My Fountain Pen Evolution

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My fountain pen interests have taken a noticeable turn this year. It was subtle at first, but the Long Island Pen Show made the change much clearer. Until the end of 2012 I was strictly an accumulator. If a pen caught my eye and I had the budget for it at the time, I bought it. Even when my acquisitions slowed down it wasn’t because of any focus. There was a final burst of accumulation that coincided with the start of this website.

Towards the end of 2012 and into 2013 I became more selective, although not more focused. I was mainly curious about different filling systems but what really mattered was that the pen be truly different than what I already had. Almost as important, it had to be a pen I thought would be a regular in my rotation. Of course, I was the sole judge of what was different, so there was a lot of latitude.

Then there was the Long Island Pen Show where I “discovered” vintage pens. Esterbrooks  interested me because of all the nib choices. Added to that is the fact that they were “cheap” pens in their day but were built like tanks using materials and colors that have held up over the years. My first vintage pen was an Esterbrook. I was glad I waited to get my first vintage in person so I avoided any disappointment.

Esterbrook Dollar Bandless with 9555 nib

Esterbrook Dollar Bandless with 9555 nib – My First Vintage Fountain Pen

A Parker 51 was also on my show list. I found some but they just didn’t grab me. I think it was that hooded nib, I like to see the nibs. But what I did find was the Parker Vacumatic. I didn’t get one at the show, but my interest was piqued. The filling system interested me and the pens were beautiful.

I actually passed on this year’s Edison group buy and their recent stealth LE. Two pens that would have been certain buys 6 months ago. I was beginning to develop some focus, and those pens didn’t fit that focus.

I’m actually considering selling off some of the better pens that don’t make it into the rotation and have no other attraction for me. Something I wouldn’t have considered last year. Although, it’s still just being considered.

My recent acquisitions have been vintage. It’s not a narrow focus, but Parker interests me a lot, followed closely by Sheaffer and Esterbrook, early American pen companies. While I’m not ruling out a modern pen purchase, I’m looking forward to the Washington DC show in August as an opportunity see wee a wide variety of those pens among others. I’m saving my pen budget so I can go wild at the show.

Parker Duofold photo

Sunday Notes and Links

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There was any “This Week’s Ink” post since there hasn’t been any new pens inked up since last week’s post. That’s mainly thanks to the large capacity of this pen, which is also great to use.

Parker Duofold photo

The Washington D.C. pens show is a “go” for me in August. The vacation time is set and the hotel reservations are made. Looking forward to it. Resisting pen purchases until then so I can go wild at the show.

Some links that caught my interest:

EdJelly has a review of the TWSBI Vac 700. He wasn’t as enamored with the pen as I was. Although he did have flow problems that I didn’t experience.

Pens Paper Inks…Whatever has pictures of her ink collection. Impressive.

Another impressive photo is JustDaveyB’s photo of his 85 pens.

FPGeeks wrote about the Visconti 25th Anniversary Steel Age Homo Sapien Maxi Gift Set. Cool looking pen. The lava material seems interesting. I’ve never owned a Visconti but their pens do have fans.

The Well-Appointed Desk has a Parker 21 review. I picked up a cheap Parker 21 on eBay that needed a little cleaning. I want to see if the hooded nib grows on me since I’m not a fan and have yet to ink the pen.

Inkdependence covered the Goulet’s May ink drop.

Gourmet Pens has a review of the Franklin-Christoph Black Magic ink. The F-C inks intrigue me because I like their pens and pen cases. I’m undecided on the Black Magic ink. The fast drying is great for me as is the water-resistance, but the bleed/show through and feathering is a killer.

The Pen Addict is having a giveaway that ends tomorrow.

 

Review: Edison Pearl 2012 LEE

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This Edison Pearl was the first Edison Pen I ever ordered. It was a group buy back in early 2012 but since it was a group buy I had the Edison Collier in hand before it arrived so it was my second Edison Pen. Not that it matters. The Peal is part of Edison’s Signature Line. I got mine as part of the 2012 Group buy where the materials were chosen by vote which allowed the pen to be bought at a discount from the regular price.

I chose the ebonite version which was a beige/black ebonite. Mine is numbered 8 of 79. If I remember right the numbers were assigned randomly. The nib was one of the few choices not decided by a vote and I picked an extra fine steel nib.

