I got this pen today

[Penguincollector]

8 hours ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

 

What is the 'best' Quink ink color???

Permanent Blue or Turquoise (only comes in mini cartridges now, but is lovely).

[Mercian]

14 hours ago, 51ISH said:

I'm waiting on a Parker 45 with a Stub to arrive in the post. I'd be interested to know your ink recommendations ? 

Well, I don’t have any 45s that have stub nibs.

I bought my two 45 ‘Flighters’ with the intention of using iron-gall ink in them (because they are easy to disassemble for a deep-clean), but haven’t tried my i-g inks in them yet.

My 45s seem to write a bit ‘dry’, but I have had pleasing results from Quink ‘Blue’, and from Sailor Kiwa Guro.
If you find that your 45 writes ‘dry’, obviously I’d recommend a ‘wetter’ ink in it. The first ink I try in most of my pens is Waterman Serenity Blue, because it flows well, and is easy to clean out.

 

That said, I really like inks that shade, which I would expect a stub nib to showcase really beautifully.

 

What colour(s) are you thinking of using?

 

[51ISH]

@Penguincollector  @Mercian

 

Thanks for the recommendations! I've got a few of the Diamine 30ml bottles that could really do with being used up. I'm not too worried about chasing shading, as the stub will be new territory for me. (Although that Aurora Borealis looks gorgeous!  Off the top of my head there is Oxblood (which I really like) Chocolate Brown, Sherwood Green, Denim, Damson. and a few others, and my most used ink, Aurora Black, which looks to have doubled in price since the last time I bought any! 😲

[Mercian]

18 minutes ago, 51ISH said:

… [Diamine] Chocolate Brown…

🤤🤤🤤

 

I loves it!

[Mercian]

This morning, the following pen was delivered to me here in Mercia…

 

 

It is a Pilot ‘Metropolitan’ (see my notes on the image in my ‘Gallery’), and it has a ‘CM’ nib on it.

Pilot actively prevents the sale of this pen, and the sale of this nib, to people in the UK 😠

 

Now I need to rapidly use-up the ink in one of my pens, so that I can ink this one and get down to having a play with it! 🤗

[51ISH]

3 minutes ago, Mercian said:

This morning, the following pen was delivered to me here in Mercia…

 

 

It is a Pilot ‘Metropolitan’ (see my notes on the image in my ‘Gallery’), and it has a ‘CM’ nib on it.

Pilot actively prevents the sale of this pen, and the sale of this nib, to people in the UK 😠

 

Now I need to rapidly use-up the ink in one of my pens, so that I can ink this one and get down to having a play with it! 🤗

I was looking only this morning at the Pilot MR in that colour. Depending how I take to the stubs in the Plumix I may well swop it out (It's my understanding it's the same fit?) Please advise I wrong on this.

[Mercian]

11 minutes ago, 51ISH said:

Depending how I take to the stubs in the Plumix I may well swop it out (It's my understanding it's the same fit?) Please advise I wrong on this.

I cannot claim any knowledge there!

 

I do have a 78G that has had a Metropolitan/MR nib transplanted on to it by a previous owner, so it might well be possible to swap the italic nib/feed from a Plumix on/in to the body of an MR.

 

But I don’t know that it is, so I advise you to look/ask for the answer to this question in FPN’s Japan-Asia forum.

👍

[51ISH]

29 minutes ago, Mercian said:

This morning, the following pen was delivered to me here in Mercia…

 

 

It is a Pilot ‘Metropolitan’ (see my notes on the image in my ‘Gallery’), and it has a ‘CM’ nib on it.

Pilot actively prevents the sale of this pen, and the sale of this nib, to people in the UK 😠

 

Now I need to rapidly use-up the ink in one of my pens, so that I can ink this one and get down to having a play with it! 🤗

 

I'm getting really confused by the Pilot CM nib. I've read in a couple of places in the last couple of days that CM  stands for Calligraphy Medium and the nib is actually a 1.0mm Stub.  Here's a link to one.....

 

https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/2018/08/fountain-pen-review-pilot-metropolitan-calligraphy-nib/

[Mercian]

26 minutes ago, 51ISH said:

 

I'm getting really confused by the Pilot CM nib. I've read in a couple of places in the last couple of days that CM  stands for Calligraphy Medium and the nib is actually a 1.0mm Stub.  Here's a link to one.....

