Forsete
Gold Member
Yeah. :/
I'm going to buy a Leuchtturm, I read a few reviews and they said these books hold up much better.
Or I'll just make my own notebook using my own paper.
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An Intro to Fountain Pens
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Yeah. :/
I'm going to buy a Leuchtturm, I read a few reviews and they said these books hold up much better.
Or I'll just make my own notebook using my own paper.
Or I'll just make my own notebook using my own paper.
Sounds like a plan. I have a sketchbook with nice paper in a huge awkward hardcover. It would be a cool to repurpose it. Maybe a copy shop can help me with saddle-staples and edge-trimming.
Whoever designed that bottle knew what they were doing. It makes a great ink even more awesome. The bottle is prettier than my perfume (and might actually be the same price).
Excellent post, and wonderful photos, too. I really like the natural aluminium finish - reminds me of the unpainted schemes the USAAF used during the Second World War.
No problem. I will have some more Iroshizuku-related content to post come Wednesday...
Yeah. :/
I'm going to buy a Leuchtturm, I read a few reviews and they said these books hold up much better.
Or I'll just make my own notebook using my own paper.
I'm a fan of Rhodia's Webnotebooks; they now come in quite the range of sizes and finishes, and, of course, have excellent paper inside.
And they're not only beautiful but practical too! Now if the ink inside smelt like Sailor's then it would be absolutely perfect! LOL. It's sad the line is now complete - no new colours to look forward to... Go on and make some limited editions, Pilot!
I'd have such a hard time if they had limited release colours - it's already tough not to collect the regular ones like inky pokemon. I was severely tempted by the Diamine flower box set, too. If Pilot did something like that, I'd be done for.
Forsete
Gold Member
Thanks!
I was looking at Rhodia, I will give them a try next paycheck.
Anyway I bought a bottle of ink (I have two Quink from before, but more ink cant hurt right?).
Lamy turquoise. I really like the color.
So I needed to refill the cartridge that came with the pen, best way is via a syringe.
However, apparently when you live in a communist country you need more or less a licence to buy a syringe at the pharmacy. They would only sell the syringe without the needle. WHAT GOOD IS THAT?
Luckily I had some old modelers building glue which featured a needle. I cut that off and well you can see yourselves what it looks like. But at least it works and I didnt spill a drop of ink!
Psst, dont tell the government that I put a needle on the syringe. I might be thrown in jail.
It's a shame Pilot haven't released here or in North America the smaller bottles of Iroshizuku they have for sale in Japan. Seems a silly idea not to considering the premium price for the full-size bottles.
I just learnt that Pilot have made limited edition Iroshizuku inks before!:
Talking of limited and special editions, I wonder what Lamy is going to suprise us with this year for the 2014 Safari?...
Aw limited colours based on ukiyo-e. . . it might be better that I did not know about this, actually. I'm not feeling the blue, but edo-murasaki and fukagawa-nezu look interesting.
Sorry!
Doing a little research I've learnt they were released in 2009 and were only for sale in Tokyo (hence 'Tokyo Limited Edition'). It's safe to say, I think, that they've all gone.
*Cries*
It had a special little bottle tie, too. . .
Speaking of limited edition ink colours, it seems Sailor has had a decent number of seasonal ones, some only available through certain retailers. That explains the Sailor sherbet inks I've only seen on ebay. I'm not sure if they are limited, or if they are meant to be highlighter inks, but there's four pastel shades and they seem very light (just going by the label colours).
I have been meaning to get a Sailor ink bottle just because it is great to have as an inkwell too. I thought I'd get sky high, but maybe I will try one of these instead - hard to tell what the colours are like at this stage though.
Sailor also make special inks for BUNG BOX - a Japanese fountain pen shop - and have (or had) a line of inks called Kobe, which I think are akin to the Tokyo Limited Editions - geographically limited:
The Sherbet inks are designed for use with demonstrator pens:
And that's the limit of my knowledge about them!
