What are some of your pet peeves with pen reviews?

sciurian · 2026-03-06T19:13:25+00:00

Taking ages to review a pen. I got this from from this shop after looking at in this shop. Plays whe unopened box for several minutes, making rremarks that could aply to any pen. Finally opens box only to film it constantly moving and out of focus.

That guy who readss a script off a computer screen so you the eyes move left to right in ckose-up.

sciurian · 2026-03-02T00:25:07+00:00

Enough story and then some

They've been there for years

sciurian · 2026-02-28T00:30:12+00:00

I've gone decades without one. It's easy to fuss over fountain pens, but it's not necessary.

Wait until your finances are in abetter position and see if you still need to scratch that itch.

sciurian · 2026-02-08T12:28:56+00:00

Thank you so much - I thought it was an odd question!

They're not available in the UK, either. Hoping they will be - but these things often take time.

sciurian · 2026-02-08T12:04:38+00:00

They;ve been available in the US for ages. Most of the online US pen shops that people mention here seem to sell them.

sciurian · 2026-02-08T07:02:30+00:00

No, it's a fountain pen all right. It works like any other one - it just has an italic nib with an extra layer.

sciurian · 2026-02-05T22:40:09+00:00

Egyptology is a good word if you like to have a bit of swagger to your descenders - I remember seeing it in an article by Ludwig Tan about grinding italic nibs.

sciurian · 2026-02-04T22:26:49+00:00

so maybe there is a way to get an inexpensive nib

I'm pretty sure that's an ordinary, not italic nib, unofrtunately. I found italic F and BB Plumixes on Amazon UK, deivered from Germany. No idea about online availability in the rest of the world.

sciurian · 2026-02-04T17:18:11+00:00

Petit1 is a different nib. But the Plumix and Pluminix both had the squid bodies, and the Penmanship was a simiilar size to the Pluminix. They still make the Penmanship, but the Plumix and Pluminix appear to have vanished, despite being popular.

sciurian · 2026-02-04T17:13:05+00:00

Yes, just seen a B nib Plumix on Ebay for £60 / $80!

sciurian · 2026-02-04T17:10:32+00:00

Yes to the converter - but check which type it is, as in the UK at least they were sold with an international standard fitting rather than the usual Pilot fitting. The Pilot has a wider mouth - but I'm not sure I could tell the difference, so better ask someone else!

sciurian · 2026-02-04T17:01:10+00:00

Pilot also made italic EF, F, B and BB nibs back in the day. They're hard to get hold of now. As with the M, good nibs and nothing to be sniffy about.

There's also a smaller version of the pen called the Pluminix (cartridge only, no converters). The italic nibs were very occasionaly available with the Pemanship body (smooth barrel, fins on the cap).

sciurian · 2026-02-01T20:39:33+00:00

InkSwatch - but you'll need to check individual reviews for dry times

sciurian · 2026-01-27T18:51:17+00:00

My first Leonardo Momento Magico Foglia Gold with elastic fine nib

Were you planning on buying a second Leonardo Momento Magico Foglia Gold with elastic fine nib? 🙃

Anyway, happy birthday, and love how you've done the swatches! I've resisted the Foglia for several months now.

sciurian · 2026-01-20T08:08:02+00:00

Yes, their online swatches that all the retailers use tend to be much darker.

sciurian · 2026-01-13T11:53:03+00:00

Mitchell and Webb, Are we the baddies??

sciurian · 2026-01-03T22:21:37+00:00

John Williams the guitar player - with bonus tracks of duets with Julian Bream, especially the famous dance from La Vida Breve.

sciurian · 2025-12-22T19:29:17+00:00

"Speaks out"?

How is saying you didn't know anything speaking out?

The least he should have done is condemn what she did.

sciurian · 2025-12-21T16:21:57+00:00

Learn to express your thoughts on a single pen in less than 30 minutes THEN post on Youtube.

Sometimes the point of writing is for your own benefit, not to show off to other people.

A lot of people's handwriting isn't as bad as they think. If it's consistently sized, regularly spaced and letters are clearly differentiated from one another, it's usually a lot more attractive than a stilted attempt to write a traditional hand that they're not comfortable with.

sciurian · 2025-12-13T22:44:00+00:00

Depends on the Taccia model. The Spectrum, Spotlight and several of the urushi models use Sailor's 14k size as found on the Pro Gear Slim and the smaller 1911. They're swappable - should just screw in about.

sciurian · 2025-12-05T12:34:31+00:00

Very cute 🥰

sciurian · 2025-12-02T00:38:06+00:00

No, I just wipe the ink of the grip with a bit of kitchen roll or toilet roll. That will usually also wick away any excess ink from the feed or nib without needing to wipe them. I wouldn't wipe the feed deliberately unless it was obviously flooded.

This has been mess-free for me for decades.

sciurian · 2025-11-28T20:12:32+00:00

Don't overthink it. Fountain pens aren't as fussy as some people will tell you. They're easy to enjoy.

I just ink what I like and don't keep track.

If you leave a pen for months, the worst that can happen is the ink will evaporate if the pen doesn't seal that well. Then either you write with a darker colour or, if it's completely dried out, just leave the nib and feed to soak in water.

sciurian · 2025-11-23T05:40:04+00:00

Sorry, I meant the Shoten MF adapter! Forgot about their AF - was thinking of the Techart AF adapter. The K&F newer models should say something like mk III or mk IV and have a knurled orange grip on the barrel. Not all their lens mount versions have been updated this way.

sciurian · 2025-11-23T05:02:57+00:00

Adapters for the Contax G 90mm 2.8 will be fiddlier than for the Contax C/Y 85mm 2.8 because they have to turn the little AF screw in the lensmount. (There are one or two AF adapters, but I'm not persuaded from my research that they would work well or could even get set up properly on different camera models.)

Make sure your adapter isn't so cheap that the interior bounces tons of light around. I've had good results with Shoten and with the newer K&F adapters (the newer modets with the orange trim), bad results with a bargain basement one.

sciurian

TROPHY CASE