fountain pens

[binkmeisterRick]

Congrats on getting your pen back, Scotrace! Personally, I think there's something to be said about a pen many decades old which still writes like it was new. And seeing that your pen has a family history to it, I doubt any new pen could compare. I'm glad you're happy with your refurbished pen. It's making me all the more anxious to get mine back, and I should get to pick it up this weekend! I'd love to see pics, too.

bink

 

[John in Covina]

The cracked nib was replaced with an identical nib as promised, with the damaged nib returned. It filled flawlessly and began to write perfectly the moment it touched paper, in a perfect, blot-free fine line.
I've been ogling Pelikans on Ebay. I could not be more pleased.
The work was done by Aaron at Pentiques of Youngstown, Ohio. The restoration, new sac, polishing and testing came to $30. Replacement nib and setting was $35, for a total of $65 +tax + $5 shipping via priority mail. Very highly recommended based on my imited experience. I'll try and post pictures later, if anyone would like to see it.

********
Good money well spent and the pricing was good too! Now you can reccomend Aaron at Pentiques for your region! Also you have the old nib which is gold it can be fixed and it has value even though cracked. It is always neat to see a pen that's been given a good polish, sometimes they practically glow. (Maas or Simichrome works well to clean & polish.)

Now you have a top notch fine writing instrument WITH history! Hope to see it soon!

Pelikans are very nice, even the M200's write great! I have a Go or Future with Noodlers Legal Lapis for Addressing envelopes that is great!

Check under events and go to your local pen show this year, if you can!

 

[adamgottschalk]

...with Noodlers Legal Lapis for Addressing envelopes that is great!

I noticed that Noodler's seems to be the hot ink right now. Does it dry faster than other inks (ie, would you still like to use a blotter)? I got a bottle of Parker Qwink for my rececently acquired Esterbrook, and the fact that it doesn't dry so fast is a tad annoying (not really, all you need to do of course is not wipe your hand all over what you'vejust written, but still).

Recommendations in general (fast drying or just generally) for fountain pen ink? How about for taking ink with you, for refilling pens, on the road? I noticed they have a "solution" available, but it costs $75. Anyone take their ink bottles out and about with them and not have any troubles with leaking or breaking?

 

[John in Covina]

Travel & drying ink.

Noodler's seems to be the hot ink right now. Does it dry faster than other inks (ie, would you still like to use a blotter)? I got a bottle of Parker Qwink for my rececently acquired Esterbrook, and the fact that it doesn't dry so fast is a tad annoying (not really, all you need to do of course is not wipe your hand all over what you'vejust written, but still).
Recommendations in general (fast drying or just generally) for fountain pen ink? How about for taking ink with you, for refilling pens, on the road? I noticed they have a "solution" available, but it costs $75. Anyone take their ink bottles out and about with them and not have any troubles with leaking or breaking?

********
Noodler's has about the same dry time as regular ink BUT their Eternal inks are permanent, once dried they can't be washed away. Fountain pen ink needs to not dry to fast or it will dry on the nib and feed and not make it to the paper. Now there is a difference between "laying down" a "wet line" or a "dry line" for fountain pens. The amount of ink a nib puts down can sometimes be adjusted. It is when a feed gives too much or too little in the process. Too little or too dry is when the pen has problems starting, or may have a skipping problem in one direction or if you try to write fast it can't give enough ink for the speed. Now there is wet and there's WET. If it leaves little blobs or puddles of ink it is too wet. If a pen can keep up with your fastest writing or drawing it should be ok. NEXT the paper it self can be adding to the problem sizing or coatings can make it so the ink doesn't go it but sits atop the paper that takes a long time to dry and will smudge easily.
Some paper is more absorbant, but you don't want the ink to bleed into the paper either.

Visconti traveling ink pot if you do a search you may find it for a fair bit cheaper. But the thing is a bottle ofink should not leak say on a plane but it would not be out of line to tighten the cap down wrap in some paper towels and put in a zip lock. Also flying on a plane, fountain pens should be completely FULL or completely empty as the pressure changes on the air in the sac, cartridge or cylinder may make the pen leak.

The fastest drying ink was made for the Parker 51 and was not a viable product under most circumstances and especially in other non-hooded pens.

 

[scotrace]

Pictures...

(I've filled it with Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black, with another bottle of Brilliant Brown at the ready).

Been writing with it all day. It keeps up, never blobs, and lays down a very fine, dry line.

Before:

 

[binkmeisterRick]

Nice, Scotrace! Looks like they did a great job on your pen! Enjoy!

 

[Craig Robertson]

I have used vintage fountain pens for many years. My favorites are the ones with flexible nibs. I use them for drawing and for writing. http://www.robertsonstudio.com/pages_poet/banding.html This was written with a Waterman 51 from the twenties using Watermans Ink. In my experience, there is no better ink and it is still available in fine stationery stores.

 

[John in Covina]

Nice poems!

Cool hand writing too! When you can write well and have the control to make a flex nib dance on the paper it's like the words sing in your head.

 

[Craig Robertson]

Cool hand writing too! When you can write well and have the control to make a flex nib dance on the paper it's like the words sing in your head.

yow, John! "...words sing in your head" is poetry itself. I love writing with a good fountain pen.

