What pen(s) are you using today?

[lionelc]

omas ogiva autunno with diamine writers blood broad nib so ink pooling everywhere

[RedPie]

Jinhao 159 orange filled with Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin and a Jinhao 159 in white, filled with Pilot Iroshizuku kon-peki.

[Gloucesterman]

One of the things that fascinates me about this hobby, and I am not being snide or sarcastic, is that we can take $5 -$10 (inexpensive)pens and fill them with $25.00 (expensive) ink and we get similar results as if we used $1000 pens!

 

 

[Cjtamu]

29 minutes ago, Gloucesterman said:

One of the things that fascinates me about this hobby, and I am not being snide or sarcastic, is that we can take $5 -$10 (inexpensive)pens and fill them with $25.00 (expensive) ink and we get similar results as if we used $1000 pens!

 

 

Yes, and a Prius will get you round town just as well as a Ferrari, but I know which I’d rather drive ha ha. Houston area weather and all the schedule disruption and playing catchup has kept me offline. Been rocking this early 70’s MB 146/for the last couple days. Fine nib tuned by Kirk Speer, inked with Edelstein Onyx. Wonderful writing experience.

[Gloucesterman]

6 hours ago, Cjtamu said:

6 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

 

Yes, and a Prius will get you round town just as well as a Ferrari, but I know which I’d rather drive ha ha.

Actually, based on your statement, I think the Prius would be a better, (safer, less expensive, less risky) means of transportation.

That is unless you consider having everyone watch you as you sit in traffic or by the side of the road getting a ticket (132 mph in a 75 mph zone, or waiting for a "special" tow truck because you have a flat tire and no (room for or) a spare tire.

 

YMMV - literally as well as figuratively!

 

[inkstainedruth]

4 minutes ago, Gloucesterman said:

Actually, based on your statement, I think the Prius would be a better, (safer, less expensive, less risky) means of transportation.

That is unless you consider having everyone watch you as you sit in traffic or by the side of the road getting a ticket (132 mph in a 75 mph zone, or waiting for a "special" tow truck because you have a flat tire and no (room for or) a spare tire.

 

YMMV - literally as well as figuratively!

 

Yeah, that -- and our 13 year old Prius (bought NEW, BTW) gets 45 MPG.... 

Admittedly I wanted a red one but at the time my husband had a job at a startup and he'd often have to go out to the Johnstown, PA area and did NOT want to be driving what looked like a bright red sports car on the PA Turnpike during rush hour....

I started out with cheapie pens.  My price threshold has gone up quite a bit since then, but I'm more likely to have a Parker Vector or two inked up than my M405 Stresemann (much as I DO like that pen a lot).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Merrick]

On 5/22/2024 at 9:20 PM, Merrick said:

Today I pulled out my little used Osprey Madison that seemed to dry out with every nib and ink combo I tried (including changing feeds so it wasn’t a feed issue). I slapped some Pelikan 4001 turquoise into it with a stub nib and it did write decently for a bit. I’ve got it sitting upside down at the moment to see if I can saturate the feed and will try it again tomorrow. 

 

I got around to trying the Madison today (I did turn it back over so it wasn't upside down the whole time), and it still wrote horribly. I bought the Madison and a Milano from Osprey with a variety of nibs and feeds near the start of my fountain pen journey so I could try different grinds. I had seen a positive review for them on Doodlebud's channel and it seemed like a great way to get acquainted with different nib types. I also picked up several of their custom screw in converters with the larger opening to accommodate better ink flow (recommended by Osprey for use in their pens).

 

From the start, neither of them wrote well. Extremely dry, tons of skipping, hard starts, they'd just dry up in the middle of writing. This happened across every single nib and feed unit I had bought, and I had bought many of them. I tried wetter inks, white lightning, other converters, international cartridges, etc. Nothing helped. It's possible the nibs needed adjustment but if every single nib out of a dozen needs adjustment, that is enough to condemn Osprey right there.

