21-FEB-2012
My collection
Here is my collection (so far). Writing with a fountain pen is truly a joy.
30-JUL-2011
Wood body fountain pens
Aren't they beautiful? The body was carved out from maple woods. The nibs were made with gold plated Iridium.
30-JUL-2011
Wood
The box was carved out from a solid piece of rosewood, the same material as the pen's body. Isn't a fountain pen good to look at? When was the last time we admire a ball point pen in its paper box?
30-JUL-2011
The inks!!!!!
Unlike ball point pens where we are limited to the color of the available inks decided by the manufacturers. The colors of fountain pen inks are almost limitless to suit different moods, different audience or simply just for being different.
Different shades of blue, black, green, purple, red are available. If we still can't find one that suits us, we can mix our own. The blue is too light for our taste? Mix in a few drops of black. The red is too bright? Mix in a few drops of blue. We can create almost any tint that is limited only by our imagination...
Different inks also have slightly different flow rate. One that's well suited for a fine point nib may flow too freely when used with a broad point nib and one that's good for a broad point nib may be too restrictive when used with a fine point nib. Plus everything in between...
13-AUG-2011
Noodler Bulletproof Ink : Bad Belted Kingfisher
This is Noodler's Bulletproof series of ink. This one is dark blue. It's not just waterproof, but also tamperproof. The ink bonds to paper and once dried, it cannot be altered by water, bleach, alcohol etc...
13-AUG-2011
Quick test of Noodler Bulletproof ink on paper
This is just a quick test. The ink was Noodler's Bulletproof 'Bad Belted Kingfisher'. The words were written on a piece of printer paper then let dried for about 5 minutes. I then ran hot water from a faucet continuously about 2 inches above the writing for about 1 minute. The color seemed to lighten but the bottom picture was taken immediately after the hot water test and the paper was still wet. Amazing!!
The top picture was taken before the hot water test. The bottom picture was taken after the hot water test.
This ink can even resist bleach, paint thinner, alcohol and other chemical. Now finally I can sign my checks and address my envelopes using fountain pens!
30-JUL-2011
Pilot Vanishing Point Retractable Fountain Pen
This the world's first retractable fountain pen, by Pilot, Japan. It has a full size metal body and a 18 karat pure gold nib. Its nib is opened and closed like a ball point pen by pressing the large button that opens a small trap door that seals the nib and ink. One of my favorite. It was originally launched in Japan in the 1960s' and went through several generations of refinements in 50+ years. The nibs can be replaced in 15 seconds and are available in FINE, MEDIUM and BROAD.
30-JUL-2011
The Parker model 45 Fountain Pen
The Parker model 45 is a utilitarian fountain pen. Like a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic, it does everything well but nothing exceptional. It's reliable, simple and inexpensive. It's something that I wouldn't mind putting it on the bottom of my backpack and carrying it around...
30-JUL-2011
Unnamed beauty
I bought this unnamed beauty from eBay. There is no brand name or country of origin anywhere on the pen, but the nib did say 'Iridium Gold - Germany' and it's pretty smooth, not quite like writing on glass, but close.
30-JUL-2011
Leather carrying pouch
This is the leather pen pouch that I use to carry 3 fountain pens with me: one with black color ink, one with blue color ink, and one with green color ink. That should fit all my needs for colors in writing...
13-AUG-2011
Noodler's large piston rollerball pen
This is Noodler's rollerball pen that uses any fountain pen ink. The tip is user-replaceable at US$ 0.50 (50 cents )a piece. However, the tip was very dry and after letting it sit for a few days, it wouldn't start. So I pulled out the tip, removed the felt and now it writes like an EXTRA-FINE nib fountain pen. I filled it with Noodler's Bulletproof Black ink and use it as an all-purpose pen.
Paper - Last but not least...
While we can write on almost any paper that's smooth enough to not catch or damage the nib, different paper has different colors, different shades of the same color, and even different tint of white, different absorption rate and reacts differently to different types of ink. A sheet of paper may be good for the Parker ink, but not for the Sheaffer ink or vice versa. Or it may be good for either one, but not when mixing the 2 inks together. Selecting the correct paper is really a trial and error process, in addition to our individual preferences and is a purely subjective expression of one's mind.
This is what makes writing with a fountain pen fun and rewarding. After all these selections of fountain pens, colors of inks, brand of inks, nib sizes, paper types and etc...and etc... we better make every word counts when we finally sit down and write with it...
20-AUG-2011
Hero model 3266 - 360 degree pen
I saw this fountain pen on eBay: a Chinese made Hero model 3266 with a 360-degree nib sold by czxwyst for $9.99 included free shipping from China. This pen has a special nib that is divided in 4 quadrants with a cross cut (see the close up picture of the nib below) so that the nib can be written in any position. After filling it with Parker ink for testing, the nib is super smooth and while it has a 'Fine' nib, it was written like the 'Medium' nib of my Pilot Vanishing Point.
The only thing is that it has a non-removable aerometric pump and I don't like it because it's harder to fill ink than a piston converter.
20-AUG-2011
Hero model 3266 nib
This is a close up of the Hero model 3266 360-degree nib. It can be written in any position and is super smooth!
25-AUG-2011
Baoer 500 fountain pen with MEDIUM nib
Just received this from eBay. A Chinese made Baoer 500 with gold plated Medium nib. I like the weight of the pen: not too light and not too heavy. It came with Baoer's own piston converter. Filling it with Private Reserve Daphne Blue ink, it writes very smooth and wet. Even though it has a MEDIUM nib, but it looks like the BROAD nib of my Pilot Vanishing Point fountain pen. The Baoer 500 is a very good pen. I like it.
11-NOV-2011
Baoer 500
This pen is so smooth and wet. It started immediately even after leaving it unused for weeks.
10-SEP-2011
Jinhao X750 Fountain Pen
I got this Chinese Jinhao X750 pen in stainless steel. I just love an all metal body pen. As delivered, the pen did not flow ink very well. After disassembling it, cleaned up the feed channels and moved the feed closer to the tip of the nib, it writes extremely smooth and wet, just the way I like it. All this, for US $8 including shipping from China.
I like it so much that I ordered a 2nd stainless steel and a black metal body Jinhao X750. One can't have too many fountain pens after all...
10-SEP-2011
Jinhao X750 nib and feed
This was how I adjusted the feed. As close to the tip as possible without impeding the writing. Originally the feed was way below the tip and ink flow was insufficient and it ran dry quickly because even though it came with a nib that said 'M' but it wrote like a 'B'road and it needs lots of ink flow.
11-NOV-2011
jinhao_x750_stainless.jpg
11-NOV-2011
Another Jinhao X750
I like my first Jinhao X750 so much that I bought another Jinhao X750 in black metal body. This one is as good as the first one. Smooth and wet.
12-FEB-2012
Jinhao X750 with Knox K35 nib
I found out from fountainpennetwork.com that xfountainpens.com is selling the German made Knox K35 nibs that fits the Jinhao X750 and Noodler's AHAB pen and are very smooth so I ordered a set of 3 for US$18 and that came with a 'M', a 'XF' and a 'F' nibs. Here I fit the 'F' nib on the X750 and it's much smoother than the original (while the original was already very smooth).
No, I don't think that's real gold at US$6 a piece.
11-NOV-2011
Hero 616 - A Parker 51 clone
This is the Chinese Hero 616 Jumbo and it looks and feels exactly like a Parker 51. The nib is FINE and smooth with a wet line. An excellent pen.
27-NOV-2011
Noodler AHAB Flex Nib pen
I got this Noodler AHAB flex nib pen to practice line variations. Conventional fountain pens have a nib that writes a consistent width line, e.g, a FINE nib will write a fine line, a BROAD nib writes a wider broad line and so on. A flexible nib is pressure sensitive. The more pressure we press on the pen when writing, the wider line it writes and therefore creates letters of different width for a more artistic presentation. It does require a lot of practice.
11-FEB-2012
Modifed the AHAB nib
The AHAB nib is flexible but it took too much pressure to get it to change the line variations. So I used a Dremel tool to grind out the sides of the nib and now it took a lot less effort and pressure to flex the nib. I like it.
11-FEB-2012
The modified AHAB nib
Here the nib's both sides were ground out to make the tip more flexible and it worked. Of course now it looks uglier than before but I'm an engineer by training and function is always more important than form.
12-FEB-2012
noodler_ahab_with_knox_k35_XF.jpg
I found out from fountainpennetwork.com that xfountainpens.com is selling the German made Knox K35 nibs that fits the Jinhao X750 and Noodler's AHAB pen and are very smooth so I ordered a set of 3 for US$18 and that came with a 'M', a 'XF' and a 'F' nibs. Here I fit the 'XF' nib on the AHAB and it's much smoother than the original (while the original was already very smooth).
08-DEC-2011
Dip Pen
I received a dip pen and 10 different nibs today. The easy of nib exchanges, the flexibility of the nib and the line variations of a dip pen is hard to match.
03-SEP-2011
Digital Ultrasonic cleaner
I ordered a New Trent CD-7810 Ultrasonic cleaner from Amazon.com to clean my pens. It was hard to get all the old ink out of a pen so I just put them all in the cleaner and let the high frequency do its work. With just plain water, it really cleans out all the nooks and crannies. See the foil test below.
