Hello,

A bit of me.

I am a french speaking Quebecquer of Acadian and Columbian descent living in the Montreal area. Actually, french is my third language, as my parents met in the US and always spoke English together. My mother always spoke Spanish with me until her death in 1969. I went to French school.

The society where I live.

Quebec city, where I was born, has a 96% french speaking population. Montreal, with its suburbs, has a 70-75% french population, with about 10% of people of British descent, and a mix of Irish, Italians, Greek and quite a few other groups. There are quite a few prominently english areas as well as several areas where you could live in Italian or Greek if you wanted to. On the streets, I frequently hear Russian, German, Portuguese and Arabic. Montreal also has a strong Jewish presence, including quite a few hassidic jews (traditionalists with black hats, side curls and beards). I hear them speak english, with very occasional Hebrew or Yiddish. I am not sure which.

My encounters with writing instruments.

Quebec's french schools were very catholic when I was a child. I got there when teachers decided to steer children away from fountain pens and onto ball point pens. This was in the late 50's when successful ball point pens were introduced. Teachers decided children were having a hard time with fountain pens: they were dripping or smudging, breaking or splitting the nibs, etc... So I missed my meeting with fountain pens in school by no more than a couple of years.

For a number of years I was content with ball point pens, which I preferred to wood pencils, or the cheaper mechanical pencils of the time. In high school, or perhaps in college, around 1970, I started using felt pens. They were nice when new as they could produce very fine lines. Unfortunately this never lasted long, with the tip starting to split or dull very quickly. So for quite a number of years I used throwable felt pens, not satisfying, but still preferable to ball points.

About twenty years ago, the rollerball pen was introduced. I quickly adopted extra-fine tips as they became available, and was satisfied with writing instruments for the first time. I also found, around the same period, automatic mechanical pencils, whose leads you did not have to worry about. I kept one of those as well for the occasional drawing with multiple corrections.

For a number of years I was fairly content with the rollerballs and automatic mechanical pencils. In May 2000 I got a Vuarnet fountain pen as a golf tounament door prize. I tried my first fountain pen and found it was pleasant to write with, except for the huge lines it produced. It had a medium nib.

One year later I decided to indulge in a nice set of writing instruments. I bought four Waterman Expert IIs. A Prussian Green lacquer on Brass Extra-fine fountain pen with a piston converter, then France Blue and Oriental Red Roller balls. A black lacquer automatic mechanical 0.5mm pencil completed the lot. I use Culmer extra-fine Roller Ball refills, both Black and Blue, they are quite good. I just bough much cheaper pilot refills.

I was quite satisfied with these, except for the fountain pen's cap. For a year I always carried both the fountain pen and one of the rollers in my pocket. After a while I found the fountain pen's cap became too loose to trust it in my pocket. I always close the fountain pen when I stop writing, thus using the cap's clip mechanism. I do not close rollerballs as they have a much smaller ink exposure, and are not prone to drying. I ruined a shirt, and that was it! The fountain pen stayed home, where it remains one of my favourite writing instruments.

I still wanted to have a fountain pen that I could carry as an every day writing instrument. I looked for fountain pens with screw-on metal on metal caps. I selected a Caran D'Ache Leman Rhodium Miroir, which I used for abount a year. Again I had a problem with the cap: it would close fine, but it would not hold on the pen anymore when I was writing. This made the pen much too short for my big hands where it would rest on the muscle tying the thumb to the palm. This was very unconfortable and had an impact on the nib which opened slightly, not writing as fine as it should.

I continued my quest for an every day fountain pen. I tried a Mont-Blanc Le Grand and several other high end pens. I was not impressed with the cap's hold to the pen when writing. I found quite a few pens are not designed to keep their cap firmly tied to the pen's body when writing.

I saw some very strong comments about Pelikan Souveran's being very reliable, so I tried and bought a black M800 Extra-Fine a few weeks ago. After a few weeks I am still in love. The Cap ties very solidly to the body of the pen, and gives the impression it will do so for a very long time.

At this time, I would like to complete my writing set with a highliter. I have looked at various Cross Selectip/Rollerballs, but I am not satisfied with the way their caps close or attach to the pen's barrel. I get the impression they will quickly fail. I looked at the Townsend, Verve, and ATX. The Century II and Classic are much too thin for me. I am intrigued by the new Apogee. If the Selectip is good enough I might even indulge in a fountain pen.

I still use all my Waterman Expert II pens. The rollers and pencil come on the road while I use the fountain pen remains at home. I will be sending my Caran d'Ache for repair, as my dealer suggested (he will handle it), it will probably be in occasional use status when it returns.

My (small) pen collection also includes a Red Marble Waterman Phileas pen and pencil set and a Green Jean-Pierre Lépine Privilege Fountain pen with a medium nib. I was given these after I bought my Expert II set. All very nice instruments. The Jean-Pierre Lepine is a beautiful well built instrument with an excellent twist-on cap design with a solid hold to the barrel. Unfortunately, extra-fine nibs are not available for it.

