Does anyone use Fountain Pens?

The Diamine Shimmer inks have dropped at Goulet. :slight_smile:

Missed the SBRE brown and it looked nice! Saw the Napoleon J.Herbin edition at La Couronne du Comte while browsing which looked nice also even though it’s just a Vert Empire color in a fancy box/bottle.

Yeah, I notice that some SE inks are just slightly different production inks. Specifically the one time I almost shelled out $50 for some Montblanc Christmas ink that was supposed to be some special red, and I saw the writing review for it, and decided it was just a red ink. REALLY wish they still made Leonardo, I love that ink to death.

Need to pick up some of those Diamine shimmer inks, their Oxblood is still my favorite ink of all time.

Yeah, I also missed the SBRE brown if its gone, I completely forgot about it by the time I had the cash (Plus I picked up a nickel Rebirth ;D)

Thanks, I will get some the next time I get more ink. Right now I am working through my Pilot iroshizuku samples. They are really nice inks too.

I am not really a pen fanatic. I prefer to say I just like fountain pens. I tend to take notes in multiple colors so that individual thoughts stand out from each other. To do this, I find that the vibrant colors and smooth, precise writing of the fountain pen to be superior. I have two Lamy Safari’s, filled with different colors, that I use for work - along with multi-color packs of Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens. These things are terrific pens. They have bright, vibrant, eye-catching ink colors. They are smooth, consistent and write very surprisingly well for a $4 pen. I have yet to experience any issues with the Varsity. They are a great value for an everyday fountain pen. If you lose them, who cares? I have lots more.

I do have one “good” pen. My Pilot Custom 823 is just a delight to use. Absolutely amazing 14K nib that glides over anything in its path; leaving a perfect, fine, wet line. It is a piston filler which makes it all the more fun to explore new inks with.

Yeah, I’m more of an ink person as well. I have a couple Noodler’s Ahabs, a couple of the Noodler’s nib creepers that you get free with the large ink, a Lamy Al-Star that is my daily driver, and my girlfriend swears by, and has two platinum preppy’s, which are great considering they are $3 and can be used as an eye dropper pen.

Anyone pick up some of the new Diamine Shimmers?

Since I have found this forum, I thought I might contribute a few thoughts on my newest inks.

While I too, have also enjoyed the Noodlers inks I have a few questions and observations.

Noodlers inks are both dark and vivid. But some sites have questioned this feature of Noodler’s inks. I would like to hear any first-hand experience with this.

Many sites claim that Noodler’s ink uses solids and binding proteins to achieve the amazing colors that Noodler’s definitely has. But solids not only clog the pen and nib - they also tend to degrade the inner-workings of the pen over time according to some.

I have noticed that those that have opined that Noodler’s were the best; seem to also use relatively low-priced “commodity” pens. What is the opinion of Noodlers with a high-quality pen where long term preservation is a value proposition - like a Montblanc? Is Noodlers “good” for pens? How about Gold nibs?

On the topic of inks; I have been using the Pilot Iroshizuku inks for a few weeks now. Suffice it to say that I have quickly lost much of my enamouration with many other inks in favor of the eye-catching, subtle tones that this line offers.

These inks are meant to mimic the colors found in nature. In that respect, they are absolutely sublime. Where some inks stand-out through the sheer, bold, color-imagery, these are remarkable for colors that simply are not found in other inks. The quality is also amazing. They flow like water and lay on the paper like dividing-lines on a highway; even on paper where others tend to bleed and penetrate. Absolutely superb. I highly recommend any ink-fans give these a try.

Cheers.

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Most of my ink collection (40+) is Noodler’s. To answer questions about it though its never clogged any of my pens. I don’t have any crazy pens though. Lamy safari’s, nexx, and vistas. Also have an Ahab and a Pilot Metropolitan. I don’t know in the long run how much it will affect the pens though.

Good inks like De Atramentis, Iroshizuku, or Caran D’ Ache all “feel awesome” if that makes any sense. You know you’re using a really good quality ink. It just feels and flows better than other inks out there. I can give a good example of inks that looks awesome but feel horrible. DIAMINE!

Regarding interesting inks like Emerald of Chivor you really need super good paper, good pens/nibs to really get those crazy colors that you get on internet pictures. This is possible with a lot of inks though not just Emerald. The best thing you can do is thick lines with really good paper to get the best out of your inks.

For Emerald I’m using a Lamy Nexx with 1.1 nib and I get the reds around the edges of letters with Moleskine paper. So I can totally see where they get those crazy colors from.

