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Hello. Did not realize that there is an introductions section... I joined recently for the non-fountain pen section - need some help in identifying a pen I got, but haven't posted yet. I use ballpoints and gel primarily, but I also have couple of fountain pens - Jinhao ZL (?) and Hero FreeCode. I haven't used Jinhao yet, but I love FreeCode with Waterman Serenity blue... Yeah, cheap Chinese pens, but they work

Hello everyone, I'm new to this community an was actually referred here by a certain Goulet, I hope i have something to add to the forums in the following weeks, Pens I own - Currently only a Parker Vector with its original Quink cartridges Pens i plan to order - Jinhao 159 M, Lamy Safari in Blue and black F&M, Pilot Metropolitan and a Noodlers Ahab Flex in Cardinal Darkness or Lapis Inks i plan to order - Noodler's bulletproof black, Noodler's Purple Heart, Parker's Quink in black, Mont blanc Ruby red, Diamine Oxblood Noodler's Apache Sunset and many more i have written down somewhere...

Hi my fellow (fountain) pen lovers, This is Pravin Pai from Mumbai, India. I am just 2 years short of being a senior citizen (60 years) and it was just recently that I again reactivated my old love for fountain pens which had been dormant since my school days (1970~1975). School days I had a large collection of fountain pens and I still fondly remember many of my favorite possessions from those days, which are no more with me, particularly a Chinese made called "Wing Sung" which was so smooth and flowed like heated butter. Another favorite was a Japanese Pilot (don't remember the model name) with a telescopic bottom barrel such that while writing you could pull-out and extend the barrel and again push to shorten it before inserting in your shirt pocket. Don't know where all these possessions disappeared over the course of my travel in life. But I do have in my possession antique original black tiger-striped over green, 18K gold nibbed Parker which is about 75 years old. I don't use this anymore but once in a while remove it from its box, admire and caress it and again put it back in to the box. Over these years one pen that has stuck with me is a Sheaffer - again don't know the model name, but with its nib embedded to the top barrel. Anyway, recently I bought on Amazon a Pilot (Lizard design) fountain pen - I guess this is marketed as 'Metropolitan' outside India. This has a Fine nib and is just too good in smoothness as well as feel of writing. It is delight to write with this pen. I think every pen aficionado should have a PILOT pen in his possession. I am once again thinking of being a serious pen collector. So with the help of you friends on this forum, I hope to make some collection of good fountain pens. Please do advice. Regards Paiwah

I am from India I am only 14 years old Fell in live with FP from 5th grade my first FP was Camelin Trinity Not knowing it's value I broke due to negligence. Now I'm using hero 360 degree and I am about to buy Camelin Trinity

Hello, gang! Over the past three years or so, I've gone from somewhat-interested-in-pens to totally-into-fountain-pens. My FP ownership history goes like this: Parker Urban (m?) > Jinhao (b?) (something cheap, not sure of the model) > Noodler's Nib Creaper > Noodler's Ahab > Pilot VP (f) And that brings us up to date. I'm from Vermont, though I currently live in Bend, Oregon. I'll be moving back to Vermont this summer, and have every intention of continuing to drool over fountain pens after I've returned. I enjoy music, I collect records, I play the mandolin and guitar, I enjoy distance-hiking and being alone with nature. I enjoy travelling, but the only really notable place I've visited is Iceland, where I backpacked for about two weeks before coming back home to the USA. I studied American Literature in college but dropped out after two years. Someday I'll get myself back into a classroom, in part because I strongly dislike my line of work (transportation logistics, i.e. professionally yelling at truck-drivers). I tend to overuse hyphens, but I love it and I'm totally unapologetic about it. That's a fairly wordy snapshot of who I am, though I'd imagine that a place like The Fountain Pen Network is full of wordy posts, so I'm not worried. That's about it, and thanks to every one of you for helping to keep fountain pens alive in this world of smartphones and internet forums. wait... oh. N. James

Hi! I'm fairly new to FPs in general, and even newer to this forum, but it seems like a really nice place full of fellow pen lovers! I like FPs to draw (sketch mostly). I have a few pens, but clearly nothing to write home about as they are all fairly common models. Still hesitant to even look at pricier pens (I'm done if I ever seen one I really like). I hope I can learn a lot from the forums here, and maybe share a couple of my own things too

Hello! My name is John, and I live in Fresno, California. I teach English at California State University, Fresno, and I've only recently begun to develop an interest in fountain pens. Right now, I'm mainly using fountain pens to do some bullet-style journaling and for keeping a diary. I am using four pretty beginner-level pens with cartridges: a Platinum Preppy 03 (F), a Kaweco Classic Sport (F), a Pilot Metropolitan (F), and a mystery-model Sheaffer (F) that I've owned for close to 20 years and recently dug out of a drawer. I'd like to try and identify the model of this Sheaffer, so if there is a forum here that people use to post photos of pens they want to identify, then I'd love to know about it. I also seem to be having trouble editing my profile. Even when I go to My Profile > Edit Profile, I'm not provided the opportunity to change basic details about myself or to upload a photo. I'm familiar with how to do this in a variety of online venues, but I'm not having luck creating and editing my profile on this site. Any tips would be appreciated. (I'm using Chrome for OSX.) I look forward to exploring the site and seeing what this online fountain pen community has to offer!

Hello everybody, I'm Samrat from India. I have been using fountain pens for the last one year and it all started with something akin to the titular character in 'The book theif' , whereas I took one unused fountain pen from the corner of someone's desk, without notifying her. Stealing, you might be prompted to call my action, but considering that the pen sat there for five years without any attention, I only did a fair job. A Pierre Cardin president fountain pen it was, with cartridges from the same company. And for first few months I didn't know how to use cartidge pens, so it sat in my desk, unused! It reminded me of my school days. We had only Indian eye dropper and cheap Chinese pens in our childhood. So I searched eBay for my childhood buddies, Hero hooded fountain pens. And guess what, they are there. Before buying them I had to overcome the shock of seeing the price difference between ball point pens and fountain pens. That was the beginning. The last one year had seen me progress from hero, jinhao , Baoer, Parker cheap, Parker costly, sheaffer cheap, Waterman cheap, sheaffer costly to vintage pens and so on. The fountain pen scenario in my part of the world is dead. No shop with any useful supply exist. It's totally gone. My search have lead me to cheap Chinese pens of absolute no worth, Parker vector and frontier, pilot tank filler and that's the end of road. The ink section consists of only some Waterman ink, some quink and camlin ink. So eBay, Amazon, flipcart have provided me with some good pens and inks, they have become my saviour, though extracting some extravagant price for anything I bought....Of late I have acquired quite a few ebonite pens from ASA pens. I have become lazy, so only the finest nib get into my rotation now. My realization : there are two reasons I like using fountain pens. 1. The writing experience, the tactile sensation. It's kind of addicting. 2. There is a certain liberating feel, certain 'kick' when after long toil you make one pen work to your writing preferences . It's evolution for you as well. For every fountain pen lover- happy penmanship. PS: the president pen was very smooth when ultimately I used it.

Hello, My name is Lauren, I am a 22 year old Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Undergraduate at Aberystwyth University. I know it seems weird that someone like me is on this kind of forum, but I love writing, and my trusted pen is a fountain pen, (A Sheaffer Prelude in a petrol blue (ish) colour) I came here to find out a little more on fountain pens, as to be honest, I know nothing, and would like to find out more. especially as i have been using one in some capacity or another for 10 years. I look forward to seeing you all around here Lauren

Hello all from Montana!!

hi FPN i used to gather around Pentrace, but saw last night it is gone! it was a joy this a.m. to find such a lovely fountain pen site. i am very excited to learn and grow here hope everyone has a lovely year!!

Hello! I'm a new fountain pen user, and recently joined the group for... a sense of community perhaps? regardless. I'm learning a bit of calligraphy myself; so salutations! Cheers, adi

Hi everyone! I'm a fountain pen newbie. Have been writing with FPs since I was 10. That was 2 decades ago, have always wanted to learn copperplate and/or Spencerian. I was recently gifted a jinhao advanced by a friend. That's what rekindled my FP romance! Since then, I picked up some zebra G comic nibs and a holder + a couple more jinhao FPs (to try and fit the zebra G nibs into them - something I saw on a few YouTube videos ) I'm currently obsessed with Noodler's Apache sunset ink. Have been using it in the jinhao pen for sketching purposes. I was also recently gifted a Pilot parallel pen set. I've been having a bit of fun with them. I want to move onto more flex nibs and I'm also very interested in music nibs, but am too much of a novice to dive into this without some guidance. That's where this fantastic group comes in. There's a pen show in March at Hofstra University in Long Island, and I plan to go there after thorough preparation. I plan to scour through the forums here on FPN. By now, I'm sure you can see that I'm very excited to be an active participant here! Looking forward to meeting you all virtually and hopefully some of you in person at the monthly meets in midtown Manhattan. Suman

Hi all!! I'm a law student in NYC who discovered fountain pens a little over a year ago and has gotten completely sucked into the hobby. My current favorite pen and ink are my VP Twilight and Private Reserve Electric DC Blue. As a student, discovering fountain pens has actually made me enjoy taking notes in class I love the variety available with fountain pens and inks and the ability to make my writing experience really personal. I finally made a profile for myself, but have been learning a great deal from various threads on FPN for the past year or so. Thanks to everyone for making FPN such a valuable resource and welcoming space for newbies like myself!