My preferences:

Medium to large sized, light to medium weight, fountain pens with extra-fine nibs, whose caps screw-on or twist-on for closing and attach firmly to the pen body to extend its length. I like using blue ink, either Waterman's Florida blue or Blue/black as well as Pelikan's Royal blue. For personal use only, for most writing situations.

Similar-sized rollerballs as a backup, for use on multicopy or glossy papers, and for lending without worrying. I use extra-fine blue or black refills.

Automatic mechanical pencils for occasional drawing and throwable highliters complete my usual writing set. I also keep throwable red and green rollerballs for the few times I use those colors.

Hello Louis:

Welcome to the FPN, the Internet's leading place for fountain pen buffs, where being addicted to fine writing instruments is a way of life that makes up happy and our spouses cringe when it comes to spending money on them.

I too have a Pelikan M800 and love it to no end. When I know I have a very long exam or paper to write, this is the pen I love to use the most. Ballpoint pens tend to make my hand and wrist hurt after a while. However, I must confess that I have never used a rollerball for a long written exam before, so I have no idea how my hand would feel from using it. Nevertheless, I am addicted to fine and medium nibs.

I am curious, are there any good stationery or pen stores that carry a nice selection of fountain pens in Montreal and Quebec City?

Welcome aboard Louis. Glad you found you way to us. Thanks for that great intro. Be warned, FPN will cause your fp and ink collection to grow exponentially! Looking forward to seeing you around the boards!

There is a small chain called "La boutique du stylo" with three stores in the Montreal area, and one in Quebec city's Ste-Foy borough. I go to the Montreal downtown store. They have a website at www.stylo.ca. (On the top right, you can pick language as "English" or "Français" and currency as "cad" "us" or "eur")

There is another pen store downtown, but they seem to be closed (maybe just on summer vacations). They also have a site, that lacks contact information, prices...www.culmerpen.com.

There are a number of good stationary stores, including Office Depot (called Bureau en Gros), most carry just a few brands of fine pens, usually Cross, Waterman, Parker, Sheaffer and Mont Blanc. Some gift shops carry Mont Blanc and other more exclusive brands (such as Cartier, Omas, S.T. Dupont...)

Louis - Welcome and bonjour...

I really liked the well written and descriptive introduction you gave and it is always good to see more Canadians here in our little bit of pen heaven.

Cheers!

Bienvenue à FPN, Louis!

Thanks for the excellent introduction. I live on the west coast of Canada (a suburb of Vancouver), but my husband and I visited Montreal in 1992. We had a very nice stay there. The restaurants are excellent and the smoked meat sandwiches at Schwartz's deli were

I hope you enjoy reading the posts and posting on FPN

Whether in English, Français or Español, welcome/bienvenue/bienvenido, Louis!

Thank you all for the very warm welcome! My quest for the "perfect pen" will be a lot of fun! 9

As I reserve my final judgement for a year of continuous use before judging, the Pelikan M800 will be up for comments in July 2006.

A little late in my welcome, but hello all the same, Louis! Hope you'll enjoy some of the peculiar sense of humour that flavours most of the posts here. We're all relatively normal people here.


For smooth extra-fine nibs, you might want to try some Sheaffers and Sailors. Since there are plenty of Sheaffer fans around, I'll nudge you towards Sailors then. Like most Japanese pens, Sailor Fine nibs are more or less equivalent to conventional/Western extra-fines, for your information. The 1911s and 1911Ms come with very smooth and springy nibs and are excellent pens that I can vouch as meeting all your above requirements apart from the last one, only because I don't post my caps on the barrel ends so I can't tell you if they attach firmly or not. Apart from that, your life isn't really complete without a Sailor or 3 in your life.

Bonjour Louis,

Welcome to FPN ! Here is a "Francais de France" for you I lived in Montreal for a while, several years ago and of course visited Quebec city. I haven't been back, but it is really a matter of freeing some time. This is the first on my list of destinations to take my wife to !

Enjoy the forums !

Denis.

I did spend several months, in many week long trips, in your home city, for work. A lot of people there work from 7h30 to 20h00 or later except Fridays where they leave early at around 18h30. I can understand why they are not reachable in May or August.

Excellent restaurants, a few at resonable prices, even more mid or high priced. I never dared to dine at Alain Ducasse. whose Poincaré location (now closed) was close to where I was.

The "perfect pen" eh? Well, Louis, I have found it! I dare not tell you or anyone else, though, lest I spoil your search.

Welcome aboard!

A "perfect pen" would be quite personal taking many factors into account.

On the top of my head:

First the "measurable" factors, those I can think of) for each pen with my choices if any.

