Fountain pen related stuff

[wimg]

Hi Chris,

Hi Wim,

 

When you say that "So I shot the contents of my case, as far as pen-related stuff goes.", are you implying that there is room in your case for more stuff, aside from the items in the photo?!?

Yes, there is . I carry a laptop occasionally with it, or a big 4-ring binder, and always a few notepads, some magazines, papers from work, other pens, electronic gadgetry and chargers, other pens and pencils, a spare battery for my camera, a few discs and CDs, some food stuffs (lunch and more) and little coffee milk cups (I am allergic to the powdered fake milk they use over here in the coffee). Great bag. It is starting to fall apart now, so soon I´ll get another one .

 

Nice photos and thanks for doing your part to make the rest of us feel normal.

 

Best,

Chris

That´s only a pleasure, and thanks for the compliments!

Warm regards, Wim

[wimg]

Hi Ann,

Beautiful collection, Wim! 

Thank you. I think I agree .

Now that a couple of people have brought it up, I'm dead curious...Is that bright, light green pen the Pentrace LE? One reason I didn't order one is that the pics last year looked like such a dull green.

Yes, it is. I think it has become more radiant with use. It is possible I guess, that the material it is made of, hadn´t gassed out completely yet. It had a strong smell in the beginning, and it is a lot less now. It is filled with PR Spearmint, and has the ItaliFine nib on it, which is great for my shopping lists etc. I use Ottoman Rose to cross the items off. Great contrast, between pens (Amber Etruria with Ottoman Rose) and inks .

I see Wateman, Pelikan & Lamy (?) cartridges, converters, loupes, a couple of grinding stones, a bottle of Herbin ink, one of Waterman ink, and maybe Visconti ink. Bet Maja is right about the green stuff being Palmolive liquid. Can't even guess on the rest!

 

Thanks for showing us your goodies!

Ann

You were right on all of those, see my reply to Maja above .

Warm regards, Wim

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

How many convertors come in that Pelikan box?

 

Dillon

[wimg]

Hi Sydney, Maja

In the bottom photo, I see your famous Waterman Edson, the Pentrace LE that Ryan spotted, a Stipula, another Edson, (not sure about the next one), a modern Parker Duofold, a Waterman (model?), a Waterman Expert, a couple of pens I can't recognize and then a Pelikan M800/1000.

Waterman Harmonie is the missing model and the black pen next to the red stripe Pelikan is not a Sailor.

Nope, not a Waterman Harmonie. Hint: predecessor of the Liaison. And you´re right, it is not a Sailor. So what is it?

 

Ok...so that must mean that the one between the gold Edson and the Parker is another Sailor? The cap bands look similar....That leaves the gold-capped one? DuPont?

Nope, way off. What brand does have elaborate silver bands on cap or barrel? BTW, I did post pictures of that pen before, if I remember correctly. . So what is it? And yes, the gold-capped one is an ST-Dupont .

 

Warm regards, Wim

[wimg]

Hi Dillon,

Hi,

 

How many convertors come in that Pelikan box?

 

Dillon

It is a 5-pack. There is this one shop, where I get most of my converters. Whenever they get a new shipment in, it is gone very quickly .

 

Ok, this 5-pack was the entire shipment of Pelikan converters they got in . Most people here seem to use cartridges <SHUDDER> .

 

Warm regards, Wim

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

How much did they ask for those? I have to get my retailer to get me two boxes.

 

Dillon

[wimg]

Ok, now for the pens. First up the pic with Lamys etc.:

 

All from left to right and top to bottom.

First row:

Lamy Al-star Silver, MK nib

Lamy Al-star Blue, black B nib

Lamy Al-star Grey, black M nib

Lamy Safari Black (matt), black M nib

Lamy Safari Light-grey (matt), black M nib

Lamy Safari Yellow, black F nib

Lamy Safari Red, black F nib

Lamy Safari Blue, black M nib

Lamy Safari Vista (transparant), M nib

Lamy Safari Yellow RB converted to fp with 1.9 Joy nib and section

Lamy Safari Red RB converted to fp with 1.5 Joy nib and section

Lamy Safari Blue RB converted to fp with 1.1 Joy nib and section

 

Second row:

Pelikan M75 Go!, F nib (yes, the fabled one, they do exist )

Namiki VP Carbonesque Blue, B nib

 

Third row:

Pelikan M200 demonstrator grey, ItaliStub nib

Pelikan M200 demonstrator amber, Binder 0.8 cursive italic

 

Final row:

Waterman Kultur, F nib

 

Just a quick note: in order to convert the Safari RB to an FP, you have to replace the spacer ring of the RB with the one from the Joy, otherwise the cap won´t fit.

