Any Fountain Pen Writers?

[Cyclops]

20 hours ago, Quivil said:

A few years ago (when I was still in public school) I was given a fountain pen and some ink (in capsules). I didn't know anything about taking care of them and ended up bending the nib (and making the gap too big to write with anymore) by pushing too hard, and then my family moved, so I haven't had a fountain pen for the past couple years.

Also though I bought a new one recently and it got here today. Both this one and my first one are/were Jinhao pens with medium nibs.

I do have a question though. One of the things I remember being a problem with my first pen was that sometimes it would leak while it was capped. I don't remember if that happened only after I abused it or if it was before too. If my current pen starts leaking too, how do I make it stop leaking?

My first thought/suggestion is just make sure the ink cartridge is seated properly.  If there is the slightest gap, more air will get in and ink will leak out.

[Quivil]

I had a thought. At that point I didn't know anything about fountain pen care. Would not cleaning it properly or frequently enough cause it to leak?

It was leaking from the nib. I was finding ink in the cap and the nib was constantly messy. Was it leaking cause I bent the nib?

[Kasimir he/him]

On 4/21/2025 at 3:13 AM, AquaRegia said:

Is it possible that humidity/moisture content will affect how paper takes ink?

It's known to, yeah. I live in the tropics and we get vastly inconsistent results from Rhodia as compared to people in the States, so it's often a thing we have to warn new users about because they read recs from US-dominated sites like Reddit and then get shocked Pikachu when the results aren't the sme here.

On 5/1/2025 at 11:02 AM, Quivil said:

I had a thought. At that point I didn't know anything about fountain pen care. Would not cleaning it properly or frequently enough cause it to leak?

It was leaking from the nib. I was finding ink in the cap and the nib was constantly messy. Was it leaking cause I bent the nib?

To your first question - unlikely.

Possibly due to nib abuse but hard to say. If you store the pen upside down, that's asking for it. It should be stored flat or upright. Chinese pens are cheap (but good!), you'll normally see mild leaking into the cap, and I get that even with Kakunos. However, large volumes of ink in the cap should not be happening, and something I would check for is whether your nib unit is cracked (was a problem with JoWos back in the day) or whether the O-ring on the nib unit is broken. Even if there isn't an O-ring, you can always just put an O-ring on it - grease it up lightly with some silicone grease first.

I'd agree with Cyclops about checking your cartridge seat, but after that, definitely check the integrity of your nib unit.

Edited to add:

Sorry, to clarify what the O-ring and cracked nib unit thing is about:

-If the nib-unit is cracked, extra ink will be flowing out not from the nib but from the crack in the nib unit. It'll probably look like the nib did it, but it won't be. To check this, you'll likely need to hold the nib unit up to a light source and turn it slowly to inspect for cracks.

-Sometimes, the O-ring is just broken or there is no O-ring. The O-ring forms a tight seal between the nib unit and the section of the pen. Not all pens need O-rings, but sometimes the O-ring helps a lot (all Chinese PenBBS pens use O-rings in the section, for instance.)

Spoiler

This is the picture of a PenBBS nib unit (they're transparent, unlike Jinhao which prints them black), and the white rubber ring at the top and bottom of the nib unit are both O-rings. When greased, they form a tight seal between the nib unit and the pen section to stop ink from just dripping out from that gap. The O-ring in this photo is a bit displaced, as it should be sitting right underneath the tip/lip of the nib unit.

-However, if the leak literally is from the nib, you'll want to check if the nib tines are sprung. Basically, you should not be able to see a gap between both tines of the nib. (There's a thing where you hold a small, weak flashlight behind the pen nib and see if you can see light from that gap. If the tine gap shows light, it's way too big.) You can try to fix a sprung nib, normally by flexing both tines back together gently, but IMO, it's a Jinhao, just get another nib, and also sprung steel nibs are not that easy to fix. But YMMV.

Edited May 4, 2025 by Kasimir

[Cyclops]

NPD/NID

I got a Jinhao 10 retractable, Ef; and a 30ml bottle of Diamine Celadon Cat.  Jinhao's Chinese EF nibs are not the same as Pilot's Japanese. EF nibs.  I have a friend who does nib grinding, so I'll see about getting that done.

It writes smooth, just too broad for my taste.

I call it my Penn State pen.

Edited July 4, 2025 by Cyclops

[Coolmint]

Even though I vowed not to buy another pen, this Jinhao 10 made its way to my wish list.

[Cyclops]

16 hours ago, Coolmint said:

Even though I vowed not to buy another pen, this Jinhao 10 made its way to my wish list.

It's purportedly an EF, but it writes like a Pilot M.  So I'll be sending it to a friend who does a little side grinding.  I told him I want a Pilot EF.  I emptied and rinsed it out, so now to let it dry good before mailing it to him.

The next one I want to get is a gradient green/yellow, one I will call my Oregon (Ducks) pen.  Then a gradient green/white which were my high school colors.

[Kasimir he/him]

Jinhao 10 gradients are beautiful tbh. I'm just not as much a fan of retractables I guess. I'm admiring your additions though!  

