What Pen Did You Finish Today?

[chromantic]

I replaced a cartridge on one of my Sheaffer school pens that was just about out.

[Noihvo]

[richila]

Yesterday, I emptied my Baoer 701 filled with Diamine Sherwood Green and my Hero 901 filled with Lie de The.

[cherylmarie]

Yesterday afternoon I again ran dry my Sheaffer Craftsman Tip-Dip in basic black with an F nib, with Sheaffer black ink.

 

Such a good pen. Although it is slim, it's balance is spot-on perfect. The nib is very fine and very stiff but also very smooth across the paper without any degree of drag. This little one practically writes all by itself so all one needs to do is provide a little guidance.

 

All things considered, this bland pen is possibly my favorite, certainly one of my top three. It was found at a thrift store, mixed in a Zip Lock bag of wooden pencils. No restoration was required, and I imagine someone got rid of it in favor of a Bic Banana or something similar.

I agree! I've got two of these pens, both with very fine nibs, and they are wonderful!

[Tweel]

I've just refilled my mainstay pen at home, an early-60's Sheaffer Imperial desk pen, with its mainstay ink, Pelikan Blue-Black. The bottle itself is just about empty; it'll be the first I've finished in some time.

 

Praxim, I also have an M800 filled with Graf von Faber-Castell Moss Green, BTW.

[mallymal1]

One of the Conway Stewart 475's I had in my rotation last week, was prone to hard start ups. So, I took advantage of a quiet Sunday morning to flush it out, strip it down, clean out the section, feed and #3 nib, and rebuild. On inspection, the feed was away from the nib, so a little heat treatment, and the pen is working splendidly.

 

A simple bit of DIY, but very satisfiying.

 

None of your fancy CS colours here. It's a black pen...and it's beautiful. Inked once again with Diamine Blue Velvet.

 

[john74]

I finished my Waterman Carene loaded with Waterman Serenity Blue. It is not one of my favorite pens (the body is too thin, and the nib too stiff) but I decided to keep it in my rotation with J. Herbin Éclat de Saphir.

 

I also finished my OMAS Ogiva loaded with Caran d'Ache Idyllic Blue. I really like the pen but the juicy medium nib is just a bit too broad for my taste unless I use it with a dry ink like CdA Idyllic blue. So I re-inked it with the same.

[praxim]

Praxim, I also have an M800 filled with Graf von Faber-Castell Moss Green, BTW.

 

I have been saying for years that you have very fine taste.....

[grainweevil]

After a good start to the year, a disappointing trial of KWZ IG Turquoise in a Waterman's Champion 501 will result in premature flushing. Ink's too wet for it, while the combination is inclined to dry out between uses - worst of both worlds! Ah well, so it goes.

 

Mmm, flushing a lever filler, My favourite thing in all the world.

[mitto]

Today I restored two of my newly acquired P51 aeros. And I am on my way to restoring six others. Cleaned a number of pens that were in rotation for the last week. Yesterday I repaired the piston of a OSMIA 661 pen whose piston knob was broken and the blind cap was detached from the piston rod. It was a real tiring job. But at the end I was able to bring back to life this little beauty.

 

It came like this:

 

 

 

Now repaired and test filled with water:

 

 

Edited January 30, 2017 by mitto

[richila]

I finished off a Baoer 517 filled with Vert Olive in the middle of a sentence while writing a penpal.

[ItwasLuck]

Just flushing out Iroshizuku Take-Sumi to use the same ink again. Helped got rid of the stains from the IG ink I used previously. =)

 

Oh yes, the London Fog is quite ahem foggy XD

[Freddy]

 

 

Fred

 

David Roy Eldridge

 

Korematsu v. United States

 

and listening to Steve Cropper

[ppdiaporama]

Alas ... all good things must come to an end

 

Pilot 78G BB w/ Noodler's General of the Armies

Sheaffer Targa M with Diamine Shimmertastic Golden Sands --I only dare because I've managed to unglue the nib unit so it's easy to clean.

Cross Solo B with Diamine Shimmertastic Red Lustre

Kaweco Al-Sport M with GV Faber Castell Stone Grey

TWSBI Eco 1.1 with Sheaffer Skrip Red

 

and now ... time to go fill some other pens!

[Jamesbeat]

My Baoer 388, which actually surprised me.

 

When I first got the pen, it didn't write at all.

I tried a couple of things that didn't work and gave it up for dead.

Recently, I was reminiscing about my very first fountain pen - old Parker Vector that I used at school.

 

This made me wonder if it would maybe be a good idea to get myself a small slim cartridge pen as a knock about type pen.

 

I remembered that 388 sitting in the drawer, and decided to get it going.

 

I was planning on drilling out the nib unit and replacing it with a nice IPG nib unit that I have.

I pulled out the nib and feed, and noticed that I couldn't see all the way through the nib slit when I held it up to the light.

There was a burr in the slit that was impeding the ink flow.

I slipped a double edge razor blade into the slit and got rid of the burr, reassembled the pen, and it writes really nicely

 

While I was messing with it, I decided to also 'fix' a 'problem' that bugs me about this and many other recent cartridge pens.

 

When I was younger, all (or at least the majority) of cartridge pens were designed to be loaded as follows:

Drop the cartridge into the barrel.

Screw the barrel and section together, piercing the cartridge in the process.

 

For pens that take short International cartridges, it's a little different. The short cartridge is too short, and would fall down the barrel.

With the short cartridges, you drop one cartridge into the barrel upside down, drop another on top of it right side up, then screw the barrel onto the section.

 

This is how I wanted the 388 to work, but like many modern manufacturers, Baoer seem to have forgotten about this aspect of cartridge pens.

 

I machined a small disk of acrylic just wide enough to fit down the barrel, and just long enough to keep the cartridges at the correct height, and epoxied it into the end of the barrel.

 

The pen now works as nature intended, and I'm really happy with it.

 

I have been carrying and using it daily ever since.

 

You can probably imagine then my disappointment today when it dried up and refused to write.

 

I was convinced that it must have finally given up the ghost, and was somewhat surprised to find an empty cartridge inside.

 

I had been topping up the cartridge every couple of days, and I really didn't think I had written enough to empty it completely.

 

I filled up the cartridge and it's chooching again

Edited January 31, 2017 by Jamesbeat

[richila]

I wrote out all of my Ancient Copper in a Baoer 517. I had just barely enough left in my vial to refill it.

[JakobS]

Esterbrook J with Diamine Schubert

 

Esterbrook SM Deluxe with Diamine Safari...refilled

 

Esterbrook Dollar with KWZ IG Red #3

 

Almost empty:

Twsbi Eco with KWZ Honey

Sheaffer Caftsman with KWZ Aztec Gold

[Arkanabar]

I rinsed out my FPR Himalaya of Rattler Red Eel, an ink I only loaded to use in the 52 weekly CRVs, and my Pilot Prera CM that I'd filled with Noodler's Blue. I'm going to fill my Welsharp button-filler tomorrow, once I decide what ink to fill it with. Or maybe I'll try Purple Mix 4 in the Prera.

[praxim]

One of two Onoto 4601 I had in rotation. Both have their No 2 nib. The one finished today is externally distinguished only by having been fitted with a brass plunger rod, whose end you can see on the plunger cap. I found previously that the brass rod needed a little silicone grease to prevent ink spotting on it. Now it is well behaved.

 

Writing, they are quite different. When the other is also finished I will be comparing the tines for differences in adjustment. The "brass" pen writes a much finer line.

 

I have now inked my other two Onotos with No 2 nibs, a couple of 3050, these well distinguished visually by black vs red ripple hard rubber. The general notion is to find some reason to sell one or two of these four pens because two of the same nib should be enough.

 

I don't think that is going well.

[Freddy]

The followin' pens are finished kaput toast and ready to be stowed away...

For those interested Clockwise Bexley Deluxe Demonstrator BFiller

Parker Sonnet in 14K Dimonite G C/C Filler Duofold Jr Lucky Curve

HR BFiller Monogram Pen Non - Breakable Sold Only at the Rexall's

Store with Monogram #2 nib Omas Ogiva Vision PIFiller

 

Fred