 

Next, the pic with just Etrurias :

 

From left to right:

Stipula Etruria 991 #911/991 (celluloid), 991 big piston converter, 2-tone 18K 1.1 italic nib

Stipula Etruria 991 #910/991 (celluloid), 991 big piston converter, 2-tone 18K B nib

Stipula Etruria Retractible Amber (celluloid), piston filler, 2-tone 18K retractible F nib

Stipula Etruria Ocean Blue #5429 (celluloid), big piston converter, 2-tone 18K 1.3 italic nib

Stipula Etruria Swisher Orange-Black #028 (resin), big piston converter, rhodium plated 14K F nib

Stipula Etruria Majestic "Indian Nights" #017/100 (FPH LE), c/c, 2-tone 18K M nib

Stipula Etruria Swisher Blue-Black #016 (resin), c/c, rhodium plated 14K 0.9 italic nib

Stipula Etruria Nuda #049/399 (acrylic), piston filler, rhodium plated 14K 1.1 italic nib

Stipula Etruria d'Inverno #011/399 (celluloid; retractible), piston filler, 2-tone 18K retractible 1.1 italic nib

Stipula Etruria Amber #5958 (cellulose-acetate), big piston converter, 2-tone 18K 0.9 italic nib

Stipula Etruria Amber #2425 (celluloid), piston filler, 2-tone 18K M nib

 

Just to keep tension a little higher, the last pic will follow later...

 

Warm regards, Wim

[wimg]

Hi,

 

How much did they ask for those? I have to get my retailer to get me two boxes.

 

Dillon

Hi Dillon,

 

The price was 3.50 euros each.

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[Roger]

Hey, the 991 is a once in a lifetime deal, so if you think you want another one, I would say, go for it!

Must echo Wim's thought here, Centurion.

 

We may well be responsible for finally selling out the LE of 991 pens for Susanna. The pen was, obviously, made to sell for tons more money. Perhaps they originally set the price a bit too high and that resulted in slack sales, but believe me, at the current sale price at Giardino Italiano, it is a super buy!

 

Considering the beauty of the real celluloid construction, that big and innovative filling system, the wonderful writing of the easily changed nib/feed system that opens you up to the many choices of nibs; it just goes on and on.

 

Stop thinking about it and buy it. It's a no brainer!

[tntaylor]

Hi Wim (and all!),

 

Seeing your syringes and needles made me wonder if there is a "stylish" way of carrying these items. I mean, one hates to have them just hanging about in one's purse or pocket. Are there small cases or pouches available that can be used to house hypodermics and syringes?

 

t!

[wimg]

Hi t!,

Hi Wim (and all!),

 

Seeing your syringes and needles made me wonder if there is a "stylish" way of carrying these items. I mean, one hates to have them just hanging about in one's purse or pocket. Are there small cases or pouches available that can be used to house hypodermics and syringes?

 

t!

What about one of the smaller pen cases with elastic bands? Or even a small pen/pencil bag with a zipper? I actually carry them in a zipped apartment in my bag, together with cartridges, converters, grinding/smoothing equipment, no problem. But I don´t really use the stuff very often anyway, as I generally do not have a need for refilling cartridges: I use converters instead .

 

The main reason I got them is really for accurate ink mixing, hence the 3 different sizes of syringes. However, I find that I lately don´t get around to doing just that. And it doesn´t help that there are so many wonderful inks out there in the first place.

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[wimg]

Ok, it's time for the pens in the last picture, I guess:

 

From left to right:

Waterman Edson Saphire, c/c, gold 18K F nib

Filcao Pentrace LE 2004, button filler, steel ItaliFine

Stipula Etruria 991 #920/991, 991 big piston converter, 2-tone 18K 0.9 italic nib

Waterman Edson LE (rhodium plated massive silver), c/c, rhodium plated gold 18K M nib

Delta Passion "green swirl", c/c, rhodium plated gold 14K stub nib

Parker Duofold Centennial black, c/c, 2-tone 18K M nib

Waterman Gentleman indigo, c/c, gold 18K OB nib

Waterman Expert II green lacquer, c/c, 2-tone steel (partly gold plated) M nib

ST Dupont Orpheo gold placed, c/c, 2-tone 18K F nib

Pilot Music, big button converter, gold 14K #5 MS nib (music nib)

Pelikan M800 Red Stripe, piston filler, 2-tone 18K OM nib

 

I guess the problem pens were the Delta Passion, which has a great stub nib, very smooth, the Waterman Gentleman, which writes like a dream with that OB nib, which is more like a wide cursive italic, and the Pilot Music, a fairly rare pen, with a rather sharp music nib, very lovely to write with, though, and very difficult to recognize as a Pilot in that position .

