What pen(s) are you using today?

[zedlopez]

My new Faber-Castell E-motion (M nib, Wordsworth & Black Mysterious black ink). I'm super-happy with it... the weight, the balance, the way it fits my hand, it just felt right like nothing else has.

[Penguincollector]

Still working on using up the CX-22 ink in my EF Chinese piston demonstrator. I’ve had a few people ask me about this ink so here’s a link to the Amazon page if anyone else wants it:

CX inks

[Baka1969]

3 hours ago, zedlopez said:

My new Faber-Castell E-motion (M nib, Wordsworth & Black Mysterious black ink). I'm super-happy with it... the weight, the balance, the way it fits my hand, it just felt right like nothing else has.

 

Do you post the E-Motion? I find mine to be a bit too short to write with it comfortably and also find it doesn't post well. 

[inkstainedruth]

Today it's been the Ddove Grey 51 Vac, F? nib, still with Robert Oster Sydney Lavender; and the Pelikan M205 Blue Marbled, still with Pelikan 4001 Blue Black.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Baka1969]

Error! Error! T'is the 1.4 stub!

 

[zedlopez]

3 hours ago, Baka1969 said:

 

Do you post the E-Motion? I find mine to be a bit too short to write with it comfortably and also find it doesn't post well. 

 

No, I don't. I just tried it and you're right, without pushing so much I'd expect to scratch the pen, the posting is loose. And it changes the balance in a way that loses the perfect fit feeling for me.

[Lithium466]

On 10/15/2023 at 10:16 AM, USG said:

 

Hi LTM

Another pen with a lovely name and an old friend.  Shool pens always have such a warm feeling. 🙂   Is it an all red one or red and black?

Do you have any shading with the ink from the Visconti ink cartridge?

Nioi-Sumire looks lovely on Iroful, I really have to buy some (Iroful)! It looks very ordinary on the Atoma paper I was using yesterday (Nioi-Sumire).

 

Back to the Rotring, the red one is all red:

 

 

There was also a black version with the rot ring, this one is still eluding me. And of course a yellow and a green... I'm not sure if the blue I have is the "navy" or if there was also a darker blue.

 

Visconti blue... did give some shading initially (note that the Rivette even in M doesn't have a particularly generous flow...but that's fine as a school pen when you want your ink to dry quickly!), but also faded from one day to the other, and the next day the shading was less pronounced. I was using it on (horrible) Atoma paper and all the "erasable" Royal blue inks fade on it, must be its PH or something with that paper.

 

And today I was using that Sailor 1911S with a 21K "F" nib, paired with Diamine Winter Miracle. A choice too audacious for a day at the office, as it clogged mid day. I'll be persisting tomorrow with Diamine Mystique, and see if it clogs too

[Lithium466]

3 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

Still working on using up the CX-22 ink in my EF Chinese piston demonstrator. I’ve had a few people ask me about this ink so here’s a link to the Amazon page if anyone else wants it:

CX inks

I don't know what happened but they jumped in my Amazon basket, and I think I inadvertently pressed on buy now. Oh well, here goes my ink budget for the month...

[Baka1969]

48 minutes ago, zedlopez said:

 

No, I don't. I just tried it and you're right, without pushing so much I'd expect to scratch the pen, the posting is loose. And it changes the balance in a way that loses the perfect fit feeling for me.

 

It's a shame, it's a gorgeous pen. Unfortunately I just don't use it. 

 

[Misfit]

On 10/13/2023 at 11:25 PM, Baka1969 said:

Parker 51

Where did you get this lovely pen?

[Baka1969]

37 minutes ago, Misfit said:

Where did you get this lovely pen?

 

I wish I could say that I scoured the depths of some dark corners of the United States searching antique shops specializing in historic pens patronized by eccentric authors. But I found this Parker 51 on eBay. 

 

Who knows? Maybe it was owned by a harrowed artist? The world my never know. 

 

I love everything about the pen except how it writes. It's quite scratchy for my taste. Sometimes it feels like it's ripping through the paper. It's such a tiny nib that I don't dare try to tune it. 

[Gloucesterman]

5 hours ago, Baka1969 said:

 

I wish I could say that I scoured the depths of some dark corners of the United States searching antique shops specializing in historic pens patronized by eccentric authors. But I found this Parker 51 on eBay. 

 

Who knows? Maybe it was owned by a harrowed artist? The world my never know. 

 

I love everything about the pen except how it writes. It's quite scratchy for my taste. Sometimes it feels like it's ripping through the paper. It's such a tiny nib that I don't dare try to tune it. 

Have you checked it out with a loupe? It, the scratchiness, may be something as simple as a misaligned tine.

You could "fix" it and live happily ever after.

Or not!

Either way, good luck...

[Baka1969]

2 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

Have you checked it out with a loupe? It, the scratchiness, may be something as simple as a misaligned tine.

You could "fix" it and live happily ever after.

Or not!

Either way, good luck...

