i'm new to the site, and fountain pens. I've been using a Pilot Varsity for a few days now and i'd like to try something a little nicer. I don't know what I'm doing! I think I'd like a Lamy Safari, but I don't know what size nib or what else I need to refill it. I also don't know what kind of ink to buy. I write fairly small and just need the pen for work, taking notes on engineering documents, marking up drawings, etc. any tips?

Welcome to FPN. The beauty of this site is you will get a lot of advice very quickly from knowledgeable people. Don't be afraid to ask any question you want. With a little research you can find where someone else has already asked the same question. Finally there are a lot of pens and inks out there for very little money. I have a Lamy Safari with Noodlers Black in it and a Roting Core which I got for $9 with Private Reserve Sequoia green ink in it. I've got another $9 pen on the way and am seriously playing with picking a different ink color.
Matt

My daughter has a Safari she uses for taking notes and she just loves it. I enjoy inexpensive Chinese pens and when you figure out what want in a pen, I am sure Shanghai can supply it cheaply.

Welcome to the forum and the obsession - oh yea, you will become addicted. I would suggest you need a pen with a fine or extra fine nib for small handwriting and note taking. I'm sure you've figured out there are a myriad of choices - both pens and inks. The Pelikan 200 with an ef nib is not a bad way to go - I use brown ink for notes and mark-ups on documents - the brown is distinct against the typically black copy. Check out any number of sites to get some ideas.

The 200 is a great work pen - ultimately reliable, a piston filler that holds a ton of ink, easily interchangeable nibs, durable, won't break the bank - just generally a work horse pen.

www.swisherpens.com is a good site to start looking (and buying). I have no connection to Swisher besides being a satisfied customer. There are, of course, many other reputable sellers.

HI!

Pelikan M200 or M215 or Lamy 2000. Hold each one in your own hand, write a bit with fresh ink, try out different nib sizes and then decide which writer you like best. Don't worry about the looks of the finish of the entire pen. You can do that later when your collection starts to grow and grow...

Mike

Hi and welcome to FPN! Hope you have fun here!

Welcome to FPN.

You might also try one of the lower-priced Waterman fountain pens. Of course, I'm a little biased.

Todd

Welcome Benny,

You've come to the right place: friendly, knowledgeable people who are willing and eager to share what they have learned. Look around a previous posts, check out pen and ink reviews, search the archives and don't be afraid to ask a question or two.

Also, enjoy.

John

If you write small, you probably don't want a broad nib. The Lamy takes carts, I believe, but it won't accept the universal carts.

Most of the Hero pens are loads of fun but aeromatic fillers. If you can deal with that, the 360s are nice.

Oh, and welcome. Heeheeheee..... moar pens... moar!

thanks for all the advice. i'm on my way to addiction. haven't ordered anything yet. what is an aeromatic filler? if i get a lamy safari and a converter, does the converter go into the pen or is it just used to fill it with ink? right now i'm leaning toward a lamy safari with EF nib and a rotring core, but i don't know what kind of ink to buy. are most inks pretty good? i was looking at the private reserve ink. also, which of the hero's are good?

Hi bennyG19,
and welcome to the forum. Your converter goes into the Safari (at the exact same place that you would put a cartridge, that is, the end with the hole goes into the section = the part with the nib on it on its other side). Safary converters are twist and not aerometic converters, so you turn a 'knob'-thing at the end of your converter (while it is in the pen section and your nib and about 1mm of the section are immersed in ink) to draw in ink from your bottle.
Private Reserve ink is good in my experience because it gives you a saturated (as opposed to washed-out) line, but it sometimes feathers more than other inks on some papers. Personally I prefer Noodler's ink, because it is lightfast and archieval and some Noodler's inks are even waterproof. Private Reserve inks and the regular (non-waterproof) Noodler's sometimes take a bit longer to dry than other inks, because they are so saturated. However, any fountain pen ink is safe, so any is 'pretty good' and will do. The best way to go is having a look at the ink reviews section of this forum.
Enjoy your pen!!

Welcome from Western Canada to the Fountain Pen Enablers Network. For a description of aerometric fillers, go to Richard Binder's website at www.richardspens.com and click on Reference Info in the sidebar. It contains a vast amount of information about fountain pens, well written and beautifully diagrammed. (No connection.) The short, cribbed version of aerometric is: A type of squeeze-filler patented by Parker in the 1940s incorporating a breather tube.

Squeeze fillers usually have inside the barrel a metal framework around a rubber or silicon-based ink sac. The frame includes a squeeze bar to compress the sac to expel air and draw in ink to fill it.

I think someone already noted that the Safari takes proprietary Lamy cartridges or converters, not the "international" or "standard" varieties. In any case, the converter in a cartridge/converter pen replaces the cartridge inside the pen. It contains a fill mechanism, usually a piston-filler, allowing the use of bottled ink.

Regards
Mac

J herbin inks are the best! Don't listen to anyone else!

OK, I'll amend that to read J Herbin inks are my personal favorite. Nice price, great range of colors, etc. I just got some Diamantine samples; they look good, too.

An aeromatic filler is like a bladder filler, sort of kind of, but it lacks a lever. You have to open the pen and push the pump bar on the filler a few times while sticking the nib in your ink.

Hello and welcome to FPN!

Welcome to a great group!

Mark

Welcome to FPN.