What pen(s) are you using today?

[A Smug Dill]

12 minutes ago, AmandaW said:

 

Thanks! Do the corners on the Pilot MR's CM nib look more rounded off to you, to account partly for the narrower line width?

[AmandaW]

26 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Thanks! Do the corners on the Pilot MR's CM nib look more rounded off to you, to account partly for the narrower line width?

 

You're right! I asked dh to look with his microscope and he said "They are both rounded, but definitely different. The CM is more rounded at the corners."

 

 

[Penguincollector]

Tonight’s pens are: Sailor navy long fude inked with Diamine Ultra Green, Sheaffer Fashion II   model 264 green inked with Sheaffer Blue, and MUJI Aluminum inked with J. Herbin Rouge Caroubier.

[PithyProlix]

1 hour ago, AmandaW said:

 

You're right! I asked dh to look with his microscope and he said "They are both rounded, but definitely different. The CM is more rounded at the corners."

 

 

 

Very interesting - now I want a CM nib.

 

Thanks a lot. (sarcasm intended)

 

I plan to take (and post in a dedicated thread) macro photos of my Pilot italics specifically to get an idea of their geometry. Unfortunately, looking through my pens just now, it turns out I currently have only the 78g B & BB and the Plumix/Pluminix F.

 

(I forgot the CM nib is also on the Metropolitan/MR but I really don't like that pen. I'll buy it for the nib, though, if one for the right price comes up ...)

 

(Also, for the record and people like me, with CRS*: the Plumix is the long version, Pluminix short.)

*CRS - Can't Remember Sh*t

[PithyProlix]

Well, I am having a difficult time getting repeatable measurements, both with the same nib and across nibs of the same type (I have multiples of each of the three types that I have), so I'm scrapping pursuing further.

 

I did find this image (hotlinked below) both here and here. I wonder where the numbers come from but they are consistent with the ones here (Enso set - F, M, & B only). Note that there are Plumix nibs in EF, F, M, B, and BB (which you can see stamped on the sections of the pens below) but, outside of the set, I have not seen the EF or BB. Also see the sample writing below (also hotlinked, from the first linked page). 

 

I would be seriously tempted to order the set (available at the first linked site) if shipping to me weren't so astronomical. I get the impression they are no longer produced - in any form. (Is that correct?)

 

[A Smug Dill]

18 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

I get the impression they are no longer produced - in any form. (Is that correct?)

 

I don't know. I haven't seen the Pilot Enso Plumix set listed on Amazon.com.au for a while now, but I've seen it on Amazon.com just hours ago.

[PithyProlix]

5 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

7 hours ago, AmandaW said:

OK, now I'm confused the M nib is looking broader than the CM - but the M is inked, the others all dipped.

 

Expand  

 

OK - this makes sense now. The "M" nib (2nd from left) is the 78g M. Note that it matches the line width of the B (at least to my eye), which is from the Plumix, which is what I would expect.

 

Oh, darn it. I have this bass-ackwards. I would actually expect a 78g B to be the same as the Plumix M. And, zooming in on the photos, it very well could be that the Plumix nib engraving is the same as the 78g, but not the Pluminix's.

 

Now I'm even more confused than I was before. And very sorry if I added to your (or anyone else's) confusion.

[PithyProlix]

6 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I don't know. I haven't seen the Pilot Enso Plumix set listed on Amazon.com.au for a while now, but I've seen it on Amazon.com just hours ago.

 

As of now, I only see the Enso sets with Parallel and watercolor brush pens - not the one with Plumix [pl?] at Amazon.com. I have the impression that Plumix & Pluminix are available less and less and what's being sold now is likely old stock.

[AmandaW]

6 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

 

Oh, darn it. I have this bass-ackwards. I would actually expect a 78g B to be the same as the Plumix M. And, zooming in on the photos, it very well could be that the Plumix nib engraving is the same as the 78g, but not the Pluminix's.

 

Now I'm even more confused than I was before. And very sorry if I added to your (or anyone else's) confusion.

Not confused any more. Smug's suggestion to look closer at the nib - with a microscope - showed the CM and M are different even though superficially the same width. The CM has more rounded corners making it write finer than the Plumix M.

 

I know it's callled Calligraphy Medium, but left wondering if it should be Cursive Medium.

[PithyProlix]

39 minutes ago, AmandaW said:

Not confused any more. Smug's suggestion to look closer at the nib - with a microscope - showed the CM and M are different even though superficially the same width. The CM has more rounded corners making it write finer than the Plumix M.

 

I know it's callled Calligraphy Medium, but left wondering if it should be Cursive Medium.

 

Does the CM seem to write smoother and/or catch less than the M?

[AmandaW]

38 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

 

Does the CM seem to write smoother and/or catch less than the M?

 

Yes, I think it does. I wrote two A4 pages with each pen this morning and found that even though the CM was writing a little dry, it had no issues with smoothness or catching. Or maybe in hindsight the Plumix M nib is just very much wetter - so it wrote smooth too - no surprise there. The main difference was that the CM was so much finer on the downstroke than expected, more than the slight dryness would explain. Both are good nibs.

