#fountain-pen

It's hard to believe I bought the Baoer 507 fountain pen over a year ago. It's been sitting ever since, patiently waiting its turn to be reviewed. Here it is, finally. I've been wanting to try it the moment I laid hands on its substantial heft, but kept delaying it. The Baoer 507 is a fountain...

This was a long time in a-coming but here it is: a review of the Jinhao 599 fountain pen I picked up on eBay almost a year ago for $2.75, including shipping from China. If you're looking for a similar bargain you might have to do what I did: watch several auctions at once and place minimum bids on...

A while back (well, about 2 months ago) I decided to revisit my Jinhao X750 fountain pen. As a quick reminder, Jinhao is a Chinese fountain pen brand and can be found cheaply on eBay. My own pen sports a broad nib, which seems to be quite rare on the X750. Nostalgia dictated that I give this pen...

My new friends at Pen Chalet sent me a very nice fountain pen to review: the Pilot Knight. Like the Metropolitan, this is a newer release from Pilot. Disclaimer: I received the pen free of charge but no other paymentor incentivefor this review, and all the opinions herein are my own. For now,...

Thanks to Goulet Pens who sent me these pens for review, I can present you with two Pilot Metropolitan fountain pens, one plain silver with medium nib, the other plain black with fine nib. Disclaimer: I received the pens free of charge but no other paymentor incentivefor this review, and all the...

In an unprecedented turn of events, a few weeks ago I was swayed by a sale that Amazon was having on Pilot Vanishing Point fountain pens, and decided to buy one. I had noticed the Vanishing Point and lusted for it for a long time but never dared spend so much money on a fountain pen. As a...

I've had my Lamy AL-Star fountain pen for a few years, along with the popular Z24 converter and while I love this pen, one thing kept me from using it more often in my rotation: the Z24 converter can be hard to clean. Ink likes to fill the recesses inside it, stick to the nooks and then dry up....

Happy America Day folks and may the Fourth be with you, always! Brought to you by TK-421 and his new Pilot Vanishing Point. Original Post Thanks! But do you love Star Wars?

I decided that 2012 would be the year when I stopped buying fountain pens, concentrating instead on reviewing the many ink samples that I have accumulated. Jetpens decided to spoil my resolution by sending me a fountain pen for review. I'm not one to refuse such an occasion so here I am, reviewing...

For the first time since I've had my TWSBI Diamond 530, after a year of using it, I decided it was about time to take it apart to pieces and give it a thorough cleaning. I have used only two inks in it: Noodler's Polar Brown and Waterman Havana Brown. It is very indicated to clean your fountain pen...

I will admit that I cheated a bit with this review. I tagged it as "fountain pen review" when it should have been "dip pen review" but I figured I wouldn't be reviewing a lot of dip pens on this blog so I might as well bundle it with my regular fountain pen reviews. This particular J Herbin glass...

Some time ago I showed you how to make a cheap nib flossing tool from a security tag found on many store-bought objects. But what if you want to go big? What if you want to invest some serious money into a serious tool? Well, the good news is that you don't have to break the bank to do that. I...

Today I'm going to talk to you about a fountain pen and an ink that I have already reviewed. The two were reviewed separately but now they've come together, and it is such a good match that I just had to say a few words about it. As you might know, I'm not a fountain pen collector and I certainly...

Recently when I cleaned my Sailor HighAce Neo I found out by accident that it is very easy to take apart, which makes cleaning a lot easier than before. I'm putting this out there for others who might not be aware of this fact. Please note that the converter is bought separately but even it can...

What's a nib flossing tool? It's something thin enough that it can slip between the tines of a nib. And why would you want to do that? For two main reasons: to clean paper fibers stuck between the tines (which can affect the quality of writing) and to widen the distance between the tines (to...

And now for something different... A while back I got one of these little plastic Star Wars stormtroopers, because I always wanted one, and I'm a big Star Wars fan (the original series, not the new garbage Lucas puked out more recently). Because these little guys are very posable, I decided to...

A long time ago, back in November of 2011, I posted a very short snippet about a new fountain pen that I acquired. Since these types of pens are not very mainstream (to my knowledge), I turned this into a game by masking the photo and asking my readers if they can identify it. It didn't take long...

Well, another year has passed and while we don't know what 2012 will bring, I can say that 2011 was fairly kind to me. 2011 also marks the year when I got into this whole fountain pen and ink business. As such, I'm  not a big expert on the subject but I have learned a lot about the hobby this past...

Noodler's Ahab is the latest fountain pen from Noodler's Ink but it is also their latest pen with a flexible nib. It is a departure from previous models both in price and in how the pen is built. Both are higher: the price slightly, from $14 to $20, but the quality the modularity of this pen is so...

I just wanted to brag about my new Noodler's Ahab flex nib fountain pen! I actually got it a couple of days ago but I only managed to photograph it today. I also inked it up and "test drove" it a little. My preliminary conclusion is that it's even better value than the original Noodler's Flex Pen I...

The Noodler's Flex Pen I am reviewing today is the most inexpensive fountain pen with a flexible nib on the market today. At $14 no other flex pen comes close. Not only that, but the overwhelming majority of fountain pen makers do not want to produce pens with flex nibs, probably because those pens...

Hi all! I'm rather excited today because I got a new fountain pen in the mail. Until I can review it I'm going to play a little game with y'all if you don't mind. I would like you to try to guess what brand this mystery fountain pen is. If you do, I will name you "fountain pen guru". Furthermore,...

