Fountain pen - recommendations
- Thread starter HackneyE9
- Start date
Elvis Parsley
Well-Known Member
i assume this, or something similar has been posted already, so apologies if i'm roasting peas
in comparison i write like an ape
in comparison i write like an ape
Cid
Proper break this time
Traditional flex nibs require a different hand angle for writing, don't they?
So, like, oblique nib holders... set the nib at the 'right' angle for writing conventionally. With fat downstrokes.
Whereas with a flex-nibbed pen... you kinda have to hold it vertical to the paper. Or write at a highly unusual angle.
Right?
This is partly why I prefer fixed broad nibs for quick writing... This is my current note-taking hand:
Needs work I'll grant you (consistency of letter size, not jumping letters, joining rs ms and ns etc), and is a bit erratic, but it's very quick and - when I get it right - legible... Pen at one angle, no need to think about when to flex etc. That's using a 1.1mm Rotring artpen.
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wobbly
i ended up buying a box of what look likes a random collection of about 40 vintage pen nibs of various widths for son to play with. ebay, about 2.50 including postage. next time eh's in town, he can pick up a couple of holders for them, then he can work out what he can achieve with them all.
High Voltage
In the top 97% of Urban's most interesting posters
i assume this, or something similar has been posted already, so apologies if i'm roasting peas
in comparison i write like an ape
Thank you so much for posting that . . . I to, now feel like an ape
Nice one! By the time he's worked his way through those, he'll have a good idea which ones he prefers to draw with.
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wobbly
Nice one! By the time he's worked his way through those, he'll have a good idea which ones he prefers to draw with.
exactly.
High Voltage
In the top 97% of Urban's most interesting posters
OK - this is NOT a fountain pen 
BUT
One is winging its way to me at work for Monday/Tuesday next week and it comes from that purveyor of fine pens ('n' stuff) - Cult Pens
I work in a seriously Health and Safety focussed company - I'm the ONLY person allowed to have a scalpel - luckily, it's not a hospital but a printers and I use a scalpel for cutting up "stuff" accurately
Then I found this ceramic cutter that MAYBE even better than my trusty Swan Morton No 3 / 10A blade combo
Roll on Monday (?)
BUT
One is winging its way to me at work for Monday/Tuesday next week and it comes from that purveyor of fine pens ('n' stuff) - Cult Pens
I work in a seriously Health and Safety focussed company - I'm the ONLY person allowed to have a scalpel - luckily, it's not a hospital but a printers and I use a scalpel for cutting up "stuff" accurately
Then I found this ceramic cutter that MAYBE even better than my trusty Swan Morton No 3 / 10A blade combo
Roll on Monday (?)
My Nakaya's 'departed from inward office of exchange [Parcelforce Coventry] after 4 days parked there! Optimistic that this means it'll be in Cam by first thing tomorrow 
I'm sore tempted to get some *new ink* so's it can be inked up with something new and special. Sailor Jentle Grenadine, specifically.
I'm sore tempted to get some *new ink* so's it can be inked up with something new and special. Sailor Jentle Grenadine, specifically.
High Voltage
In the top 97% of Urban's most interesting posters
Well - it arrived today and what a fantastic piece of kit it is - for the type of cutting I'm going to use it for it's very very good indeed - the actual blade is minute (and from an H & S front that's brilliant) but bloody hell is it sharp - handles like a pen so free hand curve cuts are very easy to do - so impressed that they maybe adopted across the site - our H &S manager likes them and was about to introduce some cheap ceramic cutters but these look like they maybe adopted throughout
I properly love the sound of your company
£156 in customs, import and delivery charges, dagnabbit!
An absolute beat of a pen, though. With both Nakayas, I've expected to be disappointed when opening the actual kimono. And both times, I've been delighted and stunned
I'd expected the 'string' to be quite thick - it isn't; it's properly microscopic work. A LOAD fatter in the barrel than I was expecting, too. But I'm sure I can acclimatise
AND they've very clearly taken into account my request for a finer 'F' nib
It writes respectably thinner than my other Nakaya F With a bit of line variation with pressure.Only written a bit with it - not as juicy as the other one, but feeling good. Not yet fantastic; but it's inked up with a skanky black cartridge that came with it, and I'm unlikely to get round to putting in the converter til later today
Right.
I'm coming back to this, because the Nakaya's got enough flex to make it relevant.
I *hate* - at present - the flex effect / line width variation I get from adding pressure side-on. Perhaps it's because I use fine nibs, which're prone to catching; but I'm finding that 'sidesmoosh' flex, so to speak, creates a gritty, jumpy, inconsistent line variation. Even with the pen rotated.
The *beautiful* flex I'm getting comes from drawing the pen straight down (in line with itself, so to speak).
But that means - yeah - rotating the paper so my hand is, in effect, not far off 6 o'clock from my downstrokes.
Which is manageable - surprisingly manageable - but that feels like a very messy compromise solution. Is that what people used to do? Are oblique nib holders effectively a compromise for people who can't pick up how pens used to be used (and the angle paper used to be held at)?
e2a: I also find the 'rotated paper 6 o'clock' method a lot more awkward for writing using my arm (instead of hand) IYKWIM
Not sure if that's just unfamiliarity, or something more fundamental / structural about arms and hands.
Athos
Well-Known Member
mrs quoad said:Right.
