My First Gold Nib Pen (A Pilot Falcon Soft Fine) Just Arrived From Goulet Pens, Yay! Advice Welcome. :-)

[Sailor Kenshin]

Pilot Falcon SF.... Okay, now ya got me thinkin' about one. Besides, I like the shape of the nib.

[rwilsonedn]

Just to underline what tonybelding said earlier: now that the Falcon nib has your attention, this is a great time to practice putting zero pressure on the nib while you are writing and drawing. If for a while you can consciously let only the weight of the pen itself press down on the paper, with no help from your fingers, you can start a very useful habit. Not only will you not have to worry about damaging pens, you will find that many nibs can deliver much finer lines than you had imagined, and that many nibs that seemed a little scratchy are actually quite smooth when not pressed into the paper. Plus, if you decide to continue exploring with dip pens in the future, you will have already learned a skill which is absolutely necessary for dip pens: no pressure.

Congratulations on a beautiful pen and on your boundless enthusiasm!

ron

[ac12]

A trick that I was taught.

If someone standing behind you cannot pull the pen out from your hand, you are gripping the pen too TIGHT.

A fountain pen does not need to be gripped TIGHT.

This is because a fountain pen should be able to write with just it's own weight, you do not have to press down on the pen.

 

Flex writing with a fountain pen is a discussion that goes in several directions.

• I am right handed, and I have to write upright/vertical when I use a flex fountain pen. If I write with my normal slant, I end up flexing diagonally on the nib, and over flexing the right tine. Ideally you want to have the nib in alignment with the downstroke when you flex, so that BOTH tines flex evenly.

• You can use a fountain pen at a slant, but that requires changing to the old grip, that aligns the nib with the downstroke. I tried it, and it was too difficult for this senior citizen to learn. More like I decided that it was not worth the effort, for me.

• For flex writing, I am a dip pen user. I use an oblique dip pen holder, so that I can align the nib with my downstroke. I find the oblique dip pen holder superior to a fountain pen, except in 2 items, speed to bring into use and carry. But I have exchanged messages with people that take their dip pen to the coffee shop and write. So it is portable.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Debbie, I don't have a favorite Kaweco ink yet. I don't normally chase expensive cartridges....but at least 6 of the 10 inks I looked up in Ink Reviews after seeing them in my B&M I want.

 

There is nothing wrong with having a nail or two.

 

I have more than the basic 5...BB, B, M, F and EF.....why I don't know....they just happened.

One needs an EF for editing....and A Safari EF nib costs some $7.00 and are easy to change.

B can be fun....in it is wider.

There are line printing templates on line....sorry, I can't link you to any. But it is much easier to write with a B in a wide line....M too, and M works in a medium line.....Collage lined notebooks are too narrow....great for ball points of F and smaller nibs.

You can print your own lines and bind your own notebook. Some US/Canada stores like Staples I think will do that....or some other office supply house.

You might as well use better paper.

 

I even have a semi-nail in my old bought new in @1970 P-75. I'm bound to have one or two more.

I doubt if I have a full five of them in the different widths.

 

There are ...not counting a full set of both Stub and Cursive Italic....(alternating from F stub up to CI BB would do) some 45 different width and flex of nibs one 'needs' some day. From nail to Superflex.

I have @ 35. I have not gone bananas with having lots of superflex nibs..... I'd have to learn how to write. ( I do have a lot of Degussa Easy Full Flex nibs....what I call the first step of Superflex but they seem to all be rather narrow. I only have 5 or 6 pens with those nibs.)

I chase the nib.

 

Ah, your Ahab can be made Easy Full Flex...Superflex. Go in Pen Review and look up 'Ahab Mod', two little half moons are filed out of the nib with a small round Swiss file or a Dremel.

Perhaps Pendelton Brown has a Ahab Nib with that....what he called Angel Wings, that you can buy. Or any one you know can let you borrow his Swiss round file.

