Sunday Reads From Pens To Ink To Puppies

Who can resist puppies?

• Puppy Bouquet?
• Two more ink brands to consider: Kyonooto and Kyo-iro (Caught my interest at Amazon. With free shipping, it’s worth considering.)
• Pen Chalet: Samson Graf Fountain Pen Nib Paper Clip
• ALMA Uncovers Secrets of Giant Space Blob
• From fountain pens to rare coins, the everyday items that prove to be surprisingly valuable
• Fountain Pens Making A Comeback
• Leigh introduces Extrafiner fountain pen stickers

Brief Update On The Pilot Metropolitan

Sometimes a pen works so well with an ink that nothing else seems right for it. Who can argue with success? But it can pay to be open to change.

Last night the Pilot MR Metropolitan Medium was ready for another refill and begged for a different color. Pilot Blue Black has performed so well that at first I rejected the request. But after a bath, the pen was ripe for a new ink. We settled on green to expand the colors in my rotation. Sailor Tokiwa-matsu has had little use and is subdued enough to suit my go-everywhere pen. So after a fill, we went for a spin.

Not expecting the smooth flow and ideal performance of Pilot BBk, I was delighted to find Tokiwa-matsu quite nearly its equal. But wait. Does that mean the Metro performed equally well with both inks? Indeed.

Now it’s time to acquire a second one to see if my Metro medium nib is uncommon or typical. Buying another pen is easy. The hard part is settling on the color. Choices, choices, choices, but that is a very good thing.

Conklin Duragraph Deal- 24 Hours Only

Fountain Pen Hospital has a terrific deal until noon Wednesday on the Cracked Ice Conklin Duragraph fountain pen. A stub in that color has been in my collection since last year and has earned significant time in my rotation. At this price, purchasing a second is tempting, very tempting…

Exclusive Noodler’s Inks Now Available

Recently, Luxury Brands released several Noodler’s inks to the U.S. market that were previously exclusive to other countries. The names may be a bit exotic, but the colors are vivid and varied.

• Rachmaninoff is a very bright, intense pink. Grab your sunglasses to look at this one.
• Empire Red is a toned down blue-red. When a bright red would overpower, this more subtle color will do.
• Mata Hari’s Cordial is a dark mid-range purple. It says purple, but doesn’t shout it.
• Upper Ganges Blue leans teal though not overly so and could be considered all-purpose.
• Socrates is a violet that has a slightly dusky quality to it. Not muted exactly, but a step removed from bright.

My Noodler’s Standard Flex pen is courting Mata Hari and Socrates for its next fill so it must be in the mood for purple. If it were up to me, Upper Ganges would get the call, but sometimes it’s best to let the pen do the choosing. Keeps them happy and productive when the pen and ink don’t fight each other.

Currently, Pen Chalet offers all of these inks except Empire Red. So that would be a good place to start if these colors intrigue you.

#1 Fountain Pen On Amazon

Clicking around Amazon can be dangerous. They make it far too easy to find things I never new I wanted much less needed. Today while price shopping ink, Amazon offered to share with me the name of their #1 fountain pen.

Can you guess which one it is?

Hints:

• It is a black pen. That’s as expected.
• It has a fine nib. That’s the size most Western pen users start with even if they find other sizes to be more interesting as they get accustomed to using fountain pens.
• The maker is Asian which was a surprise. But maybe not.
• Fit and finish are excellent for an entry-level pen.
• It comes in a variety of colors.

That’s a lot of hints. What is your guess? Scroll down for the answer.

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The winner is the Pilot Metropolitan! Who knew it was that popular? Admittedly, mine is getting a ton of use and I would like a second one for ink testing. But #1? Kudos to Pilot for making such a terrific little pen.

Sunday Reads From Pens To Cursive

A few bits I ran across this past week…

• Leigh Reyes: Introducing journal guides!
• Fountain Pen Links
• Richard Binder: Are Modern Pens As Good As Old Ones?
• The Comeback of Cursive

Conklin Duragraph 1.1 mm stub

If you like what you see, the Duragraph is available at Amazon in blue, green and amber.

Big, Bad Nibs – One Year On

Sometimes it is useful to compare what works now to what worked in the past. An image of my wide nibs from a year ago turned up quite by accident and I realized how few of these pens were currently inked. Does that mean the others have fallen out of favor or they just aren’t good enough to remain in use?

The truth is that I’m fickle. Plus I’ve come to appreciate the reduced maintenance that attends a smaller rotation.

Consequently, only the TWSBI 580 1.1 stub, the Platinum #3776 Music Nib, and the Platinum Nice Pur Broad remain active. It’s an interesting group because both the nibs and pen sizes are varied. All to the good for writing and comfort.

But do these pens have the same tastes in ink? The TWSBI has been filled with Diamine Violet all year. The Platinum music nib is more likely to switch partners, but is especially suited to Diamine Sepia. The Nice Pur takes all inks well, though Platinum Pigment Rose Red might top its list with Noodler’s Black Swan in English Roses coming in a close second. Glad to see the pens getting along so well with some of my favorite inks.

Now that I look at it, my rotation has only two recently acquired pens, a Pilot Kakuno M with Diamine Mediterranean and a Pilot Metropolitan M with Pilot BBk. The lone older model is a 1970’s Pilot Elite Pocket Pen loaded with Noodler’s Black, the little black dress in my ink wardrobe.

A six pen rotation is all I need for personal use and it provides enough variety to make writing colorful and entertaining.

If something in my rotation appeals to you, check out the links below. The Platinum music nib at the link is the newer Century model since my smaller #3776 has become difficult to find.

• Diamine Violet, Mediterranean, Sepia
• Noodler’s Black
• Noodler’s Black Swan in English Roses
• Pilot Blue Black ink
• Pilot Kakuno M
• Pilot Metropolitan M
• Platinum #3776 Music Nib
• Platinum Century Nice Pur Broad
• Platinum Pigment Red Rose
• TWSBI Diamond 580 1.1 mm

The Pilot Elite ‘Isaac Newton’ can be found from time to time on eBay for roughly $100 to $150. One word of warning. Some of the Elites can have brittle plastic sections and crack easily just by inserting a converter. Otherwise, it’s a good model if you like the pocket pen form.