So this is going to be fun cutting in half-ish (Scaling down)

[KBeezie]

I went thru and photographed all my pens (and two pencils) next to each other, and the goal is to try to cut the overall count down close to half, either by selling or trading 1-to-3 pens for 1. Hopefully by october-ish. :P Course when I mentioned the "plan" to least two friends they laughed as in "good luck with that" (they also collect pens).

So this will be fun...

So here's a picture of all of them, with little icon markers. Two I don't have yet but will soon (the Vanishing Point is a trade for the Pilot Falcon).



I have the green 3-pen leather case there on the left to prevent the first pen from accidentally rolling off the shooting table.

Top Row - Left to Right

• Desiderata Flex Pen (Purpleheart+Cedar Wood), Zebra G dip pen nib on Ebonite Feed, currently filled with Noodler's Apache Sunset
• Platinum PTL-5000 (Black, with aftermarket Maki-e/Urushi), 14K Extra-Fine Nib, currently filled with Iroshizuku Tsutsuji
• Platinum Century 3776 (Black with Gold Accent), 14K Soft Fine, currently filled with Noodler's Texas Blue Steel
• Montblanc 225 (circa ~70s), Piston filler, 14K platinum-coated EF inset nib, currently filled with Noodler's Black Eel
• Parker 51 Vac (Cordovan Brown), 14K 1/8 Gold Filled Cap, Fine nib
• Eversharp Skyline Standard (Burgundy), 14K Fine nib, Green striated derby cap w/ Navy blue dome (not original to pen)
• Eversharp Skyline Demi (Army-Navy Configuration, wide cap band, derby cap), 14K EF~F nib
• 1958 Ultra "Italian Import" syringe filler with gold/black weave design, maybe steel fine nib. (I suspect it's an american store brand)
• Nemosine Singularity Demonstrator, Goulet 2-tone 1.5 Stub, currently filled with R&K Salix
• Lamy Safari (Charcoal), Fine Nib (also have Extra-Fine and 1.9), currently filled with Noodler's Texas Live Oak
• Monteverde Invincia Deluxe Nighthawk (v.1), Goulet 2-tone Extra Fine, currently filled with Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo
• Autopoint Model 152G "Executive Director" Mechanical Pencil
• Sailor 1911M (Blue/Gold) with 14K Zoom Nib (will probably get it on monday/tuesday)

Bottom Row (left to right)

• Sheaffer Milady Balance (Striated Carmine), lever filler, EF~F 14K Feathertouch nib
• Sheaffer Craftsman (Lever, Persian Blue), 14K Monotone #33 extra-fine nib
• Sheaffer Touchdown Statesman (TM, flush WD, Persian Blue), 14K 2-tone Fine Nib, currently filled with Akkerman Binnenhof Blues
• Sheaffer Touchdown Admiral (TM, Evergreen Green), 14K 2-tone Feathertouch Accounting Nib
• Sheaffer Snorkel Admiral (Black), 14K monotone M2 Medium open nib
• Jinhao 159, Goulet 2-tone Medium, currently filled with Waterman Intense Black
• Jinhao X750, Monteverde black-coated Fine
• Jinhao 599 (metal, green), crimped lamy-style fine nib
• Jinhao 599 (plastic, orange), hooded extra-fine nib, currently filled with Caran d'Ache Electric Orange
• Duke Uranus 1000 [or KSF-301] (blue/silver), semi-hooded steel fine~medium nib
• Pilot Metropolitan (Bronze Lizard), Fine Nib, currently filled with Pilot Black
• Pilot Metropolitan (Black Crocodile), Medium Nib
• Pilot 78G (Green), Bold/Stub nib
• Pilot Elite Mini (~70s), 18K Soft Fine, currently filled with Noodler's Liberty's Elysium
• Pilot Petit1 (Blue Black), Fine Nib, currently filled with Pilot Blue-Black
• Kaweco AL Sport (Raw Aluminum + Sport N Clip), Medium Nib, currently filled with Akkerman Shocking Blue
• Uni Kuru Toga ("High Grade", Gunmetal) filled with Uni NanoDia HB lead

Middle - Faber-Castell BASIC (Leather), Fine nib

I figure I can scale it down to mostly the ones I enjoy using (not just looking at), use the rest to acquire something more to my liking or to fund those kinds of acquisitions.

Initially I thought I was going to be using the sheaffers more, they're nice but I haven't been using them much. The Snorkel is too wet large for me, and I tend to lean more towards finer nibs for most things (kind of want to get a Snorkel with a Fine writing triumph nib).

I've pretty much outgrown the chinese pens already, the cheapie Pilots do everything I want, they're comfortable and hardly ever have a problem starting up or leaking. (The goulet nibs are great though, just wish the Jinhaos had a better feed, which seems to be most of where the problem lies). They're cool looking, and only the 159 out of all the chinese ones I've tried seems to be one that I would use more often (especially with the current ink in it, very well behaved with that nib and feed).

The Platinum PTL-5000 is rather decent especially after I aligned and smoothed the nib a little bit (still has some feedback but not nearly as much scratch now), definitely gives a fine line, but with the maki-e/urushi paint job (done by Engeika shop), I been somewhat weary of using it much, especially since I already chipped some of the clear urushi lacquer off the bottom of the pen (paint job is still there though), I feel like if I had gotten an unpainted PTL-5000 I'd probably use it more often, but I didn't even know I was getting a PTL-5000 when I won it .

The Montblanc 225 and Pilot Elite Mini... good luck trying to get me to part from them. With the MB has excellent ink capacity for my usage, works great with noodler's black eel, gives a very fine line that dries very quickly (even with black eel), doesn't skip, it's also the smoothest nib of that line width I have. The Elite Mini feels very nice in my hands posted, nib is smooth and easy to use, and I have no problems keeping it in my pocket for out and about usage, very quick to get out and jot something down (will be interesting to see how I like the vanishing point compared to it). Also I really like pilot cartridges for syringe filling. For the Mini out of most my inks the Liberty's Elysium seems to be a very good fit (previously Noodler's Blue-Black was way too wet, and took forever to dry on most paper, liberty's elysium still flows very well, but dries on most paper under 5-10 seconds without smearing).

The unmarked ones have their place but they're not 'omfg I love this' right now. Though I am loving how smooth the nib is on the AL Sport after I got that tweaked up. Just wish the section/grip on it was a little longer like the Elite Mini is.

I knew I had too many when I was listing them out, and then I'm like "dammit, I forgot one", and "argh... one more I forgot to put on the table, gotta re-shoot"...

I think it's a case of acquiring too quickly without much of a direction in mind, especially early on when I was on a Chinese binge (I must have given away 30 to 40 sub-$10 chinese and other pens in PIFs/etc).

[top pen]

I think we are all guilty pen bingeing in the first months of getting into the hobby, I myself was have a few pens I can’t stand to use anymore however I consider too expensive to simply give away. In some ways I regret this however it has been useful as I’ve managed to figure what I like and have bought 5 pens this year none of which I regret. I’m done with buying pens this year as I’ve spent my budget however I’m only intending on buying one or two pens next year. I still want to buy a Diplomat (hopefully this time it will actually turn up) probably either a Balance, an Aero or an Excellence. So I’ve got a good few months to decide upon it.

15 pens is what I’m aiming towards too it looks like the Safari, Century II and Platignum No 4 will be the ones that will go.

[KBeezie]

I think we are all guilty pen bingeing in the first months of getting into the hobby, I myself was have a few pens I can’t stand to use anymore however I consider too expensive to simply give away. In some ways I regret this however it has been useful as I’ve managed to figure what I like and have bought 5 pens this year none of which I regret. I’m done with buying pens this year as I’ve spent my budget however I’m only intending on buying one or two pens next year. I still want to buy a Diplomat (hopefully this time it will actually turn up) probably either a Balance, an Aero or an Excellence. So I’ve got a good few months to decide upon it.

15 pens is what I’m aiming towards too it looks like the Safari, Century II and Platignum No 4 will be the ones that will go.

Yea right now I'm trying really really hard not to get another unless I either sell one to use the funds from or trade for it.

Back in Early May this was my current collection (oddly the uranus isn't shown but I had it still). http://kbeezie.deviantart.com/art/Cu...2014-451921743



And in Late March it was http://kbeezie.deviantart.com/art/All-Nib-442432864



I got my first fountain pen of the year in early February (12 or 14th), a Jinhao X450 followed by a Jinhao X750 (with a Goulet EF and 1.5 nib).

Before that I hadn't used one since I was in middle school (I'm 33 now).

[caribbean_skye]

Good luck. If you can't trade maybe you can justvstell them outright. Several years ago I went on a summer buy binge. I haven't gotten rid of any of them, some were great buys ans others not so much. Thankfully none were super expensive but i mainly keep them as a reminder not to do that again.

[Kaputnik]

Cutting down from that number, you say? I should probably cut my collection down to that number.

[scrivelry]

I think there is a certain amount of buying things to see if we like them that is inevitable, especially since in most cases we don't have friends in our everyday lives who are as in to pens as we are and can say, "here, borrow my LE Tweedle-dee modernvintage vacu-lever-cart filler in the amber and fuchsia swirl acrylo-ebonite with a hands-of-God custom ground left oblique fine flex nib and see how it works for you in your client interviews today."

