Pens and Paper

A blog about our obsession with writing supplies. Fountain pens and ink especially.

[penguinsandpaper]

Moleskine hardback notebook. Uniball Signo UM-151 Black, 0.5mm

[penguinsandpaper]

Lusting over J. Herbin Poussiere de lune but I heard it was reformulated. Does anyone know if the new version has the same water resistance as the old one?

[jetpens]

We just updated our How to Clean a Fountain Pen article. Check it out and let us know what you think!

[alex-is-on-a-mission]

This ink is quite honestly my pride and joy.

[penguinsandpaper]

Simple infographic about fountain pen nibs and how to select a nib that is best for you.  See the anatomy of the nib. What are the sizes, tip sizes, materials, tip shape, flexibility and more…

[patosauce]

sailor.

[kalany]

I accidentally pulled the nib and feed out of my Noodler’s Creaper while trying to unseat a bit of gunk from between the tines. Now that I reassembled it, it’s making a funny clicking noise when I write, like the tines are sticking and unsticking or something. On the plus side, it writes more smoothly. Anybody out there know what I did? It seems like clicking is probably a bad sign, but how do I undo it?

[penguinsandpaper]

The tines are probably crossed over one another, or at least closer together than normal (hence the clicking sound. One tine is moving over the other when pressure is applied). I’m not an expert on fixing tines, but I think you can use a loupe and look at the nib to check the alignment of the tines. From there, you can “pull” at the shoulders of the nib to pull the tines apart a bit. 

I had to do something similar to this for my own Nib Creaper after I dropped the nib on a hard counter top. I don’t entirely remember the process I followed, but it writes pretty decently now.

[wynfrith]

The things you come across in your closet, which in this case is a new in box Noodler’s Ink Topkapi Amber nib creeper standard flex fountain pen.

I do not think it is possible to take this pen apart. I guess to clean it. I will have to suck up water and push it out with the piston fill. I shall look into these things before trying. I do not want to hurt this pretty pen. Is a shame I do not have an orange color of ink to fill up the pen.

[penguinsandpaper]

I’m breaking my temporary (but long term) vow of silence on tumblr to assist you!!

One of the main selling points about Noodler pens is that they can totally be disassembled. I guess you already learned that the nib and feed are friction fit. All you do is grab the nib by holding the top of the nib and bottom of the feed (not the sides!) and pull. From there, you can use a blunt syringe to blast water or some pen flush into the barrel to clean ink out.

I highly recommend checking out SBREBrown’s this authentically Scottish person’s playlist on pen disassembly before you start disassembling your Nib Creaper:

Full pen disassembly playlist: click here

Noodler’s Nib Creaper disassembly tutorial: click here

edit: I thoroughly recommend Diamine Autumn Oak as an orange ink. It’s a bit brownish, but it will fit the upcoming Fall season very well in addition to being a warm orange that’s suitable for everyday personal use.

[penguinsandpaper]

Would you all be interested in mechanical keyboard content in addition to fountain pen posts? I’m running out of pen related topics to talk about (for now) but I want to keep posting about excessively opulent things.

(Well, mechanical keyboards aren’t opulent but it’s easy to build an obsession about them.)

[aethericcontinua]

Hey! Delayed response about Asheville. I live on Ohio, but my sister and I go to Asheville every spring. The French Broad Chocolate Lounge and Origami Ink are some of my favorite places! Quick question. I’m researching for a new fountain pen in the $100-$150 range. Any suggestions—vintage or modern? Thinking about a Platinum 3776 broad. Currently, I have a Pilot 92 FM, but I don't really like it. I also have a Sheaffer Imperial I love, but the nib has gotten scatchy and I can’t seem to fix it.

That’s pretty darn awesome. Hmm. You can get a Lamy 2000 for under $150 on Amazon, though unfortunately when I did the same a few years back, my fine nib was super scratchy. I’ve since sent it to a nibmeister (Deb Kinney) and now it’s one of my favourite writers. Pilot Vanishing points are excellent convenience pens. I use mine every day at work, but I don’t write for extended periods of time with it (the clip kind of gets in the way, but I don’t think I exactly hold my pens like most people. If you’ve used a Lamy Safari/Al-Star, it’s similar to their triangular section). People love its springy gold nib and it’s solidly made with an enjoyable (for me) weight to it.Though I’ve never personally held/tried them, people seem to really like the Pilot Custom 74 and pens by Edison Pen Co.For lighter pens, I personally rather like the design of the Pilot E95S, but I haven’t actually written with it (just handled it a bit at a pen show). The Namiki/Pilot resin Falcon is also nice and very light. It’s has soft nibs if you’re into that kind of thing. Whoops. Didn’t mean to make such a long response ^^; If anyone else would like to chime in, by all means. 

