Back in the game! 7 pens and some ink.

The experiment rolls on...for four days on the road these were my pens, no more, no less. I am not even sure if I used the Preppy or not. The good news is: I did not buy any new pens. (there's no bad news.) It still is a little freaky when someone hands you a pen to use to sign a receipt and you brush it off and pull out a fountain pen to use. People really do not like that.

A lot of these pens were filled with my American Blue that I have been raving about. It's kinda like Bay State Blue without the bleeding, hassle and pen ruining. I have been throwing a drop of black in with my cartridges to darken it up a shade on some pens, but for the most part I use it straight out of the bottle. Thanks for putting up with the light posts this week. have a great weekend!

Waterman Rollerball

Today is quantity... not quality in terms of posting. When I say everyday (during the week) I mean everyday! I actually use this pen alot now that I filled it with some G-2 goodness and I have to admit during the experiment I have itched to break this one out.

As you can see the point does stick out a touch longer than the regular refills and I think I could hack off an 1/8th inch to make it fit better--- but I do not mind it and the cap still closes fine--- so I do not care. When May 1st rolls around...this will be one of the first non-fountains I use.

Back to the real posting tomorrow!

Sheaffer Cartridge Pens

You have seen a few of them on here before but I cant stop with my obsession with these pens. They are so simple and so classic that it is a sin to not own handfuls of these. They are out there, easy to find and cheap. Let me know if you need help finding these.

Oh, by the way....Private Reserve American Blue is quickly becoming one of my favorite writing inks lately. I will get a proper review up next week, but I am quickly working my way through the bottle. (Well I have been writing exclusively with fountain pens so that helps) One more light post day and then back to the good stuff.

The Parker Mechanical Pencil

This one would be tough to give up. It's a solid pencil that makes me wish I had the pen that went along with it. It stands the test of time on its own though... so I am happy. Directions: 1. Twist. 2. Write.

Due to some traveling, it will be a light photographing week. I still should be able to get a post up everyday, but the quality might be a bit lacking. Bear with me and we can get back to the good stuff later this week.

The experiment goes on, my cab driver gave me an odd look when I signed my receipt with a Sheaffer Lifetime tonight but it's all part of the fun.

The Dip Pen (ahhhh)

Sometimes I crave the need to simplify. To tune out, turn off, unplug. It's those moments I uncap an old dip pen, grab some really good paper and hope that the bottle of ink I just grabbed is full because the doodling will commence.

Did I just see the Burger king Dude with Spongebob on TV? Oh man.
This was another pen that was in my Christmas guest cup and it is one of my favorites. Mindless dip and doodle. Nothing finer.
The experiment rolls on, what I found is that it takes a little more time prepping...before I would grab a handful and go...now...I need to check nibs and ink levels before I even think about leaving the house.

Anything that can do this with any type of filling mechanism just makes my day better. When your dip instincts come to you like breathing you hit the zone and the gears slowly mesh back into shape. It is simple. Smooth. Interactive.

I hope everyone had a great holiday and welcome to Monday.
Seth

Itoya Finepoint System .1

What part of "writes on glass" is not awesome? Any pen that has the word "system" in the name has to be cool. I present the Itoya Finepoint System.

Permanent ink and a .1 point. That to me is sweet music. This pen can go from fine line drawing and doodling to marking up metal. If I owned an awesome meter it would be on 9.5.

If you do not feel like clicking to zoom, the pen says that it is for writing, drawing on clear film, plastic, glass metal and when you write rainbows and unicorns come flying out. (it's true, I tested it.)

Do you have any idea how hard it is to photograph writing on a mirror? Getting my tonsils out when I was 6 was easier and at least I got some ice-cream after that. (I complained and threw a fit so my parents bought the wind up Evil Knievel motorcycle toy) as seen here: Good times.

The experiment went well yesterday. I limited my choices and only took two pens on the road with me, a Pilot Penmanship and a Parker 51. That is traveling in style. Have a great weekend everyone.

Sheaffer Cartridge with Short Triumph Nib

This pen makes me happy, I am not sure if it is the color, or the design on the cap, or that its an easy to load cartridge filler, or that it's full of rainbows and sunshine (I made that last part up.) Maybe it is all of those things. Whatever it is...It was my "go to" pen today. That little upturn on the nib makes it very smooth.

Yes, that's a Triumph nib on a cartridge filler. I think this one dates to around 1965 or so. It's a true medium nib, I would love to find one of these in a fine (or finer) nib. By the way, that is my Levenger 3x5 card holder I recently found and put it back into use. I forgot how much I love it.

The experiment? I found that it is easier to stick to 1 or 2 fountain pens during the day rather than keeping a stack of loaded fp's ready to go with. When you narrow your choices to pens that you are happy with, it makes decisions a little easier. I miss my pencils though!