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My Writing Isn't Smooth Most Of The Time


YonathanZ

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Hi,

 

I've been using a Lamy Safari Fine with Noodler's Black for about a year and a half now, on a Moleskine notebook. Very often writing doesn't feel smooth, and is very tiring, to the point that I have to summarize instead of writing exactly what I had in mind (the notebook is basically a diary/journal). Perhaps I shouldn't gun with a Medium nib, because I do like pens that use a lot of ink, like the Pilot V10 series.

 

Anyway, do you think a change of pen or ink will help? Perhaps a new nib for my Safari?

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Perhaps the effect is being caused by the paper rather than the pen or ink. You might try a smoother type of paper such as Rhodia.

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The Lamy nibs are relatively cheap so why not order a medium. Paper is also part of the equation, try Clairefontaine or Rhodia.

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A wider nib can help as can smoother paper. I would also definitely consider a change of ink. Noodlers Black, while a sacred cow here, is rather dry, which contributed to drag. Also, perhaps try using less pressure as you write?

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A wider nib can help as can smoother paper. I would also definitely consider a change of ink. Noodlers Black, while a sacred cow here, is rather dry, which contributed to drag. Also, perhaps try using less pressure as you write?

 

 

Agree with all of the above. Especially the last observation.

Rationalizing pen and ink purchases since 1967.

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A wider nib can help as can smoother paper. I would also definitely consider a change of ink. Noodlers Black, while a sacred cow here, is rather dry, which contributed to drag. Also, perhaps try using less pressure as you write?

 

My Noodler's Black is farrrrr from dry. I actually find it much too wet for some of my pens.

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In addition to cultivating a gentler hand (a well-adjusted pen will write with no more pressure than its own weight provides), there's also a possibility that your pen is misaligned. Look at the tip from directly ahead, using perhaps 15-40x magnification, to see if the tines are properly aligned.

 

Proper writing is done with the muscles in your shoulder, not your hand. You can hold your pen in a nearly slack grip, and write using no muscles below the elbow. In this way, you can go on writing for a long time without cramping up.

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I would also go for a smoother paper, my favourite is Oxford Optik. Also a nice lubricated ink like Sailor Kawa-guro might help.

 

But also take look at the tines. If they are misaligned, you should consider a new nib or maybe even a new pen. Lamy Fine is a quite broad nib anyway, so I don't think changing to a medium will help. I would in that case rather try a Pilot Metropolitan Medium, it writes smoother than Lamy Fine, imho, and is about the same width.

YNWA - JFT97

 

Instagram: inkyandy

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Wow, what a helpful community. Didn't except so many replies in such a short time.

It's a bit hard to get a decent price on Rhodia notebooks where I live, since most eBay sellers charge about $10 for shipping alone. And since I use the notebook as my diary, I don't intend to replace it until it's full. In fact, I also have a LOT of Noodler's Black (two 3 oz bottles), because shipping them was expensive so I thought I'd order supply for a long time.

 

I did order a Pilot Metropolitan Medium, which seems to be very smooth based on what I've read. I've been wanting to get one for a while regardless of the performance of the Safari. I am able to locally buy a Parker Quink bottle for a relatively good price, so I might buy one for the Metropolitan when it arrives. Do all Metropolitans come with a converter, btw? The eBay listing did not mention that.

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The Metropolitans that I have bought from Massdrop came with a squeeze converters (not CON-20). Not my first choice, but they work.

I don't know if this squeeze converter is standard though...

YNWA - JFT97

 

Instagram: inkyandy

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The Pilot Metropolitan usually comes with a converter. It is also sold as the Cocoon in Japan (which, like the Metropolitan, uses the proprietary Pilot cartridges) and the MR in Europe (where it uses short international cartridges, as are used by the vast majority of European and Chinese pen manufacturers).

But if it only comes with a single Pilot proprietary cartridge, don't worry too much. Pilot carts have a sort of cap in the throat that is turned sideways when you first put it into the pen. Pull that out with a pair of needle-nosed pliers (don't lose the ball bearing if you can help it), and you can refill that cart with a 3ml disposable bulb pipette, which pen geeks use for ink mixing.

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As you keep using your fountain pens, one area that you can correct immediately is your grip. A good fountain pen requires no pressure on the paper to leave a line of ink. The weight of the pen alone should be sufficient for the capillary action to do its magic and place your thoughts on paper. Lighten your grip and do a search for the tripod grip (the Safari section tries to line your fingers up in this style). You should be able to write for hours without cramp or fatigue.

 

Second, watch the angle that you write. A fountain pen nib is designed to lay down ink when the pen is held from about 30 degrees to 60 degrees to the paper. A higher angle favored by most ballpoint users decreases the area of the nib making contact and will cause problems with ink making it to the paper.

 

Third, you don't need to make the jump all the way to Rhodia or Clairefountaine paper. You can find many other recommendations for good fountain pen paper. Lechtturm is often recommended and used by many as a cheaper alternative. You can also look for Black N' Red branded books (they come in hard and soft cover) as these are also great with fountain pens. In fact, I use one as my fountain pen log.

 

Finally, you may look for some other brands of inks that don't require the same level of import duties. Many outside of the US struggle to purchase Noodler's ink because of the costs to ship and import. But you can certainly find a wide range of fantastic inks from Europe (Diamine, Sheaffer, Parker, Mont Blanc, Pelikan, KWZ Inks, etc) and Japane (Sailor, Platinum, and Pilot). You can certainly find good inks that match up with your pens and give you the writing experience you seek.

 

Buzz

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If there is a pen club in your community, you might want to take your pen to a meeting and have someone look at the nib. About six months ago, I bought a Kaweco Sport for travel, and it required so much pressure, not only at the start of a sentence but continually, that like you, I found myself summarizing or abbreviating whatever I'd wanted to write down. None of my other pens required any pressure, and most of them are much heavier than the Kaweco. Then someone smoothed the nib for me--a process that took just a few minutes--and now I don't have to press down when I write, but the nib still isn't nearly as good as the one on my Pilot. (I have the Prera, not the Metropolitan, but I think the nibs are alike on those two models.)

 

I hope you will be pleased with Metropolitan, but your Safari isn't necessarily a lost cause either. Have someone examine it if you can.

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The Pilot Metropolitan usually comes with a converter. It is also sold as the Cocoon in Japan (which, like the Metropolitan, uses the proprietary Pilot cartridges) and the MR in Europe (where it uses short international cartridges, as are used by the vast majority of European and Chinese pen manufacturers).

 

But if it only comes with a single Pilot proprietary cartridge, don't worry too much. Pilot carts have a sort of cap in the throat that is turned sideways when you first put it into the pen. Pull that out with a pair of needle-nosed pliers (don't lose the ball bearing if you can help it), and you can refill that cart with a 3ml disposable bulb pipette, which pen geeks use for ink mixing.

 

I think you are mixing up Pilot cartridges with Platinum cartridges. Pilot cartridges have a large opening sealed with a disk. The disk is shoved into the converter when punctured and usually sits sideways. None of my Pilot cartridges ever had a ball bearing inside (I wish they did). I refill my cartridges with a pipette just like you say, because the Pilot cartridges have a very wide opening.

 

The Platinum cartridges seal with a metal ball. It is pushed into the cartridge when punctured and rolls back and forth helping the ink to flow to the feed and not "hang up". I refill these cartridges with an ink syringe because the opening is too small to use a pipette. The ball will not come out easily at all from Platinum cartridges.

 

Note: Pilot and Platinum and many cartridges are proprietary for each brand and not interchangeable. Even if they look very close to the common "International" cartridge, they still might not fit. Too loose and you get ink leaking inside the pen. Too tight and it will not fit well and you still might get ink leaking.

 

YonathanZ, You got hit with a pretty compete barrage of great information here. Re-read them from time to time as this is probably too much to retain at one time.

 

Many people press too hard with their fountain pens because they have been used to ball points and roller balls for years. A properly working fountain pen should be able to write with no pressure, just light contact of the tip with the pen on the paper. With fine nibs it is very important not to press hard or it will be scratchy. My Lamy EF nib was too dry writing, I had to do a little maintenance to get it to write with no pressure.

 

Here are sources for more great information on fountain pens and their maintenance and troubleshooting: http://blog.gouletpens.com/p/fountain-pen-101.html and: http://blog.gouletpens.com/p/tips-tricks.html

Edited by graystranger

Eschew Sesquipedalian Obfuscation

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I think you are right when you say that it might be due to pressure being applied. I noticed that when I write more calmly or casually (diary writing is intense writing), it goes smoother. But then I'm not using the Moleskine so who knows... Just using everyday paper.

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I never knew they had a ball in them. I have all 4 Parallel pens and just now looked at one of the cartridges that came with them, and they have a plastic ball inside. The regular Pilot cartridges do not. I like the idea of the ball, and may remove the ink from the parallel cartridges so I can have a ball inside my Pilot cartridges in my Vanishing Points. I think it helps the ink flow. Thanks for letting me know, Arkanabar.

 

I have never used any of the cartridges that came with my Parallel pens, and I've had them for two or more years. Been using bottled inks in them. Great pens in my opinion.

Eschew Sesquipedalian Obfuscation

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