My Ahab went from in the box to being ready to use in a cup for about a year. I finally cleared out my pen cups...... It had been about time. So it is now away. I do highly recommend having that Ahab Mod done. Suddenly the pen is not so much work to flex it....and it becomes fun.

 

 

We were very ignorant of pens back the olden days of B&W TV......clean pens???????? Change ink colors....why? Oh, girls did. :doh:We were much locked into stereotypes.

Times change.

While I was 'chasing' purples, I got an opened bottle of Pelikan 4001 on sale cheap...a green-green shading ink. :gaah:In the next year I bought 11 green/greenish inks....now have 15....and only one purple!!!

R&K Verdura beat MB Irish Green by a head, and Pelikan 4001 by a neck....in Green-Green shading inks.

 

Somewhere on the com some fine poster did 35 murky green ink comparison. I didn't understand murky....I was weak on shading too....back when it could have counted.

Once MB was totally hated by very many posters. The only MB thing that was liked was the bottle.

The most hated ink in the whole world was MB Racing Green. The advice from high volume posters was dump the ink down the bathroom sink....put your favorite ink in the empty bottle.

 

Well I had a Masada MX-5 in Racing Green. At the B&M I had the the most hated ink in the world in my hand. I was just going to throw it away...E12....down the drain. There was some sort of brown MB ink too...Sepia....I never used a brown ink before.... in I was just going to throw the ink away....why not try a brown ink.

How was I to know Sepia (there are many different sepias) wasn't brown....was brown enough for me....and too good to toss.

 

The day after MB stopped making Racing Green it became the most loved ink of all. A couple bottles can put your kid through Harvard.

They have been trying in the back alley FPN laboratories to re-make Racing Green and failing.

I got back to my B&M too late......so do have a salt shaker around.

MB ink is not as expensive per ml as it appears....60 ml vs 35 for 4001.

 

Hell, since then I even got vintage, semi-vintage and new MB pens....and 4-5 good inks. The villeins using the pens in someone's live has nothing to do with the pens or inks.

A lot of pens are overly expensive. Normally I buy cheap old pens....semi-vintage, or vintage....I couldn't afford them otherwise. One can get once top of the line with great nibs...at an affordable price.

 

xxxxxxxxxxx

I don't know enough about your Japanese pens to say much....you didn't mention the width of your other pens.

It is always helpful to have width.

B can be fun....but which B....western or Japanese BB....in Japanese B is reputed to be Western M.

 

In the seven or eight years I've been here I've seen two myths die.

We use to have flame wars....jealous of the nib changing of the Pelikan, Waterman fans trouted they had skinnier nibs.......wow....7 or so years ago....Japanese pens were not so big....or many Japanese pen owners would have joined that flame war.

 

Pelikan having wider nibs had a dry ink. Waterman having narrower nibs had a wet ink.

Then it was discovered.... Waterman made two sets of nibs....one exactly matching Pelikan except in EF....The flame war died.

 

Myth @ 2....Piston pens held so much more ink than cartridges.... Wrong, even the MB 149 which holds more than most mainstream pistons was holding only 1.60 ml....as much as the Old Sheaffer long cartridge. Two short internationals....0.74 x 2 =1.48....more than most piston pens....146/1000/800/600/400&200. .....and those flame wars died, with the myth.

 

Now Jar and AC12 are killing the myth that Japanese nibs are narrower than Sheaffer and Parker.....now.

Lamy-Pelikan are wider....their F = Japanese, Parker and Sheaffer M. MB is wider too I think...my new one certainly is very wide B=BB.

.

Modern times. I have an old chart that shows Pelikan as narrower than both Parker and Sheaffer....but that chart must be from before '1997....when Pelikan got fat...outside the 200.

[inkyelbows]

Montblanc.

 

Ok, i see that i warn you about the inks fever too late. Just before you drown in ink, i have few last words of advise. Don't walk on the 2 last final roads: Vintage and Custom-made. Never ever. Nobody could save you if you step on them.

