Why Should I Write With A Fountain Pen?how About You?

[250125887]

There are many reasons to write with a fountain pen instead of a rollerball or ballpoint pen, such as:

 

It feels better: Writing with a fountain pen is like painting on the page. Very little pressure is used since unlike a ballpoint pen, more ink will not come out with additional pressure.

It's better for the environment: You can buy a pen made in the forties (or one made last week) and use it for lifetimes. The only consumable is the ink, which is primarily made up of water and benign substances. It's a huge departure from your disposable plastic ballpoint pens. Even if you have an expensive MontBlanc rollerball, the consumables on such pens are disposable plastic/metal one-time-use cartridges.

It's stylish: Much like old-fashioned shaving has made a resurgence, fountain pens show an investment in the process of writing, rather than simply using a cheap (or even an expensive) ballpoint

Lots of choice in pens for practically any style: I will get to this later, but you can buy pens from all over the world manufactured over the past 70 years without trouble. Practically every design aesthetic that has existed in that time has corresponding pens

Ink choices galore: You can buy tons of different colors of inks for any use, with different properties.

 

how do you like writing by fountain pen?

[Bo Bo Olson]

I like the different flexes and patterns of the nibs.

 

One needs a starter set of B, M, and F...they make a difference in ink shade.

 

I like shading inks.

 

One needs an EF nib, and a supersaturated vivid ink for poor paper. Some of those inks are permanent.

You need some of both inks.

 

MB Toffee a nice brown shading ink was with regular flex:

Fine was light with dark trails.

Medium was 50-50 breaking the M prejudice I'd picked up on this com.

Broad was dark with light trails.

 

Semi-flex was darker being a wetter writer due to tine spread.

 

I like semi-flex and maxi-semi-flex/'flexi' nibs.

They give me a bit of flare to my writing with out having to do something.

 

I love pre'66 German Oblique nibs with semi-flex and maxi-semi-flex/'flexi' nibs.

 

Flexible nibs are fun after you have the basics.

 

Cursive italic and stubbed nibs are fun too.

 

Go to Richard Binder com, and learn the basics of fountain pens; nibs, filling systems, good advice on inks and lots of pictures of old pens.

 

Fountain pens are fun....a bunch of grown ups with grown up crayons.

Edited January 30, 2012 by Bo Bo Olson

[Alohamora]

I was away from my desk the other day and I needed to quickly jot down a few words. I asked a coworker to borrow a pen and she handed me a ballpoint. I tried to write and there were no marks on the paper. I almost handed it back as non-working, when I realized, "Oh yeah, you have to press hard with one of these"

 

My hands would rebel if I had to press that hard for taking notes all the time.

[79spitfire]

I have arthritis in my hands. I had to write a paragraph with a ballpoint the other day. I had hand cramps before I was done. My fountain pens don't do this to me!

[eric47]

I like to. As long as no one is being harmed, do I need further reason?

[ajoe]

I like to. As long as no one is being harmed, do I need further reason?

 

+1

[ISW_Kaputnik]

For me, writes much more smoothly than ballpoints, with a wider variety of inks, which look better once they get on paper. On the other hand, there are some pretty good ballpoints.

 

Not necessarily smoother than rollerballs, but fountain pens are more interesting, with the variety of filling systems, and the beauty of the nibs and feeds.

 

I like old technologies that still work perfectly well. There is such a thing as technological progress, of course, but not everything that we get sold on as an improvement really is one. Or the new technology may have disadvantages to go with the advantages.

 

Not entirely sold on them being "better for the environment" after watching ink that I've flushed out swirl down the drain. Benign substances? Maybe, but I don't actually know that. More evidence needed before I pat myself on the back for saving the earth. It wasn't part of my motivation for trying these anyway.

[Brian K]

I like to. As long as no one is being harmed, do I need further reason?

 

+1

 

+2 - if you enjoy writing with a fountain pen more than you enjoy writing with any sort of ball pen then, of course, you ought to do so. If you don't...then you have your answer and it doesn't make you a Philistine.

[Paddler]

I use fountain pens because I like them. That is the only excuse I need.

 

I think the amount of oil burned to recycle an ink bottle would make many disposable pens. I don't worry about it. I never exercised my right to overpopulate the planet, so I don't have any austerity qualms over using a few resources.

[someonesdad]

Here are some reasons I stuck into a document about fountain pens:

 

