What Pen Did You Finish Today?

[praxim]

Pelikan M900 Toledo. It is an M800 so with the same virtues and same single problem, that with a somewhat extended finger grip I notice the step from raised thread to section, which is why I slightly favour Aurora Optima over M800 if pushed. One adds a Toledo to the M800 stable for its external design and that does not disappoint, being a pleasure to see yet not wildly ostentatious.

 

Graf von Faber Castell Gulf Blue, which flows nicely from the Fine point of the Pelikan

[Noihvo]

[chromantic]

Try to keep the pens topped up so they don't run dry very often but it happened tonight on the black M300 with Yomogi; using it too much, I guess.

[inkstainedruth]

I've gotten a number of pens flushed as they got emptied out over the last week or so. Yesterday it was the Pilot Decimo (finishing a fill of diluted Birmingham Pens Truss Blue) and then this morning it was the French-made and re-issued Parker Vector, which had had R&K Salix in it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[sansenri]

My daughter just walked into my office today with 4 pens in her hand and said

"dad, they won't write... can you "fix" them?"...

one is a Pilot 78G in a nice dark red/burgundy

one is a Filcao mini (9 cm long when capped) in a nice green marbled resin

one is a Fellowship Forum HS eyedropper in a reddish plastic

one is a no-name blatant Montblanc imitation that my father in law proudly bought at a jumble-sale for 5 Euro (I had no heart to tell him he was taken, so I worked on the scratchy nib until it now works almost nicely)

I checked them, they're empty...(no wonder)

based on the blue residuals I would say all of them had Pelikan Royal blue in them.

 

I feel slightly ashamed (in view of my collection) to realize her best FP is a 78G and I plan to upgrade her writing equipment soon...

[Noihvo]

[praxim]

A few pens have finished while I was otherwise occupied. Not sure whether I have mentioned any of these before but they appear to be after the Pelikan (top of page).

 

Aurora Optima Primavera, M ; Lamy T53 Amazonite

Aurora Optima 'Italian Flag' Red, F ; Diamine Sherwood Green

Santini 'Colours' Shanghai, F ; Montblanc Corn Poppy Red

Santini 'Colours' Guernica, M ; Waterman Red

Columbus Extra 38, F ; Pelikan Edelstein Topaz

S T Dupont Classique, M ; Pelikan Edelstein Sapphire

Onoto 6000 BHR, No 3 ; J Herbin Violette Pensée

 

I agree with Noihvo about the Aurora Optima. The examples here had 18k nibs. but the recent 14k Blue model was similarly excellent. I usually write on A5 rather than A4 pages so I can get at least a couple more out of the riserva. This is not merely useful but practically excessive!

 

Santini's 'Colours' pens sometimes get a bad rap for their, er, colours. I tried to select those I have to be interesting rather than outrageous. I think those two make it, and the nibs... I have been a Santini fan since I bought my first (being the Guernica) in 2017. I am pleased to see people are talking about them now.

 

The little Columbus is a very nice pen. I think Contessa is a brand Columbus used for the female market. The 14k nib (not the pen) is so labelled, yet indistinguishable from nibs in related Columbus pens. Columbus is in my view a little of a sleeper. Get an open nib piston fill Columbus. The prices should be quite reasonable (#notallsellers) and the result comparable with anything else from its era.

 

The Classique S T Dupont is excellent, a medium nib some would call broad, engineered as it should be. The Onoto though is a special case. This pen dates to 1921. It has a tendency to dry out when left for 24 hours or so. This means you need to open the valve and perhaps dip it in water before first writing of the day. Beyond that, it is brilliant. The No 3 nib is smooth, flexible, easy with which to write. The exceptionally plain black 'Streamline' shape is boring as all something, yet completely comfortable and unobtrusive to hold. None of the sometimes mentioned blobbing happened with this pen whether at first fill or nearing the end (admittedly, I have experience with tuning the shutoff valve). The pen could hardly be less intrusive or more effective, and it is 99 years old. Warranty has expired.

 

I noticed before finishing that I was writing about the pens, not a word about the inks. Much as I love the variety the inks deliver, it remains that I own twice as many pens as inks, where one might think it should at the least reverse. Never mind, inks, I love you all mostly.

[DrDebG]

Yesterday, I seem to have finished several pens. Since I generally clean and fill my pens all at one time, and most of my pens get equal use, it always seems that they run dry about the same time. Also, I had received a bunch of samples, so I loaded many of my pens up in order to test these new inks. So, they are:

 

Pilot Vanishing Point with a stub nib: I had Sailor Manyo Akebi in the pen which was lovely. I love the Sailor Manyo inks. I have a bottle of each and they all work well in any of my pens that I have tried them in.

 

Leonardo Momento Zero Red Marbled with fine nib: This wonderful writer was loaded with J. Herbin's Rouge Bourgoyne. It was a great combination. But because I write on smooth papers, this ink smears terribly even after it is dried. The only way I can use this ink is if I put it into a narrow nib. I just tried this fine nib. I will try it out next in a Platinum Extra Fine to see if it still smears.

 

Monteverde Prima with a Goulet Stub nib: I had loaded this pen with some of my sample of Rohrer & Klingner Alt-Goldgrun. What a wonderful combination! The flow is wonderful. I love the shading!

 

Pilot Vanishing Point with a fine nib: This was loaded with Akkerman Dutch Masters Israel Blue. This is a nice ink, but it did not do well in this pen. I will try it again in a wider nib, which will show off the nice shading of this ink.

 

Delta Horsepower with FC Sig Nib: I had gotten a sample of DeAtramentis Lapis Blue. I love DeAtramentis inks, and this is one that I had not tried before. This is a lovely ink that has a strong sheen and very saturated, but has no shading at all. It flows well in this pen and every pen I have tried it in so far.