Hi! I've been a member since November, but I didn't realise there was this little corner to actually introduce myself. I'm a fellow fountain pen enthusiast, and have been ever since I've known how to write. I grew up writing with my left hand, but I am ambidextrous, which is nice, because I can still work soft nibs with my right hand. I am a harpist and general artsy person, which has led me to living in all sorts of places in Germany, Austria, the UK and the Netherlands. As for my pens, I like to go to flea markets or kringloopwinkel, find old, not taken-care-of fountain pens and fix 'em up. These are my pens. My pens: Montblanc 144.G Meisterstück, glass nibMontblanc 246 Tiger Eye, 14 K gold nib, BBMontblanc 134 Meisterstück, flat top, 18K gold nibPelikan 400NN, 14 K gold nibPelikan Pelikano P460, green, 2003Luxor 57 KM, Heidelberg ~1950Jinhao F187, 18K plated gold nibMonte Lovis RacoonHema Vulpen ZwaartSenator (unidentified)Morritz & Design (unidentified)Lamy Logo, nut brownRodur (unidentified)Sheaffer (unidentified)Inoxcrom (unidentified)Waterman (unidentified)

My name is James, and I am a grad student in Waco, TX. I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could! I only discovered the wonders of fountain pens last fall, but those pens have changed the way I write – in both my personal and research writings. As for my personal writing, I found that I can put my thoughts and feelings into words much better and easier when I make the act of writing deliberate, i.e. choose the pen and ink combination I want, fill that pen with the ink in mind, get the writing paper out, and only then sit down to write. I use my fountain pens for writing everything, but I enjoy the experience of writing letters the most. My favorite pen/ink combination in this setting is Pilot Lucina (Fine) inked with any kind of Iroshizuku ink. My handwriting works very well with thin lines Pilot nibs lay down, and I really like the color subtleties in Iroshizuku line (I have three bottles and 12+ samples – and counting!). I also found that fountain pens loaded with “bulletproof” inks are incredibly useful in my lab work. As a microbiologist, almost everything in the lab I touch (including the lab notebook) is liable to be sprayed with alcohol and bleach for disinfecting. So those chemically resistant inks can be a lifesaver! In this setting, I use Pilot Penmanship (Fine) inked with Noodler’s Black or Bad Belted Kingfisher. I also keep a blue Pilot Prera demonstrator (Fine) inked with either Iroshizuku Ama-Iro or Shinkai in my office, and it injects much needed color into my life when I write anything related to my research. As a grad student, my budget is rather limited – but there is so much one can explore in the world of fountain pens even with a limited budget. I have been lurking on this forum for few months, and I look forward to learning even more about the joy of writing with fountain pens from ya’ll!

Hello to all! I am just a keen fountain pen user for about 5 years. I have been following the FPN for the last couple of months and lately I realized that I also have questions so decided to sign up. I don't get to do a lot of writing, but I love using my pens on every occasion. Best

I have signed up to FPN few months ago but this is the first input. I have bought my FP ten years ago while i was working just after i decided to drop out of school and work. I still have that fountain pen and will share the details of it with all the other fountain pen that i have bought so far at some point in future. I live in a lovely little town Durham which is in North-East of England and greetings to all the FPN members around the world--

Hi everyone. My name is Gayle and I'm a grad student in College Station. It was really serendipitous how I got into fountain pens. I was in middle school and was waiting for my mom to pick some supplies up from an office supply store (or wal-mart, I can't remember anymore) and I found a fountain pen browsing the pen aisle. It was intriguing to me because I never saw a pen like that. I saved up my allowance and bought the fountain pen, and then my life changed forever. lol It was a maroon fountain pen with a plastic body and gold colored trim. Then one day I dropped it and cracked it where the nib and feed section screwed into the body. I was devastated. I can't find that pen anymore. I would want to buy it just for nostalgia's sake. Ps. I'll post a picture as soon as my SelfControl app is over because I'm supposed to be working on my dissertation proposal edits.

