What pen(s) are you using today?

[Gloucesterman]

2 hours ago, ZiggyTsarDust said:

I keep a relatively humble work setup. Being at a high-school with a support role that has me moving around a lot, I wouldnt risk leaving something irreplaceable behind! They are also coincidently all non-gold trimmed so they don't stick out too much. 

 

My go-to 3 are;

Pilot Vanishing Point (f) For quick notes and the occasional fidget.

 

Shaeffer Targa (EF) Nice stiff extra fine that works as my go to for cheaper paper. Also nice to fidget with as it's a slip-cap with a weighty smooth body.

 

Twisbi 580 ALR (Stub) I have an extra fine nib for this one, but at the moment I have it with a nice stock stub and filled with a nice sheeny Akkerman Shocking Blue to keep my mind from getting too bored with fine lines and simple old reliable inks.

 

 

I do very much dream of a more private and stationary job with a desk of my own. My more valuable workhorses should get the heavy-work they deserve.

 

Is the above (second) pen the "Targa" you mentioned? It looks just like the Sheaffer Prelude I have seen.

 

Love the Akkerman Shocking blue in, especially with the stub nib.

Enjoy.........

[ZiggyTsarDust]

16 minutes ago, Gloucesterman said:

Is the above (second) pen the "Targa" you mentioned? It looks just like the Sheaffer Prelude I have seen.

AAAAH! You're right! I meant to type Prelude and I now realized I didn't even write it on the paper right. I was given it by a coworker who didn't use it but had it laying around the house, so I never bought it myself. The name I had to look up and I guess it didn't properly stick in my mind. 

[Kumachan]

My first Esterbrook "transition" pen with a very common 2556 nib.

[inkstainedruth]

Today it's been the NOS Parker Vector Looney Toons "Sylvester pen", F nib, with vintage Quink Washable Brown; and the purple Pilot Falcon, SF nib, with Sailor Souboku.

Turns out that the seller of the "Sylvester" pen was wrong in saying that the pen was a special German edition -- because I plugged some of the text on the packaging in to Google Translate and apparently it's actually written in DUTCH (but the pen MIGHT be UK-production).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ruby.monkey]

It's Friday, time to have a little fun:

IMG_6161 by Jean-Yves, on Flickr

[OldTravelingShoe]

9 minutes ago, ruby.monkey said:

It's Friday, time to have a little fun:

IMG_6161 by Jean-Yves, on Flickr

Very pretty and inspiring, @ruby.monkey. Look forward to the weekend, got pens to try and we've scheduled a meetup with the Netherlands Pen Club. What a good weekend for fountain pens! 🕺

[A Smug Dill]

I ordered a pack of this Moonman blue-black ink cartridges, along with a pack of Moonman black ink cartridges, primarily because I was curious as to 1. whether the AliExpress seller will accept my order, given that (as far as I know) Chinese regulations prohibit the shipping of liquids by post or courier out of the country; 2. whether the seller would then either take the initiative to cancel my order, or just not dispatch it (and wait for the system to automatically cancel my order); and 3. if it is sent, whether the package will make it past China's borders unmolested all the way to Australia.

 

I found an opportunity to conduct this experiment cheaply; and I would be happy to actually receive the goods, given the Moonman 80 mini-e (of which I have quite a few) is an anomaly among Chinese cartridge/converter-filled fountain pens, in that it takes neither 2.6mm-bore nor 3.4mm-bore cartridges, but 3.2mm-bore ones. The squeeze converters supplied with the pens (which were already a boon of sorts, and if I'm not mistaken, were not supplied or available when the 80 mini-e first became available for retail) don't work very well, and most of the 80 mini-e pens I received did not come with ink cartridges (although one pen did), so I've had to source some Parker ones to make do, even though they are of lesser capacity than the Moonman ones.

 

Surprisingly, the ink cartridges not only made it past Chinese Customs, but arrived in the post fairly quickly; and I'm delighted by how well the ink performs. Not worth a proper ink review, perhaps, but the test sheet is worth sharing:

 

Edit:

After a long soak…

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by A Smug Dill

[PAKMAN]

[mizgeorge]

27 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

I ordered a pack of this Moonman blue-black ink cartridges, along with a pack of Moonman black ink cartridges, primarily because I was curious as to 1. whether the AliExpress seller will accept my order, given that (as far as I know) Chinese regulations prohibit the shipping of liquids by post or courier out of the country; 2. whether the seller would then either take the initiative to cancel my order, or just not dispatch it (and wait for the system to automatically cancel my order); and 3. if it is sent, whether the package will make it past China's borders unmolested all the way to Australia.

