What Pens Should I Get For The 60 Dollars I Got For My Birthday?

[theexpanciluser]

Ok, I will post a picture of my handwriting later. I think I need a fine nib, but you the experts will tell me what is it so wrong with my handwriting? I want to get a Nemosing Sigualarity or lamy safari, and then I want something with a lever fill and something elegant to put in my shirt pocket. i am in middle school so please try to bear with me , and my writing. I am also trying to squeez in some of ink. I would me more comfortable with not using eBay, since it is betting and I feel scared, and my parents said if there is no other way than it is fine, but they said that they prefer some other website and the best is Amazon where I will get the lamy of nemosine, which ever one is better. I read here that there aren't any newly made lever filled pens? Please be patient as of my bad writing, i am sorry but it is just that this ipad is very hard to type on, hhahahaha. By the way, I am still looking for a pen pal.

[theexpanciluser]

Please tell me, if you don't understand it

[rizo52]

Look at gouletpens.com. look on the classified section of this site (fountain pen network) for a lever fill. try an esterbrook for a vintage lever filler that is affordable. there is an entire forum on this site about them.

 

good luck.

[GabrielleDuVent]

Since you live near a metropolitan area in Chicago, you can get a Lamy Safari from ParadisePens, which is located near Macy's in Oakbrook Mall. I'm fairly certain they do not stock Nemosines, but they do have Safari's (that's where I got mine).

 

The only way you'll get a lever-fill below a three digit price sticker would be vintage, which would require ebay or the classifieds on here. Anderson Pens are the go-to for Esties, but the only pen I could find under $30 was not lever.

 

As a former fountain pen user in junior high, I DO NOT recommend bringing a lever-filler to middle school (I probably won't even bring my Lamy). It's not really a FP using environment, and there is a great chance of it getting stolen (a few of us have bitter memories of getting our assortment of gel pens stolen, and I got one of my very cheap FPs stolen).

 

A bottle of ink costs around $10. I don't think I possess a bottle any cheaper than $8. Carry them around and you'll end up Cedric Diggory in Goblet of Fire; Harry split his bag with diffindo and his ink bottle smashed.

[inotrym]

A bottle of ink costs around $10. I don't think I possess a bottle any cheaper than $8. Carry them around and you'll end up Cedric Diggory in Goblet of Fire; Harry split his bag with diffindo and his ink bottle smashed.

 

When I read this line my mind rushed to something considerably darker. :P

Edited June 19, 2013 by inotrym

[langere]

I really recommend using the FPN Marketplace here for a lever filler. No other way to get a pen that inexpensively and much safer than Ebay.

 

Good luck!

 

Erick

[Sasha Royale]

Welcome !

 

$60 will buy a very nice pen. Here are some of my favorites ----

.LAMY Safari

TWSBI Mini

Rosetta Explorer

Parker 45

Reform 1945

Waterman Kultur

Pilot 78G

Esterbrook J-series

 

Showing them off will get them lost, broken, or stolen

Writing with them will bring you joy.

 

[Plume145]

 

When I read this line my mind rushed to something considerably darker. :P

Mine too! I'd forgotten about the ink spilling episode, even though I'm pretty crazy about the books. So I bow to Gabrielle's knowledge of them!

 

Agree with Gabrielle though, mostly. If you're in middle-school and have a total budget of $60, I wouldn't go so far as to say 'no FPs, at all', but I'd definitely stick to pens under ten bucks, better yet under five. They're out there, not to worry - and it's not just platinum preppys if those leave you cold. Try looking for chinese pens; there's lots there, and the nibs tend to run fine as well so that suits you.

 

I know you don't want to mess around on ebay (good thinking - it can get complicated and it's best to use it for things you have more experience buying) but check out this ebay search for an idea on just what kinds of things you can find on the cheaper end of the price range for fountain pens. Not too bad, huh?

