What was your last very deliberate pen purchase?

[MarcoA63]

I ordered the new Kaweco Sport Piston and a vintage original Kaweco Sport Piston from ebay. I now have two original Sports and a modern one. Hurray!!!

[2ouvenir]

The ones rectangled in grey (Sailor Shikiori Hisakata collection), bought years ago. Totally recommend. Steel nib but writes better than any gold nib FP I have. I also wanted to get their ballpoint/mechanical pencil for the set but I've heard that Sailor mechanical pencils are kind of meh (too top heavy, and so on, I mean why did they design the mechanical pencil to look exactly like the fountain pen, especially when the cap doesn't actually cap, design fail and lost opportunity imo).

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

Live auction win, '50's MB 261 semi-flex eyeball F.

[DLCJr]

I don't need any more pens (29 pens inked up at present and about 12 in dry dock). But my experience with TWSBI 580 ALR 1.1, TWSBI Vac700 1.1, and most recently TWSBI ECO 1.1 have prompted me to order two MORE TWSBI ECO pens with 1.1 nibs. DANG.  I just can't seem to get enough of the TWSBIs I already have. 

 

I prefer writing with Pilot CM 1.0 and Lamy & TWSBI 1.1 nibs, for the most part, and the TWSBI ECO with 1.1 nib just does that so extremely well, for such a sensible price, that I couldn't help coming back for two more ECOs, with 1.1 nibs.  

 

It is no wonder whatsoever why the TWSBI ECO is so exceptionally popular. Excellent quality writing instrument, priced sensibly. I'm pretty sure that my collection of TWSBIs will now hold me for quite a while! We shall see.

 

TWSBI ECO "Heat" with 1.1 and ECO "Black" with 1.1 now en route from Goulet, to join my ECO "Purple". I also ordered a bottle of Noodler Southwest Sunset to load into the ECO "Heat" pen... seems quite fitting, since I live on the edge of the Sonoran Desert in Scottsdale.

 

Some other pen samples in my Iroful 75gsm samples notebook, and the TWSBI ECO "Purple" that inspired me to acquire more ECOs...

 

The Iroful 75gsm paper, BTW, is exceptionally good (better than TomoeRiver, Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Apica CD, et al) for showing ink colors and especially shimmer and sheen! Truly an exceptional paper, from Sakae Paper Paper (who are also the current makers of TomoeRiver papers.)

[Misfit]

@DLCJr I understand buying more Ecos.  I want the dark sapphire, and now they have a coffee and bronze version Eco as well. Just take my money already!  I did manage to resist all the glow versions, and several others. I love the 1.1mm nibs too. 
 

The correct name for the new Eco is Caffe and bronze. 

[DLCJr]

8 minutes ago, Misfit said:

@DLCJr I understand buying more Ecos.  I want the dark sapphire, and now they have a coffee and bronze version Eco as well. Just take my money already!  I did manage to resist all the glow versions, and several others. I love the 1.1mm nibs too. 

You and I are on the same page, my friend!  Along with so many others, I'm sure.

 

Soon to have three ECOs. And, I fear, I may not resist acquiring another or two. They are THAT good.

[Misfit]

Oh my, Ecos are like potato chips. You can’t have just one. I’m not sure on my Eco count, but it might be eight. I think they are easy to clean, and clean up quickly vs some pens. 
 

I did let some wait a long time, and there was an ink ring where the piston was. I let it soak with water, rotating it.  It got clear again. 
 

I do have two Diamond 580s, and like them. I like the Diamond Mini better, and have four of those. The AL silver is the recent purchase. I saw a photo of it, reflecting the lined paper on its grip. Had to get it instead of the grape purple one. 

[Misfit]

I was inspired to use the TWSBI Eco Japan-only Sunset Orange for my pen of the day. It has a 1.1mm stub nib by Nemosine that I swapped with the EF nib I had to get when buying the pen. It is filled with Robert Oster Orange Rumble ink. 
 

I have to admit I ordered the Eco Dark Sapphire. Sapphire is my birthstone.  I was thinking of asking for it for my birthday from my brother. I didn’t want it to go out of stock, so I ordered it. 

[DLCJr]

1 hour ago, Misfit said:

Oh my, Ecos are like potato chips. You can’t have just one. I’m not sure on my Eco count, but it might be eight. I think they are easy to clean, and clean up quickly vs some pens. 
 

I did let some wait a long time, and there was an ink ring where the piston was. I let it soak with water, rotating it.  It got clear again. 
 

I do have two Diamond 580s, and like them. I like the Diamond Mini better, and have four of those. The AL silver is the recent purchase. I saw a photo of it, reflecting the lined paper on its grip. Had to get it instead of the grape purple one. 

I prefer to fill my pens from a syringe. Also, I like to use a syringe to clean out a converter or piston barrel when changing inks.  

