With a slight bit of trepidation, I introduce myself here My name is Carol, I live in the boonies, and recently and accidentally rediscovered fountain pens....

I've thoroughly enjoyed poking about the site for awhile, there is so much interesting information and handwritten "characters" here, it's an odd sort of "comfort" to peruse the forae! To see *handwriting*, and not just computer text! I adore the handwritten samples... I could easily become a pen and ink collector.... but for now, alas, that is not in the cards! (or on the credit cards!)

I have been accumulating a huge pile of arcane notes that need to be transcribed into some permanent form. Wandering through Walmart I found some "Markings by CR Gibson" journals and bought them (leather or imitation-leather bound with cream paper and gold edging...)

When I got home, I remembered my old Sheaffer calligraphy and fountain pens from when I was a kid (but could not find the fountain pen!) I dragged them all out and wasted a day playing with those and introducing everyone in the shop to them.
Then I realized, that, for this project it just seemed "right and proper" that I should use some antique looking sepia-colored ink... and realized what I could get locally here... was not quite the quality I was after for longevity.

And in the end this website is where I ended up. I have the notebooks, but clearly I don't have the rest of what I need for this project (and the notes are piling up daily!)

I need a pen, and some ink, and perhaps a few other doo-dads to make writing/filling etc. a reasonably good experience (although I'm at a loss for all I might require!)

Left-handed I am, somewhere between an under-writer and side-writer (not overwriter at all). I am a fine artist in miniatures by trade, and while I don't have extensive experience with fountain-type pens or calligraphy, I'm a whiz with all manner of paintbrushes and excruciating detail. I tend to write with medium pressure.

I obtained some cheap dip pen nibs to "play with" a little for the feel, and now I know just enough to buy the wrong items!

I think (but am not certain) I am looking for the following in a Pen:

* A pen that does not have a notably wide barrel (I have small hands)
* A nib that is medium-fine, not so fine to scratch, not so large to be excessively bold Possibly an "italic" type.
* I suspect I might be happy with a nib with some flex, as my characters can tend to be ornate and of variable stroke
* Some reasonable method to refill. Cartridge is "ok" but I think a bottled ink and some reasonably decent/easy way of refilling would be preferable.

For Ink:
* A good sepia-toned color, that may show a little variance
* Permanent and archival (or close to it)
* Fast drying, little to no bleed on reasonable paper
* Good flow in relation to choice of pen/nib

For other items:
What other products should I consider, for cleaning, storage, etc?

I am not looking for anything "fancy" in a pen at this stage, but something with good function and reliability that I can pick up off and on regularly without too much fuss.
Is there a type or brand of pen out there with interchangeable nibs?

Any suggestions that might fit my bill? I am looking to outfit myself to start with the pen and ink for around $100 (USD). Is that doable?

Since there is no way at present I will be able to actually "test" different pens or inks myself (I'm geographically handicapped here) just know my experience presently is limited to the standard-issue cheap cartridge style Sheaffers and craft store dip pen nibs...

I hope I may rely on all of your collective experience!

--Carol

www.oscarbraunpens.com
www.pendemonium.com
www.swisherpens.com



OK, those links can get you started on the funnest habit of your life!

Hi Carol,

Welcome to here!
I think I will suggest one pen that many suggest for new/returning FP users, the Lamy Safari. Not expensive, comes in an array of colours (or the clear Vista), and very dependable. One of my friends has a son who is left-handed, and he enjoys his Lamy Safari. If you would, check the sites I posted above, and you will be able to one. For your inks, make sure you check the Pendemonium site. You'll see tons of colours there. Be careful on Pendemonium's site, and Swisher's site, as they have LOTS of fun stationery!

Others will chime in with more suggestions, so I will not be a hog here. Oh but I will say there is nothing like writing with a great pen as you sip some marvelous espresso


diane

Hi, Carol, and welcome to FPN! I'm new here, too, and enjoy browsing the different sections.
I think Diane's suggestion of the Lamy Safari is a good one. You can get one with a piston converter for about $30. It's a good all-around low-cost pen. The nibs are easy to change out, and cost about $10, so you could get some different ones to try out, including calligraphy ones. The only negative is that they have no flex-very rigid! Once you're ready to indulge your passion with a little more money, I might suggest a Namiki Falcon, my latest favorite. It has some flex to it, though not a huge amount.

Good luck, and welcome!
Jon

Hi and welcome!

If you are considering one pen for somewhat ornate writing, you need to make a fundamental choice between flex and chisel-point (italic) nibs. You could have one pen and swap nibs, of course, or you could have 2 pens, but most calligraphers work with rather stiff chisel-poing nibs. There are few modern pens/nibs that unmodified could be classified as flex. They are 2 different styles of pretty writing.

I suggest you spend some time perusing Richard Binder's website and learn about various nibs. Then, when you are ready for your purchase, consider buying a Pelikan 200 with a custom Binder nib of your choice (or one pen and more than one nib). Richard has a wonderful reputation (I've no connection but am a very satisfied customer), an active participant on this board, and most importantly, one of the few remaining "Masters" of fountain pen and nib repair, customization, etc. Most importantly, Richard will assemble and test the pen and nib(s) you choose and stand behind their quality, finish, etc. Also, since you are a lefty you can choose from among an assortment of styles and sizes that he can customize for you.

Check him out here: Richard Binder Pens

My personal purchase from Richard was a Pelikan 200 in transparent blue acrylic with a stub nib. I chose the stub nib because I'm not careful enough or proficient enough to enjoy a true italic chisel-point and I still wanted some line width variation. Richard also has a nib that is somewhat between a stub and a true italic he calls "cursive italic."

Richard Binder is not the biggest discounter of pens and nibs on the internet, but his prices are more than fair considering his expertise, his level of personal service, and his variety.

If you decide you want a standard FP, without a fancy nib, a good choice is a Waterman Phileas. They are widely available and a great pen for a beginner.

All good wishes,

Andy

Hello and welcome to FPN.

Hello Carol, and welcome to FPN!

The Lamy Safari is an excellent starting pen - it almost always has a good reliable (if somewhat stiff) nib, and the nibs are changeable if you want to try an italic nib (wide in one direction, narrower in another, shaped like a chisel - a fairly blunt one in the case of the Safari), although the smallest italic nib width available is 1.1 mm wide, which makes it a broad line in its widest direction. Don't forget to get a converter too to use bottled ink (drawn up through the nib).
However, not all people like the shaped semi-triangular grip and I'm not sure if you would consider it too wide.

Many other pens require you to choose your nib at the time of purchase, and modern fountain pen nibs are not particularly flexy without modification, although you can find decent flex in some vintage fountain pens, in some dip pen nibs, and custom-modified modern nibs with added flex are also available at an extra price.

To get a particularly narrow italic nib may also require a custom-made nib.

Another starting possibility for a plain fine nib (no particular flex or italic) in a narrow pen might be the Pilot 78G, available from (for example) HisNibs or ISellPens, among other sources. Phthalo, a regular poster and moderator, has commented favorably on the fine nibs.
Unlike the piston converter of the Lamy Safari, these use a squeezable rubber sac to refill, again through the nib.

I'm not sure if you would regard it as particularly sepia-coloured, but you may want to consider Noodler's Eternal Brown as one of the few permanent inks close to your colour choice - see the review here.
Ink exclusively available here.

Note: many of the very old sepia-coloured/brown ink samples we see today started out as a purple-black iron gall ink at the time of writing but has (I assume) oxidised over time, just in case you were thinking of sepia as indicating age. Some real old sepia (red-brown) ink was not particularly lightfast (faded with exposure to light), although in general it is a relatively permanent ink (although used more in dip pens/quills rather than fountain pens).

Regards, Myles.

Hello Carol and welcome aboard the FPN!

Thank you to everyone who has offered me advice, information and referrals. I've been busily following each one up (I was quite bleary by 3am this morning!) I have been further educating myself throughout the day here, through reading (richardspens.com was extremely informative regarding nibs, for example) and trying a few things with the materials to hand in the shop.

What I've discovered so far:
* I have a small pile of dip pen nibs (hunt, leonardt) and took it upon myself to "customize" a few of those. Either some of those are pretty crappy and needed a lot of help, or I can't handle dip pens... I'm not sure. But I was able to transform some useless nibs (3 out of 13) into something I could actually write with. Just using the fine sanding film (mere microns) smoothed a lot of snags out nicely. But I wouldn't want to do this myself with anything but these cheap tips I got for ~$5.00 for the pile. (Ergo, I can appreciate a custom ground/tested nib!) A quality nib would HAVE to be better than these!

*the cheapy ink I had gotten locally was indeed, too cheap. Well, one bottle was. I had some "speedball black india ink" and that worked better, but started to dry/clog on the tip pretty rapidly. Thus, I must learn how to properly clean these things...

*I had picked up an el-cheapo "Itoya" fountain pen at hobby lobby a couple of months ago and I've been using that daily. It's a tad scratchy, very plain, but reliably writes every time. (another ~$5 item). Yes, it is better than the dip pen nibs!

*the el-cheapo "Manuscript" calligraphy set I found lying in a dusty corner here... the nib I prefer won't keep writing (dry, too hard to start). So I dragged out an elderly Shaeffer (about 30 yrs old now I think-- just a cheapy interchangeable calligraphy set thing, not vintage) and it at least starts and writes reliably. I'm positive that nib has *never* been cleaned...

*I had someone else observe my "typical" writing style, how I hold the pen, and measured the angle I prefer to hold pen to paper etc. so I'd have a clue for something other than a standard round nib. I'm a left-handed 30 degree underwriter I tend to use more pressure than I suspected, so I'd probably kill very flexible nibs without even trying. If a pen or nib isn't laying down ink, I tend to use more pressure, rather than altering the angle or rotation of the pen. I also tend to write exceedingly fast when not attempting to make something fully legible.
(Although for my "project" here, deliberate legibility is part of the spec)

*I conclude there is such a thing as "too cheap" Of course, I know this based on the ultimate investments in many of my other tools I rely on for a living. You can overpay to get just what you need/want, or pay a fair price for the ideal tool, but if you get less than what you actually require for the task at any price, the task will become a hassle and will take far longer to suffer through!

I am pretty sure I will not want a standard "round" nib for this purchase. I am leaning toward some version of a "stub" most likely or cursive italic. I'm not yet sure about "oblique" but if it's a weird or unusual option (doesn't seem to matter for me what it is) that almost always turns out to be the "right" choice. It's a curse, I'm sure!

I did take a peek at the Lamy Safari. My objection to it is that it doesn't at all look like what I envisioned a "fountain pen" should look like in my hand! LOL. I haven't ruled it out and due to price alone, probably can't go wrong trying one.Perhaps it would be useful for testing and playing with inks in the long run...or simple daily use.

After studying up on nibs and things, the Pelikan 200 (or related) looks like it may be a good prospect, given the selection of standard and custom nibs obtainable.

The Waterman Phileas... I was concerned about barrel girth on that one.

Namiki Falcon ... still under consideration


As to ink, I went through the review for "Noodler's Eternal Brown", and while the comments there indicate some folks are not too certain about the color, the fact it is classified as "bulletproof" at Pendemonium, and seems to not clog nibs make it a good candidate. I only want a brown ink, and I figure if I really don't like the shade, Noodler's has other "bulletproof" colors to make a custom mix.
No doubt I'll end up with many colors of ink in the long run

I just thought I'd take a moment here to let everyone who shared their thoughts know that I have been following up on everything (I still have a few websites to go and things to go back and check and compare). I just wanted you to know that I very much appreciate your input and welcome messages!

And just to add a little fun here... I recently read that the author Neal Stephenson, penned the entire "Baroque Cycle" of books by hand with a montblanc fountain pen... the manuscripts are now on display in some museum but I sadly forgot the details of where.
It is funny that I really didn't consider the fact he wrote it that way so unusual...

Meanwhile, any additional advice is welcome!

--Carol

Hi Carol,



Ick - please tell us you were using that on dip pens, not fountain pens - India ink and other such materials are not designed for fountain pens. I've heard India ink in particular often contains shellac which can apparently permanently clog a fountain pen in a fairly short time beyond hope of cleaning. Only use an ink designed for use in fountain pens and preferably from one of the known manufacturers. Note there are a few dip inks that state they are "suitable for fountain pens" but this should be taken very sceptically.



Yes, the Safari is a more modern industrial-looking design, but it's a good reliable fountain pen for beginners.

The Manuscript and Sheaffer calligraphy pens are certainly possibilities - caliken, a superb calligrapher who posts to this board, says good things about the Manuscript italic pens.
Apparently there is even a left-handed Manuscript set, although I'm not sure if the nibs are designed for overwriters or underwriters.

If you want to play with a more traditionally-shaped narrow-bodied fountain pen with an italic nib without spending too much to start with, see if you can find the Pilot 78G with a broad nib. The broad nib in this pen is actually a stub/italic nib, a peculiarity of this particular model. Maybe from eBay or you might want to contact HisNibs to see if there is any possibility of more of these becoming available, as they tend to sell out quickly. My personal experience is that they are somewhat sharper than a Safari 1.1mm italic nib, giving a sharper stroke edge and more stroke variation but at the cost of feeling slightly toothier (possibly like a cursive italic versus a stub italic, although I have no experience with other cursive italics, only stubs).



An excellent choice. As you say, a variety of specialised nibs is available.

Regards, Myles.

The Parker '45' with a medium/fine semiflex nib sounds like the pen for you. It's small, slimmish, easy to use and the nibs are just delightful to play with.

Hello Carol and welocome to the FPN (and back into the fold of fountain pens). First of all I am in 100% agreement with the LAMY as I have a few and can atest they are a great starter pen. If budget is a concern (believe me I know how that goes) I Sell Pens is a great source for cheaper (price NOT quality) pens and the selection is pretty big. Good luck.

Carol --

Welcome to FPN.

Should you have occasion to get to Kansas City, you should visit the Pen Place which is located in Crown Center (diagonal from Kansas City Union Station). Depending upon how far you are from KC, you may not get here often but when you do, that's a worthwhile place to visit.

David

Carol --

Before I forget about it, also make a point of calling Dennis at Parkville Pens if you get into Kansas City. Dennis posts here fairly often and can be found on the internet under Parkville Pens.

Again, I realize that you may not get to Kansas City often but on those occasions when you do, these are resources you should explore.

David

Glad you could join us Carol!

Welcome from Nebraska

Myles:

Heavens no! I'm not going to use that dastardly india ink in a fountain pen! But I can understand your concern about me mentioning it.

I had basically 2 choices when testing the dip pen nibs... some "manuscript" ink (like water) and the india ink (rather like sludge). The difference between the two from bad tip to bad tip was extreme. If the exercise did nothing else, it taught me to think about poor nibs, nib shapes and types, different inks on different papers (and behaving differently in different nibs)... not to mention clogging, flow, coverage, feathering and drying issues....

It hardly prepares me to assess a truly "nice" writing pen (or nib), but it was a good demonstration as to why there is so much discussion of pens and which inks work beautifully in some and not in others, as well as other factors!

I hope you didn't lose any sleep over that

As to ink, I think the recommendation here of Noodler's Eternal Brown would be a good starting point.

--Carol

Ahh, the perils of tarrying!

