Monday Stinks #15

In celebration of Friday's Fountain Pen Day, a brief return for Monday Stinkage. (Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the inkwell...) Evidently I still haven't got to grips with the best way to capture ink colour. Ah well.

J Herbin Café des Îles is not a remarkable ink, but a pleasant one, and it looks great on cream paper. It seems to go well in a Bedrock Flake Edison Beaumont, currently sporting a fine nib reground by moi to be a little italicised.

Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black has pretty much taken the post of everyday ink at the moment; you just don't have to worry about it, and it has a soupçon of water resistance which can be handy. Currently living in the M200 Pelikan, which boasts being one of the few pens I haven't butchered customised.

Diamine Ancient Copper does not photograph well, which is a crime. So much better in the flesh, and possibly just a bit too wet to bing out its best coming from the Indian Gama Airborne with substitute Onoto flex nib.

Diamine Bilberry I really didn't take to at first, but once you get used to more lubricated inks and sheen effects, it comes into its own. Arguably a Pilot extra-fine nib in a Kakuno is not the best way to show it off, but as writing experiences go with such a fine point, it's hard to beat.

Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki seems to be pretty much the Iroshizuku everyone ends up with (if they end up with one at all), and it's nice enough. I'm not sure that the considerably cheaper Sailor range of inks aren't just as smooth flowing and well-behaved though, just not always so widely available. The restored cobalt blue and bronze button filler of unknown parentage is currently enjoying this particular tipple, because naturally the no-name battered old thing should get the premium ink...

Finally Pelikan Edelstein Garnet, an ink I dismissed as utterly without upsides (apart from being a free gift), until it caught my eye as I was chucking out a finished scribble notebook. What gorgeous glowing red is this? I exclaimed. Deduction lead to Garnet being the only possible answer, so I gave it another chance. Once you get your head into the idea that, where Pelikan is concerned, red will aways tend towards orange, it's better. (Their 4001 "Brilliant Red" is basically a day-glo orange with a hint of red that will sear off your retinas if looked at for more than 1.03 of a second. I'd ink something up with it and show you, except Fountain Pen Day is about encouraging FP use...) But it is not a great ink, despite its fancy perfume-bottle-like presentation. Currently dwelling in a battered Parker "New" Duofold (c.1953-61) whose nib was so worn to the previous owner's hand that drastic measures had to be taken to make it usable. Purists would, probably justifiably, frown. Purists may go away and stick their heads in a bucket. Probably by Montblanc.

Anyway, there we go. So yes, the pens are still getting a workout; zibaldones are getting finished at regular three month intervals, plus I'm attempting to learn/relearn/stop-mis-remembering some French, and there's nothing like writing it down to get it sticking in the memory, non? (Je dis oui.)

Monday Stinks #14

No, it's not Monday. I do know that. However, as I left them out in the Big Ink Up before, I thought I'd toss in a one-off:

Wednesday Quinks!

I can hear your little hearts going pitty-patter in sheer excitement. Try and contain yourselves.

I should add the Vector is of UK manufacture and for some reason it's giving me more trouble getting comfortable with its italic nib than any other calligraphy pen I've ever tried. I believe it may be traced to its slim and somewhat slippery metal section; my grip allows the pen to swivel and all is then destined for disaster. Very early days yet though, so with luck I'll overcome it. The Soyuz, meanwhile, tends to make me write such things as The Superior Red Bear Jumps Over The Lazy Capitalist Dogs. Even my mother, when she tried it, ended up writing Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as Russian snow, and everywhere that Mary went the KGB was sure to go. Not sure we'll ever overcome that. 

Oh, and the other colour is my Pelikan Turquiose/Blue-Black mix.

Bleached Whale

Fairly sure, as I splashed on the bleach, that this poor piece of paper (Clairefontaine 90gsm) was starting to wonder what it ever did to make me hate it so...

Waaaaay, too saturated. Seriously, I have no idea why it looks so dark once it's been uploaded; most aggravating. Anyway... Both Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black and Rohrer & Klingner Salix have kissed goodbye to what remained of their blueness, Diamine Sapphire Blue still defies all the odds by turning into yet another (slightly paler) shade of blue. I am never putting that stuff in a demonstrator ever. Amazingly Waterman Serenity Blue and J Herbin Violette Penseé still haven't been utterly obliterated either. Ignore the Deep Dark Brown; it's not nearly as legible as the scan suggests.

The clear winner, utterly unmoved, is Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa. Slightly surprising, but maybe because it always looks like it's already been washed out the difference is less noticeable?

