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Hello From past few days I was reading the ASA Nauka Series review by our learned fellow members like Aditkamath26 (Very Good Pics), dinuraj - Marvellous info rich review, Sagarb - Superb Handwriting and Vaibhav (as always very detailed review with sharp pics) and after reading again and again I had decided to go for "ASA Aqua Blue Translucent Acrylic Nauka" . And let me tell you gentleman that though above mentioned people's review tempted me to buy this but I am enjoying this pen completely. Not only me, but my colleague at workplace are as well enjoying the beauty and writing of this pen. From last couple of days this ASA demonstrator is demonstrating itself very well. I believe, all the specs and details are already given in previous reviews, so, I thought that I will write some gibberish for sample and clicked few pics for your viewing pleasure.

I just recovered from influenza but I am so excited to tell you a story that I also just told my friends on Facebook. Around 15 years ago, Japanese Shippo artist 岡垣幸得 (Okagaki Yukie) presented me 2 big frames (1 of them is in second picture).They are handmade with Japanese Cloisonne or 七宝焼 /shippoyaki/.These two were supposed to be displayed in Museum but she chose to give to me.At that time, I thought, how wonderful it is to have this art on a fountain pen. But honestly, it seemed impossible haha.A few years later, that idea still hang over my head so I came back and talked with artist Yukie about this idea.She said "I can make a small piece of shippoyaki, but it will be harder".I was never more excited than that. I spent many more years researching and testing how I can make a fountain pen with this precious art.I tried with ebonite and plastic and celluloid but all failed. Ebonite didn't work out with piston filler mechanism I have, plastic was not a good idea for a traditional pen and celluloid is so hard to carve.But finally there was one material that made my idea become possible, it is bakelite. It is rolled up from many layer of paper.And it works best with piston filler. But most importantly, I can carve the Shippoyaki on top of the pen for forever use. Sadly, there are not many Shippo artists nowadays. I am already old and Master Yukie is also very old now but we really want to make this art continue.I would never expect that a small idea of 15 years ago would turn out to be real now. I just want to say that if we try, there will be good result. I feel thankful that master Yukie gave me this treasure.In Japanese, Shippo is written as 七宝 which means Seven Treasures. So I call this fountain pen Seven Treasures.Do you have any other name suggestion? If you might want to read more, you can go here.https://www.wancherpen.com/pages/shippoyakiI have a giveaway of one prototype for one of those who help me fill a survey about this pen.Please help if you also care about unusual arts and fountain pen. Thank you very much again!

Hello All! I am new to this site, but my father was a frequent visitor to any site devoted to pens, especially fountain pens. Unfortunately, he passed away a couple of months ago and left behind his collection. I am not completely ignorant on the subject, I have a few myself that were given to me (by him, of course) as gifts. His collection consists of Montegrappas, Sailors, Namikis, Lamys, Mont Blancs, Pilots, Watermans and more. My family has given me the responsibility of researching his collection, including the value of the ones that we are willing to part with. The first of which is a .925 Sterling Silver Montegrappa Fountain Pen. I can't seem to find a model name or model number, so I'm hoping that my limited description and the pictures I've attached to this post will be enough for you to identify the model and hopefully, its approximate worth. I want to thank you in advance for your help, and I'm even more thankful for giving my father a place to share his passion with like-minded people.

