What pen(s) are you using today?

[Penguincollector]

  I see it, @Amberjack! It’s very Streamline Moderne. What a lovely pen. Yours is way more serious looking than mine- I’ve the Mariana Trench version with a blue nib. 
 

 

[Ceramicist]

2 hours ago, PAKMAN said:

It's a Grifos Gaudi tribute Fibonacci Sequence pattern Guilloche Sterling Silver F #6 Bock steel nib. Actually not nearly as heavy as it looks. Nothing like a Yard-o-Led Sterling.

That is such a beautiful pen! 

[Misfit]

7 hours ago, PAKMAN said:

It's a Grifos Gaudi tribute Fibonacci Sequence pattern Guilloche Sterling Silver F #6 Bock steel nib. Actually not nearly as heavy as it looks. Nothing like a Yard-o-Led Sterling.

Beautiful, gorgeous pen, with a cool tribute. 

[Misfit]

I’ll be using this pen quite a bit. It’s the Monteverde Mountains of the World Cortina with M nib, currently filled with a sample of Van Dieman’s Cradle Mountain Grey. 
 

[Victorian2001]

Today is a steel nibbed Pelikan M205. I am trying to get used to it, but think I have decided that it is not for me. The pen is too light and too small. Anybody else feel the same? I do like the blue barrel, but the piston mechanism is also a turn-off for me as it just makes cleaning the pen and knowing how much ink is in the pen harder.

[inkstainedruth]

I would be the opposite of you.  I have small hands, and the M200 and M400 size pens are perfect for me.  

I do have one M600 (the Violet and White) but had tried the M600 Pink and White a few years before and found that a little too heavy for me.

And I LOVE piston fillers -- and for the reason you dislike them.

But then, I know that there are other brands/models of pens that people on here revere but which others loathe....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mr. Pink]

1 hour ago, Yaaseen01 said:

 the piston mechanism is also a turn-off for me as it just makes cleaning the pen and knowing how much ink is in the pen harder.

The Pelikan is very easy to clean as the nib section is easy to remove.  Mr. Pink has more Pelicans than any other brand and finds them as easy to clean as any cartridge pen - maybe easier.  

 

But yes, some piston fillers like the 149 are a bother, but that's half the fun.  

 

P.S.  doesn't the 205 have an ink window?

[zmija]

Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze Age 23k Pd F - 2010'

[Victorian2001]

27 minutes ago, Mr. Pink said:

The Pelikan is very easy to clean as the nib section is easy to remove.  Mr. Pink has more Pelicans than any other brand and finds them as easy to clean as any cartridge pen - maybe easier.  

 

But yes, some piston fillers like the 149 are a bother, but that's half the fun.  

 

P.S.  doesn't the 205 have an ink window?

 

They are easy to clean but are a other, cartridge converters are way easier. Yes it does - I forgot that it did as I am using a blue ink which is very close in shade to the colour of the pen so it is not really visible/distinguishable from the pen body colour. Perhaps if I used a different ink. But I think I will put it away for now and go back to Kaweco.

[Ceilidh]

How it feels in your hand is very personal, and if it's not for you, then it's not for you. You might find one of the larger Pelikans more suitable. But they are the easiest of all pens to clean. Unscrew the nib unit, rinse the barrel, and rinse (careful not to drop!) the nib unit. 

[Gloucesterman]

4 hours ago, Yaaseen01 said:

Today is a steel nibbed Pelikan M205. I am trying to get used to it, but think I have decided that it is not for me. The pen is too light and too small. Anybody else feel the same? I do like the blue barrel, but the piston mechanism is also a turn-off for me as it just makes cleaning the pen and knowing how much ink is in the pen harder.

I think, IIRC, some of the "earlier M200/205s were somewhat translucent. If held up to the light one could gauge how much ink remained in the barrel.

 

Totally understand the cleaning issue. It's annoying - imo.

Are you aware that the nib easily unscrews from the barrel and allows you to flush out and dry the interior completely?

That's one of the things I particularly like about the Pelikan AND Esterbrook pens.

 

[tomb]

Montegrappa Extra extra fine nib

[Misfit]

Same pen as yesterday, the Monteverde Mountains of the World Cortina with M nib filled from a sample of Cradle Mountain Grey. 

[InkyProf]

Today, an Esterbrook Relief 3-S with Waterman Black in the morning, followed in the evening by a test run of a Waterman Gentleman 21 -- the brushed black 1970s version -- with an open 18c Super 6 fine nib. I filled that, for whatever reason, with some Robert Oster Bronze in a modern international standard converter short enough to fit in the pen. (Serious nib crud problems within a couple of hours of filling, so I'll probably flush this out tomorrow, but for a first read on the nib, it worked well enough.)

 

 

[camelsuspicious]

I’m using several pens today.  

• Sailor Imperial Black - Lamy Crystal Azurite
• Conway Stewart 60 - Earl grey
• Asvine V126 - J Herbin Emerald of Chivor
• Kaweco AL Sport - J Herbin Poussiere del lune
• Kaweco AL sport - Kaweco purple 

 

The Kawecos and the Sailor were splurges over the last week.   I’ve wanted a Sailor for a couple of months and with the prices going up I pulled the trigger.  It’s a lovely pen in F with just the write amount of feedback.  

