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(This is a review of 6 fountain pens with two different filling mechanisms inked with R&K iron gall inks and their fitness for travel) I am on a personal quest to find the best travel pen for the R&K Salix and Scabiosa iron gall inks. First of all -- what is a travel pen? For me, a travel pen is a fountain pen that I am comfortable to take with me on an airplane or to put in my backpack and go on a bumpy mountain bike ride without fear of it burping or leaking ink. So far I have found two types of fountain pens that meet my travel pen requirements -- Japanese eye-droppers like Opus 88 and vacuum fillers like TWSBI vac700R, Pilot Custom 823, Asvine V126 or PenBBS 456. Both these types of pen come with a shut-off valve that, when engaged, seals off the section from the barrel minimizing the chances of ink burping or leaking, an important trait for a travel pen. For this review I chose 6 pens -- two Opus 88 (Clear Jazz with Flex EF nib and Clear Demonstrator with a regular EF nib), three TWSBI vac700R variants (regular, Iris and Kyanite, all with EF nibs) and one Asvine V126 also with an EF nib. Before going any further, a few words about the R&K iron gall inks that I used. Both Salix and Scabiosa are dry inks and all 6 pens were suffering from a dry and inconsistent ink flow out of the box (skipping, rail-roading, faint lines). I resolved this ink flow problem with the help of the White Lighting additive from vaness1938. After some trial & error experimentation I settled on adding 1 drop of White Lightning to 5ml of Salix or Scabiosa ink. This procedure resulted in a wet and consistent flow in Opus 88 and TWSBI vac700R pens. Asvine V126 flow improved too but was still not as good as the others. Instead on White Lightening one can use dish washing liquid soap (no idea about the right concentration). I have been running my experiment for about a month and am ready to present my preliminary score card. No pen has come out a perfect travel pen for the Salix or Scabiosa iron gall ink. There are pros and cons for each one of the pens. That said, here is the current leader board. The winner -- Opus 88 Jazz with Flex EF nib. Pros: Construction Quality. The pen is made like a tank with a strong and durable resin. No chance of cracking or breaking under normal use. The stainless-steel nib is the only metal part in the pen reducing chances of corrosion by acidic nature of iron gall inks. The plunger rod is made of firm plastic. No nib corrosion has been observed so far in my experiment. Shut-off valve to seal-off the ink barrel preventing ink from burping or leaking. Huge ink capacity (2.4ml for Jazz and 3.4ml for Clear Demonstrator) Ease of disassembly and cleaning. Eye droppers are designed for ease of unscrewing the section. After all this is how you refill the pen. This is particularly important when using iron gall inks that generally require more frequent cleaning/flushing than the die-based inks. Cons: the cons are more subjective and the readers may disagree: The Opus 88 are bulky. I would prefer a bit thinner body. The Opus 88 EF nibs write well but I slightly prefer the nibs in TWSBI vac700R. It is a little surprising that they write differently because both Opus 88 and vac700R use JoWo #6 (aka #12) nibs. Go figure 🙂 Close Runner Up -- TWSBI vac700R Pros: Great Writing. I like vac700R EF nib better than the similar Opus 88 EF nib. Pen Ergonomics is to my liking (thinner body than Opus 88). Large Ink Capacity of almost 2ml when filled to the brim using Pineider ink well. Shut-off valve to seal-off the ink in the barrel from the section similar to the Opus 88. Good cap design with a o-ring on the base of the section to prevent ink from drying out when the cap is closed. Cons: Construction is good but not as solid as of Opus 88. There are reports over Internet about TWSBI pens cracking problem. I have had three vac700R pens for about a year and none of them cracked yet. The blind cap's threads are plastic in direct contact with the metal threads of the vacuum mechanism. Over time metal threads will damage the plastic ones. Very quickly, after two or three refills with iron gall ink the plunger has become very stiff making vacuum filling mechanism hard to operate. It happened with all three vac700R pens I have been using. Applying silicon oil that comes with TWSBI pens is of little help. After couple of refills the plunger is stiff again. It seems that iron gall ink deposits ferrous oxide on the plunger's rubber gasket, or silicon oil is somehow negatively affected by the acid in the ink. I never had such problems with die or pigment based inks. Following Ron Z's recommendation I applied Molykote 111 silicon grease -- a thick hydrophobic substance that is supposed to be chemically inert. So far it is working better than the TWSBI silicon oil but I need more time to evaluate Molykote 111 effectiveness. This serious issue alone put TWSBI vac700R in the second place. If not for this problem vac700R would be a clear winner. The last place -- Asvine V126. Pros: The price -- at $26 on Amazon it is by far the cheapest Aesthetics of Pilot Custom 823 that Asvine V126 copied. Cons: Stiff EF nib. I do not like how it writes. Poor construction quality. The Shut-off valve does not seal properly. The pen leaked ink into the cap while on the airplane. I will be continuing my experiments and hope to provide an update in a month.

