What pen(s) are you using today?

[chromantic]

Last night, a JIF with 1864 and, after a quick flush and refill, my M400 blue stripe with Stipula Dark Blue, perfect combo of pen and ink. Tonight, will take that again, along with the M405 blue with Kana-cho which I used the previous night, to do a mini comparison.

[OldTravelingShoe]

On 9/2/2022 at 6:04 PM, 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:

 

Edit:

After a long soak…

 

Thanks for sharing this, @A Smug Dill. I saved the image with the excellent writing-sample so I can rethink how I do (long) tests of my pens; there's so much packed into that page, different hands, different drawing techniques, different ink-testing methods, to name but the obvious.

 

I like the writing itself, and the pen as well 😄

 

I've received numerous cartridges in my AliExpress orders. Jinhao pens with a converter inside often include 1-6 cartridges with their ink. I'm wondering what this says about the official Chinese rules and how AliExpress ships. Could it be the cartridges are added in delivery or transfer centers abroad, thus operating on different rules? 

[OldTravelingShoe]

14 hours ago, georges zaslavsky said:

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

@georges zaslavsky, this is a wonderful set, thanks for sharing!

 

Would you mind sharing photos of these pens? Thank you. 

[OldTravelingShoe]

7 hours ago, chromantic said:

Last night, a JIF with 1864 .

@chromantic, thanks for sharing. May I ask for a photo of the JIF? The Waterman - JIF relationship produced many models, so I'm having trouble picturing which one it could be. 

[Peter_H]

 

Moonman T1 with #6 JoWo EF nib; homebrew ink.

 

 

[georges zaslavsky]

1 hour ago, OldTravelingShoe said:

@georges zaslavsky, this is a wonderful set, thanks for sharing!

 

Would you mind sharing photos of these pens? Thank you. 

[inkstainedruth]

So far, it's been the NOS Parker Vector "Looney Toons" Sylvester pen, F nib, with vintage Quink Washable Brown.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[NgunnawalJack]

Lanbitou 3062

[OldTravelingShoe]

8 hours ago, georges zaslavsky said:

Thanks for sharing, @georges zaslavsky. Like the contrast in colors and finishes, but the shapes. 

 

The Conklins are very different from what I imagined - I know more about their 1920s and 1930s pens 😄

[OldTravelingShoe]

TL;DR: Today I spent a bit of time with several Esterbrooks. I have a few Js and a few dwsk pens; the latter, alas, without caps or a desk stand. I'm starting to learn what I can do with them, starting with the finer end of the nibs.

 

The most surprising nib today? The 9128, which to me seems to act like a dip pen's. The 9128 is extra flexible, extra fine (for an Esterbrook nib). Figures 1-3 depict my early, early tests. The nib is quirky like a dip nib, so I'm still calibrating... Any mistakes or poor calligraphy are of course my fault, not the nib's. 

 

The photos are taken through this evening, under dim night (yellow) light, and I didn't touch them much. 

 

Figure 1. The surprising 9128 nib from Esterbrook sits in the surprisingly comfy J pen from Esterbrook. Across the table, more Esterbrook nibs and pens comment on the situation. It's still hot outside. 

 

Figure 2. The 9128 drinks a bit of Diamine Ancient Copper. 

 

Figure 3. All is well if it ends with a good soak. This nib has spent a few decades with various inks until I got it, and the powerful cleaner revealed lots of interesting traces. 

 

Enjoy the day! 

 

P.S.: I'm now wondering if the Esterbrook fountain pen nibs are made to last longer than the dip nibs. 

[yubaprof]

On 9/2/2022 at 5:22 PM, A Smug Dill said:

Edit:

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

 

[essayfaire]

It seems to be medium nib day here, but these medium nibs all write differently:

 

Sailor M with R & K Verdigris

Pelikan M with MB ink that I think is Purdy Cigar

Pilot M with Bungubox First Love Sapphire

 

Also:

a F cheap Chinese pen that looks like bamboo with De Artemis Bamboo Green

 

Conway Stewart 475 F/M ish with Parker Quink blue(new formula)

 

 

[amberleadavis]

On 8/27/2022 at 12:01 PM, OldTravelingShoe said:

TL;DR: Today was a quiet day after a noisy week. So I spent much of it cleaning pens. Cathartic, as Figures 1-3 also suggest. 

 

Figure 1. Waterman 877 nib. Likely a Taperite pen. 

 

Figure 2. The Number 5 nib of a Waterman 515. 

 

Figure 3. A Conway Stewart 5 nib, part of an 85L. Perhaps not the original, because the guide indicates a CS3. But this nib is great as well, a broad, cursive italic. Now I need to find a way to increase the flow to it. 

 

Enjoy, everyone! 

Beautiful!

[amberleadavis]

On 9/1/2022 at 6:21 AM, 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 Prelude (mispelled in photo, my bad) (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.

 

 

Nice!

[chromantic]

21 hours ago, OldTravelingShoe said:

@chromantic, thanks for sharing. May I ask for a photo of the JIF? The Waterman - JIF relationship produced many models, so I'm having trouble picturing which one it could be. 

 

Here you go.

 

This is my 2nd one of this, I somehow lost the 1st one, then kept scouring ebay for months until this one showed up; this one was NOS, still in the packaging. There is a mouse on the end of the barrel, too, which I forgot to snap. Very smooth writer and you can probably grok why I have 1864 in it.

[ruby.monkey]

Going old-school (literally?) today - my school-days Parker 25 gets to stretch its medium nib, along with its more-recently-acquired ballpoint sibling.

 

The fountain pen has stayed with me for the last forty-odd years while the matching ballpoint kept getting lost or stolen almost as soon as I bought it. My current ballpoint has hung around for something like a decade so perhaps there's hope yet for this one.

[mallymal1]

26 minutes ago, ruby.monkey said:

Going old-school (literally?) today - my school-days Parker 25 gets to stretch its medium nib, along with its more-recently-acquired ballpoint sibling.

 

The fountain pen has stayed with me for the last forty-odd years while the matching ballpoint kept getting lost or stolen almost as soon as I bought it. My current ballpoint has hung around for something like a decade so perhaps there's hope yet for this one.

 

Hope springs eternal...

 

[mallymal1]

A button fill Merlin 33. Inked with Diamine Blue Black.

 

[ruby.monkey]

That's a very pretty example.

[PatrickA]

1 hour ago, mallymal1 said:

A button fill Merlin 33. Inked with Diamine Blue Black.

 

 

Like the blue color !