Any Fountain Pen Writers?

[Kasimir he/him]

3 hours ago, Cyclops said:

I decided it's most likely the nib.  I emptied the Colorverse, cleaned and dried the pen really good, then re-inked with Noodler's Air-Corp Blue/Black.  Same result.  I think I might try a razor blade between the tines.  But I also ordered replacement nibs just in case.

Either too tight or misalignment would be my guess. Will need to check alignment either way, I'd reckon, because doing anything to increase tine-gap will also affect alignment. If it's scratchy when you write rather than 'feedbacky', that's definitely a warning sign. (Feedback: writes like a pencil.)

[+Slowswift]

@Kasimir Thanks for the heads up! I'll be keeping an extra-close eye on my JoWo nibs, then.

[Kasimir he/him]

This week:

• Lamy 2k BB: Papier Plume Bayou Nightfall
• Pelikan M205 B: Kyo-no-Oto Hisoku
• TWSBI Eco 1.1 Stub: Private Reserve Blue Suede
• Sailor Pro Gear Slim Mini Night Blue: Taccia Ukiyo-E Hinezu
• Platinum #3776 Coarse: Lennon Toolbar Watermelon

As I said, I unabashedly go for thicc wet nibs a lot. This despite my handwriting being really small, to the point friends question repeatedly why I don't go UEF  

[+Slowswift]

I have too many pens, and yet both the Prussian Blue 580 ALR and that new Draco from TWSBI are calling me. Send help.

4 hours ago, Kasimir said:

This week:

• Lamy 2k BB: Papier Plume Bayou Nightfall
• Pelikan M205 B: Kyo-no-Oto Hisoku
• TWSBI Eco 1.1 Stub: Private Reserve Blue Suede
• Sailor Pro Gear Slim Mini Night Blue: Taccia Ukiyo-E Hinezu
• Platinum #3776 Coarse: Lennon Toolbar Watermelon

As I said, I unabashedly go for thicc wet nibs a lot. This despite my handwriting being really small, to the point friends question repeatedly why I don't go UEF  

Nice selection, nib bias aside!  

I still need to sort out a routine for using all my pens. The amount that are inked right now is frightening.

[Cyclops]

I tried slipping a double-edged razor blade between the tines of that Wing Sung nib.  No dice.  And it's definitely the nib.  I emptied and cleaned it out really good, then re-inked it with Air-Corp Blue/Black.  Same thing.  Used that first ink, Dark Energy, in another pen and it works just fine.  Still awaiting those replacement nibs to arrive.

I'm still a relative newbie to the world of fountain pens, but I saw that Dark Energy and Diamine's Oxblood have to almost be put side by side to see any difference in them, they're so close.

[Kasimir he/him]

21 hours ago, Cyclops said:

I tried slipping a double-edged razor blade between the tines of that Wing Sung nib.  No dice.  And it's definitely the nib.  I emptied and cleaned it out really good, then re-inked it with Air-Corp Blue/Black.  Same thing.  Used that first ink, Dark Energy, in another pen and it works just fine.  Still awaiting those replacement nibs to arrive.

I'm still a relative newbie to the world of fountain pens, but I saw that Dark Energy and Diamine's Oxblood have to almost be put side by side to see any difference in them, they're so close.

Could be the feed as well, if it's clogged. But you have to be careful trying to run a razor along the feed. Easy to slip up and cut yourself instead, as I've done several times. I hesitate to guess baby's bottom and other nib issues without a look at it but I also imagine you've already checked for what you can. One of the replacements should hopefully do the trick.

Nice! Colourverse is pricier so knowing Oxblood is very close makes me feel better about not going for Dark Energy

On 4/19/2021 at 6:30 AM, Slowswift said:

I still need to sort out a routine for using all my pens. The amount that are inked right now is frightening.

I get this. Using all the currently-inked pens, let alone every pen, how does this work  I do have an advantage over you since wet thicc nibs burn through ink faster, but  

[Cyclops]

9 hours ago, Kasimir said:

Nice! Colourverse is pricier so knowing Oxblood is very close makes me feel better about not going for Dark Energy

They're close enough for me to not buy ant more Dark Energy.  Maybe not for anyone else. 

