Sunday Reads: Pen Stuff And A Cat Pretzel

Pen stuff especially for people in the U.S. hungover from reverting to Standard Time. It shouldn’t happen to a dog and in Macy’s case it didn’t. She was ready for her first trip outside at 7am on this overcast Sunday morning. Then she promptly took a nap and left me to my own devices, the phone and laptop. At least I discovered some pen links to share.

• Quick Fountain Pen Review: Noodler’s Naponset Music Nib
• Fountain pen blog: My haul from the London Pen Show, 2018.
• Janet Salmons: Academic Writing with Pen in Hand
• Times of India: Fountain pens still ink an indelible signature in Hyderabad
• From the Pen Cup: LAMY in NYC: A Visit In Which Some Secrets Are Revealed

 

I just wanted a pretzel 🥨 pic.twitter.com/xkugNFWwx1

— ANIMALS R US (@Animal_R_Us) November 2, 2018

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Fountain Pens Are Cool

Last week, HisNibs.com shared a link to a Bloomberg article about fountain pen ink that stated, “Worldwide, fountain pen sales are forecast to total $1.15 billion this year, up 3 percent from 2017 and almost 31 percent from a decade ago, according to market-research company Euromonitor International.” Yes, fountain pens are cool and so is ink.

An inkophile needs a stable of pens to test and compare several colors at the same time. A five-pen rotation works well for me and for a reasonable investment, these are some of my favorite models.

• Pilot Metropolitan – My three are good writers, but might seem slender in a large hand.
• Pilot Kakuno – Mine has a good nib and adds virtually no weight to my kit.
• Platinum Plaisir – Good nibs and attractive colors. Slightly larger than the Metropolitan.
• Kaweco Sport – Modern pocket pen works well in small spaces. Nibs can be swapped.
• TWSBI Eco – Small nib and simple design, but folks swear by the Eco. The Diamond 580 is my preferred model.
• Lamy Safari – Sturdy build, but the grip is awkward for some users. Nibs can be good if finicky about ink. The Studio is my preferred model for an everyday pen.
• Nemosine Singularity – Good build for the price. My italics work best with well-lubricated inks.
• Conklin Duragraph – The stub nibs are smooth and juicy. I liked the design and performance well enough to purchase two.

Although I have owned a few inexpensive Chinese pens that wrote well enough, most brands have been too inconsistent to recommend. However, for the modest investment, they could be worth the gamble. Amazon and eBay offer quite a few, but you might have better luck at His Nibs.

The Pilot Metropolitan has emerged as my favorite fountain pen for ink testing because it cleans easily and flows well with every ink. The Duragraph with its wide nib is good for general writing so it will often get filled with an ink I would use for a journal or correspondence. The Kakuno or the Singularity come out to play when aqua ink is on the menu. The Nova Orange Plaisir is happy with orange ink or sometimes a fill of Noodler’s Lexington Gray. Either way, it makes my desk look cheerful.

My current pen rotation for testing ink includes

• Silver Pilot Metropolitan – green ink
• Aqua Pilot Metropolitan, Kakuno, or Nemosine Singularity – blue/aqua ink
• Plaisir – red/orange ink
• TWSBI – purple/burgundy ink
• Duragraph – black/brown ink

That makes five pens for under $150. Or a mix of Metropolitans and Plasirs could be put together for less than $75. Add a selection of ink samples and you are on your way to being a collector. Now wasn’t that easy!

Though I have never needed to make a return, do purchase where that would be easy. Low-end pens can be imperfect by some accounts though I suspect that is less common with the pens on my list.

Most of the links are to Amazon from which Inkophile receives a tiny commission when you buy within 24 hours of clicking the link. Thank you for your support.

 

Sunday Reads: Ink, Pens And Paper

A few on-topic links…

• The Well-Appointed Desk: Eye Candy: Penlux Inks (My fave is Rouge.)
• Fountain Pen Follies: Five Months: an Extended Test of Platinum Carbon Black Pigment Ink
• The Pelikan’s Perch: News: Pelikan Raises U.S. Prices
• The Pencilcase Blog: Review: Scribo Write Here Fountain Pen
• inksharks: review: diamine teal (Mirrors my own experience.)
• Hand Over That Pen: Review: Platinum Izumo (Soratame, Broad Nib)
• The Well-Appointed Desk: Planner Review: Easy Tiger Pocket Planner

From the archives:

Sunday Reads: Searchable Handwritten Notes And Pen Links

Absolutely any fountain pen user can make use of the first article. Evernote has been in my arsenal for years, but archiving handwritten notes elevates it to a whole new level of usefulness.

• dottotech: Make your handwritten journal searchable with Evernote
• Fountain Pen Quest: A Medium Bias
• Pen Chalet: Colorverse Wisdom of Trees Methuselah Grove Ink (Don’t you just love the exotic name?)
• Teoh: How Waterproof is Noodlers Bulletproof Black Ink? (Read some of the comments for what others have experienced.)
• The Pen Addict: Maruman Into-One Binder Review
• The Gentleman Stationer: Testing Out Tester Pens

From the archives:

Sunday Reads: Pen, Paper, Ink, and Pretty Pit Bulls

Curious about the new TWSBI Go? Pure Pens has the details for you. Mountain of Ink explains ink properties and The Well-Appointed Desk discovered a couple of worthy comp books. As if I need more paper…

• The Well-Appointed Desk: Pen Review: Platinum PTL 5000A Balance Fountain Pen
• Nib Grinder (In case you have a nib that needs tuning.)
• Pure Pens reviews the brand new TWSBI Go
• Mountain of Ink: Fountain Pen Ink Properties
• The Well-Appointed Desk: Paper Review: Composition Books (Loved the form since high school.)
• This Photographer Is Changing People’s Perceptions of Pit Bulls

Sunday Reads: Pen Links And A Ninja Dog

I think the video proves something, but I’m not sure what…

• Pen Chalet: 5 Common Fountain Pen Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them!
• Teoh: Ink Convertors & Cartridges of Fountain Pens (Quick Guide)
• Bloomberg: Richard Mille Made a $105,000 Mechanical Fountain Pen
• The Writing Cooperative: Fountain Pens in the Creative Process
• Make Use Of: Why You Should Stop Using Facebook in 2018 (Worth considering if you are not a FB fan.)

Ninja dog pic.twitter.com/3tbnYroQjk

— Nature is Amazing 🌴 (@AMAZlNGNATURE) July 27, 2018

Sunday Reads: Flex Nibs, Ink, And Stifflexible

Pen links and other goodies…

• The Inkluminati: Fountain Pen Revolution flex nibs and pens
• Draw Tip Tuesday – How to Draw Perspective (A short video that will make it easy to add perspective to your doodles.)
• Openbook wants to take on Facebook
• As fake social media posts explode, watch how easy it is to manipulate posts without photo-editors
• Where were you?
• Rachel’s Reflections: Wendy Van Camp on Fountain Pens in the Creative Process
• The Well-Appointed Desk: Ink Review: Robert Oster Australian Opal Mauve
• My Pen Needs Ink: Giuliano Mazzuoli Stifflexible Notebook Review

Four years on, these writing tools remain favorites.

 

Clairefontaine, Stillman & Birn, Platinum #3776 Century Nice and Nice Pur, Conklin Durograph Stub, Iroshizuku, J. Herbin, Noodler’s Ink, Sailor Ink, Tomoe River paper.