Don't Just Tell Us About The Pen You're Using, *show* Us! - 2015-Ii

[perfaddict]

 

 

Nice pen!

 

 

 

 

Thanks!

[SNAK]

 

Nice drawing and pen.

Thanks disco pig!

 

Today's clunker.

 

Isn't that a Red keyhole nib? Hardly a clunker! Pretty pen and lovely handwriting.

 

SNAK, mind if I inquire about your Standard nib? Who makes them and which years were they made?

 

Btw, nice illustration.

Thanks, and sure! Unfortunately, I don't know much about the nib's origin. I did do some googling but the word "standard" is too ubiquitous that I couldn't find anything about it. Mauricio (Aguilar) might know more, as he is the one who set it up, and he described it as Wet Noodle according to his flex pen grading system. The nib is really soft and responsive so the feed (TWSBI's original feed) can't keep up if I'm not careful. I am using this setup as my designated drawing pen because I like the expressive lines it is capable of. Some photos of the nib FYI.

 

 

 

"Standard" 14K no.4 nib. Used in TWSBI Mini with TWSBI original plastic feed. Very flexible and responsive EF nib.

[Houston]

 

 

"Standard" 14K no.4 nib. Used in TWSBI Mini with TWSBI original plastic feed. Very flexible and responsive EF nib.

 

 

SNAK: What set-up are you using to get such wonderful nib photos? --h

[SNAK]

Houston, I use very old Nikon setup for pen photos, a D90 (c.2008) body and either 60mm or 105mm f/2.8D AF Micro-Nikko lens (c.1990’s, they are lenses for macro photography). They are good for macro of course, but also very sharp for copy work such as stamps, negatives, and of course writing samples.

For closeup nib shots I tend to use my lighting setup indoors but for other general pen related photos I prefer the natural light by the large window/sliding door facing north (southern hemisphere), which happens to be where our dining table is.

My indoor lighting setup for the pen stuff looks like this. I used to use my speedlights (flash) but it’s much easier to see what I am doing and as I’m indoors I will have the luxury of power points so I now exclusively use the lightboxes for low light indoor shots of inanimate objects (pens - kids are a different matter completely). It’s in our study, a corner by the window where it used to be our reading nook, but now the softbox lights are permanently set up because I am lazy. I could use those lights for reading too, if I wanted to. Each lightbox has 5x CFL globes and I use the 5500K globes so it is easy to adjust the white balance later.

I should use my tripod more often, but usually I just go in and out quickly, so I set the zoom on my lens to what I want roughly, and use my body to zoom in and out. With macro you have to focus manually anyway so it’s easier and faster than adjusting my tripod, focusing with the lens' focus ring, then adjust again when I want a different shot.

After I take the photos I put them through Lightroom to quickly change the file size and format (I shoot in RAW) for upload, and to sharpen/white balance/crop etc., if necessary.

I hope this helps somewhat.

Added:

Pen: TWSBI Mini with "Standard" #4 flex nib

Ink: De Atramentis Archive Black

Paper: Monsieur A5 Leather Horizontal Sketchbook (140gsm unprimed cartridge paper)

Edited July 31, 2015 by SNAK

[Tas]

 

 

Didn't read any of that, too busy looking at your gorgeous sketch

[LWJ2]

Left to right: Pilot 78G, Parker P-50 Falcon, Onoto "The Pen" from Thomas de la Rue, London — The Pilot has a broad GPS nib, functionally an italic nib; the Parker's nib was re-ground to a fine italic by Ron Zorn; the Onoto has a 14k medium nib with some flex (not that I can do it any justice, but it's fun to play with) and was restored for me by Ron Zorn. It wasn't that I needed more pens, but Susan Wirth waved that Parker under my nose, handed it to me and graciously refrained from gloating when I pulled out my cheque book. The Onoto I purchased on a well-known auction site from an English dealer, Ron restored it to functionality at the RDU Pen Show in May. The idea of owning the same pen Winston Churchill preferred was simply too much for me to ignore. The Pilot is just fun. --Leon

 

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/lwj2/5626446/372275/372275_original.jpghttp://ic.pics.livejournal.com/lwj2/5626446/372663/372663_original.jpg

[Professor Plume]

http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz134/margomccord/image.jpg1_2.jpg

 

Walk softly and carry a big nib : there are so many enthralling photos on this thread and here I am using an eraser to hold my cap in place.

[AAAndrew]

Tried a little Strathmore Sketch pad to write this on. It was terrible for the dip pen. Won't be doing that again.

 

SNAK, thanks for sharing your photo set up. And for your TWSBI Mini with the Standard nib (drool-worthy, by the way), I've seen Speedy from TWSBI on another thread point out that they use different feeds for the stubs than they do for the non-stub nibs in order to support the greater ink flow demands of the wider nib. If you're having trouble with the ink keeping up with the nib, you may think about making sure you're using a feed for a stub. Just a thought.

 

[Thier.]

Ready for tomorrow, Parker filled with Parker blue-black; Montblanc with Montblanc Midnight Blue and Vicsonti with Diamine Bilberry ..... Pens in the belgian sunset light ....

Edited July 31, 2015 by Thier.

