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I am looking to buy a new 1.1mm nib for my Aldo Domani two tone pen. I had a Knox nib in there, but have since switched that nib out to a Jinhao X750, leaving my poor Aldo Domani with its plain old factory nib. I'm having a difficult time choosing a new nib for this pen...most of the available nibs are made by JoWo (Franklin-Christoph, Gouet Pens, Anderson Pens, Edison Pens, Monteverde) and are likely more or less the same (although I do wonder if the nibs made for F-C or Edison might be made to more exacting standards or with slightly different specs than the standard JoWo nibs), so I am not sure that spending more for a nicer looking version of the same basic nib is really worth it. Bock and Knox are another option, but the only Bock retailers that I have found are overseas and Knox nibs are a little less crisp than I would ideally like. Ideally what I want is a fairly crisp, smooth, true 1.1mm nib that also looks nice. The JoWo made nibs that I have come across are fairly crisp and smooth, but overly broad. Bock nibs are VERY smooth and crisp, but all of the ones that I have come across are overly broad (even more so than Goulet/Anderson Pens JoWo made nibs). Monteverde JoWo made nibs and Knox nibs are nice and smooth, thin writers, but not as crisp as I would like. I'm not bad at grinding and could grind a nib myself, but I am still getting this skill down, so I usually prefer a factory made stub/italic. I could also get a nib professionally ground, but I really don't want to pay $40-$50 for a nib. So, here are the nibs that I am looking at: --Goulet/Anderson Pens 1.1mm Pros: Inexpensive, nice looking, smooth Cons: overly broad (more like a 1.3mm) --Knox 1.1mm Pros: Least expensive, consistent, smooth Cons: not as crisp, only available in brushed steel --Franklin-Christoph/Edison Pens 1.1mm Pros: Nice looking, reportedly smooth and reliable, comes with nib unit Cons: more expensive, possibly overly broad --Bock 1.1mm Pros: Crisp, smoothest that I have used Cons: longer wait for delivery, only available in brushed steel, overly broad --Monteverde 1.1mm Pros: cool looking, consistent Cons: not as crisp, more expensive Any opinions on my current options or suggestions for other options that I am overlooking would be greatly appreciated. Here are some pics of my Aldo Domani (with a Nemosine 0.8mm nib)

This review is really for historical purposes. When I originally worked on the review at the end of October this ink was still available. It now seems to be all gone. Thankfully, the world is filled with inks from which to choose. Also, when I worked this up, I didn't create an ink droplet, nor work it up on inkjet paper. So this is abbreviated. For something in this color range, one might as well get Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo or Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite, or any number of dark(er) muted blues or blue-blacks. Not water resistant.

The Anderson Pen shop at one time had a line of their own inks. As of this writing they have one or more bottles of the red and the black of these inks. This is a abbreviated review of the Appleton red. I really didn't care for the ink that much so didn't explore it extensively. I don't use red inks much at all. It was quite difficult to get the color right in the image. On the page, the ink has a little more orange than shown here, and it's not as saturated as shown. If I tried to make it less saturated, everything went too dark. If I tried to lighten it, everything went too pale. Not water resistant, but that wasn't expected.

Well, at last I'm getting to uploading my review of the Anderson Pens ink "Green Bay". There had been retorts that these were "dry" inks. But that doesn't seem to be the case with this ink. Good normal pen wetness I think. It was said that this ink resembles the discontinued Sailor Epinard. I only recently received a sample of the latter so can't say for certain, but this is a "spinach-y" colored green. I quite like it. It's unclear how much longer these inks will be available, probably until stocks run out. The maker of these Anderson Pens inks has discontinued operations from what I understand, and they have not been able to find another source. The usual papers MvL=Mohawk via Linen, Hij=Hammermill 28 lb inkjet, TR=Tomoe River. This ink is not water resistant at all. I think the colors are pretty accurate here.

Last year I picked up the Anderson Pens lineup of inks at the Long Island Pen Show. It had been announced they were being discontinued. They'd had a reputation of being "too dry" but that actually wasn't the case with the current batch. I've finally gotten around to reviewing this ink. If this ink is still available, there's probably not a lot of it on the Anderson Pens website, otherwise it's a legacy. This one handled pretty well, and was quite fast-drying. Totally not water resistant, and once the paper was wet the ink continued to spread and bleed, leaving a real mess. The usual papers: MvL=Mohawk via Linen, TR=Tomoe River, Hij=Hammermill 28 lb inkjet.