 

Enjoy your pen for now. And don't ever think about google Waterman 52 or Eversharp Doric adjustable nib flex. Especially those evil videos review.

 

You have been warned.

 

Hee hee - I love your "warnings."

 

re: purple ink. Did you mean the Montblanc Lavender Purple? Ooo, I like it (just did research online).

 

Thanks also for the warning re: Vintage and Custom-made.

 

And now I have to add "Waterman 52 or Eversharp Doric adjustable nib flex" to my "must check out" list.

 

Uh oh...

 

Debbie

[inkyelbows]

Pilot Falcon SF.... Okay, now ya got me thinkin' about one. Besides, I like the shape of the nib.

 

It makes me happy every single time I use it.

 

Debbie

[inkyelbows]

Just to underline what tonybelding said earlier: now that the Falcon nib has your attention, this is a great time to practice putting zero pressure on the nib while you are writing and drawing. If for a while you can consciously let only the weight of the pen itself press down on the paper, with no help from your fingers, you can start a very useful habit. Not only will you not have to worry about damaging pens, you will find that many nibs can deliver much finer lines than you had imagined, and that many nibs that seemed a little scratchy are actually quite smooth when not pressed into the paper. Plus, if you decide to continue exploring with dip pens in the future, you will have already learned a skill which is absolutely necessary for dip pens: no pressure.

Congratulations on a beautiful pen and on your boundless enthusiasm!

ron

 

Thank you SO MUCH for this excellent advice!

 

Debbie

[inkyelbows]

Debbie, I don't have a favorite Kaweco ink yet. I don't normally chase expensive cartridges....but at least 6 of the 10 inks I looked up in Ink Reviews after seeing them in my B&M I want.

 

There is nothing wrong with having a nail or two.

 

I have more than the basic 5...BB, B, M, F and EF.....why I don't know....they just happened.

One needs an EF for editing....and A Safari EF nib costs some $7.00 and are easy to change.

B can be fun....in it is wider.

There are line printing templates on line....sorry, I can't link you to any. But it is much easier to write with a B in a wide line....M too, and M works in a medium line.....Collage lined notebooks are too narrow....great for ball points of F and smaller nibs.

You can print your own lines and bind your own notebook. Some US/Canada stores like Staples I think will do that....or some other office supply house.

You might as well use better paper.

 

I even have a semi-nail in my old bought new in @1970 P-75. I'm bound to have one or two more.

I doubt if I have a full five of them in the different widths.

 

There are ...not counting a full set of both Stub and Cursive Italic....(alternating from F stub up to CI BB would do) some 45 different width and flex of nibs one 'needs' some day. From nail to Superflex.

I have @ 35. I have not gone bananas with having lots of superflex nibs..... I'd have to learn how to write. ( I do have a lot of Degussa Easy Full Flex nibs....what I call the first step of Superflex but they seem to all be rather narrow. I only have 5 or 6 pens with those nibs.)

I chase the nib.

 

Ah, your Ahab can be made Easy Full Flex...Superflex. Go in Pen Review and look up 'Ahab Mod', two little half moons are filed out of the nib with a small round Swiss file or a Dremel.

Perhaps Pendelton Brown has a Ahab Nib with that....what he called Angel Wings, that you can buy. Or any one you know can let you borrow his Swiss round file.

My Ahab went from in the box to being ready to use in a cup for about a year. I finally cleared out my pen cups...... It had been about time. So it is now away. I do highly recommend having that Ahab Mod done. Suddenly the pen is not so much work to flex it....and it becomes fun.

 

 

We were very ignorant of pens back the olden days of B&W TV......clean pens???????? Change ink colors....why? Oh, girls did. :doh:We were much locked into stereotypes.

Times change.

