pens

[giordana93]

Guys,

How important is the ink? Is it mostly a question of personal preference?

I ask because when the last of my 4-pack runs out, I'm soon going to graduate from Pilot Varsity as my EDC pen to a Pilot Metropolitan, and maybe for kicks I'll get a TWSBI piston-fill too. The Metropolitan comes with a cartridge, which I'll use, but then I'll probably switch over to the converter, at which point I'll need to use bottle ink.

TIA

not sure if "important" is the operative word, and I wouldn't call it a rabbit hole either, since that implies confusion or no solution, although I guess a few obsessive types are on the lookout for that perfect black or whatever. it's a little like debating the ride quality of tires as in most will get the job done well and yeah, there might be a holy grail and you can get a little lost if you want, but there's some fun in that too. the basic rule is that some inks are wetter and some on the dry side and the same goes for the pens. in the vast majority of cases they all play along just fine. a (very) few will like to stain things too. Just decide what color you want to start with and go from there. I'd suggest one deep blue and a good black. Almost everyone likes the offerings from Pilot, and the standard blue and black are both great (and advertised as permanent). No need to wade into the luxury colors and brands just yet, unless you're already a latex/open corsa kinda guy. I dig the Namiki blue alot, which will be similar to what your metropolitan had more than likely. A bottle should set you back about $12 and will last years. Goulet is reportedly a good source (he has tons of great videos), and he takes the time to write out sample texts so you can judge the colors; and the mothership has tons as well.

Pilot Namiki Blue - 6ml Bottled Ink



– The Goulet Pen Company

Amazon.com : Pilot Namiki Standard Fountain Pen Ink, Blue (6921) : Bottled Pen Ink : Office Products

[giordana93]

forgot to add (and this is where the rabbit hole starts, I guess): paper quality is another variable. If you'll be writing on cheap paper like newspaper print, some inks will want to bleed through and "feather" more easily--i.e. the line will not stay well-defined, so look for inks with lower feathering; and there are a few inks that will do "nib creep" where it likes to do just that, creep onto the shiny surface of the nib instead of staying in. it's not usually an issue, but you'll see it mentioned.

[Mabouya]

Thanks for the thoughts, guys.

Jet Pens, my favorite pen site, suggests Herbin "Perle Noire" as a good all-purpose black, so I think I'll go with that.

Black Fountain Pen Ink Comparison - JetPens.com

(although if I did deep enough in my storage boxes, I think I have a bottle of 25-year old Parker ink...)

[giordana93]

I still have a Parker blue from grad school in the late 80s, along with Sheaffer "Jet Black" from the same period. I've heard good things about Herbin but hadn't tried any yet. Consider yourself an enabler!

[pajotfix]

A few years ago I left a small shoulder bag on the train. In the bag; my Persol shades and some of my most favorite fountain pens. There was a Lamy 2000, a Pilot VP matte black and a small Pelikan. It was a tremendous loss and while I immediatly replaced the Persols I didn't quite get over the loss of the pens.
For the past few years I've been using other fountain pens I still had at home - cheaper Lamy's mainly... I always thought I would replace that VP rather soon, it was a favourite for daily use, and the F really wrote like what I think an F should write like. But whenever I thought of ordering a new one I just cringed and let it pass.

So recently I thought I was finally ready to order another nice but not-too-exclusive daily writer. But instead of the VP, which I set out to order, I got another model from Pilot, the Custom 74. F nib, in clear blue.
I'm really pleased with that purchase. It feels fresh and a nice break with my trauma.

[Mabouya]

Well, to paraphrase Neil Armstrong, I've taken one small step from the shallow end of the pen pool (Pilot Varsity disposables) towards the just a little bit deeper end.

The plan is to put the blue in the TWSBI (might as well take advantage of the see-through body) and eventually when the cartridge runs out, the black in the Metro.

The stuff I just ordered:

[drietz]

If I can pose a question to you all, I am in need of advice.

