I got this pen today

[KBeezie]

Another Parker 45, 14K again (was expecting it to be gold plated, since the last two were 14K) 

 

Also found it with two original parker squeeze converters (the thicker originals) which I'll probably re-sac with PVC at a later time. 

So the last 3 I found, all 14K nib, and no duplicates (X, F, M). 

[PithyProlix]

Three of the more interesting pens that arrived. (Warning: Vintage Japanese fountain pen geek-speak follows.)

• Mikuni (no, I hadn't heard of them either) "Multi-angle Pen". Sailor Trident-like pen - i.e. nib with three tines oriented 120° to each other, allowing writing at any orientation as long as the nib tip touches the paper - that seems to have preceded the Trident. The enclosure says Mikuni manufactured it. It also says that a company named Apex patented it, which makes the history of Trident-like pens more complex and opaque than I previously thought. Mikuni currently seems to be involved in manufacturing automobile and motorcycle parts.
  I had no idea if a cartridge or converter would arrive with it, or even that it would be a c/c pen. Luckily, a short international cartridge was installed and fits well. Good thing because it probably would have taken me quite a bit to figure that out on my own.
• Pilot Super 250L (1960). I believe this is a rare model but I am not sure - I am unable to find much about it online. It has a sculpted, ergonomic section and an interesting zogan on the section that I have never seen completely intact before. Rolled gold, wide cap band (which is mostly obscured in the photo). A very plain clip design compared to others in the Super series. The section is friction-fit into the barrel. I think this is the largest 'dart' shaped nib I now own - at least that I can remember right now.
• Pilot Custom Grandee with music nib (1979). Not a model I am particularly interested in but when I saw it has a music nib and a low price it was a no-brainer to get. And now that I have my first Custom Grandee, I like it much more than I thought I would. There's little doubt that this one will get inked up very, very soon.

Oh, and not pictured but also very interesting is two full boxes of unused Pilot blue double spares ink cartridges - 16 cartridges per box - and a third box with one cartridge left, so 33 cartridges total. I'm set! (If you have persisted to get this far and also know what a double spares ink cartridge is, then congratulations my fellow vintage Japanese fountain pen geek. 🤗)

 

 

 

[Lithium466]

Cool pens!

(I am so happy for you and not at all envious  )

 

I'm curious to see how the double spare blue ink writes, is it like current Pilot blue?

[PithyProlix]

21 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

 

I'm curious to see how the double spare blue ink writes, is it like current Pilot blue?

 

I will report back with a photo when I've tried one. All of them look to be full (amazing!) so I expect they are fully hydrated. An E-300 should arrive tomorrow, so I can test it with that. I should also have some contemporary Pilot Blue cartridges to compare with.

 

I'm betting they are identical to the current Pilot Blue, unless age has affected the dye.

[cat74]

Welll....got a nib not a pen in the mail today!! A Parker 45 #7 nib which I think is Oblique Broad?

 

Correction! this is a Z nib - oblique broad 

[dms525]

[PithyProlix]

On 7/27/2023 at 5:27 PM, Lithium466 said:

Cool pens!

(I am so happy for you and not at all envious  )

 

I'm curious to see how the double spare blue ink writes, is it like current Pilot blue?

 

On 7/27/2023 at 5:59 PM, PithyProlix said:

 

I will report back with a photo when I've tried one. All of them look to be full (amazing!) so I expect they are fully hydrated. An E-300 should arrive tomorrow, so I can test it with that. I should also have some contemporary Pilot Blue cartridges to compare with.

 

I'm betting they are identical to the current Pilot Blue, unless age has affected the dye.

 

Well, I'm sorry, but this is going to remain a mystery, at least for now. I tried the cartridge that was in the box by itself and, on the page, it looks like Pilot Blue Black. Perhaps this one actually is Pilot Blue Black and, somewhere along the lines, got put in the Pilot Blue box? Not sure if I have another uninked pen that takes double spares cartridges right now to test the cartridges from one of the full boxes.

 

The cartridge truly is like new - it appears that no ink has evaporated or otherwise escaped the cartridge - and, after installing the cartridge, the pen started right up without hesitation and is performing perfectly. (The pen is an E-300, a model that is a top tier writer for me.) Contrast with this: I found some 'standard' Pilot Blue cartridges in a contemporary box and, while still liquid, they are only about 1/4 or 1/3 full. I topped one off with distilled water, put it in a new-to-me Super 200V (older version, not the one that looks like an E-200, and with chrome trim - I don't think you see those too often ...) and it writes grey. Not a blue grey or even a cool grey but a neutral grey. It's writing a little dry but not too dry so I think the proportion of water is close to correct (though slight dryness could also be this pen, which I don't have any experience with previous to now). I would have never intentionally bought a box of Pilot Blue cartridges (sorry if you are a fan - it's just not my kind of color) so they must have come along with a pen. They seem defective ... which is probably the reason they came along with a pen ... Unfortunately I don't have any other contemporary Pilot Blue (other than the ones made in Thailand).