 

I have used the Plumix M nib a lot more and was always confused when others had said the CM was a decently fine italic with a nice crisp side stroke. Yes, it is, I thought, but the down stroke has always been fatter than I liked. I couldn't understand that because the two nibs side by side look the same. I went to some trouble to acquire the narrower Pluminix F italic and got from that the narrow down stroke I wanted. It never occurred to me that the CM sitting on my neglected Metropolitans might have delivered just as well. From what I'm seeing the CM writes somewhere between the Pluminix F and the Plumix M.

 

(I don't want to adjust the slight dryness of the CM cos it may be heading off to a new home.)

[inkstainedruth]

Today it's been a couple of the pens I had repaired/checked out last weekend at the Baltimore-Washington Pen Show:

(1) Parker/Eversharp hybrid (don't know the exact model -- think of a Parker 45 with a different clip and a nib unit that can't be removed/taken apart), M nib -- Iroshizuku Ajisai.

(2) Sheaffer Snorkel Clipper, F(?) nib -- vintage Skrip Royal (?) Blue (not sure if it's washable or permanent -- the label was missing from the bottle but I paid two bucks for it a while back at an estate sale.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[51ISH]

8 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Today it's been a couple of the pens I had repaired/checked out last weekend at the Baltimore-Washington Pen Show:

(1) Parker/Eversharp hybrid (don't know the exact model -- think of a Parker 45 with a different clip and a nib unit that can't be removed/taken apart), M nib -- Iroshizuku Ajisai.

(2) Sheaffer Snorkel Clipper, F(?) nib -- vintage Skrip Royal (?) Blue (not sure if it's washable or permanent -- the label was missing from the bottle but I paid two bucks for it a while back at an estate sale.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

I think Sheaffer Skrip Royal (?) Blue was available in Permanent and Washable....not necessarily at the same time.  🙂 🤔  You could try dipping your finger in it and see how long it takes to wash off 🤣🤣🤣

[Misfit]

I’m using a Karas Kustoms Decograph in Monster Green cerakote with 1.1mm stub nib filled with Kaweco Palm Green for St. Patrick’s Day. 

[51ISH]

Anyone that has seen my previous posts will not be surprised.... I only have one pen inked with green ink at present, my Beijing Jin Xing 28 loaded with Diamine Sherwood Green. It's a bit 'subdued' for St Patrick's Day to be honest.... In the correct envrionment it would make a very good 'professionals' ink IMO.

[inkstainedruth]

46 minutes ago, 51ISH said:

 

I think Sheaffer Skrip Royal (?) Blue was available in Permanent and Washable....not necessarily at the same time.  🙂 🤔  You could try dipping your finger in it and see how long it takes to wash off 🤣🤣🤣

I'm going to have enough problems when I go to flush out the Metropolitan with the stub nib where the converter seems to have detached itself from the connection with the feed and could very well be stuck in the barrel now....   RIGHT after I refilled it with Namiki Black maybe a week before.... 🤬

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[51ISH]

6 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

I'm going to have enough problems when I go to flush out the Metropolitan with the stub nib where the converter seems to have detached itself from the connection with the feed and could very well be stuck in the barrel now....   RIGHT after I refilled it with Namiki Black maybe a week before.... 🤬

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

I usually break out my 'Marigold kitchen gloves'   (as used for washing up and stuff) when things  are about to get 'messy'   Also the rubber gloves give you a 'better grip' (say if you are removing a nib) Hope you have sorted your problems out with the 'stuck' converter.

[A Smug Dill]

15 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

As of now, I only see the Enso sets with Parallel and watercolor brush pens - not the one with Plumix [pl?] at Amazon.com.

 

Oh, you're right! My mistake.

 

 

[AmandaW]

Today's journal pen is an EF Lamy 2000 filled with Lamy Petrol.

 

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

47 minutes ago, 51ISH said:

 

I usually break out my 'Marigold kitchen gloves'   (as used for washing up and stuff) when things  are about to get 'messy'   Also the rubber gloves give you a 'better grip' (say if you are removing a nib) Hope you have sorted your problems out with the 'stuck' converter.

Well, I suspect that the long skinny hemostat pliers I bought a few years ago will finally get put to use....  It's just that I hate probably having to dump what would have been a perfectly good ink fill.

The problem with rubber gloves for me is that they don't really fit right -- so the "grip" doesn't really help me.  I have used plastic gloves sometimes in kitchens, but those aren't really comfortable to wear (and I'm not sure we have any in the house at the moment -- any we DID have will be down in Mississippi in the food booth that is my husband's sideline business/"midlife crisis").  

I just talked to him on the phone a few minutes ago, and he was complaining that he slipped and fell in the mud because it's been raining down there; and that the person who is now doing the cashiering for him -- now that I quit doing it -- doesn't seem to understand that even the money that's packaged up and unopened still counts as "opening till"....  Which is kinda scary since she's been the treasurer in the past at at LEAST the regional level (and was the "PayPal deputy" for the organization's 50th anniversary event a few years ago... )  And formerly was in the Army Corp. of Engineers (I believe she retired with the rank of at the very least Lt. Colonel).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth