A Hello From Canada & My First Question

[Dalimar]

Hello everyone,

 

I am completely new to this forum and the world of Fountain Pens.

 

First let me introduce myself; I am Dalimar. I come from the frigidly cold lands of Canada. I live in the GTA area of Southern Ontario. I am 49 years old, but with how cold this past winter has been and the lingering chill during the last few weeks I sometimes feel much older

 

I am very new to this world of Pens. I only just received my first fountains pens today from Goulet Pens. I must say, I am very impressed with the excellent level of service and professionalism of the Goulet Pen Company. Everything was brilliantly packaged and arrived in a safe and timely fashion. Even with Canada's notoriously slow customs clearance.

 

My first pens are;

• Lamy Al-Star Limited Edition Matt Black EF Black (bought last week from Laywine's Toronto, all others from Goulet Pen)
• Lamy Safari Carbon Black EF Black
• TWSBI Diamond 580 EF

My first inks are:

• J. Herbin Terre de Feu
• J. Herbin Lie de The
• J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune
• Diamine Ancient Copper
• Noodler's Sequoia Green

I did order the Lamy Al-Star with a Medium nib, but I found that the nib was a bit broad for my style of writing so switched it to an EF. I have been impressed with the inks and pens so far. I do find the Sequoia Green to be a bit of a wet ink though, but I was sort of expecting this from everything I have read regarding Noodler's inks. Many say that they can be a bit wet, specially with greens and orange/browns. The Lamy's are wonderful. I just love how these pens write. The TWSBI is going to take me a little to get used to. It writes a bit more fluid/wet then the Lamy and the balance of the pen takes a bit to "get".

 

What drew me to the world of Fountain Pens is the ink. I am a Journalist. I have been keeping a journal since I was about 14. A counselor from grade school recommended to me to keep a journal as a form of therapy. I scream, complain, whine, beg, pray and poor my heart out to my journal. It really does help to get that all out of one's system if only on paper. In keeping this journal I like to use colour to express my mood. With standard pens you don't have a lot of colour choice in quality pens. Sure you can use gel-rollerballs that come in a huge variety of colour, but most of these are of very poor writing quality. I had been using Sakura Microns to add some colour but they were never designed for writing as they are designed for fine lined art. They are also solvent based markers and come with all the issues associated with that type of pen. While researching Midori Traveller's Notebooks on YouTube I discovered Brian Goulet's wonderful video reviews and Q&A's. These lead me to placing an order for pens and ink and have brought me here to the Fountain Pen Network to learn more and share with like minded.

 

I do have one question to start off a conversation: How do you keep track of what ink you have loaded in what pen? Do you keep some sort of journal/index of currently inked pens? This is what I have started right from the get go with the above pens. Once I finished playing around with my new setups, I loaded my three pens with what I would like to explore for the next week or so and recorded what was in what pen into the back of my journal. I would love to hear how others keep track of what they currently have loaded in their pens.

 

Thanks,

Dalimar

Edited May 11, 2014 by Dalimar

[notVirtuThe3rd]

Hi! Welcome to FPN.
I'm really glad you've joined us.

Enjoy!

Kind regards,
VirtuThe3rd

[Sasha Royale]

Welcome, Dalimar !

 

I, too, find writing to be therapeutic. I am told that it engages the creative areas of the brain. (Didn't know I had that.)

 

Did your package from Goulet Pens include a lollypop ?

 

I know other fans of EF nibs. Seems EF nibs are sometimes finicky about the ink that squeeze through. This forum

is a good place to find the best flowing inks. I find the membership warm of heart and generous in sharing experiences.

 

Identifying ink color in multiple pens is straight-forward with me. I write the ink color onto a 1/4 inch X 2 inch

strip of paper. I glue the paper into a band, which slips around cap and the under the clip. I even perform this

ritual with the TWSBI, but just to annoy others.

 

Write with joy.

Edited May 11, 2014 by Sasha Royale

[RMN]

Hi Dalimar, welcome to FPN

 

About keeping track of inks: I started buying many inks, but in the end, I usually go to blue black. I think I am going to get rid of all that ink. As it is, I have enough to last me the rest of my life, I think.

Crecently tried the new Pelikan cartridges with Edelstein Tanzanite. A perfect ink for me. I think these cartridges will even fit my Watermans, but I have to try that yet. Alas my Onoto did not take this cartridge.