The Diplomat Aero is the third pen from the Diplomat range that I’ve added to my collection in recent times – and definitely the most interesting of the three, in terms of design! I wasn’t keen on it at first glance, but given my positive experiences with two of its stablemates – the Esteem (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/271382-the-diplomat-esteem-conservative-german-styling-great-writing-experience/) and the Excellence A (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/296585-the-diplomat-excellence-a-another-great-german-fountain-pen/) – I decided to take the plunge. So I contacted Kevin of JustWrite Pens (www.JustWrite.com.au), and asked if he had any left in stock. The answer came back in the affirmative – and in due course, yet another pen had made its way to my door. As with the Excellence A, the Aero is not an inexpensive pen – the recommended retail (with stainless steel nib) is up around US$195, though (once again) I was able to get a significant discount, with a site-wide 25% discount on offer during June 2015. The Diplomat Aero is not a perfect pen – it has a couple of drawbacks that I’ll outline in the review below – but it’s such a striking pen to look at, and writes so wonderfully smoothly, that I’m happy to overlook them. ______________________________________________________________________ 1. Appearance & Design (9.5/10)The Aero comes in exactly the same kind of box as the Excellence A – a generously-sized box with aluminium wrap-around lid. Inside the box I found the pen itself – a brown cigar-shaped object that tapers sharply at both ends. The barrel and cap are both deeply scored with “groove-like depressions” along their length that give the pen its distinctive look – according to Diplomat’s advertising materials, it’s designed to resemble a Zeppelin airship. http://i.imgur.com/Fp77kci.jpg http://i.imgur.com/mt6j03u.jpg I love the look of the pen when capped – the chocolate brown colour of the bulk of the pen, topped and tailed with brushed aluminium ‘finials’. It *does* look a bit like a(n elongated) Zeppelin airship – a very unusual shape, but it’s really grown on me! Uncapping the pen reveals a brushed aluminium grip section, with a fairly severe step-down from the barrel – but the length of the grip is sufficient to ensure this doesn’t create any issues in terms of comfort. 2. Construction & Quality (8/10)The Aero is a robust pen, very well made, with a full aluminium casing, and anodised surfaces – in this case, a matte brown finish. With two caveats (see below) this is a pen I’d expect to cop a lot of abuse without trouble (though if you want to retain the finish, you’ll need to take all due care!). The pen barrel appears to be quite thick, the cap a little less so – but both are extremely sturdy. The grip section threads securely into the barrel, and the cap snaps on to ensure an airtight seal, ensuring the ink won’t dry out in the nib. Be warned: at least initially, a bit of firm pressure is required to get the cap to fit snugly. http://i.imgur.com/aM7dn24.jpg http://i.imgur.com/3P4X3Wz.jpg I only have two real concerns with the quality of the construction: first, there’s the aluminium clip. I’ve read a couple of comments online that suggest it’s a little fragile. It’s certainly quite stiff and inflexible – like the rest of the pen, I believe it’s made of anodised (matte silver finish) aluminium, which I suspect may have a lower tolerance to bending and springing. The clip itself is also made of two parts – a smaller, bent section that attaches to the pen under the cap finial, and the ‘body’ of the clip itself, which runs the length of the cap. The two parts are either soldered or screwed together (or both – it’s hard to say which!). The consequence of this is that it feels a little flimsy to me – I can see how it might fairly easily snap off if it got snagged on something (at least one online review has reported this problem). http://i.imgur.com/d7Ul107.jpg http://i.imgur.com/EYwQUSU.jpg [Forgive the poor focus - my setup isn't the best!] A second, smaller concern is the ‘paintwork’ on the pen – the words ‘Diplomat’ and ‘Made in Germany’ are