Best First Fountain Pen

[theolu]

Another pen I'd consider if I were in your position is the Sailor HighAce Neo. Although it's listed as a "F" as opposed to an "EF" like the Penmanship, I think you'll find the nib comparable as far as line width goes. In my experience, the HighAce Neo is quite smooth for such a fine steel nib. At $15 - it's definitely worth a look.

[WirsPlm]

Having just done this (dropped my MR on the floor nib-down, it was still useable but never really recovered), it was super easy. The Penmanship nib is definitely much scratchier than the Fine MR nib (before it was dropped, that is), and I don't know that smoothing will really make it that much better. It seems a little scratchier than before (heavier metal pen body pressing down harder?), but works very well and the swap took only about a minute. Highly lubricated inks (Noodler's X-Feather, the Eel inks) are probably going to feature heavily in this pen's future.

 

And now, I've got a disassembled Penmanship body that I have no idea what to do with, not really useful for anything besides being a Penmanship (maybe a PIF if someone wants it?).

[Scycotic]

I'm also in Canada so I know how difficult getting stuff shipped here cheaply is...

 

I actually bought a Pilot MR F as well as some 78G F from pokydady on eBay a while back. First time getting Pilot pens and I wasn't disappointed. The nibs were all lovely, hardly requiring any adjusting. (And pokydady somehow got the pens to me in a week, rather than the average 3 weeks from Hong Kong)

 

The MR is very nice, slight heft to it. Very sturdy pen. However I tend to use the 78G as my everyday pens The nibs are just as nice and I like how light they are, which is convenient for quick note taking in class.

 

I did accidentally drop the MR on its nib though, and although I managed to straighten the tines, the nib seems to have developed a slight baby bottom that I can't seem to fix. I've just ordered another few 78G from pokydady as well as a Metropolitan M from Jetpens. Planning on switching around the nibs Turns out shipping from Jetpens isn't that expensive, around $10. And the pen itself is around $15. So together it's actually around the same price as a MR from pokydady.