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I have a Sheaffer Snorkel which I have not yet used, so the interior state is not fully known. The tail turns and pulls out smoothly, the Snorkel tube extends and retracts nicely, and I get a reassuring hiss when I push the tail down. But I have read of nasty issues arising if I try to fill or flush a Snorkel whose sac has gone bad, mostly relating to rusted springs. So I'd like some advice - should I fill this pen and use it as it is, or get it serviced before use in case the sac has gone? Or is there a way to test the sac safely without filling the pen? And if a service is recommended now or if it's needed in the future, can anyone suggest a good UK repairperson?

Greetings friends! I was asked to create a separate post in which I will share my tests on fadeout of ink from light. I did my first test two years ago(2018), but there was not much ink. This is the original test sheet: These are sheets after half a year tested outdoors but without direct sunlight. Conclusion: First sheet: It seems to me that Pelikan Edelstein Topaz, Noodlers Midway Blue, Noodlers Ottoman Azure, Sheaffer Torquise did the best with the task of lightfastness. At the same time, Noodlers Midway Blue practically did not lose color at all - i.e. is the winner in lightfastness in this group. Second sheet: The second sheet "tête à tête", which placed black, orange and brown. And as it turned out, of all inks, the favorites in terms of lightfastness turned out to be precisely the warm, orange and brown shades, which practically did not lose their pigment . Regarding blacks, one cannot say that they have lost their color, because they do not have it, but in fact they are also great save tone and remained, in principle, almost the same black or so . In the second selection J.Herbin Aniversary 1670 Rouge Hematite, Gamma Reds, Diamine Inferno Orange, Diamine Beaver, Noodlers Kiowa Pecan and Noodlers Red-Black look best. There is no favorite here, but J. Herbin 1670, Diamine Inferno, Noodlers Red-Black and Koh-i-Noor Black is practically unchanged. Third sheet: The last sheet: And on the third sheet, I placed predominantly green shades and those ink that I did not have initially, but they appeared with some delay in the samples:). Recently bought the pigment Platinum, Windsor & Newton India ink, Gamma and Chinese india ink also got here. At that time, I still did not have dr. Ph.Martins. As you can see, the green shades did not go far from the blue ones and lost quite a lot in color, and Diamine Ultra Green turned out to be the leader. But I was pleasantly pleased with Platinum Carbon Black and Pigment Sepia Brown inks - the color did not change at all and it pleases because these are my main colors for drawings with fountain pens . Pelikan Fount India pigment ink also showed itself very well, despite the fact that they practically do not reflect light by dry pigment in side lighting, unlike Platinum Carbon Black, which, coupled with the price, makes them very attractive. More detailed photos you can view by the link: https://lenskiy.org/2018/11/fountain-pen-inks-light-resistance-test-2018/

Afternoon everyone. Lockdown and terrible sleep patterns have me at a minor stage of madness, so at 5 this morning while I was considering grabbing the air rifle & silencing some of the birds that had apparently gotten hold of megaphones to sing their dawn chorus outside my window... I decided instead to do a very unscientific test (see also: dirty) on my all time (so far) favourite ink for practicality, Sailor Sei-Boku - Pigment Blue/Black. The test was carried out as per the description on the index card, what I didn't have room to fit however, is that the index cards are cheap (more like thick paper than index cards, probably 140-160GSM and fairly porous), the degreaser in use was 151's "Elbow Grease" and the nib used to write all text on the index card was a Bock fine. I think I am most surprised by how little effect pen flush (Monteverde brand) had on it! The only thing that really did anything was the degreaser. As expected, water did absolutely nothing. Rear side confirms it, the degreaser had the most effect while actual pen flush only managed a 'flesh wound'. Until Sailor Sei-Boku starts dissolving my pens (unlikely, since it isn't an iron gall ink) I don't think I need to quest for a tougher, more well behaved ink. So far, on my journey to find a "bulletproof" ink I have tried offerings from Noodlers (massively ill-behaved, over saturated, too wet 90% of the time regardless of colour, but some are definitely worse than others! Looking at you Sun Never Sets!), KWZ (extremely well behaved & beautiful colours, but not really truly "bulletproof", 'just' iron gall) and De Atramentis (the black behaves very well, everything else I've tried in the "Document" line has had properties very similar to Noodlers). Sailor Sei-Boku (haven't tried the other two offerings yet) is by far the best (IMO). Not only is it nigh on indestructible on paper once dried, but it also has properties, yes, properties! It shades extremely nicely and even, on the right paper, has a hint of red sheen to it. Beautiful and practical, just like me! Okay, well...maybe not. On top of all that? It tames the most cheap, nasty, course paper I have (Poundland/dollar store notebooks, grey recycled toilet paper...you know the sort!), with no bleed or feather! Disclaimers - Apologies for less-than-stellar picture quality, taken with my ageing smartphone, any perceived feathering is due to that, to the naked eye I can see none.

