Any Fountain Pen Writers?

[+Slowswift]

See, I'm incredibly impatient.

I've got a bulb flusher, though after I saw the inside of someone else's covered in mold, I'm not sure I trust it 'til I introduce it to some strong chemicals. 

[Coolmint]

2 minutes ago, Slowswift said:

See, I'm incredibly impatient.

I've got a bulb flusher, though after I saw the inside of someone else's covered in mold, I'm not sure I trust it 'til I introduce it to some strong chemicals. 

That would put me right off bulb flushers!  
 

I hope I don't sound like a know-it-all, but these disposable plastic pipettes… when you cut the tip, they work as pen flushers.  And they're clear!

[+Slowswift]

9 minutes ago, Coolmint said:

That would put me right off bulb flushers!  
 

I hope I don't sound like a know-it-all, but these disposable plastic pipettes… when you cut the tip, they work as pen flushers.  And they're clear!

Hence the strong chemicals I wish to introduce!

Good to know! I think Sailor even makes a syringe with the same fitting as their proprietary cartridge. I only have one Sailor, but I might sill get it anyways.

[Coolmint]

20 hours ago, Kasimir said:

You guys are making me realise I have the patience of a saint and I feel like every SE player on the Shard is now screaming in protest at this statement I have just uttered  

I do flush it slowly, yes  It's actually kind of meditative, watching the water run clear eventually.

Might be going for a second Nakaya after all, but it's unlikely to be as pricey (relatively) as it's going to be bog-standard apart from the fact that I'm asking for a line from the 道德经 on the barrel of the pen. I wanted something that was personally meaningful to me, and despite not being a specialist in Chinese philosophy, neither Hume nor Kant nor most analytic philosophers have the courtesy to say something short enough that it can show up on the barrel of a Piccolo or Piccolo Long without being unduly demanding on Nakaya  

Ooo, another Nakaya.  I always admired the (I think it's called) tamenuri finishes, where one color shows through another.

[Coolmint]

19 hours ago, Slowswift said:

Hence the strong chemicals I wish to introduce!

Good to know! I think Sailor even makes a syringe with the same fitting as their proprietary cartridge. I only have one Sailor, but I might sill get it anyways.

Just flushed two pens last night using nothing but their converters.  And I have the blue fingers to prove it.

[+Slowswift]

As long as Bock nibs are as easy to take apart as they are (really stretching the definition of "friction fit", here), I'll keep doing that, but I suppose I ought to try and exercise a little patience with my other pens.

Anyways, with the one I just cleaned, I'm down to only six pens inked! For the past couple months I've been enforcing a policy of "No inking until all pens empty" as a part of my ongoing efforts to get a handle on my hoard collection. Of the six, there are two that I know I'll want to continue to use, so it's really four left to go. (Those two pens are a 3776 Nice F and a Custom 823 M, if you're curious.) Once I get those four, I'll start the process of evaluating each one and investigating options for sale.

On 7/20/2023 at 9:41 AM, Kasimir said:

Might be going for a second Nakaya after all, but it's unlikely to be as pricey (relatively) as it's going to be bog-standard apart from the fact that I'm asking for a line from the 道德经 on the barrel of the pen. I wanted something that was personally meaningful to me, and despite not being a specialist in Chinese philosophy, neither Hume nor Kant nor most analytic philosophers have the courtesy to say something short enough that it can show up on the barrel of a Piccolo or Piccolo Long without being unduly demanding on Nakaya  

What's the phrase, if I may ask?

[Kasimir he/him]

17 hours ago, Coolmint said:

Ooo, another Nakaya.  I always admired the (I think it's called) tamenuri finishes, where one color shows through another.

Yes, I really like the tamenuri, because of the two-colour effect.

17 hours ago, Coolmint said:

Just flushed two pens last night using nothing but their converters.  And I have the blue fingers to prove it.

So you are become Bluefingers now?

9 hours ago, Slowswift said:

Anyways, with the one I just cleaned, I'm down to only six pens inked! For the past couple months I've been enforcing a policy of "No inking until all pens empty" as a part of my ongoing efforts to get a handle on my hoard collection. Of the six, there are two that I know I'll want to continue to use, so it's really four left to go. (Those two pens are a 3776 Nice F and a Custom 823 M, if you're curious.) Once I get those four, I'll start the process of evaluating each one and investigating options for sale.

I feel you on this. Both the 3776 Nice F and Custom 823 M are really good choices.

9 hours ago, Slowswift said:

What's the phrase, if I may ask?

道可道﹐非常道

(If) the Way can be expressed, it is not the transcendant Way.

