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  1. Hello, One of my acquaintances will be in Japan in the next couple of months and has very kindly offered to bring back a small package for me. As part of this package, I was looking to buy a Japanese FP that is challenging to get in India. We either have to buy it from online sources) from Japan (Engeika, Rakuten, direct seller, etc.) or ship it from US/UK or buy it at a premium in India. In all three cases, we end up paying customs duty and/or shipping costs which make the pens anywhere between 10%-30% more expensive. I thought this would be a good opportunity to buy a pen from Japan for myself. I've listed the criteria below and would appreciate any suggestions: Budget: USD 100 to USD 200 Nib: EF, UEF (or thinner) or one of the special nibs (Fude, etc.) as I do own other kinds of nibs. I draw occasionally (I've posted a few at https://www.instagram.com/flumm0x3d/) and would love the finer nibs to learn and practice the lithograph style better. Material: I have a preference for wood, ebonite and other forms of rubber and have only 2-3 pens (out of a little over 30) which are made from celluloid, acrylic, plastic or resin. I do understand that it might be a challenge to Filling system: Any! Maintenance: None to High. I use all my pens, being careful with them and have so far had no breakages, cracks or bent nibs. I have never bought one as a showpiece so far and am not judging anyone who does so.While there seem to be a lot of options in the budget range I have mentioned, I am unsure about them as the material does play a very important role for me to decide (As an example, though I have bought nibs from Franklin Christoph in the past, I am waiting for them to make a pen in these materials before I buy). However, I do understand that handmade (or otherwise) Japanese pens in these materials tend to cost much higher. The order of preference will be budget, nib and then material, as an example if there is a superior nib in the given budget range that you think is definitely worth a go, I am willing to buy only the nib unit and then get a custom body built around it in wood/ebonite in India. Any and all suggestions for pens or better ways to do this are welcome. Thank you!
  2. Hello! I'm sorry to come in here knowing no one and immediately ask a question, but I'm stuck. I am very, very new to fountain pens. I have had one good one in my life, which was the TWSBI diamond 580. Unfortunately I am fairly sure it's been stolen by one of my more troubled students and I don't think I'll ever see it again. My TWSBI diamond wrote beautifully, but if I'm buying a new pen I'd like it to be exciting and new! But still as smooth as my twsbi. I'm on a budget of under £100, (probably closer to £50 unless something incredibly compelling comes up). I'm in the UK if that makes a difference. And I'd like a piston or vacuum filler rather than cartridge or converter. Does anyone have any recommendations? Am I asking too much for my budget? I really need some help; I'm so overwhelmed! Thanks.
  3. Hello FPN Members, I am a student who is currently looking for a budget fountain pen under Rs. 250. What would be the best choice? I am located in Delhi and I have looked through all online stores but alas, every budget pen is either unavailable or over priced. Can anyone tell me where to find one? Thanks
  4. tru

    Deli S680

    It's been ages since I've posted here, and tend to lurk a lot. Hopefully this review will pay back some small portion of the wisdom I've received over the years. A minor (ha!) obsession with Korean office supplies (mostly notebooks, planners, organizing apparati) as taken me to many far corners of the internet. Among my adventures I've found and taken a chance on a few fountain pens from various sites in the $2 - $5 price range (including shipping). The best so far has been the Deli S680. The Deli S680 caught my eye as it reminded me of a Parker Vector, which was my first fountain pen and I still love the feel of them. I got two of the Deli S680's, one in mint and one in white/ivory. They are gorgeous in person. The bodies are a pearlescent enamel over a metal body (aluminum is my best guess). The nib, grip, clip and accents are all chromed metal.The nib is hooded and looks elegant. They are slimmer than a Vector and feel to me like that old favorite decided dress things up a bit. A converter is included with each pen. There is no formal packaging to speak of, but the seller did make sure they were well protected for their international journey. From order to arrival in Southern California was about two weeks. I just inked them up today and gave them a quick tryout on a little Kokuyo Campus notebook. I used Irozuki Ama-iro (sky blue) and Levenger's Cocoa. One of the pens was a wee bit skippy, but nothing to really complain about. The other wrote smoothly, no skips or scratchiness at all. I'm terrible with judging line width, but I'd say these are medium. They post well and also write fairly comfortably unposted. Removing and replacing the cap is a little bit of a struggle, but again, not difficult enough to make these pens a no-go. For $4.60 each, they're definitely in the everyday rotation for me and I will probably give a closer look to other Deli pens in the future. For comparison, I got a Pilot Vanishing Point for Christmas this past year and it is my most favorite pen. I hesitate to carry it with me though as I'm prone to losing things. The only other fancy pen I have is a TWSBI Vac 700. My usualy dailies include Parker Vectors, Pilot Metropolitans, Lamy Safaris & Al-Stars and some Jinhao 599s. I would say that I like them better than the Jinhaos and even the Lamys and consider them comparable to my Metros and Vectors for everyday use. I got these through Ali Express and this listing - prices change a lot on the site so definitely look around. http://s.aliexpress.com/qaUzuAVn (from AliExpress Android)
  5. Edgemcmuffins

