My First Experiance With Foutain Pens


This is my journey from not knowing what a Fountain pen is to today, the second or third day I’ve had one. It will probably be long so if you don’t want to read it because of that I really don’t mind. *Just a touch over 4,000 words*


My Journey
I stumbled onto this forum a while ago maybe beginning of '08ish after seeing a documentary about the great wall of china believe it or not, that lead to a Wikipedia article, which somehow led to another Wikipedia article (about pens), and then I remembered I always wanted a nice pen. Now at the time I really didn’t exactly know what a fountain pen was and I only held a “fine writing instrument” maybe two or three times in my entire life, once it was a gift to someone else and the other was maybe 2 years ago when a guy in my class brought a Fountain pen to school (I think it was given to him, but he soon lost it). So back to Wikipedia: at the bottom of that Wikipedia article in the "external links" sections was ballpoint, roller ball, and fountain pens and I opened all three, learned some new things about ballpoints, learned that I was writing with a roller ball (Pilot V5 needle point, (still writing with it today)) and then “learned” that I wanted a Fountain Pen, oh and I learned what a Fountain pen was lol. A few Google searches later I was at FPN, and soon concluded that this was the best place to learn about Fountain Pens, ink, and nibs (what’s a nib?) etc, and promptly added it to my bookmark toolbar (you should see it, it has over 20 icons running on a crappy 1024*768 resolution monitor).
I was a bit confused at first, I didn’t understand the terminology, and there were pretty much every brand discussed was new to me, maybe even Mont Blanc! However, I’m not entirely sure. Soon I found the sticky, went to the under $100 and $50 dollar categories, read pretty much every thread there and when I looked at some of the pens, I found I really liked the look of the Lamy Studio, and pretty much decided to get it based on a few pieces of information around the forums, it just spoke to me if you know what I mean. I also saw the 2000, which I kinda looked at but decided the Studio looked better, and what the…it was plastic! I’m paying double the price of the studio for a plastic pen? I think not. So within probably a week I decided I wanted a studio, looked at a few topics about ink, Noodler’s black seemed right for me and that was that.
I never bought that pen. I still want it and think it’s a great pen and if I buy another FP it will be on my rather long list of considerations but that’s for… later. Anyways I continued to frequent the forums if only to lurk, learn and dream of the studio (no I didn’t literally dream, I’m not that crazy!... yet.) but I had doubts, it seemed whenever the question about L2K vs Studio came up (palladium or otherwise), the 2k always came out on top and looking at the pictures again and reading reviews I found I really liked the look of the pen, and since it supposedly wrote better I switched from really wanting a Studio to really wanting a 2000. After all a pen is supposed to be used to write right?
I learned a lot from FPN, and I still hadn’t bought the 2000 yet, it was still on my mental “things I’ll eventually get to tomorrow” list that would of course never be done tomorrow but I was satisfied. I was content to dreaming and to be honest I wasn’t sure I made the right choice. The pen was very similar to my personality and I knew I would never write with something like a Pelikan m400 on a daily basis, it was too flashy. But it seemed the 2000 had a lot of issues. Not design wise was but quality control and consistency. And I really did not want to go through the hassle of returning the pen or sending it oversees and paying like $40 shipping or whatever because some crappy company couldn’t make a $160 pen perfect. Please note at the time I thought Filofax was a city in Germany and never considered Canada had a Lamy repair centre.
Another few months passed, I liked the pen more and more, and for my graduation, I decided I want it. Graduation passed, didn’t get it, still didn’t feel “ready” if that’s the right word (I eventually did get the pen as a graduation present from my parents, two months later). I did even more research even though it was pretty much the same material I already read and finally decided I was going to order it. I knew 2K nibs run wider about 1 size, not a problem though I had to decide F? or EF? No idea. Made a topic here, decided EF (thanks for all the help btw), oh and somewhere along my little journey I saw the Lex Gray, decided I must have it and added it to my mental wish list. Also wanted a blue ink, there were so many blues, made another topic, quick responses, everyone suggested different things, decided I really didn’t need blue (nor did I really need black) and 1 “base” color was enough, still appreciate the help though. I finally know what I’m going to get, for sure.
So I began looking at places to buy, initially it was isellpens.com, great service, prices etc. added everything up, $40 for shipping to Canada?? Definitely not. I saw lamypenshop.com mentioned somewhere, very good price of $102, shipping from Malaysia? $8, nice. Going to buy it there! One problem, no ink. Not wanting to deal with custom charges, ridiculous shipping, and currency conversion, I opted for a Canadian dealer this time, the only I could find was stylo.ca, heard some good things about them and despite being $15 a bottle for Noodler’s and $9 shipping decided that it was probably the best I could do, did I mention the L2K was like $190CDN there? The night before I was planning to buy it logged on the FPN, found a topic about the L2K, some user mentioned it was on sale at pengallery.com for $89US and $15 shipping, niccce! A few dollars cheaper and a better courier (lamypenshop.com was postal Malaysia, no tracking, insurance etc.). They are also based in Malaysia, wow! That’s 2/4! This is weird. Oh and they didn’t have Noodler’s, oh well I’ll just go with my original plan, stylo.ca it is. The point of the last paragraph or so (I told you this was going to be long!) is I ended up buying it from Pen Gallery and calculated that the final cost would be something like $130CDN after customs, brokerage, tax, credit card fees etc., hmm a bit more than I expected, best I can do though. I also picked up a Pilot Varsity in blue and a Parker Vector with converter from stylo.ca for fun, the Varsity is supposed to be super smooth, and the Vector should be pretty good… We’ll see.
The next few days were… bad, I had 2 Firefox windows open: One for tracking the status of my orders the other for what I was actively reading. Both sites were set to refresh every 5 minutes and… Needless to say I was excited! I placed my order on Saturday, switched back to my tabs every two seconds it seemed to check if it shipped, it was a Saturday for God’s sake, did I really expect that?? I though at least stylo.ca would ship on weekends because on the site it said someone would be answering the phone etc. Turns out I was wasting my time, Pen Gallery shipped at about 1600 local Malaysia time on Monday (12 hours ahead of EST or about GMT-4 IIRC) which was a nice thing to wake up to I guess, checked stylo.ca, Tuesday, still hasn’t shipped! Ah well it was 1000 local time in Montreal, I was much too excited for my own good. They didn’t ship Monday and on Tuesday at about 1230 I received a email saying Lex gray was out of stock and would be back-ordered until Sept. 28, kinda sulked, it was pretty much the reason for my entire order at stylo.ca (the black was a base color, and the 2 pens were for fun) but I guess I could live with just the Black for a month, I emailed back saying I would like them to ship the order without the gray and ship the gray to me when it becomes available and they agreed, very fast responses I might add, though rationally thinking maybe I was just lucky. The rest of Tuesday was uneventful, I think the Lamy 2000 was somewhere over the pacific ocean according to DHL tracking, hope it would arrive tomorrow.
I think I’ll start a new paragraph here just to keep it clean, I don’t have to say again I was excited but the L2K finally came on Wednesday at about 1600! It was very well packaged, bubble wrap then a box, more bubble wrap and then the L2K cardboard case and also a pleasant surprise, according to the customs declaration Pen Gallery “Gifted” a $20 Fountain Pen, cool! And not a dollar on brokerage, processing etc. Opened it and it was pretty much everything I expected, very nice looking, stiff-ish piston, feels very nice etc., and the cap clicks on the barrel really nice. I loved it, but without ink I couldn’t tell if it wrote good. This does not help my anticipation. The order from stylo.ca shipped though, and should come on Thursday. Without anything to cool my anticipation I flushed the pen a few times with plain tap water, some people said to do this and I figured I would let it dry overnight. There was some blue in the nib as expected and I managed two or three watery lines before it became impossible to write, based on that not impressed but it was much diluted ink, it couldn’t be very representative of the pen.

Okay this is really long… 2.5 pages on MS Word, 12 font, 1700 words, not done. I wonder how many people survived to this point, I was never known for my writing skills.


The Pens
Thursday! I guess you could call this the result of 8 months of waiting, the ink and my other 2 pens came. This time not great packaging but I would say good and/or adequate, came in a box with brown paper around the ink and two pens. The varsity came as is and the Vector and converter came in what I suspect is what Mont Blanc ships their pens in after repairs, it’s one of those black plastic rectangular tube things that you can make either longer or shorter with “Mont Blanc after sales service” molded into the plastic, everything seems fine so far.

Pilot Varsity, Medium Nib, Blue Ink
I couldn’t resist writing with the Varsity which didn’t need filling, and Wow! It writes smooooth with no pressure at all! A bit wide for my tastes but still usable on regular lined paper. This thing is amazing, feels like a cheap roller ball, but is easily the smoothest thing I’ve ever written with, dam*! One bad thing: Pilot only filled the pen maybe 60%, more profitable I guess, oh and the clip feels really bad, but for a $4 pen…Dam*! Now I can see why there’s an online community raving about Fountain pens. Hmm… wonder what a $10 pen would get me…

Parker Vector, Fine nib, Noodler’s Black
The F nib Parker Vector was next, it felt very solid though a little cheap especially with the little play in the clip, posts nicely though and exceeded my expectations for a $10 pen though wasn’t anything impressive or special. I feel I could drop this pen without any problems beyond a scratch or two, actually, I did just now from desk height on a wood floor, doesn’t say much about the quality though. Anyways I installed the converter and filled it up with my new bottle of Noodler’s black, probably flushed it with water first, I’m not sure. First impressions were scratchy! Not impressed, not impressed at all especially after the varsity, I played with it a bit, rotated the nib so it kind of faced me, pretty good now. I was using Generic lined paper and I switched to another brand of generic lined paper, it became a bit smoother and actually after five or six minutes, nice to write with. There is a little “drag” but no tooth or scratch when the top of the nib is rotated a bit towards me, if not I get tooth on the down strokes and left strokes(is that a word?). It’s a bit wide for my tastes though not as wide as the Varsity, it also feels pretty wet, no skipping and didn’t feel any hesitation. Overall very satisfied with this pen, didn’t expect much and it definitely isn’t as smooth as the Varsity and not built as well as the 2K but it looks pretty good, feels good and I like it, I think this will be a “back-up” to my 2K if I get a good copy of the 2K, fingers are crossed.
Side note: The Parker Vector and Noodler’s Black was also my first experience with the infamous “Nib Creep” I thought it would bother the hell out of me but it really wasn’t that bad, I could live with it though I have the desire to soak the nib in water every few minutes just to see the ink wash off lol.

My, my, my, this is certainly getting lengthy fast almost 3.5 pages in MS word, 2350 words, yikes! This is probably where I start writing to myself. Oh well, it feels good and is probably one of the only times I actually enjoyed it.

Lamy 2000, Extra-Fine nib, Noodler’s Black
Finally I got to the Lamy 2000 EF, was I subconsciously saving the best for last? I was actually very nervous; I paid about $120CDN for it after currency conversion compared to the $15 for the vector including the converter and about $4.50 for the Varsity, so for the L2K I could of gotten 8 vectors or 26 Varcitys, it would be better if there wasn’t so much talk of QC issues. I gave a brief description above but here’s more *Unfortunately I could not get to the writing part in into this section, there is a bit at the end, most of it is in the next section*
The L2K has a very clean look though you can probably deduce that from the pictures on the net, personally I love the look though I’m sure many people prefer much flashier pens. It also feels very nice both ergonomically and build quality wise, I have not had issues with the pen slipping from my hands, it feels nice and secure. A member here described the 2K as making a nice mechanical “snick” when being capped, I think this is a very good description, it is also extremely satisfying, and this is perhaps my favourite aspect of the 2K that I could not deduce from pictures and reviews. I also really like the clip, it feels very solid, a little play but not much and the spring mechanism works well, btw mine has “Germany 1” stamped on the bottom. Now to the infamous “ears”: they are surprisingly small, I thought they would be much larger from the various pictures and they do not bother me in the slightest, actually, they are actually very useful for finding the position of your finger relative to the pen.
The pen is –iffy about posting, it posts fine but doesn’t really feel secure like the Vector, mine has already developed one or two posting rings, one just below the blind cap (the nib is down, the blind cap is up) and the other about 60% of the way up it. I’m not sure if the second one is a posting ring as the Makroln above the second rings seems glossier than the rest of the barrel, doesn’t bother me though. As others have noted, the piston is pretty stiff, and the ink view window is usable, but a bit hard to use. Okay so how does it write? I filled it up with the Noodler’s Black I just filled up the vector with and put it to the page, first impressions? I am definitely not happy. It doesn’t write as well as the Varsity and even the Vector, must have gotten a bad nib *cries*. The nib, while isn’t exactly scratchy or toothy does have a resistance when putting it on the page, it barely writes without pressure, very thin and dry. I played with it a bit, rotated the nib 360 degrees, found what I think is the “sweet spot” and also that it writes okay with the nib turned 180 degrees. I played with this pen a lot on Thursday, it seemed to get better after about an hour leaving it alone though I’m not sure if the vector is smoother or the Lamy. I played with it throughout the day, maybe it will be better tomorrow?

Lamy 2000, Extra-Fine nib, Noodler’s Black, Writing In-Depth
So I wasn’t really thrilled with the 2K, a $10/15 dollar pen competes with it in terms of writing and a $4 dollar pen completely obliterates it, though to be fair both write wider lines. Here are my observations about writing from Thursday ‘till 0100 on the 23rd which is when I’m writing now. Please note that the observations I make here do not really have a point of reference, unfortunately I am a FP newbie and the only FPs I really used are the three I have in front of me, two of which are a fraction of the price of the 2K.
After hearing much about the 2K being a wide and wet pen from pretty much everyone on FPN I expected the same, unfortunately I didn’t seem to get a good copy, or I completely fail at using Fountain pens. The 2K seems wider than what I would think of as the average EF (keep in mind I have never actually written with a FP with a EF nib) though that is not a problem and my nib choice has accounted for that. My problem is it seems a bit dry, I really do not know what makes a nib “dry” by FP standards but I wrote a few pages of notes with Noodler’s Black and looking at it half the thing is a dark brown, the other half seems like a dark shade of brown to a black, which makes for a very ugly page of text. I wrote a small section with the Parker Vector and while the line was thicker, the text was a solid Black and not varying shades of dark brown. The only possible causes I can think of not relating to the pen is either inconsistent pressure on the nib, left over water from the flushing I did when I got the pen, or the manufacturing oils I keep on hearing about that is somehow inhibiting the flow, other suggestions are very welcome.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that the pen seems to write differently going left to right than right to left, up to down than down to up etc., is that normal? Or is that an indication that there is a problem with the nib? I’ve seen something similar about a 2K somewhere on these forums and some posters suggested to send it to Lamy. Again I cannot rule out user error, I have found it much easier to apply pressure on a down stroke than an up stroke and I’m finding that maintain even pressure is pretty hard. Also it seems if I rotate the nib direction X the pen writes line A better and if I rotate the nib direction Y the nib write line B better so I’m not sure if I’m just inexperienced.
Ending on a good note about pressure, the 2K does have some flex to it, again I have no point of comparison, the flex I’m seeing may be normal for most fountain pens, or unique to the 2K but I know the flex I’m getting is much more than the Vector and Varsity (I cannot seem to get any flex on the Varsity). The line width with the 2K something like doubles and writes a dark black line, though when I apply little pressure the line becomes a dark brown again. I tried some wavy lines playing with the flex a bit (not too much, I don’t want to damage it!) and the “returns” are not quick for the 2K flex, and now I can see why a good flex nib should have quick returns.
Just wanted to write something about smoothness: I keep on playing with it, and it seems to keep on getting better, it’s weird, I think it’s just my perception. There’s no doubt I enjoy writing with this pen, it’s smooth, just doesn’t feel like the magic pen everyone has been talking about and comparing the vector and the 2K side by side the vector feels smoother to me, but I don’t know if it is, it feels smoother or maybe the vector is giving some resistance and the 2K is giving none and… and maybe… It sucks being new lol. Smoothness is so hard to describe so I’m going to leave it at this and if anyone can help me in the smoothness dept. that would be great.
The Lamy 2000, in my eyes has the potential to be a great pen, maybe it is, my copy however, I don’t think so at the moment. Now I have a dilemma, should I send this pen to Lamy and have them “repair” it to my satisfaction? Or give it a few weeks, it is very possible that the problems I have described for you above will go away with experience, or there is a “break-in period”. Please keep in mind that this pen was a gift from my parents who do not entirely approve of a $100 pen that is, in their eyes a leaky, unreliable, messy…. Decoration. If it is sent to Lamy I do not know how many times it will take them to get right, and for a MSRP of $160 I really expected better quality control, top notch work and service. So far not seeing it in the writing department. Again I would like to say there is a not insignificant chance that this these problems are result of user error/inexperience and should be taken with a grain of salt.

*Writing samples will follow, tomorrow probably, it's 0230 here and I'm really tired


A Conclusion for the moment
My first foray in the Fountain Pen world was mixed, great people, great community, but one of the supposed best pens for the money was rather… not up to my expectations. Of course one pen is defiantly not representative of anything and I will not treat it as such but it does leave me with quite a bit to think about.
So this is my first step into the Fountain pen world, it only took 4000 words and 7 hours or so to describe, and if you are still reading this I applaud your patience, to be honest I would have stopped after seeing how long this was and I wouldn’t be surprised if no one ever read this but if you did, then thank you very much.
Thank you all for a great community and even though my first pens were not the best that they could be, I don’t have any regrets.

*Please Note this is more of a rough draft than anything, I have not really had time to look this over, and will be doing so today, also there are paragraphs but they are very poorly defined as the formatting was messed up when I copy and pasted from word this morning at 0230. The writing samples will follow today, not sure when xD

Okay here are the promised samples, sorry for my bad writing though I think it speaks for itself.

And a high res version:


Trivia and things I need to add
-Still using the pens on cheap paper, the lined paper is something like 400pages/dollar and the "Multipurpose" paper at home is cheap 20lb paper from a company I have not heard of.

Edit Log
I expect to make a few changes, they will be listed here:
1. Reworded the topic description (probably 1 minute after I posted it)
2. 08/23/08 13:16 UTC-4 - Minor changes, added trivia section, added the little note above the "trivia" section
3. 08/23/08 22:25 UTC-4 - Added writing sample

i'm not much of a reader or writer, you'll see my posts are short!!! sooooooooooooo, no i didn't read it all. just wanted to say: welcome!!!

An extremely long article, I regret to say that I wasn't able to read it all. Bismuth, you need to learn something about paragraphing. Breaking up your writing into bite-size chunks so that it's more easily-read and more manageable.

Of what I did read, however, I must say I found it very interesting and would like to read more.

When my eyes recover, that is.

Welcome, and thanks for your long, informative, and entertaining post. I laughed at your periodically reported surprise at the number of words that had accumulated! I hope you never lose your enthusiasm.

Most of us have experienced that same enthusiasm as well the puzzling disappointments. Just want to let you know that these implements can be finicky, but the application of some patient adjustment can really pay off. I only got interested in fountain pens recently, and one of my first was a Lamy Vista. I was really disappointed with it. The ink was watery and the line was wide and bloated and my writing was ugly. Over a period of time I replaced the nib (several times), started experimenting with different inks and paper, and worked on my handwriting. Now, after grinding and adjusting the nib, filling it with various inks, experimenting with different papers, and working on my handwriting, I find it's pretty close to the ideal pen. I don't want to seem condescending, but I'd advise you never to fear taking the long road. Time takes care of itself and passes without your attention. Speaking of which, I never knew you could set a browser to refresh at a particular interval.

Well, 204 words. I'd better let you go.

Doug

Welcome to the board and fountain pens! I'm not sure I can help you regarding nibs as I prefer B, BB and stub nibs. I'm thrilled by your enthusiasm and can only tell you to keep tinkering with your pens. I'm not sure if the nib is too fine as some of what you describe was what I used to feel from M nibs before I knew there were Bs [I hadn't found FPN in those days]. What I can tell you is a good pen shouldn't require pressure at all. Mine float over the page. If you're having to press to get ink flow, there's something wrong.

Give us a little time and the EF users will check in and be able to help you.

HI I read your post all the way through without a problem. Welcome to the FPN.

I wonder if it is possible that your Lamy 2000 is somehow clogged or not flowing correctly and as a result you are pressing too hard? You said it seemed smother as you used it longer. I wonder if the flow problem is trying to work itself out and so you are getting a little more ink and the correct lubricatio from the improved flow.

I am sure others will comment on this. I do not have a Lamy and so I am not your best source. Good luck, j

With a little bit of editing, this makes for a fine essay worthy of submission to a magazine of some sort.

Do you own blue jeans? If you do, you'll remember that before washing, wearing, and tugging, they may be uncomfortable.

I think some fountain pens are like jeans, they need to ride along in the palm of your hand for awhile before they get to feel comfortable and you get the hang of them.

Perhaps after a few more days, the Lamy will feel as good as the Pilot. Or not.

I will add from personal experience (and my first fountain pen dates back to the cave period) some of the most inexpensive fountain pens I own are the smoothest and nicest of the lot.

Good luck and keep on truckin'.

And you have only just got started
Welcome and good post.

Bismuth- like John Cullen, I was able to read your post without problems.
Like John said, you might want to flush out your Lamy 2000 with plain, lukewarm water. If there is anything impeding the flow of ink, flushing might help.

Hi and welcome too. I read everything but can't comment much as I have neither a 2000 nor any Noodler's. But I think that the first Lamy I'll buy will be a 2000. Haven't ever read anything seriously bad about it.
Try out a few other brands too and you'll then see
(1) they can be so different as regards to flow and smoothness, and
(2) you'll learn all about their ups and downs so tht you'll soon develop your own favourite here. (inks ditto.)

Mike

I enjoyed your post tremendously. It has a "stream-of-consciousness" style and tone to it that I found refreshing. As for the fountain pens, you have started on a long journey my friend. My first pen was a Waterman Expert that was as smooth as butter. I won't tell you how many Waterman fountain pens I own now, as it might scare you, but all I can say is: enjoy the ride!

Todd

Wow, that's incredible! And the half-clown-half-monkey dogs said they were from outer space and showed you their WHAT?! I can hardly believe it! But if you say so...! And the CHEESE?! Crazy.





Um. No. I didn't read it. But I will. Also, hi! I hope the Lamy situation (as gleaned from responses) has been rectified.

If you use light pressure (like I do), the Lamy 2000 tends to be problematic out of the box. They seem to make all the 2000 nibs a bit closed, so that you can flex them open. Problem is, if you use light pressure, barely any ink will come out at all if you don't push a bit, and when you push, it feels as wet as a paintbrush. Personally I always have the flow on all 2000 nibs I get opened up a bit and it has consistently become one of the best writers I've ever experienced - definitely a great writer for the money.

Best,
Summer

I'm a relative newbie to FPs as well, and started out with an L2K in June - also XF, also with Noodler's Black. All I can tell you is that it took a few weeks for it to get as glassy smooth as it is now, but it got there.

I did do some home smoothing according to other member's advice, drawing tiny circles and scribbles on cardboard, brown paper bags, etc. I didn't do a lot of that as the fibers got into the nib a few time, which I figured couldn't be good. Since I did it so little, I'm not convinced that these practices helped any more than just regular writing.

If you're really worried about oil in the feed somewhere, you can flush with very dilute dish soap, so I've read - haven't tried it myself: a search here will give you proper proportions.

I think Zoe's blue jean analogy above is about perfect, and I've no doubt that you will soon count yourself among the die-hard fans of the Lamy 2000.

Nice write up!
My first FP was a Lamy Al-Star and it wrote like (Potty Mouth) till I pulled the nib out a bit but by then I had moved on to my ever-reliable Esterbrooks.
Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for all the replies, I'm only able to get to them now, cause... I woke up late. I'm pretty surprised some people actually read 4000 words, so thanks for that, and I think the post following won't be my shortest either.



I can definitely relate to that, I wouldn't call myself much of a reader and/or writer either, I was always more mathematically and/or scientifically oriented, what drove me to write this? I dunno! And thanks for the welcome btw



Sounds about right to me, I did have paragraphs in my original draft in MS word but when copy/pasting in here, all the indentations were gone, it was 0230 in the morning, the room was starting to spin, I left it. I will definitely add them, as well as go through my original post a few times, I don't think I read the entire thing non-stop yet, as I said, I was pretty tired. I know this is more of a rough draft than a finished product, sorry if it was hard to read!



Lol, 204 words is no doubt a sizable amount of writing for me! As for the browser refresh thing, it's an addon I downloaded for firefox called "tab mix plus" I'm not sure if they have it for FF 3.0 yet but I'm using another addon called "nightly tester tools" that allows me to override compatibility, needless to say tab mix plus works fine in FF3, designed for or otherwise. Unrelated while some of you say you need to "thin out the herd" for your pens I think I have to for my addons, I'm using just under 25 at the moment and probably another 10 or so that's just sittign there.

I think I'll take your advice and play with it for a bit, if I still find I'm disappointed I might email Lamy and see what they say, the school year is starting, and I think I'll be writing more than 204 words... Every Day if it doesn't work for me, I'll find out quick

Just a few observations, you did say that the Vista you had didn't write well and with a lot of tinkering, got it to write close to your ideal, if you look at it from a different angle, that's like kind of saying I bought the pen, didn't like it, sent it to Richard Binder, love it now! My point is, that doesn't really attest to the quality of the pen but rather the skill of the nibmeister etc. Just something to consider



Hmm... another welcome, well thanks for that, I've only been here 8 months! though admittedly, I was mostly in the background. I'm not sure if it's too fine but I know the line width is just about perfect for the kind of writing I do, namely notes, drafts etc. on crappy $0.50 for 200 sheets lined paper. It seems I do have to apply a bit of pressure to the 2K to get it to write properly and even then it writes a brown line instead of black. I think I can understand what you mean by no pressure, my Varsity does that and it is actually really nice albeit much broader than the 2K.



I'm not sure if it actually got smoother, it kinda feels that way but when I write with the Vector side by side, it doesn't feel that much better than before. I guess it's possible that it's not flowing right but I don't think I'm pressing too hard, I'm using very little pressure to write (which gives me a brown line). The only time I have actually applied pressure was playing with the flex a little bit, it's nice in that area at least but I can see that progression from a Dark Brown to Black.



Ahh the blue jeans analogy, I've seen that one around here once or twice before, wonder if it was you? Unfortunately I forgot what it was about. Oh, and no i don't have blue jeans, probably the only person in the world who doesn't . I will definitely give the pens a few weeks before I decide to send it to Lamy or whatever.

So your saying my $10 pen could write better than a $160 pen? I understand that there's a point of diminishing returns but surely it is not at $10 for fountain pens! If that is not the case, the only person I could blame is the manufacture and designer for releasing a product the performs inferior to a product a tenth of their products price. I guess build quality does count for something but, seriously, if Pilot can make a $4 pen that writes better than a $160 pen, there's a big problem here. How I see it is, the Pilot is designed to write, the other pens are deigned to be looked at.



I feel sorry for you guys already,
and Thanks!



I think I'll try that after I finish this barrel-full (???) of ink, hate wasting things.



You sir, are evil. "Try out a few other brands..." Seeing people with hundreds of pens, I'm not sure that's the best idea but then that Falcon does look pretty nice... and might as well pick up a Hero 100, see what the fuss is about... Why not try a Jinhao? save on shipping, and they do look really nice... ...



Thank you for your comments, though at the moment, I doubt I'll become a big collector, maybe 10-15 pens... But I'm just saying that. Too many time I've heard the stories: "I found this board just to get some good ear buds for my iPod, I did. By the two month mark, I had spend $2k on headphones, amps, and CDs. It is five years now, look at the picture: [insert scary picture here] 'nuff said. BTW that was from head-fi.org and if you happen to click the link "Welcome to head-fi, sorry about your wallet"

__________
EDIT: Just some spacing, and I checked the responses, another 4! This is becoming a full time job lol!

Welcome to the wonderful (and occasionally frustrating) world of fountain pens! I'm sorry that you got to the frustrating part so soon, but we'll do what we can to help. Others have already given some good advice, and while I'm not an expert, I'll try to describe the potential causes of poor flow. Read all of the following before trying anything.

It all starts with the ink. Noodler's Black is a great ink that most pens (include Lamy 2000s) can use just fine, but truth be told, it is not exactly the freest-flowing ink around. For one thing, you have to make sure that it's not trapping the air bubble inside the ink reservoir at the bottom. Tapping your pen against your finger a few times should correct this problem, although the best thing to do in your case would be to try a very conservative ink that works well in pretty much every pen, such as Waterman Florida Blue, which is also among the easier inks to find in local office supply stores in the US and hopefully Canada.

From the reservoir the ink has to flow through the feed, which could be clogged with substances involved in manufacturing or preservation. Flushing your pen a few times with a 1/10 ratio solution of household ammonia to water, followed by plain water, will hopefully clear it up. You could also try a tiny bit of dishwashing detergent (intended for hand-washing, not machine-washing) added to water instead of the ammonia, but the ammonia generally works better.

After going through the feed, the ink needs to travel through the slit in the nib to get to the paper. Based on your description, specifically needing to apply pressure to get the pen to write wetly enough (if the nib is flexing, that's far too much pressure), it seems that your pen's nib needs to be adjusted. The tines on either side of the slit should not be touching at the tip, otherwise the pen will be a very dry writer that needs a lot of pressure to write. I'm not familiar enough with the Lamy 2000 to give you instructions on how to properly and safely adjust the tines, but someone else may be able to help you with this. In the meantime, the issues in the above two paragraphs should be addressed anyway in order to help eliminate other potential problems until you are confident that you have a working pen.

That's all I can do, but I'd also like to go over a couple of truisms, based on what you wrote (yes, I read the whole thing, and this post is getting pretty long, itself). First of all, it doesn't take much to make a pen that writes well, whether it's a fountain pen or ballpoint. A 10¢ BiC disposable will probably write just about as well as a $300 ballpoint, and similarly there are some cheap fountain pens that write as well as or even better than far more expensive ones. Secondly, the perception of "smoothness" in writing instruments is quite subjective, and additionally there are different types of smoothness. Even some ballpoints can feel quite "smooth" but those tend to have a gooey sensation, as well (e.g. BiC Ultras). Fountain pens feel "smooth" because virtually no pressure is required, but they still transmit the tactile feel of the paper, as well as provide some lateral friction, a combination that gives your hand the most control of any type of pen. It's much like how it feels to drive different automobiles, I guess--the best ones give you the actual feel of the road in a comfortable manner while maintaining the tightest control, in contrast to a rough ride or a totally smooth but numb or "mushy" ride. Variations in fountain pen smoothness are largely a function of nib size (larger is smoother) and wetness (wetter is smoother, of course). While there could be nib problems that cause fountain pens to be scratchier than they should be, you should make sure that you're getting adequate flow before worrying about smoothing the point.

Yes! And sometimes a $5 fountain pen writes better than the more expensive one. I only have relatively inexpensive fountain pens and while some are dogs others write beautifully. And I've seen plenty of postings here and elsewhere about some pretty expensive fountain pens that simply will not write worth a dam.

Thank you Iridum for your help, a lengthy reply to a lengthy post, quite fitting!

I have already tapped the pen with my fingers a few times, and I doubt that's the problem, though the reason I did was because there seemed to be one keeping the ink from being readable from the ink window. I'll try the Florida Blue if I can find it locally the next time I'm in an office supply store. I was in staples the other day and it seems they only carry Parker Quink in Blue, Blue-Black, and Black. They're "fine writing" section is pretty much all Croos BPs and RBs, 1 FP which was a Cross, and a Parker or 2.

About the flushing, I have done it a few times with plain tap water but unfortunately do not have ammonia on hand, I may try the dish washing detergent though, after I finish this "barrel-ful" of ink. (Or should it be reservoir-ful?)

I'm not sure if the tip is touching, I don't have powerful enough magnification to see, though holding it up the the light, it appears that the point is touching but the slit is not. When I'm writing with the 2K I do not use enough pressure for the tines to spread though they did maybe 1mm when i was playing with the flex. Does a brown line indicate that the pen is too dry?

About the smoothness thing, sounds true to me, I guess if smoothness was everything then FPs would be much easier to make/design? But taking into account control, feedback etc. and a perfect nib is much harder. Basically what I get from the last paragraph is smoothness does not necessarily make a good nib, if I'm not correct in that deduction, feel free to clarify.

Thanks again for your help.

Welcome. I am new here as well and it is a really great group. Probably the best run site I have encountered in years. FP's are addictive. When I first started back again - using FP's I mean - I thought that gold nibs were what I should want. I have now learned, however, that I LOVE some of my steel nibs. I have also become fascinated by by the way that inks can affect a pen's performance. Who knew that there was another exciting part to using FP's ! Great article. Great journey !

I was a bit confused at first lol



Based on your post and a few others it seems this is what they do to the 2ks, it certainly does explain a lot, though mine writes Brown lines hope it becomes better for me



Fountain pens and jeans, who knew? I'm not a fan of jeans though. Home smoothing, I doubt I have the patience lol. Oh, and great minds think alike? (2K+Noodler's Blk)



Thank you for your welcome



Hmm seems the point of diminishing returns is pretty low. My problem is that if Company X can design a nib that writes well and sell the pen for price A, Company Y should be able to design a nib of equal or above quality if they sell their pens at Price B where Price B is greater than Price A. This is of course not taking into account build quality and the like but I still think is a valid argument. I understand some companies do not sell their pens to write but I don't think Lamy is one of them.



Didn't you forget paper? lol. Thanks for the welcome and I have to agree this is one of the best, if not the best forum I have ever registered at. It's probably the only place that doesn't have constant "ur a nOOb", "that guy is an idiot", etc. and the people are really great (that's what makes a community right?). I have been meaning to add that into my original post but couldn't find a place to fit it in

anytime!!! see ya'

Hi,

I read the whole thing. Nice story! I can fix your 2000 up for you if you'd like and make the piston run a bit more smoothly. I initially had the same problem with my 2000 when I used to have one. Once all the problems are taken care of, it's a really nice pen.