[Tesh Any pronouns]

How have I not seen this before???

At the end of the last school year, this random kid in my biology class gave me this fountain pen. I wrote with it a lot, but I still wrote with pencil more than with pen. Then this year, I have this one teacher who only lets us write with pen, and so I've started only using pens. And now I have two fountain pens and only use ballpoint pens if the paper is super absorbent. (Halfway through this school year my school switched to this paper that the ink I use with my fountain pens just bleeds through, and it's rather annoying.)

I'd have to double check what pens I have, but I use Waterman ink. I also prefer converters over cartridges.

[+Slowswift]

@Tesh Welcome to the club!  

Waterman's a sold choice. Look forward to seeing what else you got!

[Tesh Any pronouns]

18 hours ago, Slowswift said:

@Tesh Welcome to the club!  

Waterman's a sold choice. Look forward to seeing what else you got!

Alright, I just checked. The random one that the kid gave me is a Baoer. And then the other one is a $15 dollar one from Hongdian that I just got off of Amazon. (For the price, it actually works really well.) 

I'm hoping one I actually start working I can get maybe a couple more that are a little better quality.

[+Slowswift]

6 hours ago, Tesh said:

Alright, I just checked. The random one that the kid gave me is a Baoer. And then the other one is a $15 dollar one from Hongdian that I just got off of Amazon. (For the price, it actually works really well.) 

I'm hoping one I actually start working I can get maybe a couple more that are a little better quality.

There's some surprising gems in the cheaper stuff, not gonna lie! If you wanna keep it cheap, Moonman's pretty good too.

Gonna recommend LAMY or TWSBI as a proper next step up, though! The Safari/Al-Star are classics for a reason, and TWSBI just makes a solid pen. 

Edited May 4, 2021 by Slowswift

[Tesh Any pronouns]

19 hours ago, Slowswift said:

There's some surprising gems in the cheaper stuff, not gonna lie! If you wanna keep it cheap, Moonman's pretty good too.

Gonna recommend LAMY or TWSBI as a proper next step up, though! The Safari/Al-Star are classics for a reason, and TWSBI just makes a solid pen. 

Thanks for the recommendations! I'll definitely look into them!

[Kasimir he/him]

On 5/4/2021 at 7:06 AM, Tesh said:

Alright, I just checked. The random one that the kid gave me is a Baoer. And then the other one is a $15 dollar one from Hongdian that I just got off of Amazon. (For the price, it actually works really well.) 

Oh, another appreciator of Chinese fountain pens!

22 hours ago, Slowswift said:

There's some surprising gems in the cheaper stuff, not gonna lie! If you wanna keep it cheap, Moonman's pretty good too.

Gonna recommend LAMY or TWSBI as a proper next step up, though! The Safari/Al-Star are classics for a reason, and TWSBI just makes a solid pen. 

Agreed with all of this - PenBBS is also a pretty good pen-maker, and the nibs can be swapped out (though Lamy nib-swapping is easier.) Depends on what you have in mind by a step up, really. 

Edited May 5, 2021 by Kasimir

[Cyclops]

On 5/4/2021 at 1:59 AM, Slowswift said:

There's some surprising gems in the cheaper stuff, not gonna lie! If you wanna keep it cheap, Moonman's pretty good too.

Gonna recommend LAMY or TWSBI as a proper next step up, though! The Safari/Al-Star are classics for a reason, and TWSBI just makes a solid pen. 

Pilot Metropolitan is a pretty good choice for the money as well.  I suppose if it's good enough for a famous author, it's good enough for me.  And so far it's the most expensive fountain pen I own.  But I'd like to get a Safari someday. 

[+Slowswift]

10 hours ago, Cyclops said:

Pilot Metropolitan is a pretty good choice for the money as well.  I suppose if it's good enough for a famous author, it's good enough for me.  And so far it's the most expensive fountain pen I own.  But I'd like to get a Safari someday. 

Oh, yeah, Metro's great too!

[Kasimir he/him]

Ground one of my own nibs. Nothing fancy, just that it didn't work and was scratchy as all Braize when I got it, and I ground it so it writes 'as smooth as butter on glass' and actually writes now  

And the Pelikan arrived! The flow is as glorious as described and I am well-pleased  

[Cyclops]

My Hong Dian Silver Birch Forest in EF came in.  It's a very smooth writer.  I have it inked up with Dark Energy from Colorverse for now.  When that sample is gone, I'll throw something else in it.  Colorverse inks are expensive.  Well, for me they are.

