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Fountain Pens: Next Steps...


jd23679

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Hi everyone,

 

I've been skulking around these forums for a while, and have finally decided to sign up... :lol:

 

I just wanted to ask about next steps (apologies if this is in the wrong place etc. - I'm new :unsure: )

 

I'm in secondary school at the moment, and discovered fountain pens a good few years back. I'm starting to put more money into the hobby now, and I'm wondering where to go next. I currently own a Pilot Metropolitan, two Parker Urbans, a Cross Bailey (my favourite Christmas present!) and a few other unbranded pens sub £10. I would like to start trying new things such as colours and nib sizes (Medium and Black is the furthest I've ever got!)

 

What do you think is the next step for pens? I thought about a Sheaffer VFM with red ink for marking my work, but I've heard of some quality issues. I'm also thinking about a Lamy - I'm the only fountain pen user in my whole year that doesn't have a Safari I think!

 

The TWSBI line of pens look cool, but I've always suffered a phobia of piston/vac fillers because there's only one piece of plastic between normal pen and inky explosion! Currently I use a Parker converter, Standard International (unbranded) cartridges in the Metropolitan (actually an MR) and the expensive Cross cartridges :yikes: .

 

I think I'd like to put some money into buying converters and ink for all my pens, and then consider another pen (the n+1 rule is so true! :P ) - what do you think?

 

Thanks!

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I would suggest a TWSBI Eco with a 1.1 stub nib. Budget friendly, and allows you to show off your ink colors that you're looking to explore, as well as trying out a nib variation. Also, piston fillers have a greater reliability over cartridge converters.

I do enjoy my Lamy Safari and Al-Star, but I would pick the Eco over them any day.

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Thanks, I really like the look of the ECO, the only thing that bothers me is the maintenance side - is it hard to keep it greased etc.?

 

I'm also concerned about leakage, either from the threads (although this isn't a problem on the ECO) or from the piston knob - does it hold tight? Is there any chance of it being knocked loose and pushing ink out of the pen? Obviously it would get moved about a lot more, going from home to school every day, so could this be a problem?

 

A stub nib would be an interesting experiment, I think - is it practical when making notes or will it make a horrible mess of the horrible cheap paper schools use?

 

Thanks

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A stub would probably not give you satisfying results on cheap paper, but if you ever make flashcards on 3 by 5 card stock, that would be a good application for a stub.

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The cheapest way to try different nib sizes is to buy a pilot 78G F, M & B. If you can find them, they certainly are one of the cheapest way to try them. The alternative is to go for the Lamy safari as the nibs on the Safari are swappable.

 

Perhaps you could start with a converter for the Cross Bailey and a bottle of non-black ink, but be careful as Cross have a couple of convertors, and not all of them may be compatible.

 

WH Smith sells a pack of International Standard Cartridges in Turquoise, Rose and Violet which might get you started - although they won't fit your cross or Parkers. Diamine also sells variety packs of cartridges, which means you can get a selection of colours at a cheap price. Cult pens also sells 30ml bottles of Diamine which are quite cheap too.

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If you have some pens that you enjoy, perhaps it's time to start exploring inks. You'll find many great brands of inks in Europe, and you can start experimenting with different characteristics in your ink. KWZ Inks (Poland) makes some outstanding iron gall inks that do remarkably well on poor copy paper. You may also want to try some drier inks with some different colors from Pelikan (their 4001 line is very dry and has some excellent colors). It's far cheaper than buying new pens, and you'll get some great new enjoyment out of your old pens for a fraction of the cost.

 

Buzz

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Wow, thanks for the ideas! I think you're right about the choice of inks, although the TWSBI looks like a really nice pen in the future. I'll check out those Pelikan inks, but I don't think I could use iron gall day to day...

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I'd suggest looking at getting a Lamy. The reason is you can try out a range nibs with out spending a lot of money. By no means are you limited to Safari or Al star if you are not looking at spending a greater deal. Whsmith often has some good deals on Lamy pens on there website the studio was on offer in the last week for £25. It's out of stock currently however they will send you an email when they get it back in stock. They put it at this price quite often so you should be able to get on for under £30 within the next few months.

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Great tip, I'll look out for it on their site. Thanks!

 

I must say, although part of me likes ploughing my own furrow with different pens, I've always been a bit jealous of people with Lamys... Maybe it's time to give them a go...

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I must say, although part of me likes ploughing my own furrow with different pens, I've always been a bit jealous of people with Lamys... Maybe it's time to give them a go...