I’m in a new role as an enologist (fancy name for a wine scientist) and run a lab with a multitude of acids and bases, as well as a ton corresponding of forms that I’m scribbling on all day. The company (read: readily available) pens are all gel ink, I think, and they don’t do it for me. Wine and grape juice love to smear this ink. Even highlighter does it.

What should I be looking for in an ink, as a rule, to combat these issues? Do any of you have suggestions for a pen body with a utilitarian aesthetic (preferably sans cap) with refills available in such an ink?

Thank you in advance and please excuse my ignorance.

[Mabouya]

If I can pose a question to you all, I am in need of advice.

I’m in a new role as an enologist (fancy name for a wine scientist) and run a lab with a multitude of acids and bases, as well as a ton corresponding of forms that I’m scribbling on all day. The company (read: readily available) pens are all gel ink, I think, and they don’t do it for me. Wine and grape juice love to smear this ink. Even highlighter does it.

What should I be looking for in an ink, as a rule, to combat these issues? Do any of you have suggestions for a pen body with a utilitarian aesthetic (preferably sans cap) with refills available in such an ink?

Thank you in advance and please excuse my ignorance.

I would contact Jet Pens and see what they recommend. Contact Us - JetPens.com
They're quite prompt about returning inquiries.


They have a huge selection and lots of good information. For example, here's a guide to waterproof fountain pen ink:
The Best Waterproof Fountain Pen Inks - JetPens.com

You may or may not want to go with a fountain pen, and I don't know if your issue is with water or alcohol affecting the ink, but either way I bet they'll be able to help - they carry all sorts of cool pens. They do discuss inks that are highlighter-proof, so I know they can help there.

Good Luck

[dgaddis]

You guys are jerks.

This thread sent me down the rabbit hole and I've now spent ~$65 on writing utensils, which still seems silly to say.

Parker Jotter - got the all-metal version for $10. It is too small for me to write with a long time...not that I do a lot of writing.

Rotring 600 mechanical pencil - I like this thing. As an engineer I do a good bit of sketching, especially out at a site. I expect to get a lot of use out of this. Being made out of brass, it's super solid feeling. Makes a loud noise when you drop it on a desk top. ~$25 for a mechanical pencil, I had better not lose it.

Machine Era Original pen - all brass, no moving parts, nicely machined and should patina nicely with some use. Nice and heavy, which I like. Takes a Pilot G2 gel cartridge. Put a blue cartridge in it so notes on drawings will stand out a bit more. It was on sale, $30 shipped.

I still think really expensive pens are stupid.

(those notes weren't actually taken with the Machine Era Pen)

[NYCfixie]

You are welcome.

And give it some time because you might rethink that expensive pens are stupid statement.

You guys are jerks.

This thread sent me down the rabbit hole and I've now spent ~$65 on writing utensils, which still seems silly to say....


I still think really expensive pens are stupid.

[Mabouya]

Machine Era Original pen - all brass, no moving parts, nicely machined and should patina nicely with some use. Nice and heavy, which I like. Takes a Pilot G2 gel cartridge. Put a blue cartridge in it so notes on drawings will stand out a bit more. It was on sale, $30 shipped.

Nifty pen - I like it.

Since it's cylindrical are there any issues with it rolling around too much?

[giordana93]

$65? ha! consider yourself lucky. I probably have that in inks alone, and I'm a relative cheapskate! Unless you lose it, a nice pen or pencil will give a lifetime of service and you can give it to your children who'll say, "dad used to write with this; isn't it quaint how primitive people used to be back when pen and paper existed..."

seriously, though, $30 or so is good 105 to ultegra level stuff, but unlike bike parts will really never be outdated, and if you are lucky and choose wisely it will be worth as much as you paid for it or more many years from now. my dad got a nice sheaffer for high school graduation in the early 50s that is worth quite a bit now, not that I would ever sell it. it writes beautifully. I'm sure I've said it above in the thread, but an old workhorse vintage pen like esterbrook or sheaffer are fairly cheap, will last forever, are fun to tinker with, and are just damned pretty, never mind the variety of inks you can use in them--which might cost $10 for a bottle you will likely not be able to finish in a lifetime, so really cheap in the long run, like double edged razor blades compared to crazy expensive cartridges...