 

Faber Castell Emotion with a broad nib: I had loaded this pen from a sample of Akkerman Delft's Blue. This is Akkerman's newer limited edition ink. This medium blue ink flows well in this pen but is on the dry side and has no lubrication. I also has limited shading and no sheen that I have seen so far.

 

Chinese Cheap FP with fude nib: This is one of my amazing pens. I purchased it for less than $1US and it has performed admirably with most inks. But this time I had Akkerman Royal Akkerman Blauw in it. The two did not play well together because Akkerman RAB is dry. I also wasn't impressed with the color. It does not shade and has no sheen that I have seen so far.

 

Manuscript 1856 with stub nib: In my recent purchase of sample inks, I tried Robert Oster Grey Seas in this pen. I love this color. The ink has wonderful shading, and seems a bit on the dry side, but with no lubrication. I wasn't enamored with the combination of pen and ink though. I need to try the ink in a wetter pen.

 

Delta Capri Marina with Delta Fusion Nib: I paired this pen with a new sample of Diamine Sapphire Blue. The ink is fairly saturated, with limited sheen and no shading. It flowed pretty well and is moderately wet and feels as though it has some lubrication. Overall, an OK ink in this pen.

 

Leonardo Momento Zero with stub nib: I paired this pen with Diamine China Blue - another new sample. These two - the pen and the ink - performed very well together. I love the color. It has wonderful shading and is nicely wet with a touch of lubrication. This has become a new favorite. Now I need to buy a big bottle of this.

 

I also recently received my new, wonderful Montblanc Great Characters JFK in Navy with a BB nib. This is a grail pen for me. Sebastian at Fritz Schimpf was instrumental in finding this pen. It is no longer being produced and there are only a few available around the world. So, when I received it, after cleaning the pen, I loaded Waterman Serentity Blue into it - my standard ink for any new pen - and wrote until it ran out. I then cleaned the pen and loaded it with Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu-Kusa and wrote until it ran out. I then cleaned it again and loaded it Montblanc JFK ink. I am almost finished with this round. What a beautiful ink! I love how the navy blue ink shades - it almost leans toward a blue-purple-burgundy shade. It is hard to describe. Wonderful ink and now pretty much unobtainium (thank you Sebastian for finding one for me!). A pen and ink review are in the works.

[BaronWulfraed]

Pelikan M205 Star Ruby

[inkstainedruth]

Nothing today, but yesterday finished the fill of (by then diluted) Noodler's Blue Upon the Plains of Abraham in the TWSBI 580-ALR, 1.1 mm stub. Now trying to figure out what to put in that pen next that will make the pen less of a gusher (I really hate that I'm writing with the nib upside down -- I feel stupid when I do, but the previous inks I tried were just too wet and writing upside down was the only way to tame the flow).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ScarletWoodland]

A hooded xf Jinhao 992 with Robert Oster Fire & Ice. Every other ink I've tried in this pen hard starts & thoroughly misbehaves. Fire & Ice, however, behaved so impeccably that I filled it straight back up again.

 

I also *kind of* finished the first fill of my new Cross Wanderlust Malta. There was actually a fair bit of Noodlers Navy hiding in the top of the cartridge as it turned out but I flushed it all clean anyway. Happy to have a proper converter fitted now with Diamine Sargasso Sea. I'm not usually one to matchy match my pens but I'm looking for a perfect companion for this beauty.

[Intensity]

Finished up a fill of KWZ Brown Pink in a Pelikan M101N Brown Tortoiseshell with a flexy cursive italic nib. Was such an amazing combination, I'm tempted to do the same refill. But I like switching up ink colors. Also flushed out dregs of Lamy Turmaline from a Parker 51.

[timotheap]

yesterday I refilled my Ahab with Diamine Earl Grey, the other Ahab with Herbin Poussiere de Lune, and today I've just refilled my Dixie with Ancient Copper. I think it might be dedicated to that ink, I love it (it's a shame Pure Pens only has a 30ml bottle for that one).

[N1003U]

I finished today an Olivine Lamy Studio that was filled with Iroshizuku Shin-ryoku, quite unexpectedly. The pen dried out after only about two weeks. I like my Studios, but I have learned you need to keep your eye on them, because the caps don't seal as well as at least I would like.

[Tasmith]

Eversharp Symphony with Diamine Registrar's and will probably refill with Peikan Royal Blue.

[Zookie]

Still working on the 10000 word Eversharp. That's a lot of words!

[mallymal1]

Just finished a Moonman M600s. Really nice pen. Looks good, feels good, and writes real good too.

 

 

 

[KaB]

Just finished my MB 149 (stub) that ran out of Diamine Ochre, got cleaned and stored as was the Estie that ran out of GvFC Moss Green. The Lamy (1.5) that's always on my desk ran out of Diamine Grape (bottle is nearly finished now), got cleaned and refilled with Sailor Jentle Kin Mokusei (I'm in need of some happy colours now)

[langere]

Wow! I had never looked at this thread, misunderstanding the title. This si a great idea, especially doing a quick take (kind off a micro review!) of the performance of the pen you just finished.

 

Well, yesterday I finished a Benu Supreme Green Opal. This is my first Benu and I was really impressed. The pen, of course, got lots of comments and second looks - it is sparkly and bright. But what I was surprised about is how well it wrote. Great ink flow and a nib that is not too slippery but not scratchy. It was a pleasure to write with.

 

I have two more Benus in the lineup for writing and I hope I have as good an experience. But first, on to some other pens...

 

Erick

[Tasmith]

Just finished a Moonman M600s. Really nice pen. Looks good, feels good, and writes real good too.

 

 

 

Nice looking pen!