[GabrielleDuVent]

Mine too! I'd forgotten about the ink spilling episode, even though I'm pretty crazy about the books. So I bow to Gabrielle's knowledge of them!

 

Agree with Gabrielle though, mostly. If you're in middle-school and have a total budget of $60, I wouldn't go so far as to say 'no FPs, at all', but I'd definitely stick to pens under ten bucks, better yet under five. They're out there, not to worry - and it's not just platinum preppys if those leave you cold. Try looking for chinese pens; there's lots there, and the nibs tend to run fine as well so that suits you.

 

I know you don't want to mess around on ebay (good thinking - it can get complicated and it's best to use it for things you have more experience buying) but check out this ebay search for an idea on just what kinds of things you can find on the cheaper end of the price range for fountain pens. Not too bad, huh?

 

I thought you were going to bed, plume

 

I actually remember that incident because it has Cedric just picking his stuff up, and I was thinking "... you would not just be picking your ink-covered possessions off the floor to stuff them into your (now-ripped) bag! I'd be standing there, lost and speechless". But seriously, folks, what's worse than having your ink bottle smash?

 

Nothing

 

That bad joke aside, I also suggest starting with cartridges first, just because they're easier to handle. I am one of those who learned how to use FPs in school, and we learned with cartridges first, just because learning to write with FPs is a chore by itself. Using piston-fillers can get messy, and some inks really get clingy (a la BSB). Cartridges are considerably less messy, and you can buy them in far more places than bottles.

[Plume145]

I was! I just got caught up in the ole 'let me just get this done' thing

 

But yeh, good point on the cartridges. OP, stay away from the bottles for now - not worth it on your budget! Try to score some multipacks of cartridges - I know diamine make those, but many other brands do as well including more low-profile ones. It's well worth it for the chance to try lots of different shades! That said, if teachers at your school use a specific color to mark papers (like red), you might need to be careful to avoid that one on graded work. (I still can't bring myself to use red for writing anything other than headings and the like. Old habits die hard).

 

Actually, I'd avoid anything bright or odd on graded work, unless you know for sure your teacher encourages that (It doesn't happen often but I did use to have an art teacher who did!) For tests and book reports etc, stick to blue, black, blue-black, brown, and dark purple (not on the same test tho', 'kay?)

[apkayle]

I don't recommend lever fillers if you're not into maintenance and tinkering (speaking from experience). Noodler's Nib Creaper and Ahab pens are pretty solid pens that require tinkering but are pretty idiot-proof. +1 for any non-lever pen that was listed. The twsbi pens look especially nice. :0

[wallylynn]

For handwriting, try the Penmanship forum. To summarize, don't write using your fingers, use your arm. I point people to:

http://paperpenalia.com/handwriting.html

 

For pens, especially for school, I'd suggest Pilot Varsities, Platinum Preppies. Save the rest of your dollars until you're confident they won't disappear on you.

[GabrielleDuVent]

I was! I just got caught up in the ole 'let me just get this done' thing

 

But yeh, good point on the cartridges. OP, stay away from the bottles for now - not worth it on your budget! Try to score some multipacks of cartridges - I know diamine make those, but many other brands do as well including more low-profile ones. It's well worth it for the chance to try lots of different shades! That said, if teachers at your school use a specific color to mark papers (like red), you might need to be careful to avoid that one on graded work. (I still can't bring myself to use red for writing anything other than headings and the like. Old habits die hard).

 

Actually, I'd avoid anything bright or odd on graded work, unless you know for sure your teacher encourages that (It doesn't happen often but I did use to have an art teacher who did!) For tests and book reports etc, stick to blue, black, blue-black, brown, and dark purple (not on the same test tho', 'kay?)

 

I thought writing in any colour other than blue and black in school setting was DEATH.

 

I jest. But only half-way.