 

Warm regards, Wim

[Elaine]

[RichardS]

Hi Wim, great collection. Your pictures are the final straw in pushing me to buy an Etruria 991! I understand from Susanna that the OBB nib is no longer available, so I was thinking of a 1.1 stub. My favourite nib currently is a Pelikan OBB, which isn't hugely broad and is very smooth. Would the 1.1 stub be about equivalent?

 

TIA,

Richard

[Stylo]

Say Wim, did you ever claim that you are not a collector, just an accumulator? You may be an accumulator, but you are also a collector, and there is no doubt about that :bunny1:

[wimg]

Hi Richard,

Hi Wim, great collection. Your pictures are the final straw in pushing me to buy an Etruria 991!

I understand from Susanna that the OBB nib is no longer available, so I was thinking of a 1.1 stub. My favourite nib currently is a Pelikan OBB, which isn't hugely broad and is very smooth. Would the 1.1 stub be about equivalent?

 

TIA,

Richard

You can't really compare a Pelikan OBB nib to an Etruria italic. Essentially a Pel OBB is a BB with a tiny piece cut off, and smoothed. To all intents and purposes, in my opinion anyway , it really behaves like a BB that you have to turn left a teensy peensy bit. No real variation between vertical and horizontal strokes.

 

The Etruria italic is a true italic, with a line variation of about 3-3.5 to 1. This means you have to hit the sweet spot, or it'll just write with difficultly. IMO, it takes a little practice to get used too, and it is the most difficult of the 3 italic nibs in handling.

 

Something more akin the Pel OBB is the 52 degree nib, That is an extrmely smooth BB or 3B nib, with about the same line variation as a Pel OBB, but much more comfortable to write with.

 

If you want to check out the nib width, just look at the review on Swisher maroon I did: Swisher Maroon Review.

Sample numbers 20-24 are Etruria 0.9 italic, 1.1, 1.3 and 52 degree. For comparison: sample number 17 is an italic I ground from a Pelikan OBB nib, where I made sure that no width was lost from the nib. IOW, # 17 is the width of a Pel OBB, but with added line variation , and ## 20-24 are original Etruria nibs.

 

As you can see, the 1.3 Etruria italic, is about the same width as a Pel OBB, just a lot sharper...

 

An Etruria OBB I wouldn't recommend to a Pel OBB user, as the Etruria oblique nibs are true oblique nibs. I think the angle is about 8 degrees (compared to the 2 or 3 of the Pel), and it is much harder to write with. I have an OB Etruria nib, and IMO it is the hardest one to write with of all the nibs in my accumulation . Not only is it an OB, but it is a stub verging on italic as well, and I find it difficult to turn the pen in such a way, that I keep on hitting the sweet spot all the time during a writing session, and keep the ink flowing all the time.

 

So, if I would rate ease of use regarding writing, I would order the nibs as follows, from hard (top) to easy to write with (bottom):

• Etruria OBB
  
• Etruria OB
  
• Etruria 1.3 italic
  
• Etruria 1.1 italic
  
• Pelikan OM (not as smooth as the Etruria nibs, though)
  
• Etruria 0.9 italic, EF, F, M
  
• Etruria B
  
• Pelikan OBB (but less smooth than the Etruria B )
  
• Etruria 52 degree
  

With the exception of the Etruria OBB I have all the Etruria nibs, but I did try out several of them. Someday I may buy one of these nibs, but only as a curiosity, not really to write with.

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[wimg]

Hi Stylo,

Say Wim, did you ever claim that you are not a collector, just an accumulator?  You may be an accumulator, but you are also a collector, and there is no doubt about that    :bunny1:

Yeah, well, but I do use them all...

 

Warm regards, WIm

[RichardS]

Wim, wow! Thanks for taking so much trouble to explain the different nibs - your reply is incredibly helpful (and I'm sure not only for me).