But what of Noodler's Prime of the Commons? Still there, albeit not nearly as saturated as it was (or as the scan suggests). But for me it's a disappointing failure. Let us take at look at the claim for it:

"If bleach is added to the ink when dried, it will turn a bright blue colour to show that a forgery has been attempted."

Now, personally, I consider that's about as bright blue as the original colour is blue-black. Pish and tush; no fun at all.

Also pish and tush because I have no idea why I persistently miss out the "The" in its name. Somehow I got it into what passes for my brain that it didn't have one. Ah well. Do I care? No. If the ink lived up to its blurb, maybe. As it is I shall happily embrace the much more readily acquired European inks with easily-remembered names such as Fernambuk, Rouille d'Ancre, and... Hypnotic Turquoise. (Huh? "Watch the bottle of ink. Round and round it goes. Watch the ink. You are feeling sleepy...")

Can't think of any more ways to torture this paper now, so will retire it to keep as a salutary lesson on transient nature of most inks and to remind myself to take care about the ones that aren't going to readily go away. i.e. Do not write New Year's resolutions in Scabiosa...

Washing Day

So I have a page with an example of all my inks on, right?

Does this, or does this not, appear to be an unrivalled opportunity to find out which ones are water resistant and which are not? I believe it does.

Behold! The Catastrophic Beverage Spillage Reenactment Experiment:

And in the Water? What Water? Category, the winner is...

Well, a totally unsurprising four-way split between:
Noodler's Prime of Commons. Well, duh - it's advertised as waterproof, and will also change colour if you try to tamper with it using bleach. (Oh, bleach test. Might have to try that too...) Mind you, it's also claimed as a blue-black, when it's clearly green-black, so take nothing on trust.
Rohrer & Klingner Salix and Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa. Both iron gall-based inks, like wot woz used in Days Of Yore, only less acidic these days. (i.e. We suffer less from the troublesome results of the ink surviving but eating the paper around it. And possibly the pen. Iron gall is why gold nibs were the desired thing; a bias that survives to this day, even though in actual writing terms the basic metal of the nib is irrelevant.)
Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black. The One That Might Be Iron Gall. If it looks like a pelican duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck... But Pelikan are not helpful; people ask them "Does it have iron gall in it?" and sometimes Pelikan say "Ja, it has a little" and sometimes Pelikan say "Nein, it does not". Possibly it depends on the day of the week or phase of the moon. Or whether you speak to Gerta or to Heinrich. I feel compelled to note that both Lamy and Montblanc have altered their blue-black inks so they no longer contain IG, and they're still, as far as I'm aware, available in the USA. Pelikan have not altered their recipe, and it's not available in the USA any more. You may, perhaps, draw conclusions from this; I really don't know.

In the You Can Read Me Easily, But I'm Feeling Off-Colour Category we find:

Diamine Sapphire Blue An intensely annoying ink, because it goes down as a gorgeous rich purply blue, and then dries to just...blue. And then it gets wet and goes to... another blue. Which does explain why it's a bane to clean; it will not die. I love it not, however legible under water.
J Herbin Violette Penseé How an ink with such a pale presence and low saturation still survives so legibly, if more bluely, I do not know. Remarkable. I only have cartridges of this and didn't like it at first, but I'm warming to it. Maybe not enough for a bottle though.
Diamine Syrah Bath night brings out its purple side, it seems. Now it looks more like Violette Penseé looks pre-bath, which is oddly disturbing. A Liverpudlian Franco-phile?

The others are much of a squint-and-you-can-just-make-it-out muchness, although I'm surprised how much Waterman Serenity Blue still remains, but then we get to the real losers. The scan is generous, so you can at least make out a haze where Rohrer & Klingner Helianthus and Diamine Blaze Orange once were (Oh, they may be aqua-phobes, but such lovely colours). Diamine Denim is virtually a no-show and the idea of actually trying to read Rohrer & Klingner Fernambuk, Diamine Bilberry or Waterman Absolute Brown (which is apparently only absolute if laid on with a trowel, it seems) is laughable, however the

Dr Richard Kimble Prize for Most Fugitive Ink goes to: Diamine Kelly Green

Unfortunately it couldn't be here to receive its award... Truly, a lovely spring-like green with super shading, but it comes as no surprise it vanishes at the sight of a rain cloud on the horizon because it's the easiest ink to clean out of a pen ever. People caution you against the staining properties of purples and greens in clear demonstrators and white pens. but I would but DKG in any of them without a moments qualm. Just don't commit your life's work to paper in Kelly Green if you like to write in a coffee shop. pub, tea room, during meal times, in the shower, anywhere outside the Atacama Desert, etc...