Hello, I have inked the first time today my JFK 1917 fountain pen with the ink MB JFK. I put again my photos of the fountain pen and the some writing result of my test. And now few photos of my test with ink JFK:

Hey Guys, I am looking to pick up a Lamy 2000 as my first gold nib pen. I have had a Lamy Aion (M) for a while and really like it (except for the cap rattle, but I've been able to fix that with some tinkering. With the Aion, the medium is good when writing on quality paper (i.e. Rhodia), but when I write on lesser quality (I write on medical charts all day), I find it slightly too bold. I'm really torn as to if I should get it in a Fine or Medium nib because it is an investment. I have been searching all over the DFW metroplex for a place where I could test both to see which one I prefer before buying. Im normally willing to take the risk, but I really would like this pen to be my daily workhorse. I have found few places in DFW that carry fountain pens in general and none that carry the Lamy 2000. I am also aware of the Dallas Pen Collectors Club, but it doesn't look like their next meeting is until June! I am also driving to Austin this Friday, so any places there would also be appreciated! If anybody knows a place where I could test one out, it would be a miracle. If not, any opinions on the Lamy 2000 nibs would be amazing! Y'all are the best!

JETSTREAM & easyFLOW In my pursuit for a perfect ballpoint refill I’ve came across with these 2 brands: JETSTREAM & easyFLOW. Why ballpoints? Because sometimes you need something else then a fountain pen to write on different surface: like napkins, fabric, wood, skin, you never know when or where. So I have narrow down my options for these hybrid ballpoint refills. Both write smooth, dark lines and both have water-proof and sun fade-proof characteristics. uni-ball JETSTREAM was developed in 2003, it’s an evolution of their gel refill “Signo 207”. Can be found in medium or fine strokes, also the main refills can be adapted to replace gel refills like Pilot G2 or European standard roller-ball refills. The blue refills are actually blue, quit dark lines, black is almost true black. SCHMIDT® easyFLOW 9000 was introduced later, in July 2007. Their main characteristic is based on Parker style refill (large capacity refill size G2 as per the standard DIN EN ISO 12757), making them ready available for many ballpoints producers, without any modification. The blue refill is more on the purple side, but still a vivid colour, black is a bit much darker then JETSTREAM. Also easyFLOW smudge a bit more than JETSTREAM. Somewhere back in 2014 I had to use a pen to write a polite note for a car parked illegally on our parking lot at work (a standard A4 printed polite note where you need to write registration number, date and time). And I used a Parker Big Red roller ball. Big mistake, with a bit of rain all my writing was washed out, completely! The car’s owner comes down to check what was with that note on his car and all my writing was gone. That was the point to search for a better ballpoint refill with water-proof characteristics, smooth writing, fast drying and vivid colours. After a lot of research I bought my first two hybrid ballpoint refills: easyFLOW 9000 in blue and black. After a while I have found JETSTREAM to be as good as easyFLOW 9000, but for different pen body, like roller-balls or Energel, other than Parker style. That being said I run a test to prove water-proof and sun exposure fading test of these two refill brands. For this test I have used some common refills along with my 2 favourites. I have used normal paper and glossy paper (from a magazine). One normal paper and one glossy paper it was washed through heavy water after 2 minutes of writing have dry. Everything was exposed in a closed shed with windows, where the sun can reach for about 3-4 hours daily, when not cloudy. Also there is high humidity on our little island, temperatures varying from 25˚ summer to 8˚ winter times. Refills in test: Schmidt easyFlow 9000 blue Schmidt easyFlow 9000 black Uni-ball Jetstream 1.0 blue Uni-ball Jetstream 1.0 black Uni-ball Jetstream sport blue Uni-ball Jetstream 0.7 black Pentel Energel 0.7 blue Pentel Energel 0.7 black Schneider Topball 0.5 black Inoxcrom gel M black Fisher Space M black Faber-Castell B black Parker M black Parker Quinkflow M blue Parker M blue Lamy M66 black Senator M blue Zebra F-series blue Pilot G2 0.5 black Pilot G2 0.7 black After this test I will stick with easyFLOW and Jetstream as my main refills for ballpoints. Also Inoxcrom gel refill and Lamy are really good, recommend them. A big surprise is Parker Quinkflow failing so hard. The test was run in my condition, feel free not to accept my observations. Also if you click on the pictures you can download them from Flickr and enlarge them to see some close ups. Except on single photo, the rest are scanned. Starting test June and July 2016 Normal Paper running water, June 2016 Normal paper, photo, not scan, July 2016 Glossy paper, July 2016 Ending test December 2016 Normal Paper running water Normal paper Glossy paper running water Glossy paper

PENtastic CxPO Tester Folded Pens ( Buy Now ) These folded pens are designed to fit the small sample vials that are hard to get into. They hold a lot more ink than dip pens and produce much more expressive lines. They are also super easy to clean - a dip in water, a shake, a wipe and you are ready to move on to the next sample (or bottle :-) These pens fit any standard straight holder and can be ordered individually or as a set of 2 nibs (in different styles). Here is a short video showing the pens in action https://youtu.be/7Smg8PvToLQ These can be ordered from the online store here: PENtastic CxPO Tester Pens ...and here are some more pictures 'cause we (ok me!) love pictures.

The subject comes up regularly, which is normal since not everyone has access to good paper, or is willing to splurge; and yet it might not be splurging but part of a good experience. In any case after using only Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Tomoe River, Fabriano and HP 32 lbs for the past few years, I finally tried all my pens on regular, no name copy paper, and here are the results: On decent paper all my pens write well or very smoothly, the more expensive Sailor Pro Gear, Pelikan m600, Parker Sonnet and a Lamy Studio are particularly nice; on copy paper the results were surprising to me: Smoothest: Pilot Metropolitan medium nib.Platinum Cool medium nib.It's particularly impressive that these two pens, one cheap and the other not that expensive, do better than much more expensive pens. Decently smooth: Sailor Professional Gear medium nib.Parker Sonnet fine nib.Pelikan m600 fine nib.Muji aluminium fine nib (x4).Lamy Studio fine nib.Waterman Le Man 100 fine nib.Faber Castell Ambition extra fine nib.Kaweco Sport fine nib.It's particularly impressive of the cheap Mujis, and the extra fine Faber Castell. The Le Man 100 is my most expensive pen by far, and only does ok on good or regular paper: c'est la vie! Smooth but nothing out of this world: Lamy Vista fine and medium nibs (x7).Parker Sonnet fine nib. Barely usable: Pilot Penmanship extra fine nib.This nib is so fine you can feel every single bit of texture on the paper. My conclusion is that it's easy to miss the point of fountain pens with certain pen and paper combinations, and that you should give yourself the chance to try better paper, even HP LaserJet 32 lbs paper can make a big difference, and you can use it at work to print special documents or presentations. If you can't or won't you can still have a good experience for not much money with a Pilot Metropolitan, which is amazing value, the Platinum Cool would be if of my two didn't refuse to start. There are even cheaper pens but I value reliability too much to try them, although you might enjoy tinkering. There is a second point, which is how ink looks on cheaper paper, and how much it feathers, which doesn't happen on good paper, although it does dry faster.

I've posted this on another forum, but I think you all would be interested in it as well. This is a test of how waterproof certain ballpoint and gel inks are (also included are two fountain pen inks at the bottom). I've categorized them as follows: Waterproof: Uniball SignoPilot JuiceBic CristalRite in the Rain (Fisher Space fine)Semi-waterproof: Pilot G2Schmidt easyFlowFisher SpacePilot PreciseNot waterproof: Parker Quink Gel

Hi guys- I have decided to do a water proof test using the inks I have. Not that I own many inks, but here are the images of before and after. The inks were submerged under water for 30 seconds. The inks used were: - Noodler's Navajo Turquoise - Diamine Sepia - Iroshizuku Murasaki-Shikibu - Rohrer & Klingner Alt-Goldgrun - Iroshizuku Tsukushi - Private Reserve Daphne Blue - Montblanc Burgundy Red - Diamine Claret - Montblanc Jazz Blue - Waterman Inspired Blue After the test, Tsukushi was the most legible ink. Navajo Turquoise, Sepia and Murasaki-Shikibu were equally somewhat legible. Burgundy Red, Claret and Jazz Blue were barely legible. All other inks were not legible at all. Hopefully this test is somewhat helpful to you

I think I have just performed a miracle! Had cleaned out my Noodler's Ahab completely (so taking the feed/nib off cleaning everything. This pen, like my Creeper and a lot of other noodler's pens out there, was railroading BAD after a mere minute of fun. Had checked everything, every video, forums, tips and tricks and it was just a pain. Well.. Not anymore! And in a grand spectacular way! This is the third page of clairefontaine triomphe Loaded with ink with ZERO railroad. That's right. ZERO. Sometimes going around the page making a fat line and it just never skipped. I did make a tiny adjustment to the nib before assembling maybe this was it. But wow is it a fun pen now. http://i.imgur.com/GNEEEQB.jpg?2

Hey there! Look what I found, sitting suspiciously unsuspicious under the Christmas tree.

PENREG is available free of charge. If you like the software, idea, please consider a helping with future development, testing, maybe additional ideas. I have begun this some time ago, but my motivation is next to none as I have no way to say if tihis is help full to anyone but me. So far I have resources: server, disk storage, development tools, and of course major of development done (everything in my free time which is really limited). I am not looking for money, if I need I will found myself (as so far) or organise some. I am looking for people to help, or just say drop it, (because it makes no sense to anyone), not like “good job, carry on” then nothing. If you think you can criticise, advise, test, develop (PHP), please contact me and we could work together. www.penreg.com: -Free of charge to register and use -Item swap (like I have fountain pen I want to exchange for some different one) -Item sell -Report all collection with pictures -Report all collection with pictures and prices for insurance reasons -Report prices, value of the collection -Display collection by lcation of the item (shelf, drawer, book case, stand on living room shelf…) -Grade whole item and separate parts like nib, barrel, cap -Auto build catalogs Types,nib sizes, models, brands… (auto means: User A adds brand XXX to the catalog then it is available to user B ) -Common condition codes -Missing parts search, or parts sell -I am looking for… like wish list. -Reports on sold items -Search: by every aspect of a item (brand, colour, model, nib,…) -Collection item private or public or public just for registered users (to be viewed by others) -API: Create item in ebay, display collection on other websites, create other store plug in, display particular item on some other blog or website where we want it to be displayed.

Hello, I just recently received my TWSBI Vac-700 Demonstrator in Medium, and although I am leaving already (oh bittersweet, to receive a pen and not use it immediately right after) from Japan to California, I'd thought it to answer my own question: Can the TWSBI Vac-700 truly withstand leaks on an airplane, be used on-board, and not leak when landing (or even when in use)? http://i.imgur.com/7n1HaOi.jpg To answer this question I've filled my TWSBI with bottled water (so that should it leak or heaven-forbid, explode) to the brim using the technique shown by Brian Goulet, and will have it in my jacket pocket nib up, then when the airplane reaches a constant altitude, I'll begin scribbling first with the water inside the feed with the blind cap closed until it starts to dry out, then open the cap so that water flows to the feed. Hopefully nothing happens other than continuing to write. After about half of the water has been used, I'll close the blind cap, cutting off the water flow, then place it back in my pocket again nib side up. Once I land, I'll check my pen, if there's no water, then we''ll know this pen is perfectly suitable for Airplane carry and use. I'll let you know the results as soon as I get home, and take pictures if possible.

A quick water-fastness test of 17 inks on a sheet of Rhodia dotpad paper. They all dried for at least a week prior to when I conducted the test. I rinsed the sheet in warm water, soaked it for half an hour, and then pressed it under a stack of magazines to dry. http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv56/k4p2tog/InkWaterTest1copy.jpg De Atramentis Aubergine (4) Diamine: Hope Pink (2) Marine (1) Peach Haze (1) Syrah (3) Noodler's: 54th Massachusetts (5) Antietam (3) Bad Green Gator (5) Baystate Concord Grape (4.5) Black Swan In Australian Roses (4) Green Marine (4) Kung Te-Cheng (5) Liberty's Elysium (3.5) Pelikan Edelstein Ruby (2) Pilot Iroshizuku: Ama-Iro (2) Yama-Budo (3) Private Reserve Tropical Blue (1) Notes: I was having feed issues with the pen with which I wrote the Bad Green Gator sample, which is why it is lighter than normal. The way the waterproof Baystate Blue and the more fugitive Baystate Red combine produces a decent imitation of mimeograph printing. I've given a numerical rating based on remaining legibility. 5 = Unchanged 4 = Changes to color but still entirely readable 3 = Readable, but it is getting hard 2 = If you stand on your head and squint, you just might make something out 1 = All gone!

Hey guys! So for those of you who like new ink, we may have something in store for you In addition to currently being carried by ISellPens.com, ZellerWritingCompany.com, AndersonPens.net, Bertramsinkwell.com, and Amazon.com, we now have our very own Laboratory Series available on our website here. Some info on these - these inks are all tested and high quality writing inks. The colors just were good enough to put out in our full line - yet! We made around 20 bottles of each color, and intend to gather feedback from these. As more and more feedback comes in, we are going to make the color a regular in one of our lines! We are even going to have some experimental inks available, with the first one being #13, which is a blue pigmented ink that is waterproof. We can't wait to start shipping these out to all of you! To keep up with the latest news on Organics Studio, 'Like' us on Facebook! Thanks, and feel free to contact us! info@organicsstudio.com Tyler