painted (in white) onto the anodised surface of the cap (near the base), while the logo is painted in black onto the finial. With extended usage about half the logos has worn away, and it looks likely the remainder will follow, leaving the finial a bare brushed aluminium dome. Similarly, the white text on the brown anodised aluminium has begun to wear off in places. Neither of these greatly concern me – they’re cosmetic details. What’s more, to be honest, I didn’t find the logo very attractive – if anything I think the pen looks better without it! 3. Weight & Dimensions (10/10)Like its more conservative ‘cousin’ (the Excellence A), the Aero is a substantial pen – if you prefer a lightweight pen, you should look elsewhere. It weighs 41.5g capped, and 30.5g uncapped – unlike the Excellence, the bulk of the weight is in the barrel, not the cap. http://i.imgur.com/XgmBDxs.jpg The pen is 140mm capped, and 129mm uncapped; ‘posted’ (i.e., with the cap sitting loosely on the back of the pen), it’s somewhere around the 160mm mark (my calipers max out at 155). At the join between cap and barrel (the widest point), the pen’s diameter is 15mm. The grip section is nearly 30mm long (from ‘step’ to nib), and tapers gently from a maxmimum diameter of ~12.3mm down to 10mm. http://i.imgur.com/UX9dHAM.jpg 4. Nib & Performance (9/10)The Aero takes exactly the same nib as the Excellence A –#6 size, made of stainless steel (though gold nib options are also available). Once again, I was only able to obtain the pen with a M nib – which I found to be a wonderfully smooth writer, laying down a generous amount of ink with hardly any feedback. These two pens (the Excellence A and the Aero) are among the smoothest writers in my collection – though the Esteem is not far behind (once I’d sorted out its skipping issues). The one thing that differentiates these two higher-end pens, in terms of writing experience, is the slight slipperiness of the aluminium grip section – at least in winter, when my hands are dry. I find I have to grip the pen just a little tighter than is ideal. I would have expected this to be a deal-breaker – but surprisingly, it isn’t. It takes a couple of minutes to adjust… then off I go. http://i.imgur.com/D3kH279.jpg I should also mention, for the sake of completeness: I don’t find these nibs to be very ‘flexible’. They’re not quite nails – you can gain some line variation by exerting pressure – but they’re at their best when they’re gliding across the page rather than being forced down into it. I haven’t tried the gold nibs – but my understanding is that for the additional price they’re not significantly softer. The stainless steel nibs are probably be the best value option for most users. http://i.imgur.com/BLfBikp.jpg 5. Filling System & Maintenance (9.5/10)Diplomat pens take standard international cartridges and converters. The lower-priced Esteem did not come with a converter included in the price; thankfully, both the Aero and the Excellence A do. The Diplomat-branded converters are well-made, sturdy… and will hold about 0.7-0.8mm of ink. This is not a particularly innovative system – but it makes refilling the pen as straightforward as can be. http://i.imgur.com/rjQaXaW.jpg 6. Cost & Value (9/10)The RRP of this pen is around US$195 – I’ve seen it for sale at AU$195 in various Australian stores, which is pretty good given the current exchange rate. This wasn’t available on the JustWrite website at the time I enquired about it, and still hasn’t been returned to his listings – but at my request he was happy to send it out. 7. Conclusion (Final score [sUM/6]: 9.17)I like the Aero almost as much as I like my Excellence A – they’re both wonderfully classy looking pens. The Aero is the more striking / interesting of the two in terms of appearance, but is shaded by the Excellence A because of (a) the writing experience (i.e. the slight slipperiness of the Aero’s grip), and ( concerns over the clip and the disappearing text and logo. Those are very small concerns, though – I’m really glad I invested in this pen. It won’t be everyone’s preference, aesthetically or practically – but it’s a real winner in my books.

