I got this pen today

[carola]

22 hours ago, Doug C said:

A baby...

 

I am not old enough to chime in on that tune, but little fountain pen sister might be appropriate. 😆

Happy oncoming birthday!

[finzi]

On 5/5/2025 at 8:49 PM, Penguincollector said:

  Thank you both for the early birthday wishes, @Pen Ffynnon and @Tashi_Tsering. On the 20th, it will be 49 turns around the sun. 

I’m so glad that you have a new treasure to celebrate your upcoming birthday. Hope it will be a great year for you. ❤️

[lamarax]

On 5/5/2025 at 10:00 PM, Penguincollector said:

  I received my early birthday present today, I wanted to make sure that it was ok before I take it to the nibmeister the weekend before my birthday. It’s a bigger pen than is my wont, but it’s beautiful, somewhat reminiscent of a penguin to me.

 

I see you take your birthdays seriously, young lass! Happy may it be! 🎉🐧

[Penguincollector]

  Thank you, @carola, the fountain pen sisterhood is wonderful one!

[Penguincollector]

  Thank you @finzi!  Much appreciated 😊 

[Penguincollector]

Thank you, @lamarax!

[InkyProf]

Today was a really crummy day until this arrived. In Chicago, where this pen was made, you can walk down 58th Street between South Kenwood and South Kimbark any day during the first week in May, and all your worries and cares will be dissolved by the overwhelming scent of a long city block of mature lilacs, right up against the sidewalk. That's what I'll think of when I use this ebonite piston-filler, whose material Pierre Miller calls "Lepidolite," after the purplish mineral. (The nib is a JoWo #6 F). 

[inkstainedruth]

That's a really lovely pen.  

When Pierre first got started, he had some people on FPN "play test" his pens and then give him feedback and I got to be one of those people.  Had a couple of phone conversations with him about what I liked and didn't like on the tester pen.  Then got to meet him at a show, and he's the nicest guy.  I just wish I could afford to buy one....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[InkyProf]

12 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

That's a really lovely pen.  

When Pierre first got started, he had some people on FPN "play test" his pens and then give him feedback and I got to be one of those people.  Had a couple of phone conversations with him about what I liked and didn't like on the tester pen.  Then got to meet him at a show, and he's the nicest guy.  I just wish I could afford to buy one....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

That’s really cool. I don’t know him personally but have two of his pens now, this and a BAMF. Small-batch artisan craftsmanship, especially by Chicagoans, tends to make me financially irresponsible.

[Penguincollector]

What a gorgeous pen, @InkyProf!

[Doug C]

Not a fountain pen but a Makers cabinet Lazlo.

[lamarax]

On 5/7/2025 at 2:34 AM, InkyProf said:

Today was a really crummy day until this arrived. In Chicago, where this pen was made, you can walk down 58th Street between South Kenwood and South Kimbark any day during the first week in May, and all your worries and cares will be dissolved by the overwhelming scent of a long city block of mature lilacs, right up against the sidewalk. That's what I'll think of when I use this ebonite piston-filler, whose material Pierre Miller calls "Lepidolite," after the purplish mineral. (The nib is a JoWo #6 F).

 

Alas, the closest I can get to this man's designs is by watching youtube videos from American pen shows 🙁

 

Wonderful! And what's more, he's one of the few solo/custom artisans I've seen with an imagination breaking away from the much tired and uninspired formulas of:

 

1. "precious Urushi/Maki-e artistry", 
2. "swirly psychedelic acrylic", or in contrast, 
3. "hi-tech" Ultem/Titanium/Mithril etc. (🤘)...

 

...Jowo nib holders.

[inkstainedruth]

The one time I ever got to the Chicago Pen Show (the year they moved it to the fall) he had a table in sort of the main lobby of the place and there was one pen (I don't know if it was ebonite but it had that sort of matte look to it) that was drop dead GORGEOUS (dark purple and pale yellow swirls with some glitter thrown in).  But when I looked at the price tag?  I was going "OMG -- There's no way I can afford this!" (I think it cost at as much as most of my hotel room bill for the weekend did).  And I don't tend to like really gaudy pen blanks (especially the stuff that Benu makes) -- but that pen Pierre had made just made me drool, it was so pretty....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Misfit]

On 5/2/2025 at 8:02 PM, Pen Ffynnon said:

It's a nice pen, but I'm a little meh on the nib. No offense to the nibmeister! To me, it's like a "fine" stub nib. Nothing special, no flexibility (although they never advertised it as a flexible nib), but there's none of the promised "gives your writing some flair".

That lines up with one post I saw on Reddit about the journaler nib. The 2314-M nib is fabulous with line variation. Well, if I ever decide to pay up for the new Estie, I’d go with the 1.1mm stub nib. You have saved me potential money. I do like that brown version of the Back to the Land.

[Misfit]

On 5/5/2025 at 2:00 PM, Penguincollector said:

  I received my early birthday present today, I wanted to make sure that it was ok before I take it to the nibmeister the weekend before my birthday. It’s a bigger pen than is my wont, but it’s beautiful, somewhat reminiscent of a penguin to me.

 

I hope you have a happy birthday. You deserve to. What do you plan for the nib work?

[Penguincollector]

1 hour ago, Misfit said:

I hope you have a happy birthday. You deserve to. What do you plan for the nib work?

   Thank you! Probably an italic grind of some sort. It’s a medium, so I’m not sure what he can do with it. I try out all the grinds available while I wait and then ask Kirk what he thinks. I prefer italic or stub with mediums and wider, but if it’s not a good candidate for that, then I’d like medium fine.

[yubaprof]

43 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

   Thank you! Probably an italic grind of some sort. It’s a medium, so I’m not sure what he can do with it. I try out all the grinds available while I wait and then ask Kirk what he thinks. I prefer italic or stub with mediums and wider, but if it’s not a good candidate for that, then I’d like medium fine.

Speaking of italics and stubs, can an italic nib be ground into a stub nib? The nib in question is 14C gold.

[Penguincollector]

10 hours ago, yubaprof said:

Speaking of italics and stubs, can an italic nib be ground into a stub nib? The nib in question is 14C gold.

  I am not at all an expert, but I think the sharp edges of an italic can be rounded a bit to be more stub like. I know one can become the other, but I don’t know the “order of operations,” so to speak. Kirk Speer at Pen Realm is really good about answering nib grinding questions, and the answer may already be on the Pen Realm FAQ. I would recommend checking out the website and emailng if you have questions. He’s done most of my nib work, and I can’t recommend him enough. 

[Penguincollector]

13 hours ago, Misfit said:

That lines up with one post I saw on Reddit about the journaler nib. The 2314-M nib is fabulous with line variation. Well, if I ever decide to pay up for the new Estie, I’d go with the 1.1mm stub nib. You have saved me potential money. I do like that brown version of the Back to the Land.

  I have a similar issue with the blue version. I might wait until I see a second hand listing and upgrade the nib or get the adapter.

[Misfit]

3 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

  I have a similar issue with the blue version. I might wait until I see a second hand listing and upgrade the nib or get the adapter.

The adapter might be the best way to go since you likely know all about the vintage nibs. I have a 2314-B nib that isn’t as smooth as the 2314-M nib.