While I was 'chasing' purples, I got an opened bottle of Pelikan 4001 on sale cheap...a green-green shading ink. :gaah:In the next year I bought 11 green/greenish inks....now have 15....and only one purple!!!

R&K Verdura beat MB Irish Green by a head, and Pelikan 4001 by a neck....in Green-Green shading inks.

 

Somewhere on the com some fine poster did 35 murky green ink comparison. I didn't understand murky....I was weak on shading too....back when it could have counted.

Once MB was totally hated by very many posters. The only MB thing that was liked was the bottle.

The most hated ink in the whole world was MB Racing Green. The advice from high volume posters was dump the ink down the bathroom sink....put your favorite ink in the empty bottle.

 

Well I had a Masada MX-5 in Racing Green. At the B&M I had the the most hated ink in the world in my hand. I was just going to throw it away...E12....down the drain. There was some sort of brown MB ink too...Sepia....I never used a brown ink before.... in I was just going to throw the ink away....why not try a brown ink.

How was I to know Sepia (there are many different sepias) wasn't brown....was brown enough for me....and too good to toss.

 

The day after MB stopped making Racing Green it became the most loved ink of all. A couple bottles can put your kid through Harvard.

They have been trying in the back alley FPN laboratories to re-make Racing Green and failing.

I got back to my B&M too late......so do have a salt shaker around.

MB ink is not as expensive per ml as it appears....60 ml vs 35 for 4001.

 

Hell, since then I even got vintage, semi-vintage and new MB pens....and 4-5 good inks. The villeins using the pens in someone's live has nothing to do with the pens or inks.

A lot of pens are overly expensive. Normally I buy cheap old pens....semi-vintage, or vintage....I couldn't afford them otherwise. One can get once top of the line with great nibs...at an affordable price.

 

xxxxxxxxxxx

I don't know enough about your Japanese pens to say much....you didn't mention the width of your other pens.

It is always helpful to have width.

B can be fun....but which B....western or Japanese BB....in Japanese B is reputed to be Western M.

 

In the seven or eight years I've been here I've seen two myths die.

We use to have flame wars....jealous of the nib changing of the Pelikan, Waterman fans trouted they had skinnier nibs.......wow....7 or so years ago....Japanese pens were not so big....or many Japanese pen owners would have joined that flame war.

 

Pelikan having wider nibs had a dry ink. Waterman having narrower nibs had a wet ink.

Then it was discovered.... Waterman made two sets of nibs....one exactly matching Pelikan except in EF....The flame war died.

 

Myth @ 2....Piston pens held so much more ink than cartridges.... Wrong, even the MB 149 which holds more than most mainstream pistons was holding only 1.60 ml....as much as the Old Sheaffer long cartridge. Two short internationals....0.74 x 2 =1.48....more than most piston pens....146/1000/800/600/400&200. .....and those flame wars died, with the myth.

 

Now Jar and AC12 are killing the myth that Japanese nibs are narrower than Sheaffer and Parker.....now.

Lamy-Pelikan are wider....their F = Japanese, Parker and Sheaffer M. MB is wider too I think...my new one certainly is very wide B=BB.

.

Modern times. I have an old chart that shows Pelikan as narrower than both Parker and Sheaffer....but that chart must be from before '1997....when Pelikan got fat...outside the 200.

 

WOW, you have a lot of experience with pens! And inks. And papers.

 

I only have a handful of inks and am already becoming aware that I am super-short on storage space in my basement office.

 

You asked about nib widths.

 

For my Lamy Safari, I have experimented with everything from EF (too fine for me) to broad (too broad for me). My sweet spot is F and M for the Lamy Safari. I also really like my 1.1 and 1.5 stub nibs on the Lamy Safari, which I am using for my sparkly inks (Emerald of Chivor and Diamine Magical Forest).

 

The other pens all have F or M, leaning toward F.

 

And again...thank you for that wealth of knowledge! I really appreciate it.

 

Debbie