I've decided to try to collate the information found on the internet and my knowledge on Blackbirds. The guide is pretty basic and many statements are based on assumptions and guesses. Hopefully someone finds it still interesting. https://www.penexchange.de/forum_en/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6332

Actually it is the first posts of this account.(Although I collected pen for long time, I never resgister on FPN before) I use an advanced 3d scanner and then draw its stl file for 3d printing. Actually it match Kaweco Sport Pen. Then I asked for a modern industrial 3d printed machine to build it. The material is CoCrMo Stellite alloy. However, I didn't have good tools to polish so it looks very rough. You can download STL file here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=171o32j0lQCWl4yjNgbrzcuxQHqS-f75K Suggestion: Use metal printing at first. I try PA66, PA12 before but the strength is not enough. Polishing is the most important process, without good polishment it may hurt Kaweco Pen Body

A couple of months ago now (in early October), I had to take one of my children (the youngest, and the only one who *really* likes fountain pens) for a specialist’s appointment in Sydney. We decided to make a day of it, to lessen the angst of being poked and prodded and hooked up to a bunch of machines, so… we just happened to wander past Dymocks in Sydney, which now has a fairly extensive pen and stationery section. In addition to the inks we chose together – and the 8-pack of colourful Ooly fountain pens my daughter asked to buy – I spotted a few Super 5 fountain pens going for half price. I didn’t need another fountain pen, I *really* didn’t, and yet… within a few minutes I’d picked out the yellow version with the B nib, and headed out the door. I’d seen these pens advertised in various online stores, though not recently, and hadn’t been tempted – but this has turned out to be a surprisingly good pen. ______________________________________________________________________ Appearance & Design The Super 5 pens on sale were brightly coloured – I had a choice between a bright red and a cheery yellowy-orange, and decided to go for the latter. The plastic is probably similar in quality to a Lamy Safari – sturdy, shiny, and fairly durable. You don’t feel like it’s going to fall apart in your fingers, or crack the first time you drop it. If you look closely, you’ll find the word “SUPER”, and a sideways “5” embossed on the barrel – but it’s not very visible. The snap cap comes off to reveal a surprisingly weighty metal grip section (coated in some kind of black ceramic?), and a proprietary steel “Super 5”-stamped nib. In shape it’s not too dissimilar from my Jinhao 992, though the grip section is somewhat longer and girthier. Very impressive packaging... The back end of the pen can be screwed off, to reveal the bottom of the cartridge or converter. I struggle to see the purpose of this – it’s just a weird / interesting feature. The black-coated metal clip stands out from the yellow body – I like the overall appearance, though it’s nothing “special”, just a lovely bright inexpensive pen. … Construction & Quality The pen is quite sturdy, fit and finish is great, the snap cap snaps on and off without issue – everything looks pretty good. I don’t know what kind of black coating has been used to coat the metal clip and grip section, but it’s not unduly slippery, and so far shows no signs of scratching or flaking away. My only complaint is that the clip is quite stiff – it could be a challenge to clip it onto a thicker-fabric shirt pocket. … Weight & Dimensions The Super 5 sits nicely in my ‘sweet spot’ for a standard pen – 139mm capped, 125mm uncapped, or 153mm posted. The grip section of the pen ranges in diameter from 9mm (closer to the nib) to 10.55 mm, with a ‘step up’ where the cap clips on, to 12mm. The pens weighs 24.8g capped, and 19.6g uncapped. The one big surprise is the weight of the grip section – being metal, it weights the pen significantly towards the front of the pen. This might be off-putting for some people, but I took it in my stride – I actually liked the substantial feel this gave to an otherwise insubstantial pen (at least in terms of weight!). … Nib & Performance The B nib is definitely a B nib – it lays down a fairly wide line. It’s fairly wet and very smooth – a pleasure to write with. This is not my hand. But this is my handwriting... A close up of the nib. … Filling System & Maintenance The Super 5 pens come with a single cartridge of their permanent blue ink – I haven’t yet tried this. I stuck a Kaweco standard international converter into the pen, and it worked just fine. I own a piston filler and vacuum filler pens with much larger capacities, but for most of my writing (especially with non-blue-or-black inks) I’m happy with the 0.5-0.8mm capacity of a cartridge converter. … Cost & Value I think I paid AU$15-20 for this pen (it was half-price) – a better than fair price for the quality. Would I pay full price for a Super 5 pen? Not sure – though they’re cheery and functional – but I’m *very* happy with the pen, given the price I paid. … Conclusion The Super 5 pens (and their accompanying inks) don’t seem to have done particularly well, at least in the American and Australian markets – but this is actually a pretty nice pen. Worth keeping an eye out for! …

Kemma Fountain Pens had a display at Tokyo Ginza Six today. They had a display of their sapphire nib material that was very interesting. If you like stiffer nibs you should give this a try. Their Urushi and Maki-e is top notch. If I understood the sales lady correct, their Urushi and Maki-e is on wood not ebonite. Nice bigger pen with international converter.

My appreciation for writing instruments began in college while taking a calligraphy class some 30-odd years ago. I later began a career as a draftsman (Think T-squares, triangles, rotary erasers, lead holders, pens & mechanical pencils). Over the years I've dabbled in design & sales until landing in a management position. I do travel for my company and before each trip, I research and pen stores/shows within driving distance. It is physically impossible for me to leave a pen shop without buying something.

