I got this pen today

[A Smug Dill]

Yesterday morning, DHL delivered ahead of schedule (by the entire weekend) three pens, all fitted with nibs made by Sailor, that I ordered at once from Amazon Japan at the very end of 2020.

 

This is the most humble out of the three. It's been years since I bought a Sailor Lecoule, or a Sailor Profit Jr for that matter. The newer, more ‘adult’/masculine/sombre colourways have tempted me before, but they are neither particularly good value-for-money these days, nor easy to get from where I usually ordered my pens from overseas in the past two or so years; so, when my previous prospective order with EndlessPens didn't happen (sheesh, did I really agree to pay >US$30 for the Lecoule then?), the model was more or less off my radar.

 

 

[USG]

5 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Because urushi is made with the same stuff (urushiol oil) that is in poison ivy and poison oak -- and I'm MASSIVELY allergic.  The last time I had poison ivy, it hit fast (in a matter of a couple of hours!) and went systemic and it took THREE rounds of steroids to finally knock it out.  And my water bill for that quarter was $400 US because I was washing my clothes and the bedding EVERY DAY so I wouldn't reinfect myself, plus taking oatmeal baths to stop the itching pretty much daily.  The stuff prescribed for me at the ER across town from where we lived at the time, after I realized I had it (prednisolone) did NOTHING.  My regular doctor then prescribed prednisone, which suppressed it but then it came back.  So the doctor sent me to an allergist, who said "Oh, you just weren't given a big enough dosage for long enough....  Here!"  And had me on ANOTHER round of prednisone, starting at 5 pills a day and working down to half a pill a day.

Because of that (plus a round when I was five that lasted from August until IIRC Thanksgiving!) I have to be EXTREMELY careful now.  When we bought our current house, there was poison ivy some growing up a chain link fence where the STEM was about 2" in diameter -- so my husband was cutting into it with disposable knives, and brushing the open sections with disposable foam brushes and UN-diluted Brush-Be-Gone, just to try and kill it (and even then it took several rounds of him doing it).  And we stopped letting our cats outside because they would have just brought it in on their fur and then re-infecting me....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Wow, I had no idea about urushi, that's some story... sorry to hear you're so sensitive...

You'd think the surface would be covered with an innocuous sealant.

[effrafax]

4 hours ago, USG said:

 

You'd think the surface would be covered with an innocuous sealant.

 

Urushi IS the sealant ...

[Misfit]

Those are attractive pens @A Smug Dill  I like the looks of the Sailor Lecoule Morion the best. 

[Number99]

8 hours ago, USG said:

Wow, I had no idea about urushi, that's some story... sorry to hear you're so sensitive...

You'd think the surface would be covered with an innocuous sealant.

The urushi (urushiol) in the lacquerware coating after the curing reaction has been completed has already undergone an oxygen polymerization reaction and lost its water solubility.

For a substance to become an antigen, it must be water soluble.

Edited January 7, 2023 by Number99
Change of wording.

[OldTravelingShoe]

On 12/18/2022 at 5:23 AM, A Smug Dill said:

 

While I certainly don't regret buying it, it's not going to become one of my favourite pens any time soon either.

On the plus side, it looks very stylish. Congratulations! 

[OldTravelingShoe]

I got this Pilot Elite pocket pen from the 1970s, with a springy nib, 14k-gold, F-tipped. Cleaned, inked, tried out -- and a cat came out. 

 

[inkstainedruth]

10 hours ago, Number99 said:

The urushi (urushiol) in the lacquerware coating after the curing reaction has been completed has already undergone an oxygen polymerization reaction and lost its water solubility.

For a substance to become an antigen, it must be water soluble.

That may be true -- but I still can't take the risk.  A few years ago someone on FPN kept getting a chin rash, and discovered that it was because of rubbing the end of an urushi pen when stopping to consider the next bit of writing to make. 

So I admire them from a distance.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: A number of years ago I ran across a website full of drop-dead GORGEOUS maki-e pens.  After drooling over them for a while, I looked at my husband and said "Guess what, dear?  I just saved you twenty THOUSAND dollars!" (Yeah, that was the price PER pen.... )  

Somehow, though, he just did not seem to appreciate my sacrifice.... 

[Number99]

4 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

That may be true -- but I still can't take the risk.  A few years ago someone on FPN kept getting a chin rash, and discovered that it was because of rubbing the end of an urushi pen when stopping to consider the next bit of writing to make. 

So I admire them from a distance.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: A number of years ago I ran across a website full of drop-dead GORGEOUS maki-e pens.  After drooling over them for a while, I looked at my husband and said "Guess what, dear?  I just saved you twenty THOUSAND dollars!" (Yeah, that was the price PER pen.... )  

Somehow, though, he just did not seem to appreciate my sacrifice.... 

The fact that the rash developed only on the chin and not on the hands proves that urushi is not an allergen.

The food-derived protein on the chin must have been transformed on the pen.

It was then transferred back and forth between the pen and the chin.(He was probably touching his chin at the barrel end or cap top.)

 

I too would not want to eat food that has caused me stomach upset before, even if I knew it was safe, so I understand where you are coming from.

 

Apart from the jaw incident, natural lacquer, which is a natural raw material, varies in properties, so there are rare cases of lacquerware that does not harden sufficiently in the initial stage. (It is possible, however, to add a substance to such natural lacquer that accelerates the hardening process.）

 

I am not a big fan of urushi or maki-e pens either.

