After being deeply disappointed in the Lamy 14k gold extra-fine nib that was on my Safari, and replacing it on the pen, the Diplomat Aero Volute became my primary writer for the week. It has an oblique fine nib and Montblanc Spider Web Grey ink. The ink matches the pen really well, especially when wet. The Kanilea Kona Cherry also saw increased use this week. It has my favorite ink, Montblanc Bordeaux and well-tuned extra-fine nib. Every once in a while I get it in my head that the Cherry Kona & Montblanc Bordeaux ink are too precious to use. Then I have to remind myself that I can either not use the ink so it stays in the bottles, or not use it when I run out. It’s much enjoyable to use it until it runs out. And the Kanilea pen isn’t any more fragile than most of my other pens.
The Sailor 1911 Ringless Epinard joined the Diplomat Aero Volute and Kanilea Kona Cherry in my Nock Co Sinclair as my three primary pens for the week.
The 1911 Ringless doesn’t get much use due to it’s wide zoom nib. But I like using it, with Sailor Shikiori Yodaki ink, for headings and some doodling. I also used the Sailor 300 as my primary writer for one day. I really like that pen.
I skipped a day of journalling, and only wrote roughly three journal pages all week. My fountain pen usage has been consistent with recent weeks, which means low.
Current Reads, Watches & Listens
Listening:Riding the Rap by Elmore Leonard. A library loan (Libby) that was available as I was browsing. A Raylan Givens novel, so an instant borrow and only available as an audio book. I ended up returning this one before I finished it. Nothing wrong with the book, I just couldn’t concentrate on the audiobook. My lack of focus wasn’t helped by it’s similarity to a Justified episode, which allowed my mind to wander. I found that it’s available as an ebook, as part of a Raylan Givens 3 book collection, so I put a hold on that ebook and will read it, rather than listen.
Reading:Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Finished it off in a week. So, I guess I liked it. The last few chapters didn’t pull me in. I had no problem putting the book aside when it was time for me to do other things. I didn’t stay awake at night wondering what would happen next. Still, an enjoyable story for the most part. I give it a 3 out of 5 stars. I don’t feel that I wasted my time, but I’m not eager to read the sequel. Which, being released so long after the original, could just be a money grab.
ListeningThe Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. A library audiobook (Libby) I use checklists all the time, although the practice has faded recently. So maybe reading this will get me back on track. It’s short (6 hours), so I can listen during my walks, and have it returned in plenty of time.
New Arrivals
None
Incoming
None
Outgoing
None
Out of Rotation
I removed the 14k extra-fine nib from the Lamy Safari Terra. I didn’t like the way it performed. My only solid complaint was that it was way too wide for an extra-fine. My more squishy complaint is that I didn’t like the way it felt on paper. I’ll put it on another pen and play around with it, but I needed to cleanse my palate from the bad taste that the nib left.
Into Rotation
I swapped the Lamy 14k EF nib with a Lamy 14k Oblique-Medium nib on my Lamy Safari Terra. The nib is new and unused. Hopefully it won’t disappoint like the extra-fine did, but perform like the first 14k OM nib. I used it for a few lines and the performance felt and looked good. I didn’t use it much since I wanted thin nibs.
The week with three newly inked fountain pens, all with nibs that I’ve never used. I had high expectations of the new 14k gold extra-fine nib. I was hugely disappointed. The polar opposite of the Lamy 14k oblique. I don’t like how the pen feels on paper; the line is wider than a EF should be. It may grow on me. If I look for the positive, I do like the way the ink shades.
I couldn’t use that extra-fine nib as my daily writer, so the Kanilea Kona Cherry (EF w/MB Bordeaux) and Diplomat Green Aero (F w/MB Emerald Green) got some use. They lifted my spirits after the disappointment. On Saturday, I inked up the Sheaffer 300 and Diplomat Aero Volute to add some pens that I know I’ll enjoy.
Overall, my fountain pen usage was way down, not even very many lists, and only four journal pages despite daily entries.
Current Reads, Watches & Listens
Listening:The Guns at Last Night, The War in Western Europe 1944-1945 by Rick Atkinson (audiobook). I finished this off during the week during some extended listening sessions. I enjoyed the book, but I am partial to WWI history. Listening to this one came at the expense of podcasts.
Listening:Bright Orange for the Shroud by John D. MacDonald (audiobook). This is #6 in his Travis McGee series. I devoured this series long ago, so I’m sure I read this back in my high school (maybe earlier) days. I was feeling nostalgic, and had this one in my audiobook library. It’s not a long book, just over 8 hours, so I got it all in on Friday and Saturday. It was as good as I remember.
Listening:Riding the Rap by Elmore Leonard. I’m a fan of the Justified TV series, so with a Raylan Givens story available from the library I took it. Only the audiobook was available. A lot like a John D. MacDonald story.
Reading:Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. I’ve never seen the movie, and reviews say they have little similarity. I borrowed it from the library yesterday. I won’t start it until later today. This pick is nostalgic too, since it’s heavy on 80s references, although I’m not sure that’s a good thing.
New Arrivals
None
Incoming
None
Outgoing
None
Out of Rotation
Diplomat Aero Green (14k F) with a Montblanc Emerald Green cartridge: This lasted 2 months, March 14th through May 14th. It got more use this week, being one of the few fountain pens I enjoyed using.
Into Rotation
Lamy Safari Green (F) with the factory included ink cartridge: The first time inking this pen.
Lamy Safari Savannah (M) with the factory included ink cartridge: The first time inking this pen.
Lamy Safari Terra (14k EF) with Pilot Blue-Black: First time using this nib, and so far a big disappointment.
Diplomat Aero Volute (Fine Oblique) with a Montblanc Spider Grey cartridge
Sheaffer 300 Matte Green (F) with a Sheaffer Black cartridge
The Lamy Safari Terra (EF) still has the Lamy ink cartridge that came with the pen. I should write it dry later today. The remaining ink doesn’t fill in the tapered section at the end of the cartridge. I will now face the dilemma of which fountain pen (or pens) to ink up. I have too many nibs that haven’t touched ink. My recent habit of using a fountain pen every day until dry will be hard to maintain. I am certain that whatever pens I ink up will be Lamy. It doesn’t help that my current practice is to avoid waste and use any ink that came with the pen as its first fill. At least with converters I can load less ink.
While I wrote more lists than usual, my overall fountain pen usage was down this week. I did journal every day, although I only filled about five pages.
This week I learned Lamy sold Lamy 2000 fountain pens with factory oblique medium nibs. Less than a year ago, I sold off my Lamy 2000 (Fine) because the nib’s sweet spot was small. In addition, the nib isn’t visible, so I didn’t have a visual queue to keep the nib oriented correctly. It was very annoying to use. I figure the oblique nib will align with my grip as it does with other pens.
The two pens that I sent to Mark Bacas for nib work have been returned. One was a Lamy steel nib ground to a needlepoint. The other was a Sailor KOP sent for nib repair. While I inked the Lamy nib, it hasn’t been used beyond the initial testing.
Current Reads, Watches & Listens
Listening:The Guns at Last Night, The War in Western Europe 1944-1945 by Rick Atkinson (audiobook). I’m enjoying the book, but only listened for about 4 hours this week, with podcasts getting most of my listening time.
New Arrivals
None
Incoming
Lamy 2000 with an oblique medium nib.
Outgoing
None
Out of Rotation
None
Into Rotation
Lamy Safari USA (NP) with Waterman Intense Black ink. This pen is just back from Mark Bacas. While the pen design is my least favorite Safari (which is why I picked it to send off for 2 months) I like to use the nib “as received”. This way, if it performs poorly after moving to a new pen I will know it’s my fault. Needlepoint nibs are less smooth by nature, especially on the typical paper I use, so it won’t be a daily writer. I picked a black ink for visibility, and Waterman since it’s the perfect brand for testing.
My fountain pen usage, and journaling, were down a little this past week. I had ambitions of getting this week’s daily driver (Lamy Safari Terra) down to an ink level that could be easily used up in the week ahead. The ink level has barely reached the top of the ink window, so I don’t expect it to go dry this week. I am getting tired of the standard blue ink included by most manufacturers, so I may remove it early.
The month begins with these fountain pens
I’m down to five inked fountain pens. There’s a good mix of ink colors among them, so I didn’t see a need to ink up any others. My brain is still locked into wanting to pick a pen and use it until dry. And with two pens having evaporated dry, and requiring extra effort to clean, I’ll stick with what I have. I might ink up another Lamy sometime during the week. I have a second 14kt medium-oblique nib and a 14kt extra-fine nib that I need to test out.
