I got this pen today

[amberleadavis]

Looking good!

[AmandaW]

Well this arrived a lot faster than expected - ordered from Japan on February 24 and in my hands on March 4 - a record I think. It's a Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with a posting nib. I have already inked it with Van Dieman's Cradle Mountain Grey and, yes, the nib is exquisitely extra extra fine without any hint of scratchiness.

 

 

 

[A Smug Dill]

Just now, AmandaW said:

yes, the nib is exquisitely extra extra fine without any hint of scratchiness.

 

I'm very very glad to hear you're pleased and vindicated by your new pen.

[A Smug Dill]

Three HongDian piston-fillers arrived in the past 36 hours. This is one of them:

 

I have yet to inspect this with a bright light behind its barrel, or disassemble the pens (because the other two have completely opaque barrels except for their ink windows), to check whether their pistons are seated properly.

[Penguincollector]

So until pretty recently, things I collect haven’t come together in one item very often. Another member mentioned Ali Express, and ¡boom! all the kawaii penguin pens I could ever want (which is all of them) showed up.  This is the first of the waddle of penguin pens I have ordered to arrive.

[Paul-in-SF]

On 4/3/2022 at 10:26 PM, AmandaW said:

It's a Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with a posting nib. (snip) the nib is exquisitely extra extra fine without any hint of scratchiness.

 

Well, I may have to think about getting me one of those. When you say "extra extra fine" is that comparing it with a regular Pilot EF nib, i.e. finer than that?

[AmandaW]

1 hour ago, Paul-in-SF said:

 

Well, I may have to think about getting me one of those. When you say "extra extra fine" is that comparing it with a regular Pilot EF nib, i.e. finer than that?

 

I don't have a good example of a gold Pilot extra fine to compare it too, but it it is certainly finer than any other extra fine I have.

 

 

[A Smug Dill]

2 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

When you say "extra extra fine" is that comparing it with a regular Pilot EF nib, i.e. finer than that?

 

A 14K gold Pilot (Custom product line's) size #5 EF nib produces finer lines than a size #10 PO nib, in my experience and also that of @ethernautrix.

 

1 hour ago, AmandaW said:

... it is certainly finer than any other extra fine I have.

 

I'm sure I have more than one other (non-Pilot) EF nib here that writes finer.

[AmandaW]

Special edition Lamy Safari. I wont give a review or opinion since i would probably get it wrong (and don't have confidence left to spare ).

 

[A Smug Dill]

5 hours ago, AmandaW said:

Special edition Lamy Safari. I wont give a review or opinion since i would probably get it wrong (and don't have confidence left to spare ).

 

Wow, that was quick; and I'm sooo jealous you have a hanzi nib! You're probably among the very first Australians to have one of those, without being in China or Hong Kong when the product was released.

 

23 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

I have yet to inspect this with a bright light behind its barrel, or disassemble the pens (because the other two have completely opaque barrels except for their ink windows), to check whether their pistons are seated properly.

 

Now that I've had a look at the N7 ‘Month Rabbit’ on a lightbox, and compare it side by side with a N1-S in which I've previously reseated the piston, I certainly there is work to be done to my N7 to gain a non-trivial volume in its maximum ink capacity. It'll be a little trickier than on the N1-S, since the N7's piston knob is completely opaque, but that's hardly an insurmountable obstacle. The question to me right now is whether I hold off, and see whether the official HongDian store (from which I did not buy the N7) will finally come good on its promise to me and send me the official piston disassembly tool it owes me (from a previous purchase). If they did as agreed/promised, then the tool and other stuff should be currently in transit to me.

 

Interesting also to note that, unlike on the N1-S, the nib unit is glued in on the N7 and cannot be readily unscrewed. I've seen that on my first N6, and expected that in the other units of N6, but I incorrectly assumed it had something to do with them having ebonite feeds and thus handled differently by HongDian. Apparently my conclusion is off the mark.

 

Oh, and even after sitting the metal gripping section (with nib unit still inside it) in 45°C water for 15 minutes, and then running it through a five-minute ultrasonic cleaning cycle to shake loose what could be shaken loose, the nib unit in the N7 just wouldn’t budge at all when I tried to unscrew it. That’s usually enough to soften whichever bond that keeps Sailor gripping sections from being disassembled.