Edison extra fine steel nib

Two-tone EF steel nib w/Montblanc Oyster Grey

The specs, according to the Edison Pens website are:

  • Weight:  w/cap 22g  w/o cap 16g
  • Diameter: Cap .610″  Body .610″
  • Length: Capped 5 3/8″  Uncapped 5″

Edison Pearl 2001 Ebonite

It’s a cartridge/converter pen that can be converted to an eyedropper fill. I’ve been using it with the converter and haven’t had any problems. I like to change up the inks and the converter empties faster and is easier to clean.

I love the classic cigar shape of the pen. The ends taper slightly to a point which is a nice change from the typical rounded ends. Ebonite gets bonus points from me no matter what the pen is like. I’d have preferred a silver clip but the simple gold clip goes well with the dark ebonite. I like the overall look of the pen. It’s not my favorite looking pen, a little too dark for my current tastes, but I like it.

This is one of the most comfortable fountain pens I’ve used. The ebonite is light. The shape and size of the pen is perfect for my writing grip and the ebonite feels good. There’s a sharper than typical drop between the barrel and section but it fits perfectly with my normal grip. Others may find it uncomfortable.

The extra fine nib is a smooth writer that never fails to write. I’m pretty sure Brian Gray tunes the nibs before sending them out, at least for the Signature Line pens, and it shows.

I use the pen as a daily writer with a wide range of inks. The comfortable pen is suitable for long writing session and I just don’t get tired when using it.

The pen is easy to flush and clean using the bulb syringe.

I’m really pleased with the Edison Pearl 2012 LEE and it’s a big factor in why I’m a fan of Edison Pens.

This Week’s Ink: May 11, 2013

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It’s peen a couple of weeks since I posted my inked pens and they’ve more than doubled. Five of the inked pens are vintage, my new obsession.

On to the pens…

Photo of the pens inked this week

Sheaffer Balance Vacu-fill (Fine) – Namiki Blue // 1939 Parker Vacumatic Maxima (Fine) – Rohrer & Klingner Sepia // 1942 Parker Vacumatic Maxima (Fine) – Montblanc Bordeaux // Parker Duofold Senior “Big Red” (Fine) – Pelikan Edelstein Onyx // Merlin 33 (Fine) – Waterman Florida Blue // Edison Collier (Extra Fine) – Namiki Blue // Edison Pearl 2012 LEE (Extra Fine) – Montblanc Oyster Grey // Sailor 1911 Sterling (Fine) – Montblanc Bordeaux // Franklin-Christoph Model 66 (Extra Fine) – Rohrer & Klingner Blau-Schwarz

Samples of this week's ink

Ink Notes: Montblanc Oyster Grey

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I’m continuing my string of Montblanc ink reviews, this time with Montblanc Oyster Grey. I only had a sample of this ink, not a bottle, so using the Vac 700 for my ink testing just wasn’t practical if I wanted to swap nibs. So I went back to using several pens.

I like the Oyster Grey color. It has good flow and dries quickly. I could use it for my daily notes at work without accidental smudges. It’s a little blacker/darker than my current grey of choice – Iroshizuku Fuyo-Syogun. There was plenty left behind after the water test so I could easily read what was written. The ink cleaned easily out of all my pens, even the one left unused for a week.

I didn’t experience any feathering problems although the only cheap paper used was a quick test using office copy paper.

I used the ink in the latest “America the Beautiful” Field Notes book.(which has different paper than normal). I used the Edison extra-fine and VP medium stub nibs. There is just the hint of show-through but there’s no problem writing on both sides. There’s slightly more show-through (but no bleed-through) with the original Field Notes books. I still write on both sides but the show through is noticeable and may annoy some people.

The only hard start I had was with the Sailor 1911 with a broad nib. I syringe filled the converter and didn’t wait for the ink to flow in into the feed. So I don’t really count this as a problem even though it shows on the writing sample.

While I like the Montblanc Oyster Grey I already have a bottle of Iroshizuku Fuyo-Syogun and don’t see a reason the replace it. I’ll use up the sample, but won’t be buying a bottle of Oyster Grey. The writing samples have a comparison of the two inks.

Pens Used

Edison Pearl 2012 LEE with an extra fine nib. No problems with this pen and it cleaned easily. This is the pen I used as my daily note taker for a couple problem-free days.

Franklin-Christoph Model 29 with a fine nib // Faber-Castell Emotion with a medium nib // Sailor 1911M with a broad nib – all these pens handled the ink well and were easy to clean. It’s the 1911M that had the ink left in it for a week. It wrote immediately and then was easily cleaned.