Currently Inked – listed in the same order as the photo
I also have several new pens and nibs that have yet to be touched by ink. This puts me in a conundrum. I like using a pen as received before I start swapping nibs. This lets me know if any problems were caused by me or the factory. But, now I have three unused Lamy pens and two unused Lamy gold nibs. I can’t try those new Lamy nibs on the new Lamy pens.
I’ve also have a Retro 51 fountain pen that has yet to be inked. By my count that gives me eight nibs that need to be inked up. This helped me skip the Anderson Pens virtual vintage pen show, although I did review the pens. My avoidance was helped along by the lack of any Sheaffer that remotely interested me. I’m sure most of the pens have been sold, but if you want a visual tour of vintage pens, there’s this 90+ minute video of the pens that were available for sale.
I also have two fountain pens on their way back from Mark Bacas (nibgrinder). Hopefully, they’ll arrive this coming week. A Sailor KOP bent nib was repaired and a Lamy steel nib was ground to “as close to a Platinum UEF as safely possible.” These will be added to the “to be inked asap” queue once they arrive, especially that needlepoint.
Housekeeping – I move this blog back to WordPress self-hosted a while back and have been doing some cleanup since then. I’ve started cleaning up broken external links, such as the Trail Long (aka Sunday Notes and Links) posts and the resource pages. This may result in some weird references in old link posts or articles, such as “the following three links…”, while there’s only one link left.
I also scaled back the resource pages considerably. It was a little depressing to see how many of the listed websites have gone away. Keeping up with them is a time suck, and some are now linked to sketchy websites. So, I took the lazy way out and did a mass deletion, keeping a few I currently read and know are active. Links may return if I can find a semi-automated way of keeping them fresh.
Current Reads, Watches & Listens
Listening:The Guns at Last Night, The War in Western Europe 1944-1945 by Rick Atkinson (audiobook). I’ve made some progress, about 6 hours into a 32 hour book. Reading:Murder on Astor Place by Victoria Thompson. Finished this one last Sunday. It became more interesting during the last few chapters. But it became even more morbid in those final chapters and had a rather gruesome ending. I shouldn’t be too surprised, since it is a murder mystery. I’m guessing the two main characters will last throughout the series. So, viewed as an introduction to the characters, the slow parts may be forgiven. It has nearly 11K ratings on Goodreads and a 3.89 (out of 5) rating, which is the second-lowest among the nearly two dozen books in the series. I did finish it and it improved for me at the end, so I’d give it 3 stars, 2.5 if that was possible. The 24th book in the series is due out this year, so I’m obviously in the minority. If you like historical mysteries set around 1895 (based on the mention of Roosevelt just becoming NYC Police Commissioner) you’ll probably like this more than I did.
New Arrivals
None
Incoming
None
Outgoing
None
Out of Rotation
Lamy AL-Star Bronze (EF) went dry last Sunday as expected. It was inked with the included Lamy blue cartridge way back in late January. It spent most of the time as a spare pen I left in my office desk. Between infrequent office visits, and never forgetting my pens, it never got used. So I brought it home and made it my daily writer until it went dry.
Esterbrook Estie (MV Adapter w/Esterbrook #9314M nib) A modern Kenro era Esterbrook, the nib is vintage. I find the MV adapter and converter to be finicky. I kept the pen inked to use as a comparison when reviewing the Journaler nib. That review has been delayed so long that this pen dried out. The converter has separated from the feed, so there was some ink in the barrel and a lot in the cap. It wasn’t too tough to clean, although I did have to take the pen and converter apart to get at the dried ink. I hate taking a pen or converter apart for what should be a routine task.
Sailor Professional Gear Regency Stripe (EF) stopped writing after being unused for nearly two months. There was a little Yama-Dori left in the cartridge. But not enough to make it worth salvaging, so I just flushed out the pen. It took a lot of water before it ran clear going through the feed.
Into Rotation
None
Links
Bloggiversary IV!! // – Weirdoforest Pens // After cleaning up broken links, many to blogs I liked, it’s nice to see one celebrating an anniversary and still active.
Fountain Pen Quest 