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New To Fountain Pens And In Need Of Help Please :)


GregP716

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Hi all.

 

I am new to fountain pens and after trying my dads Shaeffer Prelude in fine nib and loving it, I thought I would order a pen of my own.

 

After watching many videos I decided to order two pens. I have a Lamy Safari in fine nib coming at xmas, and I purchased the Pilot MR (as it is known in the UK as opposed to the metropolitan) in a medium nib.

 

I received the Pilot MR today and stuck the included cartridge in to try it out. I have a convertor and some inks also coming at xmas. Immediately I noticed that the pen was extremely fine, and whilst I read that japanese medium nibs write finer, this seems extremely fine to the point that the pen feels almost dry and scratchy.

 

I am writing on a Rhodia note book with the standard paper they seem to use in all their notebooks. It seems extremely ink resistant paper and the pen seems to be smoother and wetter on cheap paper. But in my rhodia book it just seems finer and drier than it should be.

 

Any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated. I am a total noob so I am not sure what to expect and I am not sure if I have a faulty pen?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Best Regards

 

Greg

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Welcome home. Pull up a stump and set a spell. Yes, it does put down a really fine line. One reason students love the pen is it works on cheaper paper.

 

My Website

 

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Hello and Welcome to FPN!! Glad to have you as a member!!

PAKMAN

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Welcome aboard, Greg, from Charleston, South Carolina. If you are a newbie, you might look at the Reference Pages on a website called Richard's Pens: it has a wealth of info about the basics of fountain pens, their use and care, and it will help you avoid making some mistakes. A couple of other websites with useful information for newbies include PenChalet, Jetpens and the Goulet Pen Company. Goulet has made quite a few videos available on their website and on YouTube, which are helpful with some procedures related to FP use. Bear in mind that how your writing appears on the page is a complex interplay of pen, paper, nib, ink, and handwriting, so be patient as you experiment with these variables. Regarding your Pilot, you might try flushing it with some water or water with a drop of dish detergent added. This is sometimes helpful with new pens to make sure their flow is optimal. Having such a fine point will make your ink last longer in that pen, and you may find some inks that write wetter as well. When your Lamy arrives, youll have another pen to use for comparison, and with the Lamy, you can change nibs rather easily. Enjoy, and good luck.

Mike

Edited by Herrjaeger
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Hi all.

 

I am new to fountain pens and after trying my dads Shaeffer Prelude in fine nib and loving it, I thought I would order a pen of my own.

 

After watching many videos I decided to order two pens. I have a Lamy Safari in fine nib coming at xmas, and I purchased the Pilot MR (as it is known in the UK as opposed to the metropolitan) in a medium nib.

 

I received the Pilot MR today and stuck the included cartridge in to try it out. I have a convertor and some inks also coming at xmas. Immediately I noticed that the pen was extremely fine, and whilst I read that japanese medium nibs write finer, this seems extremely fine to the point that the pen feels almost dry and scratchy.

 

I am writing on a Rhodia note book with the standard paper they seem to use in all their notebooks. It seems extremely ink resistant paper and the pen seems to be smoother and wetter on cheap paper. But in my rhodia book it just seems finer and drier than it should be.

 

Any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated. I am a total noob so I am not sure what to expect and I am not sure if I have a faulty pen?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Best Regards

 

Greg

Hi, from one noob to another. I have a Pilot Metropolitan too. Does the nib have a M on it? I have a fine nib and it has a F on it. I also have a Lamy Safari with an extra fine nib and the Pilot writes just like the Lamy.

 

Hope this was helpful.

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:W2FPN:

 

First of all: Clean the pen before you use it. Flush it out with clean water and then take it apart and dry it in every crevice.

You need a Loupe like the one Goulet pens sells. Learn how to examine the tines and what that means. The tines could be misaligned causing scratchiness or they could be overly tight starving the inkflow. Just a slight misalignment can ruin the writing experience. A slight widening of tines with Brass Sheets can increase flow. Dry writers are good for cheap paper, but not so for quality paper.

 

Next: I recommend Tomoe River Paper if you're going to invest in quality fountain pen paper. Pens that write dry for me with Rhodia and Clairefontaine Paper write much easier on Tomoe: It's the best. I use Nanami Seven Seas Writers, but they sell out often. Tomoe River Paper is magic.

 

When it comes to Fine nibs, inks like Sailor Jentle Shigure, Miruai, or Kiwa-Guro can lubricate the nib and smoothen the writing experience. If you can buy Samples of inks it will save you money and help you find what works for you instead of buying bottles at a time.

