The Best Fountain Pen

[jvr]

So, today I sorted my fountain pens. Most of them are piled up in their boxes to be sold. Others, those that I think are really beautiful in a special way, are the greatest writers I know or are a practical compromise for certain circumstances are put away for me to see which ones I miss and which ones I can get rid off later.

 

This made me think of the one fountain pen I would keep if I wanted to very best example that I know of what makes a fountain pen special. For me, and mind you my exposure is limited, that would be my Sailor King of Pens or my Pelikan M1000. Both of them for me represent the pinnacle of fountain pen writing, but not of design.

 

Now I never had a Nakaya, but I do have multiple Platinum pens with the 3776 nib and one Platinum Urushi with the President nib and they don't make the cut. Neither, for me, does the Visconti Homo Sapiens.

 

My other hobby is photography and I generally do my research before purchasing so I only make one purchase of what is for me the best camera and lens. With fountain pens, it seems we're all constantly researching until the bitter end which one is best.

 

Does this journey ever end? Have I reached the end?

 

Or will I discover that fountain pens actually don't matter that much and that my life will be improved when I get rid of the endless quest for the very best?

[silverlifter]

Or will I discover that fountain pens actually don't matter that much and that my life will be improved when I get rid of the endless quest for the very best?

 

The fact that you have thought about this enough to articulate that question is sufficient evidence that you already know the answer.

[langere]

Ahh, but the quest is the point!!!!!

 

It keeps us alive...

 

 

Erick

[Intensity]

My multiple fountain pens sort of complement each other. None are exactly perfect, but having others makes me wish less for The Perfect One. Plus I like variety, so I don't think I'd be okay with just one anyway. And what do you do when you want to use a different type of nib, such as needlepoint fine or crisp cursive italic, or different line weight? And when you want to have more than one ink in use?

Edited November 15, 2019 by Intensity

[Honeybadgers]

You've got the same deal for cameras with what everyone who isn't on this forum has with FP's.

 

They buy one or two or three, get to something that they love, and stick with it. No need to argue with strangers on the internet.

 

We're not pursuing perfection, we're pursuing collection. Some of us have a bunch of pens with different performance because we use them differently (I use my hyperflex TWSBI for sit-down calligraphy, where it mops the floor with anything else I've ever held, but it's an awful nib for everyday use. So for that, I have a rigid nib copper pen. And a few in-betweens) And that would be similar to the photographer who needs a fisheye and a tilt shift and a macro lens. Not collecting, but a toolkit.

 

And then there are camera collectors who just like to have a big wall covered in antique camera gear. Those are "us".

[Intensity]

Photography is one of my other hobbies, and I've spent a fair amount of time on photo gear forums in years past. People collect new and vintage camera gear just the same as they collect fountain pens and inks. Flip-flopping between brands, models, etc. Some sell a whole system to move on to a shiny new thing, then regret it and go back, then regret it and go to something else, etc. And we're talking pretty expensive equipment too, thousands of dollars altogether. Gear Acquisition Syndrome, or GAS, is what this collecting and swapping is called in Photography.

 

Just the same, there are those in any hobby who are not in it to collect--they are the ones not sitting and reading gear forums and arguing finer points of a lens or a fountain pen, or an ink, or what have you. They are out there using their stuff, even if it's subjectively or objectively subpar. G.A.S. is effectively just shopping therapy, which is a form of stress alleviation or compulsive behavior. Before I got into the fountain pen "hobby", I used to think calligraphy was just sitting with a cheap dip pen and a bottle of black ink (or some of those cheap shimmer-infused calligraphy inks from art stores)...

Edited November 15, 2019 by Intensity

[penwash]

As a fellow vintage camera addict, I used to do the same thing I do with fountain pens today.

I hunted bargains and rare cameras and lenses, then tinker with them or find people who still restore certain brands. But I also use my vintage cameras, taught myself everything from shooting film to printing them in the darkroom. Much fun, I'd still do it given the time and opportunity.

 

Today I buy bulk of broken vintage pens and parts, then restore them. Accumulating them fast until I found out that finding new homes where these old pens are used and loved again give me even more happiness than just hoarding them.

 

As you said, OP. It is a journey. And just like any journey, it can stop, and start again down the road, or not. Just enjoy the pens you have and don't stress too much about finding "the one" or the perfect one. Many pens are special in their own ways.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Pens come in different sizes, the medium small, standard and medium large are often older pens from when it was One Man, One Pen. & folks wrote all day. So a pen had to have grand to great balance...........flagship pens had to have great balance, or one committed heresy, and bought a brand that did have great balance.

I grew up with that generation......and we were plumb dumb ignorant of cleaning pens, and nib flexes.