in other words (more rationalization), nice pens and pencils are actually cheaper on a per use basis...well pencils, maybe less so, but those electric sharpeners are part of the cost too, aren't they? anyway, welcome to the club. none of my pens cost more than $75, most under $25, and I dig them all. best of all, you don't need a garage to hide n+1

Esterbrook-fountain-pens-1-800x534.jpg
Why Do I Love Esterbrook Fountain Pens? - Fountain Pen Love

[dgaddis]

You have to watch where you set it down for sure haha.

[dgaddis]

Ordered one more yesterday, a Tactile Turn Shaker in stainless steel. If Thomson made a pen, it would look exactly like these Tactile Turn pens. As an unabashed Thomson fanboy, the temptation got to me.

These have been mentioned before in this thread, but I don't think anyone has mentioned that Will is now making his own mechanism for them out of titanium. The original version used the brass Schmidt mechanism which can wear out. And, with his own mechanism the tip retracts further into the pen so it shouldn't get ink on your clothes if carrying it around in a pocket.

And if you have a pen using the old mechanism (Karas and others use it as well), these folks make an all-stainless version if you want to upgrade.

[NYCfixie]

Thanks for the heads up on this one. I now need to order one (it is a rabbit hole that never ends).

Just not sure about which model:
- Mover (longer) takes Pilot G2, Lamy, and Montblanc refills which would be good for me because I already "stock" Lamy and Montblanc.
- Shaker (shorter) takes the Parker style refill which you can get almost anywhere and is less expensive than 2 of the 3 options mentioned above.

Ordered one more yesterday, a Tactile Turn Shaker in stainless steel. If Thomson made a pen, it would look exactly like these Tactile Turn pens. As an unabashed Thomson fanboy, the temptation got to me.

These have been mentioned before in this thread, but I don't think anyone has mentioned that Will is now making his own mechanism for them out of titanium. The original version used the brass Schmidt mechanism which can wear out. And, with his own mechanism the tip retracts further into the pen so it shouldn't get ink on your clothes if carrying it around in a pocket.

And if you have a pen using the old mechanism (Karas and others use it as well), these folks make an all-stainless version if you want to upgrade.

[dgaddis]

I've not tried many refills yet, but I like the Parker gel better than the Pilot gel because it dries faster and doesn't smear as easily. The shorter Shaker is also plenty long enough for me, and is a little lighter but still pretty heavy, a Parker Jotter is 14g, the Shaker in stainless is 49g.

I also don't see why you couldn't put a shorter Parker style refill into a pen designed around the Pilot refill, if you wanted the larger Mover. You just need a spacer of some sort to make up the difference in length, and a different spring. I would think...

[dgaddis]

This came in last week.



The finish is way grippier than expected, in a good way. The seam in the body is essentially invisible, like, if you're looking for it you can find it, but if you don't know it's there, you wont see it.

The clicker works dandily. It's not very loud, and has a long stroke. The only time it 'sticks' is if you press it most of the way, but not all the way down, the button will go back up leaving the tip sticking out just a bit, sometimes not always. As soon as it touches anything it pops back up into the pen tho. I did add a little oil inside the mechanism to smooth it out a bit.

[MikeS]

I've been enjoying using the Sailor Professional Realo. My favorite ink has been Sailor Four Seasons - Yama-dori (Copper Pheasant - Teal), a distant 2nd would be Pilot Iroshizuku Ink - Tsuki-yo Moonlit Night (Midnight Blue)
Of course my dog just destroyed the end cap and need Itoya them for a replacement.

[72gmc]

Threads like this make me happy. You people are freaks!

[rwsaunders]

Great thread...I recently picked up Pilot Lucina and related accessories as a small “first real job” gift for our daughter. She’s into writing/drawing instruments and all things Japan and this thread helped to steer me in a decent direction. Thanks