One Pen One Month Challenge

[tleek]

Ive been thinking about this lately. On one hand I admire the man or woman who recognizes quality and uses the one tool he trusts. The hunters trusty rifle, the single pocket knife, etc can become part of a person. On the other hand, variety is the spice of life and rotations are fun.

 

I may be in, but I may sit this one out.

 

Good luck guys!

Edited February 9, 2019 by tleek

[sandy101]

 

My weapon of choice will be a Wing Sung 601 F; the ink is yet to be chosen

 

 

 

 

Dominique

 

You do not have to use only one ink.

 

You can use as many inks, and as many features of the pen you choose as you like.

 

This is so we can get a picture of how useful some features of different pens are - and whether they are of some benefit.

 

For example,, I chose to use an MB piston filler - which was great - it kept writing for weeks - I got two weeks out of every fill. But that also mean that changing colours was not really practical so towards the end of the month I wasn't missing other pens, but other colours.

 

Someone who chose to use a cartridge convertor might find it easier as they have some control over the amount of ink they can fill with, but of course that means they are filling up every two days - and does that cause different problems to the piston filler where there isn't much control.

 

if you can switch nibs with your pen- you can switch nibs, but again how often do you make use of this feature? Is it nice to have, or a pain since the pen has to be empty before you attach a new nib, aand so it isn't really used much.

[Scylax]

 

You do not have to use only one ink.

 

You can use as many inks, and as many features of the pen you choose as you like.

 

This is so we can get a picture of how useful some features of different pens are - and whether they are of some benefit.

 

For example,, I chose to use an MB piston filler - which was great - it kept writing for weeks - I got two weeks out of every fill. But that also mean that changing colours was not really practical so towards the end of the month I wasn't missing other pens, but other colours.

 

Someone who chose to use a cartridge convertor might find it easier as they have some control over the amount of ink they can fill with, but of course that means they are filling up every two days - and does that cause different problems to the piston filler where there isn't much control.

 

if you can switch nibs with your pen- you can switch nibs, but again how often do you make use of this feature? Is it nice to have, or a pain since the pen has to be empty before you attach a new nib, aand so it isn't really used much.

 

You make great points, and I'm really grateful to you not only for starting this challenge but for sharing your experiences so fully. Did you ever try it with a P51 as you thought you might? I'm not really ideally suited to giving much useful feedback on this challenge since I'm trying to stick to one ink long term, though I'm messing about right now trying to find it! But (not during this challenge!) I have 'hot-swapped- nibs on my Conids - the collars simply unscrew, so if you empty the front small 'tank' into the back and don't mind slightly inky fingers, you certainly don't have to go through a full fill to decide to switch out nib units

[sandy101]

I haven't tried the P51 yet - the nib om my P51 is in need of a regrind or something. It writes at an odd angle, which isn't comfortable, so I'm hoping I might be able to get it looked at at the London Pen Show.I'm going to the London pen club in March, and I'll take it along to see what other people's experiences are. Either the nib is in need of a regrind, or is an oblique. I've looked at it under a loupe and I'm not entirely sure. It's not bent, but it is uneven.

 

As for this one pen one month challenge - it seems to have taken on a life of its own - which is lovely. People are taking the challenge as and when it suits them, and reporting back with some interesting feedback. So far modern pens & vintage pens across the price ranges have been tried. Some pens have not worked very well, but the pens that have lasted a month seem to come out with flying colours.

 

However, I have had a go with an S T Dupont D Line pen. It is a cartridge convertor - but all I used was cartridges. It was a joy to use for a month. The pen, being all metal is relatively heavy, but it is so well balanced that writing with it is a joy. Again - as with the MB - it is not the weight of a pen that makes writing difficult, but the balance. An unbalanced pen needs work effort.

 

The pen was new, so it did have some teething problems - the feed was dry and the ink wasn't flowing. It was only when I gave it the feed a clean with a toothbrush that the ink started to flow properly. After two weeks of constant use - the pen was writing without a hitch. So, again for any new pen - use it constantly for two weeks and after that you will be writing with a different pen altogether.

