So many things in my life require me to use a computer screen. Writing on paper is a way to escape that, distance myself from distractions and feel peaceful
This sounds a lot like me! Though I’m closer to 8 or 9 inked at a time. Lots of notes in meetings; I have a few stub nibs inked up that I use for headers, then rotate (less systematically) through the other pens throughout the day. The changing colors for each meeting help to provide a good visual separation between meetings in my notes. Plus, it’s a nice little change of pace to “reset” between meetings by choosing a new pen.
I primarily use document inks for addressing envelopes, which can be infrequent. To avoid clogging a pen, I’ve been considering getting a dip pen like the Pilot Iro-Utsushi. It’s still a metal nib, as opposed to a glass pen, and more for everyday writing than a calligraphy nib.
You should look at kakimori dip pens. It is highly regarded in the reviews I’ve seen except perhaps the standard pen nib attachment which in one review was considered scratchy and stored very little ink.
@redbird The Kakimori is fantastic. If you’d prefer a more pen-like experience try the Sailor Hocoro (https://www.afth.co.uk/sailor---hocoro---dip-pens-1333-c.asp) which you can get in a couple different nib sizes & colours, as well as a feed so that it holds more ink per dip.
I feel like “ink per dip” or “ipd” should be a unit of measurement we use for dip pens 🤣
What do you think? I’ve had mixed experiences with fine nibs (sometimes they feel very scratchy, but in other brands, with different inks and paper, they still feel too wet), so I’ve been nervous about trying EF. There’s obviously still much to learn and experiment with.
@richard3030@xoagray I prefer fine nibs because of my rather smallish handwriting. But I know that scratchy thing you’re talking about. I got brave one day and starting using sanding pads on any “off” feeling nibs. I was able to get them to be smooth without a lot of sanding, and now they’re my favorite pens to write with.
An all blacked out Nakaya D-17 long cigar variant (kuru-roiro, ruthenium) with Take-sumi. No clip, no embellishments. The most lowkey pen setup I have and my idea of the perfect daily writer.
Not wanting to advertise Reddit use too much, but you should look at the posts by u/bosseschreibt. He/she/they take some great pictures of writing samples with a number of Document inks, sometime side by side. One of their posts actually made me want a sample of Koh-I-Noor Document Blue. Anyway, their pictures are a great for seeing samples of various Document Inks from multiple brands.
I spun up a couple of docker containers with mediawiki as a test, willing to host, or we could also use something like fandom (?) - IIRC they are free, and… Well, we’re as rabid about our fandom as their usual users are about theirs.
Primary is a Preppy with Diamine Tropical Glow - I had forgotten how much I like that one. On the road with today, also:
Sailor PGS (Peach Haze)
Safari (Pink Sugar Beach)
Another Preppy, sporting Ancient Charm’s Mooring on the Quinuai River, which may be the shimmeriest purpole shimmer I own…
Another Safari, loaded with Vinta Julia
I’ve got a ton loaded that I alternate through. I’m finding I actually like inks I thought I hated, when I put them in different pens. Just means I have to try all possible combos eventually!
Quality of knock-off brands like Jinhao and Wing Sung is going to be pretty universally shit. You can usually buy a handful and one will be at least decent though.
One thing you could check - any moisture present in the cap can tend to draw more moisture out of the pen. You could dry rinsing and then thoroughly drying (Q-tip, compressed air, whatever) the inside of the cap, dab the section and nib to make sure it's fully clean, let it dry for a bit (you can shield the nib from air with a cloth to keep it from fully drying out) and then try writing with it and capping it again to see if it sorts itself. If not it might just be way too wet and dumping ink in the cap, or you're knocking the pen around too much causing ink to leak from the feed. This is all of course assuming it's otherwise properly tuned.
Hmm, that’s not been my experience. I have probably 15ish pens from Jinhao and Wing Sung, and only one had a (minor) QC problem. They write well, for the price, and you certainly don’t need to buy a handful to get a single good one (at least of the ones I’ve gotten). Sure, you should be prepared for the possibility that you might get a lemon, but I do think that that’s the exception, not the rule (at least these days).
Quality of knock-off brands like Jinhao and Wing Sung is going to be pretty universally shit. You can usually buy a handful and one will be at least decent though.
That’s just not true. I have 35 Jinhao’s, and ~25 from other Chinese brands like Moonman/Majohn, Wing Sung, Hongdian, Lemon, Asvine, Kaigelu, & more. Out of all of them, only 2 have been duds; one was a Kaigelu which had a bad nib that I was later able to fix, and the other from a no-name gamble which was horribly unbalanced because they added brass to the finials to make it feel more substantial. The nib was pretty decent though, and it at least looked pretty. Everything else has been fine to excellent. Are they all going to be 5 stars? Of course not, but considering the majority of them were under £20, and around 75% of those were under £10, they’ve been great. Definitely no worse than Lamy, Kaweco, or any other western brand in that price point. The more expensive ones have all been fantastic.
Granted, there are still some that aren’t good and should be largely avoided. Generally, pens that you can’t find a brand name for will always be a gamble, as are the 4-digit model number Wing Sung’s. They’re a different company than the 3-digit ones and I’ve only ever heard bad experiences about them. But on the whole, Chinese pens have come a long way. Don’t be so quick to dismiss them completely.
On top of what others have said, it’s worth checking that the nib & feed are properly seated. I’ve had that happen with TWISBI’s before and that was the issue.
It may be easier to find a more well behaved ink instead of trying to get everyone else at the office to use a heavier paper. However, Rhodia, Tomoe, and Clairefontaine are your go-to papers that are fountain pen friendly. But this isn’t exactly something you’d keep around to run through the office printer.
If this is a private printer and you’re running a few pages occasionally, you could get a decent A4 notepad and pull pages as needed.
I’m US based so unfortunately there’s a mismatch in size. I’ll probably just drop some sheets in right before I print, definitely not going to pay to replace everyone else’s paper!
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