Pilot Vanishing Point with medium stub nib. I liked the ink with this nib, it’s the one pen where I might choose Oyster Grey over Fuyo-Syogun. It’s a bit darker and shows just a bit more variation with the nib. This is the pen that will use up the rest of my sample. While I won’t get a bottle, I won’t rule out another sample for use with this nib.

Additional Reading/Viewing

Inkcyclopdedia entry (FPGeeks.com)

Write to Me Often review

Writing Samples

 

Ink Notes: Montblanc Burgundy Red

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Montblanc Burgundy Red Bottle

Montblanc Bordeaux is one of my favorite inks, if not my absolute favorite. When Montblanc discontinued Bordeaux I was prepared to hate it’s replacement, Montblanc Burgundy Red, as a usurper to the crown. Since I had stocked up on Bordeaux I was in no hurry to replace it and ignored Burgundy Red. I finally broke down and bought a bottle at the Long Island Pen Show once I saw the swabs in person.

I like the Burgundy Red. There’s enough pop from the red in the ink, but it’s not a neon red. The ink is a quick drier, especially in my thin nibs. It’s relatively easy to flush from the pen. It’s not water resistant but there was enough left behind so I could still read my words after the water test. Although I wouldn’t use the ink to address envelopes or write checks.

One thing I have noticed is the ink seems to darken a bit after it’s been in the pen awhile. At first I thought it was my Esterbrook writing darker, but then realized the ink had been in the pen much longer than others (and was refilled without flushing) so checked some other pens and sure enough, it had darkened a bit, looking more like the Bordeaux.

Montblanc Burgundy Red  will be a regular in my pens although I’m still partial to Bordeaux. I’m glad I bought the bottle.

Pens Used

Opened Montblanc Burgundy Red bottleTWSBI Vac 700 with 5 different nibs – EF, F, M, B, 1.1 mm  Stub. This pen was used for the writing samples in the gallery. The extra fine nib was used as my primary writer for a day and then on and off after that. I didn’t have any hesitation or hard starts and cleaning was easy.

Esterbrook $1 Bandless with a #9555 Fine nib – I first noticed the ink was darker when using this pen. The ink has been in this pen longer than any other and it was not flushed when it was refilled with the same ink. I’ve since revisited my writing with the Vac 700 and it too has gotten slightly darker. Flushing the pen was easy and there wasn’t any sign of staining despite the ink being used (with a refill) in this pen for about a month.

Sailor 1911 Sterling Silver with a Medium Nib – I just filled this pen in order to write the draft of this review since my Esterbrook went dry and it was time time to flush it. Writing has been smooth and consistent, without any hard starts.

Gallery

My First Nib Adjustments

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Pens selected for nib tuningFresh off the motivating Tweaks for Geeks on nib tuning I did my first nib adjustments tonight. The hard part was picking the pen to be the first guinea pig. I had put aside two Conklins since they were such horrible writers (which explained why they were dirt cheap). But they have gold nibs which seemed like a bad choice to be first. Other pens I had issues with were also gold nibs.

I finally found a Parker that seemed to have mis-aligned tines. I don’t think I ever used the pen so I put in cartridge to giver it a try. It was pretty bad, making it the perfect choice.

I watched the video again over dinner then went at it. Once tine was lowered but wouldn’t seem to go any lower. So the other tine was raised. A little too much so it was lowered. There was a little more back and forth but I eventually got them aligned. A writing test showed a vast improvement. Good flow and no skipping.

Next was the lapping film for the smoothing. First the courser green then the finer white as shown in the video. Even smoother when I got done.

Based on that success I decided to tackle the gold nibbed Conklin. The pen had serious flow issues due to the notorious feed and converter and I didn’t expect to change that. But even when the nib was saturated the pen skipped terribly, mostly on the down-stroke.

Again the tines were misaligned so I started there. I had a harder time with this one, a lot more back and forth with the tines. I just couldn’t seem to get them aligned but eventually it worked out. Like the Parker, there was significant improvement once the tines were aligned.

This time I used the buff stick for the smoothing although still finished with the white lapping film. This improved the feel of the nib a bit more. I expect the flow problems to return but I’ve written two frustration-free pages using the pen.

Now I almost want to find a scratchy nib. It’s a fun way to relax after work.