 

I changed from royal blue to black ink after two weeks - and this was so much easier than changing inks on the MB piston. Just attach the convertor, run some water through the nib and feed and pop in a new cartridge. The fact that I could carry a spare couple of cartridges in a pencil case was useful. Once I'd got the pen writing, there was no significant difference between writing with a piston or a cartridge - apart from the fact that I had an easy refill to hand. My piston pen wrote for two weeks between refills, the cartridge 3-4 days - but with a refill to hand it was possible to continue writing without much interruption. Of course cartridges are not as economical - and not all pistons are equal when it comes to ink capacity - but when it comes to writing, I noticed no huge difference between the two.

 

One thing I did learn was that it is easier to replace the cartridge whilst there is still ink in the feed. Do this and you get a continuous flow of ink. If you write until the feed is dry then you've got to coax the ink from the cartridge into the feed. You can make this process easier by wetting the feed by dipping the nib into water or a handy bottle of ink.

 

The only real hitch was that the pen does not post (as it will damage the lacquer). This made writing notes on the fly difficult. I always have a notebook & a pen case with me to write poems, prose and character sketches - and doing this on the bus where you need one hand to hold the book, one to hold the pen and another hand to hold the cap makes it more uncomfortable that necessary. So, if you are writing away from a desk - one very useful feature for an everyday carry is a pen that posts. It is more practical - and that leads back to the question of balance - a pen is designed to remain balanced when posted will be an EDC for life. Of course, the Pilot capless/vanishing point dispenses with the cap altogether

 

Of course, what is balanced for one person, is unbalanced for another - and this is where B&M shopping beats online.

 

 

 

So after this 2nd trial my advice for anyone looking for a 1st pen - or one that will stand the test of time is the following.

 

1/ Choose a pen that will suit your hand. Balance, rather than weight seems to be a more significant factor.

 

2/ Think about where you will use the pen. If this pens is for an everyday carry, a pen that posts might be more practical. Dropping and chipping an expensively lacquered cap on the bus will ruin your day (didn't happen to me, but it was a possibility). If it is going to be used largely at a desk -then posting is not going to be an issue.

 

3/ If the ink doesn't flow at first - dipping the nib in water or ink to wet the feed can help. If not give the pen a clean with water, and gently scrub the feet with a toothbrush

 

4/ Make the (new) pen your constant companion for two weeks. You will find that after two weeks you have a different - and much better pen than the one you started with. Your hand will adapt to a heavy/light pen and the ink flow will improve.

 

5/ The advantage of carrying the same pen is you can have the paper that suits with you too.

 

6/ Have a back-up. Fountain pens do not write on all surfaces or papers - a biro/pencil/mechanical is useful to have when presented with something that will not take FP ink.

 

Would anyone like to add to this, or suggest any alterations?

Edited February 10, 2019 by sandy101

[by_a_Lady]

 

You do not have to use only one ink.

 

You can use as many inks, and as many features of the pen you choose as you like.

 

This is so we can get a picture of how useful some features of different pens are - and whether they are of some benefit.

 

For example,, I chose to use an MB piston filler - which was great - it kept writing for weeks - I got two weeks out of every fill. But that also mean that changing colours was not really practical so towards the end of the month I wasn't missing other pens, but other colours.

 

Someone who chose to use a cartridge convertor might find it easier as they have some control over the amount of ink they can fill with, but of course that means they are filling up every two days - and does that cause different problems to the piston filler where there isn't much control.

 

if you can switch nibs with your pen- you can switch nibs, but again how often do you make use of this feature? Is it nice to have, or a pain since the pen has to be empty before you attach a new nib, aand so it isn't really used much.

 

Yes, upon further consideration (especially after reading the many statements that people started to miss their inks ), it would be better if I didn't fix myself on just one colour. I didn't accumulate several dozens of colours for nothing.

 

I have already soft-started the challenge in the last week (on skiing vacation and only took this pen with me for random note-taking), and the 601 is the perfect pen, I can tell as much! The nib is extremely smooth, after a bit of tinkering also wet enough for my extravagant tastes, and the filling mechanism is quick in taking up a ton of ink. I'm definitely going to get some more models and grind stubs on a couple of them.

