What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[AmandaW]

Is it still impulsive if one has ummed and ahhhed for several days, then hit the button after finding a readily available converter might just be easily obtained?

 

Yeah, I ordered yet another calligraphy set. This one a vintage Sheaffer, the one with a No Nonsense pen.

[A Smug Dill]

33 minutes ago, AmandaW said:

Is it still impulsive if one has ummed and ahhhed for several days, then hit the button after finding a readily available converter might just be easily obtained?

 

Was the clicking of the mouse button deliberate or subconscious?

[AmandaW]

5 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Was the clicking of the mouse button deliberate or subconscious?

Not sure. I got a bit excited finding I could order a converter to Click & Collect. Amazing.

[amk]

Considering I have just committed to buying my fifth property... and I will have three renovations on the go at the same time... I regard my pen habit as immaterial.

 

That's my excuse. Just bought 4 Kawecos in a week 🙂

[DilettanteG]

@misfit and @N1003U

 

I may have added a Pelikan M205 Blue demo to the list. (Another EF) But that’s the last one! Cross my heart! 😆
 

Besides, I also ordered two M200 IB nibs. I need something to put them on, right?

[wtlh]

15 hours ago, Lam1 said:

 

Now that you picked our curiosity, you "need" to show us some pics of that "M400"! 

 

I posted this a couple of years ago

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/367547-handmade-full-titanium-pelikan-replica-by-mr-zhuang/

 

The bands on the cap and blind cap are separate pieces which are screwed into the cap bodies.  It is quite clever in that he created several cylinders of thin layers with different colours (anodised) and each layer screws onto the previous layer, creating the illusion of the bands being carved into the main body, when in fact these are detachable cylinders one screwing onto the other.  It was all done with with such precision that the user cannot tell the difference at all, not even inside the cap, you could barely feel the interfaces using your finger.   It is even more amazing in that the caps are NOT thicker than the original plastic versions.  I would say no more than 1mm in total with the layers and threads etc combined.  He said titanium is strong enough to allow such setup.  It would be too fragile with silver for example.  The advantage of this setup means the parts can be anodised separately and you can also swap colours in theory.  It is almost impossible to weld titanium or to put a real titanium band into a recess in the cap, titanium is a very difficult metal to work with without heavy industrial equipment.

 

The entire piston mechanism is milled out of titanium stock.  The piston rod, screws, housing, everything.   The only thing not titanium are two o-rings fixed to the piston rod to act as the piston seal, and a plastic inner cap for better sealing of the nib when capped.  The pen can be fully disassembled down to each individual part.

 

He reproduced the M400 down to every detail humanly possible for a hand made piece except for the iconic beaked clip, and the M800 like screw in piston (as opposed to snap fit).  He said it is not possible to recreate the beak with titanium in his workshop.  You need a big industrial press for that.

 

The nib was a Richard Binder 14k full flex made from a monotone Pelikan M250.  I have since transferred it to a M101N I bought later.

[PithyProlix]

4 hours ago, AmandaW said:

Is it still impulsive if one has ummed and ahhhed for several days, then hit the button after finding a readily available converter might just be easily obtained?

 

Days of deliberation leading up to a hasty culmination. I believe it counts.

 

I got one of those sets - impulsively, without deliberation - about 3-4 months ago. Haven't used it much, yet ... which now makes my purchase seem even more impulsive.

Sheaffer converters are, indeed, easy to find. I am just dumping the ink in the cartridges the set came with and filling them with something much better. Not crazy about the inks in those cartridges.

[alexwi]

4 hours ago, amk said:

Considering I have just committed to buying my fifth property... and I will have three renovations on the go at the same time... I regard my pen habit as immaterial.

 

That's my excuse. Just bought 4 Kawecos in a week 🙂

 

Yeah, nothing like spending a bit of money to forget about a ton of money being spent.

 

It's kinda like my to-do list: I sometimes pick some tasks just so I can continue procrastinating others.

 

Alex

[inkstainedruth]

9 hours ago, DilettanteG said:

Oh dear, this is beginning to become my public confessional. Found a Pelikan M205 Olivine Medium nib, brand new, for $91 on eBay including shipping.  What can I say, I was over come by that "deal" mentality. I think I need to stop buying pens and leave some for the rest of you guys. 

Well, since I'm guessing that is a translucent pen, you don't have to worry about buying it out from under ME.  But buying out from under other people? That's another story altogether....   But that does sound like an awesome deal!  Nice going! 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[inkstainedruth]

6 hours ago, amk said:

Considering I have just committed to buying my fifth property... and I will have three renovations on the go at the same time... I regard my pen habit as immaterial.

 

That's my excuse. Just bought 4 Kawecos in a week 🙂

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Lam1]

17 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

He did, back in August. Check his posting history. The forum software application allows users to check that kind of thing by self-service.

 

Thanks!

 

That is an amazing pen! I would love one of those in the M1000 size!

[wtlh]

13 minutes ago, Lam1 said:

 

Thanks!

 

That is an amazing pen! I would love one of those in the M1000 size!

