Pen/Ink/Paper Collecting Thread

Discussion in 'Random Thoughts' started by Dr. Higgs, Feb 22, 2016.

  1. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    I have a Stipula Passaporto, and it's awesome. Sadly, I don't think they make them any more.

    Here are some pictures (not of mine, from Them Interwebs):

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    It's a really lovely, elegant bit of minimal design. No complex piston- fill it with a dropper. The pen seals well, and doesn't leak. The tiny leaf on the band stops it from rolling across the table, which is oddly satisfying. When closed, the pen is absolutely tiny. When you post the cap, it becomes big enough to use comfortably, even for my shovel-like hands.

    They were hard to find, even when they were made- I had to buy one from an Italian dealer- but it was worth every penny.
     
    Last edited: Oct 27, 2016
  2. Dr. Higgs

    Dr. Higgs Boson - Member

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    That Stipula is really nice! I think special editions of the passaporto still pop up on Massdrop once in a while if you need any more colors for your collection :D

    Have you tried the Kaweco Sport or Lilliput as well? They're both awesome pocket pen options, and the new lilliput supra looks cool too.

    Today I've got a Field Notes Lunacy edition notebook and a titanium Tactile Turn Gist w/ Diamine Denim:
    [​IMG]
     
  3. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Awwh, man, I should probably stop tracking this thread. Nice pens and notebooks are terribly hard to resist. Love that notebook, @Dr. Higgs.
     
  4. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    Please post some pictures with something you've written with those beauties! Good handwriting these days is about as rare as these pens.
     
  5. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    That's me out, then- I write like a GP. Doesn't mean that I don't enjoy using a fountain pen occasionally, but it doesn't usually give others aesthetic chills :)
     
  6. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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  7. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Very nice, I shall warn a friend who is jealous of mine :)
     
  8. FallingObjects

    FallingObjects Pay It Forward

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    [​IMG]

    My modest collection!

    Got an inexpensive Sheaffer with a converter in it. The Kon-Peki has more than lasted me up till this point quite nicely for my graduate studies, but I felt like a change in colour so I swapped to writing my notes in red ink. Handwriting has noticeably improved throughout my notebook throughout the year. Can't thank my best friend enough for getting me into them; fountain pens make 6 hour days of nothing but note taking much more tolerable on the ol' metacarpals.
     
  9. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I had a Sheaffer back in about 1972. I lost every decent pen I ever had. Same with cigarette lighters, back in smoking days: cost me a lot before I learnt to buy the cheap, plastic throw-away ones! But I have a bottle of Parker Quink Ink, turquoise (that was one of my schoolboy eccentricities: the teachers could not say it wasn't blue) that dates back to... Hmmm, 1960-something! Haven't been able to get the top off it for a few decades though.

    Lovely. In about 1970, I had a Rotring mechanical pencil with an unusual mechanism. One fed the lead by bending the pen in the middle. Nobody else could ever work it out. It cost a ridiculous-to-me amount of money --- and I lost it. And I never saw such a thing ever again.

    Somewhere, I think I still have my 1967-impulse-buy 9h pencil. I don't think it ever needed sharpening. The lead never wore down!
     
  10. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    Huh, so there was a pen thread :p

    Started collecting fountain pens back in late 2011 or so, but thanks to college and stupid necessities I haven't had much room in the budget for very many nice pens. I seem to have a preference for Japanese pens, but Italian makes are certainly pretty.

    I need more Omas :/

    Anyway, here's a quick pic of my current faves plus a pair of Grados I used to have.

    [​IMG]

    Kon-Peki is certainly a nice ink, and I love using it for doodles and such, but Asa-Gao has to be my favourite Iroshizuku ink with maybe Ina-Ho as a runner-up because of its unique colour.

    Also, awesome Eboya @Stapsy! Been meaning to try one out, but no one I know's purchased one yet. Is that a model with the Japanese eyedropper system? How's the balance in-hand? Also, do they still use those generic Bock nibs? That was about my only real beef with them; they're great pens, and deserve their own design at least.

    EDIT: reuploaded vanished image.
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2020
  11. Stapsy

    Stapsy Friend

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    I spy an Omas, an M600, and a Nakaya?

    The Eboya is awesome! It is by far my favorite pen. Still a generic Bock nib, but I don't find anything wrong with that. I think it adds to the slightly utilitarian look and feel of the pen. It also has the Mottishaw flex modification which makes it even more fun to write with. The feel in hand is fantastic. It isn't too heavy and the large size makes it very comfortable.

    I decided not to go with the Japanese eyedropper because I tend to use the pen frequently for short periods of time. Adding in the extra step of opening the valve on the bottom didn't seem very practical. I also like that the converter has a smaller volume and is easy to clean. Makes it much easier to try out different ink.
     
