What pen(s) are you using today?

[N1003U]

13 hours ago, OCArt said:

I’m using a Wing Sung 699 That I keep in my travel diary.  I only open that book once every couple of months and that darn pen is always at the ready for me. Amazing.

 

@OCArt: In my travel diary today, I am using a smoke-colored Pilot Custom 823 with a B nib. I have really come to enjoy the pen; it is also always ready to write, and the ink capacity is such that the pen goes a long way between refills. I am really happy that I bought it off a friendly FPNer...

[CaptJack]

1 hour ago, Doug C said:

Most of my Viscontis.

 

Those are beautiful..

[dms525]

 

Pelikan M625 Piccadilly Circus

 

David

[essayfaire]

10 hours ago, OldTravelingShoe said:

Or red-inked. Or brown-inked. 

I started a thread on that...  I don't think the particular ink you're using here is included.  Garuda root is 

 

4 hours ago, Waverly said:

 It also has the best CON-70 that I have used, fills up right up with little effort.  

 

Jealous.  I also wish my VPs would accept the Con-70, as that is the one thing that I would change on them.

 

[Gloucesterman]

3 hours ago, miwishi63 said:

I don't think they're incredibly rare. So far as I can discover, they were produced in Chicago in the 40s before Conklin was went out of business. I wish you luck in your search!

Thank you. Did a quick Bay search and did not find anything at this moment.

Enjoy your pen.

[inkstainedruth]

20 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

Now that is quite nice looking.

Definitely on my BOLO for list at the next pen show I go to.

Thanks for the images/writing sample too.

+ 1 to what Gloucesterman said.  That is a REALLY pretty pen!  The barrel material looks similar to that used by Parker for the Laidtones.  What's the nib width on it?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[inkstainedruth]

12 hours ago, OldTravelingShoe said:

TL;DR: A Parker "51" Aerometric Mark I, in plum (burgundy?), with Greg Minuskin nib (extra-broad), inked with Akkerman Steenrood van Vermeer (Brickred a la Vermeer). Figures 1-4 showcase the pen. 

 

Figure 1. The pen caught red-handed. Or red-inked. Or brown-inked. 

 

Figure 2. What's a Greg Minuskin nib, you ask? I also didn't know. 

 

Figure 3. Like emailing with Greg, working with this nib is an acquired skill. For the record, this is an excellent nib.

 

Figure 4. Artsy pen. 

 

For more pics, including zoom-ins of the filling system and Parker "51" engraving, there is  OldTravelingShoe's Random Pics of Fountain Pens. 

 

Comments are most welcome. 

 

YOWSA!  That is some nib you've got there!  

From the photos I'm guessing that it's Burgundy, not Plum -- but it wasn't an Aerometric I've had said it was Cordovan Brown from the color.  But I'll tell you the same thing that I told my friend Karl a couple of years ago when he posted a photo on FB of a 51 he'd just gotten: that I was pretty sure it WASN'T a Plummer but the nib was still really sweet....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Doug C]

4 hours ago, CaptJack said:

 

Those are beautiful..

Thanks.  Viscontis get a bad rep but most of mine have been great. 

[Paul-in-SF]

Today is a Montblanc 344 with a really sweet EF nib (writes like an F, but sold to me as an EF). 

 

Tomorrow is the yellow Townsend flat-top with malachite (looking) green finials and one of my favorite nibs, a Warranted F flexy. 

[Sinistral1]

@OldTravelingShoeFYI - Greg Minuskin is a living California nib meister who can fix any nib you give him.

[TitoThePencilPimp]

Pelikan m600 Red Tortoise (CI F) inked with Pelikan Brilliant Brown.

Pelikan 500n (OB) inked with Rohrer and Klinger Black.

[Carguy]

5 hours ago, dms525 said:

 

Pelikan M625 Piccadilly Circus

 

David

I had this pen about 10 years ago and regret having traded it away. I loved that color scheme and wish I could buy it again.

[AmandaW]

Life is so topsy-turvy this week! It's past midday and I've only just finished my Morning Pages. (Yesterday, I didn't get to do them at all.) The pen is a Pilot Kakuno, with a medium nib, filled with Iroshizuku Syo-ro.

 

[OldTravelingShoe]

19 hours ago, myinkrunsblack said:

I am referring to a flexy fountain pen nib

Thank you, @myinkrunsblack. Clear now. (And soon enough someone else should mention some other type of pen, which is much flexier than dip-pen nibs 😉

[OldTravelingShoe]

12 hours ago, essayfaire said:

22 hours ago, OldTravelingShoe said:

Or red-inked. Or brown-inked. 

I started a thread on that...  I don't think the particular ink you're using here is included

Thanks for the link. Have started to read and let's see if I know enough to contribute. 

 

For some reason, this discussion about colors reminds me of a tool I've seen in @A Smug Dill's reviews: a color calibration chart, probably printed on A4-sized paper, used next to an ink review to help position the new colors against known ones. I looked up color calibration quickly, and I can find amazingly expensive solutions (€125-€200) for professional photographers. Is there a cheaper alternative around, say €5-15 or at least under €25?

[OldTravelingShoe]

7 hours ago, Sinistral1 said:

@OldTravelingShoeFYI - Greg Minuskin is a living California nib meister who can fix any nib you give him.

@Sinistral1, good to know. I got to Greg by reading a bit about specialty nibs. 

 

The nib in the Parker "51" I posted about is from him and seems to me very unusual for this pen. I imagine it was constructed by retipping or extending whatever existed before. To me, it's a joyful nib that can produce wonderful strokes!

[A Smug Dill]

22 minutes ago, OldTravelingShoe said:

Is there a cheaper alternative around, say €5-15 or at least under €25?

 

Are you talking about this one shown here? Yes, that one was in that price range. Can't really vouch for its accuracy, quality, or longevity — not as in its broken down or faded after a few uses, but I simply haven't been using it much (and in fact I have ‘new’ spares), ever since buying a Datacolor SpyderCheckr 24 card maybe three years ago. Trying to position the A4 colour calibration chart so that the relevant scales are showing around the edges of the ink review or writing sample sheet, while avoiding any show-through when I scan on a flatbed scanner, is tricky and generally a pain (if I want the review sheet to be sit straight).

[OldTravelingShoe]

15 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Are you talking about this one shown here? Yes, that one was in that price range. Can't really vouch for its accuracy, quality, or longevity — not as in its broken down or faded after a few uses, but I simply haven't been using it much (and in fact I have ‘new’ spares), ever since buying a Datacolor SpyderCheckr 24 card maybe three years ago. Trying to position the A4 colour calibration chart so that the relevant scales are showing around the edges of the ink review or writing sample sheet, while avoiding any show-through when I scan on a flatbed scanner, is tricky and generally a pain (if I want the review sheet to be sit straight).

This is the one, thank you, @A Smug Dill! I have seen you use at least the side of it, the small box of six colors (hues), placed next to the main scan. I think it would help get a better understanding of the inks we swatch or test. 

 

The Datacolor SpyderCheck 24 looks good, but it's still about €60 - if I am to cut from it or a similar sheet the small part I can pin on or glue to my worksheet, I'd prefer the cost is much less. So perhaps the better question is: what is the name of such a tool? ("Color calibration tool" leads to the very expensive stuff. "Hue gradient" leads to other similar products.) 

 

 

[A Smug Dill]

9 minutes ago, OldTravelingShoe said:

So perhaps the better question is: what is the name of such a tool?

 

DGK Color Tools ‘Chrome SD’

[Tashi_Tsering]

Visconti Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee