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Any Fountain Pen Writers?


Kasimir

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6 hours ago, Slowswift said:

I'm glad it's working for you! Conklin's famous for having nib QQ issues. Looks like you got a good one!

I don't know about a good one, but it's better than it was.  You'd think that for what folks pay for a Conklin, they'd get a better pen.  It's most likely the last Conklin I'll buy.  My Hongdian pens, which cost less than a third what this one cost on sale, write better.

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On 10/28/2021 at 1:14 PM, Slowswift said:

And now...I have a gorgeous pen of my own to share! :D 

This thing is, as you can see, absolutely stunning. It’s very comfortable, too! Sure don’t regret this one, boys. 

Also of note: I got it with the titanium nib, which originally gave me a bit of trouble. I loved the way it felt on the page, but it was hard starting waaay too much--I suspect the cap isn’t totally airtight. I switched it into another pen, and now it’s working perfectly, while the nice wet steel nib from the other pen doesn’t give a fig about the seal on the Vertex’s cap. Overall I'm very happy!

Spoiler

Heavy-Breathing-Cat.jpg

Looks so gorgeous and I had absolutely not expected it! Nice to hear that the nib swap solved the issue for you, too. What's the difference in experience with a titanium nib, byt he way?

On 10/28/2021 at 1:14 PM, Slowswift said:

@Kasimir I'll have to check that out. I've got a nib or two that needs shimming, but 1) I don't have a brass shim and 2) I too am worried about taking a large piece of metal to another very delicate one.

I agree, by the way. u/JunkyardSam suggests an index card but I find that a bit too aggressive for a gold nib. Some of my friends are into scrapbooking so they have plastic sheets leftover from their stickers (to date myself a little, projector transparency works just fine too) so I use that fine plastic sheet. The idea isn't to forcibly scrape the nib tines, just to wedge them apart for maybe half an hour or so. It's less aggressive, which I like because it's better to under-do nib adjustments than overdo them :P

On 10/29/2021 at 0:59 AM, Cyclops said:

Update on the Conklin.  When I first inked it, it took a few to get started good; I expected that.  But the next few times I went to write with it, same thing.  Hard starter.  I thought I was going to have to return it.  I even sent the retailer an email to that effect.  But then my brain went from neutral into gear, and I had a stupendous and monumental idea:  CLEAN THE PEN.  Being still a relative newbie to the rabbit hole...um, I mean addiction...no, that's not right either...uh, hobby...I forgot that it's recommended by some to clean each new pen before using.  So I did.  And it seems to have worked.  It takes a second or two to start writing, but I used it most all day a couple of days ago without problem.  So I guess I'll be keeping it after all. 

Congrats! Amazing what a difference to user experience cleaning makes :lol: 

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13 hours ago, Kasimir said:

Looks so gorgeous and I had absolutely not expected it! Nice to hear that the nib swap solved the issue for you, too. What's the difference in experience with a titanium nib, byt he way?

The Ti nib is a little stickier, I think would say. It's plenty smooth, but it doesn't skate across the page quite like the steel or gold ones would. It's very tactile, but without feedback. Mine seems decently wet, but not a gusher. Decent line variation with a little pressure. All in all, a solid writer! (I've heard others' experiences vary. Some say they're very flexy, some say they sing, and some say they're very wet indeed. Whatever the case, in my considered opinion, titanium is much more that just a gimmick: it's well worth trying one if you can!)

13 hours ago, Kasimir said:

Congrats! Amazing what a difference to user experience cleaning makes :lol:

This may also be a factor in the improved experience with my Ti nib. Hard to say for sure, but it's entirely possible I just finally broke it in. :P (I say I'm unsure, because I did clean it a few times before swapping it and it still was skippy. Or maybe it was changing inks that did it...)

In any case I wish @Cyclops much happy writing with his Conklin! I want to like them so much, because their barrel design is on point, but those nibs, man...

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On 11/2/2021 at 1:46 PM, Slowswift said:

In any case I wish @Cyclops much happy writing with his Conklin! I want to like them so much, because their barrel design is on point, but those nibs, man...

Agreed :P I'm on the love train for Sailor nibs. I've actually had one or two not write perfectly out of the box, but that's because the tines were too tight. Their alignment and feel has always been top-notch for me.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Apologies for double-posting - this hobby thread is intermittently active so I hope the mods will forgive this one.

Anyone picked up something fun on Black Friday or Fountain Pen Day? I had been eyeing Cult Pens' exclusive inks but didn't pull the trigger. I did pick up two bottles of Dominant Industry ink to give them a try though.

