Pen/Ink/Paper Collecting Thread

That's what's good about living in France. Cheap Rhodia/Clairefontaine notebooks are available everywhere with exceptional paper quality. A6 Rhodiarama hardcover webnotebooks are 5€

 

"ivory brushed vellum paper" dayummmm fancy for 5 euro! amazon US sells them for 20 USD lmao.

 

A bit of an update

90% of my writing has been with TWSBI + Sailor Seiboku. I’m very happy with this combo when paper quality is unknown. Bleeding and feathering is minimal on the garbage administrative forms I fill out.

I also wanted to share that this is excellent ink for archiving.



This is a complex math problem I was doodling along with whatever random stuff I felt like writing. The paper is a generic super market branded sheet but it’s pretty good at 90gsm and I suspect it was produced by Clairfontaine. I had a bit of a water spill but this allows me demonstrate that the handwriting is completely intact. If this was something important I could dry this out and save it without a problem. At least long enough to copy the information

The kids are back in school too and while shopping I saw a 3€ BIC fountain pen for kids that I bought for my son. It has an easy fill cartridge mechanism that I haven’t seen before

 

I got a sample of KWZ's iron gall turquoise, and it is very nice, but I keep hearing such noise from people about how iron gall will corrode this and that and requires extra vigilance and cleaning. I'm not particularly concerned with waterproofing so I haven't purchased a full bottle.

I've mostly stabilized my collection of regular writers: A vintage Pelikan 400NN with oblique fine nib, vintage Pelikan 140 with fine nib (both 14k semi-flex), a Lamy 2000 with F nib, a Sailor 1911L with MF nib, an Ensso Piuma with a F nib, a Pilot Prera with a stub that I've converted to an eyedropper, and a TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR with M nib. I also have a year long course starting at the end of October that requires a journal, so I got a year long undated planner from Sterling Ink, which uses Tomoe River Paper (I use their planners for my regular work/daily life), and I got a Platinum Procyon in M for a solid writer that won't break my heart if something happens to it.

I do have a few other assorted pens, mostly Chinese ones I got out of curiosity like the Jinhao 9019, Jinhao 82, and Jinhao 80 with a genuine Lamy cursive nib swapped onto it. I got a Madison and a Milano from Osprey with a wide assortment of nibs, from ultraflex and zebra G to stubs, architects, and standard F and M, but they've really been mostly trouble. Something about the converters they use seem to collect the ink at the bottom of the converter, even when the pen is turned over to write. I would not recommend, even though the Milano is a very nice ebonite body for not a ton of money.

I also have a pair of Lamy Safaris and an Al-Star coming because I found a deal on them for about $10 each, so figured why not.

I've determined my favorite papers to use are Rhodia and Tomoe River, Rhodia being best for smooth writing with no ghosting at all, and Tomoe River has simply the best writing experience I've encountered so far but does have noticeable ghosting. Regalia paper has also been interesting but takes a long time for ink to dry on it, so I don't use it as often.

 

Generic picture, but I recently got a Tactile Turn Bolt Action (Standard). Might have gone with the slim size if I were to do it all over again, but no complaints.

Made out of titanium, solid construction, the bolt action is a great fidget toy, and if you look closely you'll see the finely machined ridges up and down the pen that give it a great grippy feel.

It also has a ton of compatible ink cartridges, but comes stock with a very cheap, affordable, and widely available Pilot G2 refill. You can switch away from gel ink and go rollerball if that's your thing.

 

I have lusted after Tactile Turn but got a Bastion in aluminum instead. I bet that TT feels amazing in the hand.

 

I bought a few bolt action pens the last year. The cheaper ones aren't worth commenting on but the Nottingham Nottabolt (in copper) and the Billetspin Tumbled Titanium are pretty sweet. The latter has the most interesting action (straight sideways and "clicks" into place somehow; no "J" movement). I wanted a Tactile Turn as well but figured these two were enough for now...

Also stock photos as they're at work:

 

Just wanted to mention that today is the last day of a North American sale of Sailor gear. I ordered a couple things at Goulet Pens that I’ll review

How do you like the Sailor 1911L @Merrick ?

 

It's neck and neck with my Lamy 2000 for my favorite pen spot. The L in particular is almost the perfect size for my hand (although I'd still love to try the King of Pens when I win the lottery). Mine has the MF nib and every time I write with it, it feels like the absolute perfect line width. If the Lamy 2000 and this 1911L were the only pens I'd ever be allowed to use again, I'd be content.

