TWSBI 580 with B nib

Posted on March 24, 2013 by admin

I’ve got it!

Last Wednesday I received a FedEx parcel containing my shining new TWSBI 580 fountain pen with B nib. It’s my third TWSBI, after a 540 with 1.1 stub and a Mini with M nib.

I really like it, it feels great in hand… bit it feels almost the same that the 540 too. As I love my 540, that’s not a problem for me, but if you look for a different writing experience, the 580 won’t do it, it’s clearly a new, improved version of the 540, as the 540 was of the 530.

A superb pen for me, the,. The B nib is juicy, generous, wet, and it writes like a dream. The Noodler’s Upper Ganges Blue is beautiful in the transparent barrel, and the B nib allows to admire its nice shading on the paper.

After having used it since Wednesday, the 580 has become one of my favourite pens. The B nib is a bit too wide for daily use, but it is so smooth that I use it nevertheless.

In brief, a great pen, TWSBI!

As usual, I’ve posted this review also in Fountain Pen Network.

Complement to Noodler’s 54^th Massachussetts ink review

Posted on January 22, 2013 by admin

A quick complements to Noodler’s 54^th Massachussetts ink review.

I did the review with a Noodler’s Konrad, and as I write with a fairy light hand, it didn’t flex at all, so the result was almost like writing with a F nib. As inkstainedruth pointed at Fountain Pen Network, my review didn’t show the greenish overcast that other reviews shown, and the F nib didn’t show any shading. And as the paper used was cheap copy paper, it wasn’t the ideal one to observe colors.

Here you have a sample on better paper (Rhodia Dot Pad) with a juicier nib (Platinum 3776 with Music nib), so you can see the shading. Drying time is almost the same. I think I see a light greenish overcast, but I4m not sure, I’m not good at finding color hints on samples. So I let you judge…

Ink Review : Noodler's 54th Massachussets, complement

Water resistance test : Noodler’s Polar Black ink

Posted on June 1, 2012 by admin

Reading this thread on FPN about Noodler’s Black ink, I wanted to make a similar test with my current favorite ink (with Pharmacist’s Iron Gall Blue-Black), Noodler’s Polar Black.

So I decided to try a similar water resistance test. Similar but not the same, because for example I have no newspaper near me today

I’ve used 4 kinds of paper : Rhodia Dot Pad, unnamed office copy paper, PostIt note and a page of glossy magazine paper.

Here you have the samples after writing :

Here the four samples after being submerged in water for 10 minutes :

And here after some torture…

The ink is wonderful in all samples besides the glossy paper. Why doesn’t it perform great on it? If I understand right, it’s because it bulletproofness comes from bonding with cellulose in paper, and in glossy paper there is a layer impermeable between the ink and the cellulose, bonding is way limited.

I really love this ink, my ink of choice (with Pharmacist’s Iron Gall Ink) for everyday use!

I’ve posted this review on the same thread in FPN.

CalligraphInk 1.2 stub, a cheap pen that performs well

Posted on May 22, 2012 by admin

Last week, I went to the local art supplies store, looking for some craft stuff. While there, I looked around and I saw something interesting on a shelf : a box marked CaligraphInk Fountain Pens.

CalligraphInk? I didn’t know the brand. I took one pen, it had a 1.2 stub nib, it didn’t look too [i]cheapy[/i] and it only cost 8€. Of course, I bought one!

At home, I loaded it with Noodler’s Polar Black and I passed to the test. I expected it to perform poorly, unremarkably at best… I was wrong!

It’s a nice pen, it glides on paper leaving a beautiful wet trait of ink, effortlessly.

The pen is cheap, solidly built and it writes great, so now I’m keeping it in my pocket as my EDC stub pen (I don’t want to put more expensive pens in my pocket).

I’ve also posted this review on Fountain Pen Network.

Pharmacist’s Oriens-Occidens iron gall ink

Posted on May 3, 2012 by admin

As you maybe know, I’m a fan of Pharmacist’s Iron Gall ink, so when I saw he was experimenting with non blue-black i-g ink, I was hooked. The wait seemed long, but two weeks ago Pharmacist announced that tha ink was ready, and last week I received a parcel from Belgium.

Inside, three bottles of ink : Terra Incinerata (green -> dark green), this Oriens-Occidens (orange -> brown) and the standard Document ink (blue -> blue-black).

I love Terra Incinerata, but an orange-brown i-g ink was too tempting not to try it, so I inked my home-ground Waterman Kultur with Oriens-Occidens to test it first. And here you have the review :

Ink review - Pharmacist's Oriens-Occidens iron gall ink

Water resistance : it’s an iron gall ink, so it resist water! The bottom of the review has been submerged in water for 1 minute. Orange dye has completely disappeared, but the brown iron-gall is fully visible, and readable!

A wonderful ink, with all the properties I like in iron gall inks, but in a new and nice color. Great work, Pharmacist!

Review posted on Fountain Pen Network

A match made in Heaven : Diamine Apple Glory ink and Safari Apple Green pen

Posted on April 23, 2012 by admin

Last week I received a long awaited parcel from cultpens.com. Inside, a green festival : a Lamy Safari Apple Green and a bottle of Diamine Apple Glory. These two are made to be together, a match made in Heaven for anybody who loves bright green colours.

The pen is a M nib, and as most Safari, it writes wonderfully. Wet poen, no skipping, always ready to write, it glides on paper without effort,
leaving behind a lusty trail of ink. The colour of this 2012 LE is a bright, happy, joyful green, and I really like it a lot, my favorite Safari color.

And what about the ink? The perfect match for the pen, Diamine Apple Glory is a vibrant light green, almost the same colour than the pen. I really love it!

Review posted on Fountain Pen Network

Pharmacist’s iron gall ink

Posted on March 21, 2012 by admin

My first review here…

Pharmacist is a member of Fountain Pen Network, the biggest (and best) fountain pen forum in the net. And he makes his own ink, a wonderful old style iron gall ink.

Two weeks ago, I received a parcel from Belgium. Inside, two bottles of Pharmacist’s iron gall ink. Since then, I’ve been using it as my main daily ink in my Parker Frontier.

Pharmacist’s ink is truly superb, a true blue-blac waterproof ink faithful to the spirit of old iron gall inks, but fountain pen friendly. It’s very close to be my Grail ink, so I told myself it deserved a review. And here you have it !

The power of Iron Gall : This text has been placed in water for one minute, and this drawing too :

LostInBrittany Pens

Just another WordPress site

Tag Archives: fountain pen network