Yall remember when we were in Kindergarten and they had worksheets with letters that you can copy to practice your writing?
Are there any equivalent for calligraphy letters? I'd love to improve my handwriting.
I've just gotten so sloppy over the years. My goal through school was to write as fast as possible. That has devolved my writing into chicken scratch that only I can read.
I'm determined to make my handwriting better.
Are there any equivalent for calligraphy letters? I'd love to improve my handwriting.
I've just gotten so sloppy over the years. My goal through school was to write as fast as possible. That has devolved my writing into chicken scratch that only I can read.
I'm determined to make my handwriting better.
There are indeed. What type of hand are you looking for? A blackletter, italic or roundhand? (Links at end.) Or are you after something more everyday? If so where were you taught to write? I ask as there are differences in hands between regions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackletter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italic_script
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundhand
Blackletter seems to be what I'm looking for. And I was taught to write in Florida.
I really like the book Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique by Marc Drogin. It's an interesting read, and very useful as a lettering reference. The back section has demonstrations of the alphabet in several different scripts + stroke notation. A few of them are variants of gothic/blackletter. Gothic littera bastarda with its somewhat curvier shapes is my favourite.
I'll try to get a photo of one of those pages when I get home so you can get a better idea. This book contains a lot of pictures of manuscripts too, which I love. It's not a copybook, but photocopying a line and sticking it on a pad should work fine.
I'm not sure if improving at calligraphy has improved my regular handwriting - they're very different operations for me! It's fun, though.
Forsete
Gold Member
Sorry!
Doing a little research I've learnt they were released in 2009 and were only for sale in Tokyo (hence 'Tokyo Limited Edition'). It's safe to say, I think, that they've all gone.
*Cries*
Delicious! What does the string do? Design only?
Btw, having flow issues with the Lamy ink. :/ Not sure what is wrong. Tried washing the ink and feed but it comes back.
Back with pics to give you a bit of an idea of what's in Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique by Marc Drogin.
Here's what the context (history) part of the book is like. Lots of material about how the scripts were produced, and many images showing different manuscripts, with notes about them.
Here's a bit of one of the appendices showing the technique. There are three gothic script alphabets in the back, along with several others outside the gothic umbrella - Roman, Uncial, Insular, etc.
It's a really good book.
The string is decorative. I think the idea is that it will become ink-stained over time and become a bit unique.
As for your ink issues, can you give more details about what's happening?
Bagels himself did a thing on it.
http://pbcwrites.tumblr.com/post/72469101907/how-to-get-started-with-writing-a-gothic-hand
http://pbcwrites.tumblr.com/post/72469101907/how-to-get-started-with-writing-a-gothic-hand
Whoa, that seems pretty interesting. I thought about getting the book but I'd much rather have a more instructional book than a historical one.
That tublr above is really good.
Forsete
Gold Member
When I have Lamy turquoise loaded it starts off good with quite a bit of ink flowing through the nib, but as I write it stops feeding, you can tell the nib is getting dryer. I did some furious testing last night and I think its due to the ink which I filled into an empty cartridge does not want to "fall down" into the nozzle.. instead the surface tension sometimes makes it stick in the back of the cartridge, so if I give the pen a tap every now and then I think I will be fine.. but I'll continue to test it out.
The blue Kaweco ink that was originally in the cartridge is much "flowier" it flows around in the cartridge much more. I guess the Lamy ink is not made for cartridges.
But maybe tapping a FP every now and then is part of the ritual? What does the expertise say?
Edit: This is what the nib looks like through a loupe. Looks ok, what do you say?
When I have Lamy turquoise loaded it starts off good with quite a bit of ink flowing through the nib, but as I write it stops feeding, you can tell the nib is getting dryer. I did some furious testing last night and I think its due to the ink which I filled into an empty cartridge does not want to "fall down" into the nozzle.. instead the surface tension sometimes makes it stick in the back of the cartridge, so if I give the pen a tap every now and then I think I will be fine.. but I'll continue to test it out.