 

https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/2018/08/fountain-pen-review-pilot-metropolitan-calligraphy-nib/

For a good answer to this question, I recommend that you read…

 

 

…and the reply to it that is directly underneath it.

 

[Edit to add:

If you wish to read the full discussion relating to the characteristics of the two nibs, it starts on pg 181 of that thread, and continues over to pg 182.]

 

Basically, @AmandaW has both a Pilot ‘CM’ nib and a Plumix ‘M’ nib.

She found that they wrote slightly differently.

Her other half looked at both nibs under a microscope and found that, while both nibs are the same width, the corners of the ‘CM’ nib were ground to be more-round than those of the Plumix ‘M’ nib.

 

As such, I conclude that the Plumix ‘M’ nib has an ‘Italic’ grind of ‘M’ width, whereas the Pilot ‘CM’ nib (that Pilot doesn’t want us Brits to be able to buy) has a ‘Cursive’ grind of ‘M’ width.

 

My interest in the CM nib was piqued by receiving a letter written with one.

I am very keen to try it out!  

 

[51ISH]

14 minutes ago, Mercian said:

For a good answer to this question, I recommend that you read…

 

 

…and the reply to it that is directly underneath it.

 

[Edit to add:

If you wish to read the full discussion relating to the characteristics of the two nibs, it starts on pg 181 of that thread, and continues over to pg 182.]

 

Basically, @AmandaW has both a Pilot ‘CM’ nib and a Plumix ‘M’ nib.

She found that they wrote slightly differently.

Her other half looked at both nibs under a microscope and found that, while both nibs are the same width, the corners of the ‘CM’ nib were ground to be more-round than those of the Plumix ‘M’ nib.

 

As such, I conclude that the Plumix ‘M’ nib has an ‘Italic’ grind of ‘M’ width, whereas the Pilot ‘CM’ nib (that Pilot doesn’t want us Brits to be able to buy) has a ‘Cursive’ grind of ‘M’ width.

 

My interest in the CM nib was piqued by receiving a letter written with one.

I am very keen to try it out!  

 

 

Thanks   It seems I wasn't the only one confused 🙂

The Plumix Med I received today writes 'dry' (using the Pilot cart supplied) and currently writes finer than some of my EF (Western) nibs. I like the broad much better for now. When I've used the cart I'll change the ink.

[Mercian]

3 minutes ago, 51ISH said:

 

Thanks   It seems I wasn't the only one confused 🙂

The Plumix Med I received today writes 'dry' (using the Pilot cart supplied) and currently writes finer than some of my EF (Western) nibs. I like the broad much better for now. When I've used the cart I'll change the ink.

Pilot don’t make it too easy for us, do they? 😁

 

My own experience of the ‘M’ Metropolitan nib that has been transplanted on to my 78G is that its width is somewhere between that of the Lamy Z50 ‘EF’ and ‘F’ nibs that I have.

But I haven’t ever found it to write ‘dry’.

 

Did you flush your Plumix with dish-soap before inking it?

I have found that un-flushed brand new pens can sometimes write ‘dry’ initially. Whenever I acquire a pen nowadays, the first thing that I do is to flush it with dish-soap, and then again with plain water.

 

(I freely admit to having a penchant for adopting a ‘belt-and-braces’ approach to most things, and/or for exercising too much caution. See also my cleaning regime for any pen that I am not re-inking immediately 😉)

[51ISH]

2 minutes ago, Mercian said:

Pilot don’t make it too easy for us, do they? 😁

 

My own experience of the ‘M’ Metropolitan nib that has been transplanted on to my 78G is that its width is somewhere between that of the Lamy Z50 ‘EF’ and ‘F’ nibs that I have.

But I haven’t ever found it to write ‘dry’.

 

Did you flush your Plumix with dish-soap before inking it?

I have found that un-flushed brand new pens can sometimes write ‘dry’ initially. Whenever I acquire a pen nowadays, the first thing that I do is to flush it with dish-soap, and then again with plain water.