Hello everyone here at FPN. In the past I shared with you a thread in which I expressed my desire to obtain Montblanc 149 since for me it had always been a pretty beautiful fountain pen that from my children I longed to obtain. The price of a new MB 149 is high, so I decided to get a used one to "save a lot of money" and to my misfortune it was the opposite. I noticed one that I found here at the fountain pen network in the USD 420 classifieds and I contacted the seller and asked him if he had the pen available and he told me that it was not and he showed me another one in the private messages and he told me that It was a condition near mint, fine point and it worked amazing, so I decided to buy it and with it the beginning of the curse and misfortune. The pen came to my house and I was completely excited but when I used it, my performance had completely disappointed me, I wrote horribly dry and cut the lines in several places. So furious I decided to start the claim via paypal to get the refund, everything was going well and I just had to send it to the country of which Poland is and then paypal gave me my money. But suddenly everything got terrible against me because of the fault of the postal service of my country since they sent the pen to the United States instead of Poland and according to them they were going to solve this problem but no, they did it again and I lost the Paypal case because of him and the guy who scammed me went unpunished. So I ran out of my money and with a defective product so I resigned myself to staying with her and decided to send her to a nibmeister to fix these problems and he told me that the nib tines were too tight and that the tip was wrong made and deformed and that is why he wrote so badly. So he told me that he gave the correct shape to the tip and increased its ink flow to write wet. The pen just arrived a few days ago after his visit with the nibmeister and indeed the nib writes quite wet but my problems are not over yet, now what happens is that the fountain pen when I just recharged writes quite wet and smooth and without any failure in the strokes but ... after a while it begins to write something drier and begins to omit strokes. Before sending the pen with the nibmeister it already presented a flow that was decreasing and terrible but I attributed it more to the nib. So now the problem is the feed? The pen suffers a lot from ink starvation after a while writing, in my opinion it is quite unacceptable even my cheapest pens do not show these symptoms. Then he sold me a pen with nib and defective feed? .. what a scammer was that guy who sold it to me. I am currently devastated I have invested this pen enough money to almost reach the price of a new MB149. I don't even know what it has if the fountain pen needs a new feed and I should send it to the Montblanc service, or if I leave it in oblivion, pure frustration has brought me, the dream turned into a nightmare !! All I wanted was for my dream pen to write as well as it looks.

Just wanted to share images of my new Pilot namiki Silvern Ishidatami Lattice Sterling Silver fountain pen

Hello, My mother give me my grandfather's fountain pen and now I would like to know what model and what year it is. I've been searching in forums but I didn't find this model. It has MASTERPIECE name in the cap and two small round holes. The number 26 at the bottom and the number 14C in the pen nib in addition to the tipical 1840 M marc. Can anyone give me some information? Thank you.