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Don't know if you guys have noticed this. Posted on Bobby which is arguably our favorite Chinese based fountain pen seller: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxymyYNj_hV/?utm_source=ig_web_options_share_sheet Specs are still unknown, probably a standard #5 nib, available with the shut-off valves etc. What caught my eyes is the caption which if true, then the price will be less than $10. Hopefully at that price I'm not getting a limp acrylic.

Hi all I've read that the Visconti limited edition double reservoir pens hold 'a ton of ink'. How much is 'a ton of ink'? Subjective, I know, but I'd consider 'a ton' to be more than 0.6mls. That's all that my limited edition Michelangelo Grande holds. 0.6mls. I've just conducted an experiment by filling and emptying it 12 times in succession; each time (using an ink sample vial to get an accurate measurement) it has only filled 0.6 mls. Here's my fill process....can anyone spot an error in this method? I unscrew the blind cap with the nib pointing upwards Pull out the plunger fully Hold the pen nib down and depress the plunger fully just to check that the pen is completely empty. Re-pull out the plunger fully. Put the entire nib fully into the ink (so that the ink also covers 1/4 inch of the section) Depress the plunger in one smooth, confident steady movement Count to five (though I've also counted to ten, for good measure) Remove the pen from the ink. Wipe the section. Hold the pen nib down Close the blind cap. Following that process, when I empty the pen into a sample vial, it contains just 0.6mls of ink. Not 0.6mls in the top reservoir, and a further ml or two in the main reservoir. Just 0.6mls in total. Am I being a total numpty and missing something? Is there a way of releasing the ink from the main reservoir that I'm overlooking? I've tried unscrewing the blind cap and jiggling the plunger when the nib is pointing downwards...no joy. I've tried unscrewing the blind cap, jiggling the plunger and trying to move ink from the main reservoir with the pen held horizontally...no joy. The main reservoir seems to be completely empty. Or is a 'ton of ink' 0.6mls and I just have unreasonable expectations? Ideas, anyone?

I posted on Reddit, but I always get a bit more thoughtful answers and reponses on here. So I have a Homosapiens Bronze Age and I really enjoy using the pen, but the only annoyance is 9 times out of 10 it runs out of ink when I'm out of the house,and while I know there is the traveling inkwell (which I have) the fact that it is made out of glass and as broken on me in the past makes me a unwilling to take it out the house in my bag (ik about the pineider inkwell, I think I'm going to get one to replace the Visconti one). So right now I'm considering just getting a different Visconti that allows me to keep an eye on the ink level. Ideally it would not be a limited edition and would be pretty easy to get on r/pens_swap or ebay as I am looking to buy used.

I looking to buy a new pen and I'm tied between the TWSBI Vac 700r and the Pilot Custom 74. I know there quite a lot of differences between the two, but here's why I like them: I love the gold nib and smooth writing of the Custom 74, but I really want to try out a vacuum filler and a larger ink capacity is of great convenience to me, plus I like demonstrators. The Vac 700 sells for around 7,700 rupees whereas the Custom 74 sells for about 8000 rupees. Which one should I go for?