    $30-50 Pens

    Recently, my parents have said that If I get straight a's, I will get $100 to spend on pens. Right now, my pre-prepared cart on goulet has a rhodia dotpad, a jinhao 159+ goulet nib, a faber-castell basic, and a twsbi eco. I was thinking of replacing one of the pens to buy some more ink, as all I have now is noodler's black and a set of black-cap winsor and newton inks that I don't trust. If I had to get rid of a pen, which should I get rid of?
  6. So just thought I'd ask other users, since I find myself using very cheap pens more and more. What is your favorite low budget fountain pen? My collection consists almost completely of Jinhao's Baoers, and free noodlers pens. I find myself using them more than my pilot metro, ahab(though it leaks and replacement is on the way) and others. So, please post what your favorite or favorites are in the low end of the price spectrum, what nib, and why they're your favorite cheap pens or even favorite pens. If you can post pictures that's even better.
  7. Hello! So, I have used the following writing fountain pens: Lamy Safari Pilot Varsity Monteverde Invincia Of these three, I definitely prefer the pilot varsity and invincia. Don't kill me for not liking the Lamy as much as many others do, but in my writing experience it tended to be a bit scratchy feeling and, believe it or not, glided too much for my taste. The Pilot Varsity was an absolutely amazing pen to start with and I'm glad it is the first one I picked up. I love the smoothness of the pen and it was not too wet which was fairly nice since when I got it I was mostly using standard notebook paper. The fine nib worked wonders for me as I was and still am a student, now in college, and the note-taking aspect was really great. The Monteverde Invincia (medium nib) has a writing experience that really hasn't been topped yet. If there is anything I can complain about, it is that the nib has a sweet spot, and maybe that my hands/fingers are large so often they get cramped while holding the neck which is metal. It can be hard to get a good grip. Otherwise, I really love the look of this pen- I love the weight of the metal. The length is absolutely perfect and, truth be told, it could even be a bit thicker since my hands are such monstrosities. In terms of writing though it feels very smooth when in it's sweet spot- it is definitely a VERY wet pen which is fine since I am using Rhoida and Clairefontaine paper. The medium nib makes my writing look much better and it is a surprisingly good note taking pen which is what I was originally worried about. So I guess my list of wants are: Non-scratchy Fairly wet Fairly Smooth A step above what I have so far A looker (A pen that can make a statement) And a good pen for a student. (Hand won't cramp up) Thanks!!
  8. Yes, I am here to beat the proverbial dead horse, or rather unearth it from its tomb to continue beating it. But please persevere in your reading. I live in a place where (to my knowledge) the romance attributed to the fountain pen aficionado remains elusive, meaning that any retailer specializing in such items cannot justify setting up shop. Therefore, I have no way of using tactile inspection methods to essentially "test drive" a pen. But I'd like one anyway. See, I know what I like. But I cannot know if a particular pen will satisfy without the aforementioned road test, so here's a laundry list of particulars that may trigger a suggestion from those with experience: Wider pens seem to appeal to my aversion to hand fatigue, but finer nibs work best with my writing style. I enjoy a little bit of flex, but not so much as to make apparent my weird habit of oscillating pressure. Smooth ink flow, both laterally and vertically, is a must, alluding to the fact that I appreciate models known for overall awesomeness through daily abuse. Pens with a story (read: vintage) cater to my misguided love of romanticism, but I lust after modern variants as well. I am impartial to filling systems though I would prefer to avoid the feeling of somehow cheating the system with cartridges. Lastly, I like "conversation starters" . . . yeah, I'm that guy. Now the rub because there is always a rub. I am a pilot and that means that I am poor - believe it. By the charity of Ol' Saint Nick, a