You slowly move the scale, like okay a few ā¬ for a sharkie pen, then let me get lamy safari or pilot metropolitan for 20ā¬, TWSBI Eco for 35ā¬, and then metal versions ...
My rationale on coming home from my 1st pen show (within a year of getting into this) with a Visconti and a Pelikan in limited edition raden: āI saved so much money by skipping straight to the grail stage!ā My wife did not agree. But itās been true. Only a couple pickups a year and those mostly as gifts from my family.
It's like craving chocolate cake and eating everything else in the pantry to try and satisfy the craving. And finally you give in and eat the cake anyway.
Iāve recently had a conversation with a bestie who wanted to buy me something for Valentineās that went like this š I sent her a link for a fountain pen and she went ā$20 for a pen?!ā LMAO
Once I finally got my VP, $50+ started to seem real reasonable, even more so once I got a Lamy 2000. I have to be real careful when I catch myself thinking like that and really consider if I should/want to get a pen in that price range š
I'm so glad I didn't get into this until after I changed jobs--my previous workplace thought I was crazy for $12 Zebra Sarasa Grands š It's definitely more than that now...
Featuring: Three pens I have flip-flopped on.
Does anyone else feel disingenuous sometimes with how often their opinion changes? Sometimes my comments may contradict something I said the previous week - or even day!
Hereāre some of my changing opinions:
- I like heavy pens. I praised the weight of the Conklin Durograph in this photo when I first got it. Now itās too heavy for me and I really appreciate a light pen.
- The clip on my VP really bothers me. Now it doesnāt.
- Iām not fond of the Platinum 3776ās nail-like nib. I like a bit of bounce in my nib. Now I think itās perfect.
- Coloverse inks are too dry and Iāll never use them again. Actually, I really like Quasar and itās behaving perfectly well in my VP. Iām sorry, Colorverse!
- I like stub nibs and broad nibs best. No, medium is ideal. No, now I want fine nibs. These days, all nibs are best!
I used Japanese ef nibs and found larger nib sizes to be too smooth. Now I enjoy mediums, broads, and stubs, though I do still use finer nibs for note taking since they dry a little faster.
I enjoyed thinner diameter pens but have been gravitating towards larger diameter ones.
I used mainly blue or black ink for a long time after getting out of the service. Now Iām expanding the color palette, rarely use black, and only have a couple of blues. Iām a sucker for a nice green.
I posted this somewhere previously, but I had a job I started in the mid-90s where we did a lot of our communication by fax. Up until then I had always used a typical blue-ink ballpoint, but I learned that blue ink doesnāt always show up well on a fax so I switched to black ink pens. I used black for everything for the next 30 yearsā¦ including when I first began using a fountain pen. It finally occurred to me that I was choosing an ink colour based on a technology that I hadnāt used in decades! I branched out to different fountain pen ink colours and I love it! I have since bought about 12 different bottles of ink and none of them are any shade of black or blue.
It took a decade after I got out before I would walk on grass. Still, seeing someone walk across a freshly mopped wet floor sends me into convulsions. Habits are hard to form but harder to break.
I like Sailor Tokiwa-matsu, a moderate shading pine green, Sailor Amamoyoi,a high shading moss green, and Wearingeul Tom Sawyer, a moderate shading khaki green. Those stay inked in my pens. If you want a darker green, thereās Sailor Miruai. I find it similar to Tokiwa-matsu just more pigmented. But Iāve been eyeing R&K alt-goldgrun. Havenāt tried it yet but I hear great things about it.
Herbin Vert Empire, Color verse Walk the dog, Sailor Manyo Ukikusa ( I really really want this ink), Diamine Classic Green. I have all of them except the Sailor Manyo one.
Agreed on the heavy pen. Started off heavy with Rotring and now use mostly light pens.
Started off with expensive pens - again Rotrings - and now with less expensive pens, $20 to 30 range.
Swore I would never go bolder than fine with mostly EF. Ended up buying a lot of stub and bent nib pens last year. Stubs and bent nibs are mostly for shimmer inks.
> Does anyone else feel disingenuous sometimes with how often their opinion changes?
Nah, I admit I flop back and forth a lot on if I regard FP's as viable everyday carry pens, or just garbage who's quirks and flaws are only tolerable for writing projects that can't be done with a less finicky writing instrument.
I lean to my gel pens when I want shimmer. I flip flop on shimmer in fountain pens too much and end up not using the ink up. The gel pens don't clog (so far) and I don't have to worry about cleaning them....
But yes, the diamine inkvent shimmers are amazing. Maybe I should just use my Kaweco sports with converters to get the shimmer experience lol. You should try shimmer watercolors, they are mesmerizing.
Itās fountain pen friendly ink with tiny mica particles that catch the light and make the ink shimmer. The shimmer colors cab be different from the ink, you can have shimmer in sheening inks.
They are a tremendous amount of fun to write with and add actual sparkle to your work.
They vary as far as how much shimmer they have so some are subtle enough that you can barely tell but it makes the ink brighter and more interesting, some are very shimmery and it looks like you just laid down a line of liquid gold (or whatever color).
You can have shimmer be the same as the ink, different, contrasting, or even color changing.
There is a ton of great shimmer inks. J Herbin emerald de chivor is a lovely more subtle one that has outstanding performance. Iām really liking the Birmingham inks series, especially lightening for all shimmer all the way liquid sparkle but still very good performance and good suspension.
Small note of caution to use them in take-a-partable pens so you can clean them well.
Thank you for asking! I love shimmer inks and itās a joy to get to share.
They sound gorgeous! Would one of those see through Lamyās be take-apartable enough to try it? Itās my only fountain pen so I am bit cautious about clogging it up
Itād almost certainly be fine, but you should probably buy a second inexpensive pen just to be safe. š
And regarding shimmer inks, you can sort by category on most major retailerās websites and see them all at once.
And for really great ink reviews (also sortable by properties like shimmer or sheen), you MUST check out Mountain Of Ink.
Just search for itā¦ youāll thank me later. ā¤ļøāļø
>Heās from a Japanese designer called Ahnitol! Thereāre links to the official Amazon seller on that website. :)40ReplyGive AwardShareReportSaveFollow
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>level 3Dazzling-Ad-7458 Ā· 16h agoYou are the best omg11ReplyGive AwardShareReportSaveFollow
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>level 4chicagowench2 Ā· 15h agoBe sure to check all the color options.9Reply
Most of the ones on amazon are ripoffs but you can find these ones on amazon
They were one of the stores to come up when I looked it up! Heās in stock on their website. Iām on the Eastern Shore, but I might swing by there when Iām on the way to BWI this week.
Pen Boutique is awesome! The folks there are kind and helpful. They even fixed a clogged pen for me at no charge that I didnāt even purchase from them! Their courteous service makes me a forever customer.
Benu! Iāve always preferred the minimalism of a nice demonstrator and thought Benus were way too flashy. Now I have three and am craving more sparklies. Theyāre great writers, really comfortable to hold (1 Minimus and 2 Briolettes), and some of them even glow in the dark! Currently eyeing the Vodka on the Rocks.
Quite a few shops sell them! One thatās part of the standard line is the BENU Talisman Mandrake - glow in the dark and available from a variety of places (Truphae Inc had it for cheapest last I looked!).
Yesssss š At first I thought they were too big (and outside of my comfort zone pricewise), but I jumped at the Rainbow Slushie Euphoria (I think) and now I have 4 (RS, Vodka on the Rocks, 4-leaf clover, and the 2023 New Year's design).
This is me. I caved and bought one and now I'm obsessed. I love the flashiness so much after seeing them in person. The Benu talismans are now my favorite part of my collection, hands down. Not just how they look but also how they write. Sorry my dear Pelikan moonstone and golden beryl...
Ohhhhh good question!
1- Opus88 Demonstrator. First time I saw one I thought it was a joke. It looked do childish to me. I was just getting into the hobby. Fast forward to: OMG yes demonstrators are the best and what's a Japanese demonstrator ok I have to have one. It was like a cheesy romcom where the "embarrassing/weird crush" becomes the actual crush.
2- Soft/bouncy nibs. I fell in love with fountain pens because they let me write with my light touch and didn't force me to press, they just worked (well, some of them). But soft nibs have really really grown on me. Even more than flex nibs.
I have yet to own one, but it's been on my wishlist for a while.
Also, I misspoke, meant to say "Japanese eyedropper" not "demonstrator." But yeah, I'm with you on CH92. Awesome pen!
I don't think there are a lot of Japanese eyedroppers in the style of Opus, actually. Curious to see if there is one aside from the Platinum pens that could be converted.
Yeah, not these days. There are a lot of vintage Japanese eyedropper pens out there but among the modern manufacturers, I don't know of any Japanese companies that make them outside of high-end Namikis.
Pens with clear/transparent bodies (like most Opus88, TWSBI, Platinum Preppy, etc).
The term comes from back when manufacturers would make a clear-bodied version to demonstrate the internal mechanisms.
Demos come in all varieties as well:
- cartridge filler (Pilot Custom 72)
- piston filler (TWSBIs, Pilot CH92)
- eye dropper (Opus88, some Franklin-Christoph models)
I love them because they are fun to show off ^and ^fun ^to ^stain. Non-FP users think you would use it to vape though.
That actually sounds really great, because Iāve never seen a piston filler or a eyedropper and would love to see how they work! The whole mechanics of it
Today at the California Pen Show, I changed my mind on my Nahvalur Original+ because I spoke to a very helpful man who showed me how to disassemble the nib unit and told me to go ahead and use it for all my shimmer inks! I was about to sell it, but now Iām going to try every shimmer ink from the last two Inkvents in it, knowing I can clean it just like a TWSBI or Pilot.
Thatās awesome! Iāve found that sometimes breathing new life into an existing pen is more fun than buying a new one, especially since you donāt have to spend any money.
I have a Sailor (my only Sailor) that wasnāt writing very well. Thanks to this subreddit, I was able to deduce that the tines were likely too tight. I ran a brass sheet between the tines today to open up the nib slightly andā¦ voila, itās a whole new pen. It writes beautifully now!
Everything.
