What pen(s) are you using today?

[Penguincollector]

  @USG and @Misfit, you are awesome friends. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Both 3776s are absolutely lovely and the inks match so nicely. 
 

  So far today I have used a Blue Parker 45 Arrow F (I just noticed @inkstainedruth is also using one very similar to mine) inked with a cartridge of modern Parker washable blue, and for a touch of brightness, a metallic turquoise Hero 360° inked with Kuretake Simbashi Iro. 

[inkstainedruth]

Yeah, I pulled my 45 Arrow out yesterday (it hadn't seen use for a while).  Was going to try one of the bottles of Sanford Pen-It, but then got sidetracked by the review I saw of the Akkerman ink, and was going "I think I have some of that...." and dug the bottle out last night.  Of course now I want to do a side by side between it and Noodler's Blue Upon the Plains of Abraham, which I'd bought a few years ago at Wonder Pens in Toronto (I was going to a conference and went up to Toronto early and fought my way from the border -- after getting stuck in a traffic jam in a construction zone on the US side of the Peace Bridge -- to the store during the beginnings of evening rush hour, then fought my way back out to a hotel at the Toronto airport in the HEIGHT of evening rush hour to the hotel where the conference was being held).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Baka1969]

51 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

So far today, it's been the blue Parker 45 Arrow, OF nib, with Akkerman Laan van Nieuw Oost-Indigo; and the Monteverde Strata, Omniflex nib, still with Platinum Classic Sepia Black.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

How do you like the OF nib on the Parker? Do you find it scratchy at all? On my Parker 51 I believe it's an EF nib that is like a needle and quite scratchy. 

 

Although I've never written with a 45, it does remind me of a Lamy 2000 nib. 

[inkstainedruth]

Well, it's been a while since I've used the pen (several years, at least).  And i have to keep remembering to orient the pen so the nib isn't scratchy, because it's an oblique.  I've tried people's Lamy 2000s once or twice, but the pens tend to be a bit too heavy for me.  

I have one 51 with an EF nib that was scratchy, but when I had it repaired I had the tines opened up slightly to increase the flow.  And that's the pen I ink up now every time I have to do research for some project and take copious amounts of notes.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Baka1969]

11 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Well, it's been a while since I've used the pen (several years, at least).  And i have to keep remembering to orient the pen so the nib isn't scratchy, because it's an oblique.  I've tried people's Lamy 2000s once or twice, but the pens tend to be a bit too heavy for me.  

I have one 51 with an EF nib that was scratchy, but when I had it repaired I had the tines opened up slightly to increase the flow.  And that's the pen I ink up now every time I have to do research for some project and take copious amounts of notes.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

I never thought of the Lamy 2000 as a heavy pen. I weighed mine and it's 27g posted and 18g unposted. My Parker 51 is 18g and 11g respectively. I just thought of the Parker on the lighter side. Heck, my stainless Lamy 2000 is 54g. 

 

Other examples are one of my Studios is 34g and one of my 146s is almost 24g. Also I have a Pilot Elite that is 17g and a Kaweco Sport a svelt 14g with clip and 12.3g without. 

 

I consider around 30g to be my Goldilocks weight. I'm curious what you and others feel are your most comfortable weights? 

[inkstainedruth]

Well, I have "girly" hands.  My heaviest pens are my TWSBIs and so my limit for what is too heavy for me has increased somewhat, and I think those are about 32 grams capped or posted (unfortunately Goulet Pens seem to have changed their website and I couldn't find technical specs for a 580-ALR).  But I remember trying someone's Lamy 2000 a few years ago and it was just too heavy for me to use.  And a few years ago I found a used Vanishing Point in an antiques & collectibles store -- a third of the price of a new one!   It was a bit too heavy and awkward for me (especially the location of th clip) so I gave it to my husband and got myself a Decimo and swapped out the nib assemblies (a Japanese EF would drive me bonkers but he loves it, and I'm perfectly happy with the F nib that the VP originally had in it).

Ironically, my largest pen (physically) is the old Sheaffer Balance Oversize which had been my husband's grandfather's pen.  And while large, that pen is VERY lightweight for its size.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Baka1969]

1 hour ago, inkstainedruth said:

Well, I have "girly" hands.  My heaviest pens are my TWSBIs and so my limit for what is too heavy for me has increased somewhat, and I think those are about 32 grams capped or posted (unfortunately Goulet Pens seem to have changed their website and I couldn't find technical specs for a 580-ALR).  But I remember trying someone's Lamy 2000 a few years ago and it was just too heavy for me to use.  And a few years ago I found a used Vanishing Point in an antiques & collectibles store -- a third of the price of a new one!   It was a bit too heavy and awkward for me (especially the location of th clip) so I gave it to my husband and got myself a Decimo and swapped out the nib assemblies (a Japanese EF would drive me bonkers but he loves it, and I'm perfectly happy with the F nib that the VP originally had in it).

