Fountain pen - recommendations

[Meltingpot]

I was looking at the Sailor Sapporo (either Medium or Medium Fine) before I decided on the Lamy 2000. They really are prized for their smooth nibs. I'm still tempted; the Sapporo is really well priced for what it is. Or, you know, I could just use the 2000 that I already have

I saw a 2000 in a Torquay stationers back when I had more money and I wish I'd bought it now. Good classic design.

They're very highly thought of, apart from (according to a review I read) the little lugs in the nib section can dig into your fingers.

 

[AnnaKarpik]

I use a Lamy fountain pen with a neat twisting-action refilling cartridge.

Proper pens rock.

^Can't get bette value than this.

 

[Meltingpot]

I might have done (if I can smooth out the nibs); I recently got a Sheaffer "No Nonsense" calligraphy set secondhand (but complete apart from a couple of used cartridges) from a local charity shop. A barrel, cap and three italic steel nibs of different lengths; not bad for £2 (and an instruction book and practice pad too).

That doesn't often happen though, it's seldom you get fountain pens in charity shops around here.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I've been having a lot of trouble with Diamine Blue Black recently. It has a lovely colour, but it has definitely gummed up at least three of my pens - I only realised that it was responsible for gumming up my Ohto Tasche, which I'd unfortunately then assumed was basically broken and stopped using. I bought a bottle of Blue Black recently and was using it with the Sailor and a Lamy pen, both of which proceeded to gum up and require extensive washing out. A bit of a google reveals that this is a common complaint.

It's probably better in wetter pens with broader nibs but those aren't my favourites. On the other hand, I find that Prussian Blue is quite a similar colour (I generally don't like blues, they remind me of school) and doesn't seem from a cartridge in the Tasche to have the same problem. I've ordered a selection of 30ml bottles from the Diamine website including some Prussian Blue now.

 

[Cid]

oh, and I also use a Fixpencil 22

Oooh, that has an alu barrel! One of the main problems I have with the Staedtler and FC ones is that they're not that durable, seem to bend and crack if you use them a lot or drop heavy things on them (I use them for marking up furniture, so this can happen a fair bit). Might have to try this.

I usually use a Staedtler pointer, but Geddess are the best, just not easy to find:

 

[FridgeMagnet]

All right. I recently took possession of some Sailor Kiwa-Guro "nanocarbon" black ink, and it's the most amazing stuff. It works (I am told) by saturating the paper with tiny particles of carbon, rather than being dye-based like most inks. The line that you get is absolutely flat with no shading whatsoever; it is sort of half matte with sometimes a bit of reflection under certain light. People say that it has the same appearance as traditional Japanese calligraphy ink. It's also waterproof and in fact "archival quality", as the carbon particles just sit in the paper and don't wash out. One thing that apparently you do have to be careful about, though, is letting it dry out in a pen, because clumps of carbon dust in a pen are pretty difficult to get out of the feed.

I have been using it with a Sailor ProColour with an F nib, and it's the smoothest writing experience ever with decent paper. It will also write on shit paper without complaining at all. It's a particularly slick ink, not "wet" as such but I described it as "writing on silk with a magic eel". Japanese nibs are apparently generally much finer than Western equivalents and this is certainly the case with the Sailor F - easily sharper than the Lamy EFs I have - but if you want a pen that writes that fine, this is the ink to use I'd say. Eminently controllable, won't feather or bleed through.

I have however ordered another Sailor with an M nib, as the F turns my handwriting into spiders if I'm writing on any decent sized page. Er, and also some of the Blue-Black particulate ink that Sailor do. I said this was a cheaper hobby than drugs but I might have to amend that to "cheaper than *some* drugs".

 

[moose]

Sorry, not a fountain pen recommendation at all, just gratuitous pencil porn! arrived today...
luscious sharpener

 

[FridgeMagnet]

ooh shiny

I probably need one of those, I have... er, a couple of pencils somewhere that obviously have to be sharp.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Sailor Sei-Boku (blue-black) is a very well behaved blue black ink; I prefer a darker colour to be honest but it flows very well, is permanent and waterproof, and dries quickly.

The Sailor ProColour with the M nib basically writes with the same line as the F nib, only is a little rougher

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I thought I'd dig up this thread to see quite how far I've fallen. The answer being "really pretty far".