I had added to the kitty in terms of what I was willing to spend, and had my choices whittled down to a Lamy Safari (fine nib), A Pelikan 200, Noodler's Eternal Brown Ink... a couple of convertors and possibly a couple extra colors of ink for fun. The hangup being which nib to pair with the Pelikan....

I thought to bundle some shipping on the ink and Safari at Pendemonium-- but they were out of every single Safari. Then, my ISP decided to become non-operational. By the time I got back to it this evening, Pendemonium was out of the ink as well.

However, I did get the safari and convertors ordered elsewhere (ISellPens). I feel I must order some ink rapidly or I'll be sitting here next week with just a pen to stare at....

Based on the information here and the wealth of information at richardspens.com, I decided to go there for the Pelikan. I feel confident that I'll be able to start out there with a nib tuned to sufficient quality to use for future comparisons.

After reviewing all the info, examining my writing style and taking into account that I can make anything write unless it pokes through the paper like a stick pin (or is out of ink), I took the leap for one of those cursive-italic-oblique thingies. I figure, if it doesn't work, I saw standard round Pelikan nibs for $25 out there... I should be covered either way-- one of these two pens will write, one way or the other. I'm sure I'll be obtaining additional nibs regardless.

However, it is now "Late Night Number Five" here, as I am off to peruse the ink reviews to select another permanent brown....

Again, thank you for all your suggestions, assistance and support! You've all helped tremendously to get started, with both my looming project, and my pen and ink collecting...

--Carol

Welcome to the forum and obsession from another Kansan. I had a nifty note all typed out last night, or rather early this morning, when a thunderstorm knocked out our electricity and it went to the bit bucket. So, here's the shorter version.

Good choice on the Pelikan 200 - IMHO they are one of the most reliable pens on the market. I have four and they are remarkable pens. I keep them inked all the time and carry them in my bag. They write first time, every time even after sitting for weeks or months. I would carry one in my pocket every day, but I'm rotating through my other pens and keep the 200's for my "go to, reliable, have it with me it when I run out of ink in my other pens", pens.
I have a nice older version tortoise and brown 200 with a Binder .7mm cursive italic nib that is a joy to write with. I think next I will get a .6mm stub. I have standard gp steel nibs in EF, F, and M for the other 200's.

I can also recommend the Pelikan 140 - a great vintage pen that often can be found with semi-flex nibs that are wonderful. You need to buy one from a reliable seller who can assure they are in working order, although they are fairly reliable when found in the wild. They were made in the mid 1950's through mid 1960's and were the cheaper version of the vintage 400, sort of similar to the M200/M400 of today. The 140's heritage starts with the Pelikan 100's which are highly sought after as one of Pelikan's best vintage pens.

I don't use a lot of brown ink, but I prefer Pelikan brilliant brown for underlining reading material. The best advice I can give you on ink is to be aware that the highly saturated inks will require more attention to pen maintenance - flushing and cleaning. The "safer" inks can be used in pens for several months before much cleaning is necessary. I have several pens in my usual rotation that I refill with the same ink for several months before I flush them and they perform well. I always try to adequately flush a pen that's coming out of rotation and going into the pen case.

My only other advice is to save your spare change - you are going to need that disposable cash for all those pens you will need want.

Have fun!

Hello Kelly!

Spare change... indeed. I can see it coming...
I don't know if I'll ultimately be much of a vintage pen collector, but the ink and more nibs just for what I started with is a given (As if I need another distraction...)

I sympathise with you on the storms last night, we had 60+ mph gusts and 3/4" hail. Sadly, the ISP had gone down an hour before that (it's been shutting off at some point after midnight every night this week... but they won't admit to it!) My ink didn't get ordered until this morning!

As to inks, I picked about 6 different Noodler's this time-- different colors, some bulletproofs, some not. We'll see and I'll learn... some things just aren't going to make full sense until they're in my hands...

I do have a question-- regarding cleaning/flushing... tap water? Anything else? Run it under the sink faucet or are there other methods people use?