I have a bottle of X-Feather Black and Green Marine from Noodler's arriving sometime this next week (hopefully).  I'll be getting the X-Feather Blue when it's back in stock.  I have several composition notebooks that I can't use right now because 1) writing with ballpoint or rollerball pens for extended periods of time hurts my hand, so I use my fountain pens; and 2) all of my fountain pen inks bleed or ghost too much for regular paper.  The X-Feather inks are supposed to fix all that.

[Cyclops]

Oh, I almost forgot.  A while back I mentioned a 4-pack of Wing Sung 3008s I got, and one of them wouldn't write.  It tried a double-edged razor blade between the tines, but that didn't make any difference.  So I ordered some replacement nibs (EF, because I write small and tight).  They finally arrived.  I traded out, threw in a shot of Monteverde's Horizon Blue, and she works like there was never any problems.  It's a fairly wet ink; the line it lays is pretty broad for an EF nib.  But not so much that I can't use it.  I still like it.

And going through my other pens, I had trouble remembering which pens were inked with what.  I guess I'm going to have to start an Inked Pen Journal: start all over, then put the pen, the ink, and the date.

[Kasimir he/him]

Oh, nice! The Hong Dians always look so good and I'm glad yours is writing just fine. I've been tempted by them on a few occasions but I've been holding out so far

Good that the new EF nibs work fine though. Sometimes you really get duds and if you can't get it to write, best to just get another. Not really the sort of thing I'd take to a nibmeister given the price.

[+Slowswift]

Am I dreaming or did Sailor really just make a pen based off The Matrix?  

[Kasimir he/him]

1 hour ago, Slowswift said:

Am I dreaming or did Sailor really just make a pen based off The Matrix?  

K̵͍̐̋̏̀̍n̵̨̡͔̞̼͒̊ơ̷̡͈̳̓͂͆̏̒̉͘͘c̶̡̞̺̾ǩ̸͔̞̜̔̾ ̴̛̭̺̒̈́̓̒͆̅̕k̷̛̛̰̼̯̩͆̽͘n̸̤̼̑̋̀̔̉ǫ̸͈̲̹̭̱̀͛̏͊̔̈́̀̉͠ç̸̯̼̳̄̃̆͋̽͆ͅk̸̺̠͎̣̤̮͖̜̪̒̈́,̵͚̋͑̓̍̀͜͠ ̵̢̼̠̯̏͘͝ͅS̵͚̾ḽ̶̡̥͓͔̎ó̴̢̡͔͖̥̬̘̄́w̸̧̧̹̯͉̝̓̈́͜s̷̙͕̜̑ͅw̴̫̠͋̊̂͐̆̌̒̅i̷͍̳͚͓̻̳̲̥̎͂͘͘͘ͅf̴̧͉͈̙͓̝̺̬͇̂̐̌t̷̬̣̹̹͍͈̾̄̽̀̈́̒̈.̴̘̤̏̒̅͆̀̓͗͌̚
̶͈̝͍͖̗̰̅̉̉̍́͊͊̎̊
̷̡̞̦̖͎̠̟̇̀͗͜ͅF̴̯̻̣̍͐́̊̅o̸̧̰͓̞̹̭̽͆̀́l̴̨͓̬̰̤͍̰̊̃͛̀̈́l̵̲͒͛̿̅̐̈́͝ỏ̶͚̑͂͋̀͛̚͝w̷̡̭̩̱̖̳̮̖͌̍̒ ̶̲̦̙̙͈̤̰̉̑̄̃̐t̸̡̰͈͙̱͔͚̍͘h̴̹̤̲̖͋̊̍́ȩ̴͕̦̟̙̈̍̆̌̽̿̓̕͜ ̵̢̪͓̝̩̟̙̌̀̔̈̎̎̇w̵̨̢̹̘͕̤̬͌ẖ̸̫̙̈́̏i̴̬̯̮̞͊̃͊̉̚̚͝t̸͕̬͊͊̿e̸̢̳̣̮̳͎͍͎̅̈́͛̐͘ ̷̮̈͆̀̎̿̆̿͂͘c̸͕͔̲̰̼̫͐͊ú̵̢̄̃̾͜r̴̡̢̲̯̃̇͂͗̃̒̚͝s̶̮̾̃ǫ̶̜͈̹̮͙̟̱͒͗r̴̘̘̝̞͇̗̬̙͍͊͌̉̈̕

