[Gdr2004]

Hello!

I've been browsing for a while in search of a good fountain pen for using at college. My all time favorite utencil for writing happens to be a dip pen that I picked up at a pawn shop years ago. The nib is an Esterbrook Art and Drafting 358 and another one which is the Esterbrook Art and Drafting 788.

I absolutely love how it writes, but it is a hassel having to dip the pen into the ink every now and then, and I've noticed that after i dip, even if I take try and wipe off the excess ink on the ink bottle, even the slightest amount of pressure will unleash a flood of ink.

I was wondering if there were fountain pens which were as flexible as the dip pen I use that could be purchased for around 20-30 dollars (even that is a strech as I am just a poor college student :( ). I figured this was the best place to ask!

I've looked into the Lamy Safari, but unfortunately, there aren't a lot of places around here that carry them (DFW Tx area) and I want to make sure it's money well spent!

Thank you very much!

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This post has been edited by Gdr2004: 17 August 2006 - 06:15 AM

[Ana]

One of my favorites is the Pilot Namiki Knight. Even though it says "medium" nib, it's actually finer than my Lamy "fine." They have it at some Office Depot stores (silver only), and here at Montgomery pens in black for $31.50.

http://www.montgomer...Namiki%20Knight

If you print out the page and bring it to Office Depot, they should match the price because Montgomery Pens is an actual store. They'll put up a fuss, but should give it to you. They won't match online stores only, like Amazon or Buy.com.

The Knight comes with a little bladder thingy so you don't need cartridges, which should save you a little money. Or you can fill the cartridges yourself with a syringe and hypodermic needle.

[JRG]

If you want actual flex in a fountain pen, and for not many $, your best bet is a vintage pen with flex nib. Lots of possbilities there, but allow me to suggest a Waterman 52, mostly because a) many of them have excellent flex nibs, and B) they exist in great numbers --- so they're cheap, unless there's something special about the pen. In less than perfect condition, a 52 for $20 or so is quite possible. I've even seen near-perfect ones sell in the $25--$30 range.

Mind you, most fountain pen flex nibs won't be as flexy as your dip pen nib, but you can get close to that.

[Johnny Appleseed]

Nice nibs, and nice writing!

You can find vintage fountain pens with flex nibs that are quite nice if you look around. The challange is finding one in your price range that gives you a chance to see how the nib writes. I have found some great flex-nibbed pens on ebay for less than $20, but of course I had to do the restoration myself and I couldn't be sure how flexy it was until I got the pen.

Keep an eye out for an old Waterman 52 or 52V, or perhaps a 3V - they sometimes can be had cheap and usually have good flex. Keep an eye out here in the marketplace too - I may be putting a few up for sale soon.

I am less familier with modern pens, but the only one that I think can even begin to compare with the vintage ones is the Namiki Falcon, and that sells for at least $120.

John

[Gdr2004]

Thank you for your help!

I will most likely be looking on Ebay for a Waterman 52 and I will be looking into the Knight as well!

What are things I should look for when getting fountain pens from Ebay?

[flexiblefine]

JRG, on Aug 17 2006, 08:00 PM, said:

Mind you, most fountain pen flex nibs won't be as flexy as your dip pen nib, but you can get close to that.

I agree with JRG about dip nibs vs. FP nibs -- some dip nibs are seriously flexible, and FP nibs tend not to go so far. Modern flex is difficult to find.

When I was looking for some reasonably-priced flexible-nib pens some years ago, I got in touch with Nathan Tardif. If he's responding to e-mails in a timely manner (some people have apparently had long delays over the years), he may be able to help. I got a handful of postal fillers (1940s era, I think) with flex nibs for about $40 each, I think.

[sonia_simone]

flexiblefine! So nice to see you in these parts!

If I were looking for a well priced "user" pen with flex, I'd post a WTB (want to buy) on the Marketplace here. I bet someone has something that's cosmetically perhaps a bit beat up but a great writer. And you can always sell it again if it's not to your taste.

[Michael Wright]

sonia_simone's suggestion is an excellent one -- post a WTB here.

Waterman 52 is a good suggestion, but you need to know that 52s came with a very wide range of nibs, by no means all are flexible. You need to make sure that the pen you get has the nib you want -- and on ebay, there's no guarantee of accurate descriptions.

Another good place to look would be the Eversharp Skyline. These fairly often come with flexible nibs, and they're nice ones, and the pen itself still goes for not too much money -- there were an awful lot made.

Your best bet for a low cost pen, though, would be some kind of no-name, nth-tier pen of the kind that came with a Warranted nib. I'm not sure who's warranting what with those nibs, but it's what a lot of makers put on their generic nibs. Warranted nibs come in all flavours, including flexible, and a no-name pen with a generic nib is not going to draw big bucks. It's quite possible that a WTB ad will winkle one out from the FPN community.

I'm not sure, though, whether any FP nib going to quite match a dip pen -- I should imagine the feed would put some limits on the degree of flex.

Good hunting

Michael

[Johnny Appleseed]

Dip pen nibs come in as many different styles as Fountain pen nibs - more actually. From the look of the writing sample, I am not sure those Esterbrooks are the most super-flex nibs out there - I would think you could find FP nibs that would match.

The trick with flex nibs is that you need to try a lot to figure out what you like and what you want to use.

John

[jbb]

I adore writing with dip pens too. I have a vintage gold-filled ring top Wahl pen with a #2 nib that comes as close to dip pen writing as any fountain pen I've tried. I got it on Ebay for about $30 but I've seem them slip by for as low as $10!

[BobR]

One important consideration is how you intend to use the pen. Since you're a college student, you may want it to take class notes, etc, and in my limited experience, I don't think flexible nibs would be very suited to that. You mentioned the Lamy Safari, which is not at all flexible, just the opposite, but it may be more appropriate for use in college. I can write much more quickly with a Safari than a flex nib!
Bob

[meanwhile]

There isn't a Safari with a flex nib, although there are stubs, etc.

The cheapest flex nibs I've seen are 1970s Japanese pens sold on ebay. They come up every few weeks. Keep searching, with the "search inside ad test" option enabled, and you will see them. They can go for very low prices sometimes, although when you add P&P you'll still have problems making your $30 limit... $40 would be easier. On the positive side, these can be real "wet noodles" like the dip pens. The people who sell these pens are normally friendly and well-informed and will be able to steer you to the right nib.

This post has been edited by meanwhile: 18 August 2006 - 12:42 PM

[flexiblefine]

sonia_simone, on Aug 17 2006, 08:43 PM, said:

flexiblefine!  So nice to see you in these parts!

I mostly lurk here, as you can tell from my post count. Staying in touch with a few pen things, while we spend all our money on our (17-month-old) son and a new house (building in progress).

[Johnny Appleseed]

I'll go through my pile and see if there is anything with good flex I would be willing to part with for about $20. I probably have a few pens with Warranted nibs that might do the trick.

Another thought on ebay is to look for low-end Wahl pens with "#2 Flexible" nibs. Sometimes you can get little 3" ring-tops with those nibs.

Also look for Wahl Tempoint nibs - I once picked up a clipless Arnold with an uber-flexy Tempoint nib (which is now living on a lovely Modern Stripe Skyline).

John

[meanwhile]

I've learned a lot from this thread - thank you, all!