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Last Notes

2026-07-24 14:52:50 UTC

When I started using Fountain Pens last year, I noted that there was something different about the quality of my writing. It seemed to have a different quality to it. At first, I couldn't figure out the reason for it. But as I kept writing I meditated on the subject. As I turned the idea around in my mind for a while, I came up with a few thoughts seemed to explain what I was both feeling and experiencing.

2026-07-09 13:28:42 UTC

I have been nearly obsessed with finding a good set of Parker 51 clones. I've had several (from Jinhao and Junlai) that have been disappointing. While they had the look and filling mechanism that I wanted, many of them would fail in terms of writing well, or in drying out. What exacerbated these purchases was that they would all come up when searching for a “Hero 601” on Amazon, which is the pen I'd seen reviewed that was often praised.

2026-07-02 15:32:42 UTC

I don't recall any point in time where I had any interest in fountain pens. I was born well after the time of the fountain pen, and there weren't any relatives in my family that had any special attachments to fountain pens.

2026-06-10 04:11:15 UTC

Are there any good modern lever fill pens? The only brand I can think of that is still making lever fill pens is Conway Stewart. Are there any others?

2026-06-09 22:02:47 UTC

- reply

As far as I can tell, they are just some cheap Chinese brand... I've only seen them on Amazon and eBay, and only a few pens...
![Wilknd on Amazon](https://piefed-media.feddit.online/posts/cO/dj/cOdjFGyPgRsLNkv.png)

2026-06-09 21:28:53 UTC

Four months ago I posted about this quirky pen I popped into my shopping cart on impulse one night while grabbing some supplies on Amazon.
Well, after that original post I didn't use the pen. I put it away in a case and I forgot about it. Recently, I bought a new, large pen case and moved most of my pens into that case. While I was doing so, I realized I had a bunch of pens that had been sitting around, inked, but unused, including this one.
Last night I pulled out ten pens (five Parker 51 clones, Lamy Safari, Hongdian M2 Brass, Hongdian C1, TWSBI Eco and this Wilknd) to clean out.
Of the pens I pulled out: 2 Parker 51 clones, the Lamy, and the Hongdian M2 Brass had dried out / failed to write. But the Wilknd, the one that was in the case the longest (except for the TWSBI and Lamy) worked immediately. After **four months** that pen was writing up a storm like I had just filled it and started using it.
Just goes to show: name brand isn't everything. Even the cheapest, no-name pen can perform as well as, and possibly better than a brand name pen.
https://piefed-media.feddit.online/posts/Je/HE/JeHEOvSADXcSYEH.jpg

2026-05-20 03:10:13 UTC

This *must* have been a #mistake. LOL I picked up this 5 pack of Kokuyo Campus B5, 100 sheet #notebooks for $6 per book. Most places list an individual book for $10-$14 USD.
I'm using these books for my daily writing now. Mostly because of the price, compared to an Apica CD Premium #notebook priced at $16 dollars, the Campus seemed like a reasonable option. I've seen that Doodlebud has compared these against his Muji paper, and thought that it was comparable. But since I don't have access to Muji paper here, the Campus is the best option.
These do hold up to #fountainpen usage. While I mostly use a fine nib, I have used a medium and even a broad nib with it, and it's been good. I don't know if it would work well with a 1.1mm nib, but I may try it at some point.
https://piefed-media.feddit.online/posts/1b/RP/1bRPujBwZ2hcNMS.png

2026-05-18 23:09:11 UTC

Just refilled my Asvine V200 pens. I go through almost a full fill of #ink in them every 12–13 days. I didn't think I would be filling these #fountainpens as often as I am, but here we are... Guess I just #write that much with them.
Left to right these pens are filled with Diamine Jet Black, Oxford Blue, Aurora Borealis, Writer's Blood and Imperial Purple inks. To their right is the Jinhao x750 filled with Wordsworth & Black Lavender Purple.
https://piefed-media.feddit.online/posts/RW/ai/RWaiARJoO8Foldc.png

2026-05-16 03:47:39 UTC

It's a three-fer tonight. First is some #ink that I'd been wanting to post for a while now. A few months back I ordered three bottles of Wordsworth & Black in when I got it on special (three bottles for the price of two). While I posted the first two (Royal Blue and Racing Green), the third bottle took weeks to come in. Well, here it is: Lavender Purple. Definitely much stronger on the purple side than the lavender side -- but I still really like it.
And, then there's the pen. The other day when I was placing an order for some other stuff the Jinhao X750 #fountainpen showed up in my recommended list. And, for $8 USD, I couldn't say no. In fact, I added two of them to my cart (the other one is brushed stainless steel). I thought this one looked really cool. I have to say it's a pretty nice pen, cartridge converter, snap-on cap (really strong snap), there is a cap liner for a good seal. The converter came installed by default. Holds about .5-.75ml of ink.
Finally, a little quote for the night. Figured that a little Shel Silverstein was a nice break from the type Lavender quotes. ;)
https://piefed-media.feddit.online/posts/eD/Uo/eDUoolMrxSTZz4v.jpg

