Editing The Pen Addict 93/transcript (section)

== Gold Nibs ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Do you have any comments on this, Myke? Do you have any – do you actually have many gold nibs? I know you're –

'''Myke Hurley:''' I have one.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mont Blanc, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Oh, I have my Mont Blanc, but that needs to be repaired. Yeah, right. Do you know what? That could be a good idea for me. I'll tell you what I'll do. When I find someone or if someone is able to recommend somebody good in the UK for nib shaping and basically – well, basically restoration shaping. That's what I kind of need. I'll send that off. Because I've mentioned this many times on the show back in the early days. I have a Mont Blanc, which was bought for me as a present. It was before I really knew a lot about fountain pens, so I never really cleaned it. Well, I never cleaned it. And one day I dropped it and it kind of bent the nib. But it was an excellent nib. I loved it. Absolutely loved that pen. So I would like to have that restored because also it was a gift. It was a gift for my 21st birthday. Right. So I would like to have it repaired or just restored. And I would prefer to have it worked on than to just buy a new Mont Blanc nib because ideally I would like to keep the same nib that I bought.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. I could maybe have it because it was a broad, so maybe I could have it made into a medium now or something. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Where was I going with that? Oh, and I also have my Pelican, which is a gold nib.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, that's right. You bought an extra nib for that, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' And that is excellent. I don't know if it's the Pelican or the nib, right? Right. Sorry, I don't know if it's the Pelican nib because it's gold. Right. But it's just excellent. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's just all around good product to begin with. Yeah. So I'm probably not an authoritative nib. I know. There's not as huge differences, you might think, between gold and steel nibs, in my opinion. You know, a little bit added flex in the gold because it's a softer material.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Maybe marginally smoother, but, I mean, you can get some awfully smooth steel nibs. I don't know that, you know, yeah, I don't know that it makes a massive, massive difference. I mean, there's obviously going to be situations where, you know, one will clearly win out over the other. But I think as a whole, I think you'll be just as happy with steel as a gold nib. So, yeah. But definitely check out this article from Brian Gray. I need to keep that thing hot linked, as many people ask me that, as many times as I've sent that article out. So it's a good article.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Thomas Hall, my enabler extraordinaire, sent a very good question.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' He said, if starting over, which pins would you buy and why? So, like, if you have what you have now and just kind of wipe the slate clean and started from the beginning, which pins would you buy probably sooner than the other ones? You know, which pins have kind of been a phenomenon, I guess, if you will, that you found out later in the game? And for me, it's probably, I really like my Edison pins, where in the beginning I was hesitant to purchase them.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I wasn't sure if they were for me, and I wasn't sure if the value was there because they're not exactly cheap. I'm really happy with the Edison Beaumont and Edison Perlet that I have.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So those I would definitely, definitely get in on earlier than I did the first time around. And both of those are steel nib pins, by the way, which write wonderfully. So, yeah, those, I mean, gosh, I'm really happy with all the pins I have. So I can't necessarily, you know, say, you know, what I would hold off on, what I wouldn't. Because I've been, you know, I think I've been diligent in my purchasing, Myke. And that's one of the big things. I try not to just jump into it and just start going crazy. I try to be diligent. I try to learn something. I've been fortunate enough to be able to try things before I buy, which is a huge deal. So, you know, so yeah, if I had to start over, I'd probably buy an Edison pin earlier than I did. I was pretty hesitant at first. Is there anything for you on that category?

'''Myke Hurley:''' I think that there's a few things that I wouldn't have bought, you know. Sure. Probably the main one for me being the Vanishing Point, which originally I thought was a great idea. But in hindsight, it actually wasn't for me. I would probably go with like the Pelican and a Twisby of some description. I'm not sure what model I would go for. But I would, yeah, I'd probably go for a Twisby too.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I think that's a good point about the Pelican. They're kind of in the same boat as the Edison where there's a little bit of premium on it because of what it is. So maybe that puts people off at the beginning where they think they can get, you know, buy two pins for the price of one. But that one is really awesome. And that's something, you know, I'd look at. Now on your Vanishing Point question, we have another question from Sebastian Morissette. He says, I would love to love my Pilot Vanishing Point, but it cannot seem to grow on me.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's just uncomfortable. Yeah. And I wonder if Sebastian finds the same thing. Like, so when I was showing my lady friend my pen collection, she really liked the Vanishing Point. But it reminded me of how I felt about it when I first got it. I loved it. Because in those short sort of bursts, it's excellent. But it's over a long period of time, I find it uncomfortable. You don't have this problem, do you?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I am still all in on the Vanishing Point. It's one of my favorites. Yeah. No problem for me.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So it might just be me, you know?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No, no, no. I mean, I think it's not a pin for everybody. That's why from the beginning, I always said how much I love that pin. But I was always very cautious on recommending it blindly, right? That's a pin that, you know, people needed to try and see if, you know, even they could write with it with the clip placement and things like that. It's not a pin for everybody for sure.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Could you use it all day, every day?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, yeah. No doubt.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Crazy, man. I don't understand you sometimes.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No, I love that pin. It suits me perfectly. The retractable mechanism, the grip doesn't bother me at all. I don't even notice it's there. The nib is awesome. Yeah, no. That's an all-timer for me. I always have mine inked up.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep, love that pin. So, but, you know, again, not every pin is going to fit everyone's needs. So, Thomas asked another question on this same general topic. If your house caught on fire, what pins are you grabbing?