The Penbbs 456 fits into my category of amazement at things that have happened in the last decade. You can buy a computer that fits in your pocket; communicates quickly and cheaply with almost anyone on the planet; shoots and edits high-quality photos, video, and audio, and then broadcasts them. For about $100 you can host a beautiful website that communicates news, information, or rich media content; sells products; and networks people together. You can communicate with your family and friends while youre a passenger in an airplane. This is amazing. Heres another amazing thing. For $40 I can buy an elegant fountain pen in an obscure vacuum filling system, made precisely from a lovely acrylic by people who really like fountain pens, and it writes beautifully. This is what I enjoy about the Penbbs 456. The galaxy acrylic material is refined and simultaneously dramatic and understated, and actually lives up to its name. The nib is juicy and smooth, and even though fine nibs are not my favorite size, this one is so good, and places ink so precisely, that I dont want to replace it. The pens weight and proportions fit the Goldilocks criteria for my hand, not too big or too small. The build quality is impressive and thoughtful, with metal reinforcement at locations where there is a higher chance of breakage, like the end of the cap, and the intersection of the section, the barrel, the cap threads, and the vacuum seal-break position. The clip is milled, not stamped, in an elegant sword shape, in what appears to be stainless steel. The pen is $40, shipped to my home. A subtle and clever detail that shows self-understanding: the cap band is stamped SHANGHAI. Not China. There is magic, lore, legacy, and value in one of Asias most fascinating cities. Heres what I dont like: the mirror polish on the clip attracts fingerprints. The end cap that operates the vacuum filler is machined so precisely that I worry about the threads stripping. The pen is offered in only two nib sizes, fine and medium. If I want an italic nib, I have to order one from somebody else, take the risk of messing up the feed, and hope that it fits. On the other hand, I could buy a TWSBI Vac 700, choose whatever nib I want, and have it shipped to my home for about $65. With any nib other than medium or fine, its about the same price. In comparison to the Penbbs 456, the disadvantage is in the limited choice of materials and the awkward and oversize design in the Vac 700. The Vac 700 is clunky, and I can guarantee you that the material doesnt look anything like Penbbs galaxy. On the other hand, TWSBI customer service is spectacular. And for a person like me, who is fascinated by the stories behind pens, its difficult to learn more about the thoughtful people behind Penbbs. What do I know about Penbbs? It was created by fountain pen enthusiasts who operate the Chinese discussion forum equivalent of Fountain Pen Network. They also make ink, and theyre in Shanghai. Somebody named Long is important in the organization. One of their key distributors for the West, Beini Zheng, runs a fun Instagram account and really likes make-up. She owns two cats named Amber and Niangao and occasionally convinces Penbbs to name pens after the cats. And one cat ... heres the really fantastic part ... has a nib with an inscription. Amber is a cat. Its impossible for me pass on a pen in an elegant amber acrylic, named for Beini Zhengs cat. Advisory to Penbbs: keep the cats and the clever nib inscriptions, keep pushing Shanghai, and help people outside China learn more about your story. The Penbbs 456 is about the size of a Lamy Safari or Platinum Preppy, but a little heavier. Chinese poetry for a Chinese pen. The ink is Sailor nioi sumire. I dont know why, but my tablet doesnt want to insert apostrophes. Perhaps this is an eccentric quirk, like a typewriter with a lumpy lower-case j.