Flexible nibs-- you mentioned vintage Pelikan 140's and someone else mentioned a Parker 45-- both with flexible nibs. I know I'll need to try the flex option (will probably have to buy to try though) just to "see" if it's to my liking. That will have to wait a bit, but it's on the list. Do you know if the Parkers are also vintage? Are we talking custom nibs for either/both?

Meanwhile, it looks like I get to sit on my thumbs for the next week waiting for my new toys to show up... well, as far as the pens go. There's always work to keep a person occupied


--Carol

Carol,

That hail is no good. We avoided hail - but did have the big wind and a little moisture, which is needed.

Cleaning/Flushing. For many of the answers to the questions you'll have, it's good to dig around on a number is sites. My favorite starting point is www.penhero.com There is a lot of information there and under the PenBookmarks section there are links to nearly every pen site - at least the useful ones. Richard Binder's site: http://www.richardspens.com/ is another good site for information. Look under the Reference Info section.
David Nishimura's site: http://www.vintagepens.com/ also has a lot of good information.

Back to cleaning/flushing: use only cool water, no hot or warm. Water can damage some materials, particularly casein based plastics - which swell and soften. Some Hard Rubber will discolor in warm/hot water - so it should be avoided.

If there is ink dried in the nib/feed, use a 10% ammonia/water solution. This will clean out most dried inks.
You can soak the nib/feed in the water for as long as needed, but only immerse the nib and feed - soaking the rest of the pen isn't a good idea. You can flush the ammonia/water solution through the pen using the filling system or a rubber bulb syringe. Just be sure and rinse it well with straight water.

You can put your pen back in service after flushing or you can let it dry and then ink it - it doesn't really matter. If you go right back without drying you will dilute your first ink fill a little - it won't hurt anything except the ink color. It's a good idea to flush your pen if you are changing inks - the pen doesn't have to be pristine, but some inks are not compatible. It's unusual to have a compatibility problem, but it does happen.

I don't worry about getting my pens to a perfectly clean state when taking them out of rotation. I flush them several times, until the water is relatively clear and then I fill the pen with water and "wick" it out by placing the pen, nib down in a juice glass filled with paper towel. Make sure the nib is surrounded by the toweling and the water will wick out of the pen and this will help flush out any remaining ink. I'm of the school that too much cleaning risks damage far beyond that which comes from leaving a trace of ink in the pen (which will happen no matter how much you flush the pen).

The key is to not let ink dry in your pens - if they are inked, use them; if you're not going to use them, flush them out. Flushing a pen every six months or so is a good idea as well (some will say more often and that's fine, but I've not found it critical, as long as the pen has been in use).

Have fun with the obsession.

Hello Carol,

if you don't have a converter (use cartridges), you can run water in the cartridge end of the pen and out through the nib - some people use an ear syringe for this to get better flow as there is only a tiny channel to get water through.

With a converter, it's simply a matter a matter of fill with water (through the nib) and empty (and fill and empty and fill and empty ...) using the converter as if you were filling with ink.

There's often a comb structure (ink collector) hidden inside the (grip) section, often it's the back half of the (nib) feed, which helps buffer/smooth out ink flow but makes flushing take a little longer before the water is clear.

I don't trust the local tap water completely from experience with a couple of clothes irons, so I usually do the last couple of fill and empty cycles with distilled water (in the car/car battery section of your supermarket or with the clothes ironing aids).

Otherwise, what Kelly says (although I admit my flush cycle is probably about every 3 or 4 months).

Oh, and flush your pens with at least water before inking them for the first time. Some people recommend a very weak soapy water solution first followed by a water rinse, but so far I've just used plain water. It's to try and clean out left-over traces of oil or other substances from the manufacturing process .

Regards, Myles.

Welcome to FPN.

Thank you for the great tips to get me started with cleaning/flushing things. I will need to be particularly mindful about that (emptying/flushing if they will not be in use), as while generally I can tote a pen around for weeks and use it all the time, there's periods (days, weeks) I write precious little (and lose track of pens meanwhile!).

