I thought it would be fun to write about what pens I have inked right now. Mostly I want to have a sort of diary that helps me keep track of how long I've had pens inked up for. With any luck my next post will have completely new pens in it.
The LAMY 2000 returns after a long hiatus! Its oblique double broad nib brings me close to giggles every time I use it, especially after a break in which I forget how bold its line is. When LAMY says double broad, it means double broad, and this pen is definitely not for people who want to fit words neatly in a five millimeter grid (but, of course, I try). The oblique cut is supposedly for right-handed writers, but I've found that it's surprisingly nice for my underhanded writing style, where I hold the pen nearly parallel to the paper.
I'm not a fan of magenta, so I've been trying to use up my 15 milliliter bottle of Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-budo that I bought *mumbles* years ago. Despite it all, I do think Yama-budo's a beautiful color with gorgeous gold sheen. The 2000's nib brings it out in heaps, too. I'll still be happy when this little bottle is no longer cluttering my ink drawer, though.
TWSBI Diamond 580 (B), Dominant Industry Autumn Forest
When people ask me what my favorite pen is, I almost always say the TWSBI Diamond 580. The pens are relatively inexpensive workhorses that fit my hand well, and even after a purge late last year I still have two Diamond 580s in my collection: the limited edition 580RB and the equally limited 580AL Mint. The broad nibs can be pretty inconsistent, ranging from what I consider a "true" broad to "wait, are you sure this isn't a medium nib?" Annoying, yes, but not really a deal breaker in my eyes.
I'm testing out Dominant Industry Autumn Forest for occupational purposes, and what a joy it is to use. A gorgeous green that dual-shades pink and adds a heap of pink shimmer on top of it. I love the way it catches the light. Big thumbs up from me.
Pilot Custom Heritage 92 (B), Robert Oster Signature Motor Oil
The Pilot Custom Heritage 92 has been in my collection since I was in college, and it has stayed with me so far despite some flaws. Piston fillers are pretty rare on Japanese pens, especially at this price point, so that's a nice touch. But I have to say that the nib has been an oddity since I got it, and I've heard that other people with the broad Custom Heritage 92 have had the same issue (though I will note that I haven't heard anyone have problems with the Custom 74's broad nibs, which are the exact same). Does it feel sharp? Does it feel scratchy? Questions I am unsure how to answer. There's nothing wrong with it, cosmetically, but it feels odd to write with at certain angles. I should probably get it professionally tuned at some point.
Robert Oster Signature Motor Oil looks like gunk, and I enjoy it very much. It's a weird olive-brown, much darker in a swab, more green from a pen.
PenBBS 309 (Nemosine B), Noodler's Kiowa Pecan
The PenBBS is currently my designated Noodler's pen. Noodler's Kiowa Pecan melted the feed of my TWSBI a while back, so I'm a little hesitant to put it in other pens, especially as my collection has slowly ticked up in price. I've converted the PenBBS into an eyedropper by removing the piston mechanism, and now I just dump a couple milliliters of ink in there with another few milliliters of filtered water. I'm of the opinion that Noodler's gives you an ink concentrate, which is great for your budget but not so good for your "I'm going to use up my inks!" goal. In my experience some Noodler's inks work just as well with a truly wild one-to-one ratio of ink to water, so if you never want to buy an ink again...
Kiowa Pecan is still an ink I enjoy using though. It's a brown that leans rather orange with nice shading (especially once diluted). I can't remember the exact ratio I used for this round, but I really do think it's very close to one part ink, one part water. I do remember that I ended up adding even more water because the ink was bleeding through Tomoe River paper, and that helped a lot! As an added bonus, dilution also cuts down on dry times. The bad news is that I will probably be buried with this bottle of ink.
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