Hello, F.P.N. people from away down south in Dixie. I go by "The Leverist," I tinker with antique anything until it works, and I'm a random person on the internet. That's all you really need to know about that, so let's get down to the important business and talk pens. Okay, so I did the Sumgai thing and ended up with a pile of wrecked pens. One Parker 21 was the only one still workable, and it was cracked. Model cement to the rescue! It's fine now. Others were a mostly third-tier accumulation of pens that survived the Great Depression, and look like they rode in the glovebox of a Model T out to the land of opportunity. Here's the body count: 1. Fifth Avenue, built by Safford Pen Co. Red celluloid marbled. Condition: Poor--mangled brass nib, broken J-bar, obligatory ossified sac, and no cap. Has a red Waltham's cap with bent clip. 1. Wearever, Model "Deluxe 100," double jewel, brown striped celluloid. Condition: Very Shiny, but the nib tipping crumbled away when I touched it. "Special Alloy," indeed. Clip not quite right, lever very corroded, J-bar ok. 1. Champion. Model unknown. A very YELLOW pen colored like a Duofold, but shaped like a blend of old Sheaffer Balance and new Nemosine Singularity. Condition: Really good! Well, except for the sac. Everything else is just the way I never find them! 1. Sheaffer Balance Jr. Vac fill, flat ball clip, black with pearlescent flecks. Original Junior nib. Condition: I would tell you, if I could get the vacuum rod to move more than half an inch. Other than that, it's scuffed up but will polish nicely. Section is stuck on pretty good (regular non-triumph nib.) 4: Epenco's . Eagle Iridium Tipped nibs, GP steel. One burgundy, one navy, two really cool striped blue ones with a thunder-and-lightning pattern, like Noodler's acrylics but old-school. Condition: Every single one had a good sac (considering) but the J bars were neatly broken. 3. "Penman" pens. Look almost exactly like Nemosine Singularity pens. One black, missing cap band. Two grey flake celluloid, one in much nicer shape than the other, but I can't bring myself to part out the really grungy one. Curvex nibs, 14k Gold Plate. And--broken J-bar on one gray one. The other hasn't deigned to come apart yet. So There You Have It! I don't know what to do with the nib on the Wearever--not fond of Fleabay, but if I have to then I will. It doesn't have to be original Wearever, it just has to write. Fifth Avenue is cool but really battered. The Epencos are neat, the Penman pens are nice shapes, the Champion is really well preserved, and the Sheaffer is a seized-up but beautiful pen. The Parker? It's cool--testament to the most practical designs in history, if not the prettiest. I have already resacced another lever pen of mine (Gold Flex!) but these are pretty messy. Mostly I need nib ideas for that poor old Deluxe 100. Then, on to discussion of caps and clips, and freeing up the Sheaffer--which I think might be a 1935 model. I will trade a 1950ish Sheaffer Tuckaway Vac parts pen, with a beautiful pencil matching it, if someone can come up with either some parts or another project lever pen. The Tucky just needs the barrel bored and tapped and a new nib unit. A recognized pen mechanic quoted me $85 but I didn't have the money then. Anyhow, thanks for watching, and stay dipped. The Leverist (Who should have probably posted pictures.)

Hi I have recently been getting into expiring this side of parker. does anyone have a definitive list of what parker produced in this area with regards to USA and Canadian types of black junior and juniorette black varieties. kind regards Rick

Auction here right now (not related with me) A "simple" golden pearl 1936 or later "VACUMATIC" with oldest and obsolete "VACUUM FILLER" imprint? or A golden pearl prototype long before the appearance of this color? Metal thread in blind cap. USA and PAT whitout dots. What do you think? http://s7.postimg.org/r42i8ufdn/PARKER_VACUUM_FILLER_LAZARD_GOLDEN_PEARL.jpg

I ordered a TWSBI Vac700 and I have a question about the vacuum filler mechanism. More specifically about the removal of the o-ring as demonstrated by Brian Goulet. Has anyone done this? I'm interested whether there are any (negative) long term consequences? Excessive nib creep? Very wet writing? Leaks? And so on...

For those that are interested, the TWSBI facebook page has a post about a new bundle promotion- a Vac700 & Vac20 ink bottle for $85. TWSBI Vac700 &Vac20 ink bottle promotion