I got in a fun oddity, a Wing Sung 601a with a fude nib. The 601 line is a clone of the Parker 51, complete with fully functional and new production vacumatic filler. The regular 601 perfectly replicates the Parker (well, perfectly in everything but production and nib quality), while the 601a has an uncovered nib. I ordered mine with a Chinese fude nib which has an upturned end, it writes like a more subtle architect grind. It was $20 on Aliexpress. It's not an amazing pen, there are so many telltale signs that this is a much lower quality pen than an actual Parker 51. The threads on the blind cap are way too rough and difficult to turn, the plastic feels cheap, the cap makes a horrible scratching sound when I cap it. But the vacumatic filler is undeniably fun and it sure beats paying $150+ for a real Parker 51 when I really just wanted to try the filler out.

They do have a Flighter version made of metal that looks to be higher quality, but I couldn't get that one with the fude nib, and I don't feel inspired enough to pick up the Flighter for another $20. One day I will spring for a proper restored vintage vacumatic 51, but this will be a fun pen to pass the time with until I do.

 

This is why I want to get the Jinhao x159. It’s probably the only big pen (with #8 nib) that I can get for cheap. I can see what it feels like before going full hog on the King of Pens or Namiki Emperor

MF seems like a good line width for me too. It’s well known that Japanese line widths are much thinner than western so MF is a bit closer to the Waterman F that I’m used to. Here’s a table I found that might be handy for anyone here:



random edit: I was today years old when I found out Montblanc is a German company. I assumed it was French (or Swiss) this whole time

 

The Sailor 1911L just vanishes whenever I use it, it's the best pen I've owned yet for just having the right unposted length and girth for my hand; even the Montblanc 146 (never owned but tried several times) doesn't quite manage the same. Doubly happy I have one with a MF Naginata-togi nib by Nagahara the elder (RIP), albeit cracked (sorry)— it's a remarkable nib for sketching and is actually what I used for some work you guys might have seen on the forum lmao.

The KoP is overly large, but I've got tiny hands; hopefully you'll have better luck. Sigh.


Jinhao's always had pretty sketch nib QC issues, but once you get past those either via luck or tuning, they make for remarkable beater pens. I kinda prefer Baoer for their aesthetics, but Jinhao's got more range to their designs.

 

I think if you buy from somewhere like Goulet Pens they only sell the Jinhao pens that have passed their own internal QC. If you buy direct from China it’s so cheap that people typically buy a bunch and keep the best ones

 

@Lyander - if you have cracked nibs I came across a nibsmith in Japan that does repairs. His page is all Japanese so I don’t know how that will work but he apparently ships internationally

https://maestrito-repair.com/

Here’s an example of his work

https://www.ddinstagram.com/p/CvZqouhp8ZY/

 

That's brilliant, really appreciate your taking the time to look a repair shop up! Wasn't much a fan of how Mottishaw apparently leaves the undersides of the nibs roughly finished (I am anal about the weirdest things), which is one of the main reasons I've hesitated to get the Naginata nib repaired. I'll keep them in mind, have a bunch of other expenses that I need to prioritise just now so hopefully he'll still be taking work in a while.

 

Get the Jinhao 9019 instead. It has better tolerances than the x159 and comes with a massive converter to take advantage of the larger pen body. Plus it doesn’t look like a 149 knockoff.

 

zut j’ai raté le coche, I left France on the 2nd of Septembre, unfortunately my son wrecks or loses his pens like others change their undies, would have been neat to buy some.

 

Speaking of the King of Pen, guess I didn’t have to win the lottery after all because there’s a listing from Amazon Japan on Amazon US for $370: https://a.co/d/2oPRM6l

Should get it in two weeks.

 

I guess Sailor is my brand now, because I just ordered two more. I just found out about the Profit Light models, which have 1911S bodies with 14k nibs, and that some of the Shikiori models, which use the Pro Gear Slim body, also have 14k nibs. The thing is that both the Light and the 14k Shikiori pens can be found for $60-$70. $60 for a Sailor gold nib? Yeah, I’m not passing that up.

That will make five Sailors total when all the new ones arrive:
Sailor Profit King of Pen (M)
Sailor 1911L (MF)
Sailor 1911 Realo (M)
Sailor Profit Light (B)
Sailor Shikiori (M)

That is by far the most pens I have by a single brand. I have three Jinhao models, the 80, 82, and 9019, and two vintage Pelikans, the 140 and 400NN, and other than that I don’t feel the urge to collect any other brands. But I just cannot resist Sailor.

 

King of Pens—wow. Based on the name I thought the body of the pen would be gargantuan, but it’s more like a 1911L Plus, which is a good thing. The nib is big and beautiful and writes with incredible smoothness that doesn’t feel slippery, and with just the slightest touch of feedback. This is going to be my go to pen for a home. Truly a luxurious writing experience.