What pen(s) are you using today?

[Echolane]

I am trying to like my new Pilot Custom 823 piston pen in semi-transparent Amber.  I bought it from a Japanese vendor and it didn’t write well so I returned it.  I also asked if I could change the Broad nib I had bought as an experiment to my usual Medium.  It came back today with a nice note.  However, its performance was not at all nice!  It has none of the characteristics of my other Pilot Customs, an 845 Urushi in Vermillion and a743 in Verdigris, both of which write like butter on glass.  My 823 resembles a scratch Sailor only worse because it seems to drag so it’s difficult to form letters nicely.  While these problems are certainly not my fault I hate to ask that nice Japanese vendor to eat the cost of a second return on this pen!  I’ve been thinking about going to a nib meister, though that will cost me dearly.  Grrr, I hate problems like this.

 

So I switched to writing with my Sailor Hiroshima Commemorative Limited Edition which writes so effortlessly smooth,  it was the third pen I bought and the first expensive pen I bought and I am particularly fond of it.  It features Juniper wood and a big 21k nib. 

 

[singlechange]

I got this pen from a seller in Japan while waiting for shipment of my 1973 Montblanc 149 extra fine to arrive. This hefty mystery pen I've dubbed "big Bertha."  It wears an all yellow gold nib inscribed "THE IDEAL 14KT GOLDEN PEN 5." Capped is 12.7cm and Posted is 15.8cm. For me it is very comfortable to write regardless of its mighty heft and girth. See the photograph of it next to a red Esterbrook.  The nib like most preferred in Japan is a very smooth Extra Fine writer too. Unfortunately the piston filler is not working and does not draw ink. I can imagine the previous owner being an elderly Japanese gentleman leisurely penning an haiku while viewing his Zen garden of stone.

[inkstainedruth]

Today it's been three pens:

1) Parker Vector (blue, M nib) -- Birmingham Muskrat.

2) Parker 61 (black, F? nib) -- still with the [somewhat diluted/reconstituted] unknown ink (although I suspect it might be vintage Quink Blue-Black) in the capillary filler).

3) Pilot Falcon, soft F nib -- Sailor Souboku.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Penguincollector]

On 9/6/2024 at 12:17 AM, jchch1950 said:

Any problems with this combination?

  None whatsoever. I use both Golden Beryl and Lapis with EF/SF pens often, Lamy Z55/57 in particular. 

[PJS_prog]

59 minutes ago, singlechange said:

This hefty mystery pen I've dubbed "big Bertha."  It wears an all yellow gold nib inscribed "THE IDEAL 14KT GOLDEN PEN 5."

That is one seriously large pen.

[Misfit]

My pen of the day is a Levenger True Writer Pinkly with M nib on the last of a fill of Iroshizuku Yama Budo. I’m trying to run it out, so I can fill it with Levenger Pinkly ink. 

[jchch1950]

2 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

  None whatsoever. I use both Golden Beryl and Lapis with EF/SF pens often, Lamy Z55/57 in particular. 

Thank you for your answer. It is useful to know possible nib changes.

[Surlyprof]

5 hours ago, Echolane said:

I switched to writing with my Sailor Hiroshima Commemorative Limited Edition which writes so effortlessly smooth,  it was the third pen I bought and the first expensive pen I bought and I am particularly fond of it.  It features Juniper wood and a big 21k nib. 

 

I’ve always been attracted to this pen.  Finally got to see one at the SF show and it didn’t disappoint.  I haven’t been able to pull the trigger on one because it is so similar to my Pilot Custom Enjyu (which is my favorite).  Nice to hear that your Sailor is a favorite as well.

[Penguincollector]

21 hours ago, jchch1950 said:

Thank you for your answer. It is useful to know possible nib changes.

 You’re so welcome! 

