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Hello all; I've been stalking the forums for a few years now, but never really bothered to sign up or post, but I figured that it's probably long past the time I should have introduced myself. You guys, JetPens, Goulet, Anderson, and Peyton Street influenced me to start the hobby. I picked up a Metropolitan (F) and 78G (B ) a couple of years ago in the hopes that I could learn to hand-write my wedding invites (definitely did not go that route). Only ever used the standard Namiki black cartridges til recently. Anyways, I got myself a TWSBI Eco (EF) and a small bottle of Poussiere de Lune for the holidays this year and have actually started to enjoy taking diction and notes. Looking forward to start experimenting with inks and keep stalking the inky thoughts posts. In the meantime, hello again, and I hope that I might get a little involved and maybe toss some reviews up over time. Let me know if you all have any questions or comments. Trevor

Happy New Year! I am brand new to this venture in fountain pens; both in product and use. I was visiting an antique store after Christmas and I spotted a brown marbled Diplomat Classic Collection pen in a seller's case. Though used, I figured I could clean it and learn with it. The deal was made and the Diplomat came home with me. It certainly is a beautiful pen and I like the weight of it. I have since cleaned it and filled it with ink. Have used it some to learn the feel and how to best hold it when writing. It is certainly different from what I am used to using; a ball point. I've discovered that, I believe, I should purchase an ink converter (so I don't have to purchase refills). But as for operation, the pen seems to skip and run dry at times. I don't know if this is normal behavior for fountain pens or not. To get ink back into the NIB I have to tap the pen, NIB down, a few times with the cap on, then it begins to write again. The NIB appears to be in great shape. in fact, except for a few scratches from use where you hold the pin on the upper portion of the NIB, it appears to have very little writing time on it. That about covers my knowledge of my one and only pen. Except to say, I realize it is a discontinued model but if there is a way to prevent if from running dry on ink and periodically skipping while writing I would appreciate any help offered. I've attached a photo of my Diplomat CC. Thank you, Diplomat CC from MS GC DiplomatCC.pdf

Right, nothing like asking an introvert to introduce themselves for all kinds of *awkward*. I go with the motormouth-kind-of-awkward, bear with me. So...Hi...recent lurker (thanks to all of you posting really interesting pen and ink reviews - seriously!). Long time fountain pen user - I started with a turquoise Parker 45 when I was a kid that I still have, although there's a big crack in the barrel. I mostly use inexpensive-to-very inexpensive pens for my EDCs, and I have a couple more expensive ones (though NOT by this forum's standards, by my rather miserly standards). I have been given, over the years, some nicer ones that I generally avoid using for fear of screwing something up. Inexpensive pens work better for me. It only takes one heart-stopping event to convince me to limit my potential losses... The event in question was having a Pilot Kakuno that I really liked which fell out of my pocket...into the toilet...where I stared at it for 1s debating what to do...before the automatic flusher took all choices away. There have been a few butterfinger events when cleaning... Yeah, so I'm sticking with the inexpensive ones... Um, I also do ceramics (wheel thrown stoneware) and have recently dabbled in binding some books with paper from Daiso. Shout out to @TMLee for luring me down that rabbit hole with his detailed Daiso paper reviews and his 355 Minis that are just awesome. Not quite sure how to tag him, will have to figure that out later. I'm also an engineer, so the FPs get a fair amount of attention at work from my international co-workers. A lot of reminiscing there! Happy to meet you all!

Please allow me to introduce myself, I am Alexsandar Tosshoski from Prilep, Macedonia. I am 48 years old, and I'm writing exclusively (except when I'm forced to use BP in post ofices or so) with fountain pens since 1982. I have a modest collection of modern and vintage-ish (sixties to nineties) collection of fountain pens. For begging, I have a question.I have a Rotring Freeway fountain pen that drips drops of ink on the nib and in the cap when I open it. It's the same case with Indian Parker Frontier which is having breather hole that is supposed there to stop this from happening. Is there some simple fix for this problem? Thanks in advance.

Hey guys! My name is Vishnuu and I'm a 15 year old from the east coast who got into this hobby because of my grandfathers' influence. I've collected no less than 10 inexpensive pens and worked them into smooth submission. That's all for an introduction I guess, see you later!

