How many pens do you keep inked up at one time?

[Bo Bo Olson]

I don't mix inks, living in The Golden Age of Inks.

 

I did read how to make MB Orange a bit better.

I was lucky to get a few 1990 Pelikan orange cartridges so I know orange can be nice.....never got around to getting any of that orange Herbin...is on my list.

 

I'll have to ask about how to make yellow better.....and be more willing to get an odd color from the color wheel....as you mentioned.

Oddly making yellow a brown didn't dawn on me.

[halffriedchicken]

23 minutes ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

I'll have to ask about how to make yellow better.....and be more willing to get an odd color from the color wheel....as you mentioned.

Oddly making yellow a brown didn't dawn on me.

My discovery was unplanned. I had a Parker Jotter fountain pen which I "cleaned" after using MB Midnight Blue, but I must have been lazy or absentminded while doing so and the pen still had some traces of Midnight remaining. I refilled a cartridge with Private Reserve Shoreline Gold (I don't use a converter to draw up ink with lighter colors to not pollute or muddy the original ink) and when I wrote with the pen the ink was brown. I was puzzled at first but I didn't mind because I like the brown that resulted. Eventually the pen wrote lighter and lighter to a shoreline shade so I took out the cartridge and put in a drop of midnight to return to brown. I later added more Midnight to get a dark almost walnut brown.

[halffriedchicken]

20 minutes ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

I did read how to make MB Orange a bit better.

How would you make MB Orange better?

[Bo Bo Olson]

There is a post in Inky Thoughts I started, and would have to go back to read what other folks suggested....I've not gotten around to doing that.

I have Apache Sunset, so decided not to tray to make a copy of that.

 

I dither with the best of them......so never got around to doing anything.

[halffriedchicken]

44 minutes ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

There is a post in Inky Thoughts I started, and would have to go back to read what other folks suggested....I've not gotten around to doing that.

I have Apache Sunset, so decided not to tray to make a copy of that.

 

I dither with the best of them......so never got around to doing anything.

I think I found the post 

 

It's too bad I don't have MB Orange. If I did I would try some mixes out for you with my not so clean pens or perhaps in a vial. I am open to experimenting mixing inks or for more happy accidents.

[Bo Bo Olson]

The main problem is I have 80 inks....so seldom think about mixing.

I should give that tread a second look.....as soon as I get back down to 7 pens inked....in it is ever so easy to keep inking pens until I'm again, back to 17 inked.

[ParramattaPaul]

At the moment, I have three pens on my desk that I use on a daily basis, and one on my bedside table for noting the occasional late night after-thought.  This may change when the two impulse-buy pens arrive.

[Carguy]

23 hours ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

The main problem is I have 80 inks....so seldom think about mixing.

I should give that tread a second look.....as soon as I get back down to 7 pens inked....in it is ever so easy to keep inking pens until I'm again, back to 17 inked.

My issue as well….I have 90+ inks. Currently, I have 6 51’s inked, 2 Parker 21’s, and one Sheaffer Targa.

[Jerome Tarshis]

Whatever I may have said about this in years past, I am now because of (1) the pandemic and (2) the loss of bricks-and-mortar stores I used to patronize, in a new situation.

 

What I'm doing now that there has been some relaxation of COVID19 immobility is trying to find out what inks are available to me for in-person acquisition. The ink-buying leads me to wonder what this ink will do in one or another pen. So I am now at two pens inked, recently down from five.

 

In what I think of as my normal real life, it would be two or at most three, but I'm now in a situation where my curiosity is being aroused by exploring the city and finding out what the remaining shops actually have in stock.

[ENewton]

6 hours ago, Jerome Tarshis said:

 

What I'm doing now that there has been some relaxation of COVID19 immobility is trying to find out what inks are available to me for in-person acquisition. The ink-buying leads me to wonder what this ink will do in one or another pen. So I am now at two pens inked, recently down from five.

 

In what I think of as my normal real life, it would be two or at most three, but I'm now in a situation where my curiosity is being aroused by exploring the city and finding out what the remaining shops actually have in stock.

 

A few years ago, before the pandemic, Maido in Japantown greatly broadened its ink selection.  I have long been a person who tries to patronize brick-and-mortar stores, as opposed to buying from online sellers, if a brick-and-mortar store has or can obtain an item that fits my purposes.  I make few enough purchases that I feel I can afford to pay a few dollars more in the interest of helping to ensure that some local shops remain. 

 

Like you, I have lately had more than my usual number of pens inked.  Right now I am back down to my preferred two, not including the brush pen I use for Japanese kana calligraphy, but having bought two new inks several months ago, I spent some months discovering what pens showcase those inks best, and also how the inks compare with others in my small collection.

 

 

  

[Bo Bo Olson]

One must go to Ink Reviews and Inky Thoughts. (I really can't see how one can limit one's self to a few inks, in The Golden Age of Inks.)

