Enjoying Montblanc Pens — Broad, Oblique, Extra Fine, Le & Bespoke

[Tom Kellie]

Then I am a man of many tongues. That or my mind is fractured beyond belief.

 

~ zaddick:

 

You're MULTILINGUAL.

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

~ Jeremy:

 

You've blown this thread open with two superb hand-written posts.

Thank you for not one, but two great pen quotes, handwritten with elegant ink from no less than four of your pens.

The design, concept, labelling, handwriting, quotes — they all inspire yours truly.

Such posts enable all of us to actually see how particular pens, nibs, and inks are performing, rather than typing out descriptions on a keyboard.

You're showing the enjoyment of Montblanc fountain pens in action.

This thread is the richer for your visual posts.

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

[jconn]

~ Jeremy:

 

You've blown this thread open with two superb hand-written posts.

Thank you for not one, but two great pen quotes, handwritten with elegant ink from no less than four of your pens.

The design, concept, labelling, handwriting, quotes — they all inspire yours truly.

Such posts enable all of us to actually see how particular pens, nibs, and inks are performing, rather than typing out descriptions on a keyboard.

You're showing the enjoyment of Montblanc fountain pens in action.

This thread is the richer for your visual posts.

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

 

Tom,

 

Thank you for your effusive praise. I was trying to capture the differences between wide and narrow nibs, especially in the course of normal writing, so that maybe the some naysayers might see the possibilities of BB/OBB nibs in daily use.

 

Plus, it was late at night and it's much easier to use the scanner than set up to use the camera when there is no natural light!

 

Jeremy

[Nathanb]

My first adventures with oblique nibs, the medium seems easier to write with at the moment - lots of practice ahead

 

 

Edited February 8, 2018 by Nathanb

[Tom Kellie]

I was trying to capture the differences between wide and narrow nibs, especially in the course of normal writing, so that maybe the some naysayers might see the possibilities of BB/OBB nibs in daily use.

 

~ Jeremy:

 

Thank you for explaining the background context of your post with handwriting samples from a quartet of nibs.

Several years it ago I read scattered posts by Ghost Plane strongly expressing her satisfaction with BB and OBB nibs as daily writers.

That intrigued me, as my experience in testing such nibs at a Montblanc boutique was mostly negative.

With both cursive and printing, the BB and OBB tester pens inked with Mystery Black were splotchy writers.

What I saw had no appeal whatsoever. Yet Ghost Plane expressed sentiments otherwise. I was puzzled after several boutique visits, all with the same dismal results.

The breakthrough was when I read an offhand comment in a thread where someone commented on the poor quality of the paper supplied in Montblanc boutiques.

They took quality paper with them, in order to see how nibs wrote, with a noticeable improvement in the result.

After reading that, I took a sheet of Clairefontaine Triomphe A4 to the boutique. The BB and OBB nibs wrote very well on it.

Since then, I've gravitated to the broader nibs as daily writers, as I like their expressive qualities.

Your post was superb, in that it showed the difference in effect of writing with broader nibs and others.

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

My first adventures with oblique nibs, the medium seems easier to write with at the moment - lots of practice ahead

 

~ Nathanb:

 

It's very nice to see the comparison handwriting image of the two pens.

Thank you for posting that, as it's an encouragement to practice to expand writing skills.

Have you practiced both cursive and printing with your oblique nibs?

When I first used oblique nibs, I felt uncertain as to how to best make full use of their canted nib face.

Several sheets of paper were covered with three types of writing: cursive, printing and doodles.

The nibs weren't changing much, but the hand-eye coordination of yours truly was shifting, as were my expectations for the feel of writing with the pens.

It took me a couple of weeks before it became second nature as I'm a notoriously slow learner.

You're writing with a couple of attractive oblique-nibbed pens.

Please share your feelings about using them after more time has passed.

I'm hoping that you'll come to enjoy writing with them as much as I now enjoy writing with mine.

Tom K.

[meiers]

Hi Tom.

I loved your story. Zuji is an adorable little monkey and he is so fortunate to be living with an intelligent & understanding human !!!

The teeth marks on the piston knob will remind you of this misadventure. Matt

[thygreyt]

The pen. (this is not the pen you are looking for! lol)

 

 

The writing.

 

 

Gotta love obliques!

(oblique medium cursive italic by Dan Smith, and Lavander purple ink)

Edited February 8, 2018 by Reed_thoughts

[Ghost Plane]

~ Jeremy:

 

 

Thank you for explaining the background context of your post with handwriting samples from a quartet of nibs.

Several years it ago I read scattered posts by Ghost Plane strongly expressing her satisfaction with BB and OBB nibs as daily writers.

That intrigued me, as my experience in testing such nibs at a Montblanc boutique was mostly negative.

With both cursive and printing, the BB and OBB tester pens inked with Mystery Black were splotchy writers.

What I saw had no appeal whatsoever. Yet Ghost Plane expressed sentiments otherwise. I was puzzled after several boutique visits, all with the same dismal results.

The breakthrough was when I read an offhand comment in a thread where someone commented on the poor quality of the paper supplied in Montblanc boutiques.

They took quality paper with them, in order to see how nibs wrote, with a noticeable improvement in the result.

After reading that, I took a sheet of Clairefontaine Triomphe A4 to the boutique. The BB and OBB nibs wrote very well on it.

Since then, I've gravitated to the broader nibs as daily writers, as I like their expressive qualities.

Your post was superb, in that it showed the difference in effect of writing with broader nibs and others.

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

Awww! Nice to know my cryptic mumbles get read, much less educate.

 

Have another cookie. *passes the plate*

[Nathanb]

Tom - Thanks for taking the time to reply and sharing your experience and words of encouragement. I have included both into my daily rotation and look forward to more pen to paper time! My preference is generally to print, in a very small font and i sense this is not the preferable format when driving an oblique! As you noted, practice is the key

[Ghost Plane]

Tom - Thanks for taking the time to reply and sharing your experience and words of encouragement. I have included both into my daily rotation and look forward to more pen to paper time! My preference is generally to print, in a very small font and i sense this is not the preferable format when driving an oblique! As you noted, practice is the key

 

I print. Keep playing. As your hand gains muscle memory, you’ll be surprised how small you can go.

[jconn]

Wow! These OBBs are thirsty for ink. I wrote my 149 OBB dry today, so I rinsed and refilled with a different ink, Sailor Jentle Nioi-Sumire (a.k.a. "Sweet Violet").

 

If my recommendation counts for much, I highly recommend the Sailor Jentle line of inks. Not only are they well-behaved in modern and vintage pens alike, especially in ink-thirsty B/BB/OB/OBB/OBBB nibs, they have some amazing sheen properties that really looks fantastic when used on fine papers, like Clairefontaine, Rhodia, or Tomoe River. It's difficult to capture in photos, but in person, the effect is quite nice! The Nioi-Sumire features a red sheen outline of the each letter, while the Tokiwa-Matsu is almost an iridescent golden-red in places where ink pools or pen strokes meet in a character.

 

(Sailor Jentle Nioi-Sumire pictured here. Image not mine, taken from here.)

 

If I have one criticism, and it's entirely unrelated to the performance of the ink on paper, it's the squatty-body bottles that Sailor uses. The bottles are a lovely shape with a nice wide lid, but they are not deep, and the included ink-miser is not deep enough for a large Montblanc #9 nib. Even with it removed, I have to carefully tilt the bottle at a steep angle to make sure the feed is properly submerged in order to get a complete fill. Eventually, I'll decant these inks into other vessels that are more convenient for filling.

 

I also found a few Montblanc-branded pen stands on Evil Bay the other day--I'm assuming they're formerly display items from a boutique or authorized dealer. Unfortunately, one was damaged in shipping, but I think that Superglue will fix it. Luckily, not made from "precious resin"!

 

 

 

Today's quote from one of America's great humorists, Mark Twain.

Edited February 9, 2018 by jconn

[Ghost Plane]

I like the inks as well. I save empty ink bottles of other brands to decant the inks. Those bottles are terrible.

[SergioAA]

Thank you all for this topic. Such beautiful photos and stories.

[jconn]

A rainy, dreary Saturday down here in southeastern Texas, and in lieu of doing something minimally productive, I've been watching eBay auctions (but not bidding... yet) and goofing around with fountain pens.

 

Here's to hoping that all of y'all are having an awesome Saturday (or Sunday for our members in the Far East), and may the broadest of nibs be with you!

 

[Tom Kellie]

Hi Tom.

I loved your story. Zuji is an adorable little monkey and he is so fortunate to be living with an intelligent & understanding human !!!

The teeth marks on the piston knob will remind you of this misadventure. Matt

 

~ Hi, Matt!

 

Thank you so much for your very kind comment.

Zuji is affectionate, yet has his moments as a livewire.

He's a would-be architect, as he dearly loves moving small boxes, pillows and dog beds around to create bespoke puppy nests.

You're right, the teeth marks are a gentle reminder to be careful, and a permanent souvenir of my diminutive friend.

Tom

[Tom Kellie]

The pen. (this is not the pen you are looking for! lol)

 

The writing.

 

Gotta love obliques!

(oblique medium cursive italic by Dan Smith, and Lavander purple ink)

 

~ Reed_thoughts:

 

What a terrific post!

I like everything about it — the handwriting sample...the ink...the pen...the thoughts about obliques...the wit...the photograph.

The UNICEF does resemble an interplanetary pod of some sort, doesn't it?

Your custom OM Cursive Italic lays down such crisp lines. Gorgeous!

Dan Smith has created a treasure for you, as the outstanding strokes show.

It's especially cool to have such a fun photograph posted here. Many thanks for your creativity!

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

Awww! Nice to know my cryptic mumbles get read, much less educate.

 

Have another cookie. *passes the plate*

 

~ Modesty becomes you, our “Influencer-in-Chief”.

Love the cookies!

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

Tom - Thanks for taking the time to reply and sharing your experience and words of encouragement. I have included both into my daily rotation and look forward to more pen to paper time! My preference is generally to print, in a very small font and i sense this is not the preferable format when driving an oblique! As you noted, practice is the key

 

~ Nathanb:

 

It's useful to know that you tend to print in a very small font.

That makes two of us.

For half a century I've printed in minute script, despite having large hands and a moderately tall frame.

Now that OBBBs have colonized my desk, I'm enjoying the freedom that capacious writing has.

Nevertheless, I continue to print very small, including with obliques, when available.

That's why this thread specifically mentions both Extra Fine, Broad and Oblique nibs.

Different nibs for different sketching or writing situations.

Unlike M nibs, which easily write straight out of the box, I've found that EF, EEF, B, BB and OBBB nibs all perform better after a break-in period of writing/scribbling/doodling.

Somehow one's hand-eye coordination shifts to make optimal use of their idiosyncrasies.

I'm glad that your experience with oblique writing is going well. By all means share handwriting samples whenever appropriate, to inspire others who might read this thread.

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

Thank you all for this topic. Such beautiful photos and stories.

 

~ SergioAA:

 

It's very kind of you to offer such positive encouragement.

Thank you for telling us that the images and tales have pleased you.

If you feel comfortable doing so, please tell us about your pens in lovely Brasil.

Tom K.