Hi Everyone! Greetings from Indiana!

[chris.perc]

Hi everyone!

My name is Chris, and I am a grad student from Indiana. I became interested in fountain pens a little under a year ago.

So far my collection consists of the following:

Lamy 2000 M- Custom tuned and smoothed by Dan @ TheNibSmith, I absolutely adore this pen!
Lamy Al-Star M (I honestly never use this pen) I have had terrible luck with lamy pens (outside of the Lamy 2000, I love that pen dearly).
Pilot Vanishing Point: M - This pen is right next to my Lamy 2k as my current favorite. Very smooth and wet writer out of the box from GouletPens.
Pilot Custom 74: B - Very scratchy out of the box -- needs tuned/ground down to a medium ASAP (literally unusable)
Pilot Metropolitan- M - My first pen! It's near and dear to my heart
TWSBI Eco- B - This is actually my 2nd Eco. My first was a Medium nib that I gifted to a friend in order to get them into fountain pens. This pen in particular is a turquoise LE, however it is rarely used
TWSBI 580AL- EF - This pen has a very nice amount of feedback, really nice to use for non- FP friendly paper. It also writes relatively wet for an EF nib.
TWSBI VacMini- M - This pen is so nice for an EDC pocket carry. I bring it with me to work every day. Very nice steel nib out of the box.

I'm currently saving up for an Aurora 88 or Aurora Optima, I want to treat myself as a gift for getting accepted into my masters program

I'm hoping to go to a pen show in the near future, are there any good ones in the Midwest that I should make an effort to go to?

Also, do you know of any pen clubs in Indianapolis? It seems kind of like a FP wasteland here in Indiana...

[Anne]

Welcome - you have a very nice collection so far Congratulations also on the Master's program! I guess you will need a lot of ink to get through it

[Hawk]

Welcome.

[Jon Szanto]

Welcome, Chris! Nice start, especially an early start! I can't speak for Indiana, but the Chicago Pen Show has been coming on really strong in the last couple years under new leadership and is one of the shows I'd love to travel to in the near future. The Anderson's maintain a pen show calendar which shows Chicago coming up in May. GO!!

I've got a couple Optimas and an 88 and the feel great in the hand, just slightly different balance. Both have great, long-ish sections, so easy grip. The Opts I have are in LE materials so I really like their uniqueness, but I have an 88 in matte black with rose gold hardware that is just a killer look and feel (pictured below on the right). You could do far worse. I'd consider Dan Smith of the Nibsmith for purchase, as he'll tune your nib just how you like with any sale.

Lastly, you scare me with the last four letters of your user name...

[chris.perc]

Welcome - you have a very nice collection so far Congratulations also on the Master's program! I guess you will need a lot of ink to get through it

Thanks, Anne

I'm thinking about stocking up on some more Aurora black to get me through all of these notes!

[chris.perc]

Lastly, you scare me with the last four letters of your user name...

I hope that 'Perc' isn't something offensive or anything. But thank you for the warm welcome, Jon

That Aurora 88 is GORGEOUS, especially the rose gold nib. There is something special about the Optima's though..

However, one of my grail pens is the 88 Nebulosa LE (but I doubt I'll ever be able to find one!)

The Chicago show also sounds perfect, and it being nearby is a huge plus

[Wahl]

Hi Chris,

[Jon Szanto]

I hope that 'Perc' isn't something offensive or anything. But thank you for the warm welcome, Jon

I've been a professional percussionist for the last 40+ years. "Perc" is a common abbreviation.

That Aurora 88 is GORGEOUS, especially the rose gold nib. There is something special about the Optima's though..

Tell me about it...

[jar]

Welcome home. Pull up a stump and set a spell.

[Bisquitlips]

Great to have you with us! Welcome!!!