Conclusion? This is right up there in scientific analysis terms with, oh, a Fine Woodworking Tool Test. But I had fun. Now where's that bottle of bleach....

Monday Stinks #12b

It's Bank Holiday Monday and it's raining. Must the weather be so clichéd? Ah well, can't mow grass in the rain (Yay!), so instead I bring you a cautionary example of what happens when a) You have way too many different inks, and b) You have a crazy fondness for insanely cheap pens. Yes, you get an idea to put every ink into as many cheap, not-the-end-of-the-world-if-it-dies pens as you can. The end result is this:

If you're feeling competitive, you can play Guess The Most Expensive (in the pot) - careful though, remember I do love to hunt down a bargain and all that glitters is frequently tat... Three of the pens listed below aren't Pot of Inky Doom dwellers; the iron gall inks Salix and Scabiosa are pretty much permanent in their pens anyway, and Serenity Blue is generally inked up in something old (such as the Parker 45 currently), so no point in duplicating. Besides, the pot can only hold so many...

Oh, and I confess I have failed to have a Quink Blue cartridge on the go (Because, well, bleurgh) or the elderly pot of Quink Black (Because it's, well, also pretty bleurgh. It's only claim of distinction in the modern world is it being old enough to be avec Solv-X)

Colours are fairly accurate on my monitor in terms of how they relate to each other, but they're way too saturated. And is it actually possible to ever do Syrah justice in pixel form? Apparently not. Shame. Although on the flip side of the coin it's been very generous to Garnet.

Now excuse me while I go away and write "No more pens and positively no more ink" one thousand times in the hopes it might actually stick . And hey, it'll use up some ink... 

Monday Stinks #12

So neat and symmetrical is the date today, I felt compelled to Stink. Terribly sober colours here, and nothing finer than a medium. What the dickens...? All four have been interfered with too; Alf Towers is no place to be a fountain pen if you want to remain factory-fresh.

On the other hand if you arrive on the doorstep and start letting your piston seal widdle ink all over the place, you've come to the right place. People don't always like the clear demonstrator pens, but in this case I'm happy I can see what's going to happen before it actually does...

Monday Stinks #11

Yesterday was my birthday. One of those ones people insist on being "landmark" and then spending the time remarking how old you are. It had a zero in it. Alcoholic bubbles was really the only sensible way to manage the day...

The vibrancy of the colours is a bit lost in this pic; haven't got to time to try again. The first photo is much more representative; that orange is intense.

Monday Stinks #10

Ah, rare sightings - the sun shining. Oh, and me on a blog...

Astute observers might notice that I'm currently exhibiting the nib equivalent of going from an advocate of block planes to wielding multiple number 7s and 8s. Broads, forsooth? What manner of madness is this? No extra-fines? I know, I know. They warn you it will happen - the increasing desire for a broad and juicy line - but I never thought it would happen to me.

Anyway, take heart, gentle reader; there may still be a regrettable shortage of sawdust, but the tool adjustment addiction is alive and well. This small sample includes three nibs in the wrong pens, two re-ground, one DIY filling system and two ink mixes. Verily, you can take the lunatic out of the w'shop...

Monday Stinks #9

This exercise is telling me two things: firstly I should have stuck more with the Old Classics amongst inks. The Waterman and Pelikan are being over-used because they're so reliable. Waterman for everything because it's so good natured to even the most sensitive little blossom; Pelikan to tame the too-wet nibs. Getting a bit bored with the Pelikan blue-black in particular though. Functional, but not thrilling.

Secondly, no-one's interested in cheap pens, so we've gone up a couple of rungs this week. Although in the Grand Scheme I acknowledge that some would still call these cheap and probably dismiss them. Their loss, I assure you.

Such is my delight in "Junior" that I forgot to note the ink. Hah. Guess who? Yep, Waterman Serenity (formerly Florida) Blue. It's a good colour, mind you. However, doesn't that celluloid of gorgeousness rather say a brown to you? Cue the glamour shot:

The reported occurrences of Orange Crustiness that can sometimes appear with Ancient Copper means I've resolved to confine it to pens of modern manufacture, so that's not an option. Pensioner Pen-friendliness and good shading makes a bottle of Waterman's Havana Brown ink highly likely to darken the doors of Alf Towers in the not-too-distant future, I fancy. Or whatever they call it now. Seriously, what did Waterman hope to achieve by changing the names of their inks? Apart from confusion. Tsk.

Monday Stinks #8

Hope everyone is still in one piece after all the atrocious weather we've been enjoying on both sides of the 'lantic. Unfortunately the grey weather is playing havoc with my reliance on natural lighting, so this is dismal photography indeed. The Pilot blue is an excellent, rich and vivid blue, trust me. Just not in this case...

Anyway, the new year is often a time of belt tightening, and as such we have a bit of a budget theme going here. Generally the Noodler's Nib Creaper would be the cheap option in many fountain pen gatherings, but here it's by far the priciest at something over a tenner. It's way smaller than I realised; not dissimilar to the GB Parker Victory and Junior, but slimmer. I'm much taken by it, and the nib is the best yet of the Noodler's I've tried. Which reminds me, I used the Noodler's Ahab and Pelikan blue-black for the title - I've tweaked its flex even more, and now it's pretty nearly exactly how I wanted it, so huzzah.

I think the Pilot disposable may be clearance stock because they've changed its appearance, and thus it was much cheaper than usual, and thus I bought one to try because people rave about them. In all honesty I find the idea of a disposable fountain pen an anathema, even if you can (by somewhat laborious means) refill it. I will happily say it's the blobbiest line and thus worst Pilot nib I've ever used, which is comforting as I'd started to think Pilot were infallible.

The purple "demonstrator" was the result of a pen failure via Amazon - got sent the wrong pen, and after a small delay while the seller suggested I defraud the Post Office in order to return it, which I declined, they eventually said "keep it" rather than pay for the return postage. Which, given how much I see you can pay for one (pour example, ici) versus what they wanted to charge for it, I can fully understand. And it's... okay. It wouldn't be a total disaster if you were saddled with one of these for school, but the slip on cap problem, if ubiquitous, would get old very quickly.

The clear bargain for me is the Sheaffer-a-like from the "Deluxe Pen Set". Yes, it's fairly cheap plastic and probably breaks several health and safety rules by having indentations in the cap instead of actual breather holes, but the clip is sturdy, the grip is comfortably rubbery, and the nib is good. Pens costing fifty times as much and more regularly come with the nib tines out of alignment, so I refuse to damn it for that. It wrote, and that's the important thing. Add in a couple of not bad ballpoints for the money, and it's a total steal. Of course, another example might be utterly useless and a complete waste of money, but thems the breaks at the bottom of the barrel.

So there ya go; my ready response if anyone says fountain pens are too expensive. What my excuse is for my fascination with these budget pens though, I have no idea.

Monday Stinks #7

Christmas - a time for many things, amongst them New Toys. While I don't actually "do" Christmas, I have no particular objection to New Toys...

My, but the Kultur does look very bright there - it's not that bad. It seems to like the new Bilberry colour (a good deal better than it liked the Prime of Commons, anyway).

I would have absolutely given my right arm for the Sailor about, um, 25 years ago, which may explain the impulse buy. Also it was an economical way to try out purchasing direct from Japan, given my predilection for the Japanese pens. Went very smoothly, actually. The only possible difficulty I can see is when the amount paid gets into the realms of the Revenoo Men, who, I gather, are being particularly assiduous these days. Now it's not that I mind paying the duty, but it gets to me that I have to pay a handling fee etc when if I'd have been able to, I would have happily paid the duty up front and saved them the terrible trouble of dealing with HM Customs that the post office subsequently want to diabolically over-charge for. Sigh.

Ah, but let us dwell on nicer things; to wit, the Platinum #3776. Not that much to look at, I know ("Classic" seems the best description) but with Platinums (beyond the Preppy) it's all about the nibs. They're good nibs and this is no exception. But the great big stonking win is that, unlike say, the Parker Junior whose nib I like a good deal, if worst comes to the worst and it meets with disaster/I lose it I can just go and get another one (finances permitting - this one was a bit of a steal). The gods alone know how many Parkers I'd have to get through to find another one like the one currently in my possession. Not that it wouldn't be fun searching, but I'm all about not becoming a collector here, kids. I'm a user. And a user likes readily available, in current production things so they can just get on and use.

(Did that sound convincing? I thought that sounded convincing. I was totally convinced.)

May your edges be sharp, your splinters few, your tines aligned, and your fortunes good in the coming year.

Monday Stinks #6

It's blowing half a gale out there and the gods have apparently left their sprinkler running. Nothing like watching the rain being forced past the window seals and splashing upon the fairy lights and there's nothing you can do to stop it; don't you just love this time of the year...?