[Cyclops]

My Penn State pen is off to the grinder's.  And now we wait...

[+Slowswift]

I think I have a new oshi.

Anyways, looking forward to the Pelikan Hub on Friday!

[Cyclops]

On 7/10/2025 at 11:03 PM, Cyclops said:

My Penn State pen is off to the grinder's.  And now we wait...

It's been 3 months.  One of those months has been spent waiting for the pen to be returned after being told it would be mailed back to me.  Still waiting...

[+Slowswift]

3 hours ago, Cyclops said:

It's been 3 months.  One of those months has been spent waiting for the pen to be returned after being told it would be mailed back to me.  Still waiting...

That sounds incredibly aggravating.

What are you using in the meantime?

[Kasimir he/him]

On 10/23/2025 at 4:35 AM, Slowswift said:

I think I have a new oshi.

Anyways, looking forward to the Pelikan Hub on Friday!

Oshi?

And enjoy the Hub! Maybe let us know how it goes?

On 10/23/2025 at 8:09 AM, Cyclops said:

It's been 3 months.  One of those months has been spent waiting for the pen to be returned after being told it would be mailed back to me.  Still waiting...

RIP. Grinder waits can be really aggravatingly long for sure.

[Cyclops]

On 10/22/2025 at 11:19 PM, Slowswift said:

That sounds incredibly aggravating.

What are you using in the meantime?

I have quite a few others to use, the most-used one being my Grey Houndstooth Pilot Metropolitan, EF.  With Platinum Carbon Black.  Or my Eco, also EF, with Pilot Iroshizuku Syo-ro.  Or my plain Black Pilot Metropolitan, EF, with Robert Oster Thunderstorm.  Or...

It's just aggravating to have to wait this long to get the blasted thing back.

[+Slowswift]

5 hours ago, Kasimir said:

Oshi?

Favorite streamer, singer, actor, etc. Not normally a word I'd use, actually, but I was leaning into the bit.

5 hours ago, Kasimir said:

And enjoy the Hub! Maybe let us know how it goes?

Thank you! That's the plan!

4 hours ago, Cyclops said:

I have quite a few others to use, the most-used one being my Grey Houndstooth Pilot Metropolitan, EF.  With Platinum Carbon Black.  Or my Eco, also EF, with Pilot Iroshizuku Syo-ro.  Or my plain Black Pilot Metropolitan, EF, with Robert Oster Thunderstorm.  Or...

It's just aggravating to have to wait this long to get the blasted thing back.

Indeed. Sounds like it'll be in good company when it does arrive, at least.

[+Slowswift]

The Hub was a success! It went the same way these things always do for me: I come feeling very nervous for some reason, expecting to just hole up in a corner and not talk to anyone. Then I remember I'm among my people and we're off to the races. I recognized several people from last year's Hub and subsequent meetups, including one of the guys from church I mentioned a while back! I met some cool new people too. Seriously, getting to just be in a room with other people who are just as nerdy as you are about that one specific thing is a joy unmatched. And It's incredibly gratifying to have people ooh and ahh over the pens you brought.  

Also, the Ink of the Year, Apricot Achat, is super pretty. I'll be doing some more writing with it in the next couple days, and I'll see about sharing some pics. I was able to try out some other inks while I was there and found some good matches for my pens--which is a blessing and a curse, as I already have much more than I could hope to use.

ETA: I seem to also have developed a hairline crack in the section of one of my Platinums. This would explain why my fingers always were inky, even after I cleaned it. Guess this is on me for being too impatient to clean it like a normal person. Thankfully it’s not the super nice limited edition, but still. Maybe I can see about one of those JoWo/Platinum housings.

Edited October 25, 2025 by Slowswift
Spelling

[+Slowswift]

Hate to triple-post, but here's a couple detail shots of some new inks:

Edelstein Apricot Achat, which may be the first orange that gets regular use from me. It's so gorgeous and gentle.

And Edelstein Topaz, in the form of a cartridge I picked up at the Hub, which matches the pen perfectly. However, Sailor Sky High is very similar, so I think I'll try and use up that bottle first.

[Kasimir he/him]

1 minute ago, Slowswift said:

Hate to triple-post, but here's a couple detail shots of some new inks:

Edelstein Apricot Achat, which may be the first orange that gets regular use from me. It's so gorgeous and gentle.

And Edelstein Topaz, in the form of a cartridge I picked up at the Hub, which matches the pen perfectly. However, Sailor Sky High is very similar, so I think I'll try and use up that bottle first.

It's for a good cause man, this looks so good, thanks for sharing! What paper are you using? Is that a Visconti as the second pen? Old-school Pel for the first, no wait, the M100 Royal Blue something something?

(Sorry for slow response, still recovering from the COVID/Influenza A thing and my energy levels in threads are not as good as they could be but I really appreciated the update on how the Hub went and am glad you had fun. Pen meets man, 100% finding our people there  )

[+Slowswift]

21 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

It's for a good cause man, this looks so good, thanks for sharing! What paper are you using? Is that a Visconti as the second pen? Old-school Pel for the first, no wait, the M100 Royal Blue something something?