Those pens were made to be posted to have that great balance.

Large and oversize are modern.....IMO outside the skinny vintage Snorkel can't be posted, and saved the fountain pen culture by being Bling across the conference table note takers.

I have three of four of them.....don't use them as much as standard pens.

There are others who only use unposted large and oversized pens............can understand not posting the clunkers. Everyone needs a clunker or two, or how else could one see vividly the difference between a good or grand balanced pen and one who lacks it.

((((Soon someone will come along and say small pens are no good for them.....ok, but often it's against their modern religion to post a pen that should be posted.....I am not prejudiced....I've tried them, it's just we all have differences in what we want 'now' in a pen. Weight, balance point, nib....and how much neon light it emits. ...ok, ok, what sort of laser light show it makes.

 

I have great pens that are thin, like a Large Snorkel (Boy that was a shock to me to find out it was a Large pen with great balance than medium-large, standard width like an Esterbrook, and there were three of them with different widths, P-75, Geha 790, Pelikan 400 MB 234 1/2 (4 1/2= nib size)

Pelikan 140 & Geha 760 once their flagship were medium-small a very popular in Germany size in the '50-70 era.

 

The vintage medium large MB 146 has great balance and a 'better nib' than the large later made 146. The nicely girthed and well balanced Pelican 600 comes in very, very many beauties, and it will take semi-vintage and vintage nib units (that I prefer over modern). The P-51 is a medium large classic................but I really don't think you need all 51 colors. :PThey tend to be nail nibs.

 

Nail 1 X, no tine spread, semi-nail if well mashed 2 X tine spread..

Regular flex, semi-flex, maxi semi flex.These nibs have a 3 X max tine spread, if you don't eventually want to ruin your nib. At different related flex rates. Mash a regular flex to 3X, semi-flex is half of that pressure, maxi semi-flex is half of that or 1/4th the pressure needed reach 3 X than a mashed regular flex.

Three flex rates of superflex. Superflex has 4,5,6 or rare 7X tine spread. The 7 X is rare unless you are watching a nib get sprung on Youtube or when getting sold a pre-sprung nib from Ebay. I have 2 of the 7 X wet noodles.........one 4 X , and most are 5 or 6X......3 or 4 pens from that era, turned out to be 5 X .....but not wet noodles.

I split superflex for noobies (the more you have, the more my variation blurs) ....as a noobie to superflex guide, into three divisions in my 1/2 & 1/2 flex rating system.

Easy Full Flex, Wet Noodle and the term invented by John Sowobada(sp) the English nib grinder, Weak Kneed Wet Noodle......I've had one in my hands, a 1920's MB Safety Pen. It was like the middle flexible dip pens, but in the Hunt 99-100-101 or Gillette 303/404 earthquake in California will flex them in the pen cup.

 

So, if you alternate .....I really don't have such super tiny script where I could tell if a EF was stubbed or made CI.....A modern nib that is made would normally be nails. One would only IMO need to alternate Stub with CI from EF to BB (Don't see unless one is too rich to count their money in having both CI and Stub in all the sizes....(can see one of each in in your two common uses say F and M.................BBB is way too wide to write with; signatures only.

(Have grown to like M....as odd as that sounds.

 

You could have some 45 different widths& flexes of nib.....not even counting nib size.....I have some 35.

Add the different widths, lengths, and if it has a grand flagship balance of pens, one can never find a single perfect pen. one can and will find many.

Then having spent a fortune, and found your perfect balanced, pen with the perfect nib. Your taste will change.

 

Look to get classic pens, which are classic for good reasons, even if ignorant compared to today....those pens were used by folks who thought absolutely nothing about writing for 8 hours at a time. Be it from a nail P-51, semi-flex 400, or a smaller Geha 760/Pelikan 140.

Shaffer did make the great Snorkel in semi-flex and regular flex in the early '50's, so if you can afford it, you can get three different Snorkels with different nib flexes.

 

So it goes, remember the Golden Rule of Fountain Pens...............take your time......you have the rest of your life to find many perfect pens..............

[amk]

Interesting how attitudes differ. I hadn't examined my own.

 

Cameras: loyal to Pentax DSLRs since the age of 18. Gradually getting rid of poorer quality lenses and upgrading, but basic kit is DSLR, wide angle, 20-70, and 300 zoom. Not really gone much beyond that and a few filters.

 

Pens: cannot resist Pelkans, pens seen at flea markets, fixer-uppers, pretty celluloid, RMHR, broad nibs, calligraphy pens, vintage Parkers, Watermans, lurid third tier celluloid... did I mention Pelikans???....

