Right before Christmas 2006 I found a Waterman Philias medium point green fountain pen set on sale at Office Max. I had just started purchasing a few high end rolling ball pens on e-bay and was curious as to trying a fountain pen. The last time I wrote with ink and nib was in 2nd grade, using the Palmer method with dip pen and desk inkwell.

My memory was that writing with pen and ink was the true definition of purgatory. luckily for me inexpensive stick ball point pens became available and I was never to be tortured with pen and ink again.

After making my way through grade school, high school, college, several years actually working for a living and finally law school I entered practice in a technical field and I often had to prepare drawings and sketches. I found that ball point pens left large smeary blotches when used with a ruler. I then found precision drafting pens and learned that pen and ink was not necessarily totally bad. As I matured and computers came along I found that I could easily do all of my technical drawing on the computer, and further that ball point pens had become much less gloppy, so back to the ball point. I at least graduated from the bik and stick pens to quality ball points, so that may explain the improvement in the ball point pens. Along came gel pens and quality rolling ball pens and writing became more of a pleasure.

So standing in Office Max (bet you thought I had forgotten fountain pens) I decided that I was not going to let my fears from 2nd grade keep me from trying again (pretty good, only 53 years to forget the pain of dip pen with scratchy rusty steel nib). So I bought the Philias, and loved it. No stress, no strain, clear legible words, my elation burst forth and I was hooked. Then I remembered letting my mother dispose of my father's fountain pens, several Parker 51's and 61's, two yellow Doufolds, several Schaffer white dots, a vacumatic, a snorkel and god knows what else.. (Tears wailing gnashing of teeth...)

I keep the Philias filled with Noodler Kiowa Pecan. I have since added a Duke Charlie Chaplin medium point which I keep filled with Noodler Lexington Grey and a Pelikan M400 honey b road point which I keep filled with Noodler American Eel Blue. All three pens have very different feels, but I find all comfortable and easy to write with.

Congratulations! Welcome back to FPs. I also returned to them after a long and now regretted hiatus.



Mm hmm. There are words for this sort of mistake but those words are not allowed on FPN.

At least you have rediscovered them.

Welcome!
Are you going back and fourth between QWERTY and AZERTY keyborads? I type on AZERTY now and used to use QWERTY so I did the A and Q typo a lot, I still do if I use QWERTY.

Welcome to FPN and back into the fold (so to speak). I can identify completely with your fondness for the Waterman Phileas. That is my every day carry pen. I love it.

Welcome to FPN.

Hi! I also came back to FPs a couple of years ago after a long break after my school/college days. I now abhor writing with ball/rollers. My handwriting is generally perceived by others to be on the better side and FPs simply further improve it. FPs are also actually easier on the wrist/hand if you need to write for any length of time.

I tend to enjoy writing with FPs so that I write my notes more often now than typing it up on the computer!

And yes - compared to the cheap leaky pens we had in school days, I do think FPs have improved also. Yes vintage pens do work very well too, but the average pen quality has certainly improved.

I'm sorry you had such horrors at school. I was lucky in having a Parker 17 then 61 at school, so was never put off. Glad you're back to liking them though.

Regards

Richard.

I was 10 years earlier and the school had a no outside pen policy. We were all supposed to use the wood stick pens with steel nibs and make our letters on the teacher's count. French Catholic nuns, shudder. The teacher even ordered us to dip for ink on the count.

Excellent, an as yet untapped vein of nightmares. I shall order in some blue cheese for supper.



Vun... Doo... Zree... und Dip!

Sorry, just the way my brain works...

Edit: Forgot to say Welcome In!

Welcome! I bet if you'd started out with a good FP like a Parker "51", your memories wouldn't be so bad. But you've discovered their joys.

Steve

They have nothing on Australian Catholic nuns. I am still recovering...

Anyway, I don't remember anything particularly fearsome about learning to write with dip nibs with their thin, totally un-ergonomic wooden handles. Perhaps my hands were smaller then, and the pens were a better fit. Perhaps we used an ink that was better behaved, and we were allowed to change nibs for a new one when necessary (typically about 3-4 weeks).

Those of my essays at Uni that weren't written with a Parker 45 were written with a dip nib using a Crow quill nib (the metal ones, the local crows didn't stand for me 'borrowing' their flight feathers). These nibs better suited my tiny handwriting. This was before computers.