Recently I learned that the inks made for Anderson Pens were being discontinued. Their original marker, Scribal Workshop, wasn't going to make them any longer, and Anderson couldn't find a replacement producer to their satisfaction. So with the encouragement of another FPN member I picked up a bottle of the remaining inks (except the black). This is a review of the Wood Violet, a nice violet/purple color. The color in reality if not quite as dark as shown in the images; it's definitely more soft. These inks had gotten a reputation for being "dry", and even on the web site it says "Some people have found these inks to be dry". Well this IS NOT a dry ink. It's an ink of normal wetness. Perhaps if you are comparing this ink with certain brands known for being especially wet, you may well think this ink was dry, depending on the pen and paper used. In fact, I found the ink to be a slow drier. This could be a problem for some people. The color was good, it was shady on some papers. Perfectly good handling and behavior. The ink is not very water resistant, but that wasn't expected. The ink blot isn't very exciting, just a single color dye. But a good color nonetheless. At the time when the review was written, this ink was available from Anderson Pens, and was on sale at $9 for a 2 oz. bottle. Usual papers for me: MvL=Mohawk via Linen, Hij=Hammermill 28 lb inkjet, TR=Tomoe River.

Hi, I normally don't make threads about my purchases but this warrants a thread. I live in the Philippines, but my mom is in the U.S. so she buys stuff for me there and forwards the packages via a "balikbayan box" service that takes 1-3 months to arrive. So, just a few days ago, my orders placed in Oct 2015 from Goulet Pens and Anderson Pens finally arrived. PART 1: My Goulet Order The other day, my forwarded box from my mom arrived, and I finally unboxed a huge Goulet order (containing a ton of o rings, silicon rings, inks, a Jinhao, and some nibs). It was packed with apocalypse-proof layers upon layers of bubble wrap and blue wrapping plastic sheets. Nothing was damaged. Being my 3rd or 4th order from the Goulets, this was usual from them: awesome care in packaging. However, when I double checked the listed items in my receipt, I couldn't find some items in my order, specifically an ahab nib and some Goulet nibs. Some Noodlers art nibs were there but the other nibs were missing. I was freaking out by this point (my order was technically 3 months ago, really. I must have the most delayed unboxing ever since the forwarding from the U.S. took 3 months). I sent the Goulets an email explaining the situation and sent them of pics of my unboxed order. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they said I should just order a new set of nibs, or that my mom should have checked the box first before shipping it to me in the far-off tropics. However, within the same working day, Jeremy from Goulet Pens replied and immediately sent replacement nibs to my mom. This level of customer service is top notch and highly appreciated, and I assure you I am a customer for life. PART 2: My Anderson Pens order Similar to my Goulet order, I unboxed my Anderson Pens order and double checked the items. Alas, there was a problem with this order as well! I ordered seven ink samples (since they have generous 3 ml ink samples), and three 3 oz Noodlers bottles, as well as ten empty ink bottles. However, I received TEN samples and the ten empty bottles. My three full Noodlers bottles were nowhere to be found. I then took photos of everything and sent them an email as well. In the Anderson Pens site it states that there is a 30 day limit to refunds and returns. But remember, it took 3 months for the items to reach me because my mom forwarded the box from the U.S. to the Philippines by the cheaper "balikbayan box" option. Again, I expected my warranty to be void and sadly thought that I would have to reorder the ink. After all, my mom didn't check the order when it reached her and just immediately forwarded the box to me, so part of the fault was with us, the customers. However, within a day, Chris from Anderson Pens responded promptly and said they would send the correct items free of charge. I was so relieved and happy. I am also their customer for life. SUMMARY I am a happy customer. This was my 4th (or 5th?) order from the Goulets and first order from the Andersons. I will most definitely be a repeat customer for both. Both Goulet Pens and Anderson Pens were more than stellar in responding to me and rectifying the issues, even if technically they didn't have to. This level of dedication to customer service is phenomenal, and the speed by which both sellers responded to my emails was topnotch. In the future, before I even think of buying from unknown sellers on Amazon or Ebay, I will buy from the family run businesses of the Goulets and Andersons. Thank you. -Isabella (Isay)