One Pen One Month Challenge

[DrDebG]

 

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'.

+1

[przeklasa]

Hello Sandy101!!!

Yes, I just got used to this pen by using it daily for every writing opportunity. Thanks to you and your One Pen One Month Challenge I am learning what people experienced when fountain pens were the only ink writing instrument available. I believe when you use one fountain pen exclusively, you become quite fond of the thing in spite of any shortcomings it may have. And these shortcomings somehow vanish over time and what remains is a pen that you know intimately.

[BergerDM]

Honestly, after writing with it, I could do it with no worries with my Lamy Safari Charcoal with an F Nib. So, so smooth. Just a delight to write with.

[sandy101]

I believe when you use one fountain pen exclusively, you become quite fond of the thing in spite of any shortcomings it may have. And these shortcomings somehow vanish over time and what remains is a pen that you know intimately.

 

 

That was exactly what I experienced. After a week of constant use, a pens inflow improves and if used daily it does not develop the same inkflow problems as one that is used weekly or monthly. The writer also gets used to the pen - the hand gets used to a pen that appears too heavy, too light or whatever after a couple of weeks of constant usage. If you are not comfortable writing with it after a month - then there's probably a problem somewhere.

[1nkulus]

The writer also gets used to the pen - the hand gets used to a pen that appears too heavy, too light or whatever after a couple of weeks of constant usage. If you are not comfortable writing with it after a month - then there's probably a problem somewhere.

+1

[stauffert]

 

That was exactly what I experienced. After a week of constant use, a pens inflow improves and if used daily it does not develop the same inkflow problems as one that is used weekly or monthly. The writer also gets used to the pen - the hand gets used to a pen that appears too heavy, too light or whatever after a couple of weeks of constant usage. If you are not comfortable writing with it after a month - then there's probably a problem somewhere.

 

I wholeheartedly agree. I might try using new pens exclusively for a week or so soon after they are purchased. This would help speed up the acclimation process.

 

I have found something else out about myself while conducting this challenge. I would not have considered myself very interested in changing ink colours frequently, but that has not been the case this month. The ink colour in my Wing Sung 601 went from green to blue to purple.

[DrDebG]

 

I wholeheartedly agree. I might try using new pens exclusively for a week or so soon after they are purchased. This would help speed up the acclimation process.

 

I have found something else out about myself while conducting this challenge. I would not have considered myself very interested in changing ink colours frequently, but that has not been the case this month. The ink colour in my Wing Sung 601 went from green to blue to purple.

 

I realized very quickly that I got bored with ink colors. Every time my pen would run out of ink, I would clean the pen and change ink colors. I never realized how much how fickle I was.

[pajaro]

When I used my first better grade pen for a month I asked myself why I had bought all the other pens later. I suppose it was curiosity.

[ethernautrix]

I have not been able to take the OPOM challenge, but last year, I did fairly well with the 4POM challenge.

 

Right now, I have five pens inked. I keep trying to de-ink the Pilot 912 (PO) and Pilot Falcon/Elabo (SEF) and leave them in the Pen Valise, but a day or two later... I ink 'em back up.

 

I've had the 912 for about three years and the Falcon for about four. They aren't my favorite pen models, but I do love their nibs.

[przeklasa]

Well, I successfully completed another OPOM Challenge using an Airmail 71J eyedropper as my only writing instrument.

 

My big, fat Airmail 71J needed refilling two days ago. I tried to make the ink last until today, but it blurped on me (literally, ON me...my fingers, that is) when I opened it to write. I had the pen in my car nib up, but out of direct sunlight, and I drove from 7000 feet elevation to 5000 feet elevation and then back to 7000 feet. When I got back home, I needed to use the pen and when I opened it my fingers immediately got a couple ink smears on them. So the pen blurped inside the cap when I was driving, or maybe when I was fiddling with it when I got home. Even though the nib was positioned up there must have been ink trapped in the feed and somehow at some point in time air expanded and pushed ink out into the cap. I knew the ink level was getting low and I had to be mindful of temperature variations to minimize the possibility of a blurp. But, elevation changes plus temperature changes in the car was too much. I guess I was asking for it. If it weren't for my wanting to run the pen as empty as possible, I would have refilled it earlier and there would have been no problems with the pen during my driving and shopping expedition. Also, if it weren't for the OPOM Challenge, I would have undoubtedly chosen a different pen to accompany me.

 

I deserve getting blurped on. I did say that I wanted to make this difficult for me, and I definitely succeeded at that. A big, fat eyedropper is not the best choice for daily use and to carry on one's person whenever and wherever one needs to go. If you religiously refill an eyedropper when it reaches 1/2 empty, I do believe this type pen will work well for all day, every day, everywhere use. But, this is why we have cartridge/converter pens, and pens with ink sacs and pens with massively finned feeds. They simply work better in the "field" than eyedroppers.

 

Nonetheless, my big, fat Airmail 71J performed quite well and it was fun to do this. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I became quite familiar with it and the bigness and fatness and weight became non-issues. After one month with this pen, I am convinced that my earlier opinion on ink line width is correct. It truly is best to have the skinniest ink line width as possible for a daily use pen. I encountered bleed through on lots of paper this past month due to the wider-than-I'd-prefer ink line width. And the nib is wet, and this contributes to bleed through. When I changed from Pilot black ink to Pilot blue/black ink I initially thought bleed through was less. But after living with this ink for a while, I now realize bleed through is the same as with black ink.

 

So was picking a big, fat Airmail 71J eyedropper as my OPOM Challenge pen a dumb move?

 

Nope. It was a fun move.