I finally used up a bottle of Mont Blanc royal blue ink I had sitting half used for 6 years. I bought a bottle of Diamine meadow green as a replacement. It is a strange ink, it writes out dark black-green but after a few seconds it dries out to brighter shade of green that is close to the sample sheet for the ink where I bought it from.

I liked the shade of the Diamine ink, but I decided to work on a bottle of Naples Blue ink from Private Reserve.

Naples Blue is fine choice!

The properties of color changing on that Diamine aren’t very weird. An ink that does the same and even glow in florescent lighting is Noodler’s General of the Armies

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I don`t want to start a new thread and so posted this here as I think this is related.

So I wasjust wondering if any of you guys tried other types of calligraphy such as arabic or chinese/japanese calligraphy. I haveonly tried fountain pens and chinese calligraphy but I think chinese calligraphy is more appealing to me and I think it is more diverse and elegant. Just my 2 cents. You guys should try out chinese calligraphy sometimes. I also want to try Arabic sometimes ;D.

I have tried the Gothic English script, but my hand coordination is crummy. I also used to write in cursive but have given that up in favor of print because the majority of my writing is math. I have several people in my family who are teachers and they have told me the newer generation of kids don’t even know how to read the original declaration of independence because they don’t know cursive.

Apparently this is happening with other languages as well. I know someone who has spent years learning Chinese, but can’t read the cursive form of Chinese. My uncle learned German in college, but can’t read our ancestor’s documents because its in cursive German. And I have seen discussion between people about the Dutch words written in a medieval-era script.

I think we are coming close to a dangerous point in time where everyday people won’t even know how to read their own language if its not printed by a computer.

Ever try to read Chaucer in Old-English? It shows you just how much languages change over time. I have trouble reading 18th Century stuff. All the S’s are F’s. Fimply filly. is you afk me.

Hey, the thread is alive! Glad to see some new people in the mix

Does anyone here use piston-fillers? I am interested in whether others use them.

I would like to hear why you like them; and which one’s you find most enjoyable?

If you hate piston-fillers, I would love to hear why?

If you do not care, then please ignore :slight_smile:

Piston Fillers… Like what the Noodler’s Ahab has or the Lamy with the Converter?! If so, I usually make a mess if I have to dip the nib and waste more ink than needed. I usually fill my pens with a syringe directly into the converter. With the Ahab I have been dipping and pulling the plungers but always get ink ALL over my fingers when I do it that way… What about you?

Also, haven’t posted in a while but made this for the 'Ol Lady for our Anniversary. Was inspired by random butterfly stuff I found through Google image search :wink:


Lamy Safari and a wet brush… Noodler’s Apache Sunset, J.Herbin Rouge Hematite, J.Herbin Emerald (just for the splatters)

A piston filler will not take a cartridge or Converter. The filling mechanism is built-in to the pen and cannot be modified. That is what makes piston-fillers unique. Instead of just being a shell that holds either a cartridge or a converter, the pen has the mechanism inside the barrel. That makes the pen feel substantial, and heavy with the mechanism and the ink-resevoir. That is what I like most about them. They feel like a real pen. Not just a shell, or cover, for a plastic cartridge.

I completely agree that the fill sometimes wastes a bit of ink, but the huge reservoir makes up for the small waste.

The Lamy 2000 is a piston-filler. Awesome pen.

I haven’t used a true piston filler before, but they seem very convenient and solidly built. My Ahab is similar since the “converter” works with a pull piston, but it’s not built in to the pen, and IDK if any prefills fit

I am not entirely sure I would call the Ahab a piston filler, although it won’t accept cartridges, and can only fill from an ink bottle. The Lamy 2000, Pelikan M200,400,600,800,1000 are all piston fill. TWSBI makes a some reasonably priced piston fill and, I believe the Noodler’s Konrad pens are piston fill.

To me, a piston fill pen uses the barrel to hold the ink, however, some pens have a permanent (or semi permanent) internal cartridge) and the manufacturer calls them piston fill.

Yeah, I’m not calling an Ahab a true piston filler either. I’d love to grab a few extra pens, especially with an Italic nib, so I can try out a piston filled pin for myself, since I only use bottled ink anyway… Which is what I always spend my pen money on ;D gotta love some cool inks

There is a slight waste with piston fillers, but I dont think its that big of a deal if you do it right. You shouldnt even be getting ink all over your fingers.

TWSBI Eco is a piston filler I would recommend. You cant go wrong with one.