 

Cars: no loyalty, no interest, go from A to B, with varying degrees of fuel efficiency and mechanical robustness. (OK, will admit to loving our ancient Citroen Dyane, but I am *not* going to start collecting...)

[Karmachanic]

If we learn to be content with good enough many of our problems will disappear.

Many of us have purchased the "best" in the past only to find it loses its lustre and off we go to find a new 'best'.

Always searching, never finding. Wishin' and Hopin'.

Edited November 15, 2019 by Karmachanic

[minddance]

There is no best. It has to be a collection for me. every pen is different. There cannot be a desert island pen for me, it has to be a bag of pens, even for desert island.

[Addertooth]

I smile when I hear the subjective question, pertaining to best. As others have wisely said... best for a specific use, best for a specific environment, rests best in your hand, leaves the best line.... all quite subjective.

 

Your personal BEST pen is an easy one to figure out; it is the one which has received the most use in the past year. Or more precisely, if you stopped buying pens today, which would get used the most in the upcoming year.

 

I have pens which stir my soul, some of them aren't even amazing writers, nor do they perfectly fit my hand... but they are ultimately desirable, due to some feature which elicits desire. They have the appeal of a beautiful young starlet, which you know you will never date... but still, you can't help but look.

Others are like the dependable car, which you would never take to a reunion event, but would be first-pick for a road trip. They get the job done in a competent and comfortable fashion. You know when you use them, a line will be left with no fuss, and your hand can write for hours without cramping.

I have some which are like a trip to the zoo to see exotic animals. They are novel and interesting, they have some element to them not commonly found in other pens, but that novelty is not enough to make them a daily writer.

 

The strangest class I have are "Mona Lisa" pens. Pens that are so old and uncommon, they are more curated than used. Quite frankly, most have only been dip tested, and some have seen no ink at all. These are the striped unicorn of pens, not modern serial numbered limited editions, but pens which were made long ago by major brands in limited numbers due to cost. They are simply "collector pens", although some of them ARE exceptional writers.

 

There is space in my pen boxes for all of these mis-matched children, each brings a facet of joy to my world.

[sirgilbert357]

 

Or will I discover that fountain pens actually don't matter that much and that my life will be improved when I get rid of the endless quest for the very best?

 

 

King Solomon had something to say about having a lot of riches. I think he pretty much landed on "pursuit of wealth is a waste of time". This, coming from one of the richest people in the world, if not THE richest, during his time.

 

Jim Carey (the actor) talked about his search for meaning and happiness -- he was unhappy despite having all the material possessions he thought he wanted at that point in his life.

 

Lots of rich, extremely wealthy people aren't happy.

 

The point is: I don't think buying another pen is going to make much of a difference for most of us here, regardless of the pen. If you have only two pens, well -- OK, it makes a difference. But if you have 75 or 200...I mean, really...what are you doing buying another? Why bother? We get stuck in this mentality that we have to own everything we like (or think we like). It's all mostly a waste of money...

Edited November 15, 2019 by sirgilbert357

[sirgilbert357]

G.A.S. is effectively just shopping therapy, which is a form of stress alleviation or compulsive behavior.

 

Exactly. It's a band aid. Would be more beneficial to figure out the cause of the stress or how to cope with the compulsive nature without just giving in. By the looks of some people, they've been VERY stressed out for a long time and don't seem to be getting any better despite all the spending on "stuff", LOL.

[Arkanabar]

I am always careful to examine what I hope to gain from having something before I buy it, and aside from consumables, most purchases can (and do) wait. A good life will be one in which one loves people and uses things, not the other way around.

[Honeybadgers]

If we learn to be content with good enough many of our problems will disappear.

Many of us have purchased the "best" in the past only to find it loses its lustre and off we go to find a new 'best'.

Always searching, never finding. Wishin' and Hopin'.

 

 

If someone (not implying you) is buying more than 4 or 5 and still haven't found a "best" (and that's the actual goal, not just collecting them for different uses or just to have) then that's a dangerous mindset to have in life.

 

Penn & Tellers's kind of awful show "Bullsh*t" had a segment on "the best" and it was kind of fun

[amk]

There's some great philosophy on this thread. :-)

[Addertooth]

I will throw in a monkey-wrench tidbit. Most likely, the best (for me) does not exist; it must be built/restored.

 

The Nib is the soul of any fountain pen. An excellent nib can elevate any pen. A bad nib diminishes the pen it graces.

 

I have a few nibs which are astounding. Those nibs have the exact feel I desire. They set the mark so high that most other nibs need not apply.

