fountain pen taboos - don't enter if you're easily offended

[Aysedasi]

I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would choose to use a pen with a metal section. Just the thought of it sets my teeth on edge.

 

 

 

What he said.

 

Plus

 

Bog-standard medium nibs. So bally dull. I will never understand why anyone would lavish hundreds (sometimes thousands) of $s or £s on a stunning pen and have it equipped with the most boring nib ever known to man....... (and for me, fine nibs come a close second in the boring league...)

 

IMO.

 

 

 

 

Because I think it's kind of fun and that's what I like about the fountain pen hobby--everybody likes different things. The problem is when I get castigated by someone for using pens that I prefer and they dislike. Or when I'm ridiculed because I have a preference for a particular pen. None of the pens below have the same size nib, they are all from different eras, so the only thing they really have in common is the model number.

 

http://www.niksch.us/pen_pix/149Family.JPG

 

 

 

 

And I just want one.......

 

 

 

1) My Parker 51 holds a lot of ink, but my fingers slip down to the nib and the nib doesn't flow well (dries up very quickly).

 

Methinks your P51 either needs a darn good clean - have you had the hood off and checked under there? - or nib adjustment.....

Edited March 12, 2010 by Aysedasi

[Kabe]

one thing that few want to talk about is how Lamy rips off people by using three different names for one single pen (vista, al star, and safari).

[Joe in Seattle]

6. I like the Parker Sonnett ball pens as every day users--but not their fountain pens-- mine all skipped and wrote too dry.

 

 

That's my experience with modern Parker's as a tribe - I'm fairly sure it has to do with the cartridge/converter fill system. I've had one favourite Parker tuned by Mike and it does now write the exact width and wetness level I prefer.

 

Pelikans: I LOVE the look, but - even when bought from impeccable tuning providers they just write too darn wet for me. I have two Pels I love, tortoise and demo and for both I enjoy steel nibs which, in my experience, write a more true line to width. I'll always have some, but they're not my love.

 

Vintage pens have the look, the line width, generally lever or piston fill, and they're high maintenance.

 

The whole pitch, for me, is that it's a hobby - studying, buying, trading, and above all using fountain pens and interacting with like-minded persons.

 

As to taboo - I can say, having been a member of several fora: wrist watches (3) and stereo/home theatre (6) THIS forum manages the most civility and courtesy. It may be partly due to the moderators, but I believe it's more that we all have a little sense of perspective. The world will not come to an end if I prefer Pelikan brilliant black to Noodler's HOD. On the stereo side, if you like current production Electro-Harmonix EL34 tubes instead of "classic" British Mullard EL 34's you're a expletive included!

 

Nice going, pen friends!

[razr]

General & non-specific brand gripe...FPs that you can't post the cap. I know, it's a matter of preference....

[Kaustic]

 

1) My Parker 51 holds a lot of ink, but my fingers slip down to the nib and the nib doesn't flow well (dries up very quickly).

 

Methinks your P51 either needs a darn good clean - have you had the hood off and checked under there? - or nib adjustment.....

 

Probably nib adjustment. It has been cleaned, flushed, rinsed, repeated...

[mateo44]

best.thread.evah!

[Aysedasi]

one thing that few want to talk about is how Lamy rips off people by using three different names for one single pen (vista, al star, and safari).

 

In what way does that rip anyone off? It's not obligatory to buy all three, is it?

[Aysedasi]

 

1) My Parker 51 holds a lot of ink, but my fingers slip down to the nib and the nib doesn't flow well (dries up very quickly).

 

Methinks your P51 either needs a darn good clean - have you had the hood off and checked under there? - or nib adjustment.....

 

Probably nib adjustment. It has been cleaned, flushed, rinsed, repeated...

 

 

As I say (just checking) with the hood off?

[Kaustic]

 

1) My Parker 51 holds a lot of ink, but my fingers slip down to the nib and the nib doesn't flow well (dries up very quickly).

 

Methinks your P51 either needs a darn good clean - have you had the hood off and checked under there? - or nib adjustment.....

