What pen(s) are you using today?

[mallymal1]

19 hours ago, PAKMAN said:

 

Superb.

[The Mustard]

17 hours ago, 51ISH said:

Had this

 

 

I've had this pen for some years but never got around to using it. Then today I found an unused Sheaffer cartridge in one of my other pens

 

Fancied a change.....

 

That looks like anything other than a fine nib??

[AmandaW]

7 hours ago, Misfit said:

@AmandaW  Please post a photo once you have it home, and have time. So nice to shop in person. 

 

Got it!  Ta dah... a sketch kit for tonal drawing.  And since two of the visible items are fountain pens (one of them used to draw this morning) it should count for this thread. The sketchbook is A5 to give an idea of the size. The fountain pens are a Jinhao 86 Fude filled with R&K SketchInk Lily and a Jinhao 51a Fude filled with Tramol Moon Night.

 

 

[Mercian]

1 hour ago, The Mustard said:

 

That looks like anything other than a fine nib??

In my (extremely limited) experience, ‘western’ pen companies’ Italic Fine nibs are only ‘Fine’ in comparison to their other Italic nibs.

I’d expect the nib on @51ISH’s Sheaffer to be ~1mm wide.

 

I personally would really like to have a pen with a ‘CM’ nib that is made by Pilot for its Prera ‘Iro-Ai’ ‘calligraphy’ range. Those are supposedly 0.58mm wide.

But of course:

1- Pilot actively prevents the sale of the Prera ‘Iro-Ai’ to Brits 🤬 and;

 

2- even if I bought a ‘grey-market’ import Prera, the pen appears to be slightly too small for my hands - and I don’t think that they put the ‘CM’ nibs on to any other pens 😡

 

I’ve ordered a ‘grey-market’ import Plumix ‘M’, but I rather expect that I will find that its nib is a ‘European market’ italic nib, so is ~1mm wide. Which is too wide for my handwriting.
If that is the case, at least I’ll only have wasted about £15, rather than about £55 if I were to order a Prera and find that it is too small.

 

Innit bloody marvellous? 🙄

[AmandaW]

7 minutes ago, Mercian said:

the pen appears to be slightly too small for my hands - and I don’t think that they put the ‘CM’ nibs on to any other pens 😡

It's on the MR / Metropolitan as well.

 

My first Pilot italics were on the Plumix and Pluminix. The CM is the same as the M I got back around 2018, likewise the F italic and a B italic (that came on a 78G). All those - F, CM/M, B - are the same sizes as the ones I bought last year in an Enso set.

 

 

[Mercian]

1 minute ago, AmandaW said:

It's on the MR / Metropolitan as well.

We Brits are not allowed to buy those either!

We used to be - but the version Pilot deigned to sell here was chambered for SICs, rather than Pilot’s proprietary cartridges. I wonder whether those ones are available with the CM nib. If they are, I shall look for a ‘grey-market’ import from Europe.

 

In Britain, Pilot allows retailers to sell the disposable ‘V-Pen’ for ~£5 each.

The next-cheapest FP that we are allowed to buy is the Custom Heritage 92, for ~£185.

[Mercian]

7 minutes ago, AmandaW said:

My first Pilot italics were on the Plumix and Pluminix. The CM is the same as the M I got back around 2018, likewise the F italic and a B italic (that came on a 78G). All those - F, CM/M, B - are the same sizes as the ones I bought last year in an Enso set.

This is very encouraging information!

Thank you 😊

[AmandaW]

2 minutes ago, Mercian said:

We Brits are not allowed to buy those either!

We used to be - but the version Pilot deigned to sell here was chambered for SICs, rather than Pilot’s proprietary cartridges. I wonder whether those ones are available with the CM nib. If they are, I shall look for a ‘grey-market’ import from Europe.

 

I remember that. I deliberately ordered my Metropolitan CM from Jetpens (not Cult) so in this house if it's a Pilot it takes a Pilot cartridge or converter! The confusion would have driven me nuts.

[Mercian]

16 minutes ago, AmandaW said:

I deliberately ordered my Metropolitan CM from Jetpens (not Cult)

This is useful information too 👍

 

I just put a plain black Metro with a CM nib in to the ‘shopping cart’ at JetPens.

Once it calculated the shipping cost, and I added the HMRC VAT & Import Duty, the pen would cost me £70.15 ☹️

For a Metropolitan? 😕

Sometimes, I want to slap Pilot’s Marketing ‘geniuses’ round the face with the toothed end of a live freshwater Pike 🤬

 

Still, if my Plumix arrives with the same nib, and if I like it, I may decide that I am willing to pay £70 for a Metro….

[AmandaW]

From way back

 

[Vintage_BE]

[ParramattaPaul]

I'm too lazy to fetch my phone and take a photo, but today's pens are both Onotos -- the M nib 'Highland' Scholar and the B nib chased black Magna.

[Mark from Yorkshire]

 

this pair Helix Oxford and TWSBI Swipe.

 Both running Purple ink (Pilot Iroshizuku Murasaki-Shikubu) 

 

 

[USG]

Namiki Shogun

 

[DvdRiet]

10 minutes ago, USG said:

Namiki Shogun

 

Nice looking pen and a very interesting nib!

[51ISH]

10 hours ago, The Mustard said:

 

That looks like anything other than a fine nib??

 

I know right... that's exactly what I thought at first   

To make matters worse, she was gushing ink to begin with....

I've checked other Sheaffer Fine Italic nibs on ebay and it looks pretty much the same

I'm an EF/F/M  nib kind of guy normally, lets just say 'We are getting to know one another' better 🤣

[51ISH]

2 hours ago, Vintage_BE said:

 

A gorgeous pen, and lovely handwriting, by the way!  I love my Edison Collier.

It's a rubbish photo ...it's a gorgeous deep blue with light flecks through it in 'real life'.

 

 

[Misfit]

9 hours ago, Mercian said:

This is useful information too 👍

 

I just put a plain black Metro with a CM nib in to the ‘shopping cart’ at JetPens.

Once it calculated the shipping cost, and I added the HMRC VAT & Import Duty, the pen would cost me £70.15 ☹️

For a Metropolitan? 😕

Sometimes, I want to slap Pilot’s Marketing ‘geniuses’ round the face with the toothed end of a live freshwater Pike 🤬

 

Still, if my Plumix arrives with the same nib, and if I like it, I may decide that I am willing to pay £70 for a Metro….

When I read elsewhere that Brits couldn’t get Metropolitans in the UK, I had to prove it to myself. I looked at every British pen site I could think of. And it is true, no Metropolitan pens. Strange that. 
 

I was looking at Wonder Pens in Canada. They have Metros, but don’t ship beyond Canada and the US. 

[51ISH]

No surprises from me.... I'm still getting to know my Vintage No Nonsense Sheaffer with an Italic  F nib.  And even less surprises what's being used for the shopping list...

Beijing Jin Xing loaded with Diamine Sherwood Green. It's been years since I used this ink...such a 'professional green'  IMO.

I've yet to find an ink that doesn't 'suit' that pen. Probably the only pen I own that is permanently inked. Cost?  Less than £20 🤔

[Gloucesterman]

10 hours ago, Mercian said:

In my (extremely limited) experience, ‘western’ pen companies’ Italic Fine nibs are only ‘Fine’ in comparison to their other Italic nibs.

I’d expect the nib on @51ISH’s Sheaffer to be ~1mm wide.

 

I personally would really like to have a pen with a ‘CM’ nib that is made by Pilot for its Prera ‘Iro-Ai’ ‘calligraphy’ range. Those are supposedly 0.58mm wide.

But of course:

1- Pilot actively prevents the sale of the Prera ‘Iro-Ai’ to Brits 🤬 and;

 

2- even if I bought a ‘grey-market’ import Prera, the pen appears to be slightly too small for my hands - and I don’t think that they put the ‘CM’ nibs on to any other pens 😡

 

I’ve ordered a ‘grey-market’ import Plumix ‘M’, but I rather expect that I will find that its nib is a ‘European market’ italic nib, so is ~1mm wide. Which is too wide for my handwriting.
If that is the case, at least I’ll only have wasted about £15, rather than about £55 if I were to order a Prera and find that it is too small.

 

Innit bloody marvellous? 🙄

You may want to check around for a Nemosine .6mm or .8mm italic nib. I had (and may still have one or two somewhere) from quite awhile back. They are a #6 size (IIRC) and made to fit western pens. You might contact Fountain Pen Revolution (Kevin?) to see if he still has any in NOS inventory. Good luck.