Pens at a family affair
Family came over Sunday to celebrate a belated Mother’s Day. We were within the two-week post-vaccination period on the official calendar date. So, we chose to wait a week and celebrate safely together. On Sunday, for the first time in a year, we got to bring family together in person. And eat unholy amounts of carbs.
Part of celebrating included the dads sitting down at the dining table to share inks and pens. Preparing this week’s team of pens and inks became a family affair. We settled on adding two new pens to the rotation: the Sailor Pro Gear and the TWSBI 580.
I quickly swapped Mark Bacas’ predator grind onto from my Turquoise 580-AL onto my Lava 580-AL.
Easy as pie to swap nibs
I also needed new inks for the Sailor and TWSBI. I opted for what was quick-to-hand. It was important that I get back to attending to the rest of the family. So I chose blindly from my earth tones box of bottles. Small wonder that this week is heavy on the earth tones.
Together, the nib choices offer many narrow line widths. Five write EF. Four write more broadly. All with only seven pens inked. Multitasker grinds are fantastic.
Grey/Black
Platinum 3776 Nice Pur (F). KOBE Kaigan Stone Grey. A one dimensional and exceptionally behaved duo. The smoothest I’ve seen this F nib - with a touch of feedback. Task management and detailed notes are narrow and well-behaved. Daily driver.
Blue/Teal
Franklin-Christoph 45 (B SIG, by Franklin-Christoph). Diamine Skull & Roses. Wet and sheen-heavy without hard-starts. Excellent for headings on lists and lesson plans. Broad enough for fun journaling, too. Lack of a clip makes the combo best suited for desktop duties.
Montblanc 146 Le Petit Prince and Fox (EF). Kyo-no-oto Aonibi. Aonibi’s mellow cobalt blue offsets Kaigan Stone well. I use this combo most for accent notes. The EF line is also good for margin notes while reading. Meeting notes (accent), reading notes (accent), lesson plans, journaling.
Earth Tones
Sailor Pro Gear Slate (Z Architect, by Custom Nib Studio). J. Herbin Vert Empire. Wet and broad combination. The wettest I’ve seen this pen write. Coated papers only to avoid bleed through and feathering. Particularly good for drawing concept maps during meetings with students as the thick lines can be seen while physically distances. Journaling and meeting notes.
TWSBI 580-AL Lava (M Predator Hybrid, by Nibgrinder). Krishna Vaikhari. The multitasker nib brings both faces of Vaikhari to bear. The EF side lays down a dark brown line that’s great for detailed notes and lesson plans. The M side is suited for quick writing and larger writing or diagraming. And the green sheen makes notes easily legible at odd angles. Reading notes, margin notes, lesson plans, journaling.
Diplomat Aero Sunset Orange (EF). Kyo-iro Higashiyama Moonlight. A meeting notes accent color. The EF nib ensures detailed notes are legible. The burnt-orange color is bright enough to stand out against Kaigan’s grey without reaching “flashy.” Meeting notes (accent), reading notes, manuscript editing, margin notes, journaling.
Wild Cards
Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler (M SIG, by Franklin-Christoph). Ferris Wheel Press Lady Rose. Lady Rose has grown a near-black. There was definitely dried blue ink in the sac when I filled the Twain. The M SIG makes sketching lesson plans more exiting and journaling a joy. The crisp grind is best suited for methodical tasks, so no pocket notes. Journaling, lesson plans.