 

I understand stand that completely I'm rather indifferent about Lamys too I don't particularly like there aesthetic I prefer a more classic looking pens. However Lamy does offers nibs at reasonable prices so they are a good option if you are looking to experiment and try out a few nib sizes without breaking the bank.

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Thanks, I really like the look of the ECO, the only thing that bothers me is the maintenance side - is it hard to keep it greased etc.?

 

I'm also concerned about leakage, either from the threads (although this isn't a problem on the ECO) or from the piston knob - does it hold tight? Is there any chance of it being knocked loose and pushing ink out of the pen? Obviously it would get moved about a lot more, going from home to school every day, so could this be a problem?

 

A stub nib would be an interesting experiment, I think - is it practical when making notes or will it make a horrible mess of the horrible cheap paper schools use?

 

Thanks

I have a 580 and maintaining it is a breeze. I imagine the Eco is similar.

 

My 580 is a daily carry and never had a problem with those types of spills with it.

 

A stub is great. (I have a stubbed B on mine) With one caveat, for taking notes quickly a round nib is better. You can order additional nib units though.

Brad

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind" - Rudyard Kipling
"None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try." - Mark Twain

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I'm going to go against the grain here and suggest you try an Esterbrook or three, with different nibs and different inks for different purposes. They're reasonably priced and quite durable. The available nibs make it versatile. And they are fun and nice looking.

Baptiste knew how to make a short job long

For love of it. And yet not waste time either.

Robert Frost

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Wow, thanks for the ideas! I think you're right about the choice of inks, although the TWSBI looks like a really nice pen in the future. I'll check out those Pelikan inks, but I don't think I could use iron gall day to day...

 

Iron gall works very well for day to day use. Occasional use is more of a challenge. I have one pen that I dedicate to Rohrer and Klinger Scabiosa; I use it for taking notes and for edits on cheap printer paper.

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I have really enjoyed my TWSBI 580 with a 1.1 stub nib for line variation. I don't like the way full-page writing looks with it, however (too heavy or bold), so I don't recommend it for note-taking. It's fun to play with, and looks great in small doses (signatures, greeting cards, quotations, etc.) I've had no leaking issues, but it doesn't get carried back and forth to school every day. I've not heard of any leaking problems with them, though. The Eco gets mostly good reviews.

 

Gouletpens.com sells ink samples for $1.25 for most brands, and they are a great way to experience different inks without having to buy a whole bottle. They probably have hundreds to choose from. You get about 2 ml of ink in a little plastic vial, which is plenty for a fill or two, to see if you like the ink. I often only partially fill my pens, so I can try the ink in several different ones.

 

Based on the use of ONE pen only, I'm another who is not a Lamy fan. My Safari with a broad nib must be an extremely dry writer, as it makes every ink I've ever tried with it look dull and washed out. None of my other pens have that problem. There are ga-zillions of Safari fans, though, so I think mine may be a fluke. OTOH, I love my Pilot Metropolitans and have several of them.

 

Oh, I almost forgot! You might want to try a Pilot Plumix, which is a weird looking little plastic pen, but it comes with a medium (1.0 mm or so) stub nib, which is not marked as being a stub. They are $6 to $9 at lots of places. Not as smooth as a Metropolitan, but a great writer for the price, and the least-expensive stub nib I've run across.

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I'll second the TWSBI Eco 1.1 stub. I have quite a few very expensive pens, and yet I enjoy writing with my Eco a lot, and from everything I've read, the maintenance problems with other TWSBIs don't really apply to the Eco. Don't know why people say it's no good for note-taking. After that, I recommend you forego buying any more new pens until you save up for something much better, like a Pilot or Pelikan with a 14k nib. Anything in between is a waste of money.

Rationalizing pen and ink purchases since 1967.

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You will want a nib that lays down a line narrow enough that your loops and circles are not filled in. The smaller you write, the finer a nib you'll want. I have a 0.8mm Nemosine stub nib that I put in my jade Ahab, and it's just barely on the too wide side; I have to spread my writing out juust a bit to keep it legible. I intend to get myself a Nemosine Singularity with a 0.6mm stub one of these days. And a Jinhao X750 to carry the 0.8mm stub.

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The Lamy Safari is a classic for a good reason. I'd suggest a Lamy Safari and a full set of Lamy nibs, from extra-fine to broad. They're swappable, so you can try every size with one Safari.

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