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Three Pens: Signing Documents, Workhorse, Everyday Carry


Wolverine

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What pens would you select for each of these purposes:

 

1) Signing documents: buying/selling a house, signing checks, signing agreements, signing contracts, signing guestbooks

2) Workhorse for everyday use: writing paragraphs, flow diagrams, jotting down ideas

3) On person, everyday carry, I normally wear a suit/sport coat and would put this on my inside pocket

 

Thanks for your input.

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Howdy! I will tell you in a moment what pens I, personally, would use; but it would be more useful to know what kinds of pens you enjoy. For example, I don't have particularly large hands, so I tend toward smaller pens; and I'm a writer by profession, and I sometimes use my pens for long writing sessions, so I also tend toward lighter pens because the heavy ones are fatiguing. Other people might need larger pens, or find a heavier pen more comfortable, or need a discreet-looking pen for the workplace as opposed to something eye-catching and blingy. Maybe then folks will have some good suggestions for you?

 

For myself, personally:

 

1. Signing documents: I usually use a Nakaya Naka-ai for this, mainly because it's the one pen I keep loaded with Platinum Blue-Black, which is an iron gall ink and which I feel is reasonably good for business purposes--not an exotic color, and something that's pretty water-resistant and so on. Of course, I'm a science fiction writer so I doubt my editors would bat an eyelash if I signed my contracts in green, but I generally don't. :P

 

2. Everyday workhorse: I've used all sorts of pens for this! In the past I've used a Webster Four-Star, which is vintage pen that happens to have the smoothest, dreamiest XF nib I've ever experienced on a pen that fine-nibbed. These days, I use one of my two Aurora Optimas, because they are so well-balanced and comfortable for my hand size, and they just work. As piston fillers, they have pretty good capacity, and the nib units screw out, which makes them easy to clean when necessary (as I had to do recently). The nibs are slightly toothy, in a pleasant way, and I have never have any issue with writing angle or so on. I have a blue one with chrome trim and a 75th Anniversary (red), and I ink them up with blue and red inks respectively, which is useful when I'm color-coding things in my bullet journal or marking up drafts.

 

3. For everyday carry I will usually use either the blue Aurora or, sometimes, a Pilot Vanishing Point Twilight. The Twilight is a great pen because of the click-mechanism--I find it especially useful for taking fast notes when I don't want to have to fuss with unscrewing and rescrewing a cap--and it writes pretty reliably.

 

But there are many great pens out there for all sorts of tastes; these might not be to your taste at all. I hope you find pens to your liking!

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Hi Wolverine,

 

I use a Makrolon Lamy 2000 for all three. :)

 

 

- Anthony

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Whatever I pickup that morning. Any pen I own would do for any of those functions. Fortunately it's been ages since I put on a sports coat or long pants or a suit.

 

My Website

 

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I've used Parker 51s & an M200 for all three. The 51s are good looking (imo, anyway), low profile pens that do well for note taking with the hooded nib & slip cap. The M200 is a nice light weight pen with a softer nib & good ink supply.

 

I don't know if you'd want an italic or stub for any of the above, but I have other pens in the event I want line variation.

Edited by NinthSphere
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Signing documents and handwritten business correspondence.... Pelikan M800 fountain pen

Everyday workhorse for scratch notes while on calls etc ... Montblanc ball point

Carry pen when I am on the road ... Pelikan K800 ballpoint

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If you're going to be carrying a pen, I'm not sure that you need something different for the other two. For quite a while, I carried a Pilot Vanishing Point in my jacket pocket. Reasonably priced, easy to start, no cap to lose. You can buy different inserts to change the nib size if you wish, as well. But really, most pens would be fine for that purpose.

 

If you do a lot of writing and don't want to refill, a piston filler with a large capacity may suit your workhorse needs.

fpn_1497391483__snailbadge.png

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1. For signing checks (with carbonless copy paper), a copper (red) Esterbrook J transitional with a 9461 - Manifold Fine nib. For any of the other things I'd probably use my Falcon with the SEF nib paired with Pilot/Namiki blue ink, which is pretty dadgum permanent. Or use Noodler's black.

2. I'd use one of my Metropolitans here. Just for fun I'd use the one with a Pilot B (stub) nib which I've crispened up a tad, or the one I put a Pilot Penmanship EF nib in.

3. Maybe my Falcon, as in #1 or "Big Yeller," my new Bexley Prometheus, which could do duty for any items above, except check signing. Since I don't wear a suit, or hardly ever go anywhere, any pen any pen I pick up would do here.

I may not have been much help, but I DID bump your thread up to the top.

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A bigger concern than the pen might be what ink to use.

The last time I bought a car, I had a Noodler's Konrad, filled with Kung Te Cheng. The only thing I couldn't use it for was some of the financial paperwork, which was on carbonless forms. Made me wish I had a pen with a manifold nib on it with me (I've since picked up a couple of Esterbrook J series pens with manifold nibs).