[Cyclops]

I use a syringe and a cartridge from Platinum, Pilot, and Jinhao (so far), cut to fit the syringe, and flush my pens that way.  I used to use the converters, but those took way too long.  I have a flush recipe I got online, and it seems to work just fine.  Makes a lot more for a lot less than what I could buy from an FP retailer.

[+Slowswift]

18 hours ago, Kasimir said:

I feel you on this. Both the 3776 Nice F and Custom 823 M are really good choices.

It's funny because Platinum's F is a quintessential Japanese fine, while the M on the 823 is closer to a Western medium. I love them both, but that they're so opposite amuses me. (Along those same lines, the 823 is possibly the classiest pen in existence that's not a Montblanc, and the 3776 Nice's sandblasted texture makes it feel more durable and suitable for everyday use.)

18 hours ago, Kasimir said:

道可道﹐非常道

(If) the Way can be expressed, it is not the transcendant Way.

Knowing virtually nothing about the Tao Te Ching, I can confidently say you made a good choice! (I actually own a copy, and look forward to reading it.)

17 hours ago, Cyclops said:

I use a syringe and a cartridge from Platinum, Pilot, and Jinhao (so far), cut to fit the syringe, and flush my pens that way.  I used to use the converters, but those took way too long.  I have a flush recipe I got online, and it seems to work just fine.  Makes a lot more for a lot less than what I could buy from an FP retailer.

Now there's an idea...

[Coolmint]

Tales of Fountain Pen Woes:  got three CUUUTE mixed-color (in each pen!) Jinhao 82 for about $22.  One was defective.  Sad!  But Amazon sent a whole new set as replacements, and the defective one in that new set works. (I guess that's not a total Woe.)

But a Platinum 3776 Soft Fine is SCRATCHY. Unacceptable in a pen at that price. So it's a probable return.

[Kasimir he/him]

On 7/22/2023 at 2:29 PM, Cyclops said:

I use a syringe and a cartridge from Platinum, Pilot, and Jinhao (so far), cut to fit the syringe, and flush my pens that way.  I used to use the converters, but those took way too long.  I have a flush recipe I got online, and it seems to work just fine.  Makes a lot more for a lot less than what I could buy from an FP retailer.

Had to buy the flush, sadly. Household ammonia is a pain to import where I am.

On 7/23/2023 at 8:33 AM, Slowswift said:

It's funny because Platinum's F is a quintessential Japanese fine, while the M on the 823 is closer to a Western medium. I love them both, but that they're so opposite amuses me. (Along those same lines, the 823 is possibly the classiest pen in existence that's not a Montblanc, and the 3776 Nice's sandblasted texture makes it feel more durable and suitable for everyday use.)

They are, but they also make sense - Japanese fines are more usable for daily writing, whereas a Western medium with the fill capacity of a Pilot 823 makes for a good workhorse.

On 7/23/2023 at 8:33 AM, Slowswift said:

Knowing virtually nothing about the Tao Te Ching, I can confidently say you made a good choice! (I actually own a copy, and look forward to reading it.)

I can't say I know very much about it as the Chinese philosophy specialists at my university all had to learn Classical Chinese and I was like, man I can't even read this thing in Chinese let alone Classical Chinese but it was one of the parts I liked  (When TAing, I usually had to tell my students whenever we covered Zhuangzi: "This is the best sense I can make of this, I recognise there are probably holes in my explanation but this will get you through the exam, and if you have further questions, approach me and we will Learn Zhuangzi Together or you can ask Bob* (different TA, not his real name) who's a Chinese specialist."  )

13 hours ago, Coolmint said:

Tales of Fountain Pen Woes:  got three CUUUTE mixed-color (in each pen!) Jinhao 82 for about $22.  One was defective.  Sad!  But Amazon sent a whole new set as replacements, and the defective one in that new set works. (I guess that's not a total Woe.)

Oh, yikes, but nice that Amazon sent a whole new set!

13 hours ago, Coolmint said:

But a Platinum 3776 Soft Fine is SCRATCHY. Unacceptable in a pen at that price. So it's a probable return.

RIP. Off Amazon too? I usually hear scratchiness as a complaint of Platinum UEF, not Soft Fine.

[Coolmint]

I keep dip-testing the Platinum.  There are 30 days to decide, but this is scratchier than I was hoping for; might as well use a Preppy or Plaisir.

I was hoping for better; love my Platinum 3776 M so much that it hasn't been de-inked since I got it years ago.

[Kasimir he/him]

On 7/21/2023 at 0:37 AM, Slowswift said:

I've got a bulb flusher, though after I saw the inside of someone else's covered in mold, I'm not sure I trust it 'til I introduce it to some strong chemicals. 

Also, Christ, now that's a one sentence horror story. I don't have a bulb flusher, I use a syringe which sort of has the same effect but IDK, maybe not gentle enough.

10 hours ago, Coolmint said:

I keep dip-testing the Platinum.  There are 30 days to decide, but this is scratchier than I was hoping for; might as well use a Preppy or Plaisir.

Wow, that's pretty damning.

10 hours ago, Coolmint said:

I was hoping for better; love my Platinum 3776 M so much that it hasn't been de-inked since I got it years ago.

Me and that Nakaya - I just can't take it to work.

[Kasimir he/him]

6 hours ago, anatollorexford9 said:

They look good, where did you get them?

Not @Cyclops, but I'll note that four-packs and Cyclops being in CONUS pretty much suggests it's either Ebay or Amazon. AliExpress is still possible (you'd likely need to search Yongsheng as that's the Chinese pinyin for Wing Sung), Taobao is not the best option for anyone in CONUS who doesn't have a good freight forwarding options or the capability to navigate their arcane forwarding/parcel bundle options.

Edited to add: For anyone who's confused - Yongsheng = 永生 = Eternal Life/Immortal (lit.) = Wing Sung which is Cantonese for the same characters. It's not uncommon to see Wing Sung pens marketed as Yongsheng online especially on Chinese-facing webfronts but Western customers will probably be more familiar with Wing Sung.

Edited July 25, 2023 by Kasimir

[Coolmint]

Got mine from Amazon, too.  Just run a search for Chinese piston filling pens, and a lot will come up.  WS has a whole bunch of numbered series, and some other brands will also come up.

[Kasimir he/him]

Update: Cracked nib unit has finally come out, thanks to the power of the long soak in dish soap, a chopstick, and a rubber band. All praise the power of chopsticks!

[Coolmint]

8 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Update: Cracked nib unit has finally come out, thanks to the power of the long soak in dish soap, a chopstick, and a rubber band. All praise the power of chopsticks!

Lol, I use them to remove the paddle that always gets stuck in the bread machine loaf.

[Kasimir he/him]

I'm starting to suspect it's a nib unit machining tolerance issue actually. This must be the third or fourth time I've changed the housing and was careful to select one without flaw this time but saw a small distortion that might be the beginning of a crack when I screwed the housing unit in. I think I might just order an entire replacement unit from PenBBS and then give up on this particular one as too screwy. 

[Coolmint]

37 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

I'm starting to suspect it's a nib unit machining tolerance issue actually. This must be the third or fourth time I've changed the housing and was careful to select one without flaw this time but saw a small distortion that might be the beginning of a crack when I screwed the housing unit in. I think I might just order an entire replacement unit from PenBBS and then give up on this particular one as too screwy. 

Sounds like a design flaw, the way early TWSBIs were prone to cracking.

[Kasimir he/him]

5 hours ago, Coolmint said:

Sounds like a design flaw, the way early TWSBIs were prone to cracking.

Possible. The spare parts I have predated this pen and Chinese pens are also not known for consistency (some of the later converters don't fit earlier models) so I wouldn’t be surprised if this is just such a problem. The pen started leaking ink again as soon as I put the new nib unit in, so I probably need to empty it out before redoing the nib unit fit.

Edited July 27, 2023 by Kasimir

[Veledsier]

I have a few fountain pens! I love them! So fancy...

[Kasimir he/him]

Just now, Veledsier said:

I have a few fountain pens! I love them! So fancy...

Favourites? Favourite ink? We're here to talk shop!  

[Veledsier]

10 hours ago, Kasimir said:

Favourites? Favourite ink? We're here to talk shop!  

I have one that is just black ink, which I use to write letters for my merch shop and a multicolored ink one that I use to write cards and stuff!

[Cyclops]

On 7/25/2023 at 7:29 AM, anatollorexford9 said:

They look good, where did you get them?

I bought them off Amazon.  I wanted to start out with inexpensive pens in case I didn't like them.  As it turned out, I won't hardly use anything BUT a fountain pen anymore.  Unless I absolutely have to.  Like endorsing a check, at least for now.

But the same pens on Amazon have a different name now, but the same pens, and I believe still a 4-pack.

[Coolmint]

Siiighhhhh....yes, I am keeping the Platinum.  Once loaded and given a light touch, it's all right.

But I also went on a pen and ink giveaway rampage.  So far I have maybe a dozen pens and as many inks/cartridges.  They will have to be sorted of course, and probably sent in two packages to whomever, or two whomevers.

In other news, cleaning a Jinhao 992 of orange ink has already taken three days.