Today was Day 6 of my ownership of the Platinum Curidas, as discussed in my previous post.
I have been using the pen with the metal pocket clip removed, which improved comfort but I was still irritated by the protrusion on the top of the pen, where the clip had been. For a lefty overwriter, this bump sits just where I want to place my thumb when I grip the pen. I have been deliberating on whether to try to remove it, but was worried about the risk of cracking the pen in the process.
Apart from this issue, the pen is great. I appreciate that it will not be everyone’s cup of tea. FPNers were critical of the overly long push button (some call it a knock) to operate the pen, which is odd-looking when the nib is retracted. However this is a necessary consequence of the nib mechanism having such a long travel and the button all but disappears when the pen is in writing mode.
This morning I sat down to write a letter with it. Honestly, the writing experience of the smooth medium nib, with Platinum Blue Black ink on Basildon Bond writing paper, was joyous. If only the bump could be removed!
Over the past few days I have been pondering on how to file acrylic safely. I watched a few videos on YouTube and even popped into a nail bar today to get some tips from those who work on acrylic nails.
Fortune favours the brave. I finally decided to have a go. I applied masking tape around the four sides of the bump, just leaving the bump exposed and then very carefully applied a few strokes of a file, which came in a craft kit with various grades of micro-mesh. I started filing the top, with very light pressure and going in one direction only, not backwards and forwards.
After the first few strokes, the top of the bump was scuffed and no longer shiny. There was no turning back now. White powder deposits on my file told me that it was working.
Every 10 minutes or so I stopped to unmask the pen and examine my handiwork with a loupe. I was encouraged that there was no evidence of cracking and that the masking tape was doing a good job of protecting the surrounding area. Towards the end I switched to a finer grade of file.
Eventually, having almost reduced the bump to the level of the barrel, I stopped. I decided not to remove any more material, for fear of scuffing the glossy barrel. Also it was quite nice to leave a very slight prominence, for texture to help in gripping the pen.
The whole exercise took about 45 minutes. I am very happy with the result. I am now going to enjoy the pen even more.
Fountain pen blog 
Are you a surgeon on the quiet? Your post has made interesting reading having just listened to Myke Hurley’s thoughts on the Curidas on the most recent episode of the Pen Addict podcast. It’s easy to see why the bump that helps locate the clip could intrude on a writer’s grip, but I’m also intrigued by the small ‘fin’ on the underside. A handy roll-stop, but does that get in the way at all?
I was intrigued by this pen when it surfaced, but the more I read and hear, the more I’m beginning to wonder whether it’s quite the ‘must buy’ that some of the hype would suggest.
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Thankyou! The fin on the underside (ventral fin, from biology days) is a slight annoyance and could be smoother. It is far enough forward not to be in the way for my normal writing but then I tend to grip pens quite high up, away from the nib. It isof limited help as a roll stop if the pen has any momentum.
Whether it is worth buying the pen is a personal choice. I bought mine at the launch in Choosing Keeping, a lovely stationery shop in London. They included a nice cotton goody bag with a Platinum hardback notebook worth £20.00 and box of 10 cartridges worth £5.00 which was great.
In the same week I also acquired a new Platinum Prefounte which also has an extremely pleasant steel nib (fine or medium) at a fraction of the price of the Curidas. If you are not fussed about the retractable nib feature, that is an alternative. But the Curidas gives added weight, girth and the high-tech filling and retracting mechanism and executive toy appeal.
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Thank you. I think I’m facing the same dilemma with his pen as the Pilot Vanishing Point. I talk myself out of it on the grounds of the clip location, then think I might be able to accommodate it and repeat ad nauseam. The initial pricing of the Curidas in the US made me think it would be worth taking a punt, but it seems Platinum have enforced the MSRP, making this basically a £100 pen. The mechanism is intriguing, but I think I will remain on the fence for a while longer. 😀
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If you haven’t already heard it, your post about surgery on the Curidas got a namecheck on the Pen Addict podcast this week – https://www.relay.fm/penaddict/399
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Thankyou! Yes, I did listen to it this morning after noticing that a spike in my blog traffic was due to this podcast. It was nice to get a mention!
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I’m also a lefty. When I removed the clip on my curidas the bump has mostly broken away. I’m on the fence about returning it or taking your path and just removing it. While writing with the clip is more comfortable than any other retractable FP I’ve tried and i like the idea of a clip, it’s still not comfortable for me to write with. Decisions decisions. I got a fine job which is writing quite dry so maybe I’ll exchange for a medium.
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Thank you. If part of the pen has already broken away, I would file it off completely. I have no regrets about modifying mine three months ago. But this is at your own risk. Personally my grip meant that the pen was not comfortable for me while the clip or the bump were still present.
If your fine nib is writing dry then that is a different issue. It may need only a slight adjustment to open the tines. Good luck!
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Should we fountain pen users not try to press Basildon Bond to re-introduce their sheet of blotting paper, which was so very convenient for us? Its removal is an odd decision in that fountain pen users are on the whole more likely to write proper letters?
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Thanks Robin. I used to enjoy having a sheet of blotting paper with my Basildon Bond pad. I used the line space guide too, although now they are sometimes too pale or too narrow.
I have got so used to not having blotting paper, that when I buy a pad of different paper which did include one, I did not realise what it was and almost complained that the paper was absorbent and not fountain pen friendly.
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