One Pen One Month Challenge

[chromantic]

When I did it, I went full one pen/one ink/one month, with a 3rd gen Sheaffer school pen (with the flat ends) and several carts of Skrip Turquoise. That pen is on the short side and, since I don't post, the sharp edge on the end of the barrel dug into my hand so what might be easily over-looked with occasional use became an annoyance on a daily basis. Never got tired of the ink, however.

 

I have been thinking of doing it again, though this time I'm leaning towards the blue-striped M400 EF with Stipula Dark Blue. I've been using (and enjoying) that a lot recently so I see any reason not to. June it is, then.

[countrydirt]

Day 4! TWSBI Eco XF with some sort of blue ink (sorry, I forget...)

[lectraplayer]

Is this challenge still considered valid if i"m using several copies of the same model pen and nib? (Maybe to differentiate color instead of cleaning the pen out for frequent color changes)

[sandy101]

The point of the challenge is to have fun and not lose our jobs.

 

The general idea was to use one fountain pen as much as possible in an attempt to replicate the days of "one person, one pen,".

 

It was also an attempt to collect (anecdotal) evidence to see if expensive, cheap, mordern or vintage pens were up to the job of daily use. There's often references to "the golden age" of pens which suggested that vintage pens (pre-60's) are better than modern ones because of the time and effort companies spent on design and so on.

 

So far, we've had a range of expensive "jewelry pens" which have stood up to the test, cheap Chinese pens and a fair range of vintage and modern pens from a few brands. I would suggest that what we seem to have learnt is that the more time you spend using a pen, the better the experience. The pen doesn't dry out with daily use, the feed is more lubricated and your hand adapts to the weight and balance of the pen too - creating a much more comfortable writing experience.

 

However, in some jobs, it is impossible to restrict uses to one pen - as different colours may be necessary and in some jobs ballpoints are more practical. So, the rule was you try and use one pen as much as possible, but that does not rule out other stationery such as pencils, highlighters and so on (my grandparents who were around in the day of one pen one person seemed to use pencil for most things - informal notes and stuff. They seemed to use pen for official forms and notices).

 

If you want to try the challenge out with several pens, then there's nothing to stop you. We're not going to send the Pen Police to your door. Whatever works for you - just try and come back and tell us how it is going.

[Scylax]

There have been so many good posts in this thread, I often come back to reread what has been said so far. I'm thinking of taking on a similar approach to lectraplayer at some point, perhaps with a couple of Moonman M2s, since I do like to have a main colour and an accent colour. I wonder whether those in the past whose work or hobbies have involved extensive writing for reasons other than personal correspondence (e.g. authors, scientists, students etc) have taken this approach? I know that as far back as ancient times writers have been using tools such as beeswax 'crayons' to give them some options with regard to colour, and I can only imagine people who wrote for a living or as students might find such things useful.

[sandy101]

Neil Gaiman uses at least two pens with different colours. He uses alternate colours through-out the week. This is so he can see how much work he has done over a day.

 

As a teacher I find two colours useful - as most students write in blue or black ink - it is handy to have a different colour so that comments, corrections and complements stand out. It is also useful to have a different colour for editing scripts.

 

I've also found pencil very useful for marking scripts. The fact that it doesn't need to dry, and works on whatever cheap writin gpaer students use is a bonus. It's very much the right tool the job - at sometimes it is a stack of 2B pencils rather than inks.

[DrDebG]

For my work, I need to have at least two colors - although my normal is 5-7 colors. I generally have one main fountain pen loaded with blue as my main writer. Then I have other fountain pens with other colors. For my April challenge, I used one pen with blue and another pen with an accent color - generally red, orange or green. It worked well.

[wallylynn]

Is this challenge still considered valid if i"m using several copies of the same model pen and nib? (Maybe to differentiate color instead of cleaning the pen out for frequent color changes)

If you're looking for loopholes, then that's cheating.

[1nkulus]

If you're looking for loopholes, then that's cheating.

 

True, but I think he/she was clarifying the legal fine print.