  12. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    Sorry, forgot to identify em (L to R):
    Omas 360 "Vintage" LE Smoke
    Nakaya Portable Writer in Midori Ishime
    Pelikan M101N Brown SE

    You were only a bit off with the Pelikan. I do wish it were a larger size, but the pretty material makes up for it!

    I suppose having a generic nib isn't bad in and of itself, but I just don't like Bock's logo, haha. I'm considering getting a custom Newton and having Hakumin Urushi do some fancy lacquer work for my next pen— that'll involve some penny pinching.

    Mottishaw does excellent work adding flex! My favourite would have to be on the Pilot FA nib, though the feed's a literal bottleneck. Makes me wonder if Joe Grasty's still taking custom feed orders. The dude's aftermarket ebonite feeds get great reviews it seems.
     
    Last edited: Apr 18, 2017
  13. HAL9000

    HAL9000 Almost "Made"

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    I have a Mottishawed Pelikan M1000... My favorite pen ever!
     
  14. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    What nib size? I find Mottishaw works great with finer nibs myself, though his stubs and CIs aren't anything to turn one's nose up at either (even if they are on the stricter side).
     
  15. HAL9000

    HAL9000 Almost "Made"

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    It's an EF made flexy
     
  16. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    In my school days it was obligatory to use a fountain pen. Work would would not be accepted in what we generically called "biro" back then.But guess what: the teachers used them! Biro was the ubiquitous ball point before Bic took over. It was "smarter" than Bic, being just a thin cylinder.

    Hah! Maybe it was the need to have something with which to rewind cassettes that cemented the position of Bic in the market!
     
  17. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    That'd be it (haha), plus I think manifold nibs weren't quite as good with carbon copies as BICs were? I talked with my grandma about this some time ago and she feels the advent of the rollerball/ballpen was mostly a question of convenience, as FPs required a bit too much care to use and maintain. Also, losing a ballpen would be nothing for most people, whereas losing a gold-nibbed pen could be catastrophic.

    I got into fountain pens because I thought they were cool and would help improve my penmanship (not to mention a sentimental story involving my grandpa and a Sheaffer Imperial IV desk pen), but I get the feeling being forced to use one would have put me off them, cool factor notwithstanding.

    P.S.
    So it'd be chunky FPs for Betamax and VHS then? I'm old enough to have used those! :))

    Nice! Mind if I ask for a writing sample? Love the springy M1000 nibs, but I've yet to own one; the huge body is a bit of a turn-off. Would be interesting to see how much more line variation he'll have added.


    Cheers,

    Kevin
     
  18. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I have no idea, now, whether or not a fountain pen improves handwriting or not. Unless one is writing in an italic script, I wouldn't have thought so --- but we were told so back in the 50s/early-60s and we had to use them. Otherwise, carbon copies and convenience made ball-point pens the every-day choice of all but the real-pen enthusiasts even in those days.
     
  19. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    Common consensus seems to be that because writing with a fountain pen is a more involved process (i.e. making sure you don't rotate the nib too far off its sweet spot or put too much pressure on it), you end up being more mindful of your actual writing. I know that was the case for me; back when all I used were ballpens (or Biros, if you prefer), I'd dash through my jotting notes and end up with barely legible claptrap. My school notes are just as bad, to be perfectly honest, but at least I can churn out intelligible writing on a fairly consistent basis nowadays.
     
  20. laevi

    laevi Friend

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    I got tired of using free ballpoint pens. They required too much pressure to write, and people never returned them after borrowing them. I saw an article in a magazine for the Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens, and for not much more, I decided to get the Pilot Metropolitan with a fine nib ($13).

    Huge difference in writing effort!! The Pilot Metro was so easy to write with, so effortless. I then picked up a Platinum Preppy with a fine nib (~$5). Regrettably, it fell out of my pocket somewhere. After that loss, I felt uncomfortable losing a $5 pen, especially if it became a habit, so I picked up an assortment of Chinese fountain pens from eBay, and for now, I am using the Jinhao 599 ($1.44) with extra fine nib as my daily driver.

    I write on cheap copy paper with cheap Parker Quink ink (Amazon $7/60 mL). I still carry a couple of ballpoint pens around for backup, but I much prefer using a fountain pen. I like that I have a "stylish" fountain pen that I enjoy writing with and looking at, and overall cost of use would be cheaper than some of nicer, common disposable pens.

    [​IMG]

    (from left to right)
    Pilot Metropolitan with fine nib ($13)
    Jinhao X450 with medium nib ($1.80)
    Hero 901 with medium nib ($1.96)
    Jinhao X750 with medium nib ($2.61)
    Jinhao 599 with extra fine nib ($1.44)
    Jinhao 611 with fine nib ($2.99)
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2017

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