[Penguincollector]

  Today I mostly wrote with my Majohn N8 glass dip pen and Pilot Silvern Dragon IB. It’s inked with Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-Same. I also tried a Visconti Opera Black, a Taccia Empress of some sort that had the most beautiful maki-e, raden, & quail egg design, and a Ooly Writes pen that had the loveliest mix of ink: 3 Colorverse Quazar: 2 Tom’s Studio #2 Raspberry Sorbet. It’s a gorgeous blurple for those of you who like blurple. I also helped troubleshoot and write with a black Parker Premier F. 

[freaca menta]

Today I used my Asvine P36 with Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo, a Kaweco Brass Sport with Montblanc Around the World in 80 Days Part 2, and a Kaweco AL Piston with Montblanc Leo Tolstoy Sky Blue

[freaca menta]

On 9/7/2024 at 8:26 PM, Echolane said:

I am trying to like my new Pilot Custom 823 piston pen in semi-transparent Amber.  I bought it from a Japanese vendor and it didn’t write well so I returned it.  I also asked if I could change the Broad nib I had bought as an experiment to my usual Medium.  It came back today with a nice note.  However, its performance was not at all nice!  It has none of the characteristics of my other Pilot Customs, an 845 Urushi in Vermillion and a743 in Verdigris, both of which write like butter on glass.  My 823 resembles a scratch Sailor only worse because it seems to drag so it’s difficult to form letters nicely.  While these problems are certainly not my fault I hate to ask that nice Japanese vendor to eat the cost of a second return on this pen!  I’ve been thinking about going to a nib meister, though that will cost me dearly.  Grrr, I hate problems like this.

 

So I switched to writing with my Sailor Hiroshima Commemorative Limited Edition which writes so effortlessly smooth,  it was the third pen I bought and the first expensive pen I bought and I am particularly fond of it.  It features Juniper wood and a big 21k nib. 

 

The Sailor Hiroshima is a great pen - when I bought mine I had no idea about the nib. It was my first special grind.

[Misfit]

Posting late that my pen of the day was a Pilot Prera Ivory, that I swapped a broad calligraphy nib to from a Slate Gray one. I filled it from a sample of KWZ Scriptus 2017 Confederation Brown ink.  The ink has green in it. A friend gave me the sample. 

[RedPie]

🟡 rocks!

[kazoolaw]

On 9/7/2024 at 9:28 PM, singlechange said:

I got this pen from a seller in Japan while waiting for shipment of my 1973 Montblanc 149 extra fine to arrive. This hefty mystery pen I've dubbed "big Bertha."  It wears an all yellow gold nib inscribed "THE IDEAL 14KT GOLDEN PEN 5." Capped is 12.7cm and Posted is 15.8cm. For me it is very comfortable to write regardless of its mighty heft and girth. See the photograph of it next to a red Esterbrook.  The nib like most preferred in Japan is a very smooth Extra Fine writer too. Unfortunately the piston filler is not working and does not draw ink. I can imagine the previous owner being an elderly Japanese gentleman leisurely penning an haiku while viewing his Zen garden of stone.

May I suggest that this is not a piston filler, but an eye dropper filler.  The “piston” is an ink shut off valve, functioning like the Opus 88 or the Danitrio eye droppers.

[Scribs]

3 hours ago, RedPie said:

🟡 rocks!

 

Now that's what I call a yellow pen! I can't help thinking every collection needs a yellow pen 😀

 

My pen of the day is my Leonardo Dodici Magmatica, It's always a pleasure to come back to.

[singlechange]

4 hours ago, kazoolaw said:

May I suggest that this is not a piston filler, but an eye dropper filler.  The “piston” is an ink shut off valve, functioning like the Opus 88 or the Danitrio eye droppers.

Thank you for your feedback. My apologies for not including this later pic in my initial post.

[RedPie]

1 hour ago, Scribs said:

I can't help thinking every collection needs a yellow pen

That is what I think as well! Your Leonardo is a nice one too!

[Doug C]

A Piper (sub brand of Franklin Christoph).

[PJS_prog]

I refilled the Jinhao 65 last night with Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black. Still really liking the way that 03 nib writes.