 

Probably nib adjustment. It has been cleaned, flushed, rinsed, repeated...

 

 

As I say (just checking) with the hood off?

 

Of course!

[Aysedasi]

Ah well....

[acolythe]

From a personal point of view:

 

1) I see no point collecting lots of cheap pens. Instead of owning x10 $50 pens you could get yourself one very nice pen.

 

2) I see no point in people buying multiple copies of the same pen. There are 1,000s of pens out there, no one will own them all. Why restrict the number of different pens you will own by buying duplicates of ones you already have?

 

Good point I need to remember this, why do I do it? Greed? The need to hoard? I cannot stop buying Triumph nibs

[acolythe]

1) I don't understand why people love Parkers. (Don't try to explain it to me.)

2) I hate pen bodies and nibs in yellow gold. (St. Dupont might be an exception)

3) I am beginning to hate Lamy. (Not decided yet)

4) I hate overwetness.

5) I hate perfectly round, slippery FP bodies.

6) I live in a country where even men of letters mostly lack FP enthusiasm, and FP sellers don't know what they sell.

7) The idea of matching the notion of fountain pen with that of letter-writing irritates me.

8) The idea of matching the notion of fountain pen with that of signing documents, attending to meetings etc. makes me really sick.

9) St. Dupont and Caran d'Ache make the best FPs on earth, so I think currently.

10) To me, FP is not a wind from the past. FP is a writing tool, a machine in the strictest sense possible.

 

to be continued...

Sounds like Canada? Where do you live?

Bibamus, moriendum est.

[acolythe]

From a personal point of view:

 

1) I see no point collecting lots of cheap pens. Instead of owning x10 $50 pens you could get yourself one very nice pen.

 

2) I see no point in people buying multiple copies of the same pen. There are 1,000s of pens out there, no one will own them all. Why restrict the number of different pens you will own by buying duplicates of ones you already have?

 

And I'm exactly the opposite! But that's what keeps the pen-makers in business.

What is a fude nibbed pen?

[acolythe]

I think the Parker '51' is the most overrated vintage pen ever, groundbreaking design, yes, None the less I don't really like it.

 

Might have one with a lousy nib. Just because pen is a "51" doesn't automatically make it a great writer imo.

 

I prefer flex to nail nibs. So biggest advantage for 51's is massive collector & holding gallons of ink for routine charting & paperwork.

 

Either that or do intakes and progress notes in German black letter...

 

Also, modern pens are WAAYYYY over priced. Limited edition or not, too much money, ESPECIALLY ones that use cheap converters or cartridge, nibs (on the ones I've tried) seem to only go down to a medium size and up, even their fine nibs write a medium line. And don't get started on all those over the top tacky designs. Half of them look like circus pens. :blink: But that's just my spill on it.

Well, that's off my chest now.

 

Took me 2 years & quite a bit of wasted money to finally find what I believe is 'full flex' nib from so-called 'golden age of pens.' Big learning curve & just hit & miss since can't really try pens 1st. Now that I finally found one-- no need for any more. I'm happy now!

 

As for modern so-called tier one pens...

 

I look at Krone, David Oscarson, & other LE pens & think huh?

 

Who would waste that kind of money on something with 1.) no line variation & 2.) so big & fat looking, I bet they're like writing with a lead carrot.

 

That from the peanut gallery of someone who hasn't tried them!

 

As the Pennsylvania Dutch might say, "Those kinds of pens aren't for writin'-- they're for nice!"

 

fwiw

 

--Bruce

 

 

What full flex pen was that?

b

[abcde]

Just to be an opposite man (but I'm being honest)

 

1. I cannot see the attraction for the standard Montblanc 149. Its a short, fat, standard, run-of-the-mill, overdone, boring style for 600 dollars. It's not even made out of anything expensive (save for the nib). It's a pen for tools who want people outside the pen world to know they have an ohh-la-la Montblanc.