Ironically, my largest pen (physically) is the old Sheaffer Balance Oversize which had been my husband's grandfather's pen.  And while large, that pen is VERY lightweight for its size.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Which ones?

[Misfit]

I’m using a Levenger True Writer Pinkly filled with Iroshizuku Yama Budo. 

[jchch1950]

Lamy Safari Mango with cursive nib and blue ink.

[Sailor Kenshin]

12 hours ago, Misfit said:

I’m using a Levenger True Writer Pinkly filled with Iroshizuku Yama Budo. 

Pretty combo!

[PAKMAN]

Asvine P36 and P20

[pan101]

A recently acquired Leonardo Messenger and using the unknown standard black ink cartridge that came with it.

[lionelc]

mb139 ob with midnight blue back in rotation

[Penguincollector]

I’m using a Cross Century II in translucent blue, CT, F nib. Today’s ink is Cross Blue-Black.

[jmccarty3]

Pelikan 815 Metal Stripes EF, filled with Randall blue-black.

[AmandaW]

Today's journal pen is an olive green Wing Sung 601a loaded with Diamine Salamander.

[Misfit]

I’m thinking of my Retro 51 Stealth black to use today. I’m not sure if it has ink left, but it matches my mood. 
 

 

After filling this pen, making food, eating, my mood is better. I do really like this pen. I got it at a retail shop called Wild About Harry.  The shop is on the Independence square. Harry Truman worked in the courthouse. 

[Misfit]

11 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Pretty combo!

Thank you kindly. I agree. I think @AmandaW has the same pen and ink combo. Just to be one of the evil enablers, eBay does have a few True Writer Pinkly pens left. 

[inkstainedruth]

On 7/12/2023 at 7:43 AM, jandrew said:

I like mine. I do think they are overpriced, and only available in M nib (at least when I got mine) --- but I ground mine to something between an EF and F for writing, and the gentle down-curve of the nib makes for nice broad smeary strokes when working with the back of the nib in abstract stuff.

Found this in a search just now.  

There's a store across town from me that sells mostly manga, but also has an art supplies section.  I was in there a while back and saw the Midori MD pens for sale, but didn't know enough about them.  Was back in there Wednesday afternoon because I wanted to get more of the cute flat-style paper clips (I had gotten some of those the first time I'd been in the place, plus one of the Punilabo stand up zipper pen cases -- the calico cat -- but the package of paper clips has gone walkabout ).  And to have another peek at the pen.  

The guy working in the store very kindly looked up some places online to get converters for them (I had checked Yoseka Stationery's website, and they seemed to be selling Kaweco converters for the Midori MD but it wasn't clear which size); I had gone on Midori's website a couple of days ago asking about converters but hadn't heard back as of yet.  The guy in the manga shop said that Jet Pens had Midori converters, as well as some other places, and some sellers on Amazon. I spent some time earlier in the evening searching some of the usual (and less usual) suspects -- er, known quantity online pen places -- to compare prices.  The store by me only sells the cartridges; the guy said that in theory they COULD order converters, but they'd have to do a bigger order than just one.  

I also was curious about the girth and weight of the pen (I didn't really have time to check when I was there yesterday).  I tend to like smaller, lighter-weight pens because I have small hands -- the weight limit for me would be something like a TWSBI 580-AL, which IIRC, clocks in at about 32 grams when capped or posted.

Any information you (or anyone else out there who has one of these pens) can provide would be very helpful for talking me into -- or out of -- buying one of these would be greatly appreciated.  In addition to stuff like size and weight (the Midori website describes them as being similar in weight to a pencil, but I found it a bit difficult to navigate their website to find the page with the pen on it), I'm curious as to whether the pens can be fitted with other size/style nibs, if anyone knows that as well.

Thanks in advance.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[AmandaW]

1 hour ago, inkstainedruth said:

Midori MD pens

The Greenfield school pen looks to have a similar nib to the Midori, costs about half and still does the wash-effect off the back of the nib.

 

It's a lightweight, but sturdy pen as one would expect from a school pen. The Steiner schools worldwide specify it as the pen their students use.