• Ergonomic: a good fountain pen on good paper affords one of the least tiring methods of doing a lot of writing. The pen can seem to glide across the paper almost effortlessly.
• Cheap: you can buy inexpensive fountain pens and refill them many times. This is not the case with rollerballs¹ and ball point pens. Over a period of time, this can result in a low cost of writing -- and less junk being put into a landfill.
• Repairable: you can get a fountain pen repaired if it breaks.
• Choices: a fountain pen can use hundreds of different ink colors available on the market. There are thousands of different pen types to choose from and you can find a length and weight that satisfies your tastes. You can spend pennies to a king's ransom.
• Heirloom: a fountain pen can be or become a family heirloom -- or you can use an old reconditioned fountain pen from 50 or more years ago. If you don't lose it or destroy it, a fountain pen can outlast you.
• Attractive writing: a fountain pen's writing can exhibit visual characteristics that many people find appealing.
• Customizable: you can have a technician fine tune the writing characteristics of a fountain pen for your tastes.
• Waterproof and archival: you can find inks that will still be legible after getting the paper wet and have a neutral pH to avoid damaging the paper over the long term.
• Lefties: left-handed overwriters can find a pen and ink that they like writing with and that the ink dries quickly and doesn't smear.
• Appearance: some people with magpie tendencies find they love collecting (and using) fountain pens.
• Fabricate your own: if you're handy around the shop, you can make your own fountain pen and have a writing instrument nobody else has.
• Unusual, personal, and expressive: write a letter with a fountain pen to someone. I guarantee it will be a surprise to them, as so few people hand-write letters anymore (at least compared to the days before email and cell phones).
• Sensual: you'll find making some personal notes in your journal or notebook on a cold winter day with snow coming down outside the window while you write can be quite pleasurable. You can also find some special papers that makes writing with a fountain pen a treat.
• Care: you may find that when you write with a fountain pen, you slow down and write with more care and thought. Why this happens, I don't know -- but it often does (it's similar to the effect many scientists know about when writing in a lab notebook -- maybe it's because since you know the information may be carefully read later, you carefully write now).
• Community: if you get hooked on fountain pens, inks, and their use, you'll find other users out there who are just as looney about them as you are.

I didn't bother including the reason of "novelty", as those of us who grew up using fountain pens don't consider them a novelty (people have been writing with sharp tips and a water-based dye for thousands of years). However, many young folks today may have never seen or used a fountain pen, so to them it will be a novelty. Some people may also think it's cool to use a fountain pen because few people around them do.

 

There are disadvantages to fountain pens too:

 

• You may or may not be able to make carbon copies with a fountain pen (it depends on the nib's stiffness). If you don't know what a carbon copy is, then don't worry about it.
• Some inks don't play well with some papers or pens. Some pens don't write very well.
• Fountain pens are not as convenient as other pens because they can require filling and maintenance. Maintenance primarily means cleaning it occasionally. This may appear onerous to someone who's used to just tossing out a pen that no longer writes well and grabs another.
• Fiddling with fountain pens can lead to ink on your fingers (some people consider this a curse, some consider it OK, as it marks you as a fountain pen user).
• YMMV: i.e., "your mileage may vary". This means you may not have the same experiences that someone else does -- fountain pen use can be subjective and personal.
• A pen leak can coat you and your clothes with ink -- and this can turn anyone off concerning fountain pens! Of course, remember that an occasional ball point or roller ball pen can leak too.

1There are some rollerballs that can be refilled with ink.

 

 

[handwriter]

I like how they write and I enjoy the several types of nibs, espcially the line variation I get with certain vintage nibs.

 

The other (:ph34r:) answer: And why not?. Aren't them an option as legitimate as any other?. Don't know you, but I don't ask people around why they use ballpoints, or rollerballs, or gels, pencils, quills, a piece of chalk, computer/printers, dipping their fingers in ink or whatever they like .

[lapis]

Mainly because there are so many different inks to choose from.

 

Mike

[Markk]

A mix of many things. I like how they are unique (compared to the hoards of ballpoints).

 

I like having different inks too, even though some of them can't be used in a professional setting.

 

Of course they're nice to write with, but I still haven't mastered a light touch with them (although the difference between BP and FP is quite significant as it is).

[Silas]

My pens have souls

 

They lie, dormant, waiting silent for my touch to awaken them....

 

They then dance and sing and whisper as wraiths and fairies,

 

Calming and soothing me.

 

They are play friends during quiet hours, rays of sunshine on dark days.

[XiaoMG]

My fountain pens are among the least practical of my writing tools, but I always carry at least one with me because I enjoy them. I like getting minor shading effects even with my fine nibs, and I like the romance of using such a simple, refillable tool. I do not find them much more ergonomic than my other pens, and I generally find the line quality from a fountain pen inferior, but those are minor quibbles. The fun of writing with a fountain pen more than compensates, as long as the paper plays nice.

[Zaphodbeeblebrox]

I like fountain pens because in this age of so called Technology and Digital this and that, a fountain pen seems more organic, more natural. Plus it lets me be me, a unique individual.

 

End of Line

 

Cramer

[ethernautrix]

Maybe you shouldn't write with a fountain pen. But if you like to, why not?

 

Me, I use a fountain pen, because I like to.

 

Actually, I like pens. I like keyboards, too. Hmm... I guess I like writing.

[Anne S. Gray]

 

Fountain pens are fun....a bunch of grown ups with grown up crayons.

 

I agree completely! I love being able to use so many different ink colors.

[lsmith42]

Should implies imperative where there is none.

 

Unless, of course , you're trying to silence the little voices in your head...

 

Preference is what drives us... Nothing more (or less)!

[Brian K]

My pens have souls

 

They lie, dormant, waiting silent for my touch to awaken them....

 

They then dance and sing and whisper as wraiths and fairies,

 

Calming and soothing me.

 

They are play friends during quiet hours, rays of sunshine on dark days.

 

:bunny01: :bunny01: