Second Year Anniversary

I started this blog about a month after I started using fountain pens. So I decided to combine both anniversaries into one post.

Blog statistics

I wrote a total of 220 posts and tried out 66 inks since I started the blog in 2020. Last year, I tried posting on a regular schedule and wrote 133 posts in 2021 alone. While having a schedule can be a little stressful at times, I find it helpful in keeping me writing. So I will be continuing it this year.

Below is a chart on the ink colours I’ve tried for the past two years. I’ve grouped similar colours together, like blue and turquoise, to keep the chart simple. Unsurprisingly, blue is forms a large portion of the inks I’ve tried. It will be interesting to see if the ratio changes next year.

Some of you may know, the text in the writing samples are from James Joyce’s Ulysses. The main reason I picked it is that I’ve heard it’s a very long novel, probably one of the top ten for the longest novels. It is definitely long. 66 writing samples later, according to my ebook reader, I am only 5% through it.

New pens bought

I bought a lot less pens this year compared to my first year. The pens are in the chronological order I bought them.

Lennon Tool Bar x Opus 88 Halo

I kept thinking about Opus 88 fountain pens, particularly the Omar, ever since I saw it on the Gentleman Stationer’s blog. I haven’t used an eyedropper pen before so they tickled my interest. Then when Opus 88 and Lennon Tool Bar did a collaboration, it quickly became a must-buy for me. I pre-ordered this pen but due to supply issues (not of the pen but of the other stuff in the same order), I didn’t receive this pen until months after it released.

I really enjoyed writing with this pen. I ordered this with a medium nib. While there was nothing wrong with the nib and it writes well, it didn’t excite me. So I switched it out with a 1.4 stub and it made a world of difference. Even though the stub didn’t make my handwriting look better, it made the pen so much more fun to use.

Currently using it for writing in my daily journal. I enjoyed using it so much that when it finally ran out of ink, I refilled it again with Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki, an ink which is fast becoming one of my favourites.

Kakimori clear fountain pen

I love demonstrators. So when I saw this pen, I thought about adding it to my order. It wasn’t too expensive, costing about the same as a TWSBI Eco. What sealed the deal was that it was made by Sailor (a pen company which I had not tried) and the MF nib (a size which I do not have).

This pen hasn’t grown on me the way Halo did. Out of the box, this pen writes too dry. When I looked closely, it seems the tines are too tight. Maybe one day I will try to tune it and make it wetter.

Pen gifts

I bought two Platinum Preppys and one Jinhao X450 to gift friends. Since they are gifts, they are not counted, right?

Pen updates

Status update on some of my older pens, arranged in alphabetical order.

Jason Neil Penworks Tucker fountain pen

I found to a crack in the nib housing so I bought a clear acrylic feed and housing from Flexible Nib Factory. This was before I found out about the Jowo housing cracking issue. I thought the feed and housing suited the minimalist look of the pen so I was happy with the change. Currently taking a break in my pen case.

Jinhao X450

This pen is now on loan to a friend. Rather than let it sit empty in my pen case, I inked it up so that my friend could try out what it feels like to use a weighty metal pen.

Pilot Kakuno

Brought it home and filled it up with Monteverde Smoke Noir. I had hard start problems with this ink in various pens so I was surprised when it just writes in the Pilot Kakuno. There is no hard start although there is still nib creep. Currently using to record my daily logs.

New regular posts

I recently wrote about refilling pens for my friends. A friend encouraged me to write about it to keep track of the inks used. My friends and I don’t write a lot in our daily lives so the pens can usually last more than a month before it needs refilling. I will post at the end of the month if I had refilled a pen for a friend. If there are no Ink Omakase posts, it means no pens need refilling that month.