 

2. The markup on fountain pens is ridiculous. Or, at least the markup on crappy fountain pens is ridiculous. Had I money, I would not mind paying 1k+ for some of those beautiful limited editions - they deserve their price. But I'm sure as hell not going to pay half of that for a pen that's not even a fourth as attractive or unique. Sure, we're consumers - but complaints are what stabilize prices. If they put a standard Montblanc 149 at 2000 dollars, it wouldn't sell. As a consumer, I have a right to complain, and that right keeps my prices down!

 

Opposite rant done (no offense meant by the way, and I'm not calling anyone here a tool - unless, well, you know, name is a factor in purchase)

Edited March 12, 2010 by abcde

[Sailor Kenshin]

What is a fude nibbed pen?

 

 

The nib bends up, on purpose, to provide a variety of stroke thickness and density. They are supposedly modeled after brushes to write Chinese and Japanese characters. I love 'em.

[Silvermink]

1. Really heavy pens tend to feel cheap to me, thanks to some formative experiences with Jinhaos.

 

2. I don't like the Parker 51. I found mine incredibly uncomfortable to hold.

 

3. I don't really understand the whole posting thing, except on pens that are otherwise too short to hold. Top-heaviness makes a pen basically unusable for me - kind of like using a ballpoint, just a visceral "ick" feeling. Different strokes, I guess.

 

4. I don't like over-wetness either - I think it feels sloppy and imprecise, and I prefer moderate flow. It doesn't help that I often have to write on paper of dubious quality at work (I've seriously considered buying my own Clairefontaine books, but it sort of galls me). I do, however, like just enough wetness that I can watch the ink go from shiny to matte as it dries.

 

5. It sort of annoys me when people recommend very small pens to newbies without noting that they're very small, considering not everyone has the opportunity to try before they buy.

 

6. I think the Pilot VP is a great idea dubiously executed - that clip just ended up being a deal-breaker for me.

[tanburi]

1) I don't understand why people love Parkers. (Don't try to explain it to me.)

2) I hate pen bodies and nibs in yellow gold. (St. Dupont might be an exception)

3) I am beginning to hate Lamy. (Not decided yet)

4) I hate overwetness.

5) I hate perfectly round, slippery FP bodies.

6) I live in a country where even men of letters mostly lack FP enthusiasm, and FP sellers don't know what they sell.

7) The idea of matching the notion of fountain pen with that of letter-writing irritates me.

8) The idea of matching the notion of fountain pen with that of signing documents, attending to meetings etc. makes me really sick.

9) St. Dupont and Caran d'Ache make the best FPs on earth, so I think currently.

10) To me, FP is not a wind from the past. FP is a writing tool, a machine in the strictest sense possible.

 

to be continued...

Sounds like Canada? Where do you live?

Bibamus, moriendum est.

 

Turkey.

[tanburi]

best.thread.evah!

 

And the busiest.

 

We all needed this.

[bushido]

1) Pelikan rocks, and here are some opinions about them:

“Since the 1929 début of its first piston filler, Pelikan has been making pens of superb quality”

Richard Binder: http://www.richardspens.com/

“Having had the opportunity to work on most models of most major brands, we have found that Pelikan pens and Pelikan nibs consistently work well for these purposes. However, they do not offer nibs with these characteristics, which is why many of our customers (...) have been buying their Pelikan pens at various retail establishments and sending them to us for alterations.

...In addition to being well-designed, well-constructed and finely finished pens, Pelikans...”

John Mottishaw: http://www.nibs.com/PelikanMainPage.htm

“The one question I am asked more often than any other is, "What is the best fountain pen in the world?" My answer is always - Pelikan

Peter Twydle: http://www.penmuseum.co.uk/pelikan.htm

 

2 but hey I can also give you an opinion that's truly personal: MB= overpriced

 

a lot of reputable people said the same about toyotas. look, if there was one person who wanted pelikans to write well i was me. i so much wanted to keep the pens but couldn't. maybe my luck with the nibs was bad each of the 3 times. they are gorgeous pens though.