Dillon

I guess the selection varies by region or even individual stores. The Staples in my area carries mostly Waterman and Parker pens (and inks) with a few from Cross thrown in. They also sell Sheaffer cartridges but no Sheaffer pens (as does the local Michael's).



Just use a little bit of detergent (I use Dawn, although any of them should be fine), like several drops in a cup. You could also try filling the pen with this solution and setting it nib-down overnight in a cup lined with plenty of tissue.



Reservoir is simply a generic term that applies to whatever contains the ink in any pen. In this case and that of the Varsity, it's the barrel, so you can say that, but your Vector, for example, uses a convertor.



Ideally, the slit should taper toward the tip to promote capillary action, and I've seen pens that work alright with the tip just barely closed, although there is supposed to be a very slight separation. And while it's hard to tell without sufficient magnification, it's even harder to tell when the pen is inked up.



Maybe you can't see it, but the tines must be spreading just a little if you're seeing increased flow. What you want to do is permanently bend the nib so that you can write without applying any pressure at all, which I have done successfully with some of my own problematic pens, but I've never tried this on a Lamy 2000, so I'm not sure how it would respond. You could always send the pen to a "nibmeister" who will know exactly what to do, but you'll probably want to deal with Lamy first if none of the suggestions here end up helping.



In my experiences with Noodler's Black, it tends to look gray when either dry or diluted. I can only assume that your pen is writing dry, based on what you've said, but I don't know about this "brown" thing. Did you flush the pen clean before loading it with ink?



It ultimately depends on personal preference, although some of the things that affect feel can affect performance, as well. Nibs can be made to feel buttery smooth for those who like this, but some people prefer a bit more feedback, and if you go too far with smoothing the nib, then it may become hard-starting or require more pressure. The reason is that in order to be super-smooth, a nib needs to have the inside edges of its tip rounded, which unavoidably causes some amount of separation between the ink and paper. Just a little bit, done just right, can result in an exceptionally smooth nib that still writes reliably. Personally, most nibs feel smooth enough for me as long as I use minimal pressure, and indeed for some people, absolute glass-like smoothness is not desired. The only problem I've had with my dozen or so pens is flow (too little or too much), which I've fixed myself by bending tines and/or adjusting the gap between the nibs and feeds.

The underlying reasons I wrote the last paragraph of my previous post are previous discussions involving the "smoothness" of various types of pens. Most people have certain expectations, and I wanted to give some information and reasoning to help set these expectations. For example, if you're used to a smooth medium point, you should not expect even a relatively smooth fine point to feel just as smooth. It also seems that newer ball pens are striving to feel smoother, but they'll always feel different from a fountain pen, no matter how smooth they feel. There's nothing like the direct application of the capillary action of ink onto paper, it's just different from rolling a little ball around.



It depends on quality control, as well as how much and what kind of individual human attention is given to each pen. One of the advantages of ballpoints is that the manufacturing process used for such a design produces more consistent results, but even then it is possible to find differences between how two ballpoints of the same make and model write. Fountain pens seem to need some hand-finishing in order to reach their full potential, whatever their initial cost (and I often question where the higher costs related to some pens really come from), but nowadays even the most expensive pens don't get personal treatment unless you buy them from a dealer that offers such services (sometimes for no additional charge), or finish and refine them yourself, of course (in which case a $5 pen could potentially write a lot better than a $500 pen).

I appreciate your generous offer, if things don't get better in a few weeks and Lamy doesn't take care of it I'll send you a PM. and Thanks Again, so many great people on this board.

Edit: I guess I was confusing you with someone else


Will try, after this "reservoir-ful", I did the same thing with paper towels after I flushed it the first day


Aww come-on! I knew that, 8 months taught me something, that's what makes this place so great, though I'm wondering, what should I call the L2K reservoir? It's not exactly flush with the barrel so... Piston-ful?


I did look at it before I got ink, didn't specifically notice the "taper toward the tip" though I wasn't really looking for it.


That seems only natural that the tines would spread a bit on the application of pressure, the only time I actually say it (or looked for it) was when I was playing with the flex, there are writing samples in the OP, if you want to look. I'm definitely not going to be doing any home "flexing??" to improve flow, I'm scared I'll mess it up


Actually I'm not sure if it's a gray or a brown, in most lights it looks like a brown (see the writing sample in the OP, it's at the bottom) though when I first write with it I thought it was a gray. After reading a post on FPN saying about Noodler's Black and it being Brown etc. that's when I started noticing. I'm not sure if this is some psychological effect or whatever but it looks real to me and ya I did flush the pen before filling, (let it dry too, paper towel cup etc.)


Sounds true to me, thanks for the information!


"Sounds true to me, thanks for the information!" Though again, talking about a $5-$15 FP writing better out of the box than a $160 FP, I really don't see much relevance.


Thanks for your replies to my replies lol, and if this continues...