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Good Extra Fine Fountain Pen For A New Timer


fallingleaves

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Hello, I have recently been interested in fountain pens and wanted one, but with so many options i don't know what to pick. I usually use gel pens and have to use .38 pilots because my writing is extremely small. I am also a student who takes a lot of notes. So I was wondering what was a good fountain pen that writes well, is extra fine ( how does it compare to .38 gel pens?), looks nice (mainly the reason for the fountain pen along with the smooth writing haha), and is pretty cheap since this is my first time with a fountain pen (price range < 30ish)

 

 

 

Thanks! :D

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Hi! Buy these two pens: Pilot Metropolitan and Pilot Penmanship.

 

Put the Penmanship's EF nib into the Pilot Metropolitan and you have all your requirements for under $30.

 

If you think the step on the section/barrel of the Pilot Metropolitan will bother you, spend about $20 more and get the Pilot Prera instead.

 

You may find a regular Japanes Fine nib to be fine enought, but Pilot's EF nib on the Penmanship is really the best EF for the money (about $7).

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Hi! Buy these two pens: Pilot Metropolitan and Pilot Penmanship.

 

Put the Penmanship's EF nib into the Pilot Metropolitan and you have all your requirements for under $30.

 

If you think the step on the section/barrel of the Pilot Metropolitan will bother you, spend about $20 more and get the Pilot Prera instead.

 

You may find a regular Japanes Fine nib to be fine enought, but Pilot's EF nib on the Penmanship is really the best EF for the money (about $7).

Wow, thanks for the quick reply! This sounds like a great idea and the metropolitan is really nifty!

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Agree with the pilot fine nib. Anything below that likes to dig in the paper. The nib can be smooth but because the tipping is so small it can dig into the paper making it feel scratchy. Kind of like writing with a needle. Not a nice feeling. I reckon just buy a Pilot Metropolitan in Fine and you'll be fine (unintended pun). It won't be 0.38mm, but if you get a 0.38mm nib it will be likely dig.

 

PS. Japanese fines are usually equivalent to Western Extra fines. So if you decide on a German pen for example, just buy the EF.

Edited by superglueshoe
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Agree with the pilot fine nib. Anything below that likes to dig in the paper. The nib can be smooth but because the tipping is so small it can dig into the paper making it feel scratchy. Kind of like writing with a needle. Not a nice feeling. I reckon just buy a Pilot Metropolitan in Fine and you'll be fine (unintended pun). It won't be 0.38mm, but if you get a 0.38mm nib it will be likely dig.

 

PS. Japanese fines are usually equivalent to Western Extra fines. So if you decide on a German pen for example, just buy the EF.

 

Thanks, do you know if the nemosine german extra fine tip is "fine" enough and if it writes well?

 

p.s love the pun ;)

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Here is a great chart since you already know the line you would like your pen to produce.

 

http://nibs.com/TippingSizespage.htm

 

I would like to note that the JoWo chart is a German nib producing company which many other companies utilize in their own brands.

Edited by Oranges and Apples
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Your price point will mean tradeoffs. I have the Singularity in EF and it is definitely EF. But it was not flowing well until I pulled it completely apart and scrubbed it with a toothbrush and soapy water, especially the feed. I would +3 the Metro/Penmanship route. I have a "few" pens and almost always have a Penmanship with me. Swapping that nib into a solid colored Prera will give you a good looking EF (plus I've been seeing the solid Prera for under $30 on Amazon). Good luck!

 

Paul

"Nothing is impossible, even the word says 'I'm Possible!'" Audrey Hepburn

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:W2FPN:

 

+1 for the Metropenmanship Frankenpen.

 

I have a Penmanship and it's a great little pen for when I need to write in teeny tiny spaces. However, it's made of plastic might not stand up to heavy-duty student use, and doesn't have a clip besides. The Metropolitan's metal body is probably a much better mate for a very nice nib.

 

A couple things to keep in mind:

 

My Penmanship is slightly scratchy sometimes, but this is probably inevitable when there is so little tipping on the nib. It's doesn't really bother me, but it might annoy you. If it does, keep in mind that the Penmanship has an exceptionally fine nib, and it isn't representative of fountain pens in general. In that case, you might enjoy using the fine nib that comes on the Metropolitan instead.

 

Also, if you haven't gotten into inks yet, remember that colors may look different depending on the nib size. A very broad nib logically puts down more ink than a very fine nib, and a thick line can show off subtleties better. Thus, if you buy an ink that you see in a review here, or perhaps because you liked the look of a swab, it might look different when it comes out of your pen. In that regard, ink samples are your friend.

 

For what it's worth, agpatel posted a review of the Penmanship a while back. It includes a writing sample on 5mm graph paper, so you can easily gauge size:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/167056-pilot-penmanship-ef/

 

Hope this helps!

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Hello, I have recently been interested in fountain pens and wanted one, but with so many options i don't know what to pick. I usually use gel pens and have to use .38 pilots because my writing is extremely small. I am also a student who takes a lot of notes. So I was wondering what was a good fountain pen that writes well, is extra fine ( how does it compare to .38 gel pens?), looks nice (mainly the reason for the fountain pen along with the smooth writing haha), and is pretty cheap since this is my first time with a fountain pen (price range < 30ish)

 

Another option is to find a vintage Parker 45 with a F or XF nib.

The old US Parker F is about the same as a Lamy XF, and if you want even finer the XF is even smaller.

My old P45 F nibs measure around 0.020 inch or 0.5mm wide.

I used a pair of P45s with F nibs through college and they served me well.

 

BUT, when you get into F and XF nibs, the quality of the paper you use is important.

Smooth Hard papers will write better, smoother and less likely to snag the nib.

