Starting Over (kind of)

[FlyingClay]

Would a Diplomat Magnum compare, nib wise?  Those are much less.  Just wanting to try out the nib here, per your suggestion.

 

ETA - Or, maybe an 'Esteem' (Diplomat)?

Edited May 22, 2022 by FlyingClay

[A Smug Dill]

1 minute ago, FlyingClay said:

Would a Diplomat Magnum compare, nib wise?

 

No.

[A Smug Dill]

I can assure you I didn't just pull this out of thin air or from my exhaust vent, and I'm not going by badly outdated market intelligence, either; but don't ask me how and from where each can be acquired.

 

13 hours ago, FlyingClay said:

BTW - The <$100 is really just a guideline I picked out of thin air.  I can go over a little bit if I need to ,

 

The way I see it:

• Sailor pen with ‘medium’ size 14K gold F (or EF) nib — as which Profit Standard, Professional Gear Slim, and Promenade (as well as some other models) all qualify — is gettable for US$100.
• Platinum #3776 Century with 14K gold F nib is gettable for US$100.
• Pilot Custom 74 or Custom Heritage 91, with size #5 14K gold F (or EF) nib, is gettable for US$100.
• Pilot Elite 95S, with 14K gold (semi-hooded or ‘fingernail’) F or EF nib, is gettable for US$100.
• Pelikan M2xx with steel EF (or F, which I wouldn't trust to be fine enough) nib is gettable for US$100.
• Diplomat Excellence A² or Aero, with steel EF nib, was until as recently as two weeks ago, and will probably again be (some time before 2023), gettable for US$120. (Aero with F nib is still gettable.)
• Faber-Castell Ambition/Loom/Essentio with steel EF nib is gettable for significantly less than US$100.
• Lamy cp1 with EF nib is gettable for much less than US100.
• Aurora Ipsilon with steel EF nib should be gettable for US$100 (but where I looked is showing it as all sold out at the moment).
• Majohn A1 with EF nib (which unfortunately doesn't write all that finely) is gettable for much less than US$100.
• Opus 88 Demonstrator/Jazz/Omar with EF/F nib is gettable for less than US$100.
• Opus 88 Koloro (or Picnic, if you can still find New Old Stock) with EF/F nib is gettable for even less.
• Opus 88 Opera with EF/F nib is gettable for less than US$100.
• Fine Writing Instrument Planet series, or Wancher Crystal or Crystal II, should be gettable for significantly less than US$100 if you can (and know where to) find NOS units.
• FPR Revolution is gettable for significantly less than US$100, and you can buy and fit different feeds and different (regular, flex, ultra-flex) EF nibs on the pen for well under US$100 all up.
• Pilot Kaküno or Penmanship with steel EF nib (much less)
• HongDian 6013 and 517D with EF nib (much less)
• HongDian N1-S and N6 with EF nib (much less)
• PenBBS 308 (or 309, or even 355v2 if you really want) with SF nib is gettable for less than US$100, and you can probably get a spare REF nib to swap in at will as well for under that.
• Wing Sung 699 with EF nib (much less)

Now, obviously I don't mean get all of the above; but they're all candidates for a partial selection to cover as much ground for the “broader general foundation” as you're keen.

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

5 hours ago, FlyingClay said:

<Removing Parker IM off my list>

 

<Replacing with Parker 45 or 51>

 

Already added Wing Sung 601 to my list.  In fact, I've already got one in my 'shopping cart' to try out.  Should be here Monday.

 

ETA - DOH!!  Just got notified that my 601 order was canceled!  Pen wasn't in stock and won't be until late July.  Bummer!  Just since last night too!!

 
Not even in a different color?  Black?  Cocoa?

[FlyingClay]

@Sailor Kenshin Nope, I was already getting an off color (some teal color I didn't care for).  Picked up a 618.  Hope it's similar enough.

[Sailor Kenshin]

O dear.  I saw a couple of listings. 

 

 Here

 

And Here

 

Both had pens when I checked just now, but with longer delivery times.  Teal, but also black, dark green, gray.