Ok, back to twiddling my thumbs here waiting for things to show up

--Carol

Well, just an update here so that those of you who kindly offered advice can see where it led to

I am still awaiting arrival of the Pelikan 200 + nib from richardspens.com. Of course that's the one I want to see the most.

While the ink was ordered last (Pendemonium) it showed up first (Monday). I got 7 colors to start with... (just to satisfy your curiosity) all Noodlers:
Bulletproof Black
Kiowa Brown
Socrates
Fox Red
Hunter Green
Dostoyevsky
Squeteague

That kept me busy with the dip pens and sheaffer/manuscripts the first day. Of course I realized I should have either or also got one example bottle of 3 or 4 other brands for comparison. (I'll get to that tomorrow).

While I generally prefer the colors, the black is the nicest to simply write with. Glides with even scratchier nibs.

Armed with a variety of bottles syringes, convertors, eyedroppers and whatnot, I was able to custom craft a couple colors I was after and in general I'm rather pleased and have wasted a lot of paper with scribbles
I can certainly understand the irresistable lure of inks...


I dropped water, alcohol, acetone and turpentine on the writing samples-- as those are the most common things to get splattered here (predictably, I might add). All these inks held up fine, I figure if anything I write is going to get completely soaked in water, I'm probably not going to care what happened to it (as some greater natural disaster likely occurred). Thus, for my uses "bulletproof" is not really necessary.

I will note that alcohol had the most effect, and acetone/turpentine the least on these Noodler's. (Don't drink and write?) It was rubbing alcohol I used though...
Still, it was all perfectly readable, which is plenty sufficient.

Today(Thurs) the Lamy Safari arrived, along with Lamy & Pelikan convertors, and a few other pen accessories for other stuff I have. The Lamy didn't perform quite as well as I'd hoped. I just discovered in addition to holding the pen at a 30-degree angle from vertical in one way, I also tilt it about 15 degrees to the right. This put the Lamy right out of it's "sweet spot" for me. I checked it against my disposable "Itoya" and indeed, this particular Safari had only half the horizontal range as the Itoya. Holding the nib rotated at an angle helped fix that, but that was impeded by the angular grip area (if I could rotate the nib in relation to the grip a little, it would line up perfect every time).

I guess I hadn't realized how much of my writing and note-taking is done far to the left side. Usually because I have some other object not easily moved before me that I'm making notes on. This leads to the horizontal slant on how I hold the pen. Not a problem when it's just me, the pen and the paper, but that's pretty rare.

Still, all is not lost, because the Safari was very quickly commandeered by one of my employees who fell in love with it (and is right-handed). The kid that comes to mow the lawn each week stopped in also,and we had him try the pen (kids have NO IDEA what fountain pens are and think they're very cool). This kid is the first person I've ever seen who holds a pen nearly perfectly vertical on all axes!

And another employee co-opted a dip pen nib and handle and some black Noodler's to take home for her husband who has always wanted one... a reminder of his childhood days.

So all in all it's been an interesting "Pen Week" here. Learned a lot, had a lot of distracting fun, decided we needed some penmanship books (none of us could remember how to write a cursive capital "I") and we are dying to know how the Pelikan will go.
And ... we know we all HAVE to try a flex-nib soon... just to see

Here's hoping the Pelikan lands soon...

--Carol

Hi Carol!

Glad to meet you. First thing you need is an avatar, then a personal photo, a signature and a personal statement... no, just kidding...
I can't tell you much since your text looks like youv'e been here for years now.
If I had to start over from scratch again, I'd get a handfull of pens for everyday use, one from each big company. E.g. Parker 51 or Duofold, Waterman Charleston, Pelikan M 800. And so forth.

Lots of luck!

Mike

Hello from another Kansan in the boonies. Does this mean you will be adding a new department to your store?