 

After the Madison didn't work, I pulled out my box of Osprey supplies and went to switch converters, once again thinking that perhaps a wetter ink would magically work this time. All of the converters were showing some kind of residue on them, including unused converters. Some of them wouldn't even turn, they were stuck in place. I made a choice and did something I've never done with another pen before--I threw it all in the trash. I didn't even want to offer these for free to someone else in the community because no one deserves to deal with the frustration and shoddy quality of these pens and nibs and accessories. I know it's wasteful but it was the one time since owning these cursed pens that I've felt good about what I'd done with them.

 

Stay away from Osprey. They are garbage.

[Cjtamu]

2 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

Actually, based on your statement, I think the Prius would be a better, (safer, less expensive, less risky) means of transportation.

That is unless you consider having everyone watch you as you sit in traffic or by the side of the road getting a ticket (132 mph in a 75 mph zone, or waiting for a "special" tow truck because you have a flat tire and no (room for or) a spare tire.

 

YMMV - literally as well as figuratively!

 

 

2 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Yeah, that -- and our 13 year old Prius (bought NEW, BTW) gets 45 MPG.... 

Admittedly I wanted a red one but at the time my husband had a job at a startup and he'd often have to go out to the Johnstown, PA area and did NOT want to be driving what looked like a bright red sports car on the PA Turnpike during rush hour....

I started out with cheapie pens.  My price threshold has gone up quite a bit since then, but I'm more likely to have a Parker Vector or two inked up than my M405 Stresemann (much as I DO like that pen a lot).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Well, those are very utilitarian definitions of “better” LOL. There are pleasures to be had in fit and finish and quality materials and responsiveness and sounds etc. that a Prius won’t give when compared to a Ferrari. Or a $10 pen versus a higher end pen. For me, it’s worth the money. Vintage is even better, just a quality that’s missing from many of today’s pens, no matter how efficiently they write. Might explain why I’m still wheeling a ‘94 Merz E-class wagon ha ha ha. My wife is actually the lead foot!

[ParramattaPaul]

A trifecta of two Onotos and a Conway Stewart. Magna, Scholar, and Duro.

[Gloucesterman]

2 hours ago, Cjtamu said:

I’m still wheeling a ‘94 Merz E-class wagon

To my way of thinking, that's a different kind of true class!

 

For me, I was quite fortunate 2 1/2 years back to find an '09 Subaru Impreza, Sport w/ 68K and (the best part) a 5 speed manual transmission. It's a pleasure to return to my favorite way to drive.

 

Have only owned two automatic transmission vehicle (4 years total) in more than fifty years of driving! Luckily, I don't do a lot of in-traffic driving. Otherwise, I might not feel that way the way I do. Part of the fun, for me, is seeing how smoothly I can drive and getting the best mileage. Last week I tanked up, got directly on the highway and was averaging 35-38 mpg. Even reached 42 mpg for about 10 minutes LOL!

[Doug C]

1 hour ago, Gloucesterman said:

To my way of thinking, that's a different kind of true class!

 

For me, I was quite fortunate 2 1/2 years back to find an '09 Subaru Impreza, Sport w/ 68K and (the best part) a 5 speed manual transmission. It's a pleasure to return to my favorite way to drive.

 

Have only owned two automatic transmission vehicle (4 years total) in more than fifty years of driving! Luckily, I don't do a lot of in-traffic driving. Otherwise, I might not feel that way the way I do. Part of the fun, for me, is seeing how smoothly I can drive and getting the best mileage. Last week I tanked up, got directly on the highway and was averaging 35-38 mpg. Even reached 42 mpg for about 10 minutes LOL!

I've got you beat, Sid. 15 vehicles and only 1 automatic. 

I have a t-shirt that says 'Give me Manual or Give me Death'...

[Cjtamu]

10 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

To my way of thinking, that's a different kind of true class!

 

For me, I was quite fortunate 2 1/2 years back to find an '09 Subaru Impreza, Sport w/ 68K and (the best part) a 5 speed manual transmission. It's a pleasure to return to my favorite way to drive.

 

Have only owned two automatic transmission vehicle (4 years total) in more than fifty years of driving! Luckily, I don't do a lot of in-traffic driving. Otherwise, I might not feel that way the way I do. Part of the fun, for me, is seeing how smoothly I can drive and getting the best mileage. Last week I tanked up, got directly on the highway and was averaging 35-38 mpg. Even reached 42 mpg for about 10 minutes LOL!