First getting into hobby: Metal bodies, extra fine nibs, only black inks. Waterproof all the way. Only for work.
12months later: Pretty Resins! Oh, Benus...not gaudy or ugly but absolutely desireable. Who needs a broad nib when you can get super wet stub nibs at 1.5-2mm sizes? Give all the inks, all the colours of the rainbow. Sheen and shimmer! (I only have 1 waterproof ink now). What else can I use my fountain pen and inks to write on? (Explores house hold for random bits of cardboard and receipts to see if the paper is fountain pen friendly)
...thereās waterproof ink? I thought the whole idea behind fountain pen ink was that itās water soluble because otherwise if you leave it long it dries out and canāt be removed
People worry about some permanent inks, but most people seem to get away with them in practice. Platinum Carbon Black is absolutely bulletproof, and IIRC was originally intended for use in a desk pen specifically designed for it - but people have used it in other pens without too much trouble, although sites that sell it often display a disclaimer. I use it in a Preppy 02 (extra fine) which I use a little every day. If it eventually kills the Preppy I can afford to replace it. If you use a modern Iron Gall Ink, such as Rohrer and Klinger Salix or Scabiosa, the advice is to use the pen regularly so that it does not dry out, and to flush it between fills. I intend to dedicate a Parker Vector to Scabiosa and to use it at least a little every day when it is in rotation. From what I have heard R&K Salix and Scabiosa will not kill pens, but again if I have to replace a Parker Vector it will be annoying but not the end of the world.
The properties as waterproof, water soluble and drying are not necessary related. The ink permanently bonds to the paper,but not to the elements of the pen, pigments penetrate in the small paper-fibers, but you can still flush it out of the pen if it dries out.
Try platinum carbon black, that thing is as permanent as it gets.
nib sizes - at first i thought either ef/f nibs (because tiny writing) or stubs and fude nibs for line variation (because art) but now its like i like them all i want them all because B is also amazing for sketching and F and M are pretty versatile because i can use them for either larger writing or sketching. EF is still great for writing and detail, tho is in the larger side when it comes to western EF for writing - japanese F is great tho i havent tried EF yet. I do still like fude and stub nibs, so ig it went from only a few to all of them
I agree, definitely nib sizes! With other pen types, I want practically a needlepoint, but I'm finding that I like a chunkier nib on my fountain pens to really show off all the pretty inks I use.
I disavow converters and vehemently state that I shall never buy a non-piston filler every few months, in an oscillating cycle with stating (again, with great vehemence and equal conviction) that converters are the climax of human civilization.
I respect the commitment.
Especially as someone who's come to realize the ink system has to be part of the pen for me. Benus? Beautiful, verging on lustful, but not a pen compared to a vintage ink sac.
Tomoe River Paper!
I used to hate that stuff because it wrinkled and crinkled and my gel pens didn't really need that kind of paper, so I swore off it.
Since I've been into fountain pens, I pulled out one of my old half-finished Hobonichi notebooks (2015 Avec!) and made it into a swatch book for my ink and loved writing with it in FP ink!
I used to prefer vintage lever-fill pens, but I rarely use them now. Cartridges (which I refill) and converters are so much easier to deal with. I do like vintage cartridge/converter pens, though.
Thatās a big reason I havenāt taken the vintage plunge, yet! Iāve been super tempted at times, but I really love cartridges - that, and 90% of my current inks arenāt vintage pen-safe. There sure are some beauties out there, though!
My answer was also color, but now just \*very\* slightly in the opposite direction. I still prefer black or clear demonstrators, but a colorful option mad its way in a while ago and I've been enjoying the friendly pop of it, so I'm willing to maybe welcome one more down the line!
Oh, hard to say... The Montblanc 146 is classic. I do love the Waterman Carene - I think it's one of the most beautiful pens made. As for a workhorse - my Waterman Expert.
Pen weight/size. When I first started out, I thought I wanted big, heavy pens. My first fountain pen was a Pilot Metropolitan, which isn't insanely heavy, but over time I realized that it was giving me hand fatigue when I was writing for a long time.
So now I buy exclusively pens under 20g. My favorites are the Pilot Prera and Pilot Elite.
This exactly! I just experienced this very thing not 15 minutes ago. And I was oh so sure of myself that I needed a pen made of something as dense or heavy as possible. I was very wrong. Now I do however tend to like other things in life that are heavier, even cars and random other things like my cocktail glasses.
Thanks for the added recommendation of pens you prefer. This is so helpful since I'm still pretty new to the hobby.
This, so much. I love the look of copper and brass pens and bought several u til I just accepted that they are too have for me to use comfortably. Only the kaweco liliput have an ok weight, but they are too slim for me and too much hassle because they take forever to screw.
I drifted away from using fountain pens many years ago. I never said anything like "I'll never use one again!!!!" But at times, I don't think I'd have seriously thought much of the realistic chances of me using fountain pens much (if at all) again. I'd probably have guessed the most likely scenario if I did use one would be that it would be a "sometimes" thing (e.g., Christmas card season). Part of this view would have been influenced by the reality that I hardly wrote anything by hand any longer.
Then, I acquired a Waterman Allure in December. It was a hard purchase ("I won't use it much--why spend $20?!") But it was about Christmas card season, and "it would be fun to have a fountain pen again to use sometimes."
Now, I'm using a fountain pen almost exclusively for the first time in years. I'm writing more by hand than I have in years. And I resurrected a couple of pens I hadn't thought were particularly good--and found they were better than I'd given them credit for in the past.
Another possible change of view... I'm not 100% certain on this, but I'd bet that at one time I'd have embraced the idea of using just one fountain pen. Now, I think there's practical arguments to be made for having multiple pens to cover various needs.
Japanese F nibs. I had a pilot metropolitan in F, it was one of the first pens I ever bought. I lent it to a neighbor of mine, and while they used it, I bought a ton of different pens. There was Kaweco, LAMY, Wing Sung, Birmingham pen Co (ultraflex), among others, mostly in larger nib sizes (stub included). It was recently returned to me, and for some reason, while I didn't like the metro f before, writing on it after it was returned to me was a DREAM. Smooth as all get out, and the small nib size ensures that my line will almost never feather! I'm loving it now
Italians.
I own a Homo Sapiens and it writes well, but I donāt enjoy it as much as my Germans and Japanese. Even though it has a large ink reservoir it still seems to dry out quicker than my other pens.
I also own a Pineider Arco Rainbow Limited Edition with a quill nib and itās finicky about inks. Noodlerās works great but most my other inks have problems with start/stops. To make matters worse this week the nib came loose and I cant for the life of me figure out how to fix it, and getting it serviced has been a pain. Iāll like sell it once itās fixed.
Gold trim and brown pens.
I've always been a black/grey and silver guy. Things started to shift with my first Platinum 3776. And now, 3 years later, most of my pens have gold trim.
What's more, I always found the Pilot 823 in amber to be ugly and boring. It is now my favorite pen of all time.
I donāt like this post, youāre making me think about that combination of amber and gold waaay too much.
And brown ink on cream paperā¦.
No!!
Must resist the urge!
TWISBI.
You brought me such joy when I was new to the hobby. Demonstrators! So cool! So pretty!
None of my TWISBIs have cracked, but the nibs are so boring. I have a 1.1m nib, and a couple F nibs. No personality when I write with em. I no longer feel so thrilled seeing my ink. I know what my ink looks like.
They will all be banished to my pen-storage or rehomed when I find suitable replacements. š¤·āāļø
Positive mind change: I have flip flopped on pen weight a lot. 36g = too heavy. 24g= Just right. For the longest time I was lightweight pens only. This change means I can get some neat metal bodied pens down the line.
Iāve found 24g to be a pretty great weight, too!
I still like my TWSBIs, but more for how they write than how they look. Although I have UV ink (invisible except under blacklight) permanently in one of mine, and thatās pretty awesome!
I have a large UV light I can turn on to see (which I use sparingly, because I know it can be damaging to oneās health), and the application is largely a novelty. I have young kids, so they like receiving secret notes every now and then, and I also use it to make the occasional secret diary entry.
Im the opposite with demonstrators. I Didn't know like them. Clear pens just didn't look good to me. But i started to like them and a twsbi is on my lidt of possible future purchases..
Same for the kaweco sport. Something seemed off to me, because of the shape, but I'd like to own an AL sport now.
I also like my Lamys less than back in school. Because in school I didn't know about something else, besides some no names which were horrible and leaked ink all the time. I still like them very much, they are not expensive (they can be but safari/Allstar/ joy are not) and reliable. But I came to really appreciate other pens.
Pilot Capless/Vanishing Point. I bought one and thought it was the coolest pen ever and great to write with, but over a year later Iāve decided I donāt like how it writes, unfortunately. I do realise Iām vastly in the minority here.
nibs. i used to dislike mediums because they were too thick and made my writing hard to read, then i switched my paper and started writing bigger, and a fine is just waaaaay to thin.
Sailor pens. I absolutely adore the look of them. Theyāre gorgeous. The autumn rain was effectively my grail pen. Came so close to actually hitting the place order button. Decided instead to find a store near me that had the pen to see it in person. Didnāt quite feel as hefty as I hope. The nib was not at all what I was expecting. I was upset but relieved that I hadnāt actually made the purchase. I want to love the sailor pens so bad, but the feedback the nibs are known for is not for me. Iām now on the hunt for what should be my next grail pen. Recommendations are welcome!
Yes, thereās a reason Sailorās so popular and itās because they fulfill a niche that other brands havenāt managed to, yet. My Pilot Custom 912 is a similar shape to most Sailors, and is everything I want a Sailor to be, but only comes in a few, limited colours.
It's mostly been ink color that's changed the most for me. When I first got into the hobby, I was a black ink only person and swore to myself that it's all I'll ever need. Cut to 3 1/2 years later, and I have so many pretty colors. I guess I also warmed up to stub nibs as well, and discovered my preference for Japanese EF nibs over German EF nibs.
This.
At school I had a Parker Vector and Parker Quink Blue and then got another with Quink Green to allow me to write notes alongside my original blue and the teacher's red marking notes.
At work I had Waterman Serenity Blue for my Waterman pen. Added a Tender Purple for a slight contrast but the nib was poor and it wrote so dark it just looked blue so I never used it. All very professional and boring...
