SIGforum.com    Main Page  Hop To Forum Categories  The Lounge    Fountain Pens
Page 1 2 3 4 5 
Go
New
Find
Notify
Tools
Reply
  
Fountain Pens Login/Join 
Repressed
Picture of ShneaSIG
posted
Because I felt like I needed another interest and money black hole, I have ordered my first "nice" fountain pen - a Pelikan m200, fine tip. I had a pilot fountain pen years ago, and it was cheap garbage, but I loved it all the same. It eventually degraded to the point where I could scarcely write with it and no amount of cleaning or adjustment of the nib would restore it to life, so I tossed it. Then over a decade passed, all the while thinking that one of these days I'd have another fountain pen.

I know we have some fountain pen enthusiasts on the forum. Please share your tips, photos, tricks, do's and don'ts, or any fun anecdotes that come to mind.

I understand fountain pens and inks have a way of multiplying. So, what should I watch out for?


-ShneaSIG


Oh, by the way, which one's "Pink?"
 
Posts: 11059 | Location: MO | Registered: November 19, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
what should I watch out for?

Leakage. Particularly those carried on the shirt's front pocket, let alone in a suit jacket.

Montblanc seemed to work best in the 70s. But some leaked.


***************************
Knowing more by accident than on purpose.
 
Posts: 14186 | Location: Tampa, Florida | Registered: December 12, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
eh-TEE-oh-clez
Picture of Aeteocles
posted Hide Post
I don't know if the ink itself is any good, but I've always thought these ink bottles were classy AF.

 
Posts: 13046 | Location: Orange County, California | Registered: May 19, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
I would think any high end pen made German, Swiss or Japanese. Will be expensive.

I've used Lamy ball point (German) for 30 years. Birthday gift from wife.


*********
"Some people are alive today because it's against the law to kill them".
 
Posts: 8228 | Location: Arizona | Registered: August 17, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
All the time
Picture of Gear.Up
posted Hide Post
Is Stylophiles still around?
 
Posts: 2320 | Location: East TN | Registered: July 28, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
HOLY C***!

I just saw what Montblancs are going for today.

Jeeesshh...


***************************
Knowing more by accident than on purpose.
 
Posts: 14186 | Location: Tampa, Florida | Registered: December 12, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go Vols!
Picture of Oz_Shadow
posted Hide Post
Get some ink sampler sets from Goulet Pens. I love Noodlers Baystate Blue on yellow legal pads. It’s a bit purple on white paper but it is perfect on yellow.

I also prefer Pilot Vanishing Point pens. Fine tipped for the next one because medium is quite large.
 
Posts: 17871 | Location: SE Michigan | Registered: February 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go Vols!
Picture of Oz_Shadow
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I don't know if the ink itself is any good, but I've always thought these ink bottles were classy AF.



It is very popular, but I do not consider it a professional ink. It's a lighter blue with a lot of shading.

Noodler's Blue and Noodler's Black (or Heart of Darkness) are pretty standard ones that flow well.

I do not care for a lot of shading.

I do not collect fountain pens. I use them every day at the office.
 
Posts: 17871 | Location: SE Michigan | Registered: February 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Repressed
Picture of ShneaSIG
posted Hide Post
For starters I have ordered a small bottle of Pelikan's royal blue.

I understand that there's a certain amount of luck and voodoo involved in getting a nib and ink combo that works best, and even then sometimes the paper or stationary is the deciding factor.


-ShneaSIG


Oh, by the way, which one's "Pink?"
 
Posts: 11059 | Location: MO | Registered: November 19, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Little ray
of sunshine
Picture of jhe888
posted Hide Post
I don't collect, but I have a few.

Keep them clean - run water through them three or four times a year. Don't let ink dry in them - it makes them harder to clean.

I have a particular liking for Parker Centennials.
But the best nib I have is on a Sailor pen. They are Japanese.

I use a lot of Noodler's ink. The price is good and there are dozens of colors.




The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
 
Posts: 53117 | Location: Texas | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Kuisis
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I don't know if the ink itself is any good, but I've always thought these ink bottles were classy AF.



That is my go to color and brand. It's great.
 
Posts: 1129 | Location: Washington PA | Registered: November 23, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go Vols!
Picture of Oz_Shadow
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ShneaSIG:
For starters I have ordered a small bottle of Pelikan's royal blue.

I understand that there's a certain amount of luck and voodoo involved in getting a nib and ink combo that works best, and even then sometimes the paper or stationary is the deciding factor.


It can be. Sometimes you won't realize it for weeks. There was one I really liked to use but it always dried out in my pen over the weekend. The pen is in fine mechanical shape and no other ink has that issue.
 
Posts: 17871 | Location: SE Michigan | Registered: February 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Question.

Why do 19th century and earlier documents seem to be written in brown ink?

Smile


***************************
Knowing more by accident than on purpose.
 
Posts: 14186 | Location: Tampa, Florida | Registered: December 12, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Repressed
Picture of ShneaSIG
posted Hide Post
I don't see myself amassing a collection. Rather, I enjoy the experience of writing with a fountain pen.

I might have a small stable of pens, eventually. Maybe just to be able to easily swap inks as suits my mood.


-ShneaSIG


Oh, by the way, which one's "Pink?"
 
Posts: 11059 | Location: MO | Registered: November 19, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Repressed
Picture of ShneaSIG
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by jehzsa:
Question.

Why do 19th century and earlier documents seem to be written in brown ink?

Smile


That's not ink. It's blood!


-ShneaSIG


Oh, by the way, which one's "Pink?"
 
Posts: 11059 | Location: MO | Registered: November 19, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of maladat
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by jehzsa:
quote:
what should I watch out for?

Leakage. Particularly those carried on the shirt's front pocket, let alone in a suit jacket.

Montblanc seemed to work best in the 70s. But some leaked.


I have a number of modern fountain pens, mostly Pelikan and Visconti, and have never had one of them leak. (Of course, if you grab one with the cap off and flail around with it, you can still spray ink droplets.)

I also have some "vintage" pens and have had several of them leak.

Most of the old pens used natural rubber bladders stuck to the back of the section with shellac. Both the bladders and the shellac were, of course, highly prone to degradation. If either the shellac let go or the bladder broke, ink everywhere.

Modern pens use more durable, stable materials as well as more secure mechanisms (e.g., Pelikan uses the interior of the body of the pen as an ink chamber sealed with a silicone piston).
 
Posts: 6319 | Location: CA | Registered: January 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go Vols!
Picture of Oz_Shadow
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ShneaSIG:
I don't see myself amassing a collection. Rather, I enjoy the experience of writing with a fountain pen.

I might have a small stable of pens, eventually. Maybe just to be able to easily swap inks as suits my mood.


Pilot plain black Metro pens are about $11 on Amazon. Good desk pens. Medium is actually a fine nib in this particular pen.
 
Posts: 17871 | Location: SE Michigan | Registered: February 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Diversified Hobbyist
Picture of Steve 22X
posted Hide Post
Basically, keep them clean and learn how to properly adjust the nib if needed.

Find a good ink and use paper suitable for writing with a fountain pen.

For inexpensive everyday pens, I've had very good results with Pilot Metropolitans.
The nibs on these tend to run a size small, however (Metro med = other's fine).

The hypodermic style needle devices are quite useful.
I use them to refill the spent standard cartridges (disposable types).
Also use them to fill the refillable cartridge types as the needles are less messy than filling through the nib and ensure a complete cartridge fill.

One thing I regret is not having a decent fountain pen when in grade school.
In hindsight, I could have picked up an additional grade or two (A or B) in penmanship if I had not been saddled with the dime store fountain pens of the day.
BIC came out with the cheap ballpoints about the time of the end of my penmanship classes, although those early BICs were not great either.


-----------------------------------
Regards, Steve
The anticipation is often greater than the actual reward
 
Posts: 2463 | Location: Wylie, Texas | Registered: November 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Check out nibs.com. I like the Sailor Pro-Gear.
 
Posts: 636 | Registered: April 14, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Man Once
Child Twice
posted Hide Post
One of my Docs uses fountain pens. He won’t let anyone use them. Says it will ruin them. Seems everyone uses a different amount of pressure when writing. Do any of you share your pen?
 
Posts: 11148 | Location: NE OHIO | Registered: October 22, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
  Powered by Social Strata Page 1 2 3 4 5  
 

SIGforum.com    Main Page  Hop To Forum Categories  The Lounge    Fountain Pens

© SIGforum 2024