04-SEP-2011
Ultrasonic cleaner foil test
This is a test to check the effectiveness of any Ultrasonic cleaner: suspend a piece of aluminum foil (those used in the kitchen) in the water and let it run for a few minutes. This is how it looked like after running the ultrasonic cleaner for 3 minutes with plain water and no detergent or cleaning solution. Amazing, isn't it? The tiny indentations were created by the microscopic action of the microscopic water bubbles created by the high frequency (42 KHz) of the ultrasonic cleaner. These bubbles constantly formed/exploded on the surface of the object to remove any particles that clung to the surface.
30-DEC-2011
Traveling dip pen
I use a Hero 360 that did not write well, removed the nib and feed then fit a dip pen nib onto it. Now I can carry this with me.
19-FEB-2012
Los Angeles Pen Show - Feb 19, 2002
I attended my first pen show at the Los Angeles International Pen Show at Manhattan Beach, California. It was nice to see all the pens in one place and I had the chance to try out several pens with ink.
19-FEB-2012
The free gift
Every admission got a free bottle of Monteverde ink in blue-black and a copy of Pen World. Nice.
19-FEB-2012
1920 Conklin ring top lever fill fountain pen
I bought this Conklin ring top lever-fill fountain pen at the pen show. It was made in the 1920. The nib is 14K and is a full-flex nib.
19-FEB-2012
1920 Conklin ring top lever fill fountain pen nib
This is a close-up of the 14K nib on the 1920 Conklin ring top lever-fill fountain pen I just purchased. The nice thing about buy a vintage pen at a pen show was that the vendor was willing ot let me dip the pen into an ink bottle and tried it out so I could feel how flexible it was before I bougth it.
19-FEB-2012
Conklin lever fill sac
Ok, I just got to disassemble it to check things over to see how things look inside a pen that is almost a century old. The section is friction fit to the body so I just pulled it out, the sac was new as it was installed by the vendor. I put everything in my ultrasonic cleaner and let it run for 3 sessions of 6 minutes each, then reinstalled everything. The sac is 50mm long (2 inches). I will order some new sacs for back up. Everybody said to use SHELLAC to 'glue' the sac back onto the section but I did not have any so I just used the clear silicon sealant. It needs 24 hours to set.
20-FEB-2012
Conklin pen writing sample
Ok, I will need more practice but this is what this pen is capable of. The variation of line width with changing of pressure on the nib.
09-MAR-2012
Noodler Piston Filled pen with Conklin 14K vintage flex nib
After using the vintage Conklin for a little while, I got tired of 2 things: it doesn't have a clip so it was a pain to carrying it around and I couldn't see the ink level. I found out that Noodler made a piston-filled pen (with ink window) that takes most vintage #2 nib and my Conklin happened to have a #2 nib. So I ordered one, removed the Noodler nib and installed the Conklin vintage nib on it. It was a perfect fit and now I love it.
09-MAR-2012
1920 Conklin vintage flex nib installed on the Noodler pistion filled pen
09-MAR-2012
Writing sample with the Noodler piston filled pen and Conklin vintage flex nib
This ink is Pelikan 4001 Turquoise and is about perfect for this pen and nib. I tried Noodler's bulletproof black and Black Belted Kingfisher and they were too wet (gushing out when writing).
10-MAR-2012
The nib position
I want to capture the nib position. Once the feed position was determined to provide correct and adequate ink flow, it was just a matter of setting the nib such that the tip of the nib and the tip of the feed are not too far apart or the ink will not flow fast enough (too far from the nib tip) when writing fast at max flex.
10-MAR-2012
The feed position
I want to capture the position of the feed and nib relative to the section. When I moved the feed further in the section, the pen railroaded.
14-MAR-2012
Jinhao 159 - A huge pen!
Based on the reviews on www.fountainpennetwork.com, I ordered a Jinhao 159, which closely resembles a MontBlanc 149. It was US$11 including shipping from China to California. I received it after 20 days.
The nib was described as a 'MEDIUM' but it wrote like a 'BROAD'. It was very smooth out of the box with Noodler's Black ink. I love it.
14-MAR-2012
Jinhao 159 with German Knox K35 nib installed
The original nib was too broad for my taste. Since I have a brand new 'MEDIUM' Knox K35 German nib handy, I removed the original nib and installed the Knox nib. It was just friction fit. The Knox nib is even smoother than the Jinhao nib. It's smooth as glass. The ink flow can be easily adjusted by just moving the nib in (wetter) and out (dryer) from the section, while keeping the feed at the same place.
14-MAR-2012
Jinhao 159 and X750 comparison
I thought that the Jinhao X750 is already a large pen, but putting the 159 (left) next to the X750 (right) made it look so small!