 

I found an opportunity to conduct this experiment cheaply; and I would be happy to actually receive the goods, given the Moonman 80 mini-e (of which I have quite a few) is an anomaly among Chinese cartridge/converter-filled fountain pens, in that it takes neither 2.6mm-bore nor 3.4mm-bore cartridges, but 3.2mm-bore ones. The squeeze converters supplied with the pens (which were already a boon of sorts, and if I'm not mistaken, were not supplied or available when the 80 mini-e first became available for retail) don't work very well, and most of the 80 mini-e pens I received did not come with ink cartridges (although one pen did), so I've had to source some Parker ones to make do, even though they are of lesser capacity than the Moonman ones.

 

Surprisingly, the ink cartridges not only made it past Chinese Customs, but arrived in the post fairly quickly; and I'm delighted by how well the ink performs. Not worth a proper ink review, perhaps, but the test sheet is worth sharing:

That's a really nice looking ink!

[ParramattaPaul]

I'll be out and about today for an appointment, errands, and dinner out with family, so it is a Gravitas Entry day.

[inkstainedruth]

8 hours ago, ruby.monkey said:

It's Friday, time to have a little fun:

IMG_6161 by Jean-Yves, on Flickr

What's the trick in using those?  I have one that a friend was giving away, which came with 2 small bottles of (unidentified) Herbin ink -- one each of purple and blue, but I couldn't get it to work.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ruby.monkey]

I've never had to do anything more complicated than dip the nib and maybe turn it round to find the smoothest-writing spot, with this or any other glass dip pen. I can't imagine any reason to coat the nib, since it's glass, but perhaps swish yours in neat isopropyl alcohol or similar in case there's any oil on it?

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks!  I'll try that at some point.

A few years ago I saw a fountain pen with a glass nib in a booth at an antiques mall, but I was hesitant to get it because of the trouble I'd had with the glass dip pen.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ruby.monkey]

I've seen a few online and keep having to fight the urge to buy one. They do look lovely but I can't see myself ever having to make carbon copies again.

[Gloucesterman]

On 9/1/2022 at 12:37 PM, ZiggyTsarDust said:

AAAAH! You're right! I meant to type Prelude and I now realized I didn't even write it on the paper right. I was given it by a coworker who didn't use it but had it laying around the house, so I never bought it myself. The name I had to look up and I guess it didn't properly stick in my mind. 

Haven't used one in years and, based on what I have seen here (in some ink reviews), they be especially good for using to test out ink, either for reviews or, perhaps, if you are at a pen show (or other event) and simply want to see what the color looks like on paper. I would expect them to be easy to clean with a paper towel or a cloth/rag and thus prevent contamination if you test out multiple inks.

[A Smug Dill]

6 hours ago, mizgeorge said:

That's a really nice looking ink!

 

I think the ink should be darker than that, more like other blue-black iron-gall inks, but I've previously tuned that Moonman 80 mini-e to write quite dryly; and this ink flow so dryly that I had to make the pen write wetter again in this pen-ink combo, just to be able to legible text out of it.

 

Being a cartridge ink, I can't really dip-test it, unless I manage to syringe most of the 1ml out of a cartridge out into an ink miser or some such; and iron-gall fountain pen inks often don't play well with dip pens anyway.

 

Edit:

This is the manufacturer's(?) marketing image for it:

Source: AliExpress item listing

 

Cost me US$4.31 for a dozen (6 black, 6 blue-black) cartridges taxed and delivered. I think I'll just refill their shells, once I've used up the ink, with the plethora of other blue-black iron-gall inks I have here, and see how they go, before ordering more.

[Helen350]

Tourneau MMXV - M. nib.  Ink:  Diamine Sherwood Green

Jinhao 95 - M. nib.  Ink:  Diamine Sherwood Green 

[inkstainedruth]

17 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

Haven't used one in years and, based on what I have seen here (in some ink reviews), they be especially good for using to test out ink, either for reviews or, perhaps, if you are at a pen show (or other event) and simply want to see what the color looks like on paper. I would expect them to be easy to clean with a paper towel or a cloth/rag and thus prevent contamination if you test out multiple inks.

I think the swatch tests that Van Ness do and put up on their website are done with glass pens -- for exactly that reason -- they're easy to clean.

 

As for me, so far the pen I've been using is the M205 Blue Marbled, still with Edelstein Topaz.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[S Gokul]

ASA Athelete, Matt Black Ebonite Eye Dropper, ASA stock SS nib, used with Bril Royal Blue ink.

 

Guider Mini, Brown black Ebonite Eye Dropper,  Guider stock SS nib, with Bril Green ink. 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2022 by S Gokul
Added photos of both pens

[georges zaslavsky]

Modern Conklin Nozac Word Gauge Demo inked in Pilot Kon Peki

Modern Conklin Nozac Word Gauge Tiger Celluloid inked in MB Royal Blue

Modern Conklin Nozac Word Gauge Sterling Silver inked with custom mixof black ink 

1960 Sheaffer PFMIII inked in PR Fast Dry Blue

1942 Sheaffer Valiant inked in Graf Castell Burgundy Red