There are many better and less expensive paints available for urushi. Also, I would like to see maki-e painted on a larger screen.

 

By the way, I am not trying to create a controversy.

I just thought it was necessary to add a statement attesting to their innocence to the statement that the disease was caused by a product of a declining industry.

 

I would like to remain on good terms with you.

 

Edited January 8, 2023 by Number99

[USG]

9 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

That may be true -- but I still can't take the risk.  A few years ago someone on FPN kept getting a chin rash, and discovered that it was because of rubbing the end of an urushi pen when stopping to consider the next bit of writing to make. 

So I admire them from a distance.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: A number of years ago I ran across a website full of drop-dead GORGEOUS maki-e pens.  After drooling over them for a while, I looked at my husband and said "Guess what, dear?  I just saved you twenty THOUSAND dollars!" (Yeah, that was the price PER pen.... )  

Somehow, though, he just did not seem to appreciate my sacrifice.... 

 

I'm with you better safe than sorry.... 🙂👍

[cat74]

just added this to my basket - is it a Parker 85?

listing said 45 and it's not that

 

only $15 USD so like $20 CAD with shipping!! looks a bit rough but some spit and polish will help?

 

 

edit - nope - it is a Parker 15!! oh well

 

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

On 1/7/2023 at 10:27 PM, Number99 said:

I am not a big fan of urushi or maki-e pens either.

 

Oh, I think the maki-e pens I've seen are breathtakingly beautiful.  Just not for me....   Some of the "regular" urushi pens, though?  Ehhhhh....

OTOH, some of the materials used on vintage pens (especially the ones with flecks of color) don't wow me either -- even though I know people who go "Oooh, ahhh" over them.  And I don't like a lot of bling-y pens either.  

But I'm also sure that there are people out there who probably think I'm nuts for buying the Shrek "Puss in Boots" Parker Vector -- which was making ME go "OMG -- WANT!  MUST HAAAAAVE!" because it made me laugh when I saw it on eBay a few years ago; and which (with the shipping charges, and then buying a twist converter for it) maybe cost me a little over twenty bucks US, TOPS.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[TitoThePencilPimp]

On 12/16/2022 at 8:21 PM, PithyProlix said:

 

There's some chance that the date code is on the barrel but I am away from home until next week. There's also a chance that the date code is on the nib but inside the section.

 

I was looking through my photos and had forgotten that mine has a Manifold nib!

 

how thin is the line?

[PithyProlix]

8 hours ago, TitoThePencilPimp said:

On 12/17/2022 at 11:21 AM, PithyProlix said:

 

There's some chance that the date code is on the barrel but I am away from home until next week. There's also a chance that the date code is on the nib but inside the section.

 

I was looking through my photos and had forgotten that mine has a Manifold nib!

 

Expand  

how thin is the line?

 

Well, before it went to Pilot Japan to get a new bellows sac it was writing like a regular Pilot F. When I got it back they said that they "touched the nib" (whatever that means) and now it is writing like a FM, perhaps close to M. Disappointing because I really prefer the crispness of F. I'll put a really dry ink in it for the next fill and see.

[Number99]

On 1/10/2023 at 6:03 PM, inkstainedruth said:

Oh, I think the maki-e pens I've seen are breathtakingly beautiful.  Just not for me....   Some of the "regular" urushi pens, though?  Ehhhhh....

OTOH, some of the materials used on vintage pens (especially the ones with flecks of color) don't wow me either -- even though I know people who go "Oooh, ahhh" over them.  And I don't like a lot of bling-y pens either.  

But I'm also sure that there are people out there who probably think I'm nuts for buying the Shrek "Puss in Boots" Parker Vector -- which was making ME go "OMG -- WANT!  MUST HAAAAAVE!" because it made me laugh when I saw it on eBay a few years ago; and which (with the shipping charges, and then buying a twist converter for it) maybe cost me a little over twenty bucks US, TOPS.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

I had forgotten that I had purchased a Vector flighter last September.

That pen was obtained from the same lot as the pen I wanted.

I checked and it was an X nib suitable for Japanese. I would like to put away the pen I have now and ink the Vector.

 

 

[Number99]

21 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

 

Well, before it went to Pilot Japan to get a new bellows sac it was writing like a regular Pilot F. When I got it back they said that they "touched the nib" (whatever that means) and now it is writing like a FM, perhaps close to M. Disappointing because I really prefer the crispness of F. I'll put a really dry ink in it for the next fill and see.

My guess is that they probably reattached the nibs.

Rumor has it that the service life of a stick-on nib is 20 or 30 years, and it would not look good if the nib came off right after the pen was repaired and sent back to the owner.

If that were the case, the back of the nib, the slit and the feed would have been cleaned.

The ink flow may have returned to default.

 

[A Smug Dill]

Not today, but a week ago, along with the Sailor Lecoule All Black. It just took time to, um, for my wife to decide on an ink colour:

[Lithium466]

I like the color of the pen, and I like the ink! Very nice.

But I'm curious, what difference does the orientation make for the FAF refills? Is it staying "flatter"?

[A Smug Dill]

10 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

what difference does the orientation make for the FAF refills?

 

[Misfit]

I use both sides of the paper in my Exacompta FAF pad. I think it’s a cool product. I really, really like mine. It’s the No. 3 version.