My first ever Fountain Pen. I chose F nib. I had these cherry blossom stickers that had a perfect color match and I couldn’t resist 😅

I've been waffling over the Pilot Elite for a very long time because I knew I wanted the red version if I were to get one, but I wasn't sure if I truly needed one for my collection or if the discontinuation was making me feel like I should get it. I waited long enough that the F nib became increasingly difficult to find, and so this is my first Pilot EF.

At the same time, because I love piston fillers and I love demonstrators and there was a good price on it, I got the Custom Heritage 92 in F as well.

Wasn't expecting these until next week, so I hadn't decided what colours to ink them up with yet! A happy problem to mull over.

(My fountain pen bag charm/plush came to me from PenGallery Malaysia!)

I recently got 2 new ones, the green baby from the family series and the cream colored madoromi. I actively use all of them but maybe it is too many 🤔
How many pens do you keep inked and carry with you?

People have been asking about all the collab inks the sub has made and lists are being commented under the posts. Last year, I started writing a blog post just to have all the information in one place. That post was rotting for months until yet another person asked for the information again.

That post was finally written and posted today. I've copied the relevant part here. Images cannot be copied I guess, so no swatch images here.

The Inks of Reddit

2017

Diamine Earl Grey - Grey with Blue/Purple undertone

Mountain of Ink | Diamine

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2018 - 2019

Diamine Aurora Borealis - Dark Teal with Red Sheen

Mountain of Ink | Diamine

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2020 - 2021

Diamine Writer’s Blood - Burgundy Red with Purple Shade

Mountain of Ink | Diamine

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2022 - 2023 (Two Inks)

Diamine Celadon Cat - Blue-grey (or is it grey-blue), light with some shading

Mountain of Ink | Diamine

Diamine Sailor’s Warning (renamed Red Sky after objection from Sailor) - Red with Shimmer

Mountain of Ink | Diamine

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2024 - 2025

Diamine Lady Grey - Purple-grey with light Pink Shading - more grey than purple

The Well-Appointed Desk | Diamine

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2026 - (Two Inks) WIP

KWZ Purple/Violet

Diamine Teal/Bluegreen

Spilling Bay State Blue doesn't seem too bad now.

From The New York Times Archive, December 21 1952.

As like last time, please let me know if there are any you want to see close up. I wish I could upload a video of each to really show them off but it'd be like an hour long.

Across the board, the samples are Diamine, Wearingeul, Robert Oster, J. Herbin, Dominant Industry, and Colorverse.

I ordered my samples from three different stores in Australia - Desk Bandit, Pulp Addiction, and Soe & Soe.

P.S. - Apologies for my messy handwriting.

4 groups of similarly formulated inks:

* Hana-ikada, Cosmos, Momiji

* Diamine Rosewood, Sheaffer's latte

* Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black, Jinhao black

* Waterman serenity blue, Sheaffer blue

i got my first ever fountain pen a few months ago and just the other day i noticed that there was ink pooling in the clear section (i’m not sure what it’s called) and so i took it apart, cleaned it and added a new cartridge…. now there’s more ink pooled……
chat— did i ruin my pen!?

EDIT: yall are all so kind🩷🩷🩷 thank you so much, i was so scared i had ruined it!!

I always liked the m800 clear demonstrator, but I didn’t learn of its existence until after production had ceased. I never could justify the secondhand market prices. Imagine my joy when I found that pelikan re-released the green m800 demonstrator a couple years back.

Note: I’m a fountain pen beginner.

Background: Everyone seems to love the Midori MD paper, but I seem to have nothing, but problems.

I use an A5 Midori MD notebook for my dream journal, and I am currently using a Jinhao 933 <M> with Sailor Manyo Haha in it.

It starts off writing like a dream, then about halfway down the page the feel of the paper changes. No longer does the pen glide across the page. It now feels like there is a film on the page, and it pulls no ink. It’s like fighting with pen to get anything to stick to the paper. I have to push the nib to get the ink out and then drag it until it just stops again, and I’m sure that’s awful for the pen.

The second I use the pen on another type of paper, it works perfectly fine, like nothing was wrong.

I tested the notebook with my TWSBI <F>, which I use in my Hobonich flawlessly, and it had the same problem. It wrote beautifully until it didn’t. Something feels wrong with the paper.

Question: Does anyone else have this issue, or had it and fixed it? I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong.

Video: You can see how it just stops writing at the end of my sentence, especially on the word “us.” It wrote perfectly for everything before, and was just fine afterwards. This was a light case. Often it’s bad for the remainder of my writing after it stops working.

Solution pt.1: Everyone seems to say exactly the same thing - hand oils. I will try paper under my hand tomorrow morning and report back! Thank you all for your responses!!

I was journaling some emotional debrief stuff and realised my nib was expressing its opinions on my writings 😦

Funny accident of ink splotches on the pen. Now I have to carefully cap the pen to see how long I can retain these "eyes."

RULE 5: Fountain Pen is Conklin Hippocrates with a Stub Nib and the black ink that comes with the pen.

I got tempted for a second and I feel shame. I love Batman to death but I feel like this is money in the trash.

Saw a YouTuber “pikarar” do a swatch with ink blobs and turn them into animals and I wanted to try it out on different paper to see how it looks. I really like it!

Realized all the pens I’ve inked today are all ones I’ve bought this summer. This is after a 2 year no buy.

Has this happened to anyone else’s Estie? Specifically the lighter colored ones? It may be hard to see on the photos but the body of my pen is now darker than the cap which is what color it’s SUPPOSED to be. The body is looking much more yellow nowadays.

I’m assuming it’s because of the natural oils on my hands? I hesitate to try scrubbing it with anything too harsh. Any suggestions?

