Help Buying Next, Next-Level Pen

[Driften]

With Cult Pens having a 10% off sale now would be a good time to try Pelikan. They are normally the cheapest around for that brand and the extra money off makes it even better.

[sandy101]

Another option to consider is the Cross Century 2. It is slim and a reliable writer. Buy a convertor with it, so you won't be restricted to Cross's cartridges. Cult pens has 30% off across that range.

 

Another smooth option is the Italix Parson's Essential from Mr Pen. The nibs are smooth.

[Honeybadgers]

I just heard italix is bringing out a piston filler for under 30 pounds. I'm waiting on that sucker with baited breath.

[bobshephard]

With Cult Pens having a 10% off sale now would be a good time to try Pelikan. They are normally the cheapest around for that brand and the extra money off makes it even better.

Is the discount significant to offset the cost of shipping from the UK ?

[Driften]

Is the discount significant to offset the cost of shipping from the UK ?

 

 

If you are over 50 British pounds its free shipping.

[pjford]

Is the discount significant to offset the cost of shipping from the UK ?

You do not pay VAT (Sales Tax) outside of the European Union so that offsets any cost of shipping.

[1nkulus]

Is the discount significant to offset the cost of shipping from the UK ?

 

Look at the ex Vat price and multiply by 0.9 and then by 1.3 (current fx rate) to get your $ price.

The above price would hold, only if your CC does not levy foreign transaction fees.

 

Shipping is free over £50/$65 (current fx rate).

[TheRealMikeDr]

A couple things:

1) Have you looked at the 3776 nib up close? It may be a nib alignment issue causing the feedback.

2) If the tines are aligned and you have some micromesh you may want to give smoothing it a try. There are many videos on Youtube which show the process and you would have to work pretty hard to screw it up from my experience. Unless you're completely non-handy give it a go! Go slow and be patient and you may be pretty happy with the end result.

 

[welch]

 

I have micromesh but the tipping is tiny and I'm a bit afraid to ruin it. As for the nibmeister, the cost of the work, shipping, and insurance would probably be similar to buying another pen it seems.

 

Don't assume that simple nib work is as much as buying another pen. Nib tuning should cost $25 - $30. Shipping with some insurance is $5 - $10, tops. Of course, if you want to buy a new pen, consider buying from John Mottishaw, nibs.com, since John is among the best of the best nib specialists, and he tunes before he ships.

 

More important, though: what do you have now? Do you like it? How much do you want to spend?

[DanceOfLight]

As mentioned by others the Pelikan 200 series are worth a look

The FC wood series are really nice

but my fav would be the Lamy 2000; can be had for under USD 150 if you keep your eyes open and trigger finger on alert

 

happy hunting

[A Smug Dill]

 

More important, though: what do you have now? Do you like it? How much do you want to spend?

 

Haven't those questions already been answered by the O.P. on the first page?

 

I was considering buying the following pens but have not heard as much about them.

• Diplomat Magnum
• Sailor Lecoule
• Pilot e95s
• Faber Castell Loom

 

I bought three Sailor Lecoule pens recently. (Don't ask me why, I now know I could have done better with my money.) While there is nothing particularly deficient or offensive about them, I certainly don't see them as anything other than a cheap plastic pen with a steel nib that is a grade up from the, um, Rotring Surf. (I don't have a Platinum Preppy, so I can't comment on that.)

 

As for the Faber-Castell, after buying an Ambition pen with EF nib (which I still have) and being disappointed with how stiff and how other-than-fine the nib is, I'm never buying another F-C fountain pen. One of my Rotring Initial fountain pens with an M nib writes just as fine, and far more smoothly at that.

 

Oh where is it listed for $60? I was willing to go up to around ~150 if it's truly worth it.

 

 

My favourite ‘EDC’ is a Pilot Vanishing Point (in matte black, with a black ion-plated) 18K gold F nib. You can probably find a Pilot VP for US$120 or less; I recently bought one (in purple, with a black ion-plated 18K gold F nib) for my fiancée, and it cost me around A$140 (which is roughly US$100).

 

I quite enjoy using my Lamy CP1 in matte black with a steel EF nib, which cost me about A$65 shipped from the UK, but the barrel is a little too slim (without being too lightweight) for my usual tastes; it just fits well into a pen loop attached to a Lamy 50th Anniversary A5 journal.

 

Perhaps try a plain Sailor Professional Gear (Sapporo or Large)?