It’s nearly 3 years since I reviewed a pen that had (at that time) just arrived on the market – the Fountain Pen Revolution ‘Himalaya’ – and in that time I’ve added a few more to my collection (the number now stands at 5!). It’s one of my favourite low(er) cost fountain pens, it’s elegant looking, it writes well… The one thing I felt could be improved – and I guess I’m not the only one who relayed this to Kevin, the proprietor of FPR – was the size of the nib. As smooth as FPR’s #5.5 nibs are to write with, I just like the look of the larger #6 nibs better. So you can imagine my delight to discover that, in addition to the existing #5.5 nib version of the pen, Kevin was releasing an additional version with #6 nib. I ordered one the moment they went up on the website, and have been using it now for a couple of weeks. Because this is not a brand new design, I’ll try to keep the review a bit shorter – you can find my review of the original version of the Himalaya at https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/313017-the-himalaya-from-fountain-pen-revolution/ (and just to be clear, this version is not going away – it will continue to be produced “as long as there’s continuing demand”. [Disclaimer: though I have received free review pens from FPR in the past, this pen was purchased with my own money – in either case, the views expressed in this review are entirely my own.] ______________________________________________________________________ Appearance & Design Both versions of the Himalaya are now available in two materials (acrylic and ebonite), with multiple colour options. The acrylic versions come in 10 different colours – mine is called ‘Purple Amethyst’; while ebonite versions of the pen are currently restricted to a green/black swirl and a brown/black. Whereas the #5.5 nib version of the pen was only offered with a chrome trim (and this continues to be the case), the #6 sports a gold clip and cap band, and by default comes with a dual-tone (gold and chrome) nib. The swirled acrylic of the Purple Amethyst pen – like the other acrylics I’ve purchased in the old version – is very attractive, with a lovely ‘chatoyance’ that leave you feeling like you’re staring into the depths of the material. I like the slight tapering of the pen towards the top of the cap and the bottom of the barrel, that gives it a more ‘curved’ look – as opposed to the ramrod “straightness” of the FPR Triveni. … Construction & Quality The pen feels sturdy in the hand, is expertly turned, and has no rough patches or visible flaws. My older Himalayas are by now (up to) 3 years old, and none have shown any sign of cracking or discolouring. The clip is sturdy, and is tight enough to hold the pen firmly in a pocket, but springy enough to be flexible. The threads are smooth, making the cap (and barrel) easy to open to pull the pen apart. I have to admit there are a couple of minor ‘blemishes’ as regards the fit and finish of the pen – though for the price, these are understandable, and do little to affect my appreciation of the pen: (1) There was a slight scratch on the metal cap-band when the pen arrived; and (2) The machine marks left in the acrylic by the process of turning the pen have not been fully buffed out. It’s not really noticeable except when the pen is illuminated for photos – but in the strong sunlight (or under my Ott-lamp!) I could see lots of superficial scratching on the surface of the acrylic. [Then again, since I don’t really baby my pens, that wouldn’t have taken long for me to accomplish myself!] I feel compelled to say that I would have preferred this pen with a chrome trim – I like the look better than gold – and I’m told that a chrome version of the larger pen may eventually become available, if there’s high enough demand. I was pleasantly surprised, though, to find that in the hand the gold trim didn’t bother me – and the dual-tone (chrome-edged gold) nib looks really good. … Weight & Dimensions As with its predecessor, I’d classify the new Himalaya as a ‘Medium’ sized pen – though both the grip section and the cap have been extended to accommodate the larger nib. It’s very comfortable in the hand, and long enough to write with either posted or unposted. Lengthwise, the pen is 138mm long capped, 127mm uncapped, and extends to ~165mm when posted (as compared with measurements of 134mm, 121mm, and 152mm for the original pen). It weighs in at 16.7g (10.7g uncapped) – though I expect this would be a little heavier for the ebonite versions. The cap diameter (not including clip) is 14.5mm at its widest point, the barrel diameter sits around 12mm, while the grip section (19mm long) tapers down from 11mm diameter near the cap threads, to 9.5mm at its narrowest… before flaring out at the end to 11mm at the lip. This makes for a very comfortable writing experience – at least in my hands! … Nib & Performance This obviously is the big difference between the original Himalaya and the new version (other than the gold trim). The #6 two tone nib sits against a 6.3mm ebonite feed – both of which can be replaced. Other #6 nibs (JoWo, Bock, Jinhao etc) can easily be swapped in and out – and the ebonite feed can easily be heat set to ensure a close fit. I ordered an Ultra-Flex steel nib, and inked it up with Diamine Robert, a high sheening ink only available at Cult Pens. The slightest pressure causes the tines to split, just marginally, allowing the pen to lay down a rich line of ink – and additional pressure easily produces broader lines. FPR nibs are consistently good (with the possible exception of their 1.0mm stubs, which tend to write like an Extra Broad rather than a stub!), and their Ultra-Flex nibs (I now have 3) are amazing. … Filling System & Maintenance The new Himalaya relies on the same filling system as the old: a push-type piston filling mechanism, similar to (but smaller than) the system Nathan Tardif uses in his Noodler’s Ahab. Its capacity is (I think) around 1 mL – which will run out relatively quickly with a flex nib! – but it can be removed to convert the pen to an eyedropper, allowing for a much larger ink capacity. As I’m aware, it’s not possible to use standard international (or other) cartridges with the pen – but you *can* buy replacement filling mechanisms, if you accidentally drop the original down the sink (don’t ask me how I know this: it should be obvious…). … Cost & Value At US$32 (plus postage, plus extra if you want a B, stub, or flex nib), the #6 Himalaya is very reasonably priced – especially for an acrylic or ebonite pen. The older Himalaya still has a base price of $29, which is equally impressive. The FPR Triveni has jumped significantly in price recently – and in my view is not quite as aesthetically attractive (I own several of these too). The #6 Himalaya, for me, has now become the best pen in FPR’s range. … Conclusion I’ve been a long-time customer of FPR, and am a fan of their customer service – so it would be easy for me to be biased when it comes to their products. For mine, though, this is an excellent pen. It’s not as well “finished” as some of my more expensive pens – but for the price, I think that’s excusable. The Himalaya is attractive, fun to write with, highly serviceable… and in every other way a worthwhile buy. Thanks, Kevin, for listening to customer feedback, and making the #6 option on this pen a reality! …

