Category: Fountain Pens

Pen of the Day: Pelikan M400 White Tortoise with Sailor Waka-Uguisu

Laura6 Comments

Sailor Waka-Uguisu with Pelikan M400 White Tortoise

Pelikan M400 White Tortoise with medium nib.  Coincidentally, I bought this pen about the same time I started this blog. I wasn’t sure about buying it. In photos, the White Tortoise had always looked a little blingy, a little too much. I am not a huge tortoise fan. And the white resin?

Well, those reservations lasted until I opened the box. In real life, this pen is fantastic.

Sailor Waka-Uguisu with Pelikan M400 White Tortoise

However, today the pen is an afterthought. This post is really inspired by the ink. I had wanted another springy ink, after enjoying Diamine Apple Glory and Sailor Sakura-Mori. Luckily, Sailor’s Four Seasons line is all about seasonal inks.

This is Waka-Uguisu, a “spring” ink that ranks among my very favorites from last year.

Sailor Waka-Uguisu with Pelikan M400 White Tortoise

I absolutely love this ink.

Fountain Pen Favorites for January 2017

Laura16 Comments

calendar image

January is over? How did that happen? Well, swiftly, I guess. In terms of pens and inks, January wasn’t particularly notable for me. But if I dredge, I can dig up some highlights.

1. Ink Dips. I liked the first two, Sailor Something Something and Pelikan Edelstein Onyx. Oh, yes, Sailor Oku-Yama. Details … poof. The mind is the first thing to go. Or maybe vision. Possibly hearing. What was I saying?

2. Yellow Journalism. I wrote in my new journal pretty consistently. Not every day, but almost. So it’s becoming a habit, which is nice. Unfortunately, I have written 96 pages since Christmas, which is going to be financially ruinous; these things are costly. I’m going back to a Rhodia Webnotebook when I fill my Nanami Writer, to see if the type of journal makes a difference or not.

3.  Hmm, a Rant. Yeah, um, well, hard to think of a third highlight, to be honest. I liked the inks I used this month. Pens were pretty calm for me — there is not much happening here in pens. Actually, I dislike something. I am not in favor of the newly announced 2017 Lamy Safari color, which is “Petrol,” which is the German word for “Teal.” I can’t even pretend to care about this Safari. Especially when the 2017 Al-Star is already an aquamarine called Pacific.

It seems I’ve gone off Lamy. After so many years of the neons and the greens and the greenish yellows, now in 2107 we’re getting not one, but two, blue greens. That’s not what I’d call progress.

I’ve lost faith in Lamy, or interest, or both. I don’t know if the string of similar colors is due to lack of imagination, cost-consciousness or trying to profit off an influx of newbie buyers with no apparent discernment (given the prices they’ll pay for counterfeits). But whatever the cause, I don’t care. I’m bored with the result. It seems cheap and cynical, and worst of all dull, by Lamy.

Yes, I am now completely unexcited about Lamy Safaris. And I used to be their biggest fan.

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Photo by Dafne Cholet, Flickr, used under Creative Commons license.

Pen of the Day: Sheaffer PFM Green with Caran d’Ache Idyllic Blue

Laura2 Comments

Sheaffer PFM I fountain pen with Caran d'Ache Idyllic Blue ink

Sheaffer PFM I Green with medium nib. The PFM, once again, because we have gone out of the green and into the blue. At least in terms of ink. With apologies to Neil Young: hey hey, my my; a PFM should never die.

My first stab at a blue ink for the PFM is Caran d’Ache Idyllic Blue, which is a normal standard blue ink. This is what it looks like, more or less.

Caran d'Ache Idyllic Blue writing sample

Idyllic Blue is very close to Waterman Serenity Blue in color and behavior, but smoother feeling, I think, and I like it a tiny bit more. Not that I don’t love Serenity Blue. I probably just wanted a slight change.

No pen changes, though. Boring as that is, I know. I feel so set.

We’ve had a lot of really valuable discussion about the PFM’s inlaid nib. So here it is, in the dark of a late winter afternoon. I like the shape, I like the “R,” I like the “apostrophe S” that connects to the “R.” I certainly like blue ink drops. I like it all.

Sheaffer PFM I fountain pen nib closeup

Question I’m Pondering: Is It Impossible to Clean All the Ink from a Sheaffer PFM?

Laura23 Comments

Sheaffer PFM ink residue in water

That is a photo of my Sheaffer PFM, soaking in water. See how the water is tinted green? That’s residue from Kaweco Palm Green soaking out of the feed, after I cleaned and flushed the pen. But that’s not what’s noteworthy.

The noteworthy part is that this photo was taken after five straight days of soaking. I cleaned and flushed the pen five days ago, then started continual cycles of occasional flushing and constant soaking. Every once in a while I’ll press a paper towel against the feed, to check if there’s still ink in there.

Sheaffer PFM ink residue

Yes, there is. So the pen is still soaking, on, as I write this, day six.

Kaweco Palm Green is an easy-to-clean ink, and what was in the sac flushed out easily. But there is still ink in the feed. The downside of the PFM’s Snorkel-tube filling system, clearly, is that normal pen cleaning doesn’t completely flush out the feed. So, this isn’t a pen for switching between different ink colors. Anyone considering a PFM should note that.

Since I bought this PFM, I’ve been using different green inks, for the unimaginative reason that it’s a green pen. But the PFM is a great everyday pen for me, and I want to keep it in my daily rotation. So I’m going to switch to a blue ink, my favorite color.

That will give me three pens in permanent rotation: a Parker 51, a Lamy Safari, and the PFM. I did briefly wonder: Am I still a hobbyist? Or just a plain old pen user? Then I remembered my pen with pink ink. Phew.