He does one for M800 by default, it is on his Taobao shop, he also sells a titanium piston drop in replacement for M800.  Because I liked smaller pens that I asked him do a scale down for the M400.  I would imagine a M1000 will be easier to make.

 

If I would order again I would probably have chosen a different finish, Matt or stone washed.  The polished finish is quite slippery and titanium while have a lot of good qualities is very scratch prone.  

[Lam1]

Just now, wtlh said:

He does one for M800 by default, it is on his Taobao shop, he also sells a titanium piston drop in replacement for M800.  Because I liked smaller pens that I asked him do a scale down for the M400.  I would imagine a M1000 will be easier to make.

 

M800 would be nice too! 

 

I'll have to look into it (as soon as my wallet recovers from Black Friday!... It is going to be a while). 

 

Thanks for the info! 

[senzen]

9 hours ago, DilettanteG said:

Oh dear, this is beginning to become my public confessional. Found a Pelikan M205 Olivine Medium nib, brand new, for $91 on eBay including shipping.  What can I say, I was over come by that "deal" mentality. I think I need to stop buying pens and leave some for the rest of you guys. 

 

Great price, great looking pen; whenever my eye wanders onto other green pens I trot it out to remind myself it's unlikely any will look this elegant. Because I like contrast, currently with Edelstein Topaz.

[wtlh]

13 minutes ago, Lam1 said:

 

M800 would be nice too! 

 

I'll have to look into it (as soon as my wallet recovers from Black Friday!... It is going to be a while). 

 

Thanks for the info! 

You know what I really want as my next acquisition?  A full titanium LAMY 2000, in the same style as the official steel version, but with a more suitable weight, and without the plastic piston and inserts.   A full titanium body, section and piston, in a matt spaceship gray finish.  I think the LAMY 2000 design is made for titanium.

 

I have the official steel version.  I love the look and feel of it as a piece of art one can hold and play with but not as a writing instrument.  Way too heavy and slippery.   It also fell out of my pocket several times due to gravity.

 

A titanium dialogue 3 or CC would also be OP.  But I suppose it would be too hard to make.

[senzen]

"Last ever pens", which I've been saying for more than year, this time it might be true:

 

Black Greif, waiting for a nib. I blame Azuniga and his excellent posts.

Dunhill silver dress gemline. Looks stupendous.

Pilot capless red wood. Same as above.

Geha striped piston filler. Never thought I'd be able to get one at an affordable price, fingers crossed it works properly.

[A Smug Dill]

12 minutes ago, wtlh said:

A full titanium body, section and piston, in a matt spaceship gray finish.

 

Would you trust a full titanium piston to consistently form a perfect seal against the wall of the ink reservoir, in the absence of a rubber piston plug at the end of the piston stem? I wouldn't.

[wtlh]

5 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Would you trust a full titanium piston to consistently form a perfect seal against the wall of the ink reservoir, in the absence of a rubber piston plug at the end of the piston stem? I wouldn't.

Rubber o-rings should work fine.  And o-rings are replaceable, especially for custom made stuff.  Conid also uses standard o-rings on their pens.

[A Smug Dill]

6 minutes ago, wtlh said:

Rubber o-rings should work fine.

 

I'm not sure how that applies to the piston-filling mechanism. When you retract the piston, if the seal between the rim of the piston (plug) and the reservoir's wall isn't perfect, then you can't create a vacuum to suck ink up from the bottle into the pen. What role would a rubber O-ring play in that?

 

6 minutes ago, wtlh said:

And o-rings are replaceable,

 

So are rubber piston plugs, as with PenBBS piston-filler models. PenBBS's “official” consumable and replacement parts pack, as a retail product, contains piston plugs (and piston stems, too).

[wtlh]

36 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I'm not sure how that applies to the piston-filling mechanism. When you retract the piston, if the seal between the rim of the piston (plug) and the reservoir's wall isn't perfect, then you can't create a vacuum to suck ink up from the bottle into the pen. What role would a rubber O-ring play in that?

 

 

So are rubber piston plugs, as with PenBBS piston-filler models. PenBBS's “official” consumable and replacement parts pack, as a retail product, contains piston plugs (and piston stems, too).

 

Piston plugs of course also work and relatively easy to source, but there are less size selections and as more specialised components they are not as readily available than standard sized o rings which are available in almost any diameter and can be easily sourced in hardware shops etc. and they are cheaper.

 

Standard round cross section o-rings are less than ideal but still work if the inner surfaces are well made and one leave less tolerance so that they press on the walls harder.  This is what my M400 clone did, and seems to work quite well, albeit I do have to apply silicone to it more regularly as they have higher friction.

 

These could be replaced by X cross sectioned o-rings like ones Conid use on their piston heads (which are also hard solid piece due to the need to unscrew the piston head after refilling), with slots to fit o-rings around it.    These pretty much functions like rubber piston heads, as the contact surface areas are significantly smaller than round o-rings and thus have less friction.  And X cross section o-rings are also widely used in the industrial sectors so they are easy to source as well.