I love that car. Purchased in 2014 with 140K miles, single owner, all service records. Had just been serviced at MB dealership where my oldest daughter’s then BF was working. Long story but I got it for a song. 186K on it now, and since it’s good for probably 400K and doesn’t get driven that much it’s likely to go to one of my kids! Just sumptuous with the air ride suspension. We love Subes. Had Leadfoot not had an altercation with a deer last year she’d still have her Forester XT. Not manual, but that version had the 2.0 liter turbo and paddle shifters that are in the WRX STI. And similar brake/suspension package. We live in the country and have about a 140 mile round trip when I go to the office and that car was a joy to drive on our twisty roads. With me driving it would get right at 30 mpg. Leadfoot would get about 27.5. True story ha ha ha. They don’t make that version anymore unfortunately or we would already have a new one. She really likes the Outback XT platinum they have now. The new turbo is really impressive and runs on 87 octane gas and that’s wonderful. But, we have a Standard Poodle and a Pyrenees and it’s not big enough for them to be comfy. Plus I can’t see out the rear window when they try to stand up! Glad to hear you like your Impreza. Considering a certified pre-owned as our back and forth to work car. Subes are like the Platinum of the car world I guess. Efficient, reliable, well made. With the occasional fancy trim version thrown in ha ha.

[langere]

Finally got on to another pen - the ink in my Visconti Double Reservoir Power Filling System was finally depleted, so now I can move on to another pen.  In this case, It's a Tibaldi Bononia, in one of my favorite colors.  The Fine nib writes crisply and precisely, just the way I like it.  The only (small) issue is that the grooves on the cap and the pen body aren't as well machined as I would like, so the opening and closing of the cap feels a bit rough.

 

Here's the beauty:

 

 

[Doug C]

38 minutes ago, langere said:

Finally got on to another pen - the ink in my Visconti Double Reservoir Power Filling System was finally depleted, so now I can move on to another pen.  In this case, It's a Tibaldi Bononia, in one of my favorite colors.  The Fine nib writes crisply and precisely, just the way I like it.  The only (small) issue is that the grooves on the cap and the pen body aren't as well machined as I would like, so the opening and closing of the cap feels a bit rough.

 

Here's the beauty:

 

 

The good news is that the threads will smooth out with use. That's an issue I could live with.  A beauty.

[Mark from Yorkshire]

Visconti Mirage Amber and Laban Antique Rose Gold MB Irish Green and Diamine Les Paul Series (guitar Ink) Dessert Burst respectively.

[deuter]

TWSBI 700R iris with Robert Ostler Shimmer ink.

[inkstainedruth]

Today it's mostly been the Vacumatic Red Shadow Wave, F nib, with it's usual fill of Waterman Mysterious Blue.  And the Azure al-Star, Hanzi nib, still with Lamy Pink Cliff.

But I did also use a black Uniball rollerball to ink up some drawings I needed to make for some people (I still have one more to ink up, and then need to photocopy and color the artwork (using the relevant colors of Crayola markers, but one can't be photocopied yet until the person who was having me do the drawings checks back with the people who want the work done).  Fortunately they're all basically the same design, so I could draw & ink up the first one, then trace the others (one of which is basically mirror-image to the others).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mercian]

At the moment I have the following inked:

 

Lamy 2000; ‘F’ nib; inked with Robert Oster ‘Sydney Lavender’ - a murky grey-purple ink that, on some papers, goes down (& then stays) a murky grey-blue.
I am still in my ‘murky’ ink phase.

 

Lamy Safari (in ‘Lego’ yellow); ‘F’ nib; inked with a T-10 cartridge of Lamy ‘Black’.
#Luxury 😉

[USG]

4 hours ago, Mercian said:

At the moment I have the following inked:

 

Lamy 2000; ‘F’ nib; inked with Robert Oster ‘Sydney Lavender’ - a murky grey-purple ink that, on some papers, goes down (& then stays) a murky grey-blue.
I am still in my ‘murky’ ink phase.

 

Lamy Safari (in ‘Lego’ yellow); ‘F’ nib; inked with a T-10 cartridge of Lamy ‘Black’.
#Luxury 😉

 

Nice.....👍😀

 

[Wil D]

American Pencil Co. Autograph