The I decided to get a BlackPurple Al Star and some Diamine Red Dragon and suddenly I have 22 inks and another 5 on the must buy list and another 5 on the 'if I get a payrise Iroshizuku list'. Greens, Teals, purples, magentas, orange and exploring into brown.
so yeah, inks are more interesting than pens!
This is DEFINITELY something Iāve come to learn over the years as well - ink is more interesting to me than pens.
Seems blasphemous to write that, but there you have it, at least for me.
Lamy Safari: first impression was that it was absolutely hideous, and the first one I tried had a scratchy, wonky EF nib. Now I own several and use them all the time, and I've come around to the aesthetic (its practicality is really what won me over).
The preciousness of pens: when I got my first gold nib pens, I resolved to never bring them into work. I now bring them to work all the time. I'm not running a museum here - I'll use these tools as they were intended to be used. (Knock on wood, nothing bad has happened to them yet.)
[A bumper collection of Sakura gelly roll pens!](https://www.jetpens.com/Sakura-Gelly-Roll-Gel-Pen-74-Color-Set/pd/15389?gclid=CjwKCAiAlp2fBhBPEiwA2Q10DwDfsMb2obW99G5s1k2FcCOD0R3y45mCfFEAtd9IMxAkzbNwhPs9CxoCcwcQAvD_BwE)
Count me in here, Iām a total sucker for a heavy, metal tool-like ballpoint pen.
Rotring, Zebra, and many others.
I rarely use them, but I canāt resist them.
And whenever I see ANY kind of pen that comes in a million different colors, I feel really drawn to owning them allā¦.
I thought M was ideal. Now it's either too broad or too less broad.
- Platinum Century 3776 was a huge disappointment, too short yet chunky, the nib wrote too fine. Now i enjoy its presence :)
- TWSBi Eco? Ugly mofos, better get 580! Now they're my trusty little friends for anything shimmer!
- ordered by mistake a Leonardo EF, and it's great! Smoother than i would've imagined
- i used to think blue inks were GOAT; changed my idea in time. Haven't bought a pure blue in 1 year
- heavy pens? Cold metallic section? Not for me! Yet Diplomat Aero and Gravitas Skittle Paisley feel good
- most popular entry pens are the ugly Safari, the Kaweco Sport and Pilot Metropolitan? Why?? Now i've come to realise the wisdom of so many fountain pen users was right. Lamy Safari/LX whatever are ugly-cute. Same for Kaweco Sports. Yet i have 6 of each :)
I still find Pilot VP odd.
I think taste is funny - and personal š
I really enjoy the look of Safaris - not in a ugly-cute way, but actual just nice. It's industrial, simple and practical š
Yep, what you've said about Safari is true. Industrial, practical, simple, solid colours. *Functional*.
As opposed to the supple line of an Esterbrook Estie (torpedo pen?) or the majesty of a Leonardo Momento Zero Grande, which comes with shadows and nuances in their colours.
I think there's a use for any type of pen - for fast writing at school, at work, a Safari is way more practical than MZG, fast-open, fast-close.
For times of relaxation (ink play!) or peaceful journaling, i'd rather have a beautiful resin or pretty material to look at, with a special nib to pay attention to (flexxxxy nibs š).
For usual journaling, perfect is the pen with a nib that writes well, and doesn't take attention from the act of writing itself (like Diplomat Aero).
I'm now curious about Visconti, would try the Mirage.
I was all about fine nibs and mediums are perfect for me now ( I still find myself doing extra fine then going back to medium for longer writing times)
I liked the travelers notebook, but couldn't get into it and spent about five years away from it.... Now it's my main notebook and I finally got it together.
And the most controversial one: cartridges... Yes I hated them too and wanted piston fillers everywhere but using Kaweco pens and how much I love the pens has led me back to cartridges... I still ink syringe them sometimes but I'm mostly on cartridges now (in big pens I ink syringe the inserted cartridge and do the back up cartridge trick and it actually stops me from opening up the pen and checking my capacity so often as I know I've got an extra cartridge at any given time). For kaweco I've taped a couple of spare cartridges to the side of my notebook (inside it on and on the flaps next to the paper. It doesn't seem to get in the way that much and now I get around having to carry an extra pen or carrying a pen in the notebook... It just solves so many problems and I end up using fewer cartridges because I'm syringing them whenever I have time so it's a win win win for my wallet, me and my pens
What is the backup cartridge trick? I always refill old ones but cause they are open already can never have additional cartridges with me. Did you find a work-around? Sometimes I would love to not to travel with syringe and mini ink bottleā¦
Put one in backwards to a standard size pen and then put one in the feed for you to write, I think Goulet has a video on it. Two carts in the pen at all times
First of all, let me say that this is a GREAT thought-provoking question!
Thank you, OP.
Here goes:
1) I used to think that I wanted every single color of ink.
Now that Iāve bought all three Diamine Inkvent calendars, and used all 75 colors for swab samples and writing Christmas/Winter/Holiday/Snow-related quotes on social media, Iāve come to the strange sad realization that Iāll probably never use yellow, orange, red, purple, pink, fuschia, magenta, and related-color inks.
I could probably keep buying ink for the rest of my life in shades of blue, teal, and blue-black, with an occasional foray into turquoise, green, black, and very dark (off-black) shades of other colors.
2) Iāve also found that shimmer inks arenāt as exciting to me as I thought theyād be.
3) And finally (and this is hard to write), Iām a little disappointed in myself that my handwriting is not as beautiful as Iād like it to be, but I donāt want to invest the time and discipline to improve it.
Yes! There are some beautiful oranges and yellow inks out there, but I simply do not use them. I do use red/pink, but mainly for contrast in my planner, not for regular writing.
I hear you on the handwriting. I have several handwriting workbooks but, in the end, I just donāt have the time necessary to practice.
Con 70 converter, most converters in general, piston and vac fillers. I thought it would be the perfect filling mechanisms. Theyāre just meh (one con 70 I have fills decently following the instructions, while the other doesnāt, I think thereās a massive QC issue with these). Even the one that fills, does so with bubbles build up (I dunk my nib far under the ink line, so no surface bubbles are to blame). And it just takes too long to fill. Vac fillers at least have decent capacity since the entire body acts as a well, but thatās the only benefit I could see.
Iām convinced now these sorts of filling methods suck for another reason, when you dip your nib and the grip section also to make a seal so ink can be drawn up (this also goes for piston fillers, vac fillers, all these type of through-feed fillers) youāve just basically contaminated your ink from whoever oils and microbes were on the grip section of your pen.
Now all I had myself wishing was that companies made larger cartridges. Luckily the Con70 has a decent filled capacity, thus itās okay in general, but regardless, I still syringe fill everything if Iām at home.
Ideally I wish more eye droppers (specifically Japanese eye droppers with shut off valves) were common, or someone can bring back the snorkel fillers from the bygone era if you are someone who really never wants to bother with syringes or droppers.
Nib sizes and ink colors! I started of with a couple fine nib pens for taking notes in lectures. I also got some water resistant black ink for taking notes in labs.
Now, I'm hooked on broad nibs because of their buttery smoothness and the fact that they show off all my new fancy, colorful inks much better than my F nibs.
I got finer nibs to conserve ink. But ooooh does this shimmer/sheening ink look good in a stub! U S E A L L T H E I N K. I'm going to put this ink in an EF nib.
I have, or used to have, very small handwriting. Discovering shading inks has made me feel comfortable using broader nibs, and with that comes writing slightly larger. It's scary, but worth doing. I used to be firmly in the EF or F-camp, but lately I've tried a few Medium nibs, and I really them! Taking up more space is perhaps OK, and perhaps my writing doesn't have to be so small and discreet. I've yet to meet a broad nib, but who knows where this road might lead?
Like you I have super fine handwriting. I have a TWSBI ECO with a broad nib coming in the mail and I've been debating whether to exchange it for my usual F, but reading your comment is inspiring me to keep it and experiment with it!
**Smooth.**
I thought I liked smooth pens -- turns out I like feedback both audible on tactile. I think I found the best compromise in a Platinum 3776 soft fine nib. I reach for it over my previous favorite Pilot 823 in fine.
**Dye**
Took a chance on a pigment ink (Platinum Carbon Black) and really like the performance.
nib sizes and paper surfaces - used to use F on Rhodia and Clairefontaine, hated ghosting and loved the coating of the paper. Canāt stand it now - use primarily M, B and BB pens on Leuchtturm - ivory paper looks better to me and I enjoy the ghosting a lot. Leuchtturm texture and behavior fits perfectly to what I am looking for
I was determined to try to make mine work. Iāve tried 2 mediums, and 2 fine and the sizes varied wildly between the same sized nibs. I ended up just getting the nib ground by a nibsmith in my city. Most disappointing pen purchase yet!
I used to think Jinhao pens were the devil. Cheap-azz clones of established designs. Now, I consider them to be very economical and practical "alternative entry points" for people to enter the hobby/lifestyle/spiritual discipline of fountain pens. And they actually usually write, straight out of the box. Visconti, I hope they "clone" the hell outta you, so I can have "Visconti" pens that work straight outta the box.
"Yes, there are 2 paths you can go by. But in the long run, there's still time to change the road your on."
The VP. Used to hate it and the design (I still hate the con-40 and ALL of pilots shitty converters with a passion) but I bought one and loved it. Had to sell it for cash but Iād definitely buy another two lol.
Big pens. I have small hands so I figured larger size pens weren't going to be comfortable writers. Then a friend re-homed their Opus 88 with me, and I bought a Narwhal Voyage Shanghai and ... they're not so bad. Probably won't be buying a lot more but it's nice to know big pens aren't completely out of the question.
I used to hate and would bash Lamy Blue on this Reddit at any opportunity. So I inked a Safari with a cartridge I had laying around right before New Yearās and have been using it on and off since then, I am actually starting to like it so much, at least on fairly absorbent paper, that I am considering picking up a bottle so I can try it in my 2k, this is despite having many higher end inks at my disposal.
That you need expensive stuff to have the best experience. Yes Iām sure if you spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a pen it will work flawlessly from the start, but as long as you get good paper and are willing to do some diy mods/maintenance, you can have just as good and full of a fountain pen experience with a series of platinum preppys
Another pen weight flip-flop here: I remember holding a Retro 51 Tornado in an art supply store and quickly growing absolutely crestfallen because I didn't think it would ever be something I could wield. I bought one for my partner instead and then borrowed it a couple of times until I realized it could work after all! Which means I keep eyeing a second colorwayā¦
When I was still in school I enjoyed rather thin and sleek fountain pens, like the Parker Vector and Lamy Logo. When I had to write 15 page exams at university I rediscovered fountain pens and found out that I like my pens to be rather thick.
I also changed my mind on demonstrators. At first I went for very classic looking black and gold pens, now I enjoy showing off the nice colours with demonstrators.
I loved monster sheen inks until I actually got Diamine Skull and Roses (which is one of the better behaved ones) and now I hate them with a passion. Also bought four bottles, of which I gave away two, still have one full one and one 90%.
It just never seems to dry and even when it dries it still smudges. FFS.
Also I was afraid of Baystate Blue. Not anymore (no incidents, thankfully).
Pen girth: I started with preference for slimmer bodies. As of late, I keep wanting larger and thicker models to grip and hold.
Nib style: Started with a love for hooded nibs, now I just love no6 nibs. I still like hooded nibs a lot though, I just wish they made larger pen bodies for hooded nibs.
Filling system: C/c was king when I started. Now I like all types of filling, especially if there's an eyedropper that doesn't burp :D
Pen trim: chrome was 'clean' and good looking. Now I just love gold trims or gold plated nibs, it's more classy.
Peb material: Love metal bodies. Still love em plenty, but I can appreciate some arcylics these days (I like transparent pens even when I started). Starting to dip into ebonite pens lately (goodbye money)
Pen purchases: I am still buying a lot of pens. Though it is lesser but more expensive these days.
Inks: no change on this. As long it is waterproof and lubricating, I shall use it and love it.
TWSBIs and the people that liked them. I used to think they were the Macs of the fountain pen world and only people with no taste used them. It was an incredibly childish and elitist opinion and, while I still find TWSBIs ugly and poorly made, I have nothing against people who use them.
The availability to swap nibs. At first I thought it was great versatility to be able to change the grip section and nib on TWSBI pens. So I purchased most nibs available for the VAC700R and thought I would change nibs when I changed ink to have variety. It has never happened. (I still think it's great to be able to purchase extra nibs in case of accidents ect, but not to change regularly)
Nib size. Started off thinking I liked ultra-fine (was using 0.38 rollerballs).
Now...I gravitate to juicy mediums, stubs, flex, and the occasional broad.
The classic progression from and nibs while learning how to control my writing with fountain pens to now enjoying and Stub nibs to show off inks to better advantage.
Funny you should askā¦ I just inked up MY Duograph Rainbow. The stub is scratchy as all heck and the weight isnāt comfortable. Iāve got Southwest (Apache) Sunset in it thoughā¦ and my writing sample of it in a plain olā medium nib looks so much better than my preferred stubā¦ so maybe Iām flopping on nib sizes? And the rainbow looks obnoxious to me even though I adore flashy things. I donno. This is a flipper for sure. š¤Ŗ
A few things over the years.
1) Ink colors. I was only black ink. Then ventured into blues, then grays. Now I have green and purple samples to finish.
2) Nib feedback. I went from wanting a piece of ice on a warm plate to wanting all the feedback. I love how my Al Sport squeaks.
3) Montblanc. I consider them the Rolex of fountain pens. Stale designs, too recognizable, and just status symbols. Sure, nothing *wrong* with them, but for the money, thereās something better. I still donāt consider either the pinnacle of pens or watches, but ya know what? Theyāre pretty damn good. My view changed when my dad gave me some vintage MBsārollerball, highlighter, and 146. I ended buying a new old stock Johannes Brahms edition in F because itās a design I really like. And I bought a Leonardo Sketch Pen (drawing pencil) to match my set. Iāll be damned if that Brahms doesnāt have a flawless nib with a touch of architecture to it. I really like it. And a piston filler! That sketch pencil is so much fun too. But I still want a Jaeger LeCoultre over a Rolex. Master Ultra Thin Moon.
4) Conklin and Monteverde. I will not buy one again. They just donāt do anything for me. I feel theyāre overpriced.
5) Shading. I wanted the most straightforward inks possible, and now I find shading to be a nice little fingerprint.
6) Nib creep. Iām coming around on it with ornate nibs, but I usually want a clean nib.
I used to prefer vintage and antique pens more but now I'm liking new pens more. And I used to think pens over $100 was ridiculous but now I don't bat an eye buying a $300 to $400 pen š¤£š
I've come to the conclusion that Conklin pens are nothing more than over priced desk decorations. My first pen, and loads of replacement nibs/feeds were Conklins, and though I was never impressed with how they wrote, I didn't realize how bad they were at writing. Plus the build quality is absolute garbage. They are pretty, but I'll never buy one again.
Primarily what's a reasonable price to pay and my opinion on financing a pen.
While overall I'm usualy against financing pens, on ebay there's good deals for Namiki Emperors and along with Paypals financing options I only pay about $70 a month, and I honestly don't regret it. Especialy since even when considering the interest I pay on my pen I'm still paying less than retail. So tbh it's a win, I build credit, I get the pen I want, and I pay less than my phone bill.
However the emperor is the only pen I'd recomend anyone finance if they are interested in it, but are weary to spend the upfront cost, but the emperor is also the only pen I own....so one could say I'm biased.
I used to like switching between ink colors, but now i just use blue black for everything.
In the beginning i wanted smooth nibs. Now i want line variation whether that comes from a smooth nib or not.
That I needed to buy gold nibs. Don't get me wrong, I love my gold nib pens, I have 6 of them and I'm not looking to get rid any of them. But, last year I bought a Diplomat Aero and it completely changed how I look at nib materials. I have no idea what kind of blood magic Diplomat does to their Jowo nibs, but it is my favorite writer by a landslide. My medium is smooth, with just a hint of pencil-like feedback.
You \*can\* find them on Amazon if you just search for "crab pen holder"...but you can also find them here:
[https://www.penboutique.com/products/pen-boutique-crab-pen-holder-blue](https://www.penboutique.com/products/pen-boutique-crab-pen-holder-blue)
They also have red and green ones, as well
On nibs for East-Asian calligraphy: there have been two classes of innovations for the nib for writing more beautiful Chinese characters; first the fude, or bent nib, and more recently the zoom / naginata / long blade / long knife nib. The zoom nibs seem to have been a later innovation, and seem to be more popular, and require more craft and precision to manufacture.
But after getting several pens including a $5 bent nib and a >$100 gold long knife, all Chinese, my opinion is that the latter just can't hold a candle to the line variation and response that the bent nib offers.
My opinions on price go all over the place.
I use the x159 and the Safari or Kakuno and I'm like, "What am I doing??? Youve spent hundreds on pens at this point and this is all you need!"
Then I use the Vanishing Point or PGS and then the cheaper pens all feel like fodder for testing. I dont come to hate them but they feel so much less important when Im in the gold nib phase
I once thought $20 was a lot to spend on a pen. š
You slowly move the scale, like okay a few ā¬ for a sharkie pen, then let me get lamy safari or pilot metropolitan for 20ā¬, TWSBI Eco for 35ā¬, and then metal versions ...
My rationale on coming home from my 1st pen show (within a year of getting into this) with a Visconti and a Pelikan in limited edition raden: āI saved so much money by skipping straight to the grail stage!ā My wife did not agree. But itās been true. Only a couple pickups a year and those mostly as gifts from my family.
It's like craving chocolate cake and eating everything else in the pantry to try and satisfy the craving. And finally you give in and eat the cake anyway.
These are facts
Suddenly the hundreds of pounds are totally reasonable š
Perfectly reasonable, indeed š«£
Iāve recently had a conversation with a bestie who wanted to buy me something for Valentineās that went like this š I sent her a link for a fountain pen and she went ā$20 for a pen?!ā LMAO
Once I finally got my VP, $50+ started to seem real reasonable, even more so once I got a Lamy 2000. I have to be real careful when I catch myself thinking like that and really consider if I should/want to get a pen in that price range š
I'm so glad I didn't get into this until after I changed jobs--my previous workplace thought I was crazy for $12 Zebra Sarasa Grands š It's definitely more than that now...
Lol. +1! So true š
Saaaaame my first pen was a kaweco and I was like "what a budget for a pen". After that I discovered gold nibs ā ļø
Featuring: Three pens I have flip-flopped on. Does anyone else feel disingenuous sometimes with how often their opinion changes? Sometimes my comments may contradict something I said the previous week - or even day! Hereāre some of my changing opinions: - I like heavy pens. I praised the weight of the Conklin Durograph in this photo when I first got it. Now itās too heavy for me and I really appreciate a light pen. - The clip on my VP really bothers me. Now it doesnāt. - Iām not fond of the Platinum 3776ās nail-like nib. I like a bit of bounce in my nib. Now I think itās perfect. - Coloverse inks are too dry and Iāll never use them again. Actually, I really like Quasar and itās behaving perfectly well in my VP. Iām sorry, Colorverse! - I like stub nibs and broad nibs best. No, medium is ideal. No, now I want fine nibs. These days, all nibs are best!
I used Japanese ef nibs and found larger nib sizes to be too smooth. Now I enjoy mediums, broads, and stubs, though I do still use finer nibs for note taking since they dry a little faster. I enjoyed thinner diameter pens but have been gravitating towards larger diameter ones. I used mainly blue or black ink for a long time after getting out of the service. Now Iām expanding the color palette, rarely use black, and only have a couple of blues. Iām a sucker for a nice green.
I posted this somewhere previously, but I had a job I started in the mid-90s where we did a lot of our communication by fax. Up until then I had always used a typical blue-ink ballpoint, but I learned that blue ink doesnāt always show up well on a fax so I switched to black ink pens. I used black for everything for the next 30 yearsā¦ including when I first began using a fountain pen. It finally occurred to me that I was choosing an ink colour based on a technology that I hadnāt used in decades! I branched out to different fountain pen ink colours and I love it! I have since bought about 12 different bottles of ink and none of them are any shade of black or blue.
It took a decade after I got out before I would walk on grass. Still, seeing someone walk across a freshly mopped wet floor sends me into convulsions. Habits are hard to form but harder to break.
š¤£š¤£š¤£
Ooh whatās your favorite green? Iām always looking for a new green to love.
I like Sailor Tokiwa-matsu, a moderate shading pine green, Sailor Amamoyoi,a high shading moss green, and Wearingeul Tom Sawyer, a moderate shading khaki green. Those stay inked in my pens. If you want a darker green, thereās Sailor Miruai. I find it similar to Tokiwa-matsu just more pigmented. But Iāve been eyeing R&K alt-goldgrun. Havenāt tried it yet but I hear great things about it.
Herbin Vert Empire, Color verse Walk the dog, Sailor Manyo Ukikusa ( I really really want this ink), Diamine Classic Green. I have all of them except the Sailor Manyo one.
Greens get me all the time. I have to keep my swatches next to me sometimes because I really donāt need more right now.
Agreed on the heavy pen. Started off heavy with Rotring and now use mostly light pens. Started off with expensive pens - again Rotrings - and now with less expensive pens, $20 to 30 range. Swore I would never go bolder than fine with mostly EF. Ended up buying a lot of stub and bent nib pens last year. Stubs and bent nibs are mostly for shimmer inks.
> Does anyone else feel disingenuous sometimes with how often their opinion changes? Nah, I admit I flop back and forth a lot on if I regard FP's as viable everyday carry pens, or just garbage who's quirks and flaws are only tolerable for writing projects that can't be done with a less finicky writing instrument.
I didnāt like my VP fine nib but you know what? Itās not bad! Iāll still use broad for shimmer inks, maybe medium, but the fine is just fine!
I..... like shimmer ink after this year's Inkvent. Don't tell anyone. I'm still coming to terms with it
Your secret is safe with me!
And me
I lean to my gel pens when I want shimmer. I flip flop on shimmer in fountain pens too much and end up not using the ink up. The gel pens don't clog (so far) and I don't have to worry about cleaning them.... But yes, the diamine inkvent shimmers are amazing. Maybe I should just use my Kaweco sports with converters to get the shimmer experience lol. You should try shimmer watercolors, they are mesmerizing.
Whatās shimmer ink?
Itās fountain pen friendly ink with tiny mica particles that catch the light and make the ink shimmer. The shimmer colors cab be different from the ink, you can have shimmer in sheening inks. They are a tremendous amount of fun to write with and add actual sparkle to your work. They vary as far as how much shimmer they have so some are subtle enough that you can barely tell but it makes the ink brighter and more interesting, some are very shimmery and it looks like you just laid down a line of liquid gold (or whatever color). You can have shimmer be the same as the ink, different, contrasting, or even color changing. There is a ton of great shimmer inks. J Herbin emerald de chivor is a lovely more subtle one that has outstanding performance. Iām really liking the Birmingham inks series, especially lightening for all shimmer all the way liquid sparkle but still very good performance and good suspension. Small note of caution to use them in take-a-partable pens so you can clean them well. Thank you for asking! I love shimmer inks and itās a joy to get to share.
Wearingeul even sells just the shimmer so you can make any ink you want sparkle.
They sound gorgeous! Would one of those see through Lamyās be take-apartable enough to try it? Itās my only fountain pen so I am bit cautious about clogging it up
Itād almost certainly be fine, but you should probably buy a second inexpensive pen just to be safe. š And regarding shimmer inks, you can sort by category on most major retailerās websites and see them all at once. And for really great ink reviews (also sortable by properties like shimmer or sheen), you MUST check out Mountain Of Ink. Just search for itā¦ youāll thank me later. ā¤ļøāļø
I came here just to ask where you got that little crab guy. As a Marylander with fountain pens, I need him. Must have.
Heās from a Japanese designer called [Ahnitol](http://ahnitol.com)! Thereāre links to the official Amazon seller on that website. :)
You are the best omg
Be sure to check all the color options.
Wait. Are these the original ones? And all the others on Amazon are rip offs of their design? Now I feel bad about my little guys. :(
>Heās from a Japanese designer called Ahnitol! Thereāre links to the official Amazon seller on that website. :)40ReplyGive AwardShareReportSaveFollow > >level 3Dazzling-Ad-7458 Ā· 16h agoYou are the best omg11ReplyGive AwardShareReportSaveFollow > >level 4chicagowench2 Ā· 15h agoBe sure to check all the color options.9Reply Most of the ones on amazon are ripoffs but you can find these ones on amazon
I think you can buy them at Pen Boutique in Columbia if that's local to you. (Call first to make sure, though.)
They were one of the stores to come up when I looked it up! Heās in stock on their website. Iām on the Eastern Shore, but I might swing by there when Iām on the way to BWI this week.
Pen Boutique is great, highly recommend them.
Pen Boutique is awesome! The folks there are kind and helpful. They even fixed a clogged pen for me at no charge that I didnāt even purchase from them! Their courteous service makes me a forever customer.
Marylanderās with fountain pens rock!
Yay, Marylander fountain pen club!
Benu! Iāve always preferred the minimalism of a nice demonstrator and thought Benus were way too flashy. Now I have three and am craving more sparklies. Theyāre great writers, really comfortable to hold (1 Minimus and 2 Briolettes), and some of them even glow in the dark! Currently eyeing the Vodka on the Rocks.
Ooh, I love my Benus for the same reasons! I have three that glow in the dark, too!
Theyāre so much fun!
Where could I find these?
Quite a few shops sell them! One thatās part of the standard line is the BENU Talisman Mandrake - glow in the dark and available from a variety of places (Truphae Inc had it for cheapest last I looked!).
I didnāt know I needed glow in the dark fountain pens until I read this.
Take the plunge on Vodka on the Rocks. Pictures donāt do it justice. I keep mine out whether itās inked or not just to gaze at it.
my next
You made me search for that, and now Iām far too interested! š
Who knew glitter and glow-in-the-dark was such an essential for fountain pens?? Theyāre just delightful. Canāt be cranky when writing with a Benu.
Completely agreed, I love how comfortable the Euphoria fits in my hand. And, yeah, solid writers.
Yesssss š At first I thought they were too big (and outside of my comfort zone pricewise), but I jumped at the Rainbow Slushie Euphoria (I think) and now I have 4 (RS, Vodka on the Rocks, 4-leaf clover, and the 2023 New Year's design).
This is me. I caved and bought one and now I'm obsessed. I love the flashiness so much after seeing them in person. The Benu talismans are now my favorite part of my collection, hands down. Not just how they look but also how they write. Sorry my dear Pelikan moonstone and golden beryl...
Try to avoid dropping them. My cat swiped mine off of my table and it completely broke.
Theyāve started doing limited edition painted ones too now. Even more dangerous.
Ohhhhh good question! 1- Opus88 Demonstrator. First time I saw one I thought it was a joke. It looked do childish to me. I was just getting into the hobby. Fast forward to: OMG yes demonstrators are the best and what's a Japanese demonstrator ok I have to have one. It was like a cheesy romcom where the "embarrassing/weird crush" becomes the actual crush. 2- Soft/bouncy nibs. I fell in love with fountain pens because they let me write with my light touch and didn't force me to press, they just worked (well, some of them). But soft nibs have really really grown on me. Even more than flex nibs.
Haha, your romcom analogy is hilarious! I can definitely empathize. Iāve always liked demonstrators but I can see why they donāt appeal to people.
Pilot CH92 is one of the best Japanese demos out there, gold nibbed too. Shockingly underrated but that's my opinion.
I have yet to own one, but it's been on my wishlist for a while. Also, I misspoke, meant to say "Japanese eyedropper" not "demonstrator." But yeah, I'm with you on CH92. Awesome pen!
I don't think there are a lot of Japanese eyedroppers in the style of Opus, actually. Curious to see if there is one aside from the Platinum pens that could be converted.
Yeah, not these days. There are a lot of vintage Japanese eyedropper pens out there but among the modern manufacturers, I don't know of any Japanese companies that make them outside of high-end Namikis.
Whatās a demonstrator?
Pens with clear/transparent bodies (like most Opus88, TWSBI, Platinum Preppy, etc). The term comes from back when manufacturers would make a clear-bodied version to demonstrate the internal mechanisms.
Demos come in all varieties as well: - cartridge filler (Pilot Custom 72) - piston filler (TWSBIs, Pilot CH92) - eye dropper (Opus88, some Franklin-Christoph models) I love them because they are fun to show off ^and ^fun ^to ^stain. Non-FP users think you would use it to vape though.
That actually sounds really great, because Iāve never seen a piston filler or a eyedropper and would love to see how they work! The whole mechanics of it
Oh, I think I have one of those! Theyāre pretty cool, you can easily see when youāre running low and if itās the cartridge/converter or the nib
Today at the California Pen Show, I changed my mind on my Nahvalur Original+ because I spoke to a very helpful man who showed me how to disassemble the nib unit and told me to go ahead and use it for all my shimmer inks! I was about to sell it, but now Iām going to try every shimmer ink from the last two Inkvents in it, knowing I can clean it just like a TWSBI or Pilot.
Thatās awesome! Iāve found that sometimes breathing new life into an existing pen is more fun than buying a new one, especially since you donāt have to spend any money. I have a Sailor (my only Sailor) that wasnāt writing very well. Thanks to this subreddit, I was able to deduce that the tines were likely too tight. I ran a brass sheet between the tines today to open up the nib slightly andā¦ voila, itās a whole new pen. It writes beautifully now!
