Will It Write?

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Christine (Pentulant)

As I mentioned yesterday, it’s been a busy season. Between work, travel, birthday celebrations, more travel, and general busy-ness, I’ve not had much time to tend to my fountain pens.

In fact, everything you see above has sat unused for at least two weeks. I thought it would be a great time conduct a small experiment: Will it Write?

Here’s where things ended up . . .

J Herbin Rollerball – after a slow start, it started writing wonderfully

Jinhao Dragon Eyes (I have no idea what the real name of this pen is) – started right up! Want to get one of these for yourself? Amazon has them for under $15 right now.

Nakaya – this was my birthday pen from Mr. Pentulant this year. It’s gorgeous, but I’m having trouble with the flow and it’s going to have to go back. Ugg. More on this another day, but for today – it didn’t write – not even a little. Disappointing, but I’m sure it will get fixed up and be perfect.

Parker Duofold Demi – started right up!

Montblanc Solitaire – perfect!

Franklin-Christoph Model 20 – I really thought this big wide music nib would have dried out over the two weeks that I didn’t use it, but – no! It wrote like a champ! So happy about this.

Pilot Elite – Gah, I love this pen. I’ll review it soon. Until then, go buy one for yourself. This one started right up, too.

Montblanc Boheme Large Edition – I received this pen as a gift from Mr. Pentulant last Christmas. It didn’t write at all after having sat for two weeks. I’m not surprised, there is clearly an issue with nib – and perhaps with the twisty mechanism. I’m going to need to find someone to have a look at it. Ug.

Lamy Safari – no surprise, it started writing the instant it was touched to the paper.

TWSBI Mini (Rose Gold) – I was having trouble with this pen before it sat. It’s no surprise that those issues didn’t fix themselves while sitting in the pen tray. I think the issue is baby’s bottom and I have an urge to try to fix it myself. Will you posted on how that turns out!

Jinhao 159 – review coming soon – it started right up! A happy surprise. (I got this one from Goulet Pens.) It comes in black, orange, and yellow. The yellow is on sale as of this writing.

Monteverde Artista – one of two pens that kinda sorta wrote after having sat for the two weeks. I kept feeling like it would start writing well “any second now,” but that just didn’t happen.

Montblanc Solitaire Geometric – Another pen I’d been having a little trouble with before my break. It started right up, but the hard starts on some letters remains an issue. I’m going to need to take this one back to the MB Boutique for a look.

Finally, the TWSBI twins – red and green – they wrote wonderfully!

Overall, I’m pretty happy with how this went. The Nakaya is definitely the biggest disappointment – unfortunately, though, I wasn’t terribly surprised as I’d been having trouble with it.

Those Jinhao pens (the dragon and yellow) surprised me in the best way by starting right up.

I’m sure it’s not lost on anyone that some of the cheapest pens started up right away and some of the most expensive pens are an issue. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions from that.

I’m hoping life is at pleasant lull and I can get back to enjoying my pens. How is your summer so far? Busy, busy like mine? Relaxing and calm?

FOUNTAIN PEN REVIEW: Parker Duofold Demi

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Christine (Pentulant)

I first saw this pen on the Instagram feed of my friend @mycoffeepot and knew I had to have it.

The incredible sheen and depth of color (chatoyance!), the organized geometric design of the resin, and the mini size was just too much to pass up. I hopped right over to eBay to find my own Parker Duofold (this one is the demi/mini/small version).

The arrow clip is so iconic!

The pen arrived in a luxury box and included a 6-pack of Parker mini cartridges. I quickly popped one into the pen was excited to start writing. It started out great! The nib was smooth, but not slippery. Flow was great. It was everything I expected – as indicated by the sweet heart I drew. Ha.

And then this happened . . . Yikes.

I even tried another paper brand . . .

I really thought this was heading for Major Trouble and started going through my checklist of possible issues/solutions. And that’s when I realized – in my excitement to start writing, I hadn’t cleaned the pen first and we’re supposed to always, always, always clean new pens before we use them. (Except I never do because I’m Pentulant like that.)

I gave it a good cleaning, let it (mostly) dry, and started again . . .

Nice! Let’s see what else it can do . . .

Whew! Cleaning is just what the nibmeister ordered for this pen! I’ve since written with it a bunch and haven’t seen even a hint of the problems shown above.

MyCoffeePot mentioned on Instagram and his blog that this is one of the best fine nibs he’s written with. I’m going to agree.

Some thoughts . . .

I would say that the Parker Duofold Demi is a terrific pen. It’s beautiful, writes great, is comfortable in the hand, and I love the size (thought some may find it too small).

But…and this is a Big But…the pen only uses cartridges. Proprietary cartridges. The ink isn’t bad – Parker inks are classic and known for being “well-behaved.” The issue is that the user is definitely limited in terms of ink options. Others have tried to find a converter that will work, but none have been successful. There is the option of emptying the Parker cartridge and filling with another ink using a syringe. When this blue cartridge is empty, that’s probably what I’ll be doing. Not a huge thing – not something that would make me unlove this pen – but something to be aware of.

Bottom Line: I real dig this pen despite the issue of proprietary cartridges!

So tell me….do you clean your pens before using them the first time? ..would you buy a pen that only takes proprietary cartridges?

INK REVIEW: FOUR FABULOUS BLUE INKS (Part 2)

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Christine (Pentulant)

Last week, I took a really close look at four fabulous blue inks.

Some of these inks are not easy to find. Let’s take a look and see if we can figure this thing out…

Sailor Bung Box Sapphire

After a little searching, I’ve found some sources for Bung Box inks . . .

Bungubox Facebook Page

Amazon (affiliate link)

Rumor has it Cool-Japan had them over on eBay at one time. As of this writing, there are no Bung Box inks listed, I’ve bought ink from Cool Japan in the past and had a great experience.

The bottles and packaging look amazing and I’ve definitely enjoyed using the sample Gerald sent me.

Here’s the trouble: money. The Bung Box inks are not cheap – add in some shipping (from Japan!) charges, and you’re at right around $45-50 per bottle. Yikes.

Parker Penman Sapphire would also be a good substitute for Bung Box Sapphire. Because the Penman ink is no longer available, I’ve listed some good replacements in that section. Zoom down to see.

Bottom Line: If $ isn’t a concern, go for it. It’s a great-looking and well-performing ink – you wouldn’t be disappointed. If $ is a concern, DC Supershow Blue is a fine alternative.

Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium

Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium is only available from Goulet Pens. The good news is that Goulet Pens has a fantastic reputation in the fountain pen community for excellent customer service. They will also ship overseas.

I shop at Goulet Pens regularly and mention them frequently. I’m not related to the Goulet’s, I receive no discounts, free product, special treatment, or anything else from them. Unfortunately, in our relationship – the money only flows in the one direction 😉

PW Akkerman #5 Shocking Blue

I got mine direct from the Netherlands. Shipping was fast, seemed reasonable (though I was buying multiple bottles), and everything arrived in good condition.

Vanness Pen Shop also carries Akkerman inks. You’ll have to call or email them for specifics.

It’s expensive. The Akkerman bottles are super-fancy and they’ve come a long distance. If you don’t want to put out the money, my strong recommendation is Diamine Majestic Blue (see image below).

Parker Penman Sapphire

No longer available, there are some inky recipes out there for replacing Penman Sapphire. A quick search turned up these two links for you . . .

Faux Parker Penman Sapphire

Another Parker Penman Sapphire Replacement

The difficulty here is that while I think it is possible to get the color right (or at least close enough), I’m feeling pretty certain that it’s quite impossible to get the feel of Parker Penman right on target. That is to say this: the color is only part of what makes an ink so special. The feel of the sample I had is wonderfully different from all of the other blues here and I seriously doubt that mixing 6.5 drops of ink #1 with 3.75 drops of ink #2 is going to result in that same feel* – and without that, well, there are plenty of off the shelf colors that come close enough. Have a look . . .

Some of the above ink swabs are showing the sheen – and maybe you’re thinking Penman Sapphire doesn’t have much sheen here or in my review from last week, but look at this review over on FPN – crazy sheen.

Sailor Bung Box Sapphire also looks like a good sub for Parker Penman Sapphire, but there are difficulties in obtaining that ink, too. (See the above section for those details.)

Bottom Line – DC Supershow Blue is the color I would choose if I was trying to match the color of Parker Penman Sapphire.

Of course, you could search eBay for it, but there are rumors that it was discontinued because it may contain metallic bits (hello, sheen) in it and it causes pens to clog. I’ve not had trouble with it in my Pilot Metorpolitan, however.

* Did you know that mixing inks can be an invitation for Major Trouble? Some inks don’t play well with others and you could end up with a blobby globby mess – in your pen. Some mixtures will take some time to form the blobby globby mess and by the time it does, you may have already loaded it into your pen. Be careful.

Annnnnd…that’s that! Four Fabulous Blue Inks. This has been a fun fun project and I really have to thank Gerald again for sending me samples of some of these inks. If you’re not following me and Gerald on Instagram, you simply must.

You tell me . . . Are you going shopping for one of these? Or maybe you have another favorite blue ink?

LA PEN SHOW 2014 – MY SHOPPING SPREE

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Christine (Pentulant)

LA Pen Show 2014 – My Shopping Spree

There they are.

Click any picture in this post to see the full-size version. These are all iPhone photos – decent quality, but not perfect.

Going to try to let the photos do the talking here and come back another time with detailed images. You all must be tired of reading my posts about the LA Pen Show, but, dude, it was massive.

And we’re off . . .

Vintage Parker Jotter in Cab Yellow

Lamy Safari Flame Orange

Following is the pen that Susan Wirth recommended for Mr. Pentulant. I love this pen. I’m going to have to find a way to convince Mr. Pentulant to transfer ownership to me. 😉

Vintage Esterbrook with Needlepoint Nib

A peek at the marking on the pen above . . .

Vintage Esterbrook with AAA Logo

Susan Wirth proclaimed, “You are an italics waiting to happen, Number Five!” As I mentioned yesterday, I tried a bunch of pens with italics ends and ended up falling in (almost) love with fantastic pen, but the price was more than I wanted to spend. Blech.

No worries, I didn’t walk away empty-handed. Check it out . . .

Vintage Parker 51 Aerometric

The next item is from Franklin-Christoph. If you’ve never shopped there, you should. I love their high quality and impressive customer service. I have had nothing but good experiences with them and their items are very thoughtfully designed.

Franklin-Christoph A5 Medium Command Center

Annnnd this pen is also from Franklin-Christoph. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that I have the little sister of this pen and love it. This one is equally cool. (This is the clipless version.)

Franklin-Christoph Model 02 Intrinsic

Onward . . .

Vintage Sheaffer Snorkel Valient

Dude.

The twins . . . Mr. Pentulant found the next pen for himself. I ended up with pen envy and made him run off and find one for me, too . . .

Vintage Parker Vacumatic

The triplets . . . I have no excuse.

Esterbrook

And that’s it!

All lined up . . .

LA Pen Show 2014 Purchases

A roundup of all of my LA Pen Show posts just in case you missed them . . .

LA Pen Show 2014 – General Overview – Part 1

LA Pen Show 2014 – General Overview – Part 2

LA Pen Show 2014 – Susan Wirth

The time to enter my Pilot-Iroshizuku ink giveaway has ended. I’ll be back on Monday to announce a winner!

Have a great weekend.

Missing Converters

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Christine (Pentulant)

A couple of weeks ago, I gathered up all of my pens that were missing this or that. And then sorted through my this or that pile to replace what I could.

The above pens were all missing converters.

And today, only the Delta on the far left is missing its converter. From my understanding, the regular Delta converters won’t work in this style. I may go with cartridges if I can’t find a suitable converter soon.

From left to right we have . . .

Delta
Sailor
Parker
Waterman
Waterman
Namiki Vanishing Point x 5!!

How did all of these pens end up with missing converters? I used to be a cartridge-only girl. So much so that I’d toss the converters right over my shoulder and into the trash.

It’s a good thing converters aren’t very expensive to replace!