Fountain pen - recommendations

[Athos]

My dad has one where the blade has been sharpened so many times over the years that it's about half of the original blade-width. The other allotmenteers are always trying to half-inch it from him.

I love using mine in the garden. Especially satisfying is cutting hairy string with it.

 

[Athos]

This thread is starting to look like a meeting of the Urban Fogeys' Society.

And proud!

By the way, I used a bit of tape to secure the Monteverde converter in my Kaweco Sport, like you suggested, and it works fine. Still toying with the idea of making it an eye-dropper filler, with silicon grease, though, as the capacity of that converter is limited.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I love using mine in the garden. Especially satisfying is cutting hairy string with it.

IIRC the only thing my dad doesn't use his for in the allotment or garden is to prune a couple of the trees/bushes. They've got an olive that he learned the hard way not to prune with any tool he actually didn't want to have to either thoroughly clean immediately or chuck, so he made half a dozen "olive pruners" from an old saw blade.

 

[ViolentPanda]

And proud!

Thinking about it, so am I!

By the way, I used a bit of tape to secure the Monteverde converter in my Kaweco Sport, like you suggested, and it works fine. Still toying with the idea of making it an eye-dropper filler, with silicon grease, though, as the capacity of that converter is limited.

Glad to hear that it worked. If you try the eye-dropper route, I'd be interestedto hear the results.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I did actually try using a transparent Sport as an ED a while ago, I seem to remember. It didn't work that well - the seal was fine, but the ink went up into parts that I'm fairly sure it wasn't meant to go, and got in between the collector and the outside in a way that was pretty much impossible to remove. I lost that one quite soon afterwards anyway so I don't have any more detailed, er, details - but it did put me off the idea. I think that there are gaps in the structure which aren't meant to be exposed to ink.

 

[Athos]

Anyone got and pen, ink or paper for Christmas?

I got a delivery today: a Noodlers Flex, a stub nib for my Pilot Prera, a Kaweco Demonstrator, and a cheapo - Hero A8 (broad nib), plus mixed bag of Diamine cartridges.

Also, my sister-in-law got me some ink for Christmas: Edelstein Topaz, Herbin 1670 Anniversary, and Sailor nano-black. Plus a mate came over from the Hague and bought a bottle of Akkerman 100th Anniversary ink: no.15 Voorhout Violet. It's beautiful! Am expecting some Herbin 'Black Tea' soon, too.

I also received some Conqueror wove 80gsm off-white A4 paper, with matching envelopes.

And most bizarrely, I was given a few sheets of Reichskanzlei notepaper. It seems to be a lovely writing surface, but I can't think who'd like to receive a letter on paper headed with the eagle and swastika emblem!

 

[ViolentPanda]

And most bizarrely, I was given a few sheets of Reichskanzlei notepaper. It seems to be a lovely writing surface, but I can't think who'd like to receive a letter on paper headed with the eagle and swastika emblem!

You could put the shits up a fair few people by sending them a letter from the Reich Chancellery, though!

"Dear Mr. Blair, it has come to my attention..."

 

[Athos]

Just had a bit of a touch on Ebay: picked up a good-looking vintage (c.1948) Esterbrook double jeweled 'SJ', for £8. That's a good price anyway, but more so when it comes with an unexpected bonus - a 9128 nib. They go on Ebay for anything up to £60 on their own. I will pay for a full service and a good clean up, and I'll have a lovely pen, in good working order, worth three times what it cost me. That said, as a lover of broad nibs (especially stubs), I think the extra-fine needle-like nib will take some getting used to. It's one of the classic flex nibs, though, and I do like the variation you can achieve with a flex.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I've been spending money on film development kit rather than pens

I did discover though that Noodlers inks (well, Heart Of Darkness and Prime Of The Commons) will actually write perfectly well on a rizla.

 

[Athos]

I've been spending money on film development kit rather than pens

I did discover though that Noodlers inks (well, Heart Of Darkness and Prime Of The Commons) will actually write perfectly well on a rizla.

Were you playing the name game?

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Were you playing the name game?

We were. I was David Beckham and it took me forever to guess. I might possibly have had a fair amount of Slovenian cherry schnapps at the time though.

 

[tarannau]

This thread inspired me to buy a new Lamy Safari in hope of rectifying my increasingly spider-like and illegible scrawl. Clearly cheap biros and rubbish rollerballs had been taking their toll on someone who did most of his youthful (hand)writing with Sheaffer and Parker nibs.

Sadly that theory, whilst sound on paper, has not been backed up by reality. My handwriting's still crap, only marginally less so.

Still It's definitely more of a pleasure to write with a fountain pen at work again. And the reluctant truth seems to be that my ability to write neatly has declined with lack of regular practice. I used to work with someone seriously into their calligraphy, being a member of the guild apparently - she had amazing writing admittedly, but used to doodle and shape letters incessantly at quiet moments on a jotter. I may well have to show similar dedication to even get my writing vaguely back in shape again.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I had to download writing sheets for seven year olds to relearn some of the letters - also to learn cursive capitals which I'd never actually been taught. And I have to watch myself constantly so I don't slip back into bad habits. It gets easier though and is occasionally worth it, when somebody else sees my writing, though that isn't very common.

 

[moose]

Gwan, show us!

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Gwan, show us!

 

[moose]

Nice

 

[FridgeMagnet]

That was my lovely Lamy 2000 B with Waterman Violet on a Rhodia 5mm dot pad by the way.

couldn't let that go

 

[Athos]

Nice.

Here's a few samples of my own:

 

[Athos]

This thread inspired me to buy a new Lamy Safari in hope of rectifying my increasingly spider-like and illegible scrawl. Clearly cheap biros and rubbish rollerballs had been taking their toll on someone who did most of his youthful (hand)writing with Sheaffer and Parker nibs.

Sadly that theory, whilst sound on paper, has not been backed up by reality. My handwriting's still crap, only marginally less so.

Still It's definitely more of a pleasure to write with a fountain pen at work again. And the reluctant truth seems to be that my ability to write neatly has declined with lack of regular practice. I used to work with someone seriously into their calligraphy, being a member of the guild apparently - she had amazing writing admittedly, but used to doodle and shape letters incessantly at quiet moments on a jotter. I may well have to show similar dedication to even get my writing vaguely back in shape again.

My writing is pretty poor, too. But, having rediscovered my love of fountain pens, it's getting better, again. Trying to write well is worth the effort, I think. I found the most important thing was speed: it's much easier to write legibly at a slower pace.

 

[Athos]

I've just decided to take the plunge and try to replace the sacs on some vintage pens. Will save about £30 a pop, for only a small initial outlay (£20). Assuming, of course that I don't fuck up some decent pens in the process!

 

[High Voltage]

Several days on...

The quality of the Chalana nib is very close indeed to that of the Lamy.

Maybe not QUITE as soft; but then again, it's a (gold-plated) steel nib (IMU) and it's a fine Japanese vs a fine Lamy nib. Definitely writing finer.

For £20 (all in, including postage), I'm stunned by the quality Extremely worthwhile, compared to the >£100 for the Lamy.

Also, I'm now looking at Japanese EF nibs. The Sailor Fine is definitely in the write direction, but ain't quite there yet..... (and I'm already avoiding the Lamy on some papers / notes, because it writes with too phat a line )

Damn you Quoad!! and double damn all other contributors to this thread

Mrs Volts has a major stationary habit and this thread has now pricked curiosity in me regarding the improvement of my hand writing (which currently looks like I'm recovering from a major stroke) - I am now convinced that a quality fountain pen will see my handwriting taking a turn for the better - so apart from buying one of those "cheapy" Chalana for SWMBO - I've also managed to order a 3776 Platinum with fine nib (I did dip a toe in the water at Christmas, when I purchased a very cheap Parker - just to see - and so it began)

Also a couple of Ink adaptors and 2 bottles of ink are also soon to be winging their way to our humble abode - this is how it starts, I know, I can recognise the symptoms - it'll be paper next . . . .

 

[Athos]

Damn you Quoad!! and double damn all other contributors to this thread

Mrs Volts has a major stationary habit and this thread has now pricked curiosity in me regarding the improvement of my hand writing (which currently looks like I'm recovering from a major stroke) - I am now convinced that a quality fountain pen will see my handwriting taking a turn for the better - so apart from buying one of those "cheapy" Chalana for SWMBO - I've also managed to order a 3776 Platinum with fine nib (I did dip a toe in the water at Christmas, when I purchased a very cheap Parker - just to see - and so it began)

Also a couple of Ink adaptors and 2 bottles of ink are also soon to be winging their way to our humble abode - this is how it starts, I know, I can recognise the symptoms - it'll be paper next . . . .

Welcome to Pens Anonymous. Admitting your problem is the first step to recovery.

Meantime, I've had a lot of fun buying up some vintage pens in pretty bad nick, and cleaning and servicing them, so that they're useable. Have resurrected a few Esterbrooks, an Osmiroid, a Burnham, a Mabie Todd, a Waterman Ideal, an Eversharp Skyline and, best of all, a Parker vacumatic! Has been great fun and, as I explained to the Mrs, I paid about £100 for the pens and £50 for parts and specialist tools etc, but renovated pens which could easily fetch £400. Omitting to tell her that I have no intention of selling, of course!

