Welcome to- The Fountain Pen Community!

InkaFX · Seasoned

Y'ellow!

Frank · Admin

Welcome to The Community Scott!

Frank

Chthulhu · Rawr.

Welcome aboard, Scott!

diplomat · Experienced

Ciao Inka, nice to see you are here.

InkaFX · Seasoned

Hello, friends, good to see you here!
Thanks for the warm welcome/s.

jar · Seasoned

Hi Ika, glad you dropped in.

DWL · ***

Thanks for coming. We are all glad to have you here.

What are your areas of collecting/tastes/wants & grail pens?

InkaFX · Seasoned

DWL wrote:

Thanks for coming. We are all glad to have you here.

What are your areas of [a.]collecting/[b.]tastes/[c.]wants & [d.]grail pens?

Thank you DWL, and to all of the rest of you...

a) I'm not really a "collector", although I now have a small collection of fountain pens.

b) My tastes lean toward the larger pens, those that rest on my writing hand and no need to pinch the section to write. I like older pens, not necessarily "vintage" although I find the vintage quality outstanding when properly restored. I like piston and vacuum-filling systems moreover others yet I do have a few C/C pens I like well. I've recently that the honor and opportunity to do some specialty nib work on a friends' two Sheaffer's Balance pens, one a Vac'-Fil for him and another a lever-filler for his wife. I have a few wartime Vac'-Fil pens I'm restoring that still need parts, but no lever-fillers, so having a lever to work with was a real treat for me. I like a good celluloid or resin material over ABS plastics.

c) I have more pens now than I'd ever wanted just a year ago, a few I never even imagined ever having. Thanks to the generosity of others I have one I'd wanted since first seeing it back @ Christmas 2000, a Mustard VP from Japan. Another I'd never even seen until having been given it is what I would have considered to be my "grail", had I known it even existed, a 1998 Rotring LE with extra Stylograph nib. However, I would one day still really like to own a Pelikan M1000, the pen I'd wanted before getting the Rotring '28, yet having the Rotring I no longer crave the M1000 as I did. I'd also like to have at least one large lever-filler pen to refurbish, specifically a Sheaffer's OS Balance 1000 with a Mil-Clip in Marine Green, one in near-mint condition with no brassing/no wear to the metal hardware, an open Lifetime two-tone nib with plenty of tipping that's at least a Medium or broader to make into a Stub or better yet if an OEM Stub is out there somewhere, no bulging of the celluloid @ the lever retainer clip area of the barrel and no new parts needed other than a new sac. If I had those 2 pens, the M1000 & the OS Mil-Clip MG Balance, I cannot really think of many others I'd like nor want at this time. I'm actually very happy with what I already have now. There are so many wonderful pens out there it's really hard to narrow them down to just one more I'd "want" now. I wouldn't mind owning a Pilot Custom 823 in Clear� or Black Demo, NIB with all original extras. I wouldn't mind owning a Sailor K.O.P Marble in black/red Ebonite and a Nobuyoshi Nagahara "Cross-Point" nib to try, just too bad it's a C/C filler and the pocket clip not so easily removable which to me are two major detractors of such a beautiful pen. My "wants" are more focused on new inks rather than pens at this time, maybe some more quality paper that's fountain-pen-friendly such as a letter-size RHODIA or BN'R with 5mm graph lines would be nice.

d) As for a grail pen, I have one now that someone gave to me as a gift. I didn't even realize was my "grail" until getting it, as previously I'd thought a Pelikan M1000 with a few different nibs and a matching leather case would have done it for me. If I could have any pen at all, it would most likely be one made by CONID as a Prototype in clear, with the Vacuum/Plunger filler designed by Francis Goosens. If not a Prototype Demonstrator then I'd like to have one of the CONID Benjamin Graham Plunger pens in black/red Ebonite or in Tibaldi Celluloid. There are others out there I wouldn't mind owning, yet these are the first that come to mind when someone asks. ADDENDUM: I'd still like to own a Pelikan M800 Demo, preferably a Blue Ocean but the cost is far out of my reach. Now if I could trade for one, for various non-pen items I have such as custom knives and/or cameras I now have then I'm in!

Of the few pens I have there are 4 in particular that I call my "Daily-Quad", pens I use each and every day for different tasks, each filled with a different ink. Those four pens are as follows:
1) The Rotring '28 LE is my letter writing pen, since I can write for long hours without hand fatigue or cramping. It has an OEM� large Rotring 18k/750 Fine nib that I'd gently transformed into an Uber-smooth writing Fine Cursive Italic,
2) A Pilot "Cap-less" or VP in Mustard from Japan was once a grail for me. I finally got one as a gift and find myself using it every day as well. It fits perfectly inside the pen loop of a Staples Pocket Jotter that holds numerous 3x5 cards. I use that pen & Jotter combination for quick lists sort of like a day planner that fits into a pocket with ease. I keep it filled with a permanent black ink at all times, for those moments when a black ink is neeed for forms or signatures.
3) A Pelikan M800 "Old-Style" is my "Daily-carry" pen, as it fits my hand and my shirt pockets perfectly and holds a good amount of ink. The Rotring is just a bit too big and heavy for daily carry, the Pilot VP and Medium Japanese nib writes extremely Fine which is great for fitting a lot of information on the smallish 3x5 cards, but the Pelikan M800 [at least to me] is the perfect carry pen. It sits low in my top pocket, it starts each and every time the nib hits paper, and when posted feels perfectly balanced to me despite being a bit back-heavy. I use that one for signatures on receipts and on the rare occasion I fill out a check. I also use it at times for letter writing, when I want a wetter line than the Rotring delivers.
4) LAMY-Vista with a 1.5mm Italic nib, used primarily as a decorative label/address pen and for signing greeting cards and/or personal letters. I tend to keep it filled with a good shading ink of some type, usually a non-permanent ink, something with brightness and "pop". When I got the 1.5mm nib is was overly polished by LAMY, the corners so rounded there was little line variation. Re-shaping it on a Hard Arkansas stone, final shaping/smoothing with Mylar abrasive sheets, I'd turned that nib into nearly a Crisp Italic and then gently rounded off the sharp edges and corners by hand. Now it really is a true Cursive Italic and a great pen for Calligraphy when I don't feel like messing with dip-pens/nibs.

Here's one of a few shot I took of my "Daily-Quad" system just yesterday, of the pens listed above...

P.S.:
I have more than I'd ever really wanted, despite there being a few left I'd really like to have someday. Thanks for asking.

�

-- Edited by InkaFX on Sunday 8th of November 2009 01:25:49 PM

-- Edited by InkaFX on Sunday 8th of November 2009 01:28:27 PM

-- Edited by InkaFX on Sunday 8th of November 2009 01:29:25 PM