The blue Kaweco ink that was originally in the cartridge is much "flowier" it flows around in the cartridge much more. I guess the Lamy ink is not made for cartridges.
But maybe tapping a FP every now and then is part of the ritual? What does the expertise say?
Edit: This is what the nib looks like through a loupe. Looks ok, what do you say?
If your experience is that the ink will just stop feeding, and doesn't move freely in the cartridge, it's probably something you can only fix by 1) altering the ink, or 2) adding an agitator.
Some converters and cartridges have a little metal ball or piece of plastic that is meant to move around in the tube and move the ink around in the chamber for just this purpose. It's possible to add this to some converters if they don't come with it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uCI4W1oLQc
However, for a cartridge, it might be trickier as opening it up from the back isn't an option. If you can introduce some kind of small, non-corroding object in there, it might do the trick in combating that surface tension issue.
Forsete
Gold Member
The cartridge has a small plastic ball that goes around in the cartridge. But I will check out the video now.
Well it seems to work better now for some reason.
Also, got my Leuchtturm. So-so awesome. So awesome. No bleed-through at all.
Really pleasant to write on as well, pretty "glide:y".
Recommended!
Pics maybe tomorrow.
Glad it seems to have worked itself out!
Paper can make such a big difference. Those Leuchtturm books look nice.
Forsete
Gold Member
Thanks
Well here are the pics, sorry no overview of written text. My notes are private.
I bought the dotted version, just to try something new.
My kit.
A thin rollerball works very well.
Lamy turquoise which is pretty wet, but the paper holds it extremely well.
Can we celebrate MR4001 having a tumblr for all your fountain pen/ink/spending yourself into poverty needs!? He also mentions profanity and nudity, so I've just been hitting F5 all morning. It's basically all of my interests in one place!
Celebratory doodle (because I'm too proud that I learned to do this to not share!):
Celebratory doodle (because I'm too proud that I learned to do this to not share!):
Got my A.G. Spalding Wooden Fountain Pen last week. Sorry for the fuzzy pic/bad lighting:
Some impressions:
-Really dig the maple wood body. It almost looks like a short paintbrush when I'm holding it in my hand.
-Super comfortable to hold. The grip is short but I have small hands so there are no issues there.
-The cap secures on with a very satisfying click.
-I can use it posted or unposted. The cap is quite heavy, but the body is short enough that it doesn't skew the balance too much, unlike a posted Lamy Safari.
-It's a bit of a wet writer, which is good for me. It's a Japanese medium nib, very similar to the Lamy fine nib.
-Occasion startup issues, but once it gets going, it's a very smooth writer.
Really enjoying it so far.
Some impressions:
-Really dig the maple wood body. It almost looks like a short paintbrush when I'm holding it in my hand.
-Super comfortable to hold. The grip is short but I have small hands so there are no issues there.
-The cap secures on with a very satisfying click.
-I can use it posted or unposted. The cap is quite heavy, but the body is short enough that it doesn't skew the balance too much, unlike a posted Lamy Safari.
-It's a bit of a wet writer, which is good for me. It's a Japanese medium nib, very similar to the Lamy fine nib.
-Occasion startup issues, but once it gets going, it's a very smooth writer.
Really enjoying it so far.
Nice! I'm trying some illuminated letters, that decorative stuff is fun as hell.
What is this tumblr? Actually don't tell me. I already got a few Sailor/Nagasawa Kobe Monogatari inks because of MR4001's last post. I should probably just not look.
That looks really nice. I have a couple of e+m clutch pencils that I just couldn't resist because of the wooden body but it's not something I have considered for FPs.
Also for anyone who was interested in the Ink kickstarter, it seems they did a survey and based on results are changing the nib they will ship to an F rather than an M. I thought it was interesting that responses preferring an F outnumbered M 4 to 1.
Now you need to find the type of blackletter you'd like to learn. Each country has its own particular style, and the Germans stuck with blackletter until the 1940s and have lots of versions. Wikipedia's a start - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackletter - but books are best - do you have a library you can visit? Sadly I don't have any recommendations - I'll keep an eye out, though.
