What pen(s) are you using today?

[zmija]

28 minutes ago, lamarax said:

 

*stock EF on the upper right

 

Thank you. This completes my photo, which I wanted to show how much the M1000 F nib has been ground down. 

[USG]

On 2/13/2026 at 6:16 PM, zmija said:

Pelikan M1000 F -> real EF

 

 

 

I had to try...  

No graceful hairlines for Me....   My pens Crashed and Burned 

Railroaded right away.  I had to go real slow.

 

Inks were: 4001 Brillant Braun and Bungubox Pigment First Love

Paper: Tomoe River-S

 

 

Close Ups Here

[lamarax]

19 minutes ago, zmija said:

Thank you. This completes my photo, which I wanted to show how much the M1000 F nib has been ground down. 

 

The interesting thing I've noticed taking the picture, is that the M800 F on the bottom left left looks close -as a grind- to the EF, but it writes like an M, even with dry inks. Go figure... 🤔

[zmija]

@USG - It depends on the ink. Mine is Waterman Mix, refilled a few weeks ago. It's not the best option for this kind of play, but it did the trick for a few lines.

 

5 minutes ago, lamarax said:

The interesting thing I've noticed, is that the M800 F on the bottom left left looks close -as a grind- to the EF, but it writes like an M, even with dry inks. Go figure... 🤔

 

Yes, this is a standard for the Souverän line 😝

 

[PennyTheDog]

6 hours ago, Amberjack said:

That's a terrific deal for a nice pen.

I'm tempted to call it a Craftsman - but it appears to have a Feathertouch No 5 nib.  The Craftsman usually had a No. 33 gold nib.

Look for a 3 or 4 digit imprint on the barrel, underneath the factory maker's mark.

That's the retail price - e.g. 875 means it was supposed to sell for 875.  That can help with ID, if you're interested.

 

Richardspens.com is your friend when trying to figure out your Sheaffer.   

 

Thank you, that’s great information! I’ll post something here if I learn more. I guess just by being a lever fill it’s probably from the late 40s, at the latest.

[PennyTheDog]

5 hours ago, InkyProf said:

 

Yes, it's the yellow color; and as I was perfectly well aware, Mandarin Permanite is also relatively fragile. But a Junior Duofold, for me, is really a little too small to use unposted, so I posted the pen as delicately as possible; and then, of course, when I felt the cap move, reflexively put my thumb on the cap top to snug it down -- and put a centimeter-long hairline crack in the cap lip. Entirely predictable, entirely avoidable. Probably also entirely repairable, but for the moment I'm too busy kicking myself.

 

I'm waiting for the right Big Red to come along, too. I have two red/orange Juniors, one of which was an unexpected six-dollar thrift store find, but no Seniors, and this really underscores that I need to fix -- er, correct that. 🙂

Sorry about the pen! Duofolds are kind of a thing for me, because when I left a job as a young man, my boss gave me a Duofold rollerball as a farewell gift. Having no idea pens were a thing I thought that was a little odd, until his secretary took me aside and said that’s actually a really nice gift, and he meant for it to be special. I think that kind of planted the seed in my brain that turned into enjoying pens. There’s a big red junior on eBay that ends tomorrow; I’m thinking about it.

[PennyTheDog]

4 hours ago, PenFan95 said:

 

…what do you mean you got that for $27? You’re telling me those prices still exist?!

Haha, I think the key is not caring much about what you get! I wanted a restored lever fill, and I think that might have literally been my search. I saw that one and thought hey, I’ve liked Sheaffer before 🤷‍♂️ 

[USG]

2 hours ago, zmija said:

@USG - It depends on the ink. Mine is Waterman Mix, refilled a few weeks ago. It's not the best option for this kind of play, but it did the trick for a few lines.

 

You obviously got very good results.  What is your "Waterman ink Mix"?