stately budget of around $100 will provide the means for club membership, albeit still outside the velvet ropes of the VIP. Given the myriad of online retailers, a simple internet search brings an ocean of variables into my living room/bedroom/kitchen and though there appear to be many oysters, I have no way of detecting the pearl within. Cute analogy, I know. So I reach out for guidance in the hopes that someone with similar tastes (and budget) may offer a purchasing opinion. I am cognizant of the personal investment attributed to purchasing writing instruments and asking for thoughts on the best pen in the history of ever, ever is not my intent. Just a scratchpad of ideas a picky novice can work with is my plea to you. Many thanks and as this is my first post, hello!
  9. Overview: The Pilot Metropolitan is a "budget" fountain pen from Pilot. the reason that I put the word budget in quotes is the fact that the only thing budget about this pen is the dirt cheap price of USD $13.78. I got everything that i expected and even more when i bought this pen. Looks: This pen has simple styling and a very utilitarian design. it is dressed in matte black with a glossy plastic midsection. when capped, a small silver metal band is visable. the cap itself is marked "pilot japan" and has a simple silver clip. it does not stand out, but it is not too plain either. 10/10 Construction/Build Quality: this pen has a surprisingly qualitative build. With the matte black painted brass barrel and cap, it has considerable heft. The main thing that originally made me nervous about purchasing this pen was the cap. up until this point, I have never trusted a pen with a cap that doesn't screw on, with the exception of the innovative clutch system on the iconic Parker 51. I took the risk on this pen, figuring that if the cap doesn't clip on to my liking, i could keep this pen on my desk as a desk pen, and i do not regret the risk at all. the cap fits on like a glove and it takes considerable force to remove it, therefore, i trust this thing just as well as my screw on caps on my old sheaffers that are my usual daily drivers. 10/10 Filling System: This pen employs a cartridge-converter system, and accepts special Pilot cartridges/converters. this pen came with a squeeze converter installed that holds a considerable amount of ink. the converter itself is of very high quality. it almost reminds me of a thicker variant of a standard ink sac from a older style pen like i normally carry. at $8.59 for a 12 pack of cartridges, i believe that i am going to be going to be using the converter full time. no complaints here. 10/10 Writing Quality: a pen can have all the looks, but what really matters in the end is how well the pen writes. this pen doesn't fail to deliver in this department, either. it has a medium nib that lays down a line that looks a little bit finer than my Sheaffer Touchdown that also has a medium nib. This pen writes fairly dry, but is far from being skippy and problematic. the nib is extremely smooth and overall, this pen performs much better than a pen normally found within this price range. 10/10 Price/Value: this pen costed me a grand total of $13.78. thirteen dollars and seventy-eight cents. the price is the only thing cheap about the pen. Pilot could have sold this thing for $50 and, even then, i would have felt like a got a good deal. 'nuff said. 10/10. Conclusion: As i stated earlier, this pen is an incredible value and i would recommend it to anybody. if you're a seasoned pen collector/user that's looking for another pen or a novice that's looking for a first pen to see what the world of a FP is like, this is the pen for you. Here's some pic's. sorry for the blurriness. the iphone camera ain't all that great. http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k457/lmarine0510/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpse949c469.jpg http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k457/lmarine0510/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsd6286bed.jpghttp://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k457/lmarine0510/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps5366c41c.jpghttp://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k457/lmarine0510/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps9730d549.jpghttp://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k457/lmarine0510/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps1416ac4a.jpghttp://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k457/lmarine0510/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps01dc93fd.jpghttp://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k457/lmarine0510/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps4618da04.jpg http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k457/lmarine0510/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsd3e85789.jpg