 

The Pilot Metro and Lamy Safari are dependable writers for the most part and are great starter pens.

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Welcome aboard, Greg, from Charleston, South Carolina. If you are a newbie, you might look at the Reference Pages on a website called Richard's Pens: it has a wealth of info about the basics of fountain pens, their use and care, and it will help you avoid making some mistakes. A couple of other websites with useful information for newbies include PenChalet, Jetpens and the Goulet Pen Company. Goulet has made quite a few videos available on their website and on YouTube, which are helpful with some procedures related to FP use. Bear in mind that how your writing appears on the page is a complex interplay of pen, paper, nib, ink, and handwriting, so be patient as you experiment with these variables. Regarding your Pilot, you might try flushing it with some water or water with a drop of dish detergent added. This is sometimes helpful with new pens to make sure their flow is optimal. Having such a fine point will make your ink last longer in that pen, and you may find some inks that write wetter as well. When your Lamy arrives, youll have another pen to use for comparison, and with the Lamy, you can change nibs rather easily. Enjoy, and good luck.

Mike

Thanks Herrjaeger.

 

I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

 

I have done quite a lot of research already and have been relentlessly watching the Goulet pen company YouTube channel, not just relating to starting out but relating to anything and everything.

 

I tried flushing out the pen, along with writing slower and adjusting grip, but none of this cures the issues I am having. It just seems finer than all of the videos I have been watching on it and it is failing to put down ink when starting a word (albeit occasionally).

 

I have a Pilot V-Pen (UK equivalent to the varsity I think) and it is a disposable fountain pen, also a medium nib. This produces a considerably thicker line and is also a medium nib. It just feels, and looks finer than I thought it would be.

 

The issues I face with the pen even after trying everything I can think of have led me to getting a replacement. Then I can be more sure if this is just how the pen is.

 

Thank you for your help.

 

Greg

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Hi, from one noob to another. I have a Pilot Metropolitan too. Does the nib have a M on it? I have a fine nib and it has a F on it. I also have a Lamy Safari with an extra fine nib and the Pilot writes just like the Lamy.

 

Hope this was helpful.

Yes mate, definitely a medium nib, but writes finer than I see in other peoples videos.

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:W2FPN:

 

First of all: Clean the pen before you use it. Flush it out with clean water and then take it apart and dry it in every crevice.

You need a Loupe like the one Goulet pens sells. Learn how to examine the tines and what that means. The tines could be misaligned causing scratchiness or they could be overly tight starving the inkflow. Just a slight misalignment can ruin the writing experience. A slight widening of tines with Brass Sheets can increase flow. Dry writers are good for cheap paper, but not so for quality paper.

 

Next: I recommend Tomoe River Paper if you're going to invest in quality fountain pen paper. Pens that write dry for me with Rhodia and Clairefontaine Paper write much easier on Tomoe: It's the best. I use Nanami Seven Seas Writers, but they sell out often. Tomoe River Paper is magic.

 

When it comes to Fine nibs, inks like Sailor Jentle Shigure, Miruai, or Kiwa-Guro can lubricate the nib and smoothen the writing experience. If you can buy Samples of inks it will save you money and help you find what works for you instead of buying bottles at a time.

 

The Pilot Metro and Lamy Safari are dependable writers for the most part and are great starter pens.

Okay, great advice.

 

I gave the pen a clean, with no difference. It fails to start quite frequently after more than half a page of writing. Maybe my convertor and a wetter ink will help (I love diamine majestic blue which is apparently very wet).

 

Reference paper, I have invested heavily in Rhodia pads, books and journals etc. I may have to consider my pen/nib/ink choices to suit this.

 

I really think the pen may have an issue, so I am trying another which arrives tomorrow.

 

Thank you for writing back and helping me.

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Thank you to everyone for your welcomes.

 

I can see why this is such an addictive hobby. I can already feel myself falling deep into it.

 

Having watched pretty much the entire Goulet pens youtube channel I can already feeling myself getting hooked and addicted.

 

Apologies for asking for help right off the bat, but I am not sure about any of this and am learning as I go.

 

Thanks again

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Does anyone know if a Shaeffer F nib is particularly fine/broad? That and one of their proprietary carts wrote like a dream! Although it wrote extremely wet!

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  • 4 weeks later...

A bit late, but: Hello Greg and welcome to FPN, from Cape Town, South Africa.

To sit at one's table on a sunny morning, with four clear hours of uninterruptible security, plenty of nice white paper, and a [fountain] pen - that is true happiness!


- Winston Churchill



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Glad you are with us! Welcome!

"The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it."  - Selwyn Duke    

 

 

 

 

 

 

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