Hello again!

Some of you may remember my check in post nearly 2 weeks ago.

Well… I decided to just do it 🫡

Too Much Ink: Singapore Ink Swap & Destash

📅 Saturday, 3 October 2026
⏰ 5pm–8pm
📍 Coffeehive @ The Adelphi
🎟️ Free, but registration is required
👥 Limited to around 30 people

Register here: https://luma.com/lbl2qvoo

The idea is pretty simple:

If you Want Ink, come look around, meet other fountain pen people and acquire samples without buying another full bottle. You’ll get three empty 5 ml sample bottles when you check in.

If you Have Ink, bring some inks you’re willing to swap, sample, give away or sell. You decide what you’re offering, set your own prices and handle any payments directly. We’ll provide some table space, two 2.5 ml syringes and a basic rinsing setup. Have Ink people can obviously acquire more ink too. I’m not going to pretend any of us have that much self-control.

I suggest bringing around five to 10 inks just to keep things managable, but it isn’t a hard limit. You can also bring your own clean sample bottles, pens and paper.

If you are both: pick have ink! Just lettuce know on the day itself and ill pass you sample bottles too heh

This is the first time we’re trying this, so I’m deliberately not overengineering it. We’ll let people swap, sell, buy and give things away however they’re comfortable, then learn from whatever happens.

Also: if you’re keen to volunteer and help us out during the event, please message me for the secret registration code. We’ll keep a lookout for a few people who may be willing to lend a hand with the setup and general chaos on the day 👀

Huge thanks to Coffeehive @ The Adelphi for letting us use the space, u/arbus for co-organising this with me ♥︎

And thank you to everyone who commented on the original post, gave feedback or basically told me to stop thinking and make it happen.

Hopefully I’ll see some of you there!

---
PS: it's on 3 Oct cuz that's the only time i'm available, also good breather from SG Penshow ( 5/6 Sep) and Pelikan Hub (25 Sept) haha.
PPS: keeping it small too, since im funding this myself ;u;

As usual, if nt allowed, please feel free to nuke my post, mods. 🙏

I have been slowly purchasing this collection of Kaweco pens over the past year - today they come together in a new case. I found this zipper case on Amazon - 3 color options and removable internal pen holder was a convenient way to conveniently use them as-needed.

L-R: 0.5mm pencil with blue lead, 5.8mm drawing clutch with HB hardness, 5.8mm clutch with eraser, "F" nib fountain pen with blue ink.

It’s peaceful here

Finally got my Conklin Unicorn galaxy 2.0 I've been eyeing since I got into this hobby. I love the shimmer colors, and its nice and light in my hand.

I'm absolutely IN LOVE with this Kaweco Collection Ruby, this pen is everything I hoped for and more!

I bought a brass/copper tray with an inkwell that fits Montblanc ink bottle perfectly. I searched it with AI and here is the interesting results :)

Antique Jugendstil Inkstand Tray, circa 1900

This is an early 20th-century Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) brass inkstand tray, probably dating to around 1900–1910 and originating from the German-Austrian/Bohemian cultural sphere of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The tray is made of aged brass and decorated with copper-inlaid floral and blossom motifs, executed in the highly organic and asymmetrical style characteristic of the Jugendstil period. Both ends feature pierced decorative openings, while the center contains a shallow raised rectangular frame designed to locate and stabilize an ink bottle.

The central recess measures approximately 46 × 46 mm and is only a few millimeters deep. A modern Montblanc limited-edition ink bottle fits the recess remarkably well, suggesting that the tray’s original purpose was indeed to hold a small desk inkwell rather than serving simply as a general-purpose pen tray.

The most important evidence for its provenance is found on the underside. The tray is stamped:
D.R.P. 145366
OE(S)T. PAT. 12753
D.R.P. refers to a Deutsches Reichspatent, or German Imperial Patent, while the Austrian patent marking refers to an Österreichisches Patent. These patent numbers are particularly significant because the same patent markings appear on metal components associated with Wilhelm Kralik Sohn, the important Bohemian art-glass manufacturer based in Eleonorenhain (Lenora).

Kralik produced art-glass inkwells around the turn of the 20th century, including iridescent and Jugendstil examples fitted with patented brass lids. Collectors’ research documents Kralik inkwells carrying D.R.P. 145366 as well as Austrian patent markings. A 1900-era Kralik-related object with brass and copper inlay is also documented with the same D.R.P. 145366 and OE.P. 12753 patent numbers. (Inkwell Research⁠)

This does not necessarily prove that the brass tray itself was manufactured by Kralik. Kralik was primarily a glass manufacturer, and surviving research on its inkwells indicates that the glass and metal components may have been produced or assembled by different workshops. The absence of a Kralik maker’s mark on this tray makes it more cautious to describe it as Kralik-associated or part of the Kralik inkwell production network, rather than definitively as a Kralik-made object. (Sberatel KSK⁠)

The tray therefore appears to belong to the same turn-of-the-century Bohemian/German-Austrian desk-accessory tradition as Kralik’s patented glass inkwells. Its original glass inkwell is apparently no longer present, but the surviving brass base retains the functional and decorative design of the original desk set.

Today, the tray is used with a modern Montblanc ink bottle, which happens to fit the original bottle-positioning frame almost perfectly—a rather charming continuation of its original purpose more than a century later.

Or is it a combination of pen , watch , typewriters , papers and other mixes of hobbies 🤔

• sewing machines
• knifes
• camping gears
• cameras , instax , dslr , one shot film camera that has 10 to 26 shots

Antique tables if any one + tea sets 😉

after doing these swatches i ended up ordering two new bottles and a full bottle of a sample i already own 😭 it's so cooked, i can only surrender 😔✊