Good Reading

The Spring issue of The PENnant arrived in the mail yesterday, so this morning I made some very good coffee and spent an enjoyable couple of hours reading. In particular, I found Daniel Kirchheimer's articles in this issue really interesting! Unfortunately, I now feel the urge to add a couple more early Sheaffer radite ring tops to my collection - particularly those with 'C' and 'F' stamped barrels to keep my 'D' stamped 46 Special company...

May Collection Updates

I've been somewhat slack about posting of late, so let us see what updates we have for May...

INK - I can't believe I didn't post about my new inks. I recently ordered Noodler's Nightshade, Private Reserve Gray Flannel, Rohrer & Klingner Sepia and Rohrer & Klingner Smaragdgrün from The Inked Nib, with wonderful service from Natalie as per usual.

• Noodler's Nightshade: This is a dark red-violet, almost like a mixture of Noodler's Red Black and J. Herbin Moondust. Moderate shading, very well behaved. (Thank you to Gary for getting me interested in this ink. :)


• Private Reserve Gray Flannel: This is a medium gray, quite neutral, with perhaps a hint of a green undertone. Moderate shading, very well behaved, perfect flow.


• R&K Sepia: I recently finished a half-bottle of this ink which I traded for last year, so when I ordered a fresh bottle, I wondered if the colour would differ at all. I was glad to find that it didn't, because this ink is the closest replacement for Parker Penman Mocha that I have found. It's very slightly lighter than Mocha, but the colour is so close... that completely neutral, true brown with no red, orange or yellow undertones. Lovely! Rather strong shading, no feathering, quite free-flowing.


• R&K Smaragdgrün (Viridian Green): Initially, this was an odd colour for me to buy, but my collection was lacking a pure blue-green (not to be confused with green-blue / turquoise). This ink colour has grown on me, and is very reminiscent of Sheaffer Emerald, though the colour is slightly deeper and more intense - a great ink. Moderate shading, very well behaved, perfect flow.

NIBS - I completed a more comprehensive review of my Richard Binder Needlepoint nibs! I uploaded several pages of writing samples on different papers, as well as some close-up shots of those beautiful nibs. Read on... XXXF and XXXXF Round and Italic Points.

PENS - I picked up two more Japanese fountain pens last week, both Platinum brand, and both 1970's Sterling Silver models. The first is a Riviere model with small inlaid red accents on the cap, while the second model is unknown, with red urushi accents on the cap. Both are high-quality pens, and from what I can gather, they were originally sold in the ~15,000 ¥en range.

The Platinums should arrive next week, and I will definitely be photographing them and preparing a write-up. Not much product information for older Platinum models exists out there on the WWW, so unfortunately I will be limited to discussing the design and showing off pretty pictures! :)

Sexy Weblog

Well, it took a whole day, but I finally migrated my blog into a new template - and I think it looks pretty snazzy. ;)

XXXF Nibs!

Just after 4PM yesterday afternoon, my long-awaited package from Richard Binder was finally in my hands! My ten pens were back - with freshly customized nibs!

I had forgotten that I had originally sent all but one my pens away in little black slipcases, and when I unpacked the pens it was actually great not knowing what pen each case held!

The included writing samples from Richard looked perfect, and my opinion didn't change when I dip-tested each nib. Each nib performs perfectly, and the feedback and flow is exactly as I required - Richard has done a fantastic job, and these nibs were worth the wait! Each pen is now inked up, and being put to use!

• Jean-Pierre Lepine Attila, J.Herbin Indien Orange.
• Jean-Pierre Lepine Indigo, Pelikan Brilliant Brown.
• Lamy Lady, Noodler's Golden Brown.
• Omas Saft Green Princess, Stipula Moss Green.
• Omas Blue La Royal Princess, custom mix.
• Omas Scarlet Red Princess, Noodler's Tiananmen.
• Pelikan M400 White Honey, R&K Alt-Goldgrün.
• Pelikan M300 Green, Montblanc Racing Green.
• Pelikan M201 Clear, J.Herbin Poussiere de Lune.

Earlier today I put some time aside, selected pens with tiny nibs, and created a document which shows writing samples from 22 pens in my collection:

(Note: The image linked below is 1400x2135 and 2MB in size.)

I wasn't sure of the best way to present such a nib comparison, but I think that by viewing the high-resolution scan at 100%, you can form a clear opinion about the nibs shown. The graph paper used has 5mm squares - so that gives an idea about how small my writing is, and why I use such tiny nibs!

Very Exciting Pen News!

Well, exciting for me at least! Here is a summary of pens I am expecting...

1. A second Nakaya Piccolo Cigar! Special Urushi finish, 14K SEF nib.


2. A stainless steel Platinum, exactly like the one shown in this post.


3. A cute Waterman Lady Charlotte.


4. The Fountain Pen Network 'Limited Edition' Bexley.


5. TEN (10) pens from Richard Binder, which I sent to him for nib customizations - I may have them by the end of this week!

Last week I also received two beautiful Japanese pens from the lovely Mr. K. The first was a small Pilot lever-filler, in a gorgeous red celluloid with a firm XF 14K nib. The second was more special... an unusual stainless steel Sailor with a rather exquisite arabesque-like motif. The motif is machined(?) all over the cap, barrel and section. The detail is quite incredible and perfect, and the nib is a 18K White Gold F.

Nib News!

This is the best thing I've read in ages...

"I can grind a nib of any size down to XXXXF. That's a line 0.004" (0.1 mm) wide. One of Phthalo's pens just got that treatment today, and four others were taken down to XXXF. Two more are now 0.3-mm stubs. Who knows what's in store for the rest of the clutch she sent me?"

- Richard Binder commenting on nib customizations I requested.

How exciting! Seven of my ten pens are done!

Fantastic!