 

[Athos]

Thinking about it, so am I!

Glad to hear that it worked. If you try the eye-dropper route, I'd be interestedto hear the results.

I tried it in the end - making the Kaweco - into an ED. It works really week: still get a good flow, now has a massively improved capacity, and most importantly, no leaks! The secret was to use silicon grease (£3) not only on the threaded barrel/section joint, but also between the inside of the section and the plastic sleeve which houses the feed (having knocked out out).

 

[Athos]

It is with a heavy heart that I am required to thin my pen collection. I will have no problem shifting them on ebay, but, in the interests of 'keeping it in the family' I offer them to my fellow U75 penophiles. (I hope this isn't considered tawdry commercialist spam; if so, please feel free to remove, mods.) Accordingly, I offer the following:

Modern
Hero 329. Extra Fine nib. £2
Jinhao 'Shimmering Sands' in gold. A big pen, with a big broad nib. £3
A mixed lot of three or four Chinese cheapos. £5
Pilot 78G, in red. Never used. With stub or Japanese broad nib (i.e. European medium). £5
2 x Lamy Safari (one red and one black), with your choice of fine, medium, broad or italic nibs. £8 each.
Kaweco Sport Classic (black). Good condition. With Monteverde converter.Broad nib. Some scratching to feed (where I altered it). £10
Noodlers Flex in yellow ('Bumblebee'). Great condition. One of very few modern flex-nibbed pens. £10
Pilot Prera in Royal Blue. Very good condition. With stub or Japanese broad nib (i.e. European medium). £18 (RRP £25)
Waterman hemisphere in stainless steel. Great condition. Fine to medium nib. £25 (RRP £40)
Sailor Somiko, in black with gold trim. Excellent condition. Great writer. Broad/medium nib. £40 (RRP £54)

Vintage
Osmiroid 75. Green. Full working order, with recently replaced sac. Fair cosmetic condition. Medium nib. £15
Esterbrook, Double Jeweled SJ, in Dawn Grey. Full working order, with recently replaced sac. Excellent cosmetic condition. Medium nib. Writes very well. £25
Waterman Champion 501, in midnight blue. Full working order, with recently replaced sac. Good condition. 14 carat flex nib. Writes very well. £25
Waterman W2, in black. Full working order, with recently replaced sac. Excellent condition to both body, but some tarnish to clip. Good imprints. 14 carat flex nib, writes beautifully. £25
Waterman 512, in a beautiful dark reddish brown. Full working order, with recently replaced sac. Amazing condition to both body and metalwork. Good imprints. 14 carat flex nib, writes beautifully. £30
Burnham B59. Full working order, with recently replaced sac. Good condition. £35

Misc
Mabie Todd Swan. Discoloured, with chipped cap. Don't know whether the filler works. No nib. £1
Waterman 515, in black. In excellent condition (with new sac), but missing lever. Lovely flexible 14 carat nib. £20
Various Waterman, Osmiroid, and Esterbrook nibs. Just let me know what you're after.

You need to add £2 p&p, though less if you buy more than one pen. All offers entertained, and discounts for multiple purchases. And if you buy one and don't like it, I'll give you your money back if you return it.

Can provide photos for anyone seriously interested.

 

[mrs quoad]

Damn you Quoad!! and double damn all other contributors to this thread

Mrs Volts has a major stationary habit and this thread has now pricked curiosity in me regarding the improvement of my hand writing (which currently looks like I'm recovering from a major stroke) - I am now convinced that a quality fountain pen will see my handwriting taking a turn for the better - so apart from buying one of those "cheapy" Chalana for SWMBO - I've also managed to order a 3776 Platinum with fine nib (I did dip a toe in the water at Christmas, when I purchased a very cheap Parker - just to see - and so it began)

Also a couple of Ink adaptors and 2 bottles of ink are also soon to be winging their way to our humble abode - this is how it starts, I know, I can recognise the symptoms - it'll be paper next . . . .

I will say, since this post I've gone back to using the Sailor Chalana.

And a damned fine pen it is, too.

