I have been trying to improve my handwriting skills lately. Like most people I know, my cursive writing is atrocious to say the least, mainly because I don't write using it hardly at all. Bought a book called "Cursive Handwriting Workbook for Seniors". Most of my cursive handwriting is used for greeting cards, and my writing looks like a little kids. I have found that a fountain pen helps a lot while working the workbook, it makes my writing look smoother, showing less shaking. The first fountain pen I bought was a Zebra V-301 with a fine nib for about five bucks. Found this pen to be very "scratchy" and uncomfortable to use. It also had a skipping problem, making using it difficult to practice with.
After watching some YouTube videos about fountain pens in which the Platinum Preppy was reviewed, it was highly praised as a decent writing pen. It is only a $7 pen, so I bought one with a medium nib, wow! it worked very well, so well that I bought another, but with a fine nib. Success! Finally, I could practice my writing while concentrating on the writing stroke without worrying about keeping the ink flowing smoothly. The last pen I bought was a Lamy AL-STAR with a fine nib, this pen was on sale and set me back $28. For about eight bucks I bought an ink converter that allows me to use bottled ink. this ink flows way better than the ink cartridges from the manufacturer of the pen in my opinion. I also bought ink converters for the preppy pens, the pilot ink converters were also $7 a piece. The ink I chose is made by Pilot and is called take-sumi iroshizuku, it is a black carbon ink, supposedly made with Bamboo carbon, I like it a lot.
So now my inexpensive fountain pens have set me back about $100, add about $40 for some decent paper and a small journal. Believe I am done with buying any more in the near future. as I can see this turning into a very deep and twisting rabbit hole.
Are any of you into this hobby?

Off and on. I like the cheap (< $50) Pilot pens and ink (iroshizuku line). Write well and smooth (at least sufficiently so, especially for price). I'm not a hobbyist or collector or craftsman (calligraphy) so cheap is good for me. The Pilot cartridges are also good for me.

All my pens (especially non-fountain) are Pilot. But for mecha pencils, I go with Pentel.

I have a few pens, from cheap to not so much. I like the Waterford about the best, although the Parker is also a nice pen. You can spend pretty much as much as you want on a nice pen, but most of it is glitz.

I agree that good bottled ink is superior to cartridges. And I like that you can get a range of colors. Too bad I still write like shit!

Pens are far less expensive than watches, guns, or cameras, indulge yourself!

I dabble a bit, not as much as I used to back when I was in an office all day….



Some vintage Sheaffers, from the 1920s to the 1960s. Love the nibs on pens from the 1920s, usually a lot of flex, makes for a ton of line width variation. Not that my handwriting is good enough to take advantage of them!

A more modern pen, an S T DuPont Mozart limited edition.


What’s not to like, sterling silver and Mozart all in one pen!

And of course, you can go as crazy as you want… Although these are not mine, just some photos I did for my wife’s business.







Bill R

My late father taught me a love of MB pens.. I have many of them, some from him, some I have acquired.. Its a passion for me, and I spend way to much on them, but I love them.

I will post some photos, but I use every single of them them and carry one daily. My handwriting does not watch what they are capable of doing, I should try and change that.

I've enjoyed the pilot varsity pens in the past.

In elementary school we were required to use Sheaffer Cartridge / School Pens (Early 1960s).

.

I really like my Pelikans. That being said, my Waterman Phileas is a very nice, smooth writing pen.

quote:

Originally posted by Greymann:
In elementary school we were required to use Sheaffer Cartridge / School Pens (Early 1960s).

.

Same here, and then I never touched one again until I got on this kick about a month ago.

The last time I actually used a fountain pen was back in the late 70s and it was a Parker 75. It was a hold over from when I studied in Hongkong and we had to use fountain pens.

I started with a Parker 51, graduated to a Parker 45.

I didn't realize they had gone up so much in price

I have had them in the past but prefer my Montblanc rollerball pen. I just checked the price on one and I see it has gone up some in price since I purchased mine 40+ years ago.

Not all fountain, but once upon a time....

Love fountain pens and until a few years ago, was an avid collector.

Parker Vacumatics were my favorite, followed by Parker 51's.

Then I shifted my focus to the Duofolds from the 1990's, when they were still made in the US. I have all of the Blacks, Blue Marbled, Pearl marbled, Orange.

I still have my Dad's Parker 75's. and My Grandfather's Conklin Nozacs.

My daily writer is a Parker 180, not a super expensive pen, but a very thin pen, that fits me and writes quite well.

There are so many great pens, both vintage and new to choose from.

A Yard-o-Led Grand Viceroy is a pen IO plan to buy when I retire.

I use Parker ink and have not traveled down the ink rabbit hole, I hear it is deep.

***Not sure where you are in MI, but the Columbus Pen show is coming up in December and my experience has been amazing at this show, both as a buyer and seller. IMO, it is worth visiting, if you after not too far away.***

Love my fountain pens.

I have pens from the $30.00 Lammy "Safari" to the $1000.00 Pelikan M1000.

I prefer gold nibs as they are smoother than the steel nibs.

For signatures I like a broad or double broad nib, for check registries I like an extra fine, and for check writing an extra fine "flex" nib.

I love eyedropper filled pens like my Opus 88 "Jazz", and I like piston filled like my Pelikan.

I find Pelikan, Pilot, and Diamine to be fabulous inks.

https://www.gouletpens.com is a good place to look for pens, ink, and accessories, as well as practical advice.

I like and can appreciate a good pen.

Fountain pens, not so much.
Im not against them, they’re just not my thing.

I have a few good ones, as I use one a lot for work.
Shockingly, a good pen does not improve my hand writing!

I have a few Titanium pens, a Damascus one (that I can’t figure out how to replace the ink?!?!), a carbon fiber one.
My favorite was a Titainer ballpoint that I can’t find anywhere! They still make the same design but in a fountain pen. I lost the damn thing at work.

Im not deep into the rabbit hole, and not really interested in doing a deep dive.
I have other quirks that I’ll toss my $ (or $$, $$$, $$$$) at.

My handwriting is horrible! It is a bastardized combination of script and printing… I even tried recently to improve by calligraphy practice, to no avail after weeks of effort!

Doomed… doomed, I say!

I have a lot of these to get rid of, mostly.

If they are still good, I have a bunch of bottles of ink I’ll be getting rid of for postage if it’s worth shipping.

Will be back in the states in a couple weeks.

quote:

Originally posted by stylophiles:
I dabble a bit, not as much as I used to back when I was in an office all day….



Some vintage Sheaffers, from the 1920s to the 1960s. Love the nibs on pens from the 1920s, usually a lot of flex, makes for a ton of line width variation. Not that my handwriting is good enough to take advantage of them!

A more modern pen, an S T DuPont Mozart limited edition.


What’s not to like, sterling silver and Mozart all in one pen!

And of course, you can go as crazy as you want… Although these are not mine, just some photos I did for my wife’s business.







Bill R

Beautiful pens!

quote:

Originally posted by Doc H.:
Not all fountain, but once upon a time....

Fantastic collection!