Fudefan also has a review of the new Tomoe River paper and it sounds pretty neat.

Edited by Ookla the Wyrmslayer
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6 hours ago, Ookla the Wyrmslayer said:

Anyone picked up something fun on Black Friday or Fountain Pen Day? I had been eyeing Cult Pens' exclusive inks but didn't pull the trigger. I did pick up two bottles of Dominant Industry ink to give them a try though.

Fudefan also has a review of the new Tomoe River paper and it sounds pretty neat.

I didn't, as I'm trying to hold off any pen purchases until after Christmas. Inks may be another story (though, of course, the prime window for deals is now over). Vanness just stocked some new inks from Kobe that look interesting, and I've wanted to try Dominant Industry since I first heard about them through UK Fountain Pens' review. It is fun to see what folks can find for Black Friday, though! Even if I do have my concerns about sale culture in general. (See this post, again from UKFP. It's a really interesting read.) 

Oh, good. I fell in love with Tomoe from the moment I first touched a pen to it, so I'm glad to see it'll still be around! ^_^

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On 11/30/2021 at 9:21 AM, Ookla of New Beginnings said:

Even if I do have my concerns about sale culture in general. (See this post, again from UKFP. It's a really interesting read.) 

Fair enough! I have my concerns beyond just sale culture about how sustainable this industry (?) really is - the rise of indie pen makers really makes me think of the many cafes popping up here but we'll see.

On 11/30/2021 at 9:21 AM, Ookla of New Beginnings said:

Oh, good. I fell in love with Tomoe from the moment I first touched a pen to it, so I'm glad to see it'll still be around! ^_^

Same. I was so worried, but looks like Sanzen is generally doing a good job with it!

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On 11/29/2021 at 8:21 PM, Ookla of New Beginnings said:

I didn't, as I'm trying to hold off any pen purchases until after Christmas. Inks may be another story (though, of course, the prime window for deals is now over). Vanness just stocked some new inks from Kobe that look interesting, and I've wanted to try Dominant Industry since I first heard about them through UK Fountain Pens' review. It is fun to see what folks can find for Black Friday, though! Even if I do have my concerns about sale culture in general. (See this post, again from UKFP. It's a really interesting read.) 

Oh, good. I fell in love with Tomoe from the moment I first touched a pen to it, so I'm glad to see it'll still be around! ^_^

Now I realize that this may be asking to comparing a Rembrandt to a six-month-old chimpanzee's watercolor, but how does TR paper compare to HP Premium32?  I have never used TR, and I'm really curious as to what it's like before laying down the money.  I love my HP Premium32, by the way, even though it's much thicker and heavier than standard printer paper.

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On 12/2/2021 at 1:50 PM, Cyclops said:

Now I realize that this may be asking to comparing a Rembrandt to a six-month-old chimpanzee's watercolor, but how does TR paper compare to HP Premium32?  I have never used TR, and I'm really curious as to what it's like before laying down the money.  I love my HP Premium32, by the way, even though it's much thicker and heavier than standard printer paper.

It's hard to say for TR. Reason is that we now have three existing batches of TR paper with different user experiences so it depends on which TR you're talking about. I've only tried OG TR, not new TR and the link I've shared is to Sanzen TR. OG TR is very light and very smooth. I think almost any paper comes off as grippy next to OF TR. Some of my friends dislike it because they like a bit of feedback for their pen. What I like about OG TR is the way the paper makes colours pop when you use shading inks, and it's supposed to be pretty good for sheen. It's actually made my gel pens sheen too (back in the day when I didn't know this notebook had TR paper and didn't know about fountain pens.)

IMO HP Premium 32 performs very well for the price point but if you want inks to pop, OG TR is top-notch. I've been trying other papers though - Cosmo Air Light, Kokuyo, and Midori aren't awful either for that purpose. I have some Lennon Toolbar Egret paper but haven't given that a shot yet.

Edited by Ookla the Wyrmslayer
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11 hours ago, Ookla the Wyrmslayer said:

It's hard to say for TR. Reason is that we now have three existing batches of TR paper with different user experiences so it depends on which TR you're talking about. I've only tried OG TR, not new TR and the link I've shared is to Sanzen TR. OG TR is very light and very smooth. I think almost any paper comes off as grippy next to OF TR. Some of my friends dislike it because they like a bit of feedback for their pen. What I like about OG TR is the way the paper makes colours pop when you use shading inks, and it's supposed to be pretty good for sheen. It's actually made my gel pens sheen too (back in the day when I didn't know this notebook had TR paper and didn't know about fountain pens.)

