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An Intro to Fountain Pens
- Thread starter Bagels
- Start date
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Eighty Deuce
Banned
I want one, but I'm a lefty. My hand would just get smothered in ink.
williamsan
Member
I've said that I don't really have the discipline (yet!) to justify buying a daily planner / journal, but on a tangent from the Hobonichi Techo thread I stumbled onto this beauty~
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RayliHandmade
Handmade apparently, but I dig the older and simple look on it. It looks like it'll age well. Got some party cat tomoe river paper refills to go with it. Really looking forward to that as well! Will post pics when it arrives!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RayliHandmade
Handmade apparently, but I dig the older and simple look on it. It looks like it'll age well. Got some party cat tomoe river paper refills to go with it. Really looking forward to that as well! Will post pics when it arrives!
Having become fed up with the nearly unusable ball point pens our office admin stocks the supply cabinet with, and having recently discovered this thread from the Hobonichi Techo thread, I took a trip out to Staples to see what I could find.
I grabbed the last three pack of Pilot Varsities (black, blue, and purple) along with a Sheaffer Viewpoint broad nib italic pen to play around with as they didn't have any of the others in the OP.
Thanks for this thread, Bagels. You've saved me from madness and am actually enjoying writing again.
I grabbed the last three pack of Pilot Varsities (black, blue, and purple) along with a Sheaffer Viewpoint broad nib italic pen to play around with as they didn't have any of the others in the OP.
Thanks for this thread, Bagels. You've saved me from madness and am actually enjoying writing again.
CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
Looks like J. Herbin may be re-launching Ocean Bleu but with gold flakes!
J. Herbin, why you gotta attack my weak spot like that?
It honestly looks a little weird. The idea of using silver flakes sounds more appealing. I'll end up buying a sample anyway - there's no way around that.
That hit a little too close to home in so far as it was a direct hit.
I laughed and I cried.
Where is my Tim Creamsby tag?
Quick Gaf:
Want to give a fountain pen to my gf as a present:
Go for the Lamy 6 M
Or the Lamy Safari ???
I like the aesthetics of the first one more, but maybe it's not worth the price?
Want to give a fountain pen to my gf as a present:
Go for the Lamy 6 M
Or the Lamy Safari ???
I like the aesthetics of the first one more, but maybe it's not worth the price?
CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
I don't know much about the first pen, but the Safari has plenty of ringing endorsements from my friends. I think Nappuccino has one and has been using it fairly often.
Interesting. I think the steel one has the nicer optics, but I have heard very little about it. Even the OP gives the Safari a raving review :/
Decisions decisions
Duane Cunningham
Member
I just got a Copic Drawing Pen F01 in sepia yesterday, and I like it pretty well.
It's a tiny line!
(not my image, but it's the middle one I got.)
It's a tiny line!
(not my image, but it's the middle one I got.)
Both are the same nib. First one is just stainless steel and doesn't have that Safari grip.
I don't have the Logo (6M) but I have the Safari and CP1. I would definitely prefer the non-Safari grip because its uncomfortable if don't use the same grip. The nib and everything else about it is fine but I would rather just go Pilot Metropolitan for around the same price instead of a Safari. As for the stainless steel aspect, it's just whether or not you care about the aesthetic value and build quality of it.
The first one is an Lamy Logo. Not sure why Amazon gave it such a weird name.
williamsan
Member
Whoaa...this looks nice, WVU colors! Blue and gold...I agree with others saying that silver would've been better, but I'm not complaining! Still though...silver would have been gorgeous. Need to write and ask when they're gonna do it hehe.
I barely use my Safari, actually. I should break it back out and use it some more!
If I rewrote the OP today, I'd push the Pilot Metropolitan over the Safari as a starter pen. It's way cheaper to get a nice pen with a metal body that way. Plus, I love all things Pilot.
williamsan
Member
Hope this is ok to post in this thread~
It finally arrived! I guess it made good time coming from China and all. The brass fittings are lovely, it feels very nice to hold. Not too supple or too stiff. And most importantly, as described, it looks like it fell out of Middle Earth!
It holds a good amount of paper, three 21x11cm books fit in quite snugly. They're easy to switch too, thankfully. Don't know if you can make it out, but on the bottom pic it has this little plastic pouch for pens! I'm writing in it already. It's no Techo, but I'm glad I got it!
It finally arrived! I guess it made good time coming from China and all. The brass fittings are lovely, it feels very nice to hold. Not too supple or too stiff. And most importantly, as described, it looks like it fell out of Middle Earth!
It holds a good amount of paper, three 21x11cm books fit in quite snugly. They're easy to switch too, thankfully. Don't know if you can make it out, but on the bottom pic it has this little plastic pouch for pens! I'm writing in it already. It's no Techo, but I'm glad I got it!
My first fountain pen fail this weekend. I was late leaving the office on Friday and failed to properly cap the pen I was using at the time. Grabbed all my pens and threw them into the pocket, cap up as usual. Except of course that meant the uncapped pen was nib down. Got a nice large black ink spot on my bag which I didn't discover till Sunday :/.
Set of all four Pilot Parallel Pens for $25 + $2 US shipping on Massdrop for the next 5 days! If you want to take up calligraphy, that's an awesome way to get started.
5 pack of Rhodia R pads for $50 for 2 more days, too. That's a good price (although it doesn't match the discount on the pens) for heavenly Rhodia R paper. So smooth and luxurious!
If 1 more person signs up and buys stuff using my referral, I get free junk!
Click!
5 pack of Rhodia R pads for $50 for 2 more days, too. That's a good price (although it doesn't match the discount on the pens) for heavenly Rhodia R paper. So smooth and luxurious!
If 1 more person signs up and buys stuff using my referral, I get free junk!
Click!
iamcool388
Member
I thought I'd give a small update after my previous post on my purchases:
Pilot Metropolitan is absolutely an incredible value. Its far, far better than what its price tag promises. Writes smooth, can take a knock or two, well made and a great pen for heavy, daily use.
I have put Baystate Blue in it and Holy Cow! This ink is the bluest blue of all. It almost hurts your eyes, its so electric in how it looks. I've put it in my Metropolitan and both work great together (I didnt want to use an expensive pen because BSB is notorious for being a stain monster, and true to form, its stained my Metropolitan completely.) I sign cheques with BSB and it jumps off the page.
Highly recommend both the pen and the ink (be careful with it) individually, and the combination as well.
Pilot Metropolitan is absolutely an incredible value. Its far, far better than what its price tag promises. Writes smooth, can take a knock or two, well made and a great pen for heavy, daily use.
I have put Baystate Blue in it and Holy Cow! This ink is the bluest blue of all. It almost hurts your eyes, its so electric in how it looks. I've put it in my Metropolitan and both work great together (I didnt want to use an expensive pen because BSB is notorious for being a stain monster, and true to form, its stained my Metropolitan completely.) I sign cheques with BSB and it jumps off the page.
Highly recommend both the pen and the ink (be careful with it) individually, and the combination as well.
iamcool388
Member
I so wish I could use one of these but I am left handed and my handwriting is already garbage and with a fountain pen I just smear all over the page
You absolutely can! Two quick tips:
1. Use a fine nib pen. This way you will be laying down a less ink.
2. Use a quick drying ink to go with a fine nib pen. For example, I recommend Noodlers. The Noodlers Black dries extremely quickly for me.
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
Is there somewhere to order this? I find nothing from googling.
I decided to splurge a little and get a fine point pilot vanishing point, along with the iroahizuku "asa-gao" ink and waterman serenity blue ink. Can't wait until they arrive.
CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
I looooooooove my Iroshizuku minis! The presentation box the 3-packs come in is really a nice touch. Really catches the attention of even non-FP users. Each bottle is like a gem in a showcase.
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
Ah, I thought it said available online in one of the press releases.
Where do you usually order them from?
Engeika or Vanness pens.
Oh my god, how did I not know these Iroshizuku minis existed? They are so cute!
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
Holy shit is the vanishing point nice. If it normal for pilot pens to be slightly scratchy?
Congrats, it's such a great pen.
Mine are very smooth considering how fine the tip is. The 'scratch' may just be because of the finer point, which is normal to an extent. If that's the case, you may find it's smoother to write with some inks over others. It's a gold nib so it may settle in a bit over time as you use it.
You could also flush it out and take a look at the nib under magnification. If it's slightly out of alignment, or there is a bit of debris in it you may be able to see it. On the whole, I find Pilot QC to be really solid, but you never know.
littlegrasshopper
Member
First off, OP thank you for this thread. It makes me want to buy an fountain pen, so I shall.
I'm an elementary ESOL/ESE teacher. I take a lot of notes and sign a lot of papers, can anyone recommend me a nice fountain pen that just rocks. I see that the Lamy Safari the OP recommends is about $23 on Amazon. Are there any other pens Amazon Prime carries that I should check out instead? I don't mind spending more money if I have too.
Thanks!
I'm an elementary ESOL/ESE teacher. I take a lot of notes and sign a lot of papers, can anyone recommend me a nice fountain pen that just rocks. I see that the Lamy Safari the OP recommends is about $23 on Amazon. Are there any other pens Amazon Prime carries that I should check out instead? I don't mind spending more money if I have too.
Thanks!
I swear by the cheaper Pilot Metropolitan. It comes in M and F nibs for around $10. It's a great pen to start out with. You can use Pilot ink cartridges or a converter and use fun inks. I'd start there if you're not sure exactly what you're looking for and you are a beginner. See how that feels to you and, if you fall in love with writing with a fountain pen, there are great options at $25, $50, $100.
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
Yeah, I've only heard complaints about lamy for QC. It feels fine, just sounds scratchy. I thought I heard Japanese pens tend to be scratchier. I do have a fine point also.
littlegrasshopper
Member
Upon your recommendation, I bought this one. I can't wait to use it.
Pilot Metropolitan Collection Fountain Pen, Black Barrel, Classic Design, Fine Nib, Black Ink
Massdrop (that's my referral link, if you haven't signed up yet) has a couple of good deals right now. There are a handful of ~ $50 pens, a $30 J. Herbin fountain pen, and a tempting set of 3 refillable J. Herbin rollerball pens. The rollerballs seem designed to use fountain pen ink, if you want to use cool inks in a non-fountain pen.
A 3-pack of J. Herbin 1670 Anniversary inks is $60. You get 2 bottles of the new Bleu Ocean formula (the original did not have metallic particles in it. It now has gold like the superb Stormy Grey! I need a bottle!) and the choice of a Rouge Hematite or a Stormy Grey (get the Stormy Grey! That is a must-own ink! It has worked flawlessly in my fountain pens and my Pilot Parallel calligraphy pens, and the gold sheen is incredibly cool! I get a lot of requests to write things for people using this ink. It makes a big impression).
There are two paper deals that you might be interested in, if you're looking for premium paper to use with your fountain pens.
3 pack of Franklin-Cristoph Firma-Flex journals (A5) for $34. I just picked up one of their journals after trying out a pad of their special paper. The paper is made from sugar cane and has a subtle pink coloration in some light. It feels a little rougher than Rhodia or super-smooth Tomoe River, but it handles all of my inks, including the wet 6.0mm Parallel pen, beautifully.
The notebooks are wonderful, with a nice stiff leather-esque cover with an embossed celtic knot. They lay nice and flat, too. This is basically another Moleskine-killer, offering better paper, better covers, and a more premium feel overall. One neat feature is that the stitching on the cover is a different color depending on the paper type (lined, blank, dot, or graph). It's a subtle touch that contributes to the overall luxurious feel. $34 is a great price for 3 of these. I jumped on to this drop.
A 6-pack of Rhodia pads is available for $44, which is a great price. You can choose three sets of 2 in lined, blank, graph, dot, lined w/ margin. You can also choose the special edition Rhodia Ice pads in lined or graph. They are all A4, which is the standard European size, closest to US letter paper. Rhodia paper is my go-to for fountain pens or calligraphy pens. It's just consistently great paper.
A 3-pack of J. Herbin 1670 Anniversary inks is $60. You get 2 bottles of the new Bleu Ocean formula (the original did not have metallic particles in it. It now has gold like the superb Stormy Grey! I need a bottle!) and the choice of a Rouge Hematite or a Stormy Grey (get the Stormy Grey! That is a must-own ink! It has worked flawlessly in my fountain pens and my Pilot Parallel calligraphy pens, and the gold sheen is incredibly cool! I get a lot of requests to write things for people using this ink. It makes a big impression).
There are two paper deals that you might be interested in, if you're looking for premium paper to use with your fountain pens.
3 pack of Franklin-Cristoph Firma-Flex journals (A5) for $34. I just picked up one of their journals after trying out a pad of their special paper. The paper is made from sugar cane and has a subtle pink coloration in some light. It feels a little rougher than Rhodia or super-smooth Tomoe River, but it handles all of my inks, including the wet 6.0mm Parallel pen, beautifully.
The notebooks are wonderful, with a nice stiff leather-esque cover with an embossed celtic knot. They lay nice and flat, too. This is basically another Moleskine-killer, offering better paper, better covers, and a more premium feel overall. One neat feature is that the stitching on the cover is a different color depending on the paper type (lined, blank, dot, or graph). It's a subtle touch that contributes to the overall luxurious feel. $34 is a great price for 3 of these. I jumped on to this drop.
A 6-pack of Rhodia pads is available for $44, which is a great price. You can choose three sets of 2 in lined, blank, graph, dot, lined w/ margin. You can also choose the special edition Rhodia Ice pads in lined or graph. They are all A4, which is the standard European size, closest to US letter paper. Rhodia paper is my go-to for fountain pens or calligraphy pens. It's just consistently great paper.
Nappuccino
Member
I'm way late on the draw, but I do have the Safari and I'm still pretty damn happy with it. That said, it's the only fountain pen I have so I'm not super well-versed in the other options.
edit: I'm of the opinion that unless someone is very against plastic bodies, they'll be happy with the Safari to start with. There might be some slightly cheaper options that net the same quality, or some the same price that might be slightly better, but I don't know if anyone would notice this. They'll probably be more than happy with a Safari as an intro pen.
edit: though if that Pilot pen is refillable out of the box, that's a great deal.
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
Does the inclusion of metal cause any problems to certain feeds or require more regular cleaning?
It's nothing like the Rohrer & Klinger Scabiosa but I wouldn't leave it in the pen for months. Probably try to use it up within 2-3 weeks and clean in before putting more would be my suggestion.
Rouge Hematite has gummed up every pen I've ever used it in. On the other hand, I've used Stormy Grey in the same pens for months now and, despite the build up of gold (especially evident in my Parallel pens - I'll snap some pictures when I am back home), they all still write beautifully. I have 2 dedicated Parallel pens for Stormy Grey, and a designated Pilot Metropolitan - I wouldn't chance it in my Vanishing Point or anything. Then again, my designated Stormy Grey Pilot Metropolitan still writes flawlessly.
One key is to really agitate the bottle before refilling a cartridge or converter. Then, before writing, give the pen a gentle shake. The gold (and it is actual gold in the ink) settles out very quickly. You want to shake it up to resuspend it or else you get too much grey and not enough sheen.
Hey, thanks! A decent pen and a little practice and you can make your writing much better. I teased Cheesecakerecipe about his handwriting before, but it has really come along. I think the biggest thing is to have pen and paper that you love. If you are having fun writing with cool inks, on silky smooth paper, with a pen that feels great in your hand, you'll just naturally write more and you'll end up writing more neatly.
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
Yeah, that's what I feared. I ordered a set but I'll use my safari or buy another cheap pen to use the ink.
Massdrop just added the Lamy CP1, which has a titanium oxide barrel, instead of the Safari's ABS plastic. $50 right now, but the lowest price, $44, will almost certainly unlock. People snap up Lamy pens.
My referral again.
I don't want to just spam massdrop stuff, but they run good deals on starter pens and paper pretty regularly.
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
Two pack of metropolitan is on sale at massdrop again
Yeah - I don't just want to pimp my massdrop referral (I did get my first bonus box, for inviting 5 people, and I am 3 away from my next one! They are really fun, random collections of stuff), but they have Metropolitans, Rhodia pads, inks, Vanishing Points, Lamy Safaris...basically, they have a lot of the stuff that I like and that I recommend to people who are interested in doing more writing/using a fountain pen. It makes it hard not to recommend them a bunch in here. The deals are generally very good (a few are not much better than the prices at jetpens or goulet pens, but some are killer), which makes it even easier to make the leap and give a fountain pen a try.
It's a good time to stock up on rhodia pads, Franklin and Cristoph A5 black notebooks (I really recommend that drop! They're beautiful notebooks!), or Clairefontaine notebooks! Those will all serve you really well with whatever pens and inks you use.
It's a good time to stock up on rhodia pads, Franklin and Cristoph A5 black notebooks (I really recommend that drop! They're beautiful notebooks!), or Clairefontaine notebooks! Those will all serve you really well with whatever pens and inks you use.
Caved and picked up the 2015 Special Edition Lamy Al-Star in copper-orange from gouletpens. I grabbed a box of copper-orange ink refills as the full bottles are out of stock.
I have a real weakness for pens in orange. The TWSBI 580AL in orange was just discontinued and Goulet expects just 1 or 2 more shipments. I've wanted a 580 for a while now and I think this is the sign I should finally get one.
This is what happens when you follow Goulet pens on twitter and read their blog/newsletter.
Both the main Goulet account and Brian Goulet's account are excellent places to ask questions. I asked Brian Goulet for an ink recommendation a little while back and I got a great response right away.
Here are a few (?) pen and paper accounts I follow on twitter:
@PilotPenUSA Official Pilot account. They do a few neat things, like sending Valentine's Day cards to other twitter accounts for you.
@penenthusiast Pen and ink reviews
@exaclair "Exclusive U.S. distributor of Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Quo Vadis, J. Herbin, Brause, G. Lalo, Decopatch, Exacompta, Avenue Mandarine, Maildor and Schut"
@QuoVadisBlog A subset of exaclair tweets
@moleskine They tweet a LOT. A very active and engaged community for these shitty notebooks.
