The joy of pen-enabling good friends
Two of my best friends have just begun exploring fountain pens. Gian just bought his first TWSBI ECO. The ECO is a great pen. For a smallish investment, you get a piston-filler (holds 2.5 ml of ink), a demonstrator (your pen becomes the color of your ink), and a reliable writer (all of my TWSBI nibs write true to size). He ordered an EF nib, for he is a man of taste and sophistication.
And then he dropped his ECO. Nib down. Ouch.
I looked at the pen Tuesday night. The right tine had twisted back and up away from the nib. The right side of the nib now rose like a hill above the left side between the breather hole and the tipping. But the tipping and feed were both intact. So a repair seemed possible.
I popped the nib and feed out of the ECO’s section. Then I used a nib block and burnisher to roll out the twisted tine. Once flat, a fingernail realigned the two sides of the nib. Now the ECO looked like new again — and wrote well enough.
Repair crew
Then I had a bit of fun. I could feel the paper underneath my hand as I wrote. This is common for most EF or finer nibs. It’s a pleasant experience for those who enjoy working with wood pencils.
But I want Gian to have an addictively lovely writing experience: so I took out my fine sanding blocks and smoothed the EF.
Smooth criminals
30 minutes of work and Gian’s first ECO is once again pen-roll-ready. An extra-smooth, true to size EF.
Now with a smooth, unbent nib
Shannon connected with me on Thursday to share Gian’s reaction:“Oh! He did fix it!” And Gian has apparently been writing and sketching with his ECO all week. Pen-enabling is a joyful experience.
This week’s Inked Tines update includes my most recent currently inked writing tools.
Toolset
Pens. The Lamy Safari was a clear standout this week. The B nib is immaculately tuned. Pumpkin Cake offers a color gradient more so than shading. Lovely, well-behaved combination — on coated paper. Lesson plans, journaling, meeting notes. I wrote this combo down to the feed. It will most likely run dry later this weekend.
Kaweco Sport — Empty. Sturdy pocket pen. BB nib was too much for my pocket notebook. Hard starts due to SotW’s heavy sheening. Ended up a desk pen. Journaling, lesson plans, meeting notes, accent reading notes.
Pilot Kakuno — Empty. Wet to the point of feathering on uncoated paper. A fun M nib with a deep purple ink. Excellent for long-writing tasks that take place on fountain-pen friendly paper. Best for journaling, letters, and lecture notes.
Nagasawa Black Proske — Empty. A dry combination, bordering on unpleasant feedback. Brought out the best of 13’s shading. Great for quick writing and scratch notes. Pocket carry, briefly. Lesson plans.
Pelikan m805 — 1/5. Generous shading and smooth writing on the Architect side of this nib. The pale, but legible, ink was an excellent accent in meeting notes and lecture notes. Too light for lesson plans. Reading notes.
Montblanc 146 — 1/5. Generously wet pairing. Kept true to EF but took minutes to dry. Better for long-form writing than quick task management. Daily driver, task management, journaling, poetry, reading notes.
TWSBI 580-ALR — 1/5 (down from 1/4 full). Matter shades enough to stay fun, even from the EF side of the multitasker nib. Excellent contrast to the HMJE in my Montblanc. No complaints for short or long writing tasks. Daily driver, task management, poetry, scratch notes, meeting notes, lesson plans.
Notebooks. A lot of work happened in the teaching bullet journal. I started with my two-page weekly, as usual. Seven pages of lesson plan outlines and notes follow. Four more pages of meeting notes round out the week. The 13 new pages end on page 26. Not bad for two weeks of work.
The clip-band is fantastic. The clip sits securely on the back cover. Through trips into and out of my work bag: still in place. Carried between a laptop and other books: the clip stayed put. The clip stays where I left it even through the hasty tugging that (un)wrapping the strap requires.
Work. Horse.
Add on that the clip’s metal is thin enough that I don’t feel it underneath the notebook as I write. And the band holds my work notebook closed securely. Huzzah to you, Midori clip band.
A6 Midori Journal. My journal saw a fair bit of attention this week. Three new long-form entries, amounting to 14 new pages. Only five more pages until the end of this A6 Midori journal. I have a dot grid A5 notebook with Cosmo Air Light paper on deck.
I adapted the way I journal last fall. I pick one moment from my day or one essay I’ve read and reflect my way through that small moment. The change keeps me more analytical, and so my entries of late tend to end with takeaways for myself. The change has been positive.
Entries ended with poems from Jim Harrison, Ted Hughes, and Jane Kenyon.
I got a little fancy mid-week
Written dry. Three pens gave all they had over the course of this week: the Kaweco, the Pilot, and the Nagasawa Sailor. The Kaweco ran dry in the middle of the workday on Wednesday. I was sketching a lesson on Robert Yerkes’ eugenic intelligence tests. They were the precursor to the US’ SAT tests.
The Pilot dried up Thursday night while journaling. I had only a few lines left to write, so I tried my best to scratch out the remaining words rather than add one final sentence in a new color. The final few lines were met with an audible “oh no.” You did well, Kakuno.
And the Nagasawa proved an interesting combination. The pen’s dry feed does best with wet inks. Papier Plume’s 13 wasn’t wet enough, all told, to make for a smooth writing experience. The color and shading are lovely enough to keep me writing, especially for more mundane tasks. I wrote the pen dry at work on Monday.
Newly inked. Not-a-one. Not even on Friday when my new Lamy arrived. I’m so disciplined (read: was too tired).
The Collection
Incoming / new orders. The new Lamy Safari Terra Red was delivered to my local pen shop on Monday. I wasn’t able to get it until Friday. My partner surprised me by driving out to The Pen Thing* and picking the pen up for me during the workday Friday. Evidence I’ve found my person.
Matte finishes appeal to me. They are resistant to fingerprints, and so feel cleaner. The lack of “shiny” mellows out the pen’s color. I’m drawn to subtle hues over powerful pops of color. The black trim is a fetching contrast to the mid-century orange; even in low light. Lamy nailed this special issue.
The ‘20s called: They want their adjective back
*NOTE — The Pen Thing is a small local stationery shop owned by my father-in-law. My Lamy was purchased as a pre-order in full with my own funds. Mention of Brian’s shop will come as a surprise to him. Transparency is important.
Outgoing / trades or sales. Nothing this week. I don’t anticipate moving any more pens out of my collection until my break from work mid-March.
Currently reading and listening
Fiction. I’m still working my way through two books: Zahn’s Heir to the Empire and Rothfuss’ Name of the Wind.
My partner and I read three more chapters of Name of the Wind this week. Denna and Kvothe are still traipsing around the backwoods. One gets the distinct impression that something big is about to happen.
Nonfiction. I read a handful of essays on good faith and bad faith actors in modern US politics. David Super wrote a lovely, informative essay this week. He argues that the US’ federal legislative branch has more than two “houses.” Any bill needs the consent of four legislative bodies: the Senate majority, the Senate minority, the House majority and the White House. It’s a clever, practical reading of American politics.
Applebaum sat unopened. All books in time.
Music. A friend sent me the link to L’Indécis‘ Plethoria album on Tuesday. It’s been on repeat since. Beautiful artwork helps, too.
Lo-fi music is excellent background soundtracking. I listen to albums like this while writing, reading, and — on bold days — while teaching.
