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First fountain pen

Concur re both inks. Good on you for experimenting a bit. I have 3 metropolitans inked up at the moment ( black w black, pilot ink, Violet Blue with blue pilot ink and a silver one with lamy vibrant pink ink.)

I have some Herbin in Orange Indien I use for correspondence in the fall.

I was drawn to them based on reputation and their bottle which has a pen holder molder in along the edge.

 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
+1 J. Herbin's main line is a generally regarded as safe. Their special editions can inks get pretty saturated, though. Just means to pay extra attention to pen cleaning. Also, the shimmer stuff like Emerald of Chivor or anything advertised as "sheening" requires more pen maintenance.


I don't have any personal experience with Robert Oster inks, but he is a very well known figure in the fountain pen hobby and his inks are highly praised. Should be fine in your Metro. With any artisan ink, though, I would just watch out for odd behavior, and it may be pickier about nib and paper than your garden variety pen company ink.

Welcome to the 🐰🌑 !
I’m using Robert oster thunderstorm
It’s fantastic great color.
 
Since J. Herbin has been making there own ink since sometime in the 1700s I would think they know how to do it well.
Ah. I didn't know. It's fun doing something new. I'm ignorant about it all, but I love to learn.

I’m using Robert oster thunderstorm
It’s fantastic great color.
Excellent! Good to know. It looked great on the computer screen.
 
Is there a proper way for a pen to be at rest? Should it be nib up or nib down in a pen/pencil cup or lie horizontally? Just wondering if ink leaks, or if there is anything else that could be a problem. Remember, I'm new at this and know nothing about fountain pens.
 

tankerjohn

A little poofier than I prefer
Is there a proper way for a pen to be at rest? Should it be nib up or nib down in a pen/pencil cup or lie horizontally? Just wondering if ink leaks, or if there is anything else that could be a problem. Remember, I'm new at this and know nothing about fountain pens.
Most pens will eventually drip into the cap if stored nib down for extended periods of time, unless it has an extremely dry nib/feed. For that reason, it is usually advisable to store a fountain pen nib up. You may wish to store an inked pen horizontally if the nib dries out easily. And finally, if a pen is a hard starter because ink is not flowing smoothly, it can help to keep it nib down between writing sessions, though I wouldn’t want to store it that way long term. Also, that behavior is dysfunctional and either the ink should be changed or the nib tuned or maybe both.
 

jar_

Too Fugly For Free.
Generally it's not a good idea to store pens longer term if they are inked. Storing over night or even for a day or so is pretty much normal though and in such cases just sitting flat should be fine.
 
Generally it's not a good idea to store pens longer term if they are inked. Storing over night or even for a day or so is pretty much normal though and in such cases just sitting flat should be fine.
I expect to use it most every day.
 

tankerjohn

A little poofier than I prefer
I expect to use it most every day.
It doesn't matter too much then, but the Metro will definitely leak into the cap if you keep it nib-down overnight. At least, mine did. I didn't store it that way intentionally, but it would get flipped over in my backpack occasionally.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
Depending on the pen/ink combo, you will find that either "nib up" vertical, or horizontal, is the best storage method. My experience with the 78g (basically the same nib/feed as the Metro but a plastic body), it is likely that either way will work well enough.
 
I never could find that journal I was looking for, so I bought one. I stopped in Wal Mart, ugh, and they just had cheap poo made in China. I stopped at TJ Maxx, since people had talked about finding great deals on shaving supplies there, and I found a leather bound journal made in Italy.
51DAD5E5-2931-43E9-9C97-F12CED8BD5C5.jpeg
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tankerjohn

A little poofier than I prefer
I never could find that journal I was looking for, so I bought one. I stopped in Wal Mart, ugh, and they just had cheap poo made in China. I stopped at TJ Maxx, since people had talked about finding great deals on shaving supplies there, and I found a leather bound journal made in Italy. View attachment 1283243 View attachment 1283244
Wow, nice find! Looks like I have something else to scrounge for at TJ Maxx besides cheap Proraso stuff. How’s it do with fountain pens?

One pro tip for Walmart and other Big Box stationary - get the Made in India stuff. Usually much better than the Made in China stuff. Indian paper is way better for fountain pens. Plus, I know there are pencil enthusiasts who rate the Walmart Pen n Gear pencils very highly - right up there with Black Wings.
 
Here at the rabbit hole, we've learned that it's a good thing ink bottles are wrapped in plastic wrap when they are shipped, or else there would have been Schreibtinte everywhere. Two bottles of Rohrer & Klingner--alt goldgrün ("old gold green") and cassia (purple) arrived at the house. The cassia leaked a lot, the gold green a little bit. And to go with these bottles of ink, I bought not fountain pens but two glass dip pens, one Rohrer & Klingner (which came with the ink) and one J. Herbin, which hasn't arrived yet. As soon as it does arrive, we'll go live and bring you the report.

Reporting rom the rabbit hole, now back to you.
 
Second fountain pen.

I bought an inexpensive fountain pen to use for work (Pilot Petit1 red). I bought Diamine ink to go with it. It was the second least expensive ink after J. Herbin, but the Herbin was too dark. I went to buy a non-pen, non-ink item, but I knew I'd eventually buy a red pen for work, and I didn't want to pay shipping twice, so I made the buy now. Some people may call me cheap. I prefer "frugal."


RED FOUNTAIN PEN.jpg
 
Reporting live from the rabbit hole again, my J. Herbin glass pen arrived today. Because they took several days to get it out, they threw in a second J. Herbin glass pen. So a two-for-one deal! With pen and ink desires fulfilled for now, I've extricated myself from the rabbit hole. Now, back to you.
 
Oh, if you were interested about the glass pens, the Rohrer & Klingner writes great. I can write half a letter with one dip in the ink. The Herbins weren’t very good. I could recommend a R&K glass pen but not a J. Herbin glass pen.
 
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