@FieldNotesBrand Also prolific tweeters. Moleskine and Field Notes will both retweet stuff if you tweet at them, if that's your thing. They both run lots of contests, too.
@PaperTrailed Infrequent updates, but some cool news on paper products
@BrianGoulet_ Owner of Goulet Pens. Terribly nice dude!
@GouletPens Great place to ask questions. They retweet a fair number of ink reviews and will always have a few tweets after each month's inkdrop goes out.
@KickstarterPens What it says on the tin.
@JetPens Prolific retweeters of people happy about their jetpens orders. They are good at announcing new products and they run quite a few contests
@ivoryocean Artist and pen/ink reviewer I met through Gouletpens.
@NockCo pen case makers. News about their offerings and general pen talk.
@Massdrop tweets and retweets about massdrop offerings. Good way to get your referral link retweeted. Cheesecakerecipe and I chatted with their CEO on twitter a little while ago, too, when they made an entire section for writing. That was pretty cool.
@WeThePPIL PenPaperInkLetter.com reviews and news. Lots of good info.
@BertramsInkwell Guy who owns a pen shop. Tweets mainly about pen shows and high end pens, but seems like a really nice guy. Haven't bought anything from him yet.
@inklode pen and ink news.
@ScribeByNight Tumblr calligraphy blog. He's very good about promoting people new to the calligraphy community and my stuff all shows up there eventually.
@twsbi not terribly active, but they're good at answering questions and they'll show some in-production stuff
and me: @johanheat A dumb name for my personal account. Mostly bad jokes, but I'm always happy to talk pens, ink, and paper.
I have a real weakness for pens in orange. The TWSBI 580AL in orange was just discontinued and Goulet expects just 1 or 2 more shipments. I've wanted a 580 for a while now and I think this is the sign I should finally get one.
This is what happens when you follow Goulet pens on twitter and read their blog/newsletter.
Both the main Goulet account and Brian Goulet's account are excellent places to ask questions. I asked Brian Goulet for an ink recommendation a little while back and I got a great response right away.
Here are a few (?) pen and paper accounts I follow on twitter:
@PilotPenUSA Official Pilot account. They do a few neat things, like sending Valentine's Day cards to other twitter accounts for you.
@penenthusiast Pen and ink reviews
@exaclair "Exclusive U.S. distributor of Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Quo Vadis, J. Herbin, Brause, G. Lalo, Decopatch, Exacompta, Avenue Mandarine, Maildor and Schut"
@QuoVadisBlog A subset of exaclair tweets
@moleskine They tweet a LOT. A very active and engaged community for these shitty notebooks.
@FieldNotesBrand Also prolific tweeters. Moleskine and Field Notes will both retweet stuff if you tweet at them, if that's your thing. They both run lots of contests, too.
@PaperTrailed Infrequent updates, but some cool news on paper products
@BrianGoulet_ Owner of Goulet Pens. Terribly nice dude!
@GouletPens Great place to ask questions. They retweet a fair number of ink reviews and will always have a few tweets after each month's inkdrop goes out.
@KickstarterPens What it says on the tin.
@JetPens Prolific retweeters of people happy about their jetpens orders. They are good at announcing new products and they run quite a few contests
@ivoryocean Artist and pen/ink reviewer I met through Gouletpens.
@NockCo pen case makers. News about their offerings and general pen talk.
@Massdrop tweets and retweets about massdrop offerings. Good way to get your referral link retweeted. Cheesecakerecipe and I chatted with their CEO on twitter a little while ago, too, when they made an entire section for writing. That was pretty cool.
@WeThePPIL PenPaperInkLetter.com reviews and news. Lots of good info.
@BertramsInkwell Guy who owns a pen shop. Tweets mainly about pen shows and high end pens, but seems like a really nice guy. Haven't bought anything from him yet.
@inklode pen and ink news.
@ScribeByNight Tumblr calligraphy blog. He's very good about promoting people new to the calligraphy community and my stuff all shows up there eventually.
@twsbi not terribly active, but they're good at answering questions and they'll show some in-production stuff
and me: @johanheat A dumb name for my personal account. Mostly bad jokes, but I'm always happy to talk pens, ink, and paper.
I'd be interested to hear, too! They have some gorgeous pens for sale, and the prices are not as bad as I thought they'd be. I barely needed to retire to my fainting couch after seeing prices of $100-150 with steel nibs.
The pocket 40 calls to me.
The model 27 is $70 and comes in a bunch of different colors!
Tempting...
They sell their own music nibs for $35, too...
Personally thinking about the Model 40 Ice or the Model 66 Ice with Masuyama nib. His nib grind is great, especially after I got my first nib grind back from him.
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