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Hi, I'm Rod, and I'm an inkaholic.

What the fuck is Kyo No Oto Hisoku? is that a shinto spell??? it sure sounds like one

Me and my Parker Quink aren't ready for Kitsune Trenches dude I am dipping out

...but left with both. 🤦🏾‍♂️

These two have been on my radar for some time. I went into Atlas Stationers during my lunch break just for a test drive and ended up saying "f-it, you both are coming home TODAY". I did have loyalty points that helped so it made my decision easier. 😂

*Waterman Caréne Opéra Collection (Special Edition) [fine]

*Pelikan M800 [extra-fine]

I've got the Caréne inked up with Iroshizuku "Take-Sumi" but still TBD on the M800. I can't make up my mind. Someone give me some recommendations for the M800, PLEASE!

honestly surprised the poor nib held up, sadly not all nibs are flex nibs lol.

Og video: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0G4R1535X/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A2M0N0FZ13U1A3&psc=1#cr-media-popover_1792114499724

I can’t link an exact review but it was under this link

Hey pen people. My wife is getting into fountain pens and I was hoping to get something related for Christmas. Can you kind people help ID her pens and make some recommendations?

(I hope she’s not a redditor)

I cannot believe I am THIS stupid. I kept this Pelikan clipped to my lanyard at work for easy access. Well, it kept unscrewing and the pen body would fall to the floor leaving the cap attached to my lanyard. This happened twice. The first time I saw no damage. But did I change my ways??? No. The second time it happened it must’ve left this big ol’ crack. Yikes. I am open to advice because I really like this pen!! I now appreciate more than 3/4 of a turn to uncap, and now I see why pen companies do this

I attended my very first pen show, and what an experience it was!

I went in with a plan: no new pens! 😅 Instead, I wanted to focus on getting some custom nib grinds for pens I already own. So my haul is pretty modest compared to some of the amazing ones I've seen on social media.

I had a nibmeister tune one of my scratchy EF nibs, and got two custom grinds that I'm really excited about! I'll share a closer look at those in a separate post once I've had some time to play with them.

Of course, I couldn't leave completely empty-handed, so a few little things came home with me:

🍵 Shuto-Bancha ink from Bungubox

✒️ A nib case from Galen Leather

🎨 Five Diamine inks from Cult Pens, thanks to their amazing 5 for the price of 4 promotion (how could I resist?!)

🐱 A Yumi Kitagishi rubber stamp from Oneministore

🐻 A Bear TN rubber stamp from Grumpy Nook

As a rather introverted person, I have to admit that the crowds were a little overwhelming at times. But despite that, I had such a wonderful time! It was amazing to see so many beautiful pens, inks, and stationery goodies in one place, and to be surrounded by people who share the same enthusiasm for this hobby.

My wallet survived (mostly), my pens got some much-needed attention, and I came home very happy. I'd call that a successful first pen show! ❤️

So the prompt was "lady" and my daughter threw me a challenge to sketch one of her favorite characters. That translates into a lot of fun using 3 inks: Tsuki-yo, Aoguro and "Sepia Gold" to create this sketch loosely inspired by a famous painting.

The vintage red Conklin was enlisted again to take on this challenge. The ink in the pen is the Taccia Aoguro.

Long time listener, first time caller. My friends gave me my first fountain pen as a gift for my new professorship. I love it 🥹

I ordered a Conklin 1898 Misto Flare. Very pretty resin! I was kind of out of nib options except for a stub (not my personal favorite), and decided that the Jowo # 6 replacement nibs aren’t too pricey so I thought I’d try an Omniflex. The pen and nib came tonight and look at this literal brand new nib. Guess what? It doesn’t write. I tested the stub. Works fine. This jacked Omniflex? Nope. Tell me to send the store these pictures so they send me a nib with tines actually together (and even) 🤦🏻‍♀️ Womp womp.

I really love the look of the Souveran green-stripe Pelikan. Personally, I think it is one of the most beautiful pens out there. I finally got one for I think a good price ($200 US including original box and case). Medium nib M400. I was worried the M400 would be too small for my somewhat large hands. But it seems like a nice size for me. Now, I just have to figure out if I enjoy writing with it as much as I do looking at it. After all, that's what it's for!

Made my way to Fountain Pen Hospital in NYC on my lunch break. Jimmy was very nice and very helpful in helping me select my first pen.

Drawn with a Sailor Pro Gear II <HB> and Diamine Aurora Borealis

This is my Second handmade pen. Every pen i make has a diamond, set upside down to use as a scribe. This pen has a makeup brush as an easter egg with a Jowo #6 nib.

it’s SO hard to get a good photo that shows the true colour of this - it’s so beautiful.

my first Kaweco fountain pen too, love it so far.

If you’re thinking of trying the Majohn flexible nibs released since March 2026, you might want to avoid the silver version. I learned that the hard way.

(Just to clarify: all Majohn flexible nibs are steel. When I say “gold” or “silver,” I’m referring only to the colour, not the material.)

Here’s the story: I’d been using the gold flex nib for several months before deciding to try the silver one—because, in my opinion, silver looks much prettier. But as soon as I installed it, I started having constant ink-flow interruptions.

Whenever I pushed the flex a little too far and the nib railroaded, the ink flow wouldn’t recover—even when I squeezed enough ink through the feed for it to drip off the nib. The ink simply wouldn’t refill the slit between the tines. The only way to get it flowing again was to dip the entire nib in ink.

Frustrated, I tried cleaning it, wiping it down, and running it through an ultrasonic cleaner, both with and without soap. Nothing worked. So I switched back to the gold nib, and everything worked normally again.

So I tried to figure out why. I’d long suspected that the silver version was more hydrophobic than the gold one, so I came up with an experiment to test that idea.

The results suggest that the gold version is more hydrophilic, while the silver version is more hydrophobic. I also tested 14K gold nibs and Pelikan M200 steel nibs, and they all appeared more hydrophilic than the silver steel nib.

So if you’re thinking of trying the Majohn Flexible nib, I’d avoid the silver version.

For English calligraphy, though, I’d strongly advise against the new Majohn NF nib altogether. Its tipping is very large, which makes the hairlines too thick and the contrast between thin and thick strokes pretty underwhelming, as you can see below:

Either way, if you’d like to try the NF nib, I’d avoid the silver version altogether—it also had ink-flow interruptions under the same test conditions.

If you’re serious about flexible nibs, you’re better off looking for a vintage dip-pen nib or a flexible vintage fountain pen, such as a Waterman 52. Just make sure you ask for a writing sample before buying.

I’ve tried to be as scientific as possible, but I’m no scientist! If you spot any questionable steps or methods, please let me know so I can improve my testing. Based on my results so far, though, gold beats silver.

Hope this helps!

My first pen show- and I went with the aim to at least acquire one of my grail pens ( a vintage Parker Duofold, Vintage Omas or Delta Oversize)- instead I got two. I didn't have any plan to buy any new pens, but ended up buying some- couldn’t resist the beautiful Urushi Lacquer from a small maker from Japan and a Ebonite pen from a independent penmaker from Madrid. Got a few beautiful inks, and a beautiful LOTR FWP inkwell.

Pens From left- 1. Urushi Lacquer from a Japanese maker called Soporta

1. Ebonite M nib pen from a Spanish maker called antigua pens

2. Used Opus 88

3. Vintage Omas 1990 Milano Mundial F nib- from a lovely Italian seller from Naples

4. Vintage Parker Duofold

The inks from the left -

1 Teranishi Sashiki Green

1. Bungubox special edition Norwegian Wood green
   

2. Sailor Shikiori Doyou

3. Sailor Shikiori Miruai

And Mirror of Galadriel FWP inkwell

I promised mg wife I won’t buy any pen for at least a whole year 😬

I found this 25 year old pen at an estate sale and while I got this at a great price, I can't help but feel that this is an uninked pen. After a close inspection, there is no trace of any ink anywhere on this pen. The pen has the original "gold" piston converter and has never held any ink.

So... I see some like uninked pens but I'm not sure if that is my style since I like to use my pens. Does anyone have any suggestions on ink? I'm new to both pens and ink. I currently have Iroshizuku Asa-Gao, Diamine Oxford Blue and Parker Quink Black...

Just a warning, I came across a series of fake Vanness Pens websites today.

The real Vanness website is vanness1938.com

My advice is if you come across a website with prices too good to be true, it is very likely a scam.

Make sure to investigate further before buying anything.

I did contact Vanness and they told me they have been reporting these sites but no action has been taken. Ugh.

Husband really outdid himself this year for our wedding anniversary. He knew I’d been wanting a Pilot Custom 823 for several years now, and has remembered after all this time. My jaw dropped. I feel incredibly lucky and grateful to have such an attentive partner.

Of course, the first thing I’ve written with it is a letter for our anniversary.

Pilot Custom 823 in Amber, Fine nib
Inked with Lennon Toolbar Sun Moon Lake Black Tea