What pen(s) are you using today?

[Baka1969]

Just now, OldTravelingShoe said:

I feel penabled now, @Baka1969 😁 The itch of acquiring one is getting felt. 

n+1

[OldTravelingShoe]

1 minute ago, RedPie said:

@OldTravelingShoe What a great looking pen, I like your drawing too! 😁

Many thanks, @RedPie. I like many pens, and think one should adjust to the instrument while drawing. But, every once in a while, I bump into a pen that wows and woos me... This Justus is one such pen! 

[Claes]

More info about that Sheaffer salesman's showcase.

I believe it is from the mid-to-late 1970s, and it might

well have contained more/other models when I got my

hands on it.

 

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

 

[Estycollector]

Circa 1949 Esterbrook Deluxe with Serenity Blue

[antares1966]

Inaugural inking of my red Pineider Grande Bellezza, fine quill nib, with Pilot Blue.

[Misfit]

I used a Kaweco AL Sport Anthracite with a 1.1mm stub nib, and filled with a cartridge of Kaweco Midnight Blue ink. 

[RedPie]

Jinhao 82 with Private Reserve Sherwood Green.

[Surlyprof]

On 1/4/2024 at 4:07 AM, OldTravelingShoe said:

Today I finally got to ink a Pilot Justus 95, with 14k-gold FM nib. It's an extraordinary pen in hand and has that little mechanism to change wetness that works great. I'm smitten! (Thanks to the FPN friends who pointed me to this pen, particularly @A Smug Dill.) 

 

The pen is a beauty to hold and a pleasure to use. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate what I mean by this. 

 

Figure 1. The Pilot Justus 95 in action. 

 

Figure 2. The Justus 95 nib in its glory, next to the wetness mechanism. The tongue above the nib slides toward or from the tipping, controlled with the rotating knob - turn right, as indicated by the printed "S >>", to get a softer, wetter nib; turn left, as indicated by the "<< H" print, for the opposite. 

 

For the fan of precision: It's a Pilot Justus 95 Net Black, code FJ-3MR-NB-FM. There are other kinds, particularly the Stripe Black, whose equivalent code is FJ-3MR-SB-FM. The other kinds of nibs are F and M. 

 

For further precision: There's a 1970s version as well, created together with a pen association from Japan. More details are beyond the scope of this post. 

 

Enjoy and thanks for reading. 

That has been on my shortlist for a while… especially with that nib.  Thought it was the nicest pen I tried at Maido a few months ago.

[Surlyprof]

I’ve been using my Schon Dsgn Pocket 6 with a copper section.  I absolutely love this pen and was in a panic when I thought I lost it a couple of weeks ago.  Turns out it went through the laundry.  When we found it, the cap was filled with ink, the cartridge was dry and not a drop of the VERY permanent ink leaked out!  One nicely sealed pen.  Now I’m extra careful about checking pockets before doing laundry.  The only damage to the pen is that the ink caused some discoloration on the copper section.  I’m researching the best way to polish that up.  Any suggestions will be appreciated.

[inkstainedruth]

Today it's been:

1) Noodler's Medieval Lapis Konrad, flex nib, finishing a fill of diluted Noodler's 54th Massachusetts.  Pen was getting cloggy, so it's now flushed out.

2) Lady Sheaffer 620, M nib, still with modern Skrip Blue.

3) blue Monteverde Strata, Omniflex nib, still with Platinum Classic Sepia Black.

Then later, it will be a black Sharpie, fine point (I know, I know -- don't judge) addressing some "Ready Post" envelopes for the stuff we still haven't mailed off for my various in-laws....  Of course, we'd have to get the stuff to the post office ASAP tomorrow morning, once the stuff is all packed and the envelopes are sealed, before the weather gets bad (they're predicting 1-3" of snow around here).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Puddinhead]

17 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Today it's been:

1) Noodler's Medieval Lapis Konrad, flex nib, finishing a fill of diluted Noodler's 54th Massachusetts.  Pen was getting cloggy, so it's now flushed out.

2) Lady Sheaffer 620, M nib, still with modern Skrip Blue.

3) blue Monteverde Strata, Omniflex nib, still with Platinum Classic Sepia Black.

