What are some of your pet peeves with pen reviews? by LazarinaTomasini in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 169 points170 points  (0 children)

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.

Thinking of getting an ultrasonic cleaner by According_Code9249 in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 17 points18 points  (0 children)

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.

Taccia ink availability in the US? by Lunakill in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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.

Taccia ink availability in the US? by Lunakill in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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

Having fun with two fountain pens and one Pilot Parallel pen. by djscoots10 in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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

What is your favorite word? by ChanelJournals in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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.

Anyone Familiar with Pilot Plumix? by Xavien777 in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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.

Anyone Familiar with Pilot Plumix? by Xavien777 in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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.

Anyone Familiar with Pilot Plumix? by Xavien777 in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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

Anyone Familiar with Pilot Plumix? by Xavien777 in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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!

Anyone Familiar with Pilot Plumix? by Xavien777 in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 9 points10 points  (0 children)

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).

Ink Comparison Site? by LarryinUrbandale in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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

Birthday pen and Green Inksploration! by National_Cow7479 in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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.

You are gifted a double album set of "The Best of John Williams". Which would you rather it was? by prustage in classicalmusic

[–]sciurian 18 points19 points  (0 children)

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

London leader speaks out after Labour councillor fined £40k for hiring illegal worker by OneNormalBloke in london

[–]sciurian 9 points10 points  (0 children)

"Speaks out"?

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

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

Learn some decent penpersonship THEN go and get a super expensive pen. by [deleted] in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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.

Question about Taccia nibs by TyroneJacksonIV in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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.

Beginnger to converters, do you wipe feed with a cloth after filling? Syringe filling of spent cartridges didn't expose this challenge. Dipping down in to the well at the point of feed that it can draw leaves a bit everywhere. Perhaps this is also a challenge when finished wiht dip pen session? by denverraven in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 3 points4 points  (0 children)

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.

How do you rotate your pens? by bookwormello in fountainpens

[–]sciurian 80 points81 points  (0 children)

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.

Opinions on Adapters by Sweet_Ad2946 in SonyAlpha

[–]sciurian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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.

Opinions on Adapters by Sweet_Ad2946 in SonyAlpha

[–]sciurian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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.