[penguinsandpaper]

The E95S is the most amazing ergonomic soft-nibbed fountain pen, imo. The tapered section gives some play when it comes to finding an ideal girth for your grip, there’s no sudden step-off into a section, and it’s perfectly balanced when capped. The only downside to that pen is its filling system. You don’t get to use converters with clear containers, but that shouldn’t be a problem if you regularly use and fill the included squeeze converter. 

Aethericcontinua’s suggestions are also really good.

Anyway, hearing that a nib became scratchy is a little concerning. Usually a nib that came smooth but became scratchy is very fixable with little effort required. Often times, a soak will fix the nib. If that doesn’t work, you ought to use a loupe and see which nib tine is misaligned and then gently bend the tine back into shape.

[fpail]

#fountainpen #funtainpen #handwriting #elyazısı #senator #windsor #diamine #eaudenil #tomoeriver #mucunotebook #gecegecebunuyazdım #gecegecebunudinliyorum

[gooodform]

Never thought I’d ever find myself quoting the prequel trilogy…

[fountainpenfanatic]

Hey guys!

Last week I picked up a Conklin Duragrph in Forest Green with a medium nib from the Fountain Pen Hospital for $47 (+ tax). Here are my thoughts and feelings after using it for a couple of days.

Packaging

The lacking that comes with the pen actually took my by surprise! The box is...

[penguinsandpaper]

Is the finial on the barrel made of plastic or metal?

[penguinsandpaper]

I am drooling so much over the 2015 blue edition of the Midori's traveler notebook! I wonder how the blue color will look as it ages...

[shawarma-palace-deactivated2018]

I have a dilemma. I found this beauty, an Elgin from the 1920s or 1930s, made by the American watch manufacturer of the same name. It’s a beautiful pen and the cellulose Is bright - commonly jade colored pens from this era grow dark with age. It has the original nib. I paid for this pen to be restored (it needed a new pressure bar and a new ink sack), with the idea that I would use it, but now I am unsure. (The repair work was done by pentiques, here in AZ, and it’s perfect). Should I ink this puppy up, tumblr, or do I put it in a nice display…

[penguinsandpaper]

Ink it, but make sure you know how to care for celluloid pens before you start using it! You can use your pen and maintain it long enough for the next generation to use it. 

[maureen-corpse]

Do I want to put Stormy Grey in my Custom 74 or would that make cleaning it even more annoying?

[penguinsandpaper]

As an owner of a Con-70 converter and a bottle of 1670 Rouge Hematite ink, I would highly suggest NOT using those inks unless you’re using a piston converter or something else that can be easily disassembled for cleaning. 

I would suggest filling your Custom 74 with a Con-50 converter or an empty ink cartridge. 

[maureen-corpse]

This is what I suspected. I just really like both things and want to use them together. But that’s why I own three Metropolitans! (Even if I’m not sure where one of them is…)

[penguinsandpaper]

Don’t be afraid of using the 74, just be prepared to disassemble the nib and feed for cleaning and use a piston converter. :) Have you considered getting a Noodler’s pen for finicky inks like Stormy Grey? They’re a dream come true when it comes to pen maintenance. 

[actualmermaid]

Look, as long as Pilot keeps making medium-nib Metropolitans, every other fountain pen maker is really going to have to step up their game if they want me to give them money

That said, my new Platinum Plaisir came in the mail today and I’m tentatively impressed. I got the “gunmetal” option because it’s 2015 aka the future and in the future, everything is chrome.

Also got a selection of Diamine ink samples and some syringes, therefore confirming my suspicion that fountain pens are basically heroin. Will ink up some different colors once my pens are done drying.

[penguinsandpaper]

“in the future, everything is chrome. “ <- lol