As for everyday writing, seeing as you were taught to write in the US, Zaner-Bloser and D'Nealian are probably a familiar good start.
Are Kaweco converters available where you are? http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Kaweco-Sport-Converter.html
LOL. It's nothing special, and it's not particularly focused on writing, but I'll be posting all sorts there. (And, yeah, it isn't safe for work.)
I'm - fingers crossed! - going to have some awesome stuff to share soon! Clues...:
Oh - and I got this sweet book: http://www.thamesandhudson.com/Scripts/9780500290392
Now you need to find the type of blackletter you'd like to learn. Each country has its own particular style, and the Germans stuck with blackletter until the 1940s and have lots of versions. Wikipedia's a start - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackletter - but books are best - do you have a library you can visit? Sadly I don't have any recommendations - I'll keep an eye out, though.
As for everyday writing, seeing as you were taught to write in the US, Zaner-Bloser and D'Nealian are probably a familiar good start.
Are Kaweco converters available where you are? http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Kaweco-Sport-Converter.html
LOL. It's nothing special, and it's not particularly focused on writing, but I'll be posting all sorts there. (And, yeah, it isn't safe for work.)
I'm - fingers crossed! - going to have some awesome stuff to share soon! Clues...:
Oh - and I got this sweet book: http://www.thamesandhudson.com/Scripts/9780500290392
Exciting! MR4001 and I chatted a tiny bit about the tumblr experience and, if you're in to calligraphy, penmanship, or pens/paper/ink, there are a few excellent blogs to follow on there, among all the Doctor Who/Sherlock/Whatever fandoms.
I left out MR4001's address in case he didn't want to share as publicly. I'll leave it to him to decide if we should all get to see the, frankly kind of impressive, but also shocking, number of nude photos of himself he already has posted. Who takes that many nude photos of themselves?
edit: oops. He posted it. Get ready to right-click-save-as!
Forsete
Gold Member
BorkBork: That is a really beautiful pen.
Yes, I got it from http://www.deskstore.com/ but I didn't like it. It would not fill up properly, and when I filled it with a syringe the ink would not flow down properly once I had used the ink that was at the nozzle of the converter. :/
So far filling empty cartridges have worked the best.
Anyway, I have ordered a piston filler. It is german, and it was pretty expensive (for me). Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow.
I choose a EF nib, partly because the pen writes wider than what is considered normal (from what I read) and I like to make some small notes when I write, and I generally print pretty small anyway.
Can anyone guess what I got?
Yes, I got it from http://www.deskstore.com/ but I didn't like it. It would not fill up properly, and when I filled it with a syringe the ink would not flow down properly once I had used the ink that was at the nozzle of the converter. :/
So far filling empty cartridges have worked the best.
Anyway, I have ordered a piston filler. It is german, and it was pretty expensive (for me). Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow.
I choose a EF nib, partly because the pen writes wider than what is considered normal (from what I read) and I like to make some small notes when I write, and I generally print pretty small anyway.
Can anyone guess what I got?
I left out MR4001's address in case he didn't want to share as publicly. I'll leave it to him to decide if we should all get to see the, frankly kind of impressive, but also shocking, number of nude photos of himself he already has posted. Who takes that many nude photos of themselves?
I've another eighty or so saucy snapshots queued. I'm also working on integrating some of my inks into the sets. I've always thought of Sailor Grenade as an erotic ink...
Yes, I got it from http://www.deskstore.com/ but I didn't like it. It would not fill up properly, and when I filled it with a syringe the ink would not flow down properly once I had used the ink that was at the nozzle of the converter. :/
So far filling empty cartridges have worked the best.
Anyway, I have ordered a piston filler. It is german, and it was pretty expensive (for me). Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow.
I choose a EF nib, partly because the pen writes wider than what is considered normal (from what I read) and I like to make some small notes when I write, and I generally print pretty small anyway.