 

 

[Victorian2001]

8 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

I think, IIRC, some of the "earlier M200/205s were somewhat translucent. If held up to the light one could gauge how much ink remained in the barrel.

 

Totally understand the cleaning issue. It's annoying - imo.

Are you aware that the nib easily unscrews from the barrel and allows you to flush out and dry the interior completely?

That's one of the things I particularly like about the Pelikan AND Esterbrook pens.

 

Yes, I know about the nib section. It is nifty. I think it is the size and weight of the pen which makes me think that it is not worth the faff as it just is not right for me. When I have found my size pen I think a piston mechanism will be something I am actually interested in using. Thanks for your comments 

[Victorian2001]

11 hours ago, Ceilidh said:

How it feels in your hand is very personal, and if it's not for you, then it's not for you. You might find one of the larger Pelikans more suitable. But they are the easiest of all pens to clean. Unscrew the nib unit, rinse the barrel, and rinse (careful not to drop!) the nib unit. 

The Pelikan M800 is supposed to be a good size, as Hemingway Jones points out on his Youtube. But cannot help feel that I should save toward an M1000.

[USG]

On 2/1/2026 at 9:31 AM, InkyProf said:

• Leonardo Momento Zero "Pausilya," flex <EF> steel JoWo nib, with Teranishi Traveling Sepia. <snip> The nib, unfortunately, required some adjustment, because the nib slit was cut off-center, meaning that the two halves of the tipping are asymmetrical. I think I've got it working adequately, but, honestly, I'm annoyed that this passed QC, and I'll ask for a replacement if it gives me problems.

 

That's really unacceptable, don't you think?  A couple of years ago I ordered a Furore with two nibs, a medium and a stub.  Both nibs were horrible.  The stub felt like it was writing with the rough end of a nib that lost its tipping material.  Leonardo replaced both nibs.

 

On 1/31/2026 at 10:47 PM, Russprechtl said:

One of my new favorites today.... Black Pilot Custom 743 F Nib with Monteverde Horizon Blue.

 

 

How do you like Horizon Blue in your 743?  Not to wet?  I have a 743 SF that needs a new ink and I have Horizon Blue..humm.

Any Chance of a writing sample?

 

On 1/31/2026 at 1:27 PM, Penguincollector said:

  Today I am writing with a cute modern Parker IM F from the Last Frontier series in the Submerge pattern. It is inked with Parker Penman Ruby that I added some blue holographic mica powder to. 

 

Haha, you always come up with cool must see ink combos. 

You know I'm going to ask for a writing sample.... 😀👍

 

On 2/2/2026 at 6:28 PM, lamarax said:

Today was the opening of the Carnival season:

 

 

🥳

 

Hi Lamarax, I couldn't let your pen go by without a 👍  😀

 

On 2/5/2026 at 12:10 PM, Penguincollector said:

   I like using Turquoise ink on Thursdays, I visualize days as colors for some reason. Monday is red, Tuesday is orange, Wednesday is green, Friday is blue, Saturday is purple, Sunday is grey or black. So my Thursday pens are a generic Chinese piston that I made a fine italic inked with Wearingeul Robinson Crusoe (thank you, @Lithium466!) with some gold mica added, and the very fine nibbed Ciselé Elite with Colorverse Dokdo. Both of these are very close to running out of ink, so I may end up with another pen by end of day. 

 

Wow................  Just Wow............   😄

 

On 2/5/2026 at 4:13 PM, zmija said:

149

 

 

I love nib pics, thank you Zmija 😀👍

 

On 2/6/2026 at 12:08 PM, Penguincollector said:

  That is definitely a possibility. I see music in color, and sometimes certain colors can really affect my mood. I have a really good memory for certain things, and terrible for others. I’m a good test taker and love learning. 

 

Haha, and now you see music in color!   I wish I could do that.

I remember reading somewhere that Red is a mildly stimulating color.  How does it affect you?

 

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Apologies for my tardiness.  I'm trying to catch up.  I had a massive blue screen computer crash that took a sleepless week to recover from.  

 

[InkyProf]

8 hours ago, USG said:

 

That's really unacceptable, don't you think?

Yes, and now that I’ve been writing with the pen a little, I think I’ll try to get it replaced, though I certainly hope I can do that without having to send the whole pen back to Italy (I bought it from Stilo & Stile). Maybe Leonardo’s US distributor can help.

[Gloucesterman]

1 hour ago, InkyProf said:

Yes, and now that I’ve been writing with the pen a little, I think I’ll try to get it replaced, though I certainly hope I can do that without having to send the whole pen back to Italy (I bought it from Stilo & Stile). Maybe Leonardo’s US distributor can help.

Please keep us informed. One of the reasons that I rarely, if ever, buy from an overseas vendor is because it's such a headache if there's a problem with what I receive. Especially in today's Bureaucratic Systematic environment.