[PithyProlix]

On 7/27/2023 at 5:23 PM, PithyProlix said:

Pilot Super 250L (1960). I believe this is a rare model but I am not sure - I am unable to find much about it online. It has a sculpted, ergonomic section and an interesting zogan on the section that I have never seen completely intact before. Rolled gold, wide cap band (which is mostly obscured in the photo). A very plain clip design compared to others in the Super series. The section is friction-fit into the barrel. I think this is the largest 'dart' shaped nib I now own - at least that I can remember right now.

 

I wrote something incorrect. Now that I've had some time with the Pilot Super 250L, I see that the section is not friction-fit into the barrel. Rather, there are two tabs on opposite sides of the inner metal part of the section (one highlighted in the image below) and corresponding indentations on the inside of the barrel. Insert the section in the barrel, twist, and the section is 'locked' in the barrel. It's not an uncommon way of connecting two cylinders/pipes but I'm having difficulty recalling its use in pens as well as the correct terminology for it.

 

 

 

[ruby.monkey]

On 8/2/2023 at 9:19 AM, PithyProlix said:

the correct terminology for it

A bayonet connector, I think.

[PithyProlix]

7 minutes ago, ruby.monkey said:

A bayonet connector, I think.

 

Thanks, I think that is correct. 

[Lithium466]

On 7/29/2023 at 4:42 PM, PithyProlix said:

 

 

Well, I'm sorry, but this is going to remain a mystery, at least for now. I tried the cartridge that was in the box by itself and, on the page, it looks like Pilot Blue Black. Perhaps this one actually is Pilot Blue Black and, somewhere along the lines, got put in the Pilot Blue box? Not sure if I have another uninked pen that takes double spares cartridges right now to test the cartridges from one of the full boxes.

 

The cartridge truly is like new - it appears that no ink has evaporated or otherwise escaped the cartridge - and, after installing the cartridge, the pen started right up without hesitation and is performing perfectly. (The pen is an E-300, a model that is a top tier writer for me.) Contrast with this: I found some 'standard' Pilot Blue cartridges in a contemporary box and, while still liquid, they are only about 1/4 or 1/3 full. I topped one off with distilled water, put it in a new-to-me Super 200V (older version, not the one that looks like an E-200, and with chrome trim - I don't think you see those too often ...) and it writes grey. Not a blue grey or even a cool grey but a neutral grey. It's writing a little dry but not too dry so I think the proportion of water is close to correct (though slight dryness could also be this pen, which I don't have any experience with previous to now). I would have never intentionally bought a box of Pilot Blue cartridges (sorry if you are a fan - it's just not my kind of color) so they must have come along with a pen. They seem defective ... which is probably the reason they came along with a pen ... Unfortunately I don't have any other contemporary Pilot Blue (other than the ones made in Thailand).

I noticed sometimes the small plastic disc sealing the modern Pilot cartridges gets a little dislodged and ink evaporates or leaks. That only happened once to me actually, with locally bought cartridges.

If you want I can send you a few ml of Pilot blue 😂

[DvdRiet]

My new pen is ORANGE! 

[PithyProlix]

22 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

I noticed sometimes the small plastic disc sealing the modern Pilot cartridges gets a little dislodged and ink evaporates or leaks. That only happened once to me actually, with locally bought cartridges.

 

All the cartridges in the box are the same. I'm not sure what happened but it must have been the way they were stored.

 

22 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

If you want I can send you a few ml of Pilot blue 😂

 

Thanks for the kind offer. I just discovered a jar of miscellaneous cartridges that I stashed away in a drawer and forgot about. It looks like there are three or four Pilot Blue cartridges there - well, I think they are blue and not blue blue black. I'll try to remember to revisit this when I get back from a trip in a couple weeks.

[InkyColors]

On 8/3/2023 at 6:06 PM, DvdRiet said:

My new pen is ORANGE! 

Very pretty!

[pyiyha]

Can't stop the sickness...

Another pick up; Aurora Optima in Emerald Green Auroloide.

 

[dms525]

Nakaya Piccolo Writer in Toki-tamenuri. BB nib ground to Cursive Italic.

 

 

 

David

[jchch1950]

Faber Castell Hexo with a nice broad nib and a blue cartridge also FC.😋

[USG]

On 8/5/2023 at 2:31 PM, dms525 said:

 

David

 

On 7/28/2023 at 1:34 PM, dms525 said:

 

Hey DMS

2 beautiful pens....  👍😀  And great ink choices to go with them.

You pick out the most interesting pens. 💥

 

[Arkanabar]

On 7/25/2023 at 7:33 PM, Arkanabar said:

I post on this thread on the day I ink a new pen.  And today, I filled a stub Pilot Décimo in myca gray with Pilot Blue-Black.  I really like the nib, which is soft and will spread under pressure.  But the length of the button stroke and the strength of the spring are details I didn't remember annoying me when I had a matte black faceted Capless.

It turns out that the pen isn't comfortable to write with for me, for extended periods.  And I like a cap, because I can lend a pen and hold on to the cap and expect to get it back.

 

So now my wife has a lovely myca gray Pilot Décimo with both stub and fine nibs.  Ah well.  I have a red tips Prera Iro-Ai with a CM nib, and I know from experience how much I like such a pen.

[Penguincollector]

My new to me Platinum pocket pen has just arrived.  I love these inlaid nibs.