Our choices are to try that pen at a pen show, if we are lucky, or at a shop - in either case you can't try it very extensively and it's hard to make good decisions when you are under the gun like that - or we order that pen, or one like it, and hope for the best. It's really not surprising if we go through a period of trying out all sorts of things, hopefully on the less-expensive side, to see what really works for us. Length of pen, use posted or unposted, heavy or light, XF-broad or getting into stubs/italics and if so which kind - none of this is predictable when we start out. I haven't got the money to experiment on a series of upper-echelon pens myself, and I don't beat myself up for doing it with cheap ones - just trying to figure out the best use for things that weren't expensive to begin with and which I don't feel I need.

[KBeezie]

I think there is a certain amount of buying things to see if we like them that is inevitable, especially since in most cases we don't have friends in our everyday lives who are as in to pens as we are and can say, "here, borrow my LE Tweedle-dee modernvintage vacu-lever-cart filler in the amber and fuchsia swirl acrylo-ebonite with a hands-of-God custom ground left oblique fine flex nib and see how it works for you in your client interviews today."

Our choices are to try that pen at a pen show, if we are lucky, or at a shop - in either case you can't try it very extensively and it's hard to make good decisions when you are under the gun like that - or we order that pen, or one like it, and hope for the best. It's really not surprising if we go through a period of trying out all sorts of things, hopefully on the less-expensive side, to see what really works for us. Length of pen, use posted or unposted, heavy or light, XF-broad or getting into stubs/italics and if so which kind - none of this is predictable when we start out. I haven't got the money to experiment on a series of upper-echelon pens myself, and I don't beat myself up for doing it with cheap ones - just trying to figure out the best use for things that weren't expensive to begin with and which I don't feel I need.

For me the availability of a Pen Show or shop is zilch here (I could have gone to the Chicago one but it was a little too far out of reach for me), it wasn't until last week that I actually ran into someone who had quite a few vintage pens that I could actually hold in my hands such as bunch of conklins, parker vacumatics, P51s, various sheaffes and a MB149, which before last week I never saw in person.

So there was that moment where I just wanted to try everything with most initial impressions solely based off user feedbacks on sites like these and youtube videos.

Cutting down from that number, you say? I should probably cut my collection down to that number.

:P That's kind of what I been hearing, which further adds to reasoning to why some of my other pen-related friends chuckled at me for saying I was trying to cut down from 30ish.

Well on the plus side I did act as a guinea pig to close to 40 other new users with various PIFs of the cheaper pens, and I did learn what I like and what I don't like, or at the very least which direction I'm starting to like. (for example I used to mock the idea of ever having a Lamy or Kaweco)

[Waski_the_Squirrel]

Congratulations on editing your collection. I realized that I just didn't use a lot of my pens and, last year, cut the collection in half. This year, I added a few pens, but I'm really thinking it's time to edit what remains.

When I have fewer pens, I use each one more often and enjoy them all more. I've even had a few surprises with pens I ended up keeping. It also gives me more perspective in purchasing a new pen. There are a few I want, but I already know what their role in my collection will be.

I hope your editing experience gives you the same renewed pleasure in your pens that mine gave to me.

[KBeezie]

I hope your editing experience gives you the same renewed pleasure in your pens that mine gave to me.

Thanks, starting out I thought I was probably going to be more of a Sheaffer vintage fan and mainly concentrate on those, but after some time it turns out I tend to like the Japanese ones and the finer nibs, something I didn't think I was going to end up doing. I didn't think I was going to find merit in some of the lighter pens either.

[gbryal]

The Chinese pens need a champion and will feel your loss acutely . I am sure by next year my own collection will shift too. I've had to buy pens to find out what I like and dislike also; maybe a pen show would have been cheaper. It's interesting what pens people decide are keepers.

[KBeezie]

The vanishing point arrived, but I'm soaking the nib unit because it seems to be caked with ink and despite having cleaned what I could see I suspect there's some clog of blue ink inside the unit because trying a Pilot black cartridge couldn't get much more than a faint grey out of it. (nib seemed misaligned which I took care of best I could, just seemed odd that the tipping seems to be ever so slightly twisted counter clockwise under the 20x loupe, but still aligned just flow issue.)

Also it's a 14K fine and not an 18K fine as I listed in the first picture.

[top pen]

Karl how much did you pay for your used safari? It would be interesting to know what I could expect to get for mine that is barely used one.

[discopig]

Karl how much did you pay for your used safari? It would be interesting to know what I could expect to get for mine that is barely used one.

You can expect to sell a used safari for $10-15.

[johnus]

If you're not there to take care of them.... Who will?

[KBeezie]

Karl how much did you pay for your used safari? It would be interesting to know what I could expect to get for mine that is barely used one.

You can expect to sell a used safari for $10-15.

I originally paid $20 shipped off ebay for my charcoal with a fine nib. Who I asked if there was anything wrong with it out of the usual wear and tear. He said it was cleaned and excellent shape.

Except it wasn't cleaned, it was crusted full of black ink, in both the converter and around the nib and feed (lots of soaking :P), and when I cleaned it, the nib just slid off and on without any effort (ie: this video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji94I_EJltE ), so while in communications with him, he refunded me completely and told me to keep the pen. I managed to crimp the nib (rubberized plier to the side) to make it go on tighter which appears to have fixed it, course it ran dry enough due to the crimping that it actually produces a line a hair finer than the new lamy EF nib I got for it, without skips/breaks.

I worked it out with the seller and sent him back 10 of the refund because I got it working and at the very least should cover shipping and then some (he was selling a bunch of stuff for his father).

What I currently have inked

Montblanc 225 (Piston), 14K EF (more like Japanese EF or 2X EF), filled with Noodler's Black Eel
Jinhao 599 (considering de-inking for storage), Hooded EF, Caran d'Ache Electric Orange
Pilot VP (Blue Carbonesque) 14K Fine, Noodler's Texas Live Oak (consider a wetter ink, running too dry)
Pilot Petit1, Steel Fine, Pilot Blue-Black (excellent pocket pen to hand out to strangers)
Pilot Elite Mini, 18K Soft Fine, Noodler's Liberty's Elysium (like the MB225 you'll have to pry this from my cold dead hands)
Montverde Invincia Deluxe (Nighthawk 1st version), Goulet 2-tone EF, Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo (somewhat disappoint aesthetically durability wise, but attached to it)
Lamy Safari (Charchaol), Fine (dry), Noodler's texas Live oak (consider switching to EF or 1.9 with a dryer flowing ink)
Parker 51 Vac (Cordovan Brown), 14K Fine~Medium, Noodler's Liberty's Elysium
Kaweco AL Sport (Raw Aluminum), Steel Medium, Akkerman #5 Shocking Blue
Jinhao 159, Goulet 2-tone Medium, Waterman Intense Black (If I can find a dryer ink for the 1911, it may replace the 159's purpose)
Sailor 1911M (Cobalt Blue w/ Gold), 14K Zoom Nib, Noodler's Texas Blue Steel (consider changing to dryer ink, not black though)
Nemosine Singularity Demonstrator, Goulet 2-tone 1.5 Stub, R&K Salix (Iron Gall)

What's un-inked

Platinum PTL-5000 (with Tangerine/Persiphermone sp? Maki-e/Urushi artwork), 14K EF (some flex)
Sheaffer Milady Balance, Striated Carmine Celluloid, 14K Feathertouch 2-tone EF~F
Sheaffer Craftsman, Persian Blue, Monotone #33 Extra-Fine Nib
Sheaffer Touchdown Admiral, Evergreen Green, 14K Rigid 2-tone Accounting Feathertouch Nib
Sheaffer Touchdown Statesman (white dot), Persian Blue, 14K 2-tone Fine Nib
Sheaffer Snorkel Admiral (black), Monotone 14K M2 Medium Nib (runs pretty wet)
Jinhao 599 Lime Green (Metal version, crimped Lamy style Fine nib)
Faber-Castell BASIC (Leather), very smooth western steel Fine
1958 "Ultra" Italian Import syringe filler with gold/black crossweave pattern and wet fine nib (probably american store brand)
Eversharp Skyline Standard, Green/Black striated celluloid cap, 14K EF~F nib
Eversharp Skyline Demi, Red/Green Army/Navy configuration wide-band derby cap, Navy blue body, 14K EF Nib

What I *had* but is now traded off (pending shipping)

Platinum Century 3776, 14K Soft Fine
Pilot Metropolitan Bronze Lizard, Medium Nib
Pilot Metropolitan Black Crocodile, Fine Nib
Pilot 78G (Green), Broad Stub nib
Jinhao X750 "Shimmering Sands" w/ Monteverde black-coated Fine

What I'm getting in return soon

Pelikan M250 w/ 14K Medium
Pilot Vanishing Point (Black Carbonesque) w/ 14K Medium

[top pen]

I think for many of us the feeling of never being happy with what you have is a common feeling. Some call this the n+1 rule. As nice as it is to have lots of pens it is almost be pointless buying pens just to fill a large case with no direction. I think this this attitude is present more so on FPN, one reason why I have come to really enjoy this place recently.

[KBeezie]

I think for many of us the feeling of never being happy with what you have is a common feeling. Some call this the n+1 rule. As nice as it is to have lots of pens it is almost be pointless buying pens just to fill a large case with no direction. I think this this attitude is present more so on FPN, one reason why I have come to really enjoy this place recently.

That I can understand. Since it hasn't been a year yet, it's meet more exploratory as of late with a stronger preference towards Pilot for modern and still deciding on vintage. So I'm still finding my "direction" where I'm comfortable with them and actively use them for more than just data sets or pictures.