 

 

Enjoy the forum

 

 

D.ick

[Scrawler]

Hello Dalimar, welcome to FPN from somewhere up the road. GTA has a very vibrant FP community the a "Pen Posse" that meets regularly. There are also a couple of excellent pen and ink stores. At least two members of the pen posse are inkophiles who post regularly about different inks. They would be good people for you to meet, ask, and observe their examples.

[Dalimar]

Hello Dalimar, welcome to FPN from somewhere up the road. GTA has a very vibrant FP community the a "Pen Posse" that meets regularly. There are also a couple of excellent pen and ink stores. At least two members of the pen posse are inkophiles who post regularly about different inks. They would be good people for you to meet, ask, and observe their examples.

 

Scrawler:

 

Thank you very much. I am aware of Laywine's and Wonderpens for inks - there is also another shop in the Exchange building downtown Toronto in the financial district but the name of the shop escapes me. There is also a cigar shop in First Canadian Place that sells high-end pens that likely has ink too. Haven't tried them yet.

 

Dalimar

 

p.s. I can see how this is going to turn into a dangerous hobby - I just discovered Edison makes custom orders. I am a sucker for one-of-a-kind anything. (I collect European glass beads - namely Trollbeads - and have many One-of-a-kinds - we call them OoAKs - pronounced Oaks) I am currently looking through their blanks catalog to see if any pop out at me. What I would really like is the Mina Extended in French Ivory Celluloid.

[Dalimar]

Welcome, Dalimar !

 

I, too, find writing to be therapeutic. I am told that it engages the creative areas of the brain. (Didn't know I had that.)

 

Did your package from Goulet Pens include a lollypop ?

 

I know other fans of EF nibs. Seems EF nibs are sometimes finicky about the ink that squeeze through. This forum

is a good place to find the best flowing inks. I find the membership warm of heart and generous in sharing experiences.

 

Identifying ink color in multiple pens is straight-forward with me. I write the ink color onto a 1/4 inch X 2 inch

strip of paper. I glue the paper into a band, which slips around cap and the under the clip. I even perform this

ritual with the TWSBI, but just to annoy others.

 

Write with joy.

 

Sasha:

 

Yes it did contain a lolly-pop

 

hmm...the band idea is intriguing, I must give this some thought. You would pretty much have to with the TWSBI. The fluid colour of ink I find too difficult to judge the written and dried colour from.

 

Dalimar

[Dalimar]

 

Hi! Welcome to FPN.

I'm really glad you've joined us.

Enjoy!

Kind regards,

VirtuThe3rd

 

 

ご挨拶いただき、ありがとうございます。私の新しい趣味を学びながら、私はここにいくつかの新しい友達を作ることを願っています。

Go aisatsu itadaki, arigatōgozaimasu. Watashi no atarashī shumi o manabinagara, watashi wa koko ni ikutsu ka no atarashī tomodachi o tsukuru koto o negatte imasu.

 

Thank you for your greeting. I hope to make some new friends here while learning about my new hobby.

 

Blessed Be!

Dalimar

 

p.s. Translation via Google Translate so please forgive any grammar & syntax errors.

[Wahl]

[Clancy]

Hello Dalimar. Greetings from northern California and a warm welcome to FPN. Glad you've joined us; it's great to have you here.

[dunhamsa]

Welcome!

[PAKMAN]

Hello and Welcome to FPN!! Glad to have you as a member!!

[Dalimar]

Thank you everyone for your warm welcome. I have been browsing these forums all weekend - very addictive. I am learning so much

 

Namaste,

Dalimar

[estie1948]

Hello and welcome, Dalimar. I am glad you have joined us. Please don't be shy about asking questions or stating your opinions. I hope you enjoy the time you spend with us.

 

-David.

[APP Adrian]

Welcome to FPN.

 

I'm from the GTA too!

[Alex2014]

Hello & welcome

[Strop]

Holy gee, only my post #3! Welcome, Dalimar, from a fellow newbie and Canuck.

 

Have spent plenty of time in T.O back in the day myself.

[h.farmawi]

Hello and , enjoy the forum.

[Goodbad]

Dalimar -

 

As others have done, welcome to the forum - it's a good group of souls with common interests in paper, ink and nibs.

 

Many of us use an ink journal. As you have started to find, inks have personalities, as do pens, so it is helpful to keep track of which play well together. I note when I inked each pen and when I wrote each out to note how long each inking lasted.

 

For many of us, the feeling of nib and ink on paper is a pure joy, and we wish you the same.

 

Namaste,

 

Jim

[vikramguliya]

Hi Dalimar, welcome to fountainpennetwork.com