• Nib width & type (Oblique, Italic) [Extra-fine]
• Ink flow (wetness, dryness, scratchyness) [not too wet]
• Pen diameter [fairly large]
• Pen shape [tapered/non tapered cylinder]
• Pen length for writing posted or unposted [fairly long]
• Pen base material (if any): brass or other metal. [brass or ?]
• Pen exterior material: metallic, plastic, resin, celluloid, lacquer
• barrel's smoothness or sculpted pattern [smooth]
• "postable" pen or not [postable or very long unposted]
• type of posting mechanism [clip-on, screw-on or suction]
• reliability and durability of the posting mechanism [very durable]
• type of closing mechanism [screw-on or twist on]
• reliability and durability of the closing mechanism [screw-on or twist on]
• Integrated filling or cartridge and/or converter or drop fill or dipping
• type of integrated filling: piston or vacumatic or snorkel or capillary or ... [integrated piston fill]
• Reliability of the pen's mechanisms [very reliable for every day use]
• Pen's sturdyness [must not be worried about occasional drops]
• Ease of changing ink or not [same ink user]

Then there are less measurable/more complex preferences

• General color
• Pen decoration: uniform color, patterned, with a more or less intricate drawing or decoration
• Attribute types: gold, platinum, chromium, silver, rhodium... [gold]
• Vintage or modern
• Specific make
• Specific meaning
• "Pen of the day" or "Pen for the task"
• Multiple pen user vs single pen user

Chances are your "perfect pen" and mine are quite different. This also evolves with time.

I am very happy that you found your "perfect pen". After nearly two months of everyday use, my Pelikan Souverän M800 is excellent. If in one year I still like it, it would be one perfect pen for me. At that point I may indulge in a more decorative pen with similar characteristics thus changing the target a bit (perhaps maki-e ).

So sorry, Louis. Believe me, I HAVE NOT found the perfect pen! I was just trying to have a bit of fun with the task. I do this often and am finding that I'm usually misunderstood. Such is my lack of ability with the language. :(Smily icons can only do so much.)

Your guidelines are fine and if you can use them to find your perfect pen, good on you. Me? I just plod along and accumulate. Every pen acquired is either in my quest for the "perfect pen" or is to fulfill some other perceived need in my life.

Remember that the search for the perfect pen is exactly like the search for utopia. If you think that it has been achieved, it will only last for a short time. Almost immediately, one/society will again fractionalize and begin setting new parameters. And, ya know what? That's a good thing! One of the things that define and separate Homo sapiens from less evolved organisms. Vive les Homo sapiens! :bunny1: 9

Then again for others, the quest for the perfect pen is used to dissipate the spousal factor... offering, as a bait, a glimpse of hope that one day the pen hunt will stop. Who ? Me ?

I just bought a Visconti Traveling Ink Well, so I should not worry about missing ink when I travel, or even about forgetting to fill my pen at home every few days. 9

You fill the Inkwell with an eyedropper up to a mark on the ink window. You empty the air from the piston, then jam the pen into the inkwell so the pen is sealed in. Turn the inkwell down. Fill the cylinder. Turn the ink well up, remove the pen and shut the inkwell.

I did not follow the instructions to the letter and found that an impressive amount of pressure is produced when you empty the fountain pen's piston of air. It works quite well, but recommended only for pens with piston filling systems, including piston converters. I can see from the air pressure, that any filling system with a sack or soft bag in it would be next to impossible to fill using it. I would also expect a piston filler to pop out if you emptied the air after sealing the pen in.

It is very clean and easy to use. I think it would be easy to get the last drop from the ink well.

Sack fillers can be filled from a travelling ink well. They key is that the inkwell is inverted. You may not be able to compress a sack fully, but it doesn't matter. Several successive strokes with only partial compression will work just fine. The air expelled is carried away from the pen by it's bouyancy, and only liquid enters the pen.

A pneumatic filler like a snorkel may not work well, but with snorks you have a bigger problem which is that pen is too narrow to seal against the rubber neck of the inkwell.

Oh, and welcome to the board, Louis!!! More canucks. We are definitely internationalizing quickly!

Last week, I inked my Jean-Pierre Lépine. I was mostly curious to see how well it would post, and to get an idea of its life expectancy as a good poster(?).

The point of contact to the barrel is the inner thread of the cap. The thread is made of some form of plastic resting on a metal base. The more I used it the more it was an effort to attach the cap to the barrel. At the end I would press the cap very hard onto the barrel and twist it in for half a turn. At this point, it would be solidly attached. Unfortunately, this is definitely not a long term solution, as I would expect the thread to become dull.

So the pen is back to shelf status. (The initial problem was the thickness of its nib: Medium vs the EF I prefer for everyday writing)

Hi Louis,

Is this the Jean-Pierre Lépine "Privilege" fountain pen you mentioned earlier?
I looked on the official J-P Lépine website (which has been revamped, I see) and it wasn't there, so I am wondering if it is an older model? I see that the Boutique du Stylo (shops near you!) has them on their website...

Yes it is the one that was given to me about 3 1/2 years ago. I saw it on the Jean Pierre Lépine site over two years ago. It is a very bright green (midway between emeralds and granny smith apples) with white patches. The photos on the shop's site does not give it justice, their green pen looks like a dull blue.

Sorry to hear about the posting problems with the pen. I like posting my pens (except for a couple of huge ones I have, which are more comfortable unposted...and some more expensive ones) so I can empathize with your situation.