Jinhao 82 and Delike New Moon 2 Nibs

Jinhao 82 EF on the left and Delike New Moon 2 EF on the right. Working on a comparison post but will make a few comments now. The New Moon is a slightly larger pen and has a smoother nib. The Jinhao 82 EF is sharp and needs a very light touch. The Jinhao 82 F writes more like the New Moon EF but produces a slightly wider line. A Wing Sung 659 double nib EF/F is en route for a third participant in the comparison. Do you have a favorite among the three?

I asked Tessa to write with the Jinhao EF and F as well as the New Moon 2 EF and the bent nib. She has a heavier hand than mine and preferred the Jinhao F and the New Moon bent nib. I would not disagree though I will write with them for a few more weeks before stating a definitive preference.

Thank you @janinescribbles on Instagram for inspiring this comparison. I cannot match your gorgeous writing but I can write about the pens we both use.

If you want to see more photos or price these pens, here are some Amazon links to what they offer. Note that Inkophile is an associate and might earn a tiny commission if you purchase through these links.

Jinhao 82: Mixed Color F, 38 color options pack of two, one EF and one F

New Moon 2: Red Marble EF, Green Marble F

A Cheeky Pilot Kaküno

It was a rainy weekend lacking any charm until a long ignored Pilot Kaküno crept onto my desk where it joined a collage in a Traveler’s Notebook. Someday I will find an ink to match the cap and give it the attention it is due. Honestly, who can resist a nib like this?

Want A Gorgeous Pen?

Tada! This is the Magna Carta Sapphire Grand Fountain Pen and it is on sale at Pen Chalet. Isn’t it a beauty?

There’s A Problem With My Platinum Century Pen

My beautiful Platinum #3776 Century Nice has a problem. Due to the “Slip & Seal” mechanism, ink never dries out. The pen can lay idle for months and months and still write without hesitation. Knowing it is so trouble-free, I often forget it is inked. Not for the first time, it has been filled for so long that I have completely forgotten which ink is in it. My log has been no help. The ink is a medium brown that works very well with the rose gold appointments and medium nib. The combination is so well-matched that it bears repeating, if only I was certain of the ink.

After delving into my archives, I found a photo of the pen along with others in rotation a year ago that says at that time, it was filled with Noodler’s Kiowa Pecan. Can it really have been filled for a year and write perfectly without a single skip? Perhaps I have forgotten an ink change and that brings into question the ink that is currently in it. Is it NKP or something else?

It may not be Kiowa Pecan, but that ink will do for the next fill of the Platinum Century. Plus my recording of which pen is filled with which ink needs to more consistent. How do you keep track of pens and inks? Suggestions are welcome.

Featuring A Fude Nib

Did you know a fountain pen could produce such line variation? Click the image to see the brief demonstration.

Tweaking The Selection of Tools On My Desk

Does your pen-ink-paper rotation make you happy, really happy? Mine was good but needed a little tweaking in recent weeks. Reviews are in progress for the pens and the paper listed.

• Four Chinese pens, two fude, one fine and one extra-fine. The latter needed its nib swapped but is good now. The fine is on probation so we shall see about that one.
• In recent months, either a pen for testing (recently a Waldmann) or a Platinum Century has occupied the last slot in my five pen rotation. Perhaps a stub will be next.
• Inks are Iroshizuku syo-ro and kon-peki, Herbin Cafe des Iles, Diamine Merlot, Waterman Blue-Black, Sailor Tokiwa Matsu. Six but who’s counting?
• Tomoe River 52g journal, an inexpensive A5 notebook paper that is very good with FP ink and a planner with MD  paper.
• Uni Alpha Gel and a Tombow MONOgraph, both shaker mechanical pencils with 0.5mm HB Uni Nano Dia lead.
• Uni-ball Signo 307 Micro (0.5) when a fountain pen won’t do. It writes on glossy paper and is water resistant. There is one on my desk, one in my handbag and one next to my bed.
• Muji hard type black plastic eraser that doesn’t leave a pile of dust behind.
• Other tools include washi tape, an Exacto knife, stylus, clips, candle, watercolor palette, brush, and paper.

It took a few modifications to refine my current choices. In the last six months, I have tried a few brands of paper that were supposed to be FP-friendly but were not good for double-sided writing. Iroshizuku was an infrequent visitor, but is now a staple. Chinese pens were off my list for years but now dominate my current rotation. In mechanical pencils, wide to very wide soft leads have been replaced by 0.5mm HB. A shaker mechanism taxes my hand far less than the traditional clicker so two of those have earned slots.

My desk is more organized with less clutter and instead of spending time deciding what to use, I simply use what is at hand. That means I spend more time working and that is a very good thing.

Links are to products at Amazon. If you purchase there, Inkophile may earn a tiny commission. The Chinese pens might be available through eBay, but the shipping time can be lengthy if from China. Recent orders from two different sellers took a month each to arrive in California.

Neglected Pens And A Waterman Carene

Once in a while conversations trigger good ideas for posts and this is one of those occasions. In the past week, two pen friends mentioned the Waterman Carene which enticed me to give mine a new chance at life. In the past, it needed too much effort to use whether from a poor choice of inks or underwhelming flow. Regardless, everyone deserves a second chance and in this case, it proved to be a good decision.

My pen is a Waterman Carene Deluxe with a factory stub nib that came my way almost twelve years ago. Since Waterman no longer offers a stub for the Carene, this is an uncommon pen. It’s a little heavy but well balanced. The nib is very stiff and solid, but smooth, and with the right ink, a pleasure to use.

A second chance is what a lot of pens deserve. So many in my collection have had little use and too few opportunities to find a best ink and paper combination. Has that happened to you? With a hundred pens and hundreds of inks, there is no way every one of them could receive the attention it deserves. So I am going to slowly work my way through the most promising prospects starting with stubs and italics. The Carene is just the beginning.