From back-left, clockwise:  Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa; Sailor Jentle Miruai, Oku-Yama, Shigure, Naoi-Sumire, and Apricot; Edison Herald in Cracked Ice Acrylic; Edison Pearlette in Deep Indigo Flake, and a Pilot Metropolitan in plain silver… — From back-left, clockwise: Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa; Sailor Jentle Miruai, Oku-Yama, Shigure, Naoi-Sumire, and Apricot; Edison Herald in Cracked Ice Acrylic; Edison Pearlette in Deep Indigo Flake, and a Pilot Metropolitan in plain silver with a fine nib.

D.C. Pen Show 2014 Recap!

August 10, 2014

This picture pretty much sums up the 2014 D.C. Fountain Pen Supershow, as I stumble back to my hotel room on a Sunday afternoon, tired and broke but psyched to play with some new pens, many of which I've been coveting for a very long time. I went a bit crazy this show, mainly due to the fact that I've been saving up for it for a while by refraining from doing much shopping online over the past six months, and also selling some lesser-used pieces in my collection to make room for some acquisitions that I think will work better for me. Not pictured are my semi-impulse Sunday purchases that you will see up on the blog soon enough, including a couple of special edition Delta Fusion 82's in celluloid from Bryant Greer that I couldn't pass up, as well as a Sailor pen with a Music Nib that I had ground by Mr. Nagahara. Also, after talking with Ed Jelley I had one of the Fusion 82s ground by Richard Binder to one of his Arabic-Hebrew Italic grinds. All attendees on Sunday received a free bottle of black Delta ink.

Highlights of "The Big Show":

Getting to meet everyone from Kenro Industries at the FPGeeks gathering on Saturday night. Good drinks, good pens, good people;
Getting to meet many readers and some other bloggers in person;
Seeing how crowded the show was on Saturday, including a massive crowd of young(er) people, which was very encouraging to see, and gives me a lot of hope for the hobby and the industry (Product looked like it was flying off the shelves at Anderson pens, Vanness started running out of certain colors of Akkerman on Saturday, and you couldn't get close to Richard Binder or Mike Masuyama);
Meeting Mr. Nagahara (Sailor's Nibmeister), and watching him perfectly grind my too-broad music nib to a new stub in 10 minutes flat;
Getting to talk to Mike Masuyama and his wife again in person;
Playing with the traveling nib display at the nibs.com booth, as well as two entire tables of inked-up Nakayas to drool over; and
Being amazed at how hard Yafa and Monteverde are pushing the "Tool Pen"--seriously, that thing was everywhere.

D.C. is a can't-miss event, but like last year, it did me in for pen shows this year. I'm done 'til Atlanta 2015!

Supershow Wish List

August 8, 2014

Short post today, I'm getting ready for the DC Supershow! Here's my 2014 "wish list":

Get pens tuned by Mike Masuyama (or, "run to his table as soon as I walk in the door and get on the list");
Go to the Andersons' table and check out the new Sailor inks;
Go to the Edison table and check out the Menlo pump filler;
Visit Nibs.com's table and gawk over another Nakaya that I can't afford right now; and
Meet as many people as possible.

I'm actually not going to this show with a very large budget, but then again I've got my collection more or less where I want it right now. I did manage to sell or give away a large volume of ink that had fallen out of favor or just never struck my fancy, so if I take any chances and make any impulse buys it will probably be on ink. Hope to see you there! I will be monitoring my twitter feed on my phone, so if anyone is there and wants to say hello reach out to me @vintagegentlmn. I'll take pictures and post a report upon my return!

The Lamy 2000 isn't known for its packaging.  It comes in the same cardboard box that the Studio, CP1, and other less expensive offerings arrive in. — The Lamy 2000 isn't known for its packaging. It comes in the same cardboard box that the Studio, CP1, and other less expensive offerings arrive in.

Pen Review: Lamy 2000 with Minuskin Custom Stub

August 6, 2014

This particular pen was one of my first "expensive" fountain pens, or at least I considered it expensive at the time that I obtained it. I bought it from Goulet Pens three or so years ago, after I was about a year into this hobby. The pen originally had a medium nib, and in my zeal to "customize" every pen I owned, I had a nibmeister (who will remain unnamed) grind the medium nib to a stub. The result was a lopsided "cursive italic" so scratchy the pen could not be used. I sent the pen to Mike Masuyama to see if it could be saved, and he confirmed that it could not: all the iridium had been ground off the tip, and the pen needed to be sold for parts or retipped. Having long admired his work from afar, I pulled the nib from the pen and sent it to Greg Minuskin for a retip, who turned this into a beautiful .9mm stub. It is now one of my favorite pens, and one of my best writers.

The stub is perfectly shaped, with no jagged edges to catch on the paper.

Excellent line variation on this stub nib.  The ink is Akkerman's Voorhout Violet.  The nib is smooth enough to use as a daily regular writer. — Excellent line variation on this stub nib. The ink is Akkerman's Voorhout Violet. The nib is smooth enough to use as a daily regular writer.