 

[binkmeisterRick]

I got my pen back today!:cheers1:

I took my grandfather's 1930's Parker Vacumatic in for a refeurbishing and I hardly recognized it when it came back! The guys at Pen Haven simply did a fantastic job. It's such a night and day difference. They repaired a chipped area, cleaned up the filler mechanism and the nib, and polished it up to a beautiful shine. While still in the shop, he tweaked the nib for me to make sure it wrote perfectly for me. Being a fellow lefty, he said, "Here, let me make it a good lefty pen for you," and did a little nib magic, making it optimal for my writing style. I am so incredibly pleased with the work they did. I'm looking forward to many years of good use with this pen, as I'm sure the pen is looking forward to being well used again!

bink

 

[scotrace]

Fantastic

It's a great feeling to give an old and unused object a new life, isn't it?
Any chance of sharing some pictures?

 

[binkmeisterRick]

Here we go, gang! I gently laid them on my scanner, since it's the only current way I have to getting pics of them. I thought I'd share pics of two of my other favorites. Apart from two other not-so-special pens, this is my collection. Currently...

On top is an Esterbrook in icicle blue (an uncommon color), followed by the 1940s Eversharp Skyline which got me back into loving fountain pens, and finished with the 1930s Parker Vacumatic which belonged to my late grandfather. The images don't do justice to the colors, but before being refurbished, you couldn't see the transparency of the barrel on it, it had darkened so.

What'd'ya think?

 

[scotrace]

Pens As Sculpture

Those are very, very beautiful pens! That color of blue is *just* in the range of blue shades that make up my favorite color. Your grandfather's pen came out really well. Did you find yourself holding it in your hand to admire the smoothness and depth of color? They did a really first rate job for you.
Thanks for sharing these!

Must have more pens...

 

[zeus36]

That Skyline is making me think about picking one up at the antique shop. I saw it two weeks ago for around 40 bucks, but figured that I have enough pens... Love that design!

 

[binkmeisterRick]

Thanks for the compliments, guys! Scotrace, I did find myself just holding the pen and admiring the feel of it in my hand. (You just made me pick it up again, too!) The colors are so much richer and deeper now that it's been cleaned up. Even my wife commented how taken I was with the pen now, and even stated how impressed she was with the pen. I was going to load it up with ink, but I think I'm going to head back to the shop today and pick out a very specific color to use just for this pen.

My wife knows there are a couple of specific pens I'd like to get, so she wants me to write them down for future Christmas/birthday/I'm such a good husband gifts. We were talking about pens last night and she thought it'd be cool to have a special pen of her own, even though she admits to loosing regular pens frequently. I handed her my Sheaffer Jewel (a student cartridge pen someone just gave me a short while ago) and she really enjoyed writing with it. She said she can understand my appreciation behind a good and unique writing instrument. I told her that pen was hers and that she shouldn't be afraid if anything happened to it. She was really excited and happily put it in her daily carry bag. Though I doubt she'll become a collector herself, I think she'd be very happy if I bought her a nicer pen down the road.

Oh, Zeus, if the pen you saw is anything like mine, I'll take it if you don't!

bink

 

[John in Covina]

Here we go, gang! I gently laid them on my scanner, since it's the only current way I have to getting pics of them. I thought I'd share pics of two of my other favorites. Apart from two other not-so-special pens, this is my collection. Currently...

On top is an Esterbrook in icicle blue (an uncommon color), followed by the 1940s Eversharp Skyline which got me back into loving fountain pens, and finished with the 1930s Parker Vacumatic which belonged to my late grandfather. The images don't do justice to the colors, but before being refurbished, you couldn't see the transparency of the barrel on it, it had darkened so.

What'd'ya think?

The Esterbroonk is exceptional, I have seen the usual metallic blues, but never seen this icicle. Skylines are fun and often have nice nibs, I just love Parkers.

 

[binkmeisterRick]

Thanks, John! I got the Esterbrook as a freebie from a woman who just happened to have a couple pens around. When I took it to Pen Haven, they told me I had a rare color. I was surprised to find it was even worth anything! It writes very nicely, too. I went back to Pen Haven today and picked up some sepia Visconte ink for the Parker. I've been writing with it all day!

bink

 

[adamgottschalk]

Esterbrook extra-fine nibs

I emailed Pendemonium the other day asking about the difference between a few nibs. Sam told me that Esterbrook extra-fine nibs are "VERY extra fine." Can anyone compare extra-fine and fine nibs for Esterbrooks?

 

[John in Covina]

I emailed Pendemonium the other day asking about the difference between a few nibs. Sam told me that Esterbrook extra-fine nibs are "VERY extra fine." Can anyone compare extra-fine and fine nibs for Esterbrooks?

I looked for various Esterbrook nib charts, this shows the style but i don't see fine:

http://www.vintagepens.com/esterbrook_nib_chart.shtml

for pelikan this gives a EF vs F vs every thing else
http://www.penseller.com/pens/pelnibs.jpg

 

[binkmeisterRick]

My Esterbrook has a fine nib, I believe, and it is quite a fine nib! I prefer a thinner line since I write fairly small, and the Esterbrook gives me that line. I can try to look at the nib when I get home tonight and see if I can give you any more info on it.

bink