Hello from central PA

[jmw19]

The first fountain pen I remember using was part of a calligraphy set my mother owned. I believe it was a Scheaffer; I can recall long, flat-topped cartridges. Being left-handed, my first words were quickly reduced to smears of ink as my hand dragged over them. That was the end of fountain pens for me, or so I thought.

 

Fast-forward a few decades, and the topic kept coming up via another passion of mine, the traditional wet-shave. My face was never pleased with the modern crop of razors, and I'd come up with all sorts of "work-arounds" to make it tolerable.

Through the suggestions of a wonderful woman (who I'm now married to), I discovered the burgeoning interest in the traditional shave. Long saga short, I enjoy shaving now, and have a growing collection of creams, soaps, brushes, and razors.

 

Still, the allure of the fountain pen refused to quiet. A few discussions with fellow lefties gave me some reassurance, but the day I found a Pilot Varsity disposable at work really set things in motion. I realized that, with some care, I could write without smearing, and the experience was rather pleasant. Something about a nib smoothly gliding across the paper felt far removed from my typical rollerball or ballpoint pens. Still, I hesitated to use a "real" fountain pen, rationalizing the disposables must use different, faster-drying ink.

 

This past September, my wife gifted me with a Retro 51 stainless pen, and to my delight, I realized that using good paper and writing a bit slower made all the difference. Sure, I still leave a smudge now and again, but some research into the vast number of inks available shows plenty of fast-drying types. Likewise, I need to experiment with nib widths to control how much ink is put down. I also need to keep my collector-tendencies in check, or I'll end up with 50 pens in no time.

 

Bear with me, folks, I'm very new here. I'm Jon, and I'm a fountain pen fan.

[RonB]

Welcome, Jon. I know the State College area well. Just be prepared to spend more money that you should if you hang out here!

 

Ron

[jmw19]

Welcome, Jon. I know the State College area well. Just be prepared to spend more money that you should if you hang out here!

 

Ron

Oh, believe me, I do. Seems like all of my hobbies end up costing more than seems logical. Then again, what place does logic have in something you love?

 

Best,

Jon

[Ruaidhri]

Hi and Welcome Jon,

 

I also need to keep my collector-tendencies in check

If you figure that out maybe you'd share the method with the rest of us addicts

 

Try a post in Inky Thoughts re inks & lefties - you'll get a load of info.

 

Regards,

Ruaidhrí

[mike1]

Welcome . One pen leads to another and another and another... Good having you join us.

[futhark]

Hello and welcome. This network is definitely as addictive as its subject. There are lots of friendly, creative, witty and knowledgeable people here.

 

I visit State College at least once a year - are there any stores that stock good fountain pens or ink supplies in the midst of all that university support infrastructure? I live in the boondocks, with few opportunities to buy pens in brick and mortar stores.

Gerry

[Nihontochicken]

I also need to keep my collector-tendencies in check, or I'll end up with 50 pens in no time.

 

Doomed. :roflmho:

 

But you will have much moral support from fellow addicts! Enablers?

[memphislawyer]

Jon and I go way back to wetshaving on the MSN forums. Great guy and nice to see him here. The neat thing is that a lot of pen guys come on over to the Shavemyface.com forum and vice-versa.

 

Sam

[Wolverine1]

Hello Jon - welcome to our obsession with fountain pens. And greetings to you too, Sam.

BTW Jon, a lot of the guys on ShaveMyFace are also members here.

 

I live in Ann Arbor, but am a Joe Pa fan too!!!

[southpaw]

Hi Jon and welcome to FPN! Yes, I too remember the early stages. It was in April 2005 that I got my first FP. Since then? Sheesh --- don't go there! Let's not even talk about inks and papers either, ok! Glad you're here and hope to see you around.

[jmw19]

I visit State College at least once a year - are there any stores that stock good fountain pens or ink supplies in the midst of all that university support infrastructure? I live in the boondocks, with few opportunities to buy pens in brick and mortar stores.

Gerry

Thank you all for the warm welcome. I've been a member of SMF for a few years, but tried to resist the FP attraction. Since I can't use my writing syle as an excuse anymore, here I am.

 

Gerry, to answer your question, there's a few shops here that sell nice pens and the accoutrements. I've been a customer at the Nittany Quill for years, buying cards and paper, but only recently started looked at their pen and ink collections. I believe they have Noodlers and Private Reserve in bottles, and PR in cartridges. I just picked up a Pelikano, but haven't peered into the case of higher-end pens yet.

 

Yesterday, I stopped into Uncle Elis, the local art-supply shop. Their bent is more towards calligraphy, but they do have some FP ink from Pelikan and J.Herbin. I nabbed a box of Pelikan blue-black cartridges. They do carry Moleskine and a few other notebooks, plus bunches of nice sketching pads.

 

Today, I plan to stop by the Penn State Bookstore - I work for the University, but tend not to shop there. However, I've found that staff get a 10% discount, so we'll see what they carry.

 

I'd be happy to show you (or anyone else) around when next you visit. Being a college town, stores are always changing, but there's some gems that keep on.

 

My collection has already begun. I've got a few pens coming from Ebay, several Parkers and a Waterman Phileas I just won. Now, I need to focus on inks, and paper, and something to store the collection...

 

Jon

[WillAdams]

I'm jealous! I live near Harrisburg and the one office supply store which carried fountain pens closed down all their brick and mortar shops to do delivery only (they're still listed as a Stipula dealer, though no one on their sales staff seems to be aware of that).

 

Will definitely drop by the Nittany Quill next time we're on the way to the in-laws (who're in DuBois).

 

William

[jmw19]

A very slim update: The Penn State Bookstore carries Rhodia pads, in a good assortment of sizes and rulings. They also stock a bunch of Moleskines, being operated by Barnes and Noble.

 

Aside from the Scheaffer Viewpoint calligraphy pens, the closest thing to a FP they stock are the Pilot Varsity pens. Fine in their own right, and refillable, but still unsatisfying.

 

Jon

[Nihontochicken]

My collection has already begun. I've got a few pens coming from Ebay, several Parkers and a Waterman Phileas I just won.

 

Bump, bump, bump! And another one bites the dust!!!

[futhark]

Jon, thank you very much for the information about stores in State College, and for your generous offer of being a native guide. I look forward to checking out some real stores, as fountain pen interests mean mail order business here. Unless all you want are Parker and Sheaffer refills, in two colors.

Gerry