Just the three inks on the go at the minute; the effects of the 13th were delayed a week here at Alf Towers, I had three unhappy pen events in quick succession this Friday instead, resulting in something of a glut of unscheduled pen cleaning. And bluer fingers than is quite usual... As a result:

A) I'm going to stop bothering to try to get along with the Hero 616 (Chinese Parker 51 knock-off homage), because it never returns the favour.
B) Cult Pens are very nearly the Lee Valley of pen retailing. (You may take that to mean they have excellent customer service and are likely to cause severe strain on the wallet. Not that they're Canadian. At least I don't think they are. I shall have to try subtly slipping ice hockey into conversation and see if they bite...)
C) Noodler's Prime of Commons is running out of welcome; being incredibly over-saturated is one irritating thing, not actually being blue-black can be viewed as an idiosyncrasy, but going through the incredibly dry Waterman Kultur like a dose of Syrup of Figs and throwing up into the cap of same? That's simply not going to make you friends here at Alf Towers.

Anyway, best of luck to all readers during this season of over-indulgence and social anxiety

Yuletide Felicitations to you all. 

I'll see you on the other side, or maybe even in the middle somewhere.

Monday Stinks #5

Monday Stinks #4

Now how on earth did it get to be December so soon? The festive season will soon be upon us (may the gods have mercy on our souls) and the merry sound of ripping paper and "Oh, you got me socks. Again," will ring through the chilly air.

Now if I'd remembered it was December, I might have chosen festive colours - red I have, but green is lacking. You've no idea how long it took me to bite the bullet and put the Syrah in the Dubonnet  Red Esterbrook; finally decided that if it was going to stain, at least it won't show. But frankly that rich red spilling from that red pen is such a satisfying thing, to hell with the caution.

As expected, the Umber was kicked out of the Serwex flex and the copiously flowing habits of Cult Pens' Deep Dark Brown is proving very successful, and doesn't it shade rather nicely? My opinion of this ink has spun on its head simply by putting it in a different pen. Actually the first three colour/pen combos are starting to feel like keepers.

Yes, the Preppy is still going - but that's another one sporting the Sapphire Blue. I suddenly fancied having another go at a nib grind, so took the 0.5 nib to a cursive italic (It's like an ordinary italic, but its language is appalling...). Now I should have started with the 0.5 size really, but trust me to go the wrong way round and do the more tricky 0.3 first. Ho hum. Anyway, I'm moderately pleased with the result; it's taken a rather dreary and blobby medium and made it a much more interesting writer.

And yes, we do have something of a preponderance of blue on the go at the moment. That is mainly what comes of having several old pens inked and not wanting to risk anything more exciting in them. If the sacs on those two "new" Parkers aren't as sound as they appear, I'd rather they leak something fairly tame and easy to clean...

Monday Stinks #3

I would like to think I'm getting better at capturing the full majesty (or not) or some of these colours - but it seems not. The Ancient Copper has not fared well, which is a shame. Anyway, here we go.

I don't think the Umber will stay in the Serwex for long; it's proving to be a little too dry to keep up with the improved flex. Huh, just think, short months ago I'd be going "What the heck do you mean, dry ink?!"

I seem to be in my orange pen phase, here; shocking pink and orange is not a good combination. The orange behemoth, incidentally, was a car boot purchase. Yup, I'm already slipping. It's truly hideous and pretty badly designed, but the ink flows from it in just the right amount, and it's surprisingly smooth. Better than the Waterman, actually.

Monday Stinks #2

Technically Sunday Stinks, because I'm writing this on Sunday evening (and that's why the lighting is appalling). Oh, and the paper is Q Connect bank paper; small notebook and I ran out of room. Let us not dwell on what style of handwriting I was trying to employ; I clearly failed.

The Kakuno, incidentally, appears to be of the same nib family as the MR/Metropolitan/Penmanship/Plumix/Prera/78G - Pilot's popular group of nib-swapping pens. So in theory you could have a perfectly respectable-looking MR or Prera, quietly sporting a smiley-faced nib under the cap. Which, as someone who's stuck goggly eyes on a hand plane, appeals to me beyond all reason.

(By-the-by, it belatedly occurred to me that not everyone is familiar with their basic Cockney rhyming slang so just in case: Pen and Ink = Stink. See what I did there? Impressed? No, didn't think so...)

Monday Stinks

This is mainly for my benefit; rather like listing tools used. If I keep a record of what pen and inks I'm using every week so often, I can see what keeps cropping up, and whatever vanishes from sight can be disposed of.

See? I'm totally going to stay on top of this thing from the start.

Yes, I am.

Should a flicker of interest flare briefly in anyone and they want further illumination of any aspect, speak up.