  10. Hello, I have decided to purchase some pens that I can actually use, rather than a bunch of cheap pens that fall apart. This is sort of a challenge, I guess. I have set a budget of $200-$250 USD, how much bang for my buck can I get in terms of fountain pens? I am not looking to spend $200 on a single pen, but rather see how far I can stretch the cash. I really enjoy vintage pens, so I have been searching for the following: Aurora 88 (the piston filler) Lamy 27 (metal capped version) Parker Vacumatic Parker 51 Vacumatic Pelikan P1 Onoto Plunger Filler Sheaffer Imperial Touchdown with the inlaid nib (with a metal cap) Other Pelikan Piston Fillers Omas Piston Fillers (Just in case hell freezes over and people want to dump off their pens for cheap prices! ) Suggestions The problem with many modern pens is that they are usually cartridge converter, and I just cannot stand such a filling system (I don't know why). Unfortunately, many retailers and producers charge a premium for piston, vacuum, plunger, etc. filling pens, so that cripples my purchasing power to one pen. However, a few manufacturers seem to make self filling pens that are reasonably priced, I have been looking at the following: Lamy 2000 ...... open to suggestions I would like to obtain as many nice pens as possible with my budget, instead of spending all of the money in one place. I am shooting for at least 3 or 4. Basically, I am asking where one can find user grade pens like those above for realistic prices. If you happen to have one of the pens like those above, and you are willing to sell it, then that's excellent as well I have not had very good luck with eBay (a vacumatic listed in good condition....with a section glued to the barrel on with elmer's white school glue, but it wasn't expensive) If it helps, I am a right handed writer and am open to most nib sizes. I think this is the correct forum section for this, but if it isn't, just tell me!
  11. I realise that this topic has probably been covered before but a quick search didn't reveal what I am looking for. I would be grateful if members could recommend a sturdy pen pouch which is not leather or very expensive and which can hold about 20 fountain pens. I dislike leather and am trying to save money in order to spend it on my new house (which needs work!). I'm sure others reach the point where there pens present a storage problem. I'm about at that point, hence the desire for a good, but not expensive, case. I don't want a wrap as I know that the pens will get broken in something soft. Thanks.
  12. I've managed to stay away from this website for a long time as I was spending way too much money on pens and paraphenalia, but it's a new year and time for a new pen so I'm back! I've been wanting to buy a flex pen to write letters with for a while. I've been writing with fountain pens for most of my life and have always preferred the springier nibs. I've got a couple of vintage semi-flex pens and have used flex dip pens before, but I'd like a flex fountain pen because it would be more convenient than a dip pen. And it's a long overdue addition to the colection of course. I don't really have vast amounts of money to spend though, my maximum budget is around the £50 mark - is it at all realistic to find something decent for that price? I've been looking around on ebay and the likes, but as I'm not particularly knowledgeable about flex pens I thought I'd ask for advice here. A lot of sellers claim nibs are flexible when I know for a fact they are just a bit springy because I own them too. Which brands should I look out for and which should I avoid? What kind of price should I expect to pay? etc.
  13. budgetpenlover

