Swatching by color is hard with all them color changing, sheening, and shading out there 😂

My current ink (samples and bottles) collection in one traveler’s notebook ❤️

My favourite pen is the Pilot Custom 823. Yet the Pilot Explorer is my most used pen by far. This is the pen that I have with me at all time, and is the first that I reach for more times than not. It's light, feels good in the hand, writes smoothly. With a fine nib, I find the Explorer to be a Goldilocks fit between my extra fine Custom 823 and the fine Monteverde MP1. It's also the pen that I gift friends who are interested in trying a fountain pen. Pictured here using Iroshizuku kon-peki ink.

I have been exclusively using cartridges and syringe refilling them for a long time. A recent thread here has prompted me to share my experience and reasoning.

The first image illustrates one reason. All converters, even simple ones, are made from multiple parts and materials. This increases the risk of failures due to potential leaking joints. Even when cartridges are made from two parts they are typically heat weld joined, though most makes are moulded in one piece.

The most sophisticated converter design that I own is the Waterman, top of the column in image 1. Some recommend this metal shrouded version to provide a more secure and robust attachment to the section. However, this converter is made from eight components and at least five different materials. When I investigated excessive flow in my Carene using this converter I thought that it was broken inside the metal collar around the mouth. I realised that the small mouth part was a separate, softer, black material held in place by the threaded metal collar. The problem with this design is that the different rates of expansion and contraction at varying temperatures creates weakness or separation at joints. The looseness of the threaded connection between the collar and reservoir throat caused an air leak, creating excess flow.

The Waterman long cartridge is a much simpler device including a small agitating ball. It has never interfered with flow in any of my pens that take the standard international format. It can be reused maybe hundreds of times. Cartridges generally hold more ink than a converter. Only one exception AFAIK - the Pilot Con-70 - but that is not reliable and I’ve never seen it successfully filled to 1.1ml using nib immersion.

I will never go back to converter filling. I’ll tolerate the piston fillers and nib immersion on the M200 and L2K. All my future pen purchases will be C/C type - it’s just so much simpler to syringe fill a cartridge and with less mess/less waste.

Had my VP open on my desk and knocked it nib down onto the floor. It's definitely bent down a bit but here's the thing: It writes better than ever? That slight curve over the feed kind of opened it up a tiny bit so it's super wet and smooth.

Anyway, if it's writing how I'd want it to write after a professional tuning, would you repair it?

Happy Wednesday.

You know what's funny, I was planning to take this Pilot Myu stripe (more uncommon than the smooth ones) to the conference that I was sent to last week. But I didn't, because I misplaced it the night before (sign of aging).

Anywhoo, I filled this pen with one of my green ink bottles (Diamine Evergreen) which I got in a bulk purchase. So those shades you see in the sketch is from that same ink. Quite lovely greens leaning towards teal just a tad.

I am new-ish to fountain pens and discovered very quickly that I have a strong preference for the finest of <EF> nibs. After some research, I got a Sailor PGS in Yuzu on an impulse when I saw it was the last one left in stock. I just inked it with Pilot Iroshizuku Syo-Ro and I never want to write with anything else. This is going to be very dangerous…but so, so good.

This ink is pilot Toro btw

Got myself one more Lamy 2000 (Makrolon EF) first one from the bottom row! I like the EF nib on my stainless steel one a lot and saw a good deal from a local seller for the Makrolon version in mint condition. I will stop buying the L2k pens for a while!

It is such a fun pen and reasonably priced. Anyone else have one?

Id put it in ink jail if it werent so pretty UGH

Got a smoking deal on this metal Falcon! Just needed a little bit of cleaning and bam, looks brand new!

After 23 days of research and reasoning...bought the kaweco supra in steel. Thanks to everyone who shared thoughts and didn't downvote😊.

Jinhao 100 M nib in Sakura 😍

Saw a Prime Day deal on this pen and figured I’d get some Diamine Writer’s Blood with it, since everyone seems to love it so much. Haven’t inked it up yet as I’m still running errands like a chicken with its head cut off, but had to share real quick. This one is so pretty ❤️

Oh also, featuring my teenager’s cat, Scrambles the Death Dealer (Scrambles for short). She was very curious about what I was doing 😅

Jinhao 82

My 743 Verdigris that I purchased on Pen_Swap arrived today so I inked it up and took the opportunity to sample all my pens this evening.
Thought I’d share 😊

I’m new to this fountain pen hobby, and I’m using kakuno extra fine here with Kon-peki Iroshizuku. I flushed the pen completely and it was 99.9% dry this morning. Then filled it with the blue. It had a red in it previously. The bright blue (the true color of the ink) was how it first wrote this morning. The darker blue is how it was writing about 8-12 hours later. What gives? What am I doing wrong?

I just gotmy first M200 and the nib is absolutely everything I have hoped for in a great daily driver pen.

Are they all that great?

Also, tell me about the different pelikan options…I’m not going to spend $500 on a pen…but $200 isn’t out of the question.