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View Full Version : Yay, found a coffee brown Al-star!



tannie
July 18th, 2013, 07:12 AM
I wanted to add this one to my collection for a while and happen to find one for a reasonable price recently.

I named it 'the Azizah' because I don't consider brown bland and it deserved a Special Name ;)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7438/9265155312_b8cb181cc6.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tannie/9265155312/)

Should now get a photo of al the Al-stars together...

GourmetPens
July 18th, 2013, 07:15 AM
:) that's a fine name, not to toot my own horn or anything...

cwent2
July 18th, 2013, 08:41 AM
:) that's a fine name, not to toot my own horn or anything...

Toot - Toot Tooooooot

There I TOOTED it for you!

lol

Cw

Sailor Kenshin
July 18th, 2013, 09:07 AM
I wanted to add this one to my collection for a while and happen to find one for a reasonable price recently.

I named it 'the Azizah' because I don't consider brown bland and it deserved a Special Name ;)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7438/9265155312_b8cb181cc6.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tannie/9265155312/)

Should now get a photo of al the Al-stars together...

I. Am. Sooooo. Jealous! Lol, but also very happy for you!

KrazyIvan
July 18th, 2013, 09:23 AM
That is probably one of the few LE colors I wish I had purchased when I had the chance.

snedwos
July 18th, 2013, 09:43 AM
The other one that I would very much like, so that it can sit next to my cherished Pearl.

tandaina
July 18th, 2013, 11:32 AM
Not a huge Lamy fan but this one and the Rapsberry I would recall like. Tey are just so expensive now.

earthdawn
July 18th, 2013, 02:45 PM
Really nice... congrats.

Is that the metal version ???

klpeabody
July 18th, 2013, 06:32 PM
That is probably one of the few LE colors I wish I had purchased when I had the chance.

me too, KI!

Cake
July 19th, 2013, 03:05 PM
Nice looking color!

tannie
July 19th, 2013, 03:29 PM
Really nice... congrats.

Is that the metal version ???

Yes, all Al-stars are made of metal. The AL in Al-star stands for aluminium (afaik). Makes it easy for me to remember anyway ;)

Bogon07
July 26th, 2013, 12:13 AM
Tannie, congratulations on your Coffee Al-star and the nicely matched Platinum Pigmented Sepia. Mine has only ever had Noodler's Walnut in it but if I ever change the ink that will be very high on my replacement list. The Coffee Al-star was my first grail pen and the precursor to everything.

Moxoftritonytes
July 26th, 2013, 05:49 AM
Congratulations to the coffee brown Al-star. I have one, too and lately I have recognized that the finish is starting to wear off slightly at the edge of the cap, giving the pen a worn look. If you don`t like this you should be very careful with where you store your pen.

tannie
July 28th, 2013, 04:06 PM
Tannie, congratulations on your Coffee Al-star and the nicely matched Platinum Pigmented Sepia. Mine has only ever had Noodler's Walnut in it but if I ever change the ink that will be very high on my replacement list. The Coffee Al-star was my first grail pen and the precursor to everything.

I had first loaded it up with Noodler's Walnut (from my samplevial) or rather, I tried. I filled up the pen, emptied it out again and filled it up again (like I usually do). And then I noticed this ammonia smell... and my sample looked... weird... and the pen wrote... weird...
In retrospect, I think I got a returned pen (no problem with that), and they flushed it out well (no problem with that either), and then didn't flush it properly (aaaargh!). Of course I should have flushed it properly myself, but I normally just need to flush the nib with new Lamys.... Luckily, I used a sample vial, and it certainly reminded me why I use vials even for inks I have in bottles. I tend to fill from the vials, just in case.

The Pigmented Sepia, though the second choice, does work really well.

KrazyIvan
July 28th, 2013, 04:50 PM
Lamy tests there pens with Lamy Blue ink. A good flush before first use is suggested.

tannie
August 6th, 2013, 03:33 PM
Lamy tests there pens with Lamy Blue ink. A good flush before first use is suggested.

Normally, I take of the nib, run nib and feed under the tap, and the run the section under the tap as well. This has always worked, because (I gather from observation) Lamy doesn't actually fill the feed with ink but dips the nib in it. In this case I most likely got a returned pen which the company that sold it to me flushed with an ammonia-solution. The pen did not have the classic cardboard collar and it did not give off any blue ink when I rinsed it off.
This should have made me think twice but I got a little too excited etc. I could check with them, I guess, but I should have done my thorough rinse routine (take of nib, rinse/soak, push water through feed with syringe+empty cartridge). In the end, I ruined about 1.5ml of ink. I can live with that (especially now my bottle of Walnut arrived, aaah). I use sample vials because I know that at some point, I'll make a mistake like this.

I finally got around to rinsing out the sample vial today. it had a distinct ammonia smell and the ink separated into three layers. It looked pretty :)