I now have: three Lamy 2000s (F, M and B nibs), two aerometric Parker 51s which are pretty much identical apart from the colour, two Pilot Vanishing Points - the limited edition 2010 green and a grey Decimo, and F, M and B nib units for them (they are interchangeable)... Let's think, a Namiki Falcon from ebay that doesn't work very well, a WALITY piston filler pen from India that I messed up the nib on, an antique Mabie Todd eyedropper also from India, another Kaweco Sport, another Safari and all the nibs for them apart from OB (never got on with oblique nibs) and A. Hm. Another OHTO Tasche too. Probably more than that.

I won't even go into the inks, I have about forty different ones now, though that's not considered excessive by some. Or the notebooks.

The Lamy 2000 M is the best writer by the way.

 

[moose]

*applauds*

 

[Xanadu]

Thanks to everyone who's replied thus far.



Interesting. I've visited the town where they make these - Boulder City, Nevada.

According to the wiki, the refills fit, or can be made to., a number of other ballpoint makes;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Pen

Whenever you see discussion on the web concerning quality ballpoint pens, Space Pens are one of the two makes which seem to keep getting mentioned; the other one is Caran D'Ache, from Switzerland.

I bought a Caran D'Ache for my sister. They're not the cheapest, but lovely designs.

 

[Cid]

I thought I'd dig up this thread to see quite how far I've fallen. The answer being "really pretty far".

I now have: three Lamy 2000s (F, M and B nibs), two aerometric Parker 51s which are pretty much identical apart from the colour, two Pilot Vanishing Points - the limited edition 2010 green and a grey Decimo, and F, M and B nib units for them (they are interchangeable)... Let's think, a Namiki Falcon from ebay that doesn't work very well, a WALITY piston filler pen from India that I messed up the nib on, an antique Mabie Todd eyedropper also from India, another Kaweco Sport, another Safari and all the nibs for them apart from OB (never got on with oblique nibs) and A. Hm. Another OHTO Tasche too. Probably more than that.

I won't even go into the inks, I have about forty different ones now, though that's not considered excessive by some. Or the notebooks.

The Lamy 2000 M is the best writer by the way.

FM is to pens as quoad is to coffee...

 

[FridgeMagnet]

The equipment costs a lot, but the refills are a lot cheaper than coffee beans. Well, not per ml obviously, but given that a loaded pen is only up to about 1.5ml for the largest pens, and bottles are at least 30ml... and I can stop whenever I want, too.

I still want to get a Sailor Sapporo, and some sort of Pelikan - possibly the yellow demonstrator M205. Then I'll be fine. Mmm.

 

[mrs quoad]

I am considering a Lamy 2000.

On the suggestions of Cultpens, I am also considering a Japanese make, whose name temporarily eludes me.

Um, one question - with expensive nibs (and fine nibs), is there much chance of fucking them up?

I remember trying to deupfuck Parkers at school that I'd done something to, and whose writing became filthily scritchy. And being completely unable to ever make them right again.

Also, how fine is fine? I like what I've seen of 'fine,' and the Japanese make has a 'superfine' which I really like the look of. But... sounds like there might be dryness issues? And / or nib-fucking issues?

e2a: ah, the Platinum 3776 is cultpens' other similarly-priced suggestion. http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Platinum-3776-Fountain-Pen.html

 

[FridgeMagnet]

It's quite hard to fuck up a nib in standard use, particularly if it's a gold one like you find on most pens costing over sixty quid or so (eg the 2000 - they tend to be rhodium plated 14k gold, and so pretty tolerant to slight bending). Actually even decent steel ones are quite tough. You have to do something like write on sandpaper or drop it point down on a stone floor. They're reasonably easily replaced in any case.

If you want a fine nib, the usual recommendation is to go Japanese, though note that "fine" is not a standard term; it varies by manufacturer and area. Generally, pens from SE Asia and the Pacific rim are noticeably finer than Western ones for the same name. A Japanese F is usually as fine as you'd ever want, and a good one should be smooth; their extra or ultra fine ones I'd imagine to be real needles, and note that however smooth a nib, the finer it is the more that it will tend to catch on fibres in the actual paper. Sellers will usually exchange nibs for pens at that price if you find that you don't get along with a particular size, anyway.