 

It's possible that I was being a wee bit hyperbolic. lol 

 

However I did give the tines a little tweak and, although it writes better, it still writes like an iron needle, and is far from smooth. I'm usually a big fan of the smoothness of a medium nib. Sometimes a medium isn't the most practical choice for all circumstances. Those times a fine (or very fine) nib is the better option.

 

One of my Pilot Elites has a fine nib and it is definitely one of the smoothest fine nibs I have. I have several Lamy fine nibs and they are certainly smoother. Plus I even have a Visconti Rembrandt with a smoother fine nib. 

[Penguincollector]

3 hours ago, Baka1969 said:

 

It's possible that I was being a wee bit hyperbolic. lol 

 

However I did give the tines a little tweak and, although it writes better, it still writes like an iron needle, and is far from smooth. I'm usually a big fan of the smoothness of a medium nib. Sometimes a medium isn't the most practical choice for all circumstances. Those times a fine (or very fine) nib is the better option.

 

One of my Pilot Elites has a fine nib and it is definitely one of the smoothest fine nibs I have. I have several Lamy fine nibs and they are certainly smoother. Plus I even have a Visconti Rembrandt with a smoother fine nib. 

  I had a really scratchy 51 tuned by Kirk Speer this summer and it’s like buying a new pen. You could also try getting a wider nib if it’s too narrow for your tastes.

[Baka1969]

15 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

  I had a really scratchy 51 tuned by Kirk Speer this summer and it’s like buying a new pen. You could also try getting a wider nib if it’s too narrow for your tastes.

 

Where would I get a wider nib? I would think it would probably be easier buying another vintage 51 than trying to locate a medium nib unit? Parker 51's are somewhat plentiful and not overly expensive. Even in mint condition. If I were to go that route. 

 

That being said, I like having the option(s) of having a fine nib handy for different situations. Like signing a receipt in a restaurant. The downside of a scratchy pen is potentially ripping said receipt. 

 

Maybe tuning is the way to go? 

 

I actually have a list of my pens that I'd like to have tuned or ground. A few have the opposite issue. They're too wide and I'd like to shave a few microns off to get just a wee bit of a thinner line. 

[Doug C]

My Pilots,   Leonardo and a Pen7

[Penguincollector]

24 minutes ago, Baka1969 said:

 

Where would I get a wider nib? I would think it would probably be easier buying another vintage 51 than trying to locate a medium nib unit? Parker 51's are somewhat plentiful and not overly expensive. Even in mint condition. If I were to go that route. 

 

That being said, I like having the option(s) of having a fine nib handy for different situations. Like signing a receipt in a restaurant. The downside of a scratchy pen is potentially ripping said receipt. 

 

Maybe tuning is the way to go? 

 

I actually have a list of my pens that I'd like to have tuned or ground. A few have the opposite issue. They're too wide and I'd like to shave a few microns off to get just a wee bit of a thinner line. 

  I get my Parker parts from Five Star Pens, if you decide to go that route. I can say that having a nibmeister tune and grind my pens has made them more useful to me. I have had a 144 B ground into an italic and it has not left my desk since. My Parker 51 was scratchy and balky and is now such a good writer. They don’t always look like it, because the tip is so tiny and obscured by the hood, but they can have a lot of tipping material left. 

[Baka1969]

14 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

  I get my Parker parts from Five Star Pens, if you decide to go that route. I can say that having a nibmeister tune and grind my pens has made them more useful to me. I have had a 144 B ground into an italic and it has not left my desk since. My Parker 51 was scratchy and balky and is now such a good writer. They don’t always look like it, because the tip is so tiny and obscured by the hood, but they can have a lot of tipping material left. 

 

It's certainly a viable option. I have a MB 146 that's supposed to be a medium but writes closer to a wide. I'd like to have a nib that's smooth yet has decent line variation around the 1.0 mm size. 

 

As for the 51? If I could get it smoothed out it's a great daily carry. 

[Baka1969]

28 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

  I get my Parker parts from Five Star Pens, if you decide to go that route. I can say that having a nibmeister tune and grind my pens has made them more useful to me. I have had a 144 B ground into an italic and it has not left my desk since. My Parker 51 was scratchy and balky and is now such a good writer. They don’t always look like it, because the tip is so tiny and obscured by the hood, but they can have a lot of tipping material left. 

Thanks for the link. Nice!

[Penguincollector]

11 minutes ago, Baka1969 said:

 

It's certainly a viable option. I have a MB 146 that's supposed to be a medium but writes closer to a wide. I'd like to have a nib that's smooth yet has decent line variation around the 1.0 mm size. 

 

As for the 51? If I could get it smoothed out it's a great daily carry. 

    If there’s a pen show coming your way, that’s the best place to start. You can talk to the artisan and try their grinds, and they can hand the pen to you to try so they can fit it to you. 
If you like their work and they get to know your hand, you can send them other pens and work out what you want through correspondence. It was a really fun experience and I got to watch him work on all sorts of pens and look at his pens for sale while waiting.  Plus, if you find something else that you like at the show and it’s not quite right you can get it fixed right away. Some pen shops that sell vintage or second hand will also have a nibmeister come in every so often, my local does.

  You’re very welcome for the link. The Lotts are great.