(Sorry for slow response, still recovering from the COVID/Influenza A thing and my energy levels in threads are not as good as they could be but I really appreciated the update on how the Hub went and am glad you had fun. Pen meets man, 100% finding our people there  )

Tomoe River, in a Galen Leather notebook. (Not sure what batch of TR it is.) The pens are an M120 Iconic Blue and a Pineider Avatar. So, you were close.  

No worries, take your time to recover! Happy I could provide some distraction, at least.

[Cyclops]

Someday I'll be able to get some TR, Rhodia, Clairefontaine, or other higher-end fountain pen-specific paper.  Til then I have HP Office20, HP Copy and Print 20, and Hammermill Premium Inkjet & Laser 24lb.  I spent a while writing on a sheet of each with my current line of inked pens, then went back and wrote a list for each folder (I color-copy a sheet of narrow-lined notebook paper onto these printer papers and keep them in separate folders) of which inks work best with what paper.  Surprisingly, the HP Office20 has the longest list of my inks that work well with it.  And my daily writing inks (Noodler's X-Feather Black and Platinum Carbon Black) are on that list.

By the way, my Penn State retractable pen is on its way home.  The guy who was going to grind it for me, a FB friend, couldn't get anything done with it.  He's a noob at grinding, and that's partly why it took so long to try anything.  But he's included the replacement innards he bought for it in case he messed up the original nib.  But like I said, it's heading back home to Papa.  I could send it to a pro, but it would cost almost 3 times what I paid for the pen.

Also, if anyone's interested, there's a pen group on the Discord app, and a subgroup for a handwritten chat.  All messages are exactly that: written by hand, with a fountain pen, photographed, and posted for the conversations.  It's interesting.  If any are interested, and not already involved with it, I'll post an invite link (if permitted).

It's almost 3:00am, my legs are killing me, so I'm gonna go outside and smoke a cigar.  Y'all have a good one.

[Kasimir he/him]

15 minutes ago, Cyclops said:

Also, if anyone's interested, there's a pen group on the Discord app, and a subgroup for a handwritten chat.  All messages are exactly that: written by hand, with a fountain pen, photographed, and posted for the conversations.  It's interesting.  If any are interested, and not already involved with it, I'll post an invite link (if permitted).

I'm curious, yeah though tbh not fully sure it's my speed. (Sorry, engaging with the rest later, functioning on < 2 hours sleep today.)

Edited October 30, 2025 by Kasimir

[Cyclops]

Here's the invite link to the Discord pen group for anyone interested.  The handwritten chat is a subgroup of it.

If you decide to join, my Discord screen name is TinMan.

 

https://discord.gg/penposium

Edited October 31, 2025 by Cyclops

[+Slowswift]

Here's a couple more inks I mooched off some kind pen-friends at the Hub, this time Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun and Graf von Faber-Castell Moss Green (in a Pilot E95S and a Esterbrook x Bungubox Estie, respectively).

On 10/30/2025 at 12:56 AM, Cyclops said:

By the way, my Penn State retractable pen is on its way home.  The guy who was going to grind it for me, a FB friend, couldn't get anything done with it.  He's a noob at grinding, and that's partly why it took so long to try anything.  But he's included the replacement innards he bought for it in case he messed up the original nib.  But like I said, it's heading back home to Papa.  I could send it to a pro, but it would cost almost 3 times what I paid for the pen.

Finally! Sorry to hear he couldn't do anything about the nib, though. Given that he's included the spare parts, have you considered giving it a go yourself?

On 10/30/2025 at 12:56 AM, Cyclops said:

Also, if anyone's interested, there's a pen group on the Discord app, and a subgroup for a handwritten chat.  All messages are exactly that: written by hand, with a fountain pen, photographed, and posted for the conversations.  It's interesting.  If any are interested, and not already involved with it, I'll post an invite link (if permitted).

See, one would think this would be right up my alley...and one would be right, but my distaste for Discord outweighs other considerations. Super cool that this exists, though!

[Cyclops]

15 minutes ago, Slowswift said:

Finally! Sorry to hear he couldn't do anything about the nib, though. Given that he's included the spare parts, have you considered giving it a go yourself?

I don't know the first thing about nib grinding, and I don't have the required equipment anyway.

[+Slowswift]

1 minute ago, Cyclops said:

I don't know the first thing about nib grinding, and I don't have the required equipment anyway.

Fair enough! I've heard that sandpaper will do the trick for basic tuning, but I don't blame you either way.

[Cyclops]

1 hour ago, Slowswift said:

Here's a couple more inks I mooched off some kind pen-friends at the Hub, this time Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun and Graf von Faber-Castell Moss Green (in a Pilot E95S and a Esterbrook x Bungubox Estie, respectively).

 

I have a sample vial of Iroshizuku Syo-ro, a lighter blue.  I like it.  I have a whole slew of those inks in a couple of wishlists on Amazon and JetPens.