I don't have any Platinums but it's a decent brand from all I'm aware. Sailor and Pilot are the other two that are in the same sort of area. Take a look at thewritingdesk as well, and there's a site called andys-pens.co.uk which looks quite amateurish but has a good rep.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

For the record, here are some samples that show what would be pretty average line width for Japanese fine nibs (the top two anyway). The dots are spaced 5mm.


Airmail 69L writing sample by redspotted, on Flickr

The top pen is an Airmail 69L which is actually Indian, but is the right sort of width. The middle is a Sailor Sapporo with an F nib that is slightly wider than stock because I smoothed it a bit (not actually something i advise, that's definitely a good way to fuck up a nib).

A 2000 in F will be noticeably broader than either; Lamy nibs run wide. Even an EF may be broader.

 

[mrs quoad]

Literally, fuck those last two. It looks like the page has been attacked with a window cleaner's sponge on a broom handle. Not the writing, mind, but the thickness thereof.

tbh, even the first un's looking a bit phat for my liking.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

That is pretty much the opposite reaction to what people normally say which is "Jesus how can you write that small for page after page, I'd not be able to read that" But if you want technical pen type widths then yes, go for a Japanese XF.

To complicate matters the paper and ink you use will affect line width a lot at that level. The best ink to use is probably one of the carbon black inks, Sailor and Platinum both make them for fountain pens; they are smooth, very durable and don't spread on any paper. You do have to keep using them though and not leave the pen unused for weeks without emptying and flushing it, because they use carbon nanoparticles which can really gum up a feed if the ink dries up.

Noodlers also make some good black inks but they are a pain to get hold of in this country (pelikanpens.co.uk have the only current stock I know of).

 

[Cid]

You did pay proper attention to the bit where FM said 'the dots are spaced 5mm' right?

 

[mrs quoad]

Yes!

But my benchmark / standard preference is a pilot superfine ATM.

A cheque cleared last night. Think I'm looking at a Lamy extra fine. Prolly ordering before the end of the week

 

[mrs quoad]

I've also just seen that Pelikan's carbon ink not only costs £17 per bottle; it also says that it risks killing pens if they're not in use for 2 days without flushing.

I think that might be a catastrophe in the offing

 

[Cid]

Get yourself a 0.1mm rotring isograph for shits and giggles.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I've also just seen that Pelikan's carbon ink not only costs £17 per bottle; it also says that it risks killing pens if they're not in use for 2 days without flushing.

I think that might be a catastrophe in the offing

And once again Urbanites will be able to use the word "quoading" to describe someone fucking up something expensive!

 

[mrs quoad]

And once again Urbanites will be able to use the word "quoading" to describe someone fucking up something expensive!

That's got me trying to think of the last time I fucked up something proper expensive. Needlessly.

I think it was a Campag cable set, £30, cut all the cables too short But that was a GOOD year and a bit ago!

 

[Greebo]

It was very funny though, at least from the outside.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I've also just seen that Pelikan's carbon ink not only costs £17 per bottle; it also says that it risks killing pens if they're not in use for 2 days without flushing.

I think that might be a catastrophe in the offing

Platinum... it doesn't though, that's just them covering their arse. Well, possibly if you were to leave it uncapped for two days. I've used Sailor's nanocarbon black, which is pretty much the same, in pens that I've left for a week or two and they were fine. Having said that, I may have more facility for cleaning out pens than you do, though I'm sure you can get access to ultrasonic cleaners quite easily.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Platinum... it doesn't though, that's just them covering their arse. Well, possibly if you were to leave it uncapped for two days. I've used Sailor's nanocarbon black, which is pretty much the same, in pens that I've left for a week or two and they were fine. Having said that, I may have more facility for cleaning out pens than you do, though I'm sure you can get access to ultrasonic cleaners quite easily.

Talking of which, I've got to clean out my KAWECO Sport fp, as it's blocked. Only ever seems to happen with black ink (Visconti black carts in this case). Think I'll have to give the Rotring Artpen black carts a try.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I think J Herbin make carts with their Perle Noire black in them - that's good stuff.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I think J Herbin make carts with their Perle Noire black in them - that's good stuff.

I'll have to give them a try.
My only gripe with the KAWECO Sports is that you can't fit a converter and use bottle ink because they're too short to accommodate one, otherwise, I love them. With the cap posted they're really easy for my arthriticky paws to hold.

Probably explains why my other fountain pens are all of the "chunky" sort too. I look at Shaeffer Agios and Lamy Lineas and think "nah!".