Good evening dear community, My name is Kevin, I am 15 years old and I come from Germany. I recently started collecting fountain pens so I just got into the hobby. I found out about the fountain pen community through English speaking sources such as "Goulet Pens" or Sven-Raphael Schneider and I learned a lot about the beauty of ballpoints, rollerballs, pencils and of course fountain Pens. I kind of always had pretty messy handwriting but miraculously as I started to think about writing and writing instruments and working with them, I managed to better my handwriting by quite a bit. I discovered the fun in writing and now have a small collection of 10 fountain pens as a strong and solid beginning. I hope I can learn many new things on this site. Best regards, Kevin

Hello My name is Jan. I have been collecting fountain pens for about 20 years. I enjoy a lot collecting and using vintage fountain pens. I got started because a colleague introduced me to the use of vintage pens and later my grandmother offered me my late grandfather's almost immaculate Flattop Special. I'm looking forward to sharing my doubts and treasures with you. Jan

Hello everyone, I'm from Hyderabad India. I recently began the journey of collecting pens. I'm very interested in getting pens that are made in India. My fascination with Made In India pens began when I was a kid and my dad had a big ebonite pen. (I believe it was a Deccan pen). I'd always wanted something similar to that. So I acquired a Deccan Advocate (metal sleeve on cap) and a Wality 69T (Blue marbled acrylic) pen. I've been writing with them for the past 3 days after a very long time. (It's struggle to even get the pen going smoothly, I still can't believe how I managed to pass my 10th and 12th exams by writing hundreds of pages). I intend to continue my efforts in getting my handwriting back to what it originally used to be.

Hi there, I'm a new user, from Spain. I've been a fountain pen lover for a very long time, and have been lurking in the forum, learning a lot for several years now. I finally decided to join in an see if there is something I can do to pay back all the advice and knowledge I have profited all this time.

Hello everyone! I come from Switzerland and study humanities. I have been browsing your forums (or should I be pedantic and write fora?) a lot and thought it was time to join the community I always enjoyed writing with fountain pens since I discovered them in school, where their use was mandatory. When I started university (or college for those living in the New World), I received a nice Caran d'Ache from my mother. My Caran d'Ache was sadly stolen in the library and I stopped using fountain pens for the next four years However, you will all be relieved to know that I bought a Pelikan m805 in spring and enjoy fountain pens again! Besides my passion for fountain pens, I have a deep interest in literature and history. As a matter of fact, I study Latin and ancient history, with a minor in archeology. I should complete my Master of Arts in June or September 2019 and specialize in book history and text editing. I also trained in palaeography (yes, I can read gothic, Kurrentschrift, etc.) and I am fascinated with handwriting, conservation and old things in general. Thank you all for your warm welcome, Guillaume PS: Please forgive me if I mutilate your beautiful language and do not hesitate to correct me. As you might guess, my native language is French.

Hi all, Taylor here. I am a 29-year-old fountain pen newbie, stationery junkie, 3D modeler/VR engineer and artist. I have always loved pens, hand-writing, paper planning, journaling, and so on, but for some reason never had a fountain pen until very recently. Didn't have one at all until my birthday in June, when I was gifted a blue LAMY Al-Star. I used it for about 4 months, LOVED it, and then it got destroyed due to my cluelessness...Now I've ordered a new Al-Star (in Graphite) and have my eye on a TWSBI 580ALR as my next one. I'm a newbie but I really enjoy the whole fountain pen experience. I think it actually benefits the battle to keep hand-writing (and handwriting/cursive) alive, because it allows the nerdier among us to really get technical and tinker and customize our writing experience. I'm a 3D modeler/VR engineer in my day job, so go figure, of course I love the technical side of it. I'm hoping to just learn and nerd out here. -Taylor

Hello to everyone, I've been reading various discussions on FPN for about two months now since I rediscovered my pens when note-taking for projects to be completed in a word processor. It's a great pleasure to be among with you all in the FPN fora. I'm a Greek guy living in the south-west of England for some years now. I discovered fountain pens through a fellow young student in elementary school. My first pen was a plastic blue Vector. They were very popular at the time - I refer to the early-mid nineties. Since then I've stuck with pens throughout school, uni, and graduate school. I've cracked the barrel of the said Vector, I've cracked the barrel of two very comfortable plastic Frontiers and I keep going with pens, but now I take better care of them. As you might have guessed, I like Parkers. I have found that they can be neglected but they still manage to deliver ink on paper reliably. The pens I rotate heavily at the moment are a 1993 Vector flighter (date code L) a gift from my father, an old-style chrome metallic Urban which was a bargain in 2011 (no apparent date code), a black old-style IM (date code II T, no dots or anything, so I'm still trying to figure it out) which I got last spring because it sold for more than affordable, and finally a 1929 streamlined Lady Duofold I got last month on ebay to satisfy my curiosity about how these wonderful contraptions behave. The Urban is my carry-at-work pen. The price of the IM was a sign of destiny to eventually get two new pens and put them all down to hard work. Below you can see the Vector and the Duofold sending their regards.