2026-03-22 22:52:57 UTC

So, I noticed something odd the other day. I was writing in a notebook using my Asvine V126 with Diamine Writer's Blood. When I came home I grabbed by V200 with Writer's Blood to finish what I was writing, but the color / shading of the ink was very different. It was a lot darker and more saturated from the V200 vs the V126.
I compared the nibs under my loupe, but they seem to be mostly the same (ie, tines about the same width, no mis-alignment, etc.)
So, I decided to take things a step further and made the image in this message. Note both the Diamine Aurora Borealis and Writer's Blood seem to have quite different characteristics.
(I should mention: all pens were recently cleaned, and all filled at the same time from the same bottle(s) of ink...)
Anyone have any thoughts on why this would be the case?
https://piefed-media.feddit.online/posts/Mh/BL/MhBLtj3GJFTZG46.jpg

2026-03-16 03:13:00 UTC

Time for a tale of two inks, this time feature Wordsworth and Black Racing Green and Royal Blue.
So, let's start with something important: neither of these inks are accurately represented in their packaging. The Royal Blue box hints that there is more purple tones in it than the swab shows. But the shocking one is the Racing Green, it not only looks nothing like the representation on the box, but it isn't even close to a "racing green" (aka Rally Green). The box actually does look like "Racing Green".
And, I didn't include them, but the labels on the bottle are just as bad.
Honestly, Racing Green is so bad, I just flushed it out of my pen, and loaded it with Aurora Borealis instead.
The Royal Blue, despite the misrepresentation, is a pretty nice blue. It's a bit more saturated than the TWSBI Blue, and less purple than the Diamine Majestic Blue. I think it makes for a good alternative to the Oxford Blue which is my standard.
![Racing Green VS Diamine Green Inks](https://piefed-media.feddit.online/posts/YF/SE/YFSEuTso5vNigbU.jpg)
![Royal Blue VS Diamine and TWSBI Blue Inks](https://piefed-media.feddit.online/posts/67/qx/67qxZysFKICKzDv.jpg)
https://piefed-media.feddit.online/posts/94/jd/94jdA9ldFHxSaxZ.jpg

2026-03-15 05:21:52 UTC

Question: has anyone done extensive testing on any fountain pen inks?
I don't mean the standard Mountain of Ink style, sample card, writing sample, etc. visual comparisons. (I'd like to call this subjective measurement, but chromatographic measurements aren't subjective if done in a controlled manner.)
I am thinking more objective testing: viscosity, density, flow rate @ a given line width, etc.
I was thinking about this type of testing tonight, and it seems to me that there are a lot of factors that would need to be controlled: temperature, air pressure / barometric pressure, nib consistency, friction (aka heat), etc. Given what I was thinking this could be an interesting experiment, if someone wanted to undertake controlling all the variables, and implementing the controls necessary for consistent results.

2026-02-22 06:06:18 UTC

Trying out a little paper I wasn't familiar with: Maruman Mnemosyne.
The quote: “When all else fails, write what your heart tells you. You can’t depend on your eyes, when your imagination is out of focus.” -- *Mark Twain*
- Pen: Asvine V126, Steel Nib
- Ink: Diamine Writer's Blood
- Paper: Maruman Mnemosyne
The paper did really well: no spidering, no bleed through. Of course, Writer's Blood isn't the wettest of inks. I'll try another pen / ink combo to see how well this paper fares.
https://piefed-media.feddit.online/posts/wU/4O/wU4OL13F2l6SxTw.png

2026-02-03 05:39:57 UTC

So, I was ordering stuff from Amazon the other night... I'd come across this #pen a week or so ago, and I couldn't get the ink window out of my mind. It was cheap, so I wasn't expecting much - but I had to satisfy my curiosity.
This pen is from a company called Wilknd. Never heard of them, only other listing is for a fairly generic looking ballpoint pen.
What I received is actually a fairly respectable #fountainpen - especially for $15, compared to junk like Beiluner or Scrivenier.
Brass case, plated gold, fine nib (listing says 0.5mm, but it writes like an EF), interesting design (I don't recall seeing anything like this), a snap cap with a liner, installed syringe-style converter. I filled it with Hongdian Blue ink and tried writing a page -- enjoy my crappy penmanship. Lol.
#fountainpenfirstimpressions #fountainpenfun #penlife
https://piefed-media.feddit.online/posts/kh/Ws/khWsYFA36qn48Gf.jpg

2026-01-14 06:22:37 UTC

Amazon has a whole new group of scammers that have shown up... I mean, blurring out the writing on the cap and nib? $385 for a steel nib? #2 Pencil?
Not in the picture: they recommend alcohol based ink.
https://piefed-media.feddit.online/posts/OV/uP/OVuPG5Z0JoD5jjU.png

2025-12-07 06:39:40 UTC

I have heard several times some fountain pen enthusiasts reference a study that showed that taking notes with a pen and paper encouraged more active engagement, and better retention of material being presented in a class or a conference, than people using a laptop, tablet, etc. (ie, typing).
Does anyone know the exact reference for this study? Most of the time I only hear vague references like "a study found..." or "a study conducted at XYZ University", and I would like to find the actual study and read it for myself.

2025-10-30 15:22:13 UTC

Since I am fairly new to fountain pens, I need to build a bit more knowledge. Are there any online publications: books, magazines, blogs, etc. that I should be checking out?

2025-10-26 14:45:51 UTC

So, I've recently been looking at pens from a certain company that has been around for a long time (read: over 100 years). They have a line of pens that have become quite iconic with both collectors and aficionados, and is still being produced today with only a few changes from the original version(s). The question is: when is it a good idea to consider buying a second hand / vintage pen instead of a new pen?