[gyasko]

 

 

As a teacher I find two colours useful - as most students write in blue or black ink - it is handy to have a different colour so that comments, corrections and complements stand out.

 

 

Most students will write in blue or black, but i always have a couple who work in red or even pink (which is my usual marking color). As a result, i always need a couple pens for marking student papers.

[przeklasa]

Here is my day 7 update!! I wasn't going to do an update until day 10 or so, but I refilled my pen just now and this is a perfect time to relay to all of you how things are going with my big, fat Airmail 71J.

 

When I was writing earlier in the day today, I realized I could begin to see daylight through the ink "window" as I held the pen nib down. This indicates the ink level is getting low. Usually with this pen (I have a few more 71J pens that I have been using over the past couple years) I get indications that the pen may start to blurp long before the ink level hits the "window". But this pen seems to want to blurp less than the other 71J's I have. It could be that the weather is warmer now. Plus I have been keeping this pen clipped to my t shirt collar which keeps the pen at body temperature which helps tremendously with blurping. I decided to not tempt the blurp gods and refill the pen. I emptied the remaining ink in a vial and I measure 1 ml of ink. That means I used a full 3 ml of ink without any blurps, or drips or spotting. The pen performed flawlessly for 7 days and 3 ml of ink. I am VERY happy with this pen. In the past using my other 71J pens I would get indications of forthcoming blurping after using 2.25 ml of ink. Again, this pen has an ink capacity of 4 ml. Every pen is a little different, even pens that are exactly the same. You can have 5 pens that are exactly the same and each will perform a teeny bit differently.

 

Yes, choosing an eyedropper for a daily pen may be a dumb move, but when a pen, any pen, is used daily, constantly, for a lengthy amount of time, you get to really know the pen and how to get the best from it.

 

I am learning that my preconception of big, fat, eyedroppers being useful as only indoor desk pens is not necessarily correct. The key is to determine when it is time to refill before blurping begins. And the only way to know this is to use the pen and see when the nib and feed become heavy with ink.

 

Another preconception I have is regarding the ink line width. I believe that an XFine, or even an XXFine, ink line width is best for an everyday pen. This reduces, if not eliminates, bleedthrough with most paper. And when using a pen daily for every ink writing task, you encounter all qualities of paper thus the necessity of thin ink lines (well, at least that is how I see it). Well, this pen is at best XFine on low quality paper because the nib writes somewhat wet. So far I have had no problem writing on cheap paper, though there is some bleedthrough. I may have to re-evaluate my thinking on acceptable ink line width for daily use.

[countrydirt]

I could not find my TWSBI Eco last night after returning from a trip, so I was discouraged. This morning, when I drove to work and parked in my normal spot, I saw the pen lying on the ground. So, I'm still in for this one month. Day 7 done and 8 underway!!

[1nkulus]

I could not find my TWSBI Eco last night after returning from a trip, so I was discouraged. This morning, when I drove to work and parked in my normal spot, I saw the pen lying on the ground. So, I'm still in for this one month. Day 7 done and 8 underway!!

 

The parking spot AFAIK is for the car not pens. Acquisition of a pen pouch might be in order.

[lectraplayer]

Here is my day 7 update!! I wasn't going to do an update until day 10 or so, but I refilled my pen just now and this is a perfect time to relay to all of you how things are going with my big, fat Airmail 71J.

 

When I was writing earlier in the day today, I realized I could begin to see daylight through the ink "window" as I held the pen nib down. This indicates the ink level is getting low. Usually with this pen (I have a few more 71J pens that I have been using over the past couple years) I get indications that the pen may start to blurp long before the ink level hits the "window". But this pen seems to want to blurp less than the other 71J's I have. It could be that the weather is warmer now. Plus I have been keeping this pen clipped to my t shirt collar which keeps the pen at body temperature which helps tremendously with blurping. I decided to not tempt the blurp gods and refill the pen. I emptied the remaining ink in a vial and I measure 1 ml of ink. That means I used a full 3 ml of ink without any blurps, or drips or spotting. The pen performed flawlessly for 7 days and 3 ml of ink. I am VERY happy with this pen. In the past using my other 71J pens I would get indications of forthcoming blurping after using 2.25 ml of ink. Again, this pen has an ink capacity of 4 ml. Every pen is a little different, even pens that are exactly the same. You can have 5 pens that are exactly the same and each will perform a teeny bit differently.