For signing checks and documents, I generally use some pretty dark blue, blue black, or black ink that's at least partly water resistant. KTC fits that category (it isn't really quite blue, but it's dark enough to get away with it, and has a blueish cast to it); another ink I like is Noodler's El Lawrence, which gets away with being "close" to black without actually *being* black.

For the other requirements, pretty much anything.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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I don't do any official document signing, to speak of. However, when I go out I take a nice pen with me. Maybe to sign in at the gym or the Doctors office. When I'm at home I generally use a jinhao or a Platinum preppy, or a pilot varsity to use my Noodlers inks.

More to your question. I'd say, go with a dark colored pen. Anthony's suggestion was perfect. LAMY 2000. Makrolon

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All depends on where, at home or outside.

 

At home likely one of my desk pens, or one of the several pens in my pen cup. The pens in the cup changes as I rotate pens in and out.

 

Outside the house, I carry my "office pens" which are lower cost so if they are stolen or lost, it is not a financial hit.

  • Shirt with no pocket, then Ohto Tasche
  • Shirt with pocket, then whatever pen from my pen cup I decide to carry.
  • Bag/briefcase, then whatever pen I put into the bag, likely my pocket protector (Parker 45, Baoer 388, and Sheaffer school/cartridge pen).

Special occasions may have me selecting a specific pen to carry, like a Parker Vacumatic.

Edited by ac12

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

www.SFPenShow.com

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For a fancy signature...I'd use one of my '50's-65 Pelikans with an OB nib.

(Well...I do have a Pelikan 500 with a 30 degree grind maxi-semi-flex OBBB signature nib...that would need two thirds of the page for a legal three name signature.) Or my B=BB MB Wolf..depending what impression one wants to leave on the victim.

My Geha 790 OB is a very wet writing nib....so could do for checks....if I'm ever in the states. We don't use checks in the Mainland Europe. Bank transfers is as cheap as checks in Euros.

 

For regular 'scribbling' depends on what I want the ink to do....I might take one of the once normal 'true' regular flex...if I wanted shading.....if the ink and paper match semi-flex. I have a slew of them...and have no problems with various obliques. It's a mood thing....or in reality...which pen in the cup comes to hand.

(Sigh...there I was down to 7 pens inked on my way to 5 (so I could use more ink faster)...my wife spur of the minute bought me 3 new inks at my B&M, I bought an assortment of Kaweco cartridges and Pelikan Smoky Quartz.....so now have 20 inked. :angry: :wallbash: :gaah:

 

For editing, I use a cheap Reform 1745 EF regular flex, or any EF nail. Which I have very few. I'm not much into EF.

Regular writing...if I was planing to do some longhand scenes....if an AR character a narrow nib regular flex or even a semi-nail or nail, if a swashbuckler a wider oblique semi/maxi-semi-flex nib. Theory and practice :headsmack: ....I just grab a pen out of the two pen cups....and hope the ink hits what ever mood is supposed to be there..............that never actually worked in the past.

Mood is done with my smart typewriter.

 

Regular flex M or F would do if someone other than me has to try to decipher my Rooster Scratch.

 

Suit pen.....After some thought a F nib....semi-flex or 'true' regular flex wouldn't matter, in the 'notebook' would be small, if in a suit jacket. Again is the pen for you....or are you going to turn on the spotlight and Batman it?

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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I would choose a Parker 45. My second choice would be Pilot Metropolitan. I might carry three Parek r45 pens or three Metropolitans, if it pleases you, but for no other reason.,

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

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There will likely be a Montblanc 149 somewhere in there. I know about the large capacity piston, so this would be good for an everyday workhorse.

 

What about:

 

Signing Pen: Montblanc 149 Gold

Workhorse: Montblanc 149 Platinum

EDC: Montblanc Starwalker Ballpoint

 

Or:

 

Signing Pen: Montblanc Meistestuck LeGrand Blue Hour 146

Workhorse: Montblanc 149 Gold

EDC: Faber-Castell E-Motion ballpoint

 

Or:

 

Signing Pen: Pelikan M1000

Workhorse: Pelikan M800

EDC: Nakaya Ball Pen

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Great question.

 

Signature: I like to sign with an italic nib, so I tend to use a Conway Stewart Jarvis Churchill with a medium italic nib. I also have a Cross Townsend with a medium italic, and a Pelikan 215 medium cursive italic from Richard Binder that I also use for signatures.

 

Workhorse for everyday use: The pens I tend to grab when I really need something to write without any problems are a Parker Duofold Peal & Black, Nakaya Cigar Model, Kanilea Kilauea, Lamy 2000, the Pelikan 215, or a Parker 61.

 

Everyday carry: For a pen that I tend to stick in my suit pocket, I use the Parker Duofold, Nakaya Cigar, Kanilea Kilauea, Cross Peerless 125, or the Cross Townsend with the italic nib.

I plan to live forever. So far, so good.

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