 

In fact, I had already read your Swisher Maroon ink review and used that along with some of your other writing samples to home in on the 1.1 italic! Your writing looks so effortless that the sheer difficulty of using some of these nibs is disguised - a nice problem to have

 

I should have said that I'm reasonably familiar with italic nibs, having used one in a vintage Conway Stewart 55 (unmarked Duro, about 1.1 I'd guess) for a while now. But what particularly intrigues me is that you say the 0.9 italic is as smooth as an F or an M. That makes it certainly worth considering. I don't really want anything that's non-italic and broad like the B or 52deg, as I'm taken care of pretty well in that department (Balance II, Lamy Vista, both with fairly meaty Bs). I just like my Pelikan OBB, which is incredibly smooth, and does inject some character into my nondescript writing. If the Stip 0.9 can do that only moreso, so much the better! It's just your writing looks so good with the 1.1 ...

 

Thanks again,

 

Richard

[wimg]

Hi Richard,

Wim, wow! Thanks for taking so much trouble to explain the different nibs - your reply is incredibly helpful (and I'm sure not only for me).

Thank you for the kind words. I really love my nibs , and I like to talk about them, too .

In fact, I had already read your Swisher Maroon ink review and used that along with some of your other writing samples to home in on the 1.1 italic! Your writing looks so effortless that the sheer difficulty of using some of these nibs is disguised - a nice problem to have 

Well, I don't particularly find writing with most of these nibs very difficult myself. However, I did find that a lot of people, who never did any calligraphy (I used to do that when younger), find it rather difficult to use an italic nib, where the 0.9 type nib is the easiest as it has the least line variation. Personally, I consider the 0.9 just as easy to write with as the M nib Etruria. Other people may just find an M nib easier. My writing with the 1.1 nib probably seems rather effortlessly (and to me it actually feels like that too), because I write with it on a daily basis . It fits my handwriting, M nib sized, and essentially a 1.1 italic really allows you to write a character size conform that of an M nib.

I should have said that I'm reasonably familiar with italic nibs, having used one in a vintage Conway Stewart 55 (unmarked Duro, about 1.1 I'd guess) for a while now. But what particularly intrigues me is that you say the 0.9 italic is as smooth as an F or an M. That makes it certainly worth considering.

Well, to me it is. It gives more feedback than the average M, but because the Stips have rather springy nibs, it is about as easy. I can tell the difference between the two blindfolded, though.

I don't really want anything that's non-italic and broad like the B or 52deg, as I'm taken care of pretty well in that department (Balance II, Lamy Vista, both with fairly meaty Bs).  I just like my Pelikan OBB, which is incredibly smooth, and does inject some character into my nondescript writing. If the Stip 0.9 can do that only moreso, so much the better! It's just your writing looks so good with the 1.1 ... 

 

Thanks again,

 

Richard

Since you do have experience with italic nibs, I guess I would probably recommend the 1.1. It certainly injects more character into your writing . The larger the H:V ratio in a nib, the nicer it looks, IMO. And the 1.1 is a nice balance between a fairly large sweet spot, and a nice difference between horizontal vs. vertical strokes.

 

The 1.3 really writes like a B or rather, more like something between a B and a BB (BB for vertical strokes, but much narrower for horizontal ones), but is more difficult to handle (to me too). The 0.9 is easiest. Just look at the Ottoman Rose Review, where you can see more clearly the difference between the 0.9 italic (# 14) and the M (# 9) and the converted M200 OB again (# 6). It clearly shows it writes a little finer than the M, and to me it feels like a slightly wide F. The Swisher Maroon sample, because of some feathering and a wet flow, actually hides the effect a little. Ottoman Rose does show it a little better.

 

Well, anyway, I guess it doesn't make it simpler. Personally, I would always go for the 1.1, just because it fits my handwriting better, and to me there isn't much difference between the 1.1 and the 0.9. Yes, you have to position the nib a little more carefully on the paper, to make sure the contact and angle are right. However, if you do write a lot with such a nib, it comes naturally after a while.

 

BTW, on a 991 you can exchange nib/feed assemblies like on a Pel, so you could consider buying a second nib (they're not cheap, though).

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[Roger]

BTW, on a 991 you can exchange nib/feed assemblies like on a Pel, so you could consider buying a second nib (they're not cheap, though).

Speaking of which, where does one in the US order the spare nib/feed assemblies for the 991, Wim? From Susanna or direct from Stipula? I can see myself "needing" at least two more in the future.

 

That "needing" word sets my wife off into a session of talking to herself! :blink:

 

And, do I understand correctly that the 991 nib/feeds will fit any of the Etrurias? If so, what other Stipula products will they fit?

 

TIA