 

[High Voltage]

Well, the pen fairy arrived on Friday and delivered me my presents - in order of opening the parcel

First out - Mrs Volts very thin pen indeed - and when Mrs Quoad describes the pen as being like a chop stick, he's not joking

I also treated her to the ink converter and a bottle of Diamine Imperial Purple ink

As it's a pen for her I'll let her tell you all about it if she's of the fancy

Then MY PEN - and jolly nice looking it is too

Not quite the weight I was expecting to be honest - my "other" pen is a simple Parker Urban (all comparisons are to this £27 pen)

which has a nice weight to it because, I'm lead to believe, the barrel is made of brass(?) but the nib is only available as a medium - which in the Parker, for me, is bordering on thick hence the NEED for me to get a quality pen

I really should have read more carefully the nib reviews on Cult Pens where they describe the Platinum nibs, and I think the majority of Japanese nibs, as being on the thin side of whatever spec they're given - so, like a fool, I spec'd a fine nib for the 3776 instead of the "thin" medium I think that it would have come with - still, hey ho, we are where we are and if it really annoys me then a nib change is not out of the question

So, what's a Platinum 3776 like then?

I've no intention of using cartridges with this pen so I also got the Platinum ink converter and I'm using Pelikan Brilliant Black ink

The converter simply pushes into the pen - that's it, no drama, just "push" and it's in - the plunger actually plunges by turning the knurled section on the end of the Do-Dah! and seems to give a fairly "full" fill - so far, so good

OK - but first, where do you park the top after you've unscrewed it from the pen - I'm sure there's a proper "Penny" term for this, but I'll just call it parking the top - well, it doesn't Park very well - it does push onto the top of the pen but it doesn't feel very secure - so you take it off and the pen then looks like a child's pen (even in my girly hands) - so Hmmmm!! but not a deal breaker by any means - I use the pen with the top "parked" and it doesn't seem to mark the barrel, perhaps I was just being a little gentle

Well, ABS plastic, is plastic no matter how shiny it is, and this pen is made of ABS plastic - so, ridiculously smooth, not unpleasant - there's NO sharp edges at all and the two fine gold ringss fit flush with the body

Writing? - Jeez Louise but this nib is FINE - You'd think that it would scratch like gangbusters but it does writing and flow very smoothly - the ink flow is almost perfectly even, when drawing LONG wavy lines and general doodling no gaps, blobs, nothing, that's impressive as in my job I have to sign as checked large production documents produce on a large format ink jet printer - now the Parker would be fine right up to I fill in the date 1/2/ <-------------- there, right there, is where it would stop writing, the 2nd solidus, now this paper costs £130 / 30m roll and has a perfect finish for Ink Jet printing but bizarrely the Parker would simply give up the ghost at the exact same point every document - Up steps the scratchy fine nibbed 3776 and NO PROBLEM at all, this pen seems to LOVE writing on Epson Ink Jet paper (of course it would, it's bloody expensive that's why)

So now I have a problem, the 3776 is a great pen, I'm starting to get used to the fine nib, I know that it can write fantastically on Epson Paper but I'm not carrying around a 44" wide x 30.5m long roll of paper just to write on

I've managed to buy two notebooks both with the same 90gsm Optik paper in - I've got a pack of Basildon Bond Classic Watermarked paper to try writing on - my wrist hurts after about 2 lines of writing and the joint clicks - as with TV, I suspect posting a picture of handwriting on the interweb adds considerably to the line thickness, the actual line thickness is probably closer to those horrible yellow "fine" Bic ball points that I'm told "some people" use



So, just as I feared, paper next - any suggestions? How about that nib change? Is a nib change simply a matter of unscrewing the nib unit and a bit of wiggling as some YouTube videos show?

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Putting the cap on the end is technically called "posting". A lot of people (including me) seem to progress to not posting their pens - in my case because I moved more towards the more vertical, handwriting teacher approved, way of holding the thing, which means the cap adds a weird feeling extra weight from the lever effect.

As for paper... I don't really know what your inkjet stuff is like. Optik is one of the most easily available decent papers - it is a little on the "shiny" side for me though. Rhodia pads and notebooks are a little harder to get hold of, but are slightly less shiny and extremely regular. Don't waste your time on Moleskines. There's a brand called Leuchtturm that has some decent books, but that paper does occasionally feather with my wetter pens and inks, whereas Rhodia won't.

I have a 3776 actually, but mine is with a music nib, which is sort of the opposite of yours.

 

[Athos]

Well, the pen fairy arrived on Friday and delivered me my presents - in order of opening the parcel

First out - Mrs Volts very thin pen indeed - and when Mrs Quoad describes the pen as being like a chop stick, he's not joking

I also treated her to the ink converter and a bottle of Diamine Imperial Purple ink

As it's a pen for her I'll let her tell you all about it if she's of the fancy

Then MY PEN - and jolly nice looking it is too

Not quite the weight I was expecting to be honest - my "other" pen is a simple Parker Urban (all comparisons are to this £27 pen)

which has a nice weight to it because, I'm lead to believe, the barrel is made of brass(?) but the nib is only available as a medium - which in the Parker, for me, is bordering on thick hence the NEED for me to get a quality pen

I really should have read more carefully the nib reviews on Cult Pens where they describe the Platinum nibs, and I think the majority of Japanese nibs, as being on the thin side of whatever spec they're given - so, like a fool, I spec'd a fine nib for the 3776 instead of the "thin" medium I think that it would have come with - still, hey ho, we are where we are and if it really annoys me then a nib change is not out of the question

So, what's a Platinum 3776 like then?

I've no intention of using cartridges with this pen so I also got the Platinum ink converter and I'm using Pelikan Brilliant Black ink

The converter simply pushes into the pen - that's it, no drama, just "push" and it's in - the plunger actually plunges by turning the knurled section on the end of the Do-Dah! and seems to give a fairly "full" fill - so far, so good

OK - but first, where do you park the top after you've unscrewed it from the pen - I'm sure there's a proper "Penny" term for this, but I'll just call it parking the top - well, it doesn't Park very well - it does push onto the top of the pen but it doesn't feel very secure - so you take it off and the pen then looks like a child's pen (even in my girly hands) - so Hmmmm!! but not a deal breaker by any means - I use the pen with the top "parked" and it doesn't seem to mark the barrel, perhaps I was just being a little gentle

Well, ABS plastic, is plastic no matter how shiny it is, and this pen is made of ABS plastic - so, ridiculously smooth, not unpleasant - there's NO sharp edges at all and the two fine gold ringss fit flush with the body

Writing? - Jeez Louise but this nib is FINE - You'd think that it would scratch like gangbusters but it does writing and flow very smoothly - the ink flow is almost perfectly even, when drawing LONG wavy lines and general doodling no gaps, blobs, nothing, that's impressive as in my job I have to sign as checked large production documents produce on a large format ink jet printer - now the Parker would be fine right up to I fill in the date 1/2/ <-------------- there, right there, is where it would stop writing, the 2nd solidus, now this paper costs £130 / 30m roll and has a perfect finish for Ink Jet printing but bizarrely the Parker would simply give up the ghost at the exact same point every document - Up steps the scratchy fine nibbed 3776 and NO PROBLEM at all, this pen seems to LOVE writing on Epson Ink Jet paper (of course it would, it's bloody expensive that's why)

So now I have a problem, the 3776 is a great pen, I'm starting to get used to the fine nib, I know that it can write fantastically on Epson Paper but I'm not carrying around a 44" wide x 30.5m long roll of paper just to write on

I've managed to buy two notebooks both with the same 90gsm Optik paper in - I've got a pack of Basildon Bond Classic Watermarked paper to try writing on - my wrist hurts after about 2 lines of writing and the joint clicks - as with TV, I suspect posting a picture of handwriting on the interweb adds considerably to the line thickness, the actual line thickness is probably closer to those horrible yellow "fine" Bic ball points that I'm told "some people" use

View attachment 16459

So, just as I feared, paper next - any suggestions? How about that nib change? Is a nib change simply a matter of unscrewing the nib unit and a bit of wiggling as some YouTube videos show?

Two very nice looking, and totally different pens.

Whether or not you post the cap is a matter personal preference. I prefer to for two reasons: first, because I'd lose it otherwise; and secondly, because it allows me to have smaller pens, which would be too short to write with 'un-posted'. Perhaps you just need to put it on a little more firmly?

Japanese nibs always come up a size finer than their European or American counterparts.

In terms of paper, I like Clairefontaine and Rhodia notebooks. In fact, I think the latter is made using the former's paper. The CF A4 Age Bag notebook is amazing value for the quality. And the Rhodia A7 webnotebooks are perfect in the pocket, as are the tiny Habana Quo Vadis (though they're hard to come by, now). For letter writing, I like an 80gsm wove paper, in off white. I seem to get on well with the Conqueror.

What pens are you getting next? I'd suggest you get some vintage models (and not just 'cos I'm flogging some). You get some real quality, and design classics, at reasonable prices. And once you've used a vintage 14ct flexible nib, you'll never look back!

 

[mrs quoad]

Putting the cap on the end is technically called "posting".

'Technically'?

Literally technically?

 

[baldrick]

hmmm. i just bought an Ohto Tasche, with one of the Diamine mixed cartridge selections plus some in Teal becase i thought that colour looked rather pretty.

No idea when I will use it, Pilot V5 0.5 pens are my usual style - i buy my own for work because I can't bear the cheapo biros in the stationery cupboard.

Only comes in a Medium nib though, and I was tempted with a Lamy safari in an F as I do prefer a thinner sort of line but I preferred the looks of the Ohto so I let that sway me.