Then later, it will be a black Sharpie, fine point (I know, I know -- don't judge) addressing some "Ready Post" envelopes for the stuff we still haven't mailed off for my various in-laws....  Of course, we'd have to get the stuff to the post office ASAP tomorrow morning, once the stuff is all packed and the envelopes are sealed, before the weather gets bad (they're predicting 1-3" of snow around here).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

How do you rotate your pens? Do you ink and leave them for a time after using for a day, or clean them after each use?

 

Thanks

[inkstainedruth]

I tend to run pens dry; depending on the ink, and my mood, and what else is inked up at the moment, I might refill the pen (same ink of course), or dilute it by refilling with distilled water, or flush it out.

I always like to have at least one pen inked up that has something relatively permanent/water resistant in it, for stuff like signing checks and addressing envelopes.  But if the "inked up" stash gets too unwieldy for me (as what happened when I got a bunch of pens repaired at the Ohio Pen Show in November), I make myself NOT ink up anything new until I get at LEAST two pens emptied out and flushed.

Because I wasn't sure what work work on the slick surfaces of the "Ready Post" envelopes, I had gotten a box of address labels (didn't have a lot of choice on the size), and inked up one of the Noodler's FPC pens last night with Noodler's Heart of Darkness.  Then flushed the Noodler's Konrad out today.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Gloucesterman]

Sheaffer Icon, (green) with a medium nib which writes more like a fine.

Ink: black whatever was included with this new (impulsive) purchase.

As this a Sheaffer and it uses Sheaffer's proprietary cartridges, I suspect that the ink is also from Sheaffer.

[AmandaW]

A Pilot Custom 74 Wine Red F filled with Sailor Doyou. I'm hoping it will help budge a stain left in the section by R&K Alt Bordeaux.  I soaked it and put it through an ultrasonic cleaner a bunch of times over several days without much improvement.

 

If the Doyou doesn't fix it, what then? I do have some R&K pen cleaner (meant for their SketchInks?), maybe try that. I would prefer to avoid stripping it down cos I don't trust it to go back together and write as nicely as it does now. -> 🙀

[ParramattaPaul]

4 hours ago, Puddinhead said:

How do you rotate your pens? Do you ink and leave them for a time after using for a day, or clean them after each use?

 

Thanks

I try to have as few Pens inked as possible. I have two Onoto pens and a very inexpensive Speedball inked. The Speedball has been inked (black ink) since I bought it in August, is rarely used and hasn't dried out or run out of ink. The Onotos are used all of the time, but will be cleaned and put away when I change to a CS Duro in a week's time.  That means there will be only two pens inked; one with rarely used black ink (Speedball) and one with Oxford Blue (the Duro). 

 

That's the basics of my rotation system. 

[USG]

Waterman Boucheron (M)

Ink Mixture:  Asa Blue, Jack Frost (no shimmer), DC Supershow Blue

Cosmo Snow 75gsm

CLICK FOR LARGER

 

The mixture was mostly Diamine Asa Blue, with a small amount of Jack Frost added for sheen and a very little amount of DC Supershow Blue to tint the mixture away from teal and toward blue.

[Misfit]

I used my True Writer French Impressionists filled with J Herbin Terre de Feu. 

[Misfit]

10 hours ago, AmandaW said:

A Pilot Custom 74 Wine Red F filled with Sailor Doyou. I'm hoping it will help budge a stain left in the section by R&K Alt Bordeaux.  I soaked it and put it through an ultrasonic cleaner a bunch of times over several days without much improvement.

 

If the Doyou doesn't fix it, what then? I do have some R&K pen cleaner (meant for their SketchInks?), maybe try that. I would prefer to avoid stripping it down cos I don't trust it to go back together and write as nicely as it does now. -> 🙀

I hope Doyou works for you. I think it got J Herbin Rouge Hematite stains out of an ink window of my red Visconti Wall Street.

[Mark from Yorkshire]

I suspect my Christmas pen will get used again today, a Nahvalur (Narwal) horizon dusk, I fell out with after around 12 hours started to like again. Then promptly decided was overpriced carp. I just can’t get on with it don’t like it and don’t know why

[Misfit]

@Mark from Yorkshire I have a Narwhal Key West Las Coloradas with M nib. I had issues with it. When looking for reviews, I learned the nib has a sweet spot. I haven’t used the pen much. It’s a pretty sparkling purple pen, but that nib. I recently bought some Nemosine stub nibs. The Las  Coloradas has moved to the front of the line to get one.