The Kaweco Sport Classic is a very interesting fountain pen. It is German-made but unlike many "normal" fountain pens, it uses a design that makes it very compact and easy to carry in your pocket. The excellent portability is achieved by making the cap act as part of the barrel when posted. The...

The cool thing about Lamy fountain pens is that many of the different models share the same type of nib. Among them, I would list the Lamy AL-Star, Vista, Safari, Joy, CP1, Logo, Pur, Studio and Accent. Whew, that's a lot of them! Sharing is good, but being able to swap nibs on the go is even...

Just a quick post to lament the loss of my Lamy's EF nib. Today, tragedy struck as I was cleaning my Lamy AL-Star. As I held the pen over the sink, I stupidly pulled the nib, dropped it into the drain and lost it forever. I did try to fish it out of the drain with a powerful magnet tied to a...

In my last post I reviewed the Pilot Varsity "disposable" fountain pen. Now, I will explain why the word "disposable" is within quotes. Although Pilot intended for this to be a throwaway pen, some crafty folks have come up with various ways in which to refill it with their own ink. There are many...

The Pilot Varsity might be the cheapest fountain pen on the market (even cheaper than the Platinum Preppy) and as a disposable pen some would be tempted to disregard it completely as a real fountain pen, yet the Varsity is more than meets the eye and I'll tell you why I think so. Pilot markets the...

The Pilot Parallel pens, although fountain pens, are not meant for writing novels, journals or to use in the office. That's because they are primarily intended for calligraphy. This is not meant to be an exhaustive review of the Pilot Parallel, but rather an insight into what makes these pens so...

The past week has been the "week of the Noodler's flex pen" it seems. Goulet Pens, in particular, was assaulted by orders for the latest batch of Noodler's flex fountain pens and I was one of the lucky ones who managed to get their hands on a Noodler's flex in Lapis Inferno (aka blue with white...

For my 3rd Jetpens order I limited myself to the bare minimum in order to qualify for free shipping. What you see pictured here is not the full order because I also bought a couple of liquid ink pens for my wife but those are not the subject of this blog so I left them out from the photo. The...

In my review of Noodler's North African Violet ink, I promised I would tell you the story of how I managed to destroy my Noodler's piston filler fountain pen. It is a sad story but life is sometimes like that and we can only learn from such tragedies. The saga started when I used North African...

The TWSBI Diamond 530 is the jewel in my crown of fountain pens. This might sound like a cliche but that's how I feel about this fountain pen. Not only does the name hint to its physical beauty but it is also a king among $50 (or less) fountain pens. To summarize this review in one sentence, you'd...

Noodler's is first and foremost known for their awesome, inexpensive inks that are Made in the USA (for now). I'm a big fan of these inks but when I learned that Nathan, Noodler's owner and operator, also tried his hand at creating a cheap piston filler fountain pen, I had to have it. I will spare...

If you're wondering what a "Noodler's creaper fountain pen" is, I don't blame you because currently you can't buy this fountain pen from any store (online or not) on its own. This pen is included with certain inks and mine accompanied the 4.5oz bottle of Noodler's Nikita. These pens come in...

The Sailor HighAce Neo is one of the least expensive fountain pens in my growing collection. I bought it with the intent to use it with a green ink. The green ink I settled on is Noodler's Gruene Cactus Eel which I reviewed in my last post. I thought I would match the pen and ink colors so I got...

The Lamy AL-Star fountain pen was my first of two pens, along with the Pilot Prera I reviewed a while back. I got the aluminum version, with an EF (Extra Fine) nib. I went for the EF nib because I knew European nibs were at least one size larger than their Japanese equivalent. Note:  Note Booker,...

With this post I'm almost up to date with blogging about my fountain pen and ink purchases. I know that I should probably review what I already have but since some of the pens I got at the beginning were filled with inks that I got later, I wanted to outline these purchases first. Goulet Pens is a...

My second Jetpens haul was a smaller one. This one also happened at the end of last year but I only got the chance to blog about it now. First there's a Pilot Parallel calligraphy pen, with a 2.4mm nib. The Parallel is a very interesting pen with an unique nib design. The tines are actually two...

Although the Platinum Preppy is the lowest fountain pen on the hierarchy that is my collection, it is certainly not a bad writer and it does have its uses. This is the pen that was included with the 4.5oz bottle of Noodler's Heart of Darkness ink that I reviewed a few days ago. This particular...

Among the goodies I got with my first Jetpens purchase, the Lamy AL-Star in aluminum with an EF nib was a top contender toward becoming my main fountain pen. Alas, it turned out I received a dud. The pen was close to being DOA. The pen came with a blue Lamy ink cartridge but I also bought a Z24...

After a long battle with myself I finally capitulated and placed an order for a TWSBI Diamond 530 fountain pen with EF nib. What the heck is the TWSBI you might ask? Well, the following reviews, which also contributed a great deal in making my decision, should explain everything, at least until I...

I bought the Pilot Prera from Jetpens, along with a couple of inks and a bunch of other stuff. See my previous post titled 1st Jetpens haul. I fell in love with the Prera the moment I lay eyes on it. The Prera has such a premium look that it can easily fool one into thinking it costs a lot more...

JetPens was the store that started the pen & ink craziness for me. I came across them on an un-related site that I read regularly and the author of the article was fascinated by the multitude of Japanese stuff carried by them. I started browsing the site and was also amazed at the wonderful...