What pen(s) are you using today?

[jandrew]

Ranga Bamboo with PO nib (the beak)

[Helen350]

Jinhao X159 - Dark Blue with gold clip - F. #8 nib.  Ink:  Dryden Designs Sky Blue

 

[InesF]

On 9/5/2022 at 10:12 PM, PatrickA said:

Was thinking to bury it in the garden for a couple of weeks to give it some patina 😉

... accelerated vintaging ... 

[inkstainedruth]

Today so far it's been three (and it's not even 7:30 AM yet 😞

1) Rage Red Parker 45, M nib -- vintage Quink Permanent Royal Blue.

2) Blue Marbled Pelikan M205, M nib -- Edelstein Topaz.

3. Purple Pilot Falcon, F nib -- Sailor Souboku.

There will definitely be others as the day wears on....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[essayfaire]

13 hours ago, jandrew said:

Ranga Bamboo with PO nib (the beak)

This photo of your pen and its juxtaposition to the drawing is absolutely wonderful.  Thank you. Made me smile.

[DvdRiet]

On 9/5/2022 at 9:09 PM, PatrickA said:

I started testing this 1950's Ero pen. I got this pen from a thrift store and It has been happily living in my "to do" box until today.

 

It has a Kugel/Ball tipped nib (14K) with some flex, so a pretty forgiving nib.

 

Somehow this pen doesn't really appeal to me, perhaps it is the grey color or the bright fake gold plating. 

 

 

 

 

 

How do you like the Kugel nib, though? I got one (unwittingly) on a 1950s Diplomat that is steel but with a bit of soft flex and I love it!

[PatrickA]

2 hours ago, DvdRiet said:

 

How do you like the Kugel nib, though? I got one (unwittingly) on a 1950s Diplomat that is steel but with a bit of soft flex and I love it!

 

I do like the Kugel nib as well, it is a great pen for meeting notes or other quick scribbles. It writes pretty much in any angle with some flex for character. Also great for quick doodles during those meetings 😀.

 

How about those Diplomats, any nice vintage models you can recommend?

[DvdRiet]

25 minutes ago, PatrickA said:

 

I do like the Kugel nib as well, it is a great pen for meeting notes or other quick scribbles. It writes pretty much in any angle with some flex for character. Also great for quick doodles during those meetings 😀.

 

How about those Diplomats, any nice vintage models you can recommend?

 

That's exactly my experience. It's like the way a ballpoint ought to write: like a fountain pen! 

 

But I should warn you that asking me about Diplomats is dangerous. We could be here all day! 

 

This is my Kugel nib (FK), in a Diplomat 20 from (presumably) the 1950s. The 20 also just happens to be one of the best vintage Diplomats IMO, and not quite as hard to find as some of the other models (especially if you shop around in Germany). I think that may be because it must have sold well at the time. The 20 model is with a steel nib and there is a model 21, which is the same pen with a gold nib. Both the steel and the gold have that typical soft semi-flex that many German pens had back in the day. And with that FK nib, it's one of my very favorite writers!

 

 

But I think I'm up to around 50 Diplomats now, on my mission to find one of every model from as far back as I can trace them (with room for some special color series and special editions, just because). So just about any period you're looking for, I probably have at least one pen to show you (or it's on my grail list)!

[essayfaire]

20 minutes ago, DvdRiet said:

This is my Kugel nib (FK), in a Diplomat 20 from (presumably) the 1950s. The 20 also just happens to be one of the best vintage Diplomats IMO, and not quite as hard to find as some of the other models (especially if you shop around in Germany).

That's a very handsome pen!  I think I would like a Kugel nib as it would be forgiving of the fact that I write at many different angles.

[DvdRiet]

2 minutes ago, essayfaire said:

That's a very handsome pen!  I think I would like a Kugel nib as it would be forgiving of the fact that I write at many different angles.

 

They really are fun to write with! They will write in just about any direction and at nearly any angle. I think the Kugel (ball) nibs are best known from the Pelikan assortment of nib options that could be easily switched out, but apparently there were a few others that made them at around the time the ballpoint appeared and started gaining popularity.

[PatrickA]

29 minutes ago, DvdRiet said:

 

That's exactly my experience. It's like the way a ballpoint ought to write: like a fountain pen! 

 

But I should warn you that asking me about Diplomats is dangerous. We could be here all day! 

 

This is my Kugel nib (FK), in a Diplomat 20 from (presumably) the 1950s. The 20 also just happens to be one of the best vintage Diplomats IMO, and not quite as hard to find as some of the other models (especially if you shop around in Germany). I think that may be because it must have sold well at the time. The 20 model is with a steel nib and there is a model 21, which is the same pen with a gold nib. Both the steel and the gold have that typical soft semi-flex that many German pens had back in the day. And with that FK nib, it's one of my very favorite writers!

 

 

But I think I'm up to around 50 Diplomats now, on my mission to find one of every model from as far back as I can trace them (with room for some special color series and special editions, just because). So just about any period you're looking for, I probably have at least one pen to show you (or it's on my grail list)!

 

Wow, 50 diplomats, that's commitment.

 

Diplomats were not really on my radar, but I will keep my eye open for a 20 or 21 for sure.

 

Happy hunting for the missing ones.

[DvdRiet]

6 minutes ago, PatrickA said:

 

Happy hunting for the missing ones

 

If you happen across a 17, keep me posted! 

[irrigger]

Decided to go black this week.

Pelikan M150 medium

MB149 double broad

Lamy 99e with an OM nib

 

[torstar]

Dusted off and primed up my Waterman Exception, black resin (sorry, lacquer apparently) with silver trim and a silver M nib.

 

Writes great, won't roll off the table, and I underline documents by holding the pen by the posted cap, as I do with my MB149.

 

It's a large heavy pen, even unposted, fits my needs for my large and heavy hand. Unposted and holding it near the nib for writing has it rest well past the webbing between my thumb and pointing finger, the MB146s fall far short of this.

 

Great to be old enough to revisit a great pen like it's new again.

 

 

 

[jandrew]

Inked up my Jinhao X450 with Syo ro for flexy Friday ...

[inkstainedruth]

12 hours ago, irrigger said:

Decided to go black this week.

Pelikan M150 medium

MB149 double broad

Lamy 99e with an OM nib

 

Interesting.  I wasn't familiar with that model Lamy, so I just looked it up.  And while the nib is somewhat different, the pen when capped looks quite a bit like the Senator Windsor I just picked up for a buck at an estate sale company's warehouse sale, and is the pen I'm using today, freshly inked up with Pelikan 4001 Violet.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[torstar]

2 hours ago, jandrew said:

Inked up my Jinhao X450 with Syo ro for flexy Friday ...

 

A few years ago I purchased a dozen pens like this, took them to work and asked if anyone wanted a fountain pen.

 

One insisted on paying for it, I said it was 11, he replied " eleven hundred?"...

 

Led to a good laugh, he gave me $20 with the requirement that I fill his pen with ink when he asked.

 

 

[essayfaire]

2 hours ago, jandrew said:

Inked up my Jinhao X450 with Syo ro for flexy Friday ...

Nice pairing!  I like these colors together.

[ParramattaPaul]

Onoto Scholar

[mallymal1]

On 9/8/2022 at 12:32 PM, inkstainedruth said:

Today so far it's been three (and it's not even 7:30 AM yet 😞

1) Rage Red Parker 45, M nib -- vintage Quink Permanent Royal Blue.

2) Blue Marbled Pelikan M205, M nib -- Edelstein Topaz.

3. Purple Pilot Falcon, F nib -- Sailor Souboku.

There will definitely be others as the day wears on....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

That's a great start!