    Camel Brand Pens Anyone?

    I was looking into aquiring a Camel 1968 Medium Nib (http://www.ebay.com/itm/CAMEL-1968-Rosewood-Color-Medium-Nib-Fountain-Pen-new-/150971590994?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23269ba952) for notetaking and school use, but I have some reservations because I have never heard of the manufacturer. I really don't want to go through the hassel of returning it to China if it's a piece of (bleep). Has anyone heard of Camel pens; if so, I would love to hear some feedback. Does anyone know of any cheaper pen brands that preform well compared to their cost?
  14. bodah

    Buying My First Waterman

    Hello All, I have been consumed by the fountain pen world for about a year now after a lifelong obsession with pens, paper, notebooks, stationery and anything related. Why it took me so long to discover fountain pens is beyond me, but I'm very glad that I did. I've so far not invested more than $110.00 on a pen, but I know it's just a matter of time. My query is about Waterman Pens which I've heard mentioned over and over as beautiful writers with a rich history. I am particularly interested in a vintage flex pen although it may be more practical to stick with a conventional nib, which I am partial to italics, stubs and bold writers. Is there any advice that might be helpful and what kind of $$$ should I expect to spend. I hope this is the appropriate place to post this topic. I am still trying to find my way around. Thank you, David
  15. Lamy Safari vs Platignum Studio (This is my first review) Introduction I have owned quite a few budget fountain pens over the years such the Parker: Reflex, Vector, Jotter, frontier as well the rotring: Skynn and Freeway (my favorite). I have always enjoyed using fountain pens the safari and studio are two of are my most recent additions to my collection. I bought both of these pens for about £15, the safari from Paperchase and the studio from Rymans. Both of these pens are similarly priced and appeal to the same consumer and a are probably classed as school fountain pens. Design, Appearance and Build Platignum Studio (Unusual clip design) The studio is mainly made from aluminium with a spring steel pocket clip, brass screw threads and a rubberised grip section. The body has a tapered cylindrical cigar shape throughout with black trims. The grip section is resembles the section found on the parker frontier and is comfortable. The pen sits comfortably in the hand and is well balanced both posted and unposted. The most appealing and unusual aspect of the design is the pocket clip which resembles a nib which I particularly like. The pen weighs 20 grams uncapped and 30 grams capped. The pen is available in a wide range of vibrant colours ( see http://www.platignum.com/pick-your-pen/studio-range/studio-pen-rainbow/) Lamy Safari (The Safari’s apple green colour) The safari is made from ABS plastic with a chrome plated sprung pocket clip. The safari has a unique design with flat and curved sides and finger grip groves on the grip section. The pen is comfortably in the hand and however it is a little light for my liking weighing approximately 17 grams and 10 grams unposted. The pen has never really appealed to me until recently. I’d known of it’s existence for around 10 years however this changed recently when I saw the apple green 2012 limited edition pen in the flesh the colour in my is perfect and really suites the design I knew I had to have it. The pen comes in a wide range of colours varying every year with limited editions. Design, Appearance and Build Winner DRAW The materials used in the studio are more premium and represent better value than the safari however the bold design and vibrant colour makes the safari really stand out. Nibs and Filling (Nibs, grip sections) Studio The studio has a steel nib as well and however only comes in a medium size. The nib writes fairly smoothly however it is a little dry and skips occasionally and unlike the safari it does write in a standard medium thickness. In other reviews it has been questioned whether the studio takes standard international cartridges or proprietary ones? I have tried both standard cartridges and a Faber-Castel converter and both work fine and don’t leak. Safari The safari has also has a steel nib and however is available in a wide range of nib sizes F/M/B/LH. The fitted Medium nib writes a little broad which I dislike as I tend to write fairly small. However it writes extremely smoothly and is quite wet. It takes proprietary ink cartridges as well as a proprietary converter which is available for around £5. Nib and Filling Winner SAFARI The nib on the safari wins it as even though it takes proprietary cartridges the smoothness of the nib is amazing. Price and Value Both pens represent good value for money the platignum has a solid traditional metal design build and the safari has very smooth nib however it very light and doesn’t have the same reassuring weight. Price and Value Winner STUDIO The Al-Star is a good £10 more for a similar build to the studio the studio wins as feels more premium so represents better value. Conclusion Overall Winner SAFARI Both pens are good choices for a budget/school/everyday fountain pen and both represent great value for money however I slightly prefer the safari as I really like the vibrant colour and the smoothness of the nib which makes it the winner. However the studio does represents better value for money it has feels more comfortable in the hand as it is more heavy.





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