Hi, I'm John Sparegrave from France. I've been using notebooks and pens of various format for years now. I use my notebooks and leather notebooks to organise my life, follow my health issues, write and sketch and I just love the feel of pen on paper. I recently started a channel on Youtube (which is here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCodLxM-o4WuzqrEUQAyh2zw ) and plan on writing a blog which is all about writing and writing materials. I've been reading you guys for quite some time now, and it just felt natural to join. Best regards, John

Hi FPN! How do you do? I have a very wide interest in fountain pens, but my wallet fits more for rollerballs, hence my name. Your blogs have always found the right answer for me. For example, reviews! I then thought " Hey, why not make a FPN account?" I'm so happy I signed up, and I absolutely love the idea of pen collectors or pen owners to get together and share ideas! I look forward to hear what you have to say to my questions I'm already stacking up on Sincerely CaptainRollerball.

Hello, My name is Andrew, I am an artist and use fountain pens primarily as quick studies as preperation for paintings. My pen use started in art school with Osmiroids. They were ok but I was never very happy with them. Later in life, much latter I wanted to buy a Pelikan 120 again for sketching. Found they were discontinued but could be had for not to much money of ebay. Liked them more but was still unhappy. A few years ago I was introduced to Namika Falcon. This is a very good sketching pen. If anyone can suggest another pen that is available for quick, responsive drawings I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance, Andrew

Hi, everyone! I'm a fountain pen user from way back when. My dad gave me my first hand-me-down drugstore fountain pen when I was probably about 8 years old, and Mom taught me to use it. I just came across a little stash of his vintage pens (nothing fancy, just fun!) the other day and thought I'd get them cleaned up and start using them. Where better to come than here? And OMG, there are a lot of options--inks, nibs, new pens, converters, wow. Looking forward to enjoying old pens and new.

Hello everyone! I'm Cindy. I discovered this wonderful site a few months ago and felt I needed to join if only to say "thank you"! I have only been using fountain pens for the past few months and still have much to learn! So far, I've made some truly cringeworthy mistakes- but after reading many comments on these forums- I feel you are a good-humored and accepting group of people (who won't throw verbal stones at me for a newbie mistake.) A little about me- I am an academic librarian, mom, and wife- and a total tech geek (mostly Mac.) I enjoy writing as a way to unhook from technology and always feel much more productive when I actually hand-write out my thoughts/ideas. I also have a love of all things office supply- mostly Levenger- and this led me to order my first Fountain Pen- the "True Writer Purple Majesty" with an extra-fine nib. I fell instantly in love with it and use it daily. A friend convinced me I would not truly experience what all the fuss was about until I tried one of the really expensive pens.... so after doing some research (nothing but Cross in stores near me!) I ordered a much-too-expensive "Pelican Souveran M600" in blue. And here's where the "red-face" comes in.....Until it arrived, I had "assumed" it would use cartridges and somehow missed the fact that this is not the case. Couldn't understand how to remove the cartridge converter! Alas- I had never heard of and had no IDEA what a "piston-filler" was! Now I do...... It is no fun to order a fancy new pen with a piston-type fill mechanism and then realize you only have ink cartridges in the house. I knew enough not to use India Ink but there are no local stores to purchase good bottled ink. I realized I needed to back-up and learn much MUCH more before throwing more money at fancy pens! Or I should say "less" money. I now own a Pilot Prera demonstrator (jury is still out on this one) and a pack of multi-colored Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens- that I LOVE!!! But the Levenger True Writer is still #1 in my heart. The Pelikan has since been filled with "Tender Purple" Waterman ink...but I cannot say it makes me happier than any of the other pens to justify the cost. Now deciding whether to return to Amazon or keep in a drawer until I am worthy (or even "need") an expensive pen! Joining here in an attempt to save myself- and my poor bank account- from myself! So hi!!

Hi everyone! I'm from a little city of the Vallès, Catalonia. During years I wrote with simply fountain pens (mainly Waterman), because I love one ink: Waterman's Blue Florida. When Waterman rename the ink, a perturbance in my inner self surrounds me. I needed to confirm that the ink was the same, so I googled about the name change and I discovered The Fountain Pen Network. WOW! It was really amazing: a community about fountain pens. I really love to write with my fountain pens and this forum was simply a dream made true. Amounts of info of history and reviews of pens just it makes me discover new paths for try new fountain pens, inks and papers. During months, I was a voyeur of the forum, but now I want to be part of it. What can I say of me? I'm a lover of the Lamy pens and I'm addicted to try inks. I love feel how the ink dries slowly on a good paper; I love smooth broad nibs; and I love write and learn about this world. Thanks to all for being a great community!