It is too bad that the pictures of  our passed Sandy1 now fail, but is worth reading for any ink you see in other's reviews.

 

 

It is nice to have a B&M, I fear for mine. Corona may have killed it or turned it into a online shop. Start of Heidelberg Uni in September will tell the tale.

I'd hate to  go to the closing out sale.

 

I like the guy, his wife and mother. My wife knew the father as well. The shop has been in Heidelberg over 130 years.

[N1003U]

1 hour ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

One must go to Ink Reviews and Inky Thoughts. (I really can't see how one can limit one's self to a few inks, in The Golden Age of Inks.)

It is too bad that the pictures of  our passed Sandy1 now fail, but is worth reading for any ink you see in other's reviews.

 

 

It is nice to have a B&M, I fear for mine. Corona may have killed it or turned it into a online shop. Start of Heidelberg Uni in September will tell the tale.

I'd hate to  go to the closing out sale.

 

I like the guy, his wife and mother. My wife knew the father as well. The shop has been in Heidelberg over 130 years.

 

Are you talking about Knoblauch in Plöck 2? I sure hope not. That would be a catastrophe to lose them. So far in Freiburg (another Uni town), my favorite B&Ms are still hanging in there...

[Bo Bo Olson]

2 hours ago, N1003U said:

Are you talking about Knoblauch in Plöck 2?

Yes.

So go buy something.....he now has Japanese inks.

 

Bound to be a B&M in Mannheim or Frankfurt....but  I'd bet there is not Subway cookies near by.

[N1003U]

9 minutes ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

Yes.

So go buy something.....he now has Japanese inks.

 

I have enough ink for even an abnormal person, but I am always open to the idea of a new pen or some leather accessories. I am in the USA at present, but I go in there almost every time I am in HD.

I'll send one of my proxies down to buy something. A good family friend (and old-time Heidelberger) live 980 meters from the store (less that that in a straight line).

 

According to the website, they are open normal hours (10-18, 11-17 on Saturday), and there is a special note that no mask or test is required to visit! Go on down!

[Freedom]

I usually keep 2 (3 would be my max)> I'll typically have one cheap and one more high end inked at all time. I only fill about 1/3 bc I have many inks and many pens and I love using the vast majority of them. Those I do not enjoy using are being sold off. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

With piston pens.....converters seem to count, one need not fill more than 1/4th-1/3rd to have a splash of that color/hue/tone of ink, and then on to the next one.

cccccccccccccccc

 

Been talking to my B&M guy and showing off top of the line Ebay or auction house wins for ages....got to have someone to show off too.

He mentioned how hard Corona Times are for him and his shop.

 

[finzi]

Thought I’d revive this thread rather than start a new one, given that this topic has been subject to new threads a few times over the years. 🥰

 

I searched the topic because I wanted to see if my intention to keep eleven pens inked seems comparatively excessive. Why is it an intention and not in practice yet? Because I am setting that target to justify buying a couple of new pens. I’ve decided there are eleven inks I want to keep to hand, ready to go, so that’s how many pens I need. And yes, I do currently own more than eleven pens, but they aren’t all pens that I want to have in constant use.

 

So yes, I have successfully justified my intention to buy new pens. *pause for applause* I’m feeling very proud. #lifegoals #aspirational #avoidingreality. 
 

I did buy four new ones this week, sadly chose to return two of them; the Sailor Pro Gear was a touch too large, I need to stick to the Slims, and a Slim I bought turned out to have very golden gold gooooooooold (I cannot overemphasise the goldenness of the gold hardware) trim, much yellower in tone than the trim on the other Sailors I have. So I’m keeping two of the four I bought, and have an extra two in my sights. When the returns and refunds have been processed I’ll go to checkout number nowimmediatelyIhavenosenseofdelayedgratficationorimpulsecontrol.

[finzi]

On 6/27/2021 at 1:15 PM, TitoThePencilPimp said:

I kept 24 at one point. Now, only 4. 

I really, really wish @TitoThePencilPimp were still active here, because I’m dying to know what they kept in those 24. Different inks in each one? A smaller number of inks, with each ink in multiple pens paired with a variety of nib sizes? What? WHAT?! Prime enabling…

[Penguincollector]

  Well,  @finzi- I can’t speak for Tito, but I currently have about 26 pens inked (my signature is incorrect as of today). I keep at least one pen in every color of the rainbow, plus blue-black, black, brown, gold, grey, and silver. I often have a mix of nib types from UEF to music, pointed and italics. I like having a mix of shimmer, sheen, shading, and wet saturated inks.  I use both vintage and modern pens.

[ParramattaPaul]

Five pens are inked. Two Onotos. Two Conway Stewart pens, and a 1.1 nib Speedball.