[A Smug Dill]

These two arrived on Wednesday and Thursday:

 

I like them better than the black-and-gold coloured variant of the HongDian N6 in every way. The matt finish on the barrel, and the mostly matt-finish caps, are a good start, compared to the glossy black barrel and the shiny gold-coloured cap. The glossy black PVD(?) and gold-plated finishes both seem quite apt to be damaged on either colourway; and the ink windows are not made from the classiest or clearest material.

[DvdRiet]

And she's finally here, my commissioned pen from Black Robin Pens in the UK. Everyone, meet Juliette!

 

 

It's extremely difficult to photograph, but the Juliette model has a smooth taper from top to bottom with a flush-fitting cap. For this pen, I chose a Brooks alumilite blank called Golden Rule. I absolutely love that so much of the red came through!

[inkstainedruth]

That's a beauty!  Some of the aluminite rod stock is amazing, and this is definitely one of them!

What's the nib on the pen?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[DvdRiet]

19 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

That's a beauty!  Some of the aluminite rod stock is amazing, and this is definitely one of them!

Thanks! The photo doesn't really do the colors justice though - it's darker and moodier than it looks here. Somehow this photo turned out flat (still learning the camera on my new phone). But it's also so hard to know from the colors on the rods what the end result is going to look like, as well! I do really like the feel of the material.

 

23 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

What's the nib on the pen?

I just had her send it with a standard steel JoWo #6 because I was hoping to replace it with a gold one that I have. Unfortunately it doesn't fit, so I'll need to decide what to do with this one. I got it in a broad so that I could also have the option of doing a custom grind.

[I-am-not-really-here]

1 hour ago, DvdRiet said:

And she's finally here, my commissioned pen from Black Robin Pens in the UK. Everyone, meet Juliette!

 

 

It's extremely difficult to photograph, but the Juliette model has a smooth taper from top to bottom with a flush-fitting cap. For this pen, I chose a Brooks alumilite blank called Golden Rule. I absolutely love that so much of the red came through!

That's got a nice "woodsy" look to it.  

[amberleadavis]

@DvdRiet She's a beauty!

[DvdRiet]

I made myself a simple lightbox a couple of days ago (need to sell some pens 😉) and now I've finally got the lighting on my phone camera adjusted.... so... tada! Here is a much more flattering photo of Juliette's colors (although it still doesn't completely pick up how incredibly shiny and smooth she is!)

 

[PithyProlix]

19 hours ago, DvdRiet said:

I made myself a simple lightbox a couple of days ago (need to sell some pens 😉) and now I've finally got the lighting on my phone camera adjusted.... so... tada! Here is a much more flattering photo of Juliette's colors (although it still doesn't completely pick up how incredibly shiny and smooth she is!)

 

 

Nice pen, as well as the photo of it! 

 

May I ask, please, what are you using for a light source? (I am making a light box, too.)

[amberleadavis]

20 hours ago, DvdRiet said:

I made myself a simple lightbox a couple of days ago (need to sell some pens 😉) and now I've finally got the lighting on my phone camera adjusted.... so... tada! Here is a much more flattering photo of Juliette's colors (although it still doesn't completely pick up how incredibly shiny and smooth she is!)

 

 

Very NICE photo!

[DvdRiet]

1 hour ago, PithyProlix said:

May I ask, please, what are you using for a light source? (I am making a light box, too.)

 

I just happened to have two small led lights on flexible coils (those things you can point in any direction) that plug in to an outlet and I have rigged up a temporary (and very wonky) set-up by plugging them into outlet strips on either side of the box and holding those in place with some stacked books. 😅

 

The instructional video that I used to make mine simply said the most important thing was to have the same light on both sides so that you don't have different light colors on your subject. (Or three if you're doing overhead as well.) She had some simple desk lamps that she could clip to the sides of a small table she was using. She did recommend LED but mainly because it doesn't get as hot. You can also use it outdoors with sunlight. I also used the big lamp hanging over my desk pulled down close to the top of the box for my first experimental photos and that worked great as well.

 

My light box is just a simple square cardboard box turned on its side with square holes cut in three of the sides and a strip of white paper as a background taped up to the back (the closed bottom of the box) and taking photos through the front (the open top of the box with the top flap cut off). I've covered the three square holes (top and two sides) with some tracing paper I had lying around, but you can use any kind of translucent paper. You can also get creative with the background and use different colors of paper, a wooden cutting board, or whatever else would make a nice photo. The best part for me was that this one was SUPER EASY to make!!  

 

Edit to add this secret behind-the-scenes photo of my very fancy-schmancy light box set-up! 

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by DvdRiet
photo addition