Fountain pen - recommendations

[mrs quoad]

≠consistcy, surely.

Unable to resist the allure of maybe having done something wrong, I've reloaded it with Noodlers and shaken about half the damned ink out of the nib before trying to write anything. And pampered it out with a bunch of blotting paper.

tbh, it is now writing marginally drier; but it's a bucketload more faff than the Diamine and atm I'm definitely preferring the Oxblood as an all-rounder. Think the Noodler might be a goer for me on a Japanese EF nib (in another month or two? ) but for the mo it's a bit on the squelchy side.

 

[mrs quoad]

Having taken the time to cap it, write that message out, uncap it, and begin writing again, it's gone back to the same phat red mess that it was before the whole refilling / shaking out shenanigans. Pfft!

 

[TopCat]

I want another Mont Blanc.

 

[mrs quoad]

Are you going to get one? And / or do you have any plans for stealing one, or looking intensely at them?

 

[TopCat]

I will pay half ticket price for a stolen from shop one.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

That could be quite a lot!

 

[fen_boy]

Lamy 2000 £85 on eBay at the moment. They have the MK nib, which I think has been discontinued, but the new M nib is the same I think. I don't really know what I'm on about though.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

It looks like K nibs have a more rounded point, so that they're easier to use at different angles - though it's not like that is particularly hard anyway with a 2000, unless you hold it at a 90 degree angle to the paper or something, in which case nothing is going to help you. Except maybe a crayon.

 

[mrs quoad]

Brief update: I now hate the Noodlers less, after a w/e away (taking no ink but Noodlers).

It seems to've settled in.

 

[mrs quoad]

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.

Have just made enquiries of Andy's pens wrt a Sailor (Gazzala?) Chalana vintage pen, £12, with the intention of checking out a 'fine' Japanese nib before committing to anything more.

I very much like the look of the thinner Chalana body.

e2a2: also, I strongly suspect Tesco's have changed the quality of their 90gsm paper. Noodlers feathers on some of it, but not on other sheets (older printouts).

e2a3: and, good grief, within 2 minutes I'd received a reply and a (now-paid) Paypal invoice, £18 including a converter and postage

 

[FridgeMagnet]

This is the problem with using unbranded paper, companies frequently do change suppliers without mentioning it - in fact, they won't tell you their suppliers if you ask (I've tried this with Smiths). Weight can be a guide to show-through but not necessarily bleed or feather. I mostly buy notebooks though so couldn't say who was good for loose paper.

There are good non feathering inks but I don't know of any red ones. Usually they are black or blue black. R&K make a nice dusky purple iron gall ink called Scabiosa - iron galls don't bleed or feather and are waterproof, though they are quite dry.

 

[mrs quoad]

Artichoke would well take the piss if I was writing in scabby-anything.

 

[ViolentPanda]

This is the problem with using unbranded paper, companies frequently do change suppliers without mentioning it - in fact, they won't tell you their suppliers if you ask (I've tried this with Smiths). Weight can be a guide to show-through but not necessarily bleed or feather. I mostly buy notebooks though so couldn't say who was good for loose paper.

There are good non feathering inks but I don't know of any red ones. Usually they are black or blue black. R&K make a nice dusky purple iron gall ink called Scabiosa - iron galls don't bleed or feather and are waterproof, though they are quite dry.

I bought a bottle of that on Sunday, along with a Monteverde mini-converter for my Kaweco Sport, and a tin of Perle Noir cartridges. I love iron gall inks. Our art teacher showed us how to make them for drawing with, back when I was at school.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Artichoke would well take the piss if I was writing in scabby-anything.

Surely she takes the piss regardless?

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I bought a bottle of that on Sunday, along with a Monteverde mini-converter for my Kaweco Sport, and a tin of Perle Noir cartridges. I love iron gall inks. Our art teacher showed us how to make them for drawing with, back when I was at school.

Oh - tell me if that convertor works, I've never found any that fit the Sport.

 

[mrs quoad]

*cough

 

[mrs quoad]

I ordered a Sailor / Gazzaz Chalana from Andy's pens on Tues. Vintage - so £12 for the pen, £3.50 for the convertor, £2.50 postage.

It's just arrived, and w.o.w.! It's chuffing incredible. TINY - like, so thin that it's almost like holding a chopstick. JUST wide enough for me to get a decent / proper grip - which is absolutely fine - but any thinner, and I'd be struggling.

Lovely weight to it, absolute mint condition.

Have filled it up with Noodlers to start with, but tbh I'm already tempted to empty out the cartridge and load it up with Diamine Oxblood. The Noodlers red just looks a bit... *cough*... naff. And I don't want naff ink in my lovely new pen

e2a: there's still a load of vintage Chalanas here, fwiw: http://www.andys-pens.ukhome.net/forsale.shtml

I've got 009 Looks like new, tbh. Fantastic.

 

[Cid]

I need to buy more pens...

 

[ViolentPanda]

Oh - tell me if that convertor works, I've never found any that fit the Sport.

Fits in the barrel (although you can only 4/5th fill it), needs a bit of fettling (I used many turns of PTFE tape) on the feed to provide a good seal between the converter and the feed as there's about half a mm's play between the feed stem and the mouth of the converter otherwise. Working okay at the mo, though, no leakage. I'll keep you apprised.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I ordered a Sailor / Gazzaz Chalana from Andy's pens on Tues. Vintage - so £12 for the pen, £3.50 for the convertor, £2.50 postage.

It's just arrived, and w.o.w.! It's chuffing incredible. TINY - like, so thin that it's almost like holding a chopstick. JUST wide enough for me to get a decent / proper grip - which is absolutely fine - but any thinner, and I'd be struggling.

Lovely weight to it, absolute mint condition.

Have filled it up with Noodlers to start with, but tbh I'm already tempted to empty out the cartridge and load it up with Diamine Oxblood. The Noodlers red just looks a bit... *cough*... naff. And I don't want naff ink in my lovely new pen

e2a: there's still a load of vintage Chalanas here, fwiw: http://www.andys-pens.ukhome.net/forsale.shtml

I've got 009 Looks like new, tbh. Fantastic.

Those things look deformed!

 

[mrs quoad]

Those things look deformed!

The Chalanas?! They're f***ing beautiful!

e2a: and very different from those porky-middled bastards that seem to hog the market

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Barrel-fascist

 

[ViolentPanda]

The Chalanas?! They're f***ing beautiful!

e2a: and very different from those porky-middled bastards that seem to hog the market

They're flashy tat made by people who hate the disabled!! You try writing with a fucking chop-stick and swollen fingers!!

 

[mrs quoad]

They're flashy tat made by people who hate the disabled!! You try writing with a fucking chop-stick and swollen fingers!!

Is anyone trying to make you write with a fucking chop-stick?

Because if they are then I suggest you take it up with them, rather than the pen manufacturers!

 

[ViolentPanda]

Is anyone trying to make you write with a fucking chop-stick?

Because if they are then I suggest you take it up with them, rather than the pen manufacturers!

I've tried writing with slender FPs. Doesn't work for me. I can't grip them properly.

But if some cunt tries to get me to write with a fucking chopstick...

 

[mrs quoad]

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 )

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I told you a Lamy would be too wide.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

You could try a Hero 329. I use one for annotations.

 

[mrs quoad]

That is one fugly mofo of a pen nib there.

 

[mrs quoad]

It actually looks like a killer whale, with a tiny bit of penguin poking out of its mouth.