I'm coming back to this, because the Nakaya's got enough flex to make it relevant.
I *hate* - at present - the flex effect / line width variation I get from adding pressure side-on. Perhaps it's because I use fine nibs, which're prone to catching; but I'm finding that 'sidesmoosh' flex, so to speak, creates a gritty, jumpy, inconsistent line variation. Even with the pen rotated.
The *beautiful* flex I'm getting comes from drawing the pen straight down (in line with itself, so to speak).
But that means - yeah - rotating the paper so my hand is, in effect, not far off 6 o'clock from my downstrokes.
Which is manageable - surprisingly manageable - but that feels like a very messy compromise solution. Is that what people used to do? Are oblique nib holders effectively a compromise for people who can't pick up how pens used to be used (and the angle paper used to be held at)?
e2a: I also find the 'rotated paper 6 o'clock' method a lot more awkward for writing using my arm (instead of hand) IYKWIM
I'm no handwriting coach, but I'll happily offer an opinion. However, I'm struggling to visualise it. Maybe you could do a video?
Athos
Well-Known Member
mrs quoad said:£156 in customs, import and delivery charges, dagnabbit!
An absolute beat of a pen, though. With both Nakayas, I've expected to be disappointed when opening the actual kimono. And both times, I've been delighted and stunned
I'd expected the 'string' to be quite thick - it isn't; it's properly microscopic work. A LOAD fatter in the barrel than I was expecting, too. But I'm sure I can acclimatise
AND they've very clearly taken into account my request for a finer 'F' nib
Only written a bit with it - not as juicy as the other one, but feeling good. Not yet fantastic; but it's inked up with a skanky black cartridge that came with it, and I'm unlikely to get round to putting in the converter til later today
Wow! Enjoy.
Cid
Proper break this time
Right.
I'm coming back to this, because the Nakaya's got enough flex to make it relevant.
I *hate* - at present - the flex effect / line width variation I get from adding pressure side-on. Perhaps it's because I use fine nibs, which're prone to catching; but I'm finding that 'sidesmoosh' flex, so to speak, creates a gritty, jumpy, inconsistent line variation. Even with the pen rotated.
The *beautiful* flex I'm getting comes from drawing the pen straight down (in line with itself, so to speak).
But that means - yeah - rotating the paper so my hand is, in effect, not far off 6 o'clock from my downstrokes.
Which is manageable - surprisingly manageable - but that feels like a very messy compromise solution. Is that what people used to do? Are oblique nib holders effectively a compromise for people who can't pick up how pens used to be used (and the angle paper used to be held at)?
e2a: I also find the 'rotated paper 6 o'clock' method a lot more awkward for writing using my arm (instead of hand) IYKWIM
It genuinely requires a bizarre writing style to do stuff like Spencerian:
It may look fluid, but it's a bloody slow way of writing.
TY, Athos. I may well do.
Yeah. It looks as if she's positioning her body so's the paper's square to the desk; whilst I'm positioning the paper so that I'm square to the desk. And an oblique pen holder allows both me and the pen to sit square to the desk.
I've been enjoying it for both normal handwriting AND copperplate-ish this evening:
I'm... unsure... about the ink flow, though. It is, tbf, great for standard handwriting - using the F / EF light pressure. But it's struggling a bit on some of the longer 'fat' downstrokes. There's an option to have it readjusted by Nakaya free of charge (well, $20 postage). I might see how it pans out.
Loving it, mind
(I wasn't expecting it to have anything like this much line variation - fully appreciated it isn't massive, but still...)
Cid
Proper break this time
It's why I favour chancery handwriting, which uses a fixed nib at a fairly normal position (the widest point is at the 4-5ish position), it's the kind of writing scribes used... You can see some of the early principles in this bit of Beowulf (first page, top line is the classic 'hwat we gardena'):
The 'P' (which is a wynn, not to be confused with a thorn) shows the pen angle quite well. The thorn, incidentally, is the other p-like letter (well p and b) pronounced 'th'.
Then you get stuff like Henry VII's handwriting (which shits all over Henry VIII's):
Then the Arrighi develops the italic or chancery cursive form:
Although there was an insidious spread of copperplate, the position used in chancery stuck around for general writing, bored of looking up pics now, but here's an example of a nice interpretation from the fountain pen network:
The 'P' (which is a wynn, not to be confused with a thorn) shows the pen angle quite well. The thorn, incidentally, is the other p-like letter (well p and b) pronounced 'th'.
Then you get stuff like Henry VII's handwriting (which shits all over Henry VIII's):
Then the Arrighi develops the italic or chancery cursive form:
Although there was an insidious spread of copperplate, the position used in chancery stuck around for general writing, bored of looking up pics now, but here's an example of a nice interpretation from the fountain pen network:
Current fountain pen collection: 1 platinum carbon
Seriously hoping something will turn up on Mon, and am well tempted to call the police!
No insurance!
Will definitely be reporting it as theft, if nothing turns up sharpish.
A bit reluctant to take any definite action before people with fuller access to lost property - and cleaners - get back on Monday, though.
Might call security again, to double check that they checked the FLOOR of the relevant room...
Will definitely be reporting it as theft, if nothing turns up sharpish.
A bit reluctant to take any definite action before people with fuller access to lost property - and cleaners - get back on Monday, though.
Might call security again, to double check that they checked the FLOOR of the relevant room...