That is really the only drawback for me - while the F nib is smooth and consistent, I just by far prefer ~1mm italic stubs. They make my handwriting look less shaky, and I write faster with them than round nibs.

 

 

Dominique

[Scylax]

Well I almost made a month, but I have run into some problems I don't know how to solve. My whole goal with pens for probably 2 years now has been to have two identical large pens which fit my hands and general needs with identically (ultra) fine nibs that fit my tiny writing. The body of the Conid Kingsize is perfect for me and has so many features that make it just right for me - size, smooth metal grip section, demonstrator, large ink capacity. What didn't work from the start were the nibs. I ordered my pens with custom 0.1mm grinds. What I received was doubtless the best the nib technician could manage, but far from my needs. I contacted a nib technician to get on the waiting list to have them worked on, but that list is still ongoing and may have a year yet to run and the nibs aren't really useable. So I tried a standard Bock 8 EF - well it writes ok, but it's so broad it just isn't any use to me. Also I don't enjoy big nibs. So I had the idea of contacting FNF to make me some custom collars to put different nibs on the pens - JOWO 6 and Platinum Century 3776. The collars are all fantastic. But the JOWO nibs didn't work - I didn't realise how long they are compared to Bock, and the second day of using one I snapped the tines on the inside of the Conid cap. The Platinum nibs are a much better size. Again they fit perfectly in the collars. But I ordered two Platinum Century UEFs to transplant the nibs. One writes well but is so wide it's more like a Japanese medium, so again, not suited to my writing. The second writes a great fine line - but barely writes at all! The flow is terrible, it skips and stops, takes ages to get started after even a few hours, and feels like it doesn't like being anywhere near paper at all. I can't get them back out of the collars to try other ones, and I can't afford to keep buying new nibs and collars for my pens. Honestly I'm rather in despair - I can't find anything that suits my writing at all! Sorry for the vent/rant, but maybe someone here has some bright ideas - or at least some consolation!

[JollyCynic]

Well, I've just completed my OPOM challenge. What a ride!

 

My pen was a PenBBS 456-38SF (Silence, blue and purple, vacuum-filler) with a replacement PenBBS RF nib (to start, at least). I'd been considering how to do this challenge with the difficulties my journaling and part-time student note-taking systems I have ... And this pen came in the post, and I just started the challenge without considering anything else. I just wanted to write with this pen for a month.

 

The first thing I missed was ink. I normally journal with a different colour every day, and have different pen/ink combos for notes, assignments, and projects. (Nobody much cares what I do at work.) This pen holds a fair amount of ink, and works best when chain-filled with the same ink over and over. I went with Jinhao Bluish Violet. Stop laughing. I love it. I searched for months to find this ink in bottles instead of cartridges, and then four sources all showed up in the same month. I said stop laughing. It's an awesome purple. Anyway, I really learned to appreciate that ink even more by using it for the month. Toward the end it wasn't enough and I'm chomping at the bit to get some more colour on the page, but it had a lot of characteristics to keep my attention.

 

The real challenge was about a week in, when I was already bored to tears with the nib. I didn't want to give up, but I wanted to pick up basically any other pen and start writing. So instead, I grabbed some files and micro-mesh, and ground myself an italic. And oh. My. Goodness. It turned this "challenge" into an indulgence. It took a few sessions to get it just how I like it, but that's kind of the point. I realised that since I couldn't get a better (in this case funner or more interesting) writing experience by running off to another pen, I had to make this pen better. I had to make this good pen the right pen.

 

So that's what I really learned from this challenge. I'm not after a single writing experience, so there's more than one right pen for me. But the right pen isn't likely to be on a shelf, it's going to be something I need to meet half way.

 

It's already impacted the way I look at buying pens, looking for the right pen rather than one I'm going to really enjoy. I've put off buying a pen because it won't be available in the model/material I want for the next six months to two years. And if I can't get the nib into shape myself, I'm going to have to line up someone to help me do that. The days of what Bo Bo calls the Pen of the Month in the Mail Club are probably gone, now, aside from the cheap pens I buy for giggles anyway.

 

Thanks, Sandy101, for a heck of a fun challenge.

[sandy101]

Thank you, JollyCynic.

 

To be honest, I am surprised that the challenge is still going after two years.

 

I missed different inks more than I missed different pens.

 

I've bought fewer pens over the last two years too. It is more one pen a year - rather than one pen every month. That doesn't mean I'm saving much money as the pens tend to be a tad more expensive, but since I'm not paying £X a month plus £X on postage - it does make it more manageable.

 

Of course, a pen with an interchangeable nib might be more your bag - Lamy or Pelikan - you just swap the nib when you are ready.

[DrDebG]

The idea of using one pen for one month has intrigued me now for several months. The thought of becoming very familiar with one pen is appealing. In addition, using only one pen might keep me from getting distracted by the decision of which pen to use, and changing pens every five minutes. Each time that I have thought about doing this, I have had to rule it out because of my work and the need for different colors - at least two different colors of ink.

 

I have made a decision to do the challenge anyway - with one modification. I will use two pens for the month, each with a different color - which satisfies my work requirement.

 

Pen #1: I have recently acquired a Montblanc Boheme retractable with an oblique broad nib. This will be my main pen, with primarily blue inks.

 

Pen #2: My other oblique nib is an oblique medium nib in my Franklin Christoph Panther 40. This will be my secondary pen and I will use a second color in either red, green or purple.

 

These pens look like they are radically different (one is fairly short, and the other very long when posted), but they are similar in weight (although the smaller Boheme is slightly heavier), surprisingly similar in balance and both have oblique nibs.

 

So starting Monday, I will be using these two pens, but mostly the Boheme.

 

 

Perhaps the hardest thing for me is to prepare for this. I have been "using up" the ink in my other pens, and cleaning and putting them away for a month. I feel like I am putting my kids in time out or like I am telling my good friends that I don't have time for them. Yes, I know that is silly, but it is surprisingly emotional. I've never realized how "addicted" I am to have a significant number of pens inked at a time. So, this is good. I know this is going to be good for me. It will be freeing. Well, at least that is what I keep telling myself.

 

I will keep you posted on how it goes.

[sandy101]

Absence makes the heart grow fonder - so I suspect you may find yourself loving your pens a bit more. Think of it as a holiday.

 

I was surprised that I didn't miss pens so much, it was other inks.

 

I had to supplement my pen with pencils and a Parker jotter. Some papers I had to mark just weren't FP friendly - as were some of the postcards I wrote.

[DrDebG]

So this is the end of Week 1 of my two pen, one month challenge. And it has been a challenging week. I've learned a number of things about my Montblanc Boheme - some positive, some not so much.

 

First thing is that it is a well balanced pen for my hand and I really like the section size. These features made the pen easy to write with for longer periods of time. But I also noticed that the nib has a bit of baby's bottom, and after the initial bit of ink clears the nib, I have an occasional hard start. This occurrs frequently when writing in my journal, which is Clairfontaine paper. It also feels as though I am dragging the pen across the page with the page. I didn't notice this as much with Tomoe River paper or surprisingly lesser quality papers. I also noticed that with a saturated ink, the ink bled through the Clairfontaine paper easily, but not the Tomoe River. I've never had an ink bleed through Clairfontaine paper before, but then again I haven't used a wider nib pen on Clairfontaine paper before. So rather than blame my pen, I think I will blame the paper. Note to self: Next journal, make sure it is Tomoe River paper.

 

Another thing that I have found to be a bit of a nuisance is that the pen only uses small cartridges. While that may not seem such a problem, when you are writing with only one pen and you go through at least one cartridge a day, it is a pain to either stop what you are doing and refill the cartridge from a bottle, or pop in another cartridge. I did not think this issue through when I decided on this pen for the one month challenge. Normally, I have 15-20 pens inked, so when one runs out of ink, I have others ready. But since I am only using one pen for my main writing, this is a bit of an inconvenience. I should have chosen a piston filler.

