"calligraphy" Pen - Fude Me Now!

[Cryptos]

Hello fellow denizens,

 

I have a hankering on to try a fude nib. For those who aren't familiar with this, it's like a regular nib with the last 2-3mm of the tines bent up at around 40 degree angle.

 

Anyhoo, does anyone have any recommendations of where to start?

 

The Parkablogs guy - Teoh Yi Chie - reckons that the Sailor naginata fude de mannen (now there's a name to juggle with!) is an expensive option, perhaps too expensive, and gives a couple of other options from Chinese brands Duke and Hero.

 

Another option is a modified Jowo #6. If anyone has one of these a heads-up on what it's like would be appreciated.

 

 

So, your thoughts and discussions are much sought here.

[requiescat]

I've used a Duke fude fountain pen, but it was years ago. I ended up passing it on because while the nib was very cool, the pen itself was too heavy to be comfortable for sketching. Most of my experience with a fude nib is with a frankenpen using a Hero nib and feed in a Noodler's body (although I need to, er, clean mine out). I like it a lot for drawing because it enables me to get line variation without worrying too much about pressure--I have unsteady hands thanks to meds so using, say, a flex nib or a brush pