turning on the page. I should note that I have only inked each nib with iron galls, which tend to write a little drier anyway, but the experience writing with them is simply wonderful. I have only two regrets. One, that Franklin-Christoph only seems to offer these SIG grinds on their High Performance Steel Nibs, and not the 14k ones (although, given their stellar customer service, it may just be a question of asking), and the more substantive one: that Audrey only works on FC nibs: I would dearly love to send her one or two of my other pens to put this grind on.

Hello Everyone, I recently received my F-C 02 Intrinsic in smoke and ice with a medium SIG grind, and I'm in love -- the nib, the design, and the finish have all made this easily my favorite pen to date. However, I've encountered an issue that I haven't seen discussed before: When filling the converter, ink is drawn up between the nib assembly and the section acrylic. This, in itself, is probably to be expected, and the finish definitely makes it more conspicuous than it otherwise would be. However, I did notice, after only my third fill, a slight bit of staining in this area. The culprit was Iroshizuku Shin Kai. This happened despite cleaning between fills. Now, no matter what I do, I can't seem to get rid of the light purple-blue hue of my virtually brand new section. I've definitely heard some warn against ED'ing these pens with Iroshizuku inks, but just filling the converter? Is the antique glass considerably easier to maintain and clean? I know I could try an ultrasonic cleaner or F-C's recommended ammonia/water solution, but it just seems too soon. Are the ultrasonic cleaners best for this finish? Any smoke and ice owners out there have any input or suggestions on how I might avoid this in the future? Are there certain inks which should be avoided even in converters? Thanks much in advance, all. I look forward to posting here more often!