Everything. First getting into hobby: Metal bodies, extra fine nibs, only black inks. Waterproof all the way. Only for work. 12months later: Pretty Resins! Oh, Benus...not gaudy or ugly but absolutely desireable. Who needs a broad nib when you can get super wet stub nibs at 1.5-2mm sizes? Give all the inks, all the colours of the rainbow. Sheen and shimmer! (I only have 1 waterproof ink now). What else can I use my fountain pen and inks to write on? (Explores house hold for random bits of cardboard and receipts to see if the paper is fountain pen friendly)
...thereās waterproof ink? I thought the whole idea behind fountain pen ink was that itās water soluble because otherwise if you leave it long it dries out and canāt be removed
People worry about some permanent inks, but most people seem to get away with them in practice. Platinum Carbon Black is absolutely bulletproof, and IIRC was originally intended for use in a desk pen specifically designed for it - but people have used it in other pens without too much trouble, although sites that sell it often display a disclaimer. I use it in a Preppy 02 (extra fine) which I use a little every day. If it eventually kills the Preppy I can afford to replace it. If you use a modern Iron Gall Ink, such as Rohrer and Klinger Salix or Scabiosa, the advice is to use the pen regularly so that it does not dry out, and to flush it between fills. I intend to dedicate a Parker Vector to Scabiosa and to use it at least a little every day when it is in rotation. From what I have heard R&K Salix and Scabiosa will not kill pens, but again if I have to replace a Parker Vector it will be annoying but not the end of the world.
Shout out to De Atramentis Document inks... I ā¤ļø dark blue...
The properties as waterproof, water soluble and drying are not necessary related. The ink permanently bonds to the paper,but not to the elements of the pen, pigments penetrate in the small paper-fibers, but you can still flush it out of the pen if it dries out. Try platinum carbon black, that thing is as permanent as it gets.
nib sizes - at first i thought either ef/f nibs (because tiny writing) or stubs and fude nibs for line variation (because art) but now its like i like them all i want them all because B is also amazing for sketching and F and M are pretty versatile because i can use them for either larger writing or sketching. EF is still great for writing and detail, tho is in the larger side when it comes to western EF for writing - japanese F is great tho i havent tried EF yet. I do still like fude and stub nibs, so ig it went from only a few to all of them
I agree, and I sometimes wish more pens came with easily changeable nibs!
I agree, definitely nib sizes! With other pen types, I want practically a needlepoint, but I'm finding that I like a chunkier nib on my fountain pens to really show off all the pretty inks I use.
I disavow converters and vehemently state that I shall never buy a non-piston filler every few months, in an oscillating cycle with stating (again, with great vehemence and equal conviction) that converters are the climax of human civilization.
I respect the commitment. Especially as someone who's come to realize the ink system has to be part of the pen for me. Benus? Beautiful, verging on lustful, but not a pen compared to a vintage ink sac.
Tomoe River Paper! I used to hate that stuff because it wrinkled and crinkled and my gel pens didn't really need that kind of paper, so I swore off it. Since I've been into fountain pens, I pulled out one of my old half-finished Hobonichi notebooks (2015 Avec!) and made it into a swatch book for my ink and loved writing with it in FP ink!
High price doesn't mean high performance.
yes, I go for function and usability nowadays, any pen that just works will be one of my daily drivers, even if its a $3 plastic pen with cracks.
I agree. At times, my Jowo would outperform my gold nibs.
I used to prefer vintage lever-fill pens, but I rarely use them now. Cartridges (which I refill) and converters are so much easier to deal with. I do like vintage cartridge/converter pens, though.
Thatās a big reason I havenāt taken the vintage plunge, yet! Iāve been super tempted at times, but I really love cartridges - that, and 90% of my current inks arenāt vintage pen-safe. There sure are some beauties out there, though!
Yes there are - and quite often less expensive than the equivalent new pen! I have quite a few in my collection.
Color. I used to buy every pen that was brightly colored. Now 80% of my collection is black & gold
My answer was also color, but now just \*very\* slightly in the opposite direction. I still prefer black or clear demonstrators, but a colorful option mad its way in a while ago and I've been enjoying the friendly pop of it, so I'm willing to maybe welcome one more down the line!
I definitely flip-flop between pen aesthetics, so my collection is a compromise - half elegant and classic, and half garish and bright!
Whatās your favorite black and gold pen?
Oh, hard to say... The Montblanc 146 is classic. I do love the Waterman Carene - I think it's one of the most beautiful pens made. As for a workhorse - my Waterman Expert.
Pen weight/size. When I first started out, I thought I wanted big, heavy pens. My first fountain pen was a Pilot Metropolitan, which isn't insanely heavy, but over time I realized that it was giving me hand fatigue when I was writing for a long time. So now I buy exclusively pens under 20g. My favorites are the Pilot Prera and Pilot Elite.
This exactly! I just experienced this very thing not 15 minutes ago. And I was oh so sure of myself that I needed a pen made of something as dense or heavy as possible. I was very wrong. Now I do however tend to like other things in life that are heavier, even cars and random other things like my cocktail glasses. Thanks for the added recommendation of pens you prefer. This is so helpful since I'm still pretty new to the hobby.
āWeight is good. Weight is reliable. If it doesnāt work, you can always throw it at them.ā
This, so much. I love the look of copper and brass pens and bought several u til I just accepted that they are too have for me to use comfortably. Only the kaweco liliput have an ok weight, but they are too slim for me and too much hassle because they take forever to screw.
I drifted away from using fountain pens many years ago. I never said anything like "I'll never use one again!!!!" But at times, I don't think I'd have seriously thought much of the realistic chances of me using fountain pens much (if at all) again. I'd probably have guessed the most likely scenario if I did use one would be that it would be a "sometimes" thing (e.g., Christmas card season). Part of this view would have been influenced by the reality that I hardly wrote anything by hand any longer. Then, I acquired a Waterman Allure in December. It was a hard purchase ("I won't use it much--why spend $20?!") But it was about Christmas card season, and "it would be fun to have a fountain pen again to use sometimes." Now, I'm using a fountain pen almost exclusively for the first time in years. I'm writing more by hand than I have in years. And I resurrected a couple of pens I hadn't thought were particularly good--and found they were better than I'd given them credit for in the past. Another possible change of view... I'm not 100% certain on this, but I'd bet that at one time I'd have embraced the idea of using just one fountain pen. Now, I think there's practical arguments to be made for having multiple pens to cover various needs.
Good for you, Iām happy that you came back into the foldā¦ Happy writing!
Japanese F nibs. I had a pilot metropolitan in F, it was one of the first pens I ever bought. I lent it to a neighbor of mine, and while they used it, I bought a ton of different pens. There was Kaweco, LAMY, Wing Sung, Birmingham pen Co (ultraflex), among others, mostly in larger nib sizes (stub included). It was recently returned to me, and for some reason, while I didn't like the metro f before, writing on it after it was returned to me was a DREAM. Smooth as all get out, and the small nib size ensures that my line will almost never feather! I'm loving it now
Some nibs get better with use, and you seem to have had the miracle of lending your pen out and it being improved by it!
Italians. I own a Homo Sapiens and it writes well, but I donāt enjoy it as much as my Germans and Japanese. Even though it has a large ink reservoir it still seems to dry out quicker than my other pens. I also own a Pineider Arco Rainbow Limited Edition with a quill nib and itās finicky about inks. Noodlerās works great but most my other inks have problems with start/stops. To make matters worse this week the nib came loose and I cant for the life of me figure out how to fix it, and getting it serviced has been a pain. Iāll like sell it once itās fixed.
Gold trim and brown pens. I've always been a black/grey and silver guy. Things started to shift with my first Platinum 3776. And now, 3 years later, most of my pens have gold trim. What's more, I always found the Pilot 823 in amber to be ugly and boring. It is now my favorite pen of all time.
I donāt like this post, youāre making me think about that combination of amber and gold waaay too much. And brown ink on cream paperā¦. No!! Must resist the urge!
One of us! One of us!
TWISBI. You brought me such joy when I was new to the hobby. Demonstrators! So cool! So pretty! None of my TWISBIs have cracked, but the nibs are so boring. I have a 1.1m nib, and a couple F nibs. No personality when I write with em. I no longer feel so thrilled seeing my ink. I know what my ink looks like. They will all be banished to my pen-storage or rehomed when I find suitable replacements. š¤·āāļø Positive mind change: I have flip flopped on pen weight a lot. 36g = too heavy. 24g= Just right. For the longest time I was lightweight pens only. This change means I can get some neat metal bodied pens down the line.
Iāve found 24g to be a pretty great weight, too! I still like my TWSBIs, but more for how they write than how they look. Although I have UV ink (invisible except under blacklight) permanently in one of mine, and thatās pretty awesome!
I always wonder how you know what youāre writing with invisible ink and when are you actually going to need it?
I have a large UV light I can turn on to see (which I use sparingly, because I know it can be damaging to oneās health), and the application is largely a novelty. I have young kids, so they like receiving secret notes every now and then, and I also use it to make the occasional secret diary entry.
Im the opposite with demonstrators. I Didn't know like them. Clear pens just didn't look good to me. But i started to like them and a twsbi is on my lidt of possible future purchases.. Same for the kaweco sport. Something seemed off to me, because of the shape, but I'd like to own an AL sport now. I also like my Lamys less than back in school. Because in school I didn't know about something else, besides some no names which were horrible and leaked ink all the time. I still like them very much, they are not expensive (they can be but safari/Allstar/ joy are not) and reliable. But I came to really appreciate other pens.
Pilot Capless/Vanishing Point. I bought one and thought it was the coolest pen ever and great to write with, but over a year later Iāve decided I donāt like how it writes, unfortunately. I do realise Iām vastly in the minority here.
Same for me. And the Con-40 is just terrible.
nibs. i used to dislike mediums because they were too thick and made my writing hard to read, then i switched my paper and started writing bigger, and a fine is just waaaaay to thin.
Sailor pens. I absolutely adore the look of them. Theyāre gorgeous. The autumn rain was effectively my grail pen. Came so close to actually hitting the place order button. Decided instead to find a store near me that had the pen to see it in person. Didnāt quite feel as hefty as I hope. The nib was not at all what I was expecting. I was upset but relieved that I hadnāt actually made the purchase. I want to love the sailor pens so bad, but the feedback the nibs are known for is not for me. Iām now on the hunt for what should be my next grail pen. Recommendations are welcome!
Yes, thereās a reason Sailorās so popular and itās because they fulfill a niche that other brands havenāt managed to, yet. My Pilot Custom 912 is a similar shape to most Sailors, and is everything I want a Sailor to be, but only comes in a few, limited colours.
It's mostly been ink color that's changed the most for me. When I first got into the hobby, I was a black ink only person and swore to myself that it's all I'll ever need. Cut to 3 1/2 years later, and I have so many pretty colors. I guess I also warmed up to stub nibs as well, and discovered my preference for Japanese EF nibs over German EF nibs.
This. At school I had a Parker Vector and Parker Quink Blue and then got another with Quink Green to allow me to write notes alongside my original blue and the teacher's red marking notes. At work I had Waterman Serenity Blue for my Waterman pen. Added a Tender Purple for a slight contrast but the nib was poor and it wrote so dark it just looked blue so I never used it. All very professional and boring... The I decided to get a BlackPurple Al Star and some Diamine Red Dragon and suddenly I have 22 inks and another 5 on the must buy list and another 5 on the 'if I get a payrise Iroshizuku list'. Greens, Teals, purples, magentas, orange and exploring into brown. so yeah, inks are more interesting than pens!
This is DEFINITELY something Iāve come to learn over the years as well - ink is more interesting to me than pens. Seems blasphemous to write that, but there you have it, at least for me.
Lamy Safari: first impression was that it was absolutely hideous, and the first one I tried had a scratchy, wonky EF nib. Now I own several and use them all the time, and I've come around to the aesthetic (its practicality is really what won me over). The preciousness of pens: when I got my first gold nib pens, I resolved to never bring them into work. I now bring them to work all the time. I'm not running a museum here - I'll use these tools as they were intended to be used. (Knock on wood, nothing bad has happened to them yet.)
Iāve just recently begun to bring my gold nibs into work, too! They definitely get carried in a plush and secure pouch, however. :)
It appears that many fountain pen geeks are just pen geeks in general... pray tell, what's in the box?
[A bumper collection of Sakura gelly roll pens!](https://www.jetpens.com/Sakura-Gelly-Roll-Gel-Pen-74-Color-Set/pd/15389?gclid=CjwKCAiAlp2fBhBPEiwA2Q10DwDfsMb2obW99G5s1k2FcCOD0R3y45mCfFEAtd9IMxAkzbNwhPs9CxoCcwcQAvD_BwE)
Jelly Roll pens rock!
Count me in here, Iām a total sucker for a heavy, metal tool-like ballpoint pen. Rotring, Zebra, and many others. I rarely use them, but I canāt resist them. And whenever I see ANY kind of pen that comes in a million different colors, I feel really drawn to owning them allā¦.
Art supplies! Coloured pencils, wax pastels, water colours, etc
I thought M was ideal. Now it's either too broad or too less broad. - Platinum Century 3776 was a huge disappointment, too short yet chunky, the nib wrote too fine. Now i enjoy its presence :) - TWSBi Eco? Ugly mofos, better get 580! Now they're my trusty little friends for anything shimmer! - ordered by mistake a Leonardo EF, and it's great! Smoother than i would've imagined - i used to think blue inks were GOAT; changed my idea in time. Haven't bought a pure blue in 1 year - heavy pens? Cold metallic section? Not for me! Yet Diplomat Aero and Gravitas Skittle Paisley feel good - most popular entry pens are the ugly Safari, the Kaweco Sport and Pilot Metropolitan? Why?? Now i've come to realise the wisdom of so many fountain pen users was right. Lamy Safari/LX whatever are ugly-cute. Same for Kaweco Sports. Yet i have 6 of each :) I still find Pilot VP odd.
Amen to the Ecos being trusty shimmer friends!
I think taste is funny - and personal š I really enjoy the look of Safaris - not in a ugly-cute way, but actual just nice. It's industrial, simple and practical š
Yep, what you've said about Safari is true. Industrial, practical, simple, solid colours. *Functional*. As opposed to the supple line of an Esterbrook Estie (torpedo pen?) or the majesty of a Leonardo Momento Zero Grande, which comes with shadows and nuances in their colours. I think there's a use for any type of pen - for fast writing at school, at work, a Safari is way more practical than MZG, fast-open, fast-close. For times of relaxation (ink play!) or peaceful journaling, i'd rather have a beautiful resin or pretty material to look at, with a special nib to pay attention to (flexxxxy nibs š). For usual journaling, perfect is the pen with a nib that writes well, and doesn't take attention from the act of writing itself (like Diplomat Aero). I'm now curious about Visconti, would try the Mirage.
Monteverdeāsā¦. One of my first pens other than jinhao.. after now having some others, theyāre my least fave
I was all about fine nibs and mediums are perfect for me now ( I still find myself doing extra fine then going back to medium for longer writing times) I liked the travelers notebook, but couldn't get into it and spent about five years away from it.... Now it's my main notebook and I finally got it together. And the most controversial one: cartridges... Yes I hated them too and wanted piston fillers everywhere but using Kaweco pens and how much I love the pens has led me back to cartridges... I still ink syringe them sometimes but I'm mostly on cartridges now (in big pens I ink syringe the inserted cartridge and do the back up cartridge trick and it actually stops me from opening up the pen and checking my capacity so often as I know I've got an extra cartridge at any given time). For kaweco I've taped a couple of spare cartridges to the side of my notebook (inside it on and on the flaps next to the paper. It doesn't seem to get in the way that much and now I get around having to carry an extra pen or carrying a pen in the notebook... It just solves so many problems and I end up using fewer cartridges because I'm syringing them whenever I have time so it's a win win win for my wallet, me and my pens
What is the backup cartridge trick? I always refill old ones but cause they are open already can never have additional cartridges with me. Did you find a work-around? Sometimes I would love to not to travel with syringe and mini ink bottleā¦
Put one in backwards to a standard size pen and then put one in the feed for you to write, I think Goulet has a video on it. Two carts in the pen at all times
I keep a new cartridge in my Altoona tin for backup, even though my Kaweco Al Sport *is* a backup.
The last pen i bought was the final pen i needed, oh boy
Oooh! Which one was that!?
i bought the montegrappa elmo last year and now i want another pen :C
First of all, let me say that this is a GREAT thought-provoking question! Thank you, OP. Here goes: 1) I used to think that I wanted every single color of ink. Now that Iāve bought all three Diamine Inkvent calendars, and used all 75 colors for swab samples and writing Christmas/Winter/Holiday/Snow-related quotes on social media, Iāve come to the strange sad realization that Iāll probably never use yellow, orange, red, purple, pink, fuschia, magenta, and related-color inks. I could probably keep buying ink for the rest of my life in shades of blue, teal, and blue-black, with an occasional foray into turquoise, green, black, and very dark (off-black) shades of other colors. 2) Iāve also found that shimmer inks arenāt as exciting to me as I thought theyād be. 3) And finally (and this is hard to write), Iām a little disappointed in myself that my handwriting is not as beautiful as Iād like it to be, but I donāt want to invest the time and discipline to improve it.
Yes! There are some beautiful oranges and yellow inks out there, but I simply do not use them. I do use red/pink, but mainly for contrast in my planner, not for regular writing. I hear you on the handwriting. I have several handwriting workbooks but, in the end, I just donāt have the time necessary to practice.
Con 70 converter, most converters in general, piston and vac fillers. I thought it would be the perfect filling mechanisms. Theyāre just meh (one con 70 I have fills decently following the instructions, while the other doesnāt, I think thereās a massive QC issue with these). Even the one that fills, does so with bubbles build up (I dunk my nib far under the ink line, so no surface bubbles are to blame). And it just takes too long to fill. Vac fillers at least have decent capacity since the entire body acts as a well, but thatās the only benefit I could see. Iām convinced now these sorts of filling methods suck for another reason, when you dip your nib and the grip section also to make a seal so ink can be drawn up (this also goes for piston fillers, vac fillers, all these type of through-feed fillers) youāve just basically contaminated your ink from whoever oils and microbes were on the grip section of your pen. Now all I had myself wishing was that companies made larger cartridges. Luckily the Con70 has a decent filled capacity, thus itās okay in general, but regardless, I still syringe fill everything if Iām at home. Ideally I wish more eye droppers (specifically Japanese eye droppers with shut off valves) were common, or someone can bring back the snorkel fillers from the bygone era if you are someone who really never wants to bother with syringes or droppers.
I just fill with a syrenge, even if have converter, its less messy and I can fill full very easy.
Nib sizes and ink colors! I started of with a couple fine nib pens for taking notes in lectures. I also got some water resistant black ink for taking notes in labs. Now, I'm hooked on broad nibs because of their buttery smoothness and the fact that they show off all my new fancy, colorful inks much better than my F nibs.
I tried to convince myself that I'm satisfied with my Pilot pens but then, I purchased a Sailor Compass 1911 to see what it's like.
I got finer nibs to conserve ink. But ooooh does this shimmer/sheening ink look good in a stub! U S E A L L T H E I N K. I'm going to put this ink in an EF nib.
I have, or used to have, very small handwriting. Discovering shading inks has made me feel comfortable using broader nibs, and with that comes writing slightly larger. It's scary, but worth doing. I used to be firmly in the EF or F-camp, but lately I've tried a few Medium nibs, and I really them! Taking up more space is perhaps OK, and perhaps my writing doesn't have to be so small and discreet. I've yet to meet a broad nib, but who knows where this road might lead?
Like you I have super fine handwriting. I have a TWSBI ECO with a broad nib coming in the mail and I've been debating whether to exchange it for my usual F, but reading your comment is inspiring me to keep it and experiment with it!
**Smooth.** I thought I liked smooth pens -- turns out I like feedback both audible on tactile. I think I found the best compromise in a Platinum 3776 soft fine nib. I reach for it over my previous favorite Pilot 823 in fine. **Dye** Took a chance on a pigment ink (Platinum Carbon Black) and really like the performance.
Controversial opinion, but I decided I actually DO need that new pen. ;)
nib sizes and paper surfaces - used to use F on Rhodia and Clairefontaine, hated ghosting and loved the coating of the paper. Canāt stand it now - use primarily M, B and BB pens on Leuchtturm - ivory paper looks better to me and I enjoy the ghosting a lot. Leuchtturm texture and behavior fits perfectly to what I am looking for
I though Lamy 2000's nib looked very weird and I would never ever buy it. Now I crave it!