[saizine]

If you've set your heart on using bottled ink, I'd recommend the TWSBI Mini (which can be found on GouletPens for $50). I've got two with EF nibs, and they're both absolutely brilliant with a larger ink capacity than my other cartridge-converters. The one think I'd keep in mind would be the cracking problems; I've had no issues, and I don't particularly baby my pens but I'm not rough with them either.

 

Otherwise I'd go for a Pilot Metropolitan, which can be had for under $20 with both a cartridge and squeeze converter. I've also had two of these, though I'm down to one now my mother's stolen my first! They can only be found with M nibs, which I don't really mind as it's quite a fine M (in my opinion, noticably thinner than the M on a Lamy Safari) but for a first fountain pen they're brilliant. And rather hardy--I've accidentally dropped one a handful of times onto tiled floor and it's fine. I'd be much more comfortable about chucking the Metropolitan one in a school bag than a TWSBI.

 

I also like the Lamy Safari, but I prefer the Metropolitan, personally. I'd recommend it over the Lamy as a first/early fountain pen. I suppose it's got a really hardy exterior, but the writing experience with the Pilot is just more enjoyable.

 

Hope this helps!

[Plume145]

 

I thought writing in any colour other than blue and black in school setting was DEATH.

 

I jest. But only half-way.

Kind of! Where/when I went to school, it was kind of in between what you describe and what I said above, which is a sort of collated advice from what I've heard from people along with my own experience. I guess OP will know the exact rules where (s)he goes to school, so my main idea was to remind him about that so he doesn't get all enthusiastic and buy a bunch of ink he can't use at school after all :-)

 

I was using other than blue and black as early as 15 or so, but only for notes. For graded work, it was erasablue all the way, because there was a lot of emphasis on presentation, no crossings out, no adding forgotten words with a * and the like, actually even whiteout or corrective tape frowned upon. But doing this while sitting an exam is mighty hard! Particularly since by the time we were 15, exams were mostly in the essay format - you got a topic, and had an hour or two or whatever to put together an essay that was expected to be a good 3-4 sides of A4 (depending on the size of your handwriting).

 

So even though technically we could use any classic handwriting color we wanted, nobody bothered with anything besides erasablue because why would you give up the advantage of technology hehe? The threat of marks knocked off for 'sloppiness' (meaning the crossings out etc I mentioned) was enough to deter even the most non-conformist types from using anything but erasablue for exams. So yeah, 'death' is close enough lol. Or at least it looks that way when you're staring down that kind of exam

[theexpanciluser]

I understand, but my first and only pen for now Parker urban, and I had this collection which came with a converter and black and blue cartridges and a bottle if Parker quink. I am getting a lamy safari and a noddles creeper for free from some users in this community hahah anyways I have to start some day! I will hold the lever fill for school but should I hold it off for home use too, and what pen should I get next

[theexpanciluser]

Welcome !

I have been thinking about reform, and Parker 45 is cheap!???, I thought that it was a very expensive pen

$60 will buy a very nice pen. Here are some of my favorites ----

.LAMY Safari

TWSBI Mini

Rosetta Explorer

Parker 45

Reform 1945

Waterman Kultur

Pilot 78G

Esterbrook J-series

 

Showing them off will get them lost, broken, or stolen

Writing with them will bring you joy.

 

[MC_in_Houston]

For that kind of money you can get a couple of pens, ink and a nice notebook. I've bought from jetpens.com has a real nice selection of beginner pens and they ship for free if you spend more than $ 25.00

[Ecriveur]

In addition to the other pens that have been suggested, you may wish to consider a Faber-Castell Basic. Excellent build quality, great nib, and roughly around the price of a Lamy Safari.

[Runnin_Ute]

Waterman Phileas and Lamy Safari or Al Star or Vista (plastic/aluminum/demonstrator) are all good pens. (I have the Al Star) Phileas (and its sibling the Kulter) are nice well made and inexpensive although no longer in production. All are C/C systems. All are available at a price that is friendly to your budget - with room for ink or cartridges left over.