 

Yes, choosing an eyedropper for a daily pen may be a dumb move, but when a pen, any pen, is used daily, constantly, for a lengthy amount of time, you get to really know the pen and how to get the best from it.

 

I am learning that my preconception of big, fat, eyedroppers being useful as only indoor desk pens is not necessarily correct. The key is to determine when it is time to refill before blurping begins. And the only way to know this is to use the pen and see when the nib and feed become heavy with ink.

 

Another preconception I have is regarding the ink line width. I believe that an XFine, or even an XXFine, ink line width is best for an everyday pen. This reduces, if not eliminates, bleedthrough with most paper. And when using a pen daily for every ink writing task, you encounter all qualities of paper thus the necessity of thin ink lines (well, at least that is how I see it). Well, this pen is at best XFine on low quality paper because the nib writes somewhat wet. So far I have had no problem writing on cheap paper, though there is some bleedthrough. I may have to re-evaluate my thinking on acceptable ink line width for daily use.

I used to use one of those blasted Noodler's Charlie's as my daily scribble, and was able to use it most of the way down without a leak, though you certainly have to be REALLY careful with it. The thing lived in my pocket as I performed maintenance duties, so the closes thing I had to a desk was a toolbox. Actually emptied it a couple times. Granted, if it ever turned nib down in my pocket, my hands would be dark when I went to use it.

[przeklasa]

Hello Lectraplayer, it looks like the Noodler's Charlie is the spitting image of an Airmail 71J, or maybe it's an Oliver 69 clone. A big, fat, old design eyedropper with an India pedigree. Your Charlie performed quite well. I found if you can use an eyedropper to 1/2 empty level without blurping, that is good. If you can use an eyedropper to 3/4 empty level without blurping, you should cherish that pen. You never know if that new eyedropper you have in your hand will perform poorly or admirably until you ink it and use it, all the while being on the look out for the nib and feed getting VERY wet with ink (which is the point just before you get a big blob of ink on your paper).

 

I've used many eyedroppers for many years. A lot of them won't perform well without some tweaking such as heat setting the nib and feed (sometimes I need to heat set several times before I get it right), positioning the nib and/or feed into the section a bit more, or positioning the nib and/or feed further out of the section a bit more. If I keep at it, I can usually get any eyedropper to work quite well.

 

When I chose the Airmail 71J for the OPOM Challenge, the only unknown for me was how the size of this pen was going to work out on a daily basis. I've used skinny and medium girth eyedroppers for daily pens, but never one this BIG. Today is day 10, and the size of the pen is not much of a problem I am pleased to say. And I am finding the feel of this large pen is nice. Yeah, that is a good description...it feels nice! Something about this pen just works. It feels great in my hand, the nib feels wonderful as I write, the wetter ink line is captivating as it shines in the light before drying, and I am liking the wider ink line width (I typically prefer an XXFine nib for daily writers). It hasn't blurped on me when it was 3/4 empty, and it takes a pretty hard shake before ink splatters out of the nib. I am loving this pen.

 

I guess I just gave everyone my day 10 update.

[przeklasa]

Here is my day 20 update.

I had to refill my big, fat Airmail 71J yesterday. I decided to put Pilot blue/black ink in it this time.

The wet, 0.3mm (and sometimes wider) ink line width is working out fine Other than experiencing more bleed through than I would like on low to mid quality paper, I am having no problems with the ink line width nor with the wetter (than I am used to) ink line. I still feel that a pen that is used everyday for everything is best with a very skinny ink line that is a bit on the dry side...ideally. But as I just admitted, I am having no real problems with this nib. Though, I personally prefer less bleed through.

The blue/black ink seems to have less bleed through than the black ink I originally used in this pen. I would bet money that this pen is a tad drier with the blue/black than with black ink. But perhaps the blue/black color is simply less intense than black, and that may be the reason I "see" less bleed through.