 

(I freely admit to having a penchant for adopting a ‘belt-and-braces’ approach to most things, and/or for exercising too much caution. See also my cleaning regime for any pen that I am not re-inking immediately 😉)

 

I normally flush just with  warm water and an ear bulb to start, to see how it performs 'out of the box' as it were, before I start with dish soap and wetter inks etc.

Sorted it: It came to me while I was 'chatting' with you. It was the cart that came with the pen. I chucked that, flushed it with water, and put in another cart from a box I bought and it's fine. In fact probably wetter than the Broad

[Mercian]

4 minutes ago, 51ISH said:

Sorted it: It came to me while I was 'chatting' with you. It was the cart that came with the pen. I chucked that, flushed it with water, and put in another cart from a box I bought and it's fine. In fact probably wetter than the Broad

 Yay!

[Bo Bo Olson]

3 hours ago, Mercian said:

That said, I really like inks that shade,

Me too.

[51ISH]

3 hours ago, Mercian said:

 Yay!

 

The 'plot thickens'.....

 

It seems I have EU (French?)  versions of the Plumix and they are designed to take Standard International Cartridges not Pilot Namiki, which explains why I had such a problem to get them to fit 🤣 On the plus side it will be much easier to find a converter that will fit

 

(I found the info / instructions 'hidden' inside the blister pack and in French...which got me googling.... 🙄

[Mercian]

1 hour ago, 51ISH said:

The 'plot thickens'.....

 

It seems I have EU (French?)  versions of the Plumix and they are designed to take Standard International Cartridges not Pilot Namiki, which explains why I had such a problem to get them to fit 🤣 On the plus side it will be much easier to find a converter that will fit

Oh, yes.

This is just another thing to be aware/wary of when one is trying to buy Pilot pens here.

 

The ‘inexpensive’ ones they made/make to sell in Europe are all chambered for ‘Short International’ cartridges.

Whereas their ‘high-end’ c/c models are, like their ‘inexpensive’ c/c pens for everywhere outside Europe, chambered for Pilot’s own proprietary cartridges.

 

While we’re talking about potential difficulties…

Pilot’s official UK distributor has not impressed me as a source of information.

I was trying to find a stockist for Pilot Blue/Black in bottles. Everywhere else in the world, it can be bought in 70ml bottles. In Asia, it can be also bought in 350ml bottles. Which, given its water resistance, legibility, and reliability, strikes me as an ideal product to market to students, and to business-users.

In the UK, it cannot be bought in bottles at all.
The only bottles of ink that Pilot is willing to let us Brits buy are the 60ml bottles that are branded ‘Namiki Blue’ and ‘Namiki Black’. Blue/Black? ‘Not for you stinky Brits!’

[Edit:

I just checked online, and we cannot even buy the 60ml bottles any more, hence the greyed-out text above.

It seems to me that Pilot hates Britain.]

 

 

To check this, I emailed Pilot’s UK distributor to ask them for a source of Pilot Blue/Black to use in a Pilot CH92.
Which is a pen that Pilot does actually deign to sell officially in the UK.

As you probably already know (like every other FPN member), the CH92 is a piston-filler.

The official Pilot distributor replied to tell me that I could buy Pilot Blue/Black in 12-packs of cartridges sold as ‘IC-100’.

The official distributor either does not know that this pen - one of the few that they do import and sell - is a piston-filler, or is completely unaware that cartridges won’t fit into one, and cannot even be bothered to check that when asked specifically about it.

Either way, I consider them to be useless chuffing numpties! 🙄

Personally, I find Pilot’s Sales/Marketing decisions (actively preventing sales of their products to UK customers) to be completely idiotic, on the grounds that they are preventing customers from giving money to Pilot.

But then I have never studied Marketing or ‘Business’, so I what do I know? 🤪

[AmandaW]

15 minutes ago, Mercian said:

Everywhere else in the world, it can be bought in 70ml bottles

 

NO... does that mean you can't get the cute curvy bottle?

 

[Mercian]

22 minutes ago, AmandaW said:

 

NO... does that mean you can't get the cute curvy bottle?

 

 

Go on, rub it in whydon’tcha? 😉

 

Indeed, yes. We cannot buy those in the UK 😢

 

Luckily, at least one seller in Europe does sell them to the UK 😊

(I won’t name that seller in the open, just in case anyone from Pilot happens to read this, and then takes steps to shut them down!  )

[51ISH]

14 minutes ago, Mercian said:

Oh, yes.