[DrDebG]

Congratulations przeklasa! You did it! Well done! And you learned alot on the way, I am sure.

[przeklasa]

Dr. Penfection, I've been using fountain pens for almost 50 years. I've been using fountain pens frequently for the past 40 years. I've been using fountain pens almost exclusively for the past 12 years. I am still learning.

[DrDebG]

Dr. Penfection, I've been using fountain pens for almost 50 years. I've been using fountain pens frequently for the past 40 years. I've been using fountain pens almost exclusively for the past 12 years. I am still learning.

 

Yes indeed! And that's the beauty of fountain pens. Everyday, it seems, there are new things to experiment with and learn from. But I really enjoyed my one month challenge and am considering doing another - probably in July.

[chromantic]

I'll be starting my challenge this evening at work and am again going whole hog with one pen/one ink, this time my blue-stripe M400 EF and Stipula Dark Blue. I will carry a blue Pilot Varsity in my bag on the off chance it runs out and, again, am allowing myself quick squiggles with the inked pens on my desk every day or two, just to keep the feeds wet.

 

I'm stoked!

[sandy101]

So was picking a big, fat Airmail 71J eyedropper as my OPOM Challenge pen a dumb move?

 

 

Nope. It was a fun move.

 

No, it was not a dumb move.

 

You tried it, learnt something from the experience and shared what you learnt with the community - and had fun. Which was the purpose of the OPOM idea.

 

I did the same by choosing what many would consider a "jewellery pen" and found that "jewellery pens" can be great everyday writers once your hand gets used to it.

 

I think part of what we are learning here is that the first impressions you get from a pen are not necessarily the best ones. Considerations of weight, dryness and so on can iron themselves out over a couple of weeks. Buying a pen and putting it into a rotation where someone uses it once a week - or putting it in the drawer because the initial impression is a poor one may mean that folk are not getting the best out of their pens.

 

Clearly, you have identified some practical issues with using an eye dropper as an everyday carry - but it is only by trying this out that we identify these and can have a realistic discussion the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of pens at out disposal.

 

It sounds like the eye dropper would make an ideal desk pen - one that you could leave at work and write all day with it without interruption, but it's not a pen for air travel, rock climbers or sports where it might get knocked about a bit.

 

Thank you for giving it a go - and sharing what you've learnt.

 

 

 

 

 

[DrDebG]

I'll be starting my challenge this evening at work and am again going whole hog with one pen/one ink, this time my blue-stripe M400 EF and Stipula Dark Blue. I will carry a blue Pilot Varsity in my bag on the off chance it runs out and, again, am allowing myself quick squiggles with the inked pens on my desk every day or two, just to keep the feeds wet.

 

I'm stoked!

 

Great choices! I love the Stipula Dark Blue ink and it works wonderful in my M400. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[chromantic]

 

Great choices! I love the Stipula Dark Blue ink and it works wonderful in my M400. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

After coming to use that combo with increasing regularity, I set it aside when I decided to use it for the challenge a few weeks ago, so part of my being stoked is simply from getting to use it again.

[ethernautrix]

I have five pens that I "need" to keep inked and carry around everywhere, that I use daily. Two Nakaya Piccolos and three Pilots.

 

Friday, when I realized the next day was the first of the month, I determined to try the OPOM challenge, using my most recent acquisition (bought with the intention of its becoming the One Pen) -- a Pilot 823 (PO) (yes, I had to buy a 743 and swap the nibs).

 

But I CAN'T NOT carry a Piccolo, the unpolished shu (with a steel EF nib harvested from a Platinum 3776 Bounce). Also, I MUST have one not-black ink.

 

So, it's the best I can do. Even though it was very difficult to de-ink the heki tamenuri Piccolo and the 912 (PO) and Falcon/Elabo (SEF) (almost constantly inked and used for three years and four years, respectively)... I did it. For one month only. (Or, we'll see. Hahaha.) (Maybe not, maybe longer, hm? Hmmmm?)

 

So, my 2POM: Pilot 823 (PO) (amber) with Noodler's Black (essential ink for me) and Nakaya Piccolo Cigar (steel EF) unpolished shu (Pilot Blue, cos it's so cheerful and pretty).

 

It's 2 June. So far so good.

[chromantic]

Well, the month has gone by quickly. While I enjoyed using my blue M400 with the Stipula Dark Blue, it will be nice getting back to having a variety of inks and pens to choose from.

 

The M400 EF was a joy to use, of course, and I got more comments than I'm accustomed to, "What a beautiful pen!" being the most frequent. I only work 4 days (Wed - Sat) and don't write all that much but I topped the pen off on Wed and again on Fri so as not to run out (I normally have some free time to do sudokus on Fridays).

 

The Stipula is nicely behaved - fairly fast drying - and such a nice color, especially when it's just laid down on the copy paper we use, when you can see the gleam of the wetness before it's absorbed, yet still looks good when it's dried.

 

I did get sort of antsy towards the end; while I really only made some squiggles with the JIF with L'amant and the PaperMate with Take-sumi (refilled the cart in the JIF as a result), I flushed the Sport which had OS Nitrogen and refilled the cart using a 1/2 ink, 1/2 water mix, then did some squiggles over a few days just to check it (initial results seem good). The JIF with Pinkly has run dry, but I was going to move it to another JIF anyway and the M300 with Musk Green has run dry, also, so a flush there is in order, too.

 

All in all, a fun experience and might do it again in a couple years.

Edited July 1, 2019 by chromantic

[ethernautrix]

June 13 - Had to ink up the Pilot Falcon (SEF) and heki Piccolo.

 

I think I'm a four-"one-pen" kindv person.