What pen(s) are you using today?

[Penguincollector]

Oh, today I am using a Parker 51 with a weird nib that I am writing up a post for in the Parker section. It’s a bit of a project pen, I replaced the cracked barrel with a different color, so the hood is forest, and the barrel is black. The lustralloy cap is still seeking a replacement jewel.  It’s inked with Parker Quink black. 

[PithyProlix]

On 1/8/2023 at 2:44 AM, OldTravelingShoe said:

TL;DR: I just received a Pilot Elite from the 1970s, with a lovely nib that @Andrew_L just used in a drawing, so I gave this pen a spin. The cat is out of the bag! (See Figure 1.)

 

And a puzzle: Richard Binder mentions that this nib is very similar to that in the first-generation Pilot Elite pocket pens introduced in 1964 [1, Pilot chapter], but in 18k (see Figure 2). Could the first-generation pen have lasted so long? If not, what model could this be? 

 

Figure 1. The pen with the cat. 

 

Figure 2. The nib. 

 

Enjoy the weekend! 

 

Reference:

[1] Richard Binder, Japanese pocket pens. Article, also book. Online: http://www.richardspens.com/ref/profiles/pocket_pens.htm

 

Nice drawing! Pilot Elites are my 'bread and butter'. Not my absolute best pens but great nonetheless and I always come back to them. 

I'm a bit confused about what you wrote about generations of Elite nibs. The 'fingernail' design immediately preceded the design in your Figure 2 - I'm sure I have a few from the 1960s. The first Elites (1962) - the E-200 and E-300, both regular length pens - had fingernail nibs. I don't think I have an example of the earliest Elite pocket pens but I will take a look (desk is a disaster currently ...). 

[essayfaire]

So did @Andrew_Lalso use it to draw a cat?

[PAKMAN]

Pelikan M800 blue stripe

 

[inkstainedruth]

On 1/8/2023 at 2:53 PM, DiveDr said:

Do you like the Birmingham inks?  I find them inconsistent.  Washable, don't stain but very blasé, nothing really stands out.

You should try Birmingham Herr's Island Ultramarine.  I wouldn't call that blasé at ALL (it's a cobalt blue that leans very slightly teal, and is quite a vibrant color).  

Of course I'm not sure if it's in their current lineup -- I got SOOO spoiled when they had the B&M store in Pittsburgh and forget to look at their website.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[TitoThePencilPimp]

4 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

You should try Birmingham Herr's Island Ultramarine.  I wouldn't call that blasé at ALL (it's a cobalt blue that leans very slightly teal, and is quite a vibrant color).  

Of course I'm not sure if it's in their current lineup -- I got SOOO spoiled when they had the B&M store in Pittsburgh and forget to look at their website.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I personally found them a bit overrated. the only I truly liked was canturbury raisen. Which was the only I kept, from the 10 I was gifted.

[Mangrove Jack]

Parker 45 Harlequin, Sheaffer ladies pen, Noodlers Ebonite and Sheaffer Targa.

 

[Penguincollector]

Today I am using a cobalt Chinese pen, presumed to be a Hero but has no branding on it- but is definitely an IM clone with a fine “genius iridium” nib. The color drew me in, I’m a sucker for a bright blue pen with gold trim, plus it was under $2. @Mangrove Jack- love both your username (Miami native) and your pens of the day- have a Sheaffer Lady on my want list.

[Mercian]

46 minutes ago, Mangrove Jack said:

Parker 45 Harlequin,

Oooh! Colour me Jealous!

 

My mum had the ballpoint version in the early 1980s but somebody stole it from her borrowed it from her and ‘forgot to give it back’ 😕

[ruby.monkey]

My wife bought me a Kaweco Al Special dip pen for Christmas. I've been using it today with an Esterbrook 314 Relief nib, and it's been an absolute pleasure.

[inkstainedruth]

On 1/10/2023 at 6:36 PM, TitoThePencilPimp said:

I personally found them a bit overrated. the only I truly liked was canturbury raisen. Which was the only I kept, from the 10 I was gifted.

Oh, haven't seen that one.  Is that part of the current lineup?

I really liked one that I was never able to snag a full bottle of (only samples) from their original line -- Smithfield Street Bridge Truss Blue.  I liked the original formula of Shadyside Walnut Street Brown; found the old Schenley Park Thicket Green a little pale, but well behaved in a vintage pen (the Sheaffer Balance Oversize that belonged to my husband's grandfather).  And I'm starting to like the one I won in the raffle at the most recent Pelikan Hub -- Armadillo (a medium light grey with (on some paper) a purplish undertone).

Pittsburgh Fort Duquesne Battle French Tricolor was kind of pale (not sure if that was deliberate, since the French lost that battle).  I've tried Cathedral of Learning Panther Blue, and Allegheny Observatory Celestial Skies but they weren't particularly memorable one way or the other.  The old Waterfront Dusk was more red leaning than I was expecting -- still trying to make up my mind about it.  Don't remember about some others, like Persian Copper and Madame CJ Walker Elegant Fuchsia (not sure if those are still available or not -- I only have those and a couple of others as samples.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[lionelc]

osmia 882 in a fine - impressive line variation from 0.2mm to 2mm

[AmandaW]

A clear TWSBI Eco EF with only a little left of the Black Swan in Australian Roses put in it several years ago. Great nib on it and it never dries out, but I don't like the visible cap liner - and feeling guilty over the impulsive order of a TWSBI Eco-T Royal Jade yesterday - so it's going to be cleaned out and given to my husband to use for touching up film (used for making printing plates). He finds Platinum Carbon fantastic for that - as good as the old ruby pens that are now hard to get. He's been using a Platinum um not a Preppy, the next one up with the aluminium body, but it's cap is failing after many years of clicking on and off. So this pen is heading off to a new pen cup and a permanent  fill of Platinum Carbon and I get to watch a tracking number with slightly less squirmy self-telling-off. 

[Checklist]

TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR in Nickel Gray that I bought a couple of weeks ago.  The pen and I are still getting used to each other, but it seems nice so far.

[inkstainedruth]

Today it's been a couple of Parkers:

1 -- Parker 61 (Flighter, F? nib) still with the unknown black ink that I've been slowly reconstituting and writing with.  Things are getting better, in that I got through nearly a page of A5 paper in my Miquelrius journal before having to reconstitute the ink; but I have to now be careful because I was having some ink leaking through the small hole in the barrel...

2 -- Parker Vector, Pink (Pink, F nib), with Van Dieman Moonflower (one of the inks I picked up at the Ohio Pen Show a couple of months ago).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mangrove Jack]

11 hours ago, Mercian said:

Oooh! Colour me Jealous!

 

My mum had the ballpoint version in the early 1980s but somebody stole it from her borrowed it from her and ‘forgot to give it back’ 😕

The Parker 45's are super pens. Extremely reliable, parts from the different models are fully interchangeable, and there are so many variations. The Harlequins and the Coronets are IMO the nicest and I think I now have the entire set of Parker 45 Coronets, and I keep telling myself that I am not a collector but a user😉. 

[Number99]

On 1/8/2023 at 4:44 AM, OldTravelingShoe said:

TL;DR: I just received a Pilot Elite from the 1970s, with a lovely nib that @Andrew_L just used in a drawing, so I gave this pen a spin. The cat is out of the bag! (See Figure 1.)

 

And a puzzle: Richard Binder mentions that this nib is very similar to that in the first-generation Pilot Elite pocket pens introduced in 1964 [1, Pilot chapter], but in 18k (see Figure 2). Could the first-generation pen have lasted so long? If not, what model could this be? 

 

Figure 1. The pen with the cat. 

 

Figure 2. The nib. 

 

Enjoy the weekend! 

 

Reference:

[1] Richard Binder, Japanese pocket pens. Article, also book. Online: http://www.richardspens.com/ref/profiles/pocket_pens.htm

I agree with you and @PithyProlix.

The first pilot Elite S was in 1968.

I think the first long version of the Elite was around 1962.

But why "1964"...?

I'm reading the translated text, but as for the description of this pen, perhaps the pictures and the text are simply interchanged?

 

Also, there are variations of the Pilot Elite that do not have the "Elite" logo, so it would be difficult to classify it as a generation.

 

I will send you a PM in good time.

 

https://www.pilot.co.jp/100th/gallery/

 

https://www.pilot.co.jp/100th/

 

[jmccarty3]

12 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

I've tried Cathedral of Learning Panther Blue, and Allegheny Observatory Celestial Skies but they weren't particularly memorable one way or the other.

 

For some reason I really liked Cathedral of Learning Panther Blue. Of course, it's long gone.

[irrigger]

I decided to go all amber this week. A vac with a Mabie Todd #2 nib and Edelstein Amber ink, Amber Pilot Custom 823 with broad nib and Pilot Blue ink, and an Esterbrook Dollar pencil

[chromantic]

Tuesday night it was the new black PG Slim (M) with Tsuyuhikari and the matte black Arrow (F) with Diplomat Orchid. The Slim is really nice (I'll probably start ordering M on future Slims, in fact) and the Tsuyuhikari is a lovely color. The Orchid is a ++good vivid pink but there's a problem with the Arrow; it appears the tines are squeezed too tightly together as it only lays down a line if I push down hard. That might account for the 'used' pen looking brand spanking new. I'll have to send it away at some point as I'm not confident of fixing it myself.