This is just another thing to be aware/wary of when one is trying to buy Pilot pens here.

 

The ‘inexpensive’ ones they made/make to sell in Europe are all chambered for ‘Short International’ cartridges.

Whereas their ‘high-end’ c/c models are, like their ‘inexpensive’ c/c pens for everywhere outside Europe, chambered for Pilot’s own proprietary cartridges.

 

While we’re talking about potential difficulties…

Pilot’s official UK distributor has not impressed me as a source of information.

I was trying to find a stockist for Pilot Blue/Black in bottles. Everywhere else in the world, it can be bought in 70ml bottles. In Asia, it can be also bought in 350ml bottles. Which, given its water resistance, legibility, and reliability, strikes me as an ideal product to market to students, and to business-users.

In the UK, it cannot be bought in bottles at all.
The only bottles of ink that Pilot is willing to let us Brits buy are the 60ml bottles that are branded ‘Namiki Blue’ and ‘Namiki Black’. Blue/Black? ‘Not for you stinky Brits!’

 

To check this, I emailed Pilot’s UK distributor to ask them for a source of Pilot Blue/Black to use in a Pilot CH92.
Which is a pen that Pilot does actually deign to sell officially in the UK.

As you probably already know (like every other FPN member), the CH92 is a piston-filler.

The official Pilot distributor replied to tell me that I could buy Pilot Blue/Black in 12-packs of cartridges sold as ‘IC-100’.

The official distributor either does not know that a pen that they import and sell is piston-filler, or is completely unaware that cartridges won’t fit into one, and cannot even be bothered to check that when asked specifically about it.

Either way, I consider them to be useless chuffing numpties! 🙄

Personally, I find Pilot’s Sales/Marketing decisions (actively preventing sales of their products to UK customers) to be completely idiotic, on the grounds that they are preventing customers from giving money to Pilot.

But then I have never studied Marketing or ‘Business’, so I what do I know? 🤪

 

As you probably already know (like every other FPN member), the CH92 is a piston-filler.

 

You give me far too much credit.... I had to Google it...🤣 Unlike 'every other FPN member'  I'd never heard of it.  To regain a little bit of dignity 😁 I do have a Custom 74 Demonstrator that I've owned for about 11 years.

 

Don't get me started on customer service in the UK in recent years...I've worked in various customer service jobs...35 years in retail....and something similar for the last 12... I worked for a company that considered the most important person in the company was the person that answered the phone to a potential customer. (today that would include the person that answered emails. As a store manager if you didn't answer the phone your boss wanted to know why....and where you were....they regularly did 'test phone calls' and if you failed, the recording was played back for all your peers to hear at the next meeting 😲

 

I recently emailed a well known company whose founder retired a couple of years ago, I'm not sure if they found a buyer,or they are selling off the remaining stock....either way, I sent them two emails and got short curt replies in both cases. I gave up in the end.

 

Conversly I rang a 3D printing company that does large orders for trade customers, as well as one off's for the general public. It was the best customer experience I have experienced in years. All done by email, but none the worse for that.

[Mercian]

T’other day, my Pilot Squid Pen Plumix arrived!

 

Top-view:

 

 

 

Side-view:

 

 

I have been pleasantly surprised to find that its rather loligoform shape is actually Squidtastically-comfortable in my hand 😊

That said, I hold my pens with a traditional ‘tripod’ grip.
If you hold your pens differently, you may well find its three-faceted hard-plastic grip-section to be decidedly inconvenient/unpleasant.

 

Mine has a nib that is marked ‘M’. I believe that it has an Italic grind.

Also, mine is an example of the European species of Plumix - it is chambered for ‘Short International’ cartridges. One SIC, of a blue ink, came to me inside the pen.

If one finds a Plumix outside Europe, it will most likely be an example of the ‘Asian’, or ‘common’ Plumix. That species feeds on Pilot’s own proprietary cartridges, rather than on SICs.

 

One last thing:

Pilot also produces a similar beast, called the ‘Pluminix’.

The Plumix is larger than the Pluminix.

The way that I remember which one is larger, and which one is smaller, is by thinking of the ‘Pluminix’ as a ‘mini Plumix’.

 

Slàinte,

M.