 

PS, Sorry…it almost seems like I'm shoving 601s at you.  😅

[A Smug Dill]

12 hours ago, FlyingClay said:

Or, maybe an 'Esteem' (Diplomat)?

 

Fellow member @Jamerelbe has experience across a broad range of Diplomat models, and in fact has reviewed them on FPN, so you might want to look at what he has to say or has written. Or maybe ask @DvdRiet.

 

I don't have a Diplomat Esteem fountain pen, although I vaguely remember having one with a grey granite finish many years ago. I wasn't impressed with it, but then it probably didn't have an EF nib to suit me and allow (fair or favourable) comparison with the pens I liked; and I think it didn't seal well against ink evaporation. It must have been chucked out along the way, long before I returned to the hobby. In any case, that pen probably isn't a good exemplar of what the nibs on new Diplomat Esteem pens today are like.

 

I do know that the Esteem doesn't have the same type/size of nib as on the Excellence A², Aero and Elox; and I can endorse those larger nibs only from recent experience.

• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/364201-what-pens-are-you-using-today-in-2022/?do=findComment&comment=4530866
• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/366416-hello-from-adelaide-australia/?do=findComment&comment=4535870

 

[FlyingClay]

@Sailor Kenshin No worries.  I like those pens, and I'd like to try one...looking forward to it actually.

 

Yeah, I saw those examples, but I know from previous experience with Amazon that when there's a delivery date range like that it means they're coming from overseas (Asia), and the dates will probably be the latest in the range posted, hence my earlier 'end of July' statement.  These were the ones which were shown as available when the one I'd picked was canceled.  Couple the two together, and you likely see why I just held up.

[FlyingClay]

@A Smug Dill I'm convinced.  I definitely want the Diplomat, but I'm just not sure I want it right up front (as in like...right now).  I kind of see the pen as something I can work up to.  I am going to get some others first.  Thanks!

 

 

[A Smug Dill]

11 minutes ago, FlyingClay said:

I kind of see the pen as something I can work up to.  I am going to get some others first.

 

Sounds wise. How quickly and broadly do you want to build up your stable of pens?

[mtcn77]

On 5/21/2022 at 7:22 PM, A Smug Dill said:

I haven’t got one of those, but I do have several sub-US$100 Faber-Castell pens with EF nibs. F-C’s steel nibs deserve their reputation for being excellent. My recommendation is the Essentio Aluminium or, if you don’t like the look of the swollen cap, the Ambition; both pens use the same type of nibs (and nib units). The Essentio’s pen body is made in China, though, although the manufacturing quality is quite good (but the cap is a bit tacky), and the cap seal effectiveness is at least as good as that of the Ambition (which isn’t very good out-of-the-box, and takes ‘fixing’). I have the (also Chinese-made) Loom as well — several units of them, in fact — but I prefer the Essentio Aluminium’s ergonomics.

Thanks for great insight @A Smug Dill!

I wanted to elaborate on F-C's nibs. I have got a Loom and E-Motion. The E-Motion came out of alignment with shifted tines. Upon manually twisting them into the same plane, the pen became very wet and wide, a skipping gusher in fact. I detached the nib and put it on Loom and voila - it seems the feed has its own place in making the perfect nib.

I wanted to point out these nibs are very hard and springy however from the outset, the nibs are not placed in the unit long enough to enjoy them fully. It won't take out the bite out of a nib that has some feedback, but for the E-Motion nib now found on my Loom, it really sets it apart from its hardness in fully seated position.

The E-Motion nib came with glossiness to such an extent that there were no feedback in upstrokes - something I will appreciate from now on - the pen could recurve upstrokes and downstrokes effortlessly, making fast writing an instinct and also a conversation piece.

[chemgeek]

My approach was a bit different. I found in my initial exploration of FPs which nibs suited my typical writing best (western fine or Japanese medium), and which filling mechanisms I preferred (piston or vac-fill for capacity and reliability of ink flow). After that, I explored various manufacturers and nibs (gravitated mostly toward springier gold nibs), and purchased some well-made, lifetime writers that I'm still using after decades. I have other types of pens, but they are mostly for different nib sizes or for using "fun" inks I would never use in a routine or professional setting.