[+Slowswift]

1 minute ago, Kasimir said:

K̵͍̐̋̏̀̍n̵̨̡͔̞̼͒̊ơ̷̡͈̳̓͂͆̏̒̉͘͘c̶̡̞̺̾ǩ̸͔̞̜̔̾ ̴̛̭̺̒̈́̓̒͆̅̕k̷̛̛̰̼̯̩͆̽͘n̸̤̼̑̋̀̔̉ǫ̸͈̲̹̭̱̀͛̏͊̔̈́̀̉͠ç̸̯̼̳̄̃̆͋̽͆ͅk̸̺̠͎̣̤̮͖̜̪̒̈́,̵͚̋͑̓̍̀͜͠ ̵̢̼̠̯̏͘͝ͅS̵͚̾ḽ̶̡̥͓͔̎ó̴̢̡͔͖̥̬̘̄́w̸̧̧̹̯͉̝̓̈́͜s̷̙͕̜̑ͅw̴̫̠͋̊̂͐̆̌̒̅i̷͍̳͚͓̻̳̲̥̎͂͘͘͘ͅf̴̧͉͈̙͓̝̺̬͇̂̐̌t̷̬̣̹̹͍͈̾̄̽̀̈́̒̈.̴̘̤̏̒̅͆̀̓͗͌̚
̶͈̝͍͖̗̰̅̉̉̍́͊͊̎̊
̷̡̞̦̖͎̠̟̇̀͗͜ͅF̴̯̻̣̍͐́̊̅o̸̧̰͓̞̹̭̽͆̀́l̴̨͓̬̰̤͍̰̊̃͛̀̈́l̵̲͒͛̿̅̐̈́͝ỏ̶͚̑͂͋̀͛̚͝w̷̡̭̩̱̖̳̮̖͌̍̒ ̶̲̦̙̙͈̤̰̉̑̄̃̐t̸̡̰͈͙̱͔͚̍͘h̴̹̤̲̖͋̊̍́ȩ̴͕̦̟̙̈̍̆̌̽̿̓̕͜ ̵̢̪͓̝̩̟̙̌̀̔̈̎̎̇w̵̨̢̹̘͕̤̬͌ẖ̸̫̙̈́̏i̴̬̯̮̞͊̃͊̉̚̚͝t̸͕̬͊͊̿e̸̢̳̣̮̳͎͍͎̅̈́͛̐͘ ̷̮̈͆̀̎̿̆̿͂͘c̸͕͔̲̰̼̫͐͊ú̵̢̄̃̾͜r̴̡̢̲̯̃̇͂͗̃̒̚͝s̶̮̾̃ǫ̶̜͈̹̮͙̟̱͒͗r̴̘̘̝̞͇̗̬̙͍͊͌̉̈̕

I've only seen it once, and that was years and years ago. I'll get back to you after I watch it again and get the reference.  

[Kasimir he/him]

Just now, Slowswift said:

I've only seen it once, and that was years and years ago. I'll get back to you after I watch it again and get the reference.  

Whoops

Looks very sleek but I have my doubts because I've heard about how prone the plating is to coming off >>

[+Slowswift]

4 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Whoops

Looks very sleek but I have my doubts because I've heard about how prone the plating is to coming off >>

I'm kinda in the mood to watch it now, actually, so hopefully it won't be much of a wait.  

Is it that bad? I've heard the nib plating can be flaky, but that example was after months of constant flushing.

[Kasimir he/him]

24 minutes ago, Slowswift said:

I'm kinda in the mood to watch it now, actually, so hopefully it won't be much of a wait.  

Is it that bad? I've heard the nib plating can be flaky, but that example was after months of constant flushing.

Enjoy!

The reports I've seen were for Imperial Black but apparently you have to watch the inks you put in it, that's all.