Enjoy your new hobby and good luck with your project.

Thank you for the welcomes, Lapis and Zookeeper

And where be your boonies, Zookeeper? I hail from the southwest corner...
and ... no... I'm not adding anything new to the store.... yet LOL

Perhaps I will get an avatar together soon...

Meanwhile, my adventures continue! The one day I didn't run to the PO to see if manna from heaven had arrived.. (Monday) they did! That was some fast shipping... my Binder-nibbed Pelikan and a few other goodies from Swisher...

I suspected that after all my nib-mongering with the Manuscript and Shaeffer calligraphy nibs, I probably overshot myself on the Pelikan nib, and so I did When I can get to the sweet spot on it, it is very sweet and nice... I just have to consciously arrange my hand and remember to keep it there. I'm the only one in the place who can write at all with it though. (30 degree left-foot oblique cursive italic).

Close, but not quite the cigar. But I did expect that. I had figured if I went to the other end of the spectrum, I'd know when I'd gone too far I shall never have to wonder again, but I'll bet I can make a 20 degree or less fly...
Also, not knowing what I was after in terms of width, I now have an excellent gauge, and I believe .5mm or thereabouts would be about ideal. This one Pelikan is .9, and probably would be perfectly usable to me had I opted for a smaller size (I picked the one in the middle from available choices.)
No, I am not touching that nib.... yet anyway....

Meanwhile, with the mylar films and whatnot, a tweaked up the Lamy, causing it to inadvertently become a "duo-point" of sorts, and while I was going to hand it off, I'm having second thoughts... which only means I'll be needing to place another order for a pen or two soon. To hand out in the shop I think.

I had obtained a really nice little crystal "ink bottle", that's just gorgeous to look at (had to have something cool in that regard). It's so pretty, I don't know when or if it will actually hold any ink... not yet anyway.

Had to have a Visconti bottle and a Montblanc... the Montblanc bottle is the favorite.... because my cohort here (who may join this forum now...) decided QUILL PENS must be investigated and we went hunting about for suitable feathers and... well... the Montblanc bottle works disturbingly well for a dip pen (and yes, I have now written with a pheasant quill....) A quill pen can write amazingly well (and as good or better than all but one of the dip-pen nibs I have).

Perhaps my associate will tell you himself about starting to write and speak in an antiquated fashion upon utilizing a quill pen...

Ok, we admit it, a couple of newcomers have gotten snared (well beyond what was required initially for a project or two) and I have found it a bit distracting to actually have to do some "real work" to fund a few more nibs at the very least.

In playing with the various nibs that have come about here, my favorite to date is a simple tiny little Manuscript calligraphy nib, followed closely by the Binder Pelikan (which would have been first, had I selected the appropriate nib) and then the Lamy Safari. I find I am definitely an italic type of gal, and will be leaning towards somewhat finer nibs. My writing is not exceptionally small, but neither is it large enough to be fully legible with a wider nib...and the "wetness" of this Lamy (fine) is borderline. (Otherwise the Lamy makes a fine everyday writer.)

Now I must go back to work so I can fund additional purchases, (and after the quill experience) a flex-nib is a must try even more than before. I only wish I could know how much "flex" will be best. My shopping list includes one or two little cursive italics or stubs and some matching pelikan bodies, and at least one more Montblanc bottle (to avoid any unnecessary tussling over the one I have).
I'm sure I'll get to other brands of pens eventually

As an aside-- the Visconti and Montblanc bottles did come with ink, in order to sample different inks of course (that's what I tell myself). Honestly I can't tell the two apart from each other in a pen or on the paper (both happened to be "sepia") but the bottles really are where it's at on those...

I hope to have a little time this weekend to put together a visual sampling so you can see what this fountain pen adventure has wrought

Now that I appear to be posting to myself, I'll end with some samples of what all this has wrought...

Thanks for all the help and welcomes!

<img src="http://www.riorondo.com/fpn/pictrixsamp.jpg">