I would recommend Greg's work to anyone. You can reach him through his website, linked here. Greg is incredibly reasonable, and his turnaround time is two weeks for retips. He also does general pen repair and restoration (and I believe offers grinds and other nibmeister services as well). He sometimes attends the DC Pen Show, so hopefully I will get to thank him this weekend.

A few brief words about the Lamy 2000 overall (and not just this particular pen). The pen has been reviewed many, many times, and people mostly rave about it. I count myself among its fans. The Makrolon body hides scratches, and I personally love matte black finishes and flat-top ends. This pen has won numerous design awards, and I believe sits in the MOMA as an example of Bauhaus-inspired industrial design. Most criticism of the pen comes in the form of complaints about the quality control on Lamy's stock nibs (which is not an issue for this particular pen), but I also have another Lamy 2000 with an EF nib, which to me writes perfectly well and also sees heavy use. Your mileage may vary--I know that the Goulets will check the nib before they send you the pen if you ask them.

Lamy 2000 uncapped

Posted in Hand

Unposted in Hand

Some brief notes: I will be attending the DC Pen Show this Saturday and Sunday. Please reach out to me if you are going to be attending and would like to meet up. Also, given my travel schedule, I will not be on my regular posting schedule for Friday or Monday, though I will have some show-related special content over the weekend.

Kaweco Paradise Blue: A Different Kind of Turquoise

August 4, 2014

Thanks to JetPens for sending me this bottle of Kaweco Paradise Blue ink to review. Of all of Kaweco's colors, this is the one that I probably have seen reviewed the least, though there are a few floating around out there. I'll give my conclusions up front: in my opinion, Kaweco makes some great inks. I would go so far to say that they are some of the best I have tried recently, which include the Ruby Red, Midnight Blue, Palm Green, and now the Paradise Blue Colors.

As good as the ink is, I do wish that Kaweco would increase the size of their bottle.  As of now, the ink is fairly pricey, at $19 for 30 ml of ink. — As good as the ink is, I do wish that Kaweco would increase the size of their bottle. As of now, the ink is fairly pricey, at $19 for 30 ml of ink.

Kaweco does not offer a super extensive range of colors. Their options actually parallel those offered by Waterman (black, blue, red, green, purple, blue-black, brown, and turquoise). Paradise Blue is intended as the turquoise offering in their line, and it's a great turquoise ink. It actually has a bit more green in it than most turquoise inks on the market, which I think gives it a "truer" turquoise color, at least to my eyes. I tested this ink in my Pilot Metropolitan with a medium nib, and experienced no problems. Kaweco inks do run on the dry side, but I had no trouble with skips or hard starts. There was no bleed-through or feathering on the cheapo office copy paper I have to use on a daily basis.

The Verdict. If you don't mind paying a bit of a premium (which is becoming more the norm for imported inks these days), Kaweco Paradise Blue is a gorgeous color that shouldn't give you any trouble in any of your pens. If this ink interests you, you can can find it offered at JetPens.com, who also offers the full Kaweco line.

This scan provides a fairly accurate representation of the ink's color.  I've provided some comparison to other similar colors in the gallery below. — This scan provides a fairly accurate representation of the ink's color. I've provided some comparison to other similar colors in the gallery below.

Compared to Sheaffer Skrip Blue

Compared to Lamy Turquoise and Kon-Peki

Disclaimer: This ink was provided to me by JetPens for review purposes, and I received the product free of charge.

Ink Review: Iroshizuku Kon-Peki

August 1, 2014

Whoa. As of last night I thought today might be the day that I missed my blogging schedule for the first time since this blog has been live. Due to a series of cascading airline delays, I staggered in at 1 a.m. last night after nearly 12 straight hours in Boston Logan Airport. (I did get a chance to visit the famed Bromfield Pen Shop, albeit briefly, though my schedule and DC Pen Show induced discipline prevented me from buying anything). So today, I offer you an ink review that I've had in the can for a while but haven't posted simply because I think this ink has been reviewed to death and I've never been quite able to make myself love it.

Everyone's favorite Iroshizuku--except mine.

Honestly, though, I know why other people love this ink, and it's for the same reasons that I haven't sold the bottle. It's got a Baystate Blue-style pop to it with none of the headache. Like all Iroshizuku inks, Kon-Peki is well behaved and cleans out of pens easily. But I'm not a blue ink kind of guy. I mean, I like blue ink, and sometimes I have to use it for work, but I'd rather use a blue-black or a turquoise. If I do have to use a blue ink, more often than not it's this one, which people term "cerulean." This review was written with an Omas Ogiva ground by Mike Masuyama to a Japanese medium. (I asked him to copy the nib width on my Nakaya portable writer, which is perfect for me).

Please ignore the smudging of Sailor Apricot on the paper.  I'm too tired to redo this or touch it up. — Please ignore the smudging of Sailor Apricot on the paper. I'm too tired to redo this or touch it up.

In a wetter nib, there's some shading as well as a bit of reddish sheen, which some people like.

Again, apologies for the transfer of Apricot that was on my hand.

Be prepared for next week, as the Gentleman Stationer goes to the DC Pen Show!