 

With the ECO, having a grip section that is not removable, do you find pulling out the nib/feed together from the pen to be a good way to clean it from the front end, or do you only clean it by removing the piston knob end?

 

I really prefer the 580 and the Vac 700 having removable section units, very quick and easy to clean them from that end. And while I like the Vac 700, I do prefer the 580 over the 700. I'd buy another 580 without hesitating, but nice as the Vac 700 really is, I don't desire another vacuum filler pen.

 

What is it about the Mini that you prefer over the 580, just the smaller size?

 

I tried to buy a Diamond Mini when I ordered the ECO pens recently, but could get the color I wanted with the 1.1 nib that I wanted, so I bought a second ECO instead.  I know that a Mini is most certainly in my future, when I can get the color/nib combo that I want.

[Misfit]

I use the piston to draw water in and let it out to clean. One time I bought a mini nib unit to put in an Eco. I tried, and tried to get the nib out. I finally did, but broke tines. It didn’t matter because I only wanted the nib. It made me leery of removing Eco nibs. 
 

The Mini posts by screwing the cap on.  That makes it long enough to write with. I’m not sure why I like them more. Maybe it is the size. I do think the Diamond 580 1.1mm stub nib is wider than the Mini (Eco) 1.1mm nib. 
 

[DLCJr]

It was fairly easy for me to remove the nib&feed from my ECO, so I probably will do so again as long as it is pretty easy to do so. I read somewhere that if it is difficult to remove the nib/feed from an ECO, it can help to chill the pen in the freezer for a short bit of time before attempting again. I'm not a big fan of immersing the entire nib/feed into a bottle of ink, but of course can and will do, so if need be. That is how it was intended to be filled, I know. And cleaned out from the rear.

[Misfit]

Thank you for that tip on the freezer.  

[DLCJr]

3 minutes ago, Misfit said:

Thank you for that tip on the freezer.  

You're very welcome.  I think a stint in an ultrasound tank might free things up a bit, as well.

[HauntedMyst]

Landed a nice Opus 88 Picnic in green.  

 

 

Waiting on two Nahvalur Classic Spring

 

[Misfit]

@HauntedMyst I have an Opus 88 in Picnic Green. I like it a lot. What ink did you put in yours?

[Surlyprof]

I’ve been desiring a Sailor pen for the past couple of years.  During that search, I’ve had multiple opportunities to try out most of the Sailor offerings at last year’s SF Pen Show and an event at Flax.  What I discovered is that I particularly liked Sailor pens with a metal section (such as the Black Luster and Soul of Chess pens).  I also learned that I wanted an MF nib for my first Sailor, thus ruling out the Black Luster.  I also wanted to get one in a color I liked.  As the specifics added up, I assumed that it might be a long time before Sailor produced a pen that ticked all the boxes for me.  That search ended today when I ordered Bungubox’s new Norwegian Wood pen.  With the exception of a 21k nib, it ticked most of my boxes and even ticked a couple I didn’t know I wanted (higher capacity piston filler and a moose on the nib)!  Very excited to have finally ordered my first Sailor pen.

[Fo0zle]

A Lamy 2000 with an EF nib! Super happy with my decision to go EF, because this is a very wet-writing pen!

 

It’s a really fantastic pen IMO. I’m a big fan of Bauhaus design so the aesthetic really scratches the itch for me, and it’s nice to not have to worry much about babying this pen to avoid scratches and whatnot.

 

My only slight gripe is that it’s a little slim in my larger than average hands, but I think I’ll get used to it.

 

It definitely lives up to the hype! 

[Misfit]

Congratulations @Surlyprof your long journey certainly helped you zero in on what you wanted. 
 

@Fo0zle congratulations on getting the Lamy 2000. Did you get the makralon version?  That’s the one I have, with a B nib. It is a wet writer. Some day, I want to get that nib ground to a cursive italic or stub. 

[Surlyprof]

On 4/15/2024 at 7:29 PM, HauntedMyst said:

Landed a nice Opus 88 Picnic in green.  

 

 

Waiting on two Nahvalur Classic Spring

 

I’ve never seen these very cool pens by Nahvalur.  I particularly like that Classic Spring model with matching nib and hardware.  Such a great color.  It looks like Nahvalur’s answer to the TWSBI ALs.  Please report back on how it writes, especially if you have a TWSBI to compare it to. 

[Fo0zle]

41 minutes ago, Misfit said:

Congratulations @Surlyprof your long journey certainly helped you zero in on what you wanted. 
 

@Fo0zle congratulations on getting the Lamy 2000. Did you get the makralon version?  That’s the one I have, with a B nib. It is a wet writer. Some day, I want to get that nib ground to a cursive italic or stub. 

Yeah, Makrolon. I like the look of the stainless one but the price is quite steep. I think the best of both worlds would be to buy a stainless cap and put it on my Makrolon 2K. I might do that some day.