I was in downtown Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon heading back to the subway station, when a young girl asked for one of my pens. Lucky for her I declined the request. First, the fountain pen would probably just confuse her, and second, "what does this lever do?" was a disaster waiting to happen.
I have been using nothing but my FP, (except for pocket carry, gotta have something on me) and was pretty happy with it, but it was skipping some and that was driving me crazy. I had ordered a few cartridges to try out, and even though I hadn't finished the one that came with the kit, I threw it out and tried one of these new ones. From now on, I will put the kit cartridges directly in the trash. This is a huge improvement.
My Tryphon order finally arrived yesterday. The red SJ that had been sitting in pieces for the last month is a working pen once again.
I've been using the Wality pen that I received a few weeks ago at work, and it's a really nice pen. It writes incredibly smooth and seems to be a little less fussy about the angle of the nib than the two cheapo chinese pens I've also got. The few people who I've allowed to use it also have complimented how smooth the pen writes. I still need to buy some cartridges or a converter for the Pilot that I picked up, but I just haven't been in that much of a rush with the excellent feel of the Wality.
I have been remiss by not having posted to this topic before. As can be seen by my moniker, I do pens. Lots of pens. We had a Philadelphia Pen Collectors Group meeting yesterday. Frankly I've been so focused on shaving and acoutraments the past couple of months that it has pushed back on the pens. Good thing as shaving is less expensive (so far.) Most recent pen acquisitions: Sailor Naginata in yellow Pilot M90 LE Faber-Castell Mondoro Paradise pen 5280 Summit Silver Zig Zag and a bottle of Waterman South Seas Blue Now looking forward to the DC pen show in August! Anyone else going?
Man do I love the look of that pen. I've been trying to snag one at a slightly cheaper price on the Bay, but I think everyone else in the world is doing the same. I'm not quite ready to spend the money on it, but one day I will own an M90. Pics of yours, of course, would be much appreciated so that I can be completely envious.
I'm thinking about it. Have never been to the DC show before and I think it would be a hoot! SWMBO lived there for several years, so she'd probably have fun doing it too... So, do you collect any vintage pens?
I took shipment of 8 fountain pens today. All of them pretty cheap Chinese ones, but I kind of just want to have them around so that I use them more. Right now I am using a Wing Sung 714 that was literally $1 and it writes great. I hate the Aerometric Filling System though. I filled it up with some Noodlers Baystate Concord Grape which also came in the order. 8 pens and a bottle of ink for $60.
The Boston Pen Show coming up at the end of this month. I'm excited because I missed it last year. The first two hundred people who enter get a free bottle of Noodler's Ink. I'm shooting for one of them.
Thanks to Bong, I've been accumulating a few fountain pens over the last several weeks. I have two Reforms, a Pilot 78G, a Hero 100 (just arrived yesterday), and a disposable Pilot. I have a few different inks - Mont Blanc blue/black, which is my favorite every day ink, and then some Noodler's inks - I don't remember the exact names, but I have a black ink, a red ink, a green ink, and a blue ink. I also have Private Reserve Midnight Blues Fast Dry which I have not yet tried, but heard it feathers pretty bad. Right now, my favorite writers are the Pilot 78G (the really fine nib makes it easy to write on college-ruled paper, and dries quickly) and the Hero 100. Both have the aerometric filling system. I just got a coupon from Paradise Pen for $10 off my next purchase of $20 or more, and I can't decide whether to pick up a Pellikano Jr. or just some more inks, like some of the Waterman inks.
The Pelikano pens are fantastic, Mike. Waterman Florida Blue is a benchmark ink. A bottle of it must be in your collection. Decision, decisions...
Dominic, have you seen this post on FPN? Can you pick up a gallon bottle of old Manhattan black for me?
I think you have Noodler Borealis black, Noodler Green Marine, Noodler Nikita, and either private reserve Lake placid blue or Pelikan royal blue. I think your tastes might already have eclipsed the Pelikano Jr, but you may have to get both the pen and the ink to redeem your coupon.
Already saw the post, Bong. As long as you guys pay shipping, I'll be more than happy to pick up the bottles for you. If anyone wants anything, let me know and I'll pick it up while I'm there.
Hmmm, maybe I'll just get a couple bottles of ink. I already have Mont Blanc blue/black and Private Reserve midnight blues fast dry - is there another brand I should try? I thought of trying some of the Waterman ink - they have a blue listed on the website, but it doesn't specify a certain kind of blue - just blue. Or is there another brand I should try out? By the way, Bong, I'm liking the Hero 100. Hope your package gets there soon - it's a heavy one (cost almost $10 to ship!!!!!).
Waterman has florida blue which is a deep blue with a tinge of purple(this is probably what they list as just "blue", and south seas blue which is a turquoise like color. They are a favorite of a lot of the old timers, as they are safe and free flowing and well behaved. My main reason for not using them is no water resistance what so ever, same with private reserve inks. Dom would suggest you get MB violet, MB racing green is a nice green also. And the MB bottles are highly coveted for the shoe shape and built in ink well. Glad you like the Hero, it's a nice writer, and if it grows legs and walks away you aren't out 100 dollars like you would be with a real P51. I'm sure my goods will arrive in due time, I'm not in a big rush so no big deal. Happy shaving and writing.
My youngest daughter was checking out my Reform pen this morning....she thought it was really cool :happy088 Silly question - when refilling, or when the pen gets low on ink, but isn't out yet...do you let it run out before filling? If I put the piston down to refill, it squeezes out the ink that's left....which lead to me having black fingers for a few days :happy102