Hello everyone. In the past I had made a publication that was to make a decision to get my first vintage flexible fountain pen and finally I could own one of these beauties.It is a moore safety pen in black hard rubber with a very good ink capacity since this is a long but slender pen.The pen feels quite comfortable and light in my hand is a pretty beautiful pen that always impresses people when they see a retractable nib of my moore.The 14k gold nib is small but has a good flexibility as the seller told me on his website that he lists it as a nib superflex. The 14k nib is an extra fine point when used without any pressure and not a single stroke has failed me and we add that to be an extra fine nib it is quite smooth. When I write cursive with the flexibility of this nib it is quite satisfactory and does not tire me and they offer me a beautiful line variation without the need to put a lot of pressure. I also want to comment on you that the nib is something dry but without being annoying (I mean feeling scratchy or skipping strokes) and even in rhodia paper using flex it dries almost instantly without fear of accidentally stains on your sheet or In hands, it may be that the somewhat dry sensation is due to the pilot blue-black ink that I use since it has some time that the lid broke and I stuck it with adhesive tape and this may be somewhat thicker by evaporation.And what is most impressive about this great fountain pen is that it has never shown railroading when I use it in flexible mode :notworthy1:and I don't have to be dipping it in the inkwell at all times as with my dip pens. Although we cannot deny that the dip thought of what I have managed to see in the hands of a calligraphy expert they can create an extremely beautiful calligraphy. Although I personally have bad luck in finding a good combination of dip nib and ink XD and it is somewhat complicated to get ink at a good price in my country. Unfortunately I don't think I have time to improve my handwriting for an approximate six months since I find myself doing my professional practices at the university to be a lawyer. I attach my results with dip pen:FP FLEX NIB AND DIP FLEX NIBS IT IS VERY ENJOYABLEI became addicted to flex nibs!

Pens and Pencils . Net has the Lamy Safari Pastel Blue Fountain Pen for $20 https://www.pensandpencils.net/products/lamy-safari-se-pastel-blue-macaron-fountain-pen-medium?_pos=1&_sid=d5f923bca&_ss=r

Hi While searching for some stationary item, I saw this Parker, Aster Fountain pen in Matt black and the attractive design caught my attention. I am very new in this fountain pen world (used FPs during my high school but never after that) and frankly I took this pen purely for aesthetic. Body of this pen is metal and Nib size is "M". It writes very well and I am not encountering any scratchiness on paper. I was skeptical of small size nib but frankly I am liking this pen very much after few days of usage. Pen is surely feels a bit heavy (I do not have any means to weigh this pen) and its on smaller size (see the comparison pic with Pilot metropolitan). Though with cap posted it feels extremely balanced. I tried to search FPN for this pen but did not found any so I thought to share few pics here.

Hello FPN, This is Pranav from Mumbai, India. It too me long to get this message up in this forum, well better late than never! I really don't remember how i got into this amazing different world all together, i always wondered whenever i read about random FP Blogs how can people be so passionate and the statement that its a priceless possession for lifetime! - something that started from filling my dad's old Hero FP just to experience its charm, from what i have had been listened to him since i don't know when. Somehow after going thru articles i managed to ordered a Pilot Metropolitan in this new year and suddenly with few months time i am having a few handful of FPs from Ranga, Airmails, Lamys, Jinhaos - with a few different Pelikan, Pilot, Camlin Inks! The ink stains don't wanna come off now, I can say the same now - its got me bugged - Until Death Do Us Part! Thanks for Welcoming!

Hello FPN Group, Recently I have ordered a Platinum Preppy EF 02 Fountain Pen, Made in Japan, it is a very low cost and is affordable by anyone who wants to test it at-least once. The price in INR is about 350. The nib is made up of steel and the body is plastic. The grip section, screws off and by default it comes with one cartridge. The only thing troubles is that the cartridge is more expensive, but you once the cartridge is empty you can remove it and can convert it to eye dropper by applying silicon grease. But one thing I need to say is it writes like a charm.

Hi guys, I am from the UK but recently started working in the USA, I am unfamiliar with most of the US paper brands and don't want to import notebooks from Europe so thought I would ask for recommendations here. It originally took me a fair amount of experimentation to find my favourite notebooks for work in the UK (me being a bit fussy). I like lined spiral notebooks with paper good enough to write on both sides with an FP, obviously without bleed-through or feathering etc etc.I don't mind but also don't need perforations or punched holes but optionally do like a bit of tabs / colour coding. The notebooks I have been using are the following Clairefontaine ones which I can get in the US - to be honest though, although the paper is nice white 90 g/m2 it is not perfect as the coating does mean start-up / dry up issues occasionally. I can get these in the US, but my guess is you have something better http://www.zen101388.zen.co.uk/notepad.jpg Could any of my US friends recommend a good quality spiral wound hard back notebook with nice paper I can order on Amazon.com? Many thanks Jolltax

Recent haul from the flea bay! Italian fountain pen maker MARLEN's Silver 7 Wonders "Christ the Redeemer" fountain pen , happens to be a Limited Edition too. The seller mentioned that each design is limited to 77 pieces, although I am not sure about this information. These beautifully crafted and exquisite looking fountain pens had my attention for quite some time, but for the price. These pens are not inexpensive, or at least the website www.giardino.it/pens/marlen/index.php has these listed at 1490 Euros or 1670 US Dollars (which is in fact an "offer price" on the actual MRP of 1740 Euro or 1950 US Dollars). I very well assume that shipping would be extra, and taxes, if any. Well, the haul was at...well, let me keep that undisclosed While this piece of art will take a while to reach me after it has traveled half the world, here are the pictures from the seller. As I do not know much about Marlens and have never used them before, I will be honest - it was an impulse buy! Feel free to comment and let me know how you feel about this new acquisition of mine...

I spent this week making this pen for her. It has a satin black bought in bock section and a black lacquered bock #6 nib loaded with Diamine Onyx Black. She absolutely loved it, first time she had used a fountain pen since she was at school.

Chinese & Asian Fountain Pen wishlist !!! Here you can put your wishlist , on that list can be added any Asian fountain pen . On this list it would be great if you guys could add some links from were you intend to buy or some pictures at least .

Parker Frontier Intro Now this is one of the oldest pens I have in my fountain pen collection. When you are at a initial stage of your fountain pen obsession, Parker is the brand you end up having 90% of times. The Packaging This pen comes in a regular cardboard box provided with most of the Parker pens. Nothing fancy here. But I have also seen a same product in a different tin box packaging. The Body The variant I happened to choose was the chrome one. I like the body of this pen. There is noothing going much with it. Simple yet works best. Clip & Pocket Looks When you carry a Parker in your pocket, everyone around knows what brand you are carrying (if they are into FP world). That’s because of the clip of the pen. Parker’s trademark arrow clip. Works great. Spring loaded. Looks awesome. The Cap Cap is friction fit. Not anything more with that. Filling Mechanism This is a cartridge converter pen with standard international cartridges. The box comes with a cartridge and Parker converter. Writing Experience I don’t know about the current league of Parker Frontiers, but this particular pen I have is too scratchy. I had to work a lot on this pen over last 6 years. Had to tune the nib to suit my writing style. Overall, not a very good experience. Posting Posting makes this pen too long (15.2 CM) but not top heavy indeed. I don’t find any difference in writing experience whether you post it or not. Cost This pen costs you around ₹600 in India and I saw it on Amazon US for $9. General Info Locking Mechanism: Friction fit Filling Mechanism: Cartridge Converter Posted: 15.2 cm Capped: 13.2 cm Uncapped: 12.3 cm My Ratings Nib: 4/10 Looks: 6/10 Pocket Looks: 7/10 Writing Experience: 4/10 Wetness: 3/10 Scratchiness: 1/10 Cost: 9/10 Overall Rating: 4/10 Do let me know how you like the review. Follow my blog: https://pen5um.wordpress.com Thanks, 5umedh

What are everyone's thoughts on Cartier? I feel like they don't get mentioned enough or get enough love, when really they are one of the most luxurious brands around! Do you think they still have a ways to go to be recognized by pen enthusiasts, compared to other categories like jewelry that they are more well known for? Below are a few photos taken of some favorites!

If the subject has been done to death, sorry. How does one ensure that you are getting the best version? That's weird: A knock-off of a knock-off. The worst are like dragging a finger nail on a emery board, not surprising given that the nib is very fine.