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?
Fountain pens can be finicky, troublesome, evil tools – or not. It only takes a few simple tips to make that “or not” into a reality.
Current ink trends favor highly saturated colors as well as dual colors and metallic sheen. Many of these inks have a greater risk for clogging without regular use and frequent cleaning. There will be exceptions, but my observations and recommendations are intended to make fountain pens easy and uncomplicated to use.
If you don’t want to waste even a smidge of ink, write until there is no more color coming from the nib. Then clean it as soon as possible. Writing in a restaurant? Ask for an extra glass of water and use it to suck up and expel enough water to rinse most of the ink from your pen. Your server may think you are eccentric, but that’s okay. Your happy pen is worth the effort.
Happy pens provide the best writing experience. They start immediately, flow without a hiccup, work beautifully with a variety of inks, and come clean without ado.
If you want some suggestions for low maintenance, colorful inks, check out my Short List of Easy Inks.
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.
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
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.
The Pilot Kaküno is one of my favorite bargain fountain pens. The white barrel with a soft blue cap is just right for a number of blue inks and looks rather sassy with orange. Pink and magenta are attractive colors for it, too. It writes well and is the most lightweight pen in my collection. That is all to the good.
While perusing Amazon for other items, I discovered the blue Kaküno has earned an Amazon’s Choice ranking and is currently listed at less that $10 for either the fine or the medium nib. I ordered mine with a three-pack of CON-50 converters though the pen comes with a cartridge that can be refilled via pipette or syringe.
Hey, what’s not to like about a nib that winks at you!
Did you know Captain Kirk used to show horses? I saw him once and he was very good. He is a man of many talents and earns high marks for putting together a silent charity auction of entertainment memorabilia. Perhaps an item or two will interest you…
The Pilot Kakuno has a delightful expression, perfect to brighten any day.
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.
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.
The writing instruments on my desk needed a little exercise this morning.
Three inks are waiting for slots in my rotation: Pilot Blue-Black, Pelikan Violet and Diamine Vermillion. Pens to be determined. A turquoise or aqua ink will go in the Century Nice with its next fill. Diamine Marine has called dibs on a second Pilot Pocket Brush Pen though the Eco would show Marine to better advantage than the black barrel of the Pilot. It will all get sorted soon.
An Inkophile's Blog 