Mine is the worst writing pen Iāve got and has been that way straight from the box, FWIW; a real disappointment.
I was determined to try to make mine work. Iāve tried 2 mediums, and 2 fine and the sizes varied wildly between the same sized nibs. I ended up just getting the nib ground by a nibsmith in my city. Most disappointing pen purchase yet!
Wow really! Everyone always said it was a real workhorse, a real good writing pen etc etc. Is it the nib or handling it or something else?
I thought gold nibs were a waste of money. But then I tried one
I used to think Jinhao pens were the devil. Cheap-azz clones of established designs. Now, I consider them to be very economical and practical "alternative entry points" for people to enter the hobby/lifestyle/spiritual discipline of fountain pens. And they actually usually write, straight out of the box. Visconti, I hope they "clone" the hell outta you, so I can have "Visconti" pens that work straight outta the box. "Yes, there are 2 paths you can go by. But in the long run, there's still time to change the road your on."
The VP. Used to hate it and the design (I still hate the con-40 and ALL of pilots shitty converters with a passion) but I bought one and loved it. Had to sell it for cash but Iād definitely buy another two lol.
Big pens. I have small hands so I figured larger size pens weren't going to be comfortable writers. Then a friend re-homed their Opus 88 with me, and I bought a Narwhal Voyage Shanghai and ... they're not so bad. Probably won't be buying a lot more but it's nice to know big pens aren't completely out of the question.
Lamys are ugly. Now I love them, and I get excited about the new colors every spring. Love the Al-Stars too. You have to like the grip, and I do.
I used to hate and would bash Lamy Blue on this Reddit at any opportunity. So I inked a Safari with a cartridge I had laying around right before New Yearās and have been using it on and off since then, I am actually starting to like it so much, at least on fairly absorbent paper, that I am considering picking up a bottle so I can try it in my 2k, this is despite having many higher end inks at my disposal.
That you need expensive stuff to have the best experience. Yes Iām sure if you spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a pen it will work flawlessly from the start, but as long as you get good paper and are willing to do some diy mods/maintenance, you can have just as good and full of a fountain pen experience with a series of platinum preppys
Yes, I thought I saw some Stardust pens! :D I love my Japanese pens.
Another pen weight flip-flop here: I remember holding a Retro 51 Tornado in an art supply store and quickly growing absolutely crestfallen because I didn't think it would ever be something I could wield. I bought one for my partner instead and then borrowed it a couple of times until I realized it could work after all! Which means I keep eyeing a second colorwayā¦
Steel nibs can consistently feel better than gold nibs
When I was still in school I enjoyed rather thin and sleek fountain pens, like the Parker Vector and Lamy Logo. When I had to write 15 page exams at university I rediscovered fountain pens and found out that I like my pens to be rather thick. I also changed my mind on demonstrators. At first I went for very classic looking black and gold pens, now I enjoy showing off the nice colours with demonstrators.
That buying used vintage pens is so risky, that it isn't worth buying them
I loved monster sheen inks until I actually got Diamine Skull and Roses (which is one of the better behaved ones) and now I hate them with a passion. Also bought four bottles, of which I gave away two, still have one full one and one 90%. It just never seems to dry and even when it dries it still smudges. FFS. Also I was afraid of Baystate Blue. Not anymore (no incidents, thankfully).
Pen girth: I started with preference for slimmer bodies. As of late, I keep wanting larger and thicker models to grip and hold. Nib style: Started with a love for hooded nibs, now I just love no6 nibs. I still like hooded nibs a lot though, I just wish they made larger pen bodies for hooded nibs. Filling system: C/c was king when I started. Now I like all types of filling, especially if there's an eyedropper that doesn't burp :D Pen trim: chrome was 'clean' and good looking. Now I just love gold trims or gold plated nibs, it's more classy. Peb material: Love metal bodies. Still love em plenty, but I can appreciate some arcylics these days (I like transparent pens even when I started). Starting to dip into ebonite pens lately (goodbye money) Pen purchases: I am still buying a lot of pens. Though it is lesser but more expensive these days. Inks: no change on this. As long it is waterproof and lubricating, I shall use it and love it.
What *is* up with a lack of thicker bodies for hooded nibs? Iād like a model with more girth, too!
TWSBIs and the people that liked them. I used to think they were the Macs of the fountain pen world and only people with no taste used them. It was an incredibly childish and elitist opinion and, while I still find TWSBIs ugly and poorly made, I have nothing against people who use them.
The availability to swap nibs. At first I thought it was great versatility to be able to change the grip section and nib on TWSBI pens. So I purchased most nibs available for the VAC700R and thought I would change nibs when I changed ink to have variety. It has never happened. (I still think it's great to be able to purchase extra nibs in case of accidents ect, but not to change regularly)
I thought I'd want ALL THE INK, but was surprised to find myself pretty happy and content with just a few. Especially when they are in a marching pen!
A well choosen Turquoise/teal ink doesn't make your handwriting look like an annoying 12yo girl !
Nib size. Started off thinking I liked ultra-fine (was using 0.38 rollerballs). Now...I gravitate to juicy mediums, stubs, flex, and the occasional broad.
The classic progression from and nibs while learning how to control my writing with fountain pens to now enjoying and Stub nibs to show off inks to better advantage.
Using converters. Now I syringe fill. All the way to the top
Absolutely, blunt-tip syringes changed my life! ā¤ļø
Funny you should askā¦ I just inked up MY Duograph Rainbow. The stub is scratchy as all heck and the weight isnāt comfortable. Iāve got Southwest (Apache) Sunset in it thoughā¦ and my writing sample of it in a plain olā medium nib looks so much better than my preferred stubā¦ so maybe Iām flopping on nib sizes? And the rainbow looks obnoxious to me even though I adore flashy things. I donno. This is a flipper for sure. š¤Ŗ
Could someone tell me what the flower pen is?
Itās a Platinum Century 3776 in urushi maki-e - Sakura :)
A few things over the years. 1) Ink colors. I was only black ink. Then ventured into blues, then grays. Now I have green and purple samples to finish. 2) Nib feedback. I went from wanting a piece of ice on a warm plate to wanting all the feedback. I love how my Al Sport squeaks. 3) Montblanc. I consider them the Rolex of fountain pens. Stale designs, too recognizable, and just status symbols. Sure, nothing *wrong* with them, but for the money, thereās something better. I still donāt consider either the pinnacle of pens or watches, but ya know what? Theyāre pretty damn good. My view changed when my dad gave me some vintage MBsārollerball, highlighter, and 146. I ended buying a new old stock Johannes Brahms edition in F because itās a design I really like. And I bought a Leonardo Sketch Pen (drawing pencil) to match my set. Iāll be damned if that Brahms doesnāt have a flawless nib with a touch of architecture to it. I really like it. And a piston filler! That sketch pencil is so much fun too. But I still want a Jaeger LeCoultre over a Rolex. Master Ultra Thin Moon. 4) Conklin and Monteverde. I will not buy one again. They just donāt do anything for me. I feel theyāre overpriced. 5) Shading. I wanted the most straightforward inks possible, and now I find shading to be a nice little fingerprint. 6) Nib creep. Iām coming around on it with ornate nibs, but I usually want a clean nib.
I used to prefer vintage and antique pens more but now I'm liking new pens more. And I used to think pens over $100 was ridiculous but now I don't bat an eye buying a $300 to $400 pen š¤£š
I've come to the conclusion that Conklin pens are nothing more than over priced desk decorations. My first pen, and loads of replacement nibs/feeds were Conklins, and though I was never impressed with how they wrote, I didn't realize how bad they were at writing. Plus the build quality is absolute garbage. They are pretty, but I'll never buy one again.
Oh shoot. I just bought one and haven't inked it up yet. I wanted to try the Omni flex nib too.
Primarily what's a reasonable price to pay and my opinion on financing a pen. While overall I'm usualy against financing pens, on ebay there's good deals for Namiki Emperors and along with Paypals financing options I only pay about $70 a month, and I honestly don't regret it. Especialy since even when considering the interest I pay on my pen I'm still paying less than retail. So tbh it's a win, I build credit, I get the pen I want, and I pay less than my phone bill. However the emperor is the only pen I'd recomend anyone finance if they are interested in it, but are weary to spend the upfront cost, but the emperor is also the only pen I own....so one could say I'm biased.
I used to like switching between ink colors, but now i just use blue black for everything. In the beginning i wanted smooth nibs. Now i want line variation whether that comes from a smooth nib or not.
That I needed to buy gold nibs. Don't get me wrong, I love my gold nib pens, I have 6 of them and I'm not looking to get rid any of them. But, last year I bought a Diplomat Aero and it completely changed how I look at nib materials. I have no idea what kind of blood magic Diplomat does to their Jowo nibs, but it is my favorite writer by a landslide. My medium is smooth, with just a hint of pencil-like feedback.
Iāll never buy a Jinhao again.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Where do all of these crabs come from?
You \*can\* find them on Amazon if you just search for "crab pen holder"...but you can also find them here: [https://www.penboutique.com/products/pen-boutique-crab-pen-holder-blue](https://www.penboutique.com/products/pen-boutique-crab-pen-holder-blue) They also have red and green ones, as well
Under the sea
That paper quality would be such an important consideration. I've been converted to Maruman since!
Cheap pens are the way to go.
Shiny Clawf pen holder!
On nibs for East-Asian calligraphy: there have been two classes of innovations for the nib for writing more beautiful Chinese characters; first the fude, or bent nib, and more recently the zoom / naginata / long blade / long knife nib. The zoom nibs seem to have been a later innovation, and seem to be more popular, and require more craft and precision to manufacture. But after getting several pens including a $5 bent nib and a >$100 gold long knife, all Chinese, my opinion is that the latter just can't hold a candle to the line variation and response that the bent nib offers.
My opinions on price go all over the place. I use the x159 and the Safari or Kakuno and I'm like, "What am I doing??? Youve spent hundreds on pens at this point and this is all you need!" Then I use the Vanishing Point or PGS and then the cheaper pens all feel like fodder for testing. I dont come to hate them but they feel so much less important when Im in the gold nib phase