One nib resides in a body which fits my hand quite well, but the body has irreparable cosmetic issues that detract from the overall experience. (Wahl-Eversharp)

The other nib rests in a small body which is solid precious metal, and unfortunately has another's initials engraved upon it. It is uncommon and old, so using it as a daily writer is right out. (Waterman)

The other runner-up nib is a Red-Keyhole, which is currently assigned to an early Ink-View pen which is mid-restore. (Waterman)

The latter has the capacity to move up the list. Once restoral is complete it will be cosmetically perfect, a great writer, good ink capacity, with a touch of wow factor. It remains to be seen whether the body fits my hand well, for long writing sessions.

 

… and then, there is another, currently in shipping. But then, pictures rarely tell the entire story.

[melissa59]

jvr, last week you left a post on a thread from a beginning fountain pen user who was asking for direction with his/her next purchase. Below is an edited version of your reply:

 

- SNIP -
So, if you want the journey, do what others suggest and buy a little nicer now and youll be pulled in and will keep on moving up. Each arrival will be a short thrill.

Or do what people usually do when theyre shopping for something thats about function and not just form: buy the best you like and can afford and be done with it. So, go for a Sailor King of Pen, a Montblanc 149, a Pelikan M1000, a Visconti Homo Sapiens or just buy the Nakaya that everyone says is the true grail pen.

And never come back here again or watch/read stuff about fountain pens, as this will allow the enablers to lure you in.
- SNIP -

Personally, I think there is a lot of wisdom in your words.

I first came here in early 2012 and was introduced to the Lamy Safari then a short time later (former?) FPN member Bruce in Ocala turned me onto the Esterbrook J. It was love at first sight! But after those first few pens, I rarely returned to this site. Reading post after post about people spending hundreds of dollars for a single pen made me feel start thinking about what I couldn't afford and that led to me feeling sorry for myself. At least I didn't go out and buy a bunch of pens that I couldn't afford.

 

- SNIP -

 

Does this journey ever end? Have I reached the end?

 

Or will I discover that fountain pens actually don't matter that much and that my life will be improved when I get rid of the endless quest for the very best?

Recently, I had a small reason to celebrate. I'd saved up a little extra cash and decided to splurge on a really nice pen. I was debating between a nice new pen or a decent vintage flex. Next thing I know, I found my way back to FPN. Once again, I received great advice. Instead of one nice pen in the sub $250 range, I ended up ordering TWO -- a Pelikan M405 and Sailor Pro-Gear Slim (Sapporo). The price was good for the pens ($327.50 for both) but for me, a person who has never spent more than $30 for a pen, it was a HUGE splurge.

 

The pens arrived today. They are as beautiful in person as in their photos. But as I looked at them on my desk, one thought kept going on my brain: "They are just pens."

 

BTW, I used to work with professional photojournalists. Their daily gear consisted was a simple setup: Two Canon DSLRs, One f/2.8 16-35mm wide lens, One f/2.8 70-200mm zoom; and a Canon Speedlite flash unit. True, they had access to big zoom for pro sports and sometimes they'd pull out a fisheye for fun. But 98 percent of the time (picked that number out of the air), it was a simple two camera, two lens setup.

[A Smug Dill]

Or will I discover that fountain pens actually don't matter that much and that my life will be improved when I get rid of the endless quest for the very best?

 

But are you actually on the quest for the very best, for which you will forsake all others because you have no more use for them?

 

Your question made me think of that Bruce Lee quote, "Before I studied the art, a punch to me was just a punch, a kick was just a kick. After I'd studied the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick no longer a kick. Now that I understand the art, a punch is just a punch, a kick is just a kick." When you regard a pen as other than just a writing instrument with which to express your thoughts on paper, it's always possible to find more features, characteristics, nuances and differences by which to compare and distinguish one pen from another. Getting further or deeper into "the hobby" avails you more of a faculty to identify distinctions, without necessarily giving you more of a real purpose for acquiring and employing such an ability. What's best today, as far as you can tell with what you know, may not be best once you expand your "horizons" or information base, and/or when new pen models are introduced.

 

I think only when you refocus on expressing yourself and find that you're not held back by the (real or imagined) shortcomings of your pen of choice will there be an end; the pen, as the means to an end, that is well-matched to your writing and/or drawing ability and allows you to produce your desired outcome is enough then. Any number of pens may exist in the world to adequately support you, but at any point you only need one, unless you're one of the freakishly rare people who can and do use two pens ambidextrously and simultaneously to put down what you want to on the page.

 

If ownership or possession of a pen as a valuable object in its own right is the outcome, then as you intimated it will be an endless quest.

 

The pens arrived today. They are as beautiful in person as in their photos. But as I looked at them on my desk, one thought kept going on my brain: "They are just pens."

 

They are just pens. What you spent on them is just money. Life is just another day in this world.