Hello everyone! My name is Matthew and I have always loved writing related items, ballpens, all kinds of pencils, utencils, and of course fountain pens! My very first pen was a Herlitz Montana cheapo that I got as an 11th birthday gift, served me for over three years- it was a herlitz medium nib, which means it wrote lines well over milimeter thick, but I loved it. I now have a few parkers (vector, frontier) waterman (graduate) and a bunch of chinese pens, which recently have been my favourite type. Greetings and cheers from Poland, Matthew:)

Hello fellow penaholics! I have been a lurker for a while and I've been so impressed by this website that I decided to be part of it! I have always liked fountain-pens but probably didn't treat them very well in my school years. Now when I peruse FP websites or books, I keep saying, oh I had that one, and that one, etc. They're all long in the bin, replaced by ballpoint pens and keyboards, but never forgotten! What has rekindled my interest, and my use of FPs, is that I now have my parents' pens to look after. Not a collection as such, just one-time writing instruments dear to their owners who liked nice things. And they're not just real beauties to marvel at but working instruments which despite not having been used for many many years, worked perfectly the second the nib touched the paper, or certainly after a thorough clean. I now have more fountain pens than letters to write (it's a pity I have to type up this message of greetings to you!). And now I indulge in a new passion, getting more demanding every day ! I have researched the history of all my pens, I read this message board regularly, I attend pen shows, I multiply the occasions of sending hand-written notes and of writing things down... I have even added a couple of FP's to my ensemble already! What have I started? I'm sure you'll understand!

Hello there forum goers. I recently got my first fountain pen, the Pilot MR with the crocodile print. I watched a lot of videos on YouTube, and one of the suggestions there was to join this forum, so I did. How I got the pen is a funny story: A few days ago my father gave me a late birthday present. It was a Pilot MR python print roller ball. I was looking online for replacement gel, so I could get it once this pen goes empty. I saw the Pilot MR line of roller balls, fountain pens, and ballpoint pens, and I immediately wanted the fountain pen, since the last fountain pen i used was my mothers (she used fountain pens in school for years) and I lost it when I was young (it was a cheap pen, she didn't really get bothered by it). I saw some reviews from Goulet Pen's, and i got 20€ for my birthday. I bought the pen, and parallel pen ink cartridges... (which i now know aren't meant to be used with fountain pens, but i found that out later) The pen is different here in Europe, and here it uses standard international cartridges, so i bought some pelikan 4001 black cartridges. The pen writes nicely, and I'm already eyeing the Faber-Castell cartridge converter, because it's one of the few cartridge converters I can buy here. I would also like to buy some inks. So, if you have any cheap workhorse ink suggestions, please let me know. I'm thinking of getting either: Lamy turquoise/black/green (because it has a nice bottle, and Lamy turquoise looks nice in online pictures) Waterman intense black/Florida blue, or Pelikan 4001 royal blue/black/green (I like this mossy green) Sorry for the long post, there's just too much choices. Peter.

Greetings, We recently moved back to the US from Italy and are now in Manhasset, Long Island... I've written with fountain pens for years... Mostly workhorses - 3 crosses and a recently added Pelikan (received as a gift). Looking forward to learning and expanding my mundane collection! Grace and peace, Tim

Hello everyone, In 1995, I was in my second last year of elementary school (which is known as primary school) in Uganda (East Africa, for those who have no idea). That was the last time I used a fountain pen. At the time, perhaps due the colonial education system that my homeland inherited from Britain, some schools demanded that kids use fountain pens! A few had rich parents who could afford the real stuff, but the rest of us used Japanese knock-offs and Chinese pens. Their refilling systems were a rubber tube (sac) that you had to press several times upon dipping the pen in the ink bottle. Many were toothy and others ran like the river Nile. I hated them- didn’t understand why we had to use them. Schools authorities argued that they would help kids with bad handwriting to write better. I was one of those kids- to this day, most people, including my mother and wife, have a hard time reading my scribbling. Fast forward 23 years later (this summer), I found myself in Edmonton, and felt the urge to use fountain pens again. Still cannot tell why, but I know that for quite a long time, I’ve been particular with the kind of pens I use. I love writing by hand, and making handwritten notes of my readings. It turns out the feel of the pen on paper, and how the ink appears are important parts of how I prefer to experience writing. I also HATE (not a word I use lightly) ballpoint pens. The Pilot G2, 0.7 mm Gel Pen has been my go-to instrument for close to 8 years- I exclusively used it during graduate school right until August this year. I still love that pen, but there comes a time when a man/woman outgrows some things (I am looking at you, Honda Civic). Fountain pens to me, then, seem like a natural progression. So I went and got myself a Lamy Safari. Looking back, fountain pens, at least in the context that they were introduced to me, are not so far removed from my academic work and personal interest today. Though to be sure, only to the extent that they remind me of my colonial educational experience: I am currently occupied with anticolonial education, decolonisation, and the politics of knowledge production- studying colonialism and advocating for native/indigenous epistemologies and intellectual traditions in colonized spaces. Did I mention that come next year, I might need an upgrade? Just for special occasions. Suggestions are welcome. Budget: 140 USD— I am aware that this low in some circles, but I am O.K with it. While I appreciate good looks, I am more of a functional than an aesthetic user. Smooth writing, right out of the box is my main thing. Current pens: Lamy Safari (pink) TWSBI VAC700R Inks: Noodler's V-mail North African Violet (everyday writing) Pelikan Edelstein Jade (beautiful ink— when I want inspiration to write beautiful prose) Pilot iroshizuku tsutsuji (for my love of pink, in all its forms) Happy writing and collecting, Azania

I've lurked here for a while (learning a ton) and figured it was high time I actually join up. Still a relative newbie to the fountain pen hobby, I'm looking forward to seeing where it all goes. Heck, I never thought I'd sit to watch ink dry...let alone enjoy it

Hello! I'm lindamarie from Kentucky, USA. I promise that I learned to write -- and used a fountain pen years ago. But as I've gotten "older", I think I need to make some adjustments! Glad to be here!

Greetings from San Francisco, only a few blocks from the ocean and edge of the continental United States. I have been searching for the right implement to control my shaky handwriting for years and had mostly settled on pencils as my best choice. Then several months ago I purchased an inexpensive Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen and everything changed. I am embarrassed I had not discovered the FP before now. Sitting in my study with the sound of a wind-up clock ticking over my shoulder and the feel of my pen moving across velum writing paper has become one of the most profound feelings of calm I know in what is my hectic career driven world. I am writing on this forum today because I am so overwhelmed with what I need to learn about fountain pens. This network seemed like the place to start but yet I feel like I am diving into an ocean. SouzaKH

Hello Everyone, Finally signed up after reading far too many reviews! I'm the proud owner of a Lamy Safari, All-star, 2000, and Staedtler Initium Lignum here in Southern Ontario. Regards, Andrew

Hello everyone! I have, like probably most newbies here, recently gone deep into this hobby, though I got my first fountain pen four years ago as a gift from a friend upon completion of my PhD (a lovely green Pelikan M200). I don't know why it took me so long to actually start using and, more importantly, appreciating it...but I have!! And I sort of went on a binge trying out different nibs and inks and am now only really realizing the hole I have fallen down!!! But I love it and cannot imagine a better and more welcoming new hobby. I look forward to meeting everyone on the boards and drawing on the well of knowledge available here (and maybe swapping some pens to try new stuff!!). And speaking of knowledge, I have been trying to upload a photo and change other settings but I seem to be missing some tabs/options in the UserCP. I only have Email & Password, Display Name, Ignore Preferences, Manage Attachments, Notification Options, and my Notifications listed on the page. However, in the manuals it says I should also see: Profile Settings, Profile Customization, Signature, and others. Is this just something that is limited for new members? Thanks for your help and I look forward to meeting you in the forums.

Greetings everyone! I would like to introduce myself. Please call me Pac. I am a PhD student based in Bangkok, Thailand. I also co-founded a Thai writing instrument website as well. I quietly following the community for a while and decided to jumped on board as a member just last night. Although I have few pens in my collection for several years, I considered myself as a newbie for this hobby. Looking forward to read and share some of my 2 cents with the community.

Hello all! I want to fix my nib and I like fountain pens in general

Greetings and salutations, pen enthusiasts! I should preface this by mentioning that I have yet to even write with a fountain pen (hence the 'utterly lost newbie' bit), but have come into possession of a pen with family history and am currently fascinated with bringing it back into working order for use and as a lovely working family heirloom. I also apologize for what will inevitably be a long-winded introduction and plea for help, as I am not known for my brevity (or wit, for that matter). I'm attempting to post a photo of the pen for confirmation of pen identity (Wahl Eversharp Coronet, I think), but it would appear I am barred from selecting a profile image for myself (the attempt to upload from a website gave me a "member_profile_disabled" error and I see no direct file upload method yet) so it might not work. I'll try to be descriptive of the pen's condition in case it does not. At my wedding last Friday my aunt presented me with my great grandfather's fountain pen (engraved with his initials and surname), which was found behind some furniture she had removed about a month ago. She lives in my late grandmother's home, so it is likely that the pen was lost by my late grandfather. Knowing that I have been dabbling in dip pens over the past year or two (the calligraphic hand-addressed wedding invitations reminded her) and also knowing that this great grandfather was my namesake (I was given the feminine form of his name), she figured it was best that I have it, and I'm extremely grateful that she did! Learning about how the ink uptake mechanisms in fountain pens work alone was pretty fascinating, so I suspect I will become quite fond of this as a writing implement once I get it in working order I guess some people sell their vintage pens, but given the sentimental value, I am without a doubt keeping this pen. It's got enough little scratches and wear on the outside that I assume it's not worth much outside of sentiment anyhow, but I find the signs of wear to be beautiful evidence of its former owners' use. The next day I figured the first thing to do was identify the pen, so I could figure out how to operate it and whether it would likely be in working order off the bat. Some simple Google sleuthing brought up some images that looked like the pen, first a mechanical pencil with the same triangular markings and then eventually this article on Richard Binder's website, which also eventually lead me here. So I'm fairly certain that this is a Wahl Eversharp Coronet (all metal body version), which appears to be a somewhat iconic Art Deco pen, but the nib doesn't have the serrations or the safety mechanism I've seen in other images, so I have no idea what that means (but it does proclaim "Eversharp 14K Made in USA" on the nib front). Does that help identify the year it might have been made? Or does that mean that parts of this pen have been replaced? The ink sac has very certainly ossified, and in showing my mother the lever, I have surely shattered it, but I haven't figured out how to safely open the pen body, so I can't be sure of the condition of the interior parts. From the staining on my hands from touching the base of the nib, I guess the last user was using blue ink, but the "clear" window for the pen looks like it has turned a translucent red that kind of matches the little triangles. (My great grandmother was a teacher, so perhaps it was once loaded with a staining red ink for grading papers?) At first I had some thoughts that I would be able to perform the repairs myself, since I consider myself fairly crafty and handy with small tools and repairs, but upon reading further in a couple of places, including a few posts on this site, it sounds like this pen has more than one way that it was connected to the barrel depending on the year of manufacture, and that sac replacement in general may not be the best introduction to fountain pen repair. I really would not want to risk damage to what I am considering to be a family heirloom piece, so I find myself looking for a reputable pen repair shop preferably in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'd like to see the repair in person, mostly because I like seeing the innards of mechanical things and am naturally curious about the pen. Unfortunately for me, my freshly minted husband has had a broken ankle for about a month now and is still very immobile (less than a month since the surgery), so that really limits my ability to travel very far (for now) for the repair and I'd rather not leave him alone at home for longer than a work day. I'd love to be able to write my aunt's thank you card with the pen, but I am more than willing to wait to find a good repair person for the pen and write her another letter at a different date with it. I don't know where on this forum is appropriate to ask for help locating a repair person (the repair section seems more oriented towards those able/willing to DIY it), so I figure asking in my introduction is not completely out of the question (apologies if this is a faux pas). I will probably post another question asking this specifically once I'm a little more comfortable, assuming I don't get any responses here which suit my needs. Anyhow, I hope to learn a lot about my lovely new-to-me fountain pen and its proper use here, and hope I won't be too much of a bother to you all!