What are you using today?

I thought it would be fun to have a topic, where we can share our currently inked, currently using, nib shootout type of pictures! :slight_smile:

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I start, today I use my Pilot Custom 823 with an F nib, with Franklin-Christoph Terra Firma.


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I spent my day with Leonardo Momento Zero Sea stone inked with Diamine Florida Blue. (And a no-name notebook)

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Today I’m using:

Sailor Procolor 500 shikisai Sakura with Edelstein Tanzanite.

Inoxcrom I dont know the model, it’s a promotional fountain pen from a phone comapny but it’s all black with a really small logo so its quite “clean” inked with a pelikan 4001 blue.

Lamy Al-star Black with a 1.1 stub and Cherry blossom ink from Robert Oster.

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My camera is kind of bad so the picture is a bit weird…

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I used a Jinhao 8802 with Organic Studio’s Nitrogen.

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Friday was spent with Sailor ProcolorAqua and Velvet Bluegrass ink from Ferris Wheel Press.
Sailor’s nibs are so good, even the steel ones.

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Doodle of the day :smile:
I was trying out dotting a wet paper and then painting the tree when it got dry. You can tell that I’m no artist, but it’s fun anyway :slight_smile:

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I’m on the mission to go through 30 ml bottle of Diamine Florida Blue. So today I’ve inked up Sailor Pro Gear Sky with it.

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I got a block of 200g postcard sized papers as a little present for Children’s Day (tells a lot about what my family thinks of my hobby :smile:) The paper manufacturer is Evora(?) and it is made in [suspense drumroll] China.
So my doodle of the day is…

The inks & pens used are:

  • Akkerman Rembrandt’s Karmozijn + Lamy 2000 <F>
  • Akkerman Hofvijver Grijs + Graf von Faber-Castell Intuition <M>

As you can see, the paper is fountain pen friendly, no visible feathering and there is some shading with the grey ink and even tiny visible shading even with the Karmozijn.

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I’m using two of my new pens with custom grinds, both filled with Diamine Oxford Blue.

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How thin the sections of these are? Are they comfortable? Kudos to @stringsandpedals, good to know she does this kind of nibwork as well. I might just spice up my next medium nibbed pen with an italic grind (all my stubs are over 1mm wide).

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I’ve had the Parker for around 15 years so I’d say it’s a comfortable pen for me. :wink: The Diplomat is big (#6 nib) and a bit on the heavy side, but also comfortable. But see for yourself. I’ve added comparison shots with a Lamy Vista and a Leonardo Furore

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Today i’m using a VP in yellow purchased a few days ago and i’m loving it!
Also a Lamy studio from @pennonia who was selling it a few weeks ago and a Kaweco pencil.

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Thank you for the comparison shots!! :slight_smile:

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Parker 45 with Colorverse Voyager 1 Pale Blue Dot

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The pen I inked up to use today is an Opus 88 Demonstrator and I’m using Graf von Faber-Castell Moss Green (came in the mail today)

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Wonderful ink Peter and I put it in my Pilot Custom 74 with a Soft Medium Nib and the combination is a perfect balance. That is such an interesting green and I am so glad you showed it off. What is curious is the paper you used. I have never used a paper with such a high gsm. Is that available only in Europe as I have not seen it on any online pen site in the US or UK. Also I have never seen the paper in a notebook either. Why did you choose it and do you like it? Is it gr.or gsm? Is it a photo paper?

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Yes @BarbaraNZ, it’s an interesting ink indeed. When I gently shake it up it looks like a rich dark green but as the ink begins to settle it seems that it’s a slightly “cold” green, it has a touch more blue in it. On the paper it has some shading. It shades from a true dark green to almost ebony. If I apply 3 layers a purple-black sheen becomes visible as well.

Yes, it is gsm (= grams per square meter) but sometimes people use just grams which is not exact but that is language in everyday practice :slight_smile: The paper on my photo is from a block of A6 papers. I use these for drawing personalised postcards. I draw on one side, write the address and place the stamp on the other. Since it is thick, it can survive being sent via snail-mail :slight_smile:

It has white, brown (recycled) and black papers in it.

I’m sure you can find high-gsm paper in New Zealand as well. Try shops specialised for stationery or ones that supply materials for painters. High gsm means that the paper is heavier and bends less easily. The weight of the paper does not necessary say anything about its material, quality or fountain pen-friendliness. A high gsm paper can have thick fibres or thin fibres, can have some kind of coating or not and so on. If the material is the same a thicker paper is less prone to bleed-through. Usually thicker papers are better, at least they have more material to them than a cheap 70 gsm office paper. But then again there are such papers like the 60 gsm thin Tomoe River which behaves amazingly well with fountain pens. On the other hand postcard papers are notoriously a hit-or-miss with fountain pens. Recycled papers usually have thicker fibres and fountain pen ink tends to feather & bleed through significantly more.

All in all: heavier papers usually have different use cases, that’s all :slight_smile:

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Thanks Peter that was a wonderful explanation. Being a Californian living in New Zealand talking to you in Europe has such interesting differences and even though I have lived here for years I still struggle sometime with the way we all differ. I will investigate the paper offerings here and because paper can be expensive I do use a 100 gsm laser copy paper that is much like Clairefontaine with a decent coating that makes for excellent letter writing.
Also I have not shook my Moss Green Ink bottle so I see that I may get some interesting outcomes when I do. Again the paper tutorial was ‘such fun!’ (Been watching too much “Miranda” the sitcom from the UK that is on You Tube.)

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Hello! I’m a bit new here, so I apologize for “barging in” on this thread like this. I hope everyone is doing well. That high-gsm paper almost looks like what we call “kraft paper” (spelled just like that) here in the USA. There is a hobby store chain here called “Hobby Lobby” that sells…or at least they used to sell…similar do-it-yourself post cards that were similar in size to an A6 notepad. I think I still have a few of them myself. I always use roller balls or gel-pens on them because it stands out better on the dark brown “grocery sack” style paper.

For my part, here are the 2 pens I’ve been using today. Today is July 4 in the USA, the day of our annual Independence Day celebration, so the Retro 51 Tornado “Betsy” Rollerball seemed appropriate. :slight_smile: Have a good evening!

John, in Southwest Missouri, USA “flyover country”

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