 

[InkyProf]

1 hour ago, PennyTheDog said:

Sorry about the pen! Duofolds are kind of a thing for me, because when I left a job as a young man, my boss gave me a Duofold rollerball as a farewell gift. Having no idea pens were a thing I thought that was a little odd, until his secretary took me aside and said that’s actually a really nice gift, and he meant for it to be special. I think that kind of planted the seed in my brain that turned into enjoying pens. There’s a big red junior on eBay that ends tomorrow; I’m thinking about it.

 

Thanks! (The pen will survive and so will I, probably.) Great story about the gift from your boss, I know how you can develop a special connection to one model that way. Good luck with the auction if you go for it!

[Amberjack]

1 hour ago, PennyTheDog said:

Thank you, that’s great information! I’ll post something here if I learn more. I guess just by being a lever fill it’s probably from the late 40s, at the latest.

I'll let you do the discovery, because that's the fun of it - but I will say that Sheaffer offered lever-fill on some pens into the 1950s.

 

Looking forward to hearing what you find!

[zmija]

22 minutes ago, USG said:

 

You obviously got very good results.  What is your "Waterman ink Mix"?

 

This is Serenity Blue : Intense Black = 3 : 1
But the ink was filled into the pen a few weeks ago and is now darker and thicker. A fresh one also likes to break up sometimes. There are better inks for this purpose. On the other hand, writing "8"s a few centimeters long is extreme. During "normal" writing with varying lines, it never breaks.

[Misfit]

Same pen with same ink as I used yesterday. 

[AmandaW]

Pilot Kakuno Clear EF filled with Iroshizuku Rikka. 💙

[InkyProf]

I can't sleep, so I'm up writing, but since it's after midnight, I can also make this newly inked pen into my pen of the day (replacing the too-broad Burgundy 51): a 51 aerometric demi in plum, GF converging lines cap, recorded as a medium but writes like a fine, Waterman Mysterious Blue.

[JasonR]

I used a lot of pens today!  I have a business trip tomorrow, and I have a tradition that I started last year where I gift my colleagues a nice notebook, a fountain pen, and write a nice card.  Normally I do this just for folks I'm close with and my direct team.  This time, there are seven people that I haven't done this for, some whom I'm closer with than others.  I always give a pen that I've used from my collection, so I know that it writes well and doesn't need any tuning, and to give it a personal touch.  And I generally write the card with the pen and ink they will receive. 

 

That meant today I wrote with:

• Conway Stewart 85L
• Kaweco Dia2
• Lamy AL-Star Graphite
• Parker Slimfold
• 2 x Kaweco Sport
• Asvine P80

And then I wrote my other letters with a Conway Stewart 55, Sailor Imperial Black and a Mabie Todd Blackbird.    It was a long, fun day of writing.

[A Smug Dill]

I may have lucked out (or is that “lucked in”?), but this factory-condition F nib on a Kaweco Sport pen is actually quite usable for my purposes:

[JasonR]

15 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

I may have lucked out (or is that “lucked in”?), but this factory-condition F nib on a Kaweco Sport pen is actually quite usable for my purposes:

That's impressive and looks almost like my EF Kaweco's rather than an F.  Maybe the tines are a little tight, regardless, it looks gorgeous!   I do actually quite like the included blue cartridges.   

[Misfit]

@A Smug Dill I’m glad the Kaweco Honey pen is working out for you. I’m quite fond of the Kaweco pens. 

[PennyTheDog]

I know I just posted a picture of this pen yesterday… but I just discovered how good my new-ish phone is at close up photos! Nothing special; just an old lever fill Sheaffer I bought on eBay. But it works well and has a nice bouncy feel.

[Penguincollector]

 I need to work on my lowercase Copperplate hand, so I need to ink something suitable. I have to decide between various Waterman lever fillers, an Osmiroid copperplate, and an Esterbrook 2048- any suggestions? 

 For the Gothic lowercase letters I have a blue Sheaffer No Nonsense IB inked with Skrip Deluxe Blue with holographic sky blue mica in it. 
 

  I will write my to do list with a MontBlanc Noblesse M inked with KWZ Sheen Machine 2. I can’t decide what grind I want on this pen.