Another month, and it's all change in the collection. Out: Sailor 1911 Black Luster: The 1911 was a huge step up from the Pro Gear I had before. The extra length of the 1911 shape helped, and the metal section of the Black Luster not only looked great, but added valuable weight. But I … Continue reading State of the collection: July 2019
Month: Jun 2019
Five pens for sale: Montblanc, Visconti, Lamy, Scribo, Parker
Update: all pens sold! A very ruthless, pragmatic sale this. I'm mainly cutting down the number of pens I have per manufacturer to keep my total pen collection in my single pen tray. These are all great pens, but they're kept in the shadows by some of the other great pens in my collection. … Continue reading Five pens for sale: Montblanc, Visconti, Lamy, Scribo, Parker
Why (and how) I just sold 70 bottles of ink
I've said it before that ink accumulation is a much bigger problem (at least for me) than accumulating pens. Ink is cheap (ish), so it hardly seems worth selling individual bottles. It's heavy and fragile, so it's a pain to post. And when you use an ink, you're actually consuming it — a used pen … Continue reading Why (and how) I just sold 70 bottles of ink
The Aurora 88 Nettuno has beauty and brains
I really took a chance buying this Aurora 88 Nettuno. I haven't quite gelled with the last couple of Auroras I've bought, and what's more I've had less than perfect luck with the quality of its nibs and pens. But for months and months I've been unable to get this pen out of my head, … Continue reading The Aurora 88 Nettuno has beauty and brains
A public service announcement about Aurora italic and stub nibs
I recently bought an Aurora 88 with italic nib. It was not what I expected. This is because Aurora does not make it easy. Over the years it's offered different kinds of italic nibs, including different widths of italics. Try to find pictures on the internet and you often turn up ten-year-old threads on FPN. … Continue reading A public service announcement about Aurora italic and stub nibs
Notebooks, notebooks, everywhere!
I used to write quite a lot of posts about paper. Recently I've been all about the pens. Time to redress the balance. Let me give you a tour of the many different notebooks that have been across my desk recently. And boy, I've had a lot of paper. But before that, let me cut … Continue reading Notebooks, notebooks, everywhere!
Six long-gone pens I miss — and what I’ve done about it
I am an inveterate pen seller. I've bought and sold about 125 pens in the last few years, and I don't regret it. When I realise a pen isn't for me, I release it to help someone else on their pen journey. I lose money on each pen I sell, but I consider it a … Continue reading Six long-gone pens I miss — and what I’ve done about it
How I do ink swatches
When you have 200+ inks, it's all too easy to find yourself picking up a bottle and having no recollection of the ink at all. You uncap it, and all you see is some dark, shiny liquid. Hmmm. If only there was some way to keep a a record of how each ink looks on … Continue reading How I do ink swatches
The simple joy of mucking about with pens
I had a joyous, pen-heavy day today. I joined a few folks for a beer at my local pen meet (and got to play with a 1.9mm F-C music nib!) ...reinked a couple of pens with fresh beautiful inks, did my version of adult colouring by writing up a Currently Inked on an A3 sheet … Continue reading The simple joy of mucking about with pens
Quantifying greatness: going deep down the rabbit hole
A while back I made an attempt at a scoring methodology for pens. It was a way for me to take a bottom-up, step-by-step approach to working out what I liked and disliked about the pens I owned, and to see whether the cumulative total resulted in a ranking that actually reflected my gut preferences. … Continue reading Quantifying greatness: going deep down the rabbit hole
UK fountain pens 