I had to buy one specific brand of paper in 100 sheet packs, the larger bulk papers in 500 sheet packs would BLOT and feather the ink.

 

One thing to remember, the writing experience is affected by 4 variables; the pen, the ink, the paper, you the writer.

All 4 have to be in harmony or your writing experience will be bad. Examples:

1 - cheap/junk paper. The junk paper will cause the ink to blot and feather. Your ink like will look like it came out of a M or B nib.

2 - junk paper. The junk paper will be bumpy and feel like you are writing on sandpaper, a rather unpleasant feeling in my hand. In the extreme, the paper will have so much surface texture that it will snag the nib of the pen. XF nibs needs a SMOOTH paper.

3 - dry ink/pen. The pen will write in fits and skip, and may be hard to start writing.

4 - wet ink/pen. The pen will put down too much ink on the paper, taking a long time to dry. Too much ink will also tend to spread, making it hard to write small.

5 - ink. As elenita said, the way the ink looks to your eye will change as you move to smaller nibs. Your eye sees less ink and more paper. I found that I have to use black inks in my XF nibs. The blue inks look too washed out when written with a XF nib. In this case these are Chinese XF nibs, which is smaller than the Lamy XF, or the equivalent of a Lamy XXF nib (which they don't sell).

6 - writer. A fountain pen does not need to be pressed onto the paper hard, as a ball pen would. In fact you could damage the nib by pressing it hard. The weight of the fountain pen is enough to flow the ink. If you have to press to get ink to flow, you may need to change inks to a wetter ink or have the pen adjusted. Hold the pen LIGHTLY. Gripping the pen HARD/TIGHT will only give you writers cramp.

Edited by ac12

San Francisco Pen Show - August 28-30, 2020 - Redwood City, California

www.SFPenShow.com

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I like extra fine Lamy Safari's but for your purposes you can't beat a Pilot Metropolitan!

PAKMAN

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Let me add the Pilot 78G (try one in F and see, whether this is already fine enough for you), which can also take the Penmanship nib. I prefer the 78G over the Metropolitan - a matter of taste.

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Thanks for your replies, i think i have finally decided to do the "metropenmanship". Do any of you know the differences between the black and clear penmanship? other than the plastic color? are the nibs the same color?

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IIRC all of those nibs except 78g are bright stainless. All 78g nibs are gold colored, but they are the same size. Metropolitan, 78g, Prera, Plumix, Penmanship and Kakuno. EF - Penmanship only, F and M all, B and BB 78g only, CI (cursive italic) Prera and Plumix. Italic and B are the same just stamped different, and I have heard Plumix is offered in a wider italic equal to the BB.

Are you more or less confused now? I have at least one of each size, but still need a Kakuno and Plumix to have each body. Good luck to you.

 

Paul

 

Edit to add: Body color is just that, alike in all other aspects.

Edited by kidde

"Nothing is impossible, even the word says 'I'm Possible!'" Audrey Hepburn

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+10 AC12.

 

Ball point paper is not fountain pen paper.

Do not buy ink jet paper....it is designed to absorb ink jet ink fast, so feathers with fountain pens.

If you can, get laser paper.

Combo, Laser-ink jet has had to make compromises.

Get better quality notebooks. The folks here will steer you to spiral note books that are more fountain pen friendly.

Later if you get into wider nibs you will need need better paper to go with the fun inks. :drool:

 

Fountain pens are held after the big knuckle not before it like a ball point.

A fountain pen floats on a small puddle of ink. If you hold it high, before the index knuckle, there is too small a puddle, you are digging the tip of your figure skate into the ice....causes skipping.

Let the pen's weight settle were exactly behind the big knuckle that pen sets. Some will settle at 45 degrees right after the big knuckle, others will settle at the start of the web of the thumb at 40 degrees, and longer or heavier pens will set in the pit of your thumb at 35 degrees.

Hold a fountain pen like holding a featherless baby bird, ;) do not make baby bird paste. :angry:

In that a nib floats on the ink, you need no pressure.

Wider nibs float lighter.

 

I post all pens that are not Large. Post---slipping the cap on the back of the pen...gently. It gives them good balance. some Large pens are nice posted; some not. The the trend to Large pens is a 'modern' usage, in the days where one worked with one's pen 8 hours a day, most were light and nimble standard or medium-large sized. Large pens were seldom.

 

If you have a laser printer, try to get 90 g paper......no....in you only want super skinny nibs.....get the cheap 80g or less paper. You can have no interest in shading, which you will not get with super skinny nibs as is.

You will have to get the vivid neon mono-tone super saturated high maintenance inks, to have a good line with such skinny nibs. Clean your pen ever couple of weeks because such inks are high maintenance.

 

If you are not willing to learn to write larger....you will miss most of what a fountain pen is all about.

 

All you know, so all you want is a fancy narrow writing ball point. :huh: No put a down.

Everyone here was new, or if had used fountain pens back in the B&W TV days....I was rather ignorant too, in we had not the net back then. Clean a fountain pen????? :unsure: Why. We did not know..... :wacko:

 

There is so much more....if you are willing to learn to write larger to use wider nibs, that will give shading with a two toned shading ink.

There are inks with Sheen, that you can not get with super skinny nibs....as far as I understand you need a wet wider nib. Sheen has come in big time in the last half a year...so I'm behind the learning curve.

 

Go to Richard Binder's com, it is the basics of fountain pens; nibs, filling systems and modern and vintage :drool: :puddle: fountain pens, along with good advice on inks. It use to be 96% of all I knew came from there, now it's only 92 1/2 %....one does learn some after five years here. It will take you three days. I go back and refresh my self there occasionally.

:W2FPN:

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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