[carretera18]

Houston, I use very old Nikon setup for pen photos, a D90 (c.2008) body and either 60mm or 105mm f/2.8D AF Micro-Nikko lens (c.1990’s, they are lenses for macro photography). They are good for macro of course, but also very sharp for copy work such as stamps, negatives, and of course writing samples.

For closeup nib shots I tend to use my lighting setup indoors but for other general pen related photos I prefer the natural light by the large window/sliding door facing north (southern hemisphere), which happens to be where our dining table is.

My indoor lighting setup for the pen stuff looks like this. I used to use my speedlights (flash) but it’s much easier to see what I am doing and as I’m indoors I will have the luxury of power points so I now exclusively use the lightboxes for low light indoor shots of inanimate objects (pens - kids are a different matter completely). It’s in our study, a corner by the window where it used to be our reading nook, but now the softbox lights are permanently set up because I am lazy. I could use those lights for reading too, if I wanted to. Each lightbox has 5x CFL globes and I use the 5500K globes so it is easy to adjust the white balance later.

I should use my tripod more often, but usually I just go in and out quickly, so I set the zoom on my lens to what I want roughly, and use my body to zoom in and out. With macro you have to focus manually anyway so it’s easier and faster than adjusting my tripod, focusing with the lens' focus ring, then adjust again when I want a different shot.

After I take the photos I put them through Lightroom to quickly change the file size and format (I shoot in RAW) for upload, and to sharpen/white balance/crop etc., if necessary.

I hope this helps somewhat.

Added:

Pen: TWSBI Mini with "Standard" #4 flex nib

Ink: De Atramentis Archive Black

Paper: Monsieur A5 Leather Horizontal Sketchbook (140gsm unprimed cartridge paper)

 

Thanks for still photography tips!

 

Walk softly and carry a big nib : there are so many enthralling photos on this thread and here I am using an eraser to hold my cap in place.

 

Beautiful MB! Congrats!

 

 

Ready for tomorrow, Parker filled with Parker blue-black; Montblanc with Montblanc Midnight Blue and Vicsonti with Diamine Bilberry ..... Pens in the belgian sunset light ....

 

Amazing line up!

[Sharkpie]

Well, okay, it really came yesterday. It's been home for 24 hours and this is its third ink. Still trying to find the "right" one.

[Inky.Fingers]

 

"Standard" 14K no.4 nib. Used in TWSBI Mini with TWSBI original plastic feed. Very flexible and responsive EF nib.

 

 

I love the Standard 14K nibs... Thanks for the great pictures.

 

 

Left to right: Pilot 78G, Parker P-50 Falcon, Onoto "The Pen" from Thomas de la Rue, London — The Pilot has a broad GPS nib, functionally an italic nib; the Parker's nib was re-ground to a fine italic by Ron Zorn; the Onoto has a 14k medium nib with some flex (not that I can do it any justice, but it's fun to play with) and was restored for me by Ron Zorn. It wasn't that I needed more pens, but Susan Wirth waved that Parker under my nose, handed it to me and graciously refrained from gloating when I pulled out my cheque book. The Onoto I purchased on a well-known auction site from an English dealer, Ron restored it to functionality at the RDU Pen Show in May. The idea of owning the same pen Winston Churchill preferred was simply too much for me to ignore. The Pilot is just fun. --Leon

 

 

Thanks... my writing is the pen's work.. my penmanship is still in the works!

[Tas]

Well, okay, it really came yesterday. It's been home for 24 hours and this is its third ink. Still trying to find the "right" one.

 

Congratulations. The pen looks gorgeous.

 

I sympathise though. Finding the right ink often drives me to despair.

[Chazzy91]

[mhphoto]

A new modification to the feed. More ink flow and a nib mod, a breather hole. This makes all the difference in achieving wet wet wet noodler nibs.

 

My Reform 1745 "Frankened" A Morton dip flex nib. Nib was rescued from eBay. Now with renewed life. And bottle free until next refill x)

That nib looks great!

 

Here's what I've been writing with. Feelin' flexy.

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/910/HQOW3r.jpg

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/fJ00jP.jpg

Edited August 1, 2015 by mhphoto

[AAAndrew]

Those are some flexy pen!!

 

"I'm too flexy for my pens, too flexy for my pens, so flexy it hurts..."

 

"If you want my gold nib, and you think I'm flexy come on sugar let me know...."

 

Maybe I didn't have enough wine at dinner. Where's the whisky?

[Inky.Fingers]

That nib looks great! Here's what I've been writing with. Feelin' flexy.

Thanks.

 

Very expressive pens you got there...

 

So here's my Franken Flex today...

[Inky.Fingers]

After spending times with dip pen nibs on German piston donor bodies.. a wateRMAN 52 is just hard as nail. Even my Eisenstad #8 is "semi" flex to me now. So sad... once you go Frankies... you not going back to stock.

[Cryptos]

How does one source one of these frankies? I've been after a truly flexible fountain pen for quite some time but I'm not prepared to pay the several hundred dollars that is often asked.

[SJH]

 

 

 

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate it.

I have a couple of dedicated BSB fountain pens, but I'm starting to think an approximate alternative would do. Maybe....sort of.....?

 

Best regards,

Steve.