IMO HP Premium 32 performs very well for the price point but if you want inks to pop, OG TR is top-notch. I've been trying other papers though - Cosmo Air Light, Kokuyo, and Midori aren't awful either for that purpose. I have some Lennon Toolbar Egret paper but haven't given that a shot yet.

Original TR was what I was referring to in my question.  Some sites claim to still have some of the original, but I don't know how much to trust that.  I'd really like to get some though.

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  • 5 weeks later...
On 12/2/2021 at 9:26 AM, Elf said:

Why am I here? I have no clue what a fountain pen is.

That can always change, you know. ;) The rabbit hole is always open!

Got some Jacques Herbin Kyanite du Nepal for Christmas. It's blue and sparkly and I love it! (Did a status update on it, but I'll put one of the shots here too, for convenience.)

Spoiler

61d23090ca518_bleakmidwinterdetail.thumb.jpeg.bbb6ef2502dba97089f463784cce7b35.jpeg

Also, the other day my sister got hold of my bottle of Tsuki-yo and a glass pen and did this. Man, I love having artists in the family. :D 

Spoiler

61d2329653988_tsuki-yotree(1).thumb.jpeg.90f7896acea6de977bef70ba1cef1cd8.jpeg

 

Edited by Slowswift
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I like the J. Herbin 1670 Emerald of Chivor, but I'm afraid that my F and EF nibs wouldn't do it justice.  And I write too small and tight to justify using a larger nib.  Thoughts?

Also, late 2020 (November, I think) my wife bought me 4 composition books at Dollar Tree, and I had one already.  I was writing with ballpoints at the time, so I wasn't worried about bleeding or even ghosting.  The 4 that she bought me (3 JOT, 1 Scholar) all handle fountain pens pretty well.  The one I already had (Norcom brand) does not.  Not so far, anyway.  I tried Noodler's Lexington Gray, Marine Green, and X-Feather Black inks, and Monteverde Horizon Blue, and they ghosted a lot at the very least, to bled through in spots with the gray and blue.  But a blue rollerball gel pen seems to be okay on it; I'll just have to take more breaks to shake out the cramp in my hand.

Of the notebooks my wife got at DT, one is for book writing prompts-tips-advice, one is for screenwriting stuff, and a third one I'm probably going to use for writing short stories in.  Not sure yet about the last one.  But I'll figure something out.

Edited by Cyclops
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14 minutes ago, Cyclops said:

I like the J. Herbin 1670 Emerald of Chivor, but I'm afraid that my F and EF nibs wouldn't do 8t justice.  And I write too small and tight to justify using a larger nib.  Thoughts?

Well, Tomoe would help. :P But really, they call it Medium for a reason. And there's often variation even within the same size. A wider F or smaller M might not be the pop-fest that a Broad would provide, but will still give plenty of ink flow for shading and shimmer.

Coated papers like Tomoe or Rhodia really would help, though.

Edited by Slowswift
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7 hours ago, Cyclops said:

I like the J. Herbin 1670 Emerald of Chivor, but I'm afraid that my F and EF nibs wouldn't do it justice.  And I write too small and tight to justify using a larger nib.  Thoughts?

Agreed with Slowswift - M nibs split the difference, though with Emerald of Chivor, you want an easy-to-clean pen. It has...a reputation for staining and shimmer clogs.

Mildly annoyed - looks like PostNL lost my Christmas gift pen :/ I was really looking forward to it too. I'm in communication with the store and they're very helpful but I'm just mad that either PostNL or my local post lost it. Even worse, my local post office is putting on their best Jocasta Nu and saying repeatedly that it's not in the system, therefore it can't be lost here.

9 hours ago, Slowswift said:

Got some Jacques Herbin Kyanite du Nepal for Christmas. It's blue and sparkly and I love it! (Did a status update on it, but I'll put one of the shots here too, for convenience.)

Man, this looks so good! What an excellent Christmas present :D 

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18 hours ago, Kasimir said:

Mildly annoyed - looks like PostNL lost my Christmas gift pen :/ I was really looking forward to it too. I'm in communication with the store and they're very helpful but I'm just mad that either PostNL or my local post lost it. Even worse, my local post office is putting on their best Jocasta Nu and saying repeatedly that it's not in the system, therefore it can't be lost here.

Oh, I'd be more than mildly annoyed, depending on the pen. <_< Hope you can get it resolved soon!