Can anyone guess what I got?
Pump (and vacuum) converters are always a bit funny - there's a certain knack to filling them, I've found (I have to push the button on my CON-70s in a specific way). The Kaweco Sport converter is so small you have to wonder why they even bothered with it! Kaweco should bring back a piston Sport.
Hm. ...
...?
I made this earlier, he-he:
Forsete
Gold Member
Pump (and vacuum) converters are always a bit funny - there's a certain knack to filling them, I've found (I have to push the button on my CON-70s in a specific way). The Kaweco Sport converter is so small you have to wonder why they even bothered with it! Kaweco should bring back a piston Sport.
Hm. ...
...?
I made this earlier, he-he:
I pressed and pressed but it refused to fill all the way up. Are they supposed to fill all the way btw?
Yeah, they should have provided something else. I still love the Kaweco though.. once I made the syringe, filling the cartridge is not that bad.
Nope, not a Pelikan.. though I wish.
It is a bit more modern.Pelikan is perhaps something for the future.
I like your sign. I ordered Tsuki-yo som a local store, EXPENSIVE.
I also found a guy called cool-japan-au on Ebay, I think I will buy from him in the future, 1/3 of the price in sweden.
Neoriceisgood
Member
I got a fountain pen as a gift recently,
am I reading this thread correctly and
understanding that I should actually use it?
am I reading this thread correctly and
understanding that I should actually use it?
I pressed and pressed but it refused to fill all the way up. Are they supposed to fill all the way btw? [...]
Nope, not a Pelikan.. though I wish.
Pelikan is perhaps something for the future.
I can get the sacks on my Parker 51s pretty full (the same for the CON-70s, too). The best method I find is to squeeze firmly and quickly - imagine you want to shoot the ink out of the pen - and to leave a few seconds between each squeeze - about three, I'd say. Repeat until when you squeeze no bubbles are being made in the ink.
Not a Pelikan... A Lamy 2000? Has to be! - unless you've gone vintage and gotten an old Geha or something.
Sh! LOL.
Of course! Fire away any questions - we're all eager to help! Shouldn't this be an |OT| or whatever by now? He-he.
I just got a Stargazer. We should compare.
Forsete
Gold Member
Yes, use it!
Correctus!
I got it today. I have not been able to use it a whole lot but I did ink it up, and I love it. It is fantastic on the Leuchtturm paper. I can write very small text with the EF nib, perfect for the way I use pens.
It feels very nice in the hand, who knew makrolon could be this great?The weight of it nice, it feels very "premium", especially the clip and when you take off and put the cap back on.
Also the flow of the ink has never failed so far.
Also, I think I only want to use piston fillers from here on out.
Pics tomorrow when I have more time. Dead tired tonight.
Edit: I took some pics anyway.
The craftmanship is fantastic. The makrolon feels very nice, not at all like plastic pens.
Some might not like the hooded nib, and I will admit that I wasn't sure about it before ordering the pen myself.. but now once that I have it I think it looks really nice.
The pen also has an ink window. If you hold the pen horizontally you can easily see the ink level.
And here it the ink. I really like this color, this ink was bought here in Sweden so it was absurdly expensive. But one time doesn't hurt, right?
Nikodemos
Member
What's the best way to clean a fountain pen that's been gunked up with paper? I love writing with a fountain pen, but am cheap/lazy and use printer paper as a medium (also because I can neatly separate my uni courses with the help of a stapler, and never risk grabbing the wrong notebook in my occasionally half-asleep stupor).
Also, what's the best ink for a Mont Blanc?
Also, what's the best ink for a Mont Blanc?
harriet the spy
Member
with paper? You mean some paper got in between the blades of the nib? (not sure what's the technical term here). It used to happen all the time to me as a kid, I would just spend minutes picking out the paper (luckily for some reason it would always hold together), but they were cheap fountain pen. If it's a nice one, try maybe using some very thin tweezers, and for heaven's sake don't pry apart the blades (though again, I did that all the time as a kid.. I really don't recommend it thoug). Worst case you might want to have someone have to take a look at it. If it's the mont blanc you're talking about, they have a repair program, though if they have to replace the nib it's expensive.
For Mont Blanc, don't they all come with a piston cartridge? You should be able to use any ink you like. Otherwise, mont blanc's own ink is pretty nice, but it's likely to be pricy.
Nikodemos
Member
Printer paper is pretty low-qual, bits of pulp tend to flake off when you run a fountain pen over it. It mixes with ink and forms a sort of nasty gunk on/around the nib.
My Mont Blanc is a pretty old dinged-up brushed steel Noblesse with a '585' nib. It had a dried-up regular Mont Blanc cartridge in it. I'll probably look into a converter and buy some bottled ink.
thin metal sheets like .002" thick brass for flossing between the nib tines
or free option here
as for ink you can use anything you'd like really.
Nikodemos
Member
Right, so finally bought some Pelikan ink (Koenigsblau orsmth) and filled up the cartridge it came with (too cheapskate to buy a piston converter, since they're a tad on the pricy side). It's a bit of a wet writer, though that could be due to a worn nib (pulled a magnifying glass, looked at it and the underside of the tip seems a bit flattened). It wouldn't surprise me, though. The old man used it daily for the better part of a decade.
I love this book so much! The history is fascinating, and it's written at just about the perfect level for me. There's a nice balance between keeping things moving along at a fair clip and providing some depth to the discussion. You can either drone on and on about the Romans, or you can just cover the history of writing in a paragraph. I've seen both approaches, and they make me mad. Drogin's book balances it perfectly.
The guides to the various scripts are wonderful, and it includes details like how to make that little design from my animation, above. Overall, there are just tons of great photos of actual manuscripts, paired with some great guides that show you how to produce that kind of writing.
I give it 10/10 Sera O's, which is my highest recommendation.
Been a while since I last posted - sorry.
Anyway, here's the Falcon!:
(Forgive my awkward attempts at a delicate script.)
It's a lovely pen, the usual excellence from Pilot. I've the version known as the Metal Falcon in the US (known as the Elabo in Japan); the less-expensive plastic version is unavailable in the UK. The nib is lovely and soft, a pleasure to write with; however, it does take some getting used to. There is of course some flex to the nib but the nib isn't designed for writing roundhand. The nib is akin to nibs from before the Second World War: soft and characterful - and in need of a knowledgeable hand. I look forward to getting more experience with it.
I also got myself a Hobonichi Planner 2014 (Hobonichi Techo) recently. OH MY GOD - it is wonderful! That Tomoe River paper!... So practical and beautiful! I LOVE it! Going to order a cover this weekend (fingers crossed).
Oh - the father of the Hobonichi Techo (well, Hobonichi as a whole) is Shigesato Itoi - the chap behind the EarthBound (Mother) series.
And finally, the first of the Lamy special editions is out!: the blue-green Al-star:
Anyway, here's the Falcon!:
(Forgive my awkward attempts at a delicate script.)
It's a lovely pen, the usual excellence from Pilot. I've the version known as the Metal Falcon in the US (known as the Elabo in Japan); the less-expensive plastic version is unavailable in the UK. The nib is lovely and soft, a pleasure to write with; however, it does take some getting used to. There is of course some flex to the nib but the nib isn't designed for writing roundhand. The nib is akin to nibs from before the Second World War: soft and characterful - and in need of a knowledgeable hand. I look forward to getting more experience with it.
I also got myself a Hobonichi Planner 2014 (Hobonichi Techo) recently. OH MY GOD - it is wonderful! That Tomoe River paper!... So practical and beautiful! I LOVE it! Going to order a cover this weekend (fingers crossed).
Oh - the father of the Hobonichi Techo (well, Hobonichi as a whole) is Shigesato Itoi - the chap behind the EarthBound (Mother) series.
And finally, the first of the Lamy special editions is out!: the blue-green Al-star:
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