 

As I mentioned in my "challenge post" above, I am using two pens, but the second is only for a second color. I chose my Franklin-Christoph Panther with oblique nib. This pen has performed flawlessly on any paper I use. But again, this is my "mark-up" pen, so I am not doing much actual writing with it.

 

This has been a good experiment for me. I just hope I don't get too frustrated refilling the cartridges every day.

Edited April 7, 2019 by DrPenfection

[Karmachanic]

Skipping may be due to hand oil on the paper. I find this more so with Clairefontaine than TR. I use a sheet of cheap copy paper folded in half, used horizontally, to protect the page. Also doubles as a page mark and blotter.

 

If you have sufficient cartridges fill them once a week?

Edited April 8, 2019 by Karmachanic

[DrDebG]

Skipping may be due to hand oil on the paper. I find this more so with Clairefontaine than TR. I use a sheet of cheap copy paper folded in half, used horizontally, to protect the page. Also doubles as a page mark and blotter.

 

If you have sufficient cartridges fill them once a week?

 

 

Thank you so much for the great suggestions. I will give them a try. After you fill the cartridges, how would you suggest "capping" them so that the ink does not evaporate?

[sandy101]

 

 

Thank you so much for the great suggestions. I will give them a try. After you fill the cartridges, how would you suggest "capping" them so that the ink does not evaporate?

 

Lump of blu-tack or Sellotape.

[Karmachanic]

 

Lump of blu-tack or Sellotape.

 

That would be Scotchtape in the US.

[stauffert]

I will try this for May. It will be good for me since I probably have too many pens inked right now.

• Lamy Safari (in my jacket)
• Kaweco ALsport (in my pocket)
• Wing Sung 3008 (at work)
• Wing Sung 3003 (at home)
• Vac700R with an Ahab nib (at home)
• Decimo (in my briefcase)

Plus my wife will have at least four or five pens inked.

[ethernautrix]

I've used a hot-glue gun to seal re-filled cartridges.

 

For Pilot cartridges, I use the disc to seal re-filled cartridges. I tamp the disc with the mouth end of a Platinum cartridge. It's a perfect fit and ensures even pressure while tamping.

[DrDebG]

Thank you everyone for your great suggestions regarding refilling the cartridges. I think I will try the tape first - but perhaps using painter's tape since the adhesive come right off, so that it doesn't "gum" up the pen - especially since this is a Boheme.

 

I also tried using a piece of paper for the heel of my hand when I write, but the paper in this Clairfontaine notebook is literally "a drag". I feel like I have to drag the nib across the paper. I really don't like the feel of it. And it is only with this notebook. When I write in my "ink" notebook - which is a Rhodia notebook - I don't have the same problem. As soon as I finish with this notebook, I am going to switch back to Tomoe River.

 

I will say, however, that the Boheme stopped the hard starts which has been nice. And the F-C behaves beautifully as always.

[DrDebG]

I will try this for May. It will be good for me since I probably have too many pens inked right now.

• Lamy Safari (in my jacket)
• Kaweco ALsport (in my pocket)
• Wing Sung 3008 (at work)
• Wing Sung 3003 (at home)
• Vac700R with an Ahab nib (at home)
• Decimo (in my briefcase)

Plus my wife will have at least four or five pens inked.

 

I understand completely. Last month I had 18 pens inked.

 

This has been a good exercise for me to really get to know my pen and use it correctly (although I am technically using 2 pens with the second pen for editing, making notes, etc.; the second pen doesn't get nearly the use the first pen does).

[stauffert]

My Wing Sung 601 (teal demonstrator) just arrived this week. I filled it with some Pelikan Olivine and it writes very nicely. This will be my pen for May. I'll still carry the Kaweco in my pocket in case I run out of ink while traveling.

 

I let my other Wing Sungs, Safari and my Vac 700R run out. My Decimo is stingy with the ink, so the cartridge is not quite exhausted yet. Perhaps I will have a lot of notes to take before Wednesday.

 

The preparation for this exercise has been beneficial so far in that it has rekindled my love for my Decimo which had waned over the past decade.