18 hours ago, Kasimir said:

Man, this looks so good! What an excellent Christmas present :D 

I am soooo happy with it, more than I thought I'd be. :D I mentioned offhandedly that it was one I'd wanted while we were browsing the local stationery shop, so apparently Santa was paying attention!

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12 hours ago, Cyclops said:

Almost sounds like someone is playing a high-level game of CYA there.

Unfortunately, yes. Santa put me directly in communication with the seller and the seller has been helpful and will likely make a claim with PostNL so I think we should both be okay but it's just frustrating.

2 hours ago, Slowswift said:

I am soooo happy with it, more than I thought I'd be. :D I mentioned offhandedly that it was one I'd wanted while we were browsing the local stationery shop, so apparently Santa was paying attention!

Awesome! What a thoughtful gift :D And excellent taste!

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Doublepost (sorry!) but had some good news: pen has been found and located, closing the week-long vanished Christmas present saga. Thank you Santa :D 

Dropped the post office and the seller messages of thanks - yes the post office did lose it in the first place but I feel like they also deserve some appreciation for having finally managed to locate it, and the seller was very helpful.

And Santa is relieved apparently but I'm also thanking Santa anyway for the gift in the first place :P 

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58 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Doublepost (sorry!) but had some good news: pen has been found and located, closing the week-long vanished Christmas present saga. Thank you Santa :D 

Dropped the post office and the seller messages of thanks - yes the post office did lose it in the first place but I feel like they also deserve some appreciation for having finally managed to locate it, and the seller was very helpful.

And Santa is relieved apparently but I'm also thanking Santa anyway for the gift in the first place :P 

Good deal.  Glad it was found.  It's a real bummer when anything is lost in the mail, but even more when it's a gift.

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  • 3 weeks later...

NPD, NID, and NHD 

Hong Dian 6016, brown wood, EF nib (left); TWSBI Go, smoke, EF nib

Not pictured: Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin, three yellow highlighters from MojiniLine, and a 5-pack of spring-loaded converters for Hong Dian pens.

I have mixed emotions about the Go: I like the convenience of the plunger-filler, but for some reason it seems to have a proclivity to drop a big glob of ink with not all that hard of a shake.  Then again, maybe it's just my imagination; I just got it yesterday.  Not really enough time to make a lot of decisions about it yet.

*Edit*

Not really sure why the pic uploaded sideways.

20220120_173117.jpg

Edited by Cyclops
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On 1/22/2022 at 1:45 AM, Cyclops said:

NPD, NID, and NHD 

Hong Dian 6016, brown wood, EF nib (left); TWSBI Go, smoke, EF nib

Not pictured: Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin, three yellow highlighters from MojiniLine, and a 5-pack of spring-loaded converters for Hong Dian pens.

I have mixed emotions about the Go: I like the convenience of the plunger-filler, but for some reason it seems to have a proclivity to drop a big glob of ink with not all that hard of a shake.  Then again, maybe it's just my imagination; I just got it yesterday.  Not really enough time to make a lot of decisions about it yet.

*Edit*

Not really sure why the pic uploaded sideways.

20220120_173117.jpg

Lovely Hong Dian! Interesting about the glob of ink - makes me wonder if there's a tine gap issue, or just one between the feed and nib but I haven't had a Go before so I don't know if that's normal.

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13 hours ago, Kasimir said:

Lovely Hong Dian! Interesting about the glob of ink - makes me wonder if there's a tine gap issue, or just one between the feed and nib but I haven't had a Go before so I don't know if that's normal.

I think I figured it out.  After using the spring converter, I failed to wipe the bottom of the feed.  Never needed to when using a piston converter, but apparently it's needed with the spring ones.  Did it on the TWSBI  and Hong Dian both.  Seem to be no more globs.  So far anyway.

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7 hours ago, Cyclops said:

I think I figured it out.  After using the spring converter, I failed to wipe the bottom of the feed.  Never needed to when using a piston converter, but apparently it's needed with the spring ones.  Did it on the TWSBI  and Hong Dian both.  Seem to be no more globs.  So far anyway.

Oof, yeah, that'd explain it. I know after I increased the tine gap on my Jinaho, I had the globs of ink problem as well!

4 hours ago, AquaRegia said:

I have joined the sophisticated crowd.  My wife just bought me a Hongdian pen and a bottle of Waterman Serenity Blue ink.  Still getting used to it, but I love it already!

Welcome to the hobby! Serenity blue is great - fuss-free and a good colour!

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