Surprisingly, the bigness and fatness of this pen has gone away. This pen feels normal to me now. This is unexpected. I really thought I'd be complaining (to myself) about the size and how it is just too big for an all day/everyday pen. When I look at it, it definitely looks large. When I hold it in my fist, it seems large. But when I write with it, it feels good. It does not feel small (obviously). It does not feel medium-ish. But it doesn't feel overly big. It feels fine. It writes great, the nib is wonderful. It just feels good when I write with it. I am surprised that this big, fat pen is no longer big and fat.

Regarding blurping, I refilled the pen with less than 1/2 ml of ink remaining. So I was able to use more than 3.5 ml of ink without any sign of blurps. The feed was just starting to get a bit heavy with ink, but no blobs of ink hanging from the nib. I am impressed with this eyedropper. I don't know why this pen works better than most all my other eyedroppers. I think everything came together just right on this pen, hence the good performance.

Well that's it for now. I'll be back at the end of the month.

[sandy101]

Do you think that you got used to the pen over the 20 days you've been using it?

 

I've had the same observation with inks on a Lamy 2K. With Lamy's black ink, there is a lot of feathering & bleed and I get thicker lines. With Diamine's velvet blue I get a much better behaviour -no bleed, and no feathering.

 

With the Lamy ink the medium nibs produced lines on the medium-broad side.

With the Diamine ink the same nib produces lines on the dead centre medium side.

Other papers may vary, of course.

[1nkulus]

The nib, ink, paper conundrum and the quest to marry all three. I am still tumbling down this rabbit hole, as we speak.

[DrDebG]

The nib, ink, paper conundrum and the quest to marry all three. I am still tumbling down this rabbit hole, as we speak.

 

LOL! Good luck! I think we are all doing the same.

 

 

The wet, 0.3mm (and sometimes wider) ink line width is working out fine Other than experiencing more bleed through than I would like on low to mid quality paper, I am having no problems with the ink line width nor with the wetter (than I am used to) ink line. I still feel that a pen that is used everyday for everything is best with a very skinny ink line that is a bit on the dry side...ideally. But as I just admitted, I am having no real problems with this nib. Though, I personally prefer less bleed through.

The blue/black ink seems to have less bleed through than the black ink I originally used in this pen. I would bet money that this pen is a tad drier with the blue/black than with black ink. But perhaps the blue/black color is simply less intense than black, and that may be the reason I "see" less bleed through.

Surprisingly, the bigness and fatness of this pen has gone away. This pen feels normal to me now. This is unexpected. I really thought I'd be complaining (to myself) about the size and how it is just too big for an all day/everyday pen. When I look at it, it definitely looks large. When I hold it in my fist, it seems large. But when I write with it, it feels good. It does not feel small (obviously). It does not feel medium-ish. But it doesn't feel overly big. It feels fine. It writes great, the nib is wonderful. It just feels good when I write with it. I am surprised that this big, fat pen is no longer big and fat.

 

I found that the OB nib on my Boheme became more like an OBBBBBB with my J. Herbin inks - which are much wetter, and the bleed through was horrible on regular copy paper. But when I used Lamy blue, the line shrank to an OM and it seemed like I was scratching my nails on a blackboard. So, I switched fairly quickly to a medium wet ink, Calamo Deep Blue - that worked very well. Also the Montblanc inks that I have also worked well.

 

It isn't that the ink is a problem, but the combination of the pen and ink may not be optimal. I have a dry Conklin fp that does very well with Herbin inks.

 

One of the things that I really liked about doing the OnePenOneMonth Challenge is that I learned very quickly how my pen worked with various inks and paper.

[1nkulus]

One of the things that I really liked about doing the OnePenOneMonth Challenge is that I learned very quickly how my pen worked with various inks and paper.

 

You definitely learn to enjoy your pens a lot more and create your own paper, ink, nib combo's in the process.

 

This exercise brings out the persona of each pen rather than being relegated to 'a pen'.