Pen of the Day: Montblanc Heritage 1912 with Sailor Sakura-Mori

Laura12 Comments

Montblanc Heritage 1912 with Sailor Sakura-Mori

Montblanc Heritage 1912 with broad nib. This is one of my favorite pens, with its updated safety-filler design and its pleasantly bouncy nib. But today I’m really doing a disguised Ink of the Day.

I read that the first cherry blossoms begin blooming in Okinawa right about now, which made me take out the Sailor Sakura-Mori. Warm weather envy can be a beautiful thing.

Montblanc Heritage 1912 with Sailor Sakura-Mori

I really enjoy the gentle pink of Sakura-Mori. A few drops of ink clinging to the nib show the peach tint that makes this ink so interesting.

Montblanc Heritage 1912 nib

Five Fountain Pen Rules You Can Take to the Bank

Laura5 Comments

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We’ve talked about some fountain pen “rules” that I think we can safely ignore. Here are some that, to the contrary, make a lot of sense to me. Feel free to chime in.

Rule Number 1. “Use a light touch.”

Your pens really will do better if you write with a light hand. The good news is, it’s pretty easy to get in the habit.

Rule Number 2. “It’s safer to try before you buy.”

If not, be prepared to cycle through some pens.

This isn’t something to bemoan, necessarily, but just something to recognize. Some people positively love cycling through pens. Others don’t, but we may live too far from fountain pen dealers to test everything in person. So we may end up with some unexpected disappointments.

It may help to think of buying before trying as my friend does, which is to analogize it to fly fishing. Some fish end up in the creel, and some you will catch and release.

Rule Number 3. “A nibmeister is worth the time and money.”

Very often the only difference between a pen that is just okay and a pen you love is the nib. Very often a good nibmeister can do something about that.

Rule Number 4. “It’s not just the pen, but also the ink and paper.”

This is part diagnosis, part treatment. If a pen isn’t writing as you like, try changing the ink. Pen writing too wet and wide for you? Try a dry ink. Pen balky? Try a wetter ink with good flow. And try a different paper, while you’re at it.

Sometimes a ink and pen are both great, but not together. Or maybe a pen and ink combination is perfect, except on one particular paper dry time is glacial.

You can have a great ink, a great pen and a great paper, but that doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily bring out the best in each other.

Rule Number 5. “Remember to have fun.”

It’s not brain surgery. It’s not even driving. We can just have fun with pens and inks, right? We can wield our empty Sheaffer Snorkels as water guns against teenage daughters or other enemies. We can put blue ink in red pens. We can ignore the clearly worded warning from J. Herbin, and dare to mix two different inks. We can.

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Photo by Alumnos de la UPC – Fotografía propia, GFDL, Link

Five Fountain Pen Rules You Can Ignore

Laura5 Comments

 

5_en_raya

Rule Number 1. “Pens are for writing; use them or sell them.”

You can ignore this because it’s silly. Would anyone say that about a collectible nickel? A Civil War cannon?

Rule Number 2. “If you don’t collect pens seriously, you are just accumulating.”

You can ignore this because it’s okay to just accumulate pens.

Rule Number 3. “Such and such pen is a must-have.”

You can ignore this because there’s no pen everyone must have. Everyone is different.

Rule Number 4. “Vintage pens are better.”

You can ignore this because it’s puffery. Some vintage pens are better, some are worse.

Rule Number 5. “Flex nibs are better.”

You can ignore this because it is only true for some people and some situations. Imagine trying to write 10 essays for a final exam, in a blue book, with a flex nib.

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Photo by Alumnos de la UPC – Fotografía propia, GFDL, Link

Pen of the Day: Edison Custom Herald with KWZ Hunter Green

Laura5 Comments

 

Edison Custom Herald ebonite with KWZ Hunter Green ink

Edison Custom Herald with medium nib. Here’s an old favorite pen of mine, a custom Herald by Edison in a gorgeous green-brown ebonite, with silver-colored clip and nib.

This custom Herald has a medium 18k nib, set to Edison’s usual juicy flow, which really shows off any ink. Right now I’m using it with a new-to-me ink, KWZ Hunter Green.

Edison Custom Herald ebonite with KWZ Hunter Green ink

Hunter Green is khaki, but it’s fairly saturated, and with a wetter writer like this Edison, Hunter Green can look very dark indeed. Which I like. But the color is, of course, lighter in pens with less ink flow.

Shading is minimal. Here’s a writing sample of Hunter Green.

KWZ Hunter Green ink writing sample

What I Bought in 2016: Fountain Pens

Laura13 Comments

2016 pen purchases

I like to do a year-end accounting of what I bought, to keep myself honest, and to try to learn a little. Here’s what I’ve learned looking back at my 2016 fountain pen purchases: ouch.

I bought 19 pens this year. They are all very nice pens. But I find the total number surprising, and excessive. Also, two of them are purple. Which is just messed up.

(click Page 2 below to continue)

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New Clips for the Kaweco Liliput

Laura9 Comments

Kaweco Liliput Clip

Here’s some welcome news: Kaweco is coming out with clips for their Liliput fountain pens and ballpoint pens. Two clips, because the ballpoints and fountain pens have a different diameter.

I reviewed two of the Liliput fountain pens here, along with the large size Supra. I really liked the Liliput. It’s a very small carry-around fountain pen with a really sturdy form factor, and the excellent Kaweco stainless steel nib also used in the AL-Sport, AC-Sport and Dia2.

And I think the clip’s a great addition. Because it’s such a small pen, I like having the option to clip the Liliput in place inside a pocket or bag. I’m not sure what the clip price will be, but clips for the Sport pens range from $3 to $6 in the US, so I’m guessing “reasonable.”

Kaweco keeps impressing me, because they keep coming out with products and designs that show they are fountain pen users themselves. I really like this pen company.

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Photo courtesy of Kaweco press release