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I was considering purchasing a Namiki (resin) or Pilot (metal) Falcon fountain pen. There are no specialty pen shops in the area, so I will not be able to try one out before buying. My question is if either one is top heavy (posted and unposted). I would assume the resin one is balanced, but I am not sure about the metal one. For example, a Lamy Safari is balanced, and I like it, but the Al-Star is top heavy when posted, which I dislike. I would rather purchase the metal one for durability and the fact that I like the black/silver coloring better than the black/gold but not if it is top heavy. Thanks in advance for your advice.

So I've decided to buy myself a birthday pen, but my dilemma is choosing what pen. So I've decided to enlist the help of the FPN board members and base my decision upon your recommendation's. I've narrowed it down between 10 pens of which to choose from. They are as follows; Pilot Custom 742 SFM Black ~$163 Sailor 1911 Full Size Black w/ Silver trim FM ~$163 Platinum 3776 Chatres Blue F ~$84 *Delta Dolce Vita PISTON F ~$350* Franklin Christoph Model 19 '1901' Kings Gold Bands .9mm MM Custom stub ~$195 Aurora 88 Large Silver trim Fine ~$350 **OMAS Arte Italiana Noir Milord (331 made in each size) ~$395** *Stipula Etruria Rainbow Blue w/ T-Flex nib ~$230* Any combination of Edison pen e.g Huron Grande or Pearl in Lucite or Cobalt Flake or Molten Ores or ....... Franklin Christoph Model 66 Stabillis .9mm MM custom Stub ~$169.50 I just can't decide between these pens! I want them all! But alas I cannot afford that. In terms of pens I already own, I have an Edison Collier in silver marble, a Sailor 1911m clear and gold (These two happen to be my favorite pens, despite the massive size differences),Pelikan M600 EF in blue, a Montblanc 144 Black/Gold M-B, a TWSBI Diamond 540 EF, and a TWSBI Vac 700 EF in blue. I think I have plenty of blue and EF pens for now, and my goal up to now is to diversify my pen collection. I really like the OMAS. I really wanted an Italian pen, so the Delta, OMAS, and Stipula seem to be the most likely options for now. FYI: It will be my 15th birthday, so I want to make it a good and memorable pen. (* indicates pens I will most likely purchase at the time of this post, subject to change) EDIT: I should mention that the purchase date is later in August

Hi all! This is my small collection of pens so far: - Marble-like semi flex pocket fountain pen (Unknown manufacture with modified FPR flexible nib) - Namiki Falcon (resin) with Spencerian cut - Reform 1745 with nib reworked to add flex (actually it opens up to 1.5mm) - Lamy Logo with 1.1 strub and EF nibs - TWSBI Vac 700 with reworked cursive italic nib from EF and reworked oblique italic from B - Youngseng 016 The pictures were taken with a D90 and 18-105 lenses and YN465 flash light. Cheers

Taken with a Nikon D90 50mm 1.4 at f2.8 YN465 flash at 30% to assist with ceiling light

My first question is about the metal Elabo pen from pilot, about its construct. Can any owners confirm or deny that the grip section (the section that holds the feed and nib) is indeed made of metal? I am pretty sure the barrel itself and the cap are metal but I'm confused about the grip because it has a different colour to the barrel on the coloured versions of the pen. The second question could be a bit more tricky: would it be possible to transplant the nib-feed system of a #10 Pilot FA nib (from a Heritage 912, Custom 742, for example) into the Elabo? I understand the feed pops out on both of these pens, and through analysing photos of both these feeds, they were rather close in diameter. This would be desirable to use both the flex in the FA nib and the heft the metal body the Elabo has to offer. Any tinkerers who own both these pens I would greatly appreciate a test of this hypothesis