Great. A new obsession.

[Dusted]

I will have to continue experimenting with various inks. I do have a number of different brands already. My Sailor Barcarolle hasn’t even arrived yet and I ordered a Pilot Grance EF in light blue. Need to get some colour into that pen case.

[Nurmister]

On 5/24/2021 at 2:43 AM, Dusted said:

I will have to continue experimenting with various inks. I do have a number of different brands already. My Sailor Barcarolle hasn’t even arrived yet and I ordered a Pilot Grance EF in light blue. Need to get some colour into that pen case.

 

Ah, the Grance is a model I don't hear of much either, but I see why you'd choose it. Please share your insights with us, I'm really curious on a comparison. I love Pilot gold nibs, they have an incredible feel and are quite forgiving.

[Dusted]

I received the Sailor Barcarolle EF in gloss red today. Thank you @Nurmister for the recommendation. This pen is closer in feel to the slim, stainless steel, Quill ballpoint, I used for 35 years while working. Because the body and cap are brass, the pen is fairly heavy (20 g) compared to my resin body pens. I really like the thin profile and heft of the pen. The barrel fits nicely in my hand, and is balanced well unposted.

 

I’m not sure if it was the nib tune done by Nibs or the Sailor nib itself, but the fineness of the lines produced are even thinner than my UEF Platinum nib, using the same ink (Pelikan). I did request a dry nib under medium pressure and they seem to have delivered. It’s a good thing, since I paid a 40% premium over what the Japanese website I use, charges. I also purchased a coil ring pad of Clairfontaine paper, just to see how different it is from the Moleskien notebook I’m presently using.
 

My only screw cap pen, Platinum President, is becoming difficult to mate the threads when capping. All my other pens are snap on caps thankfully.

[Nurmister]

This is great to hear! I've had to experiment a lot (and thus spend a lot...) to find what suits my tastes. It's strange to hear about the President threads. If you post a picture, we might be able to diagnose the issue. I've never heard of plastic-on-plastic threads creating issues so quickly under normal use.

[Bisquitlips]

 

Greetings from Missouri. 

 

Glad you are with us!

[Audrey T]

On 5/4/2021 at 4:41 AM, Nurmister said:

 

FWIF, there's a "Chatter" forum available here which is quite active. Otherwise, yes, I do think things are quite quiet here; however, when I do need to ask questions about a very specific topic, for example, I've received insightful responses quickly, such as those by users like a smug dill and other regulars who have a great depth and breadth of knowledge.

 

Comparing this forum to reddit's r/fountainpens (which I've never really found use for), we see the latter has a similar number of registered users, but it's a lot more active. However, the nature of the activity is almost always "here's my new pen/ink/drawing/quote". I think that is because reddit's UI encourages image-based posts with little emphasis on organization and archival.

 

Other than that, there are a number of fountain pen reviewers on youtube that continue to create videos on pens and ink on a regular basis, and have quite a steady following.

 

More broadly, however, there's more to this that I've been thinking about to myself for a while: I get the feeling that fountain pen discussion on the technical and experiential aspects of pens is quieter because most of it has already been archived (mostly here), especially during the early-mid 2010s. And unlike in technology-based hobbies, for example, new releases don't come out every day, especially ones with significant innovations or changes to previous iterations.

 

In any case, your journey is just starting -- as you figure out what you prefer, you'll likely find the information you need from whose footsteps you follow. In the case you don't, we're here!

There's so much great information on FPN. I really appreciate t.

 

Is there a dedicated space for reporting new releases of pens & inks? Or do those just come up under specific topics?

[mizgeorge]

19 minutes ago, Audrey T said:

There's so much great information on FPN. I really appreciate t.

 

Is there a dedicated space for reporting new releases of pens & inks? Or do those just come up under specific topics?

Market watch is always a good spot for this sort of thing:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/forum/109-market-watch/

[Audrey T]

8 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

Market watch is always a good spot for this sort of thing:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/forum/109-market-watch/

Terrific! Thanks very much!

[NgunnawalJack]

 Greetings from an Aussie expat in Finland. 

[Recursion]

[Dusted]

The Sailor Barcarolle from Nib’s turned out to be almost unusable. I don’t know if it was the nib tune from Nibs, but all my other pens worked great from the factory. Using a comfortable pressure the pen would skip. A bit more pressure and it would blot. They did offer to retuned it for free, when I finally got around to complaining to them.
 

After 8 different black inks I found one that actually works in the Barcarolle. The Platinum Carbon is a pigment ink which must have a lower surface tension than all the other inks I have tried. That ink is too wet for all my other pens but works like a charm in the dry Barcarolle.

 

Just received a Sailor 1911 standard size in EF. Much more comfortable in my hand than the full size Platinum President. The nib is slightly scratchy and writes in UEF line width. I need to try different inks in it to find the best.

 

Just got the Noodlers pigment ink as well. Much drier than the Platinum. Still playing with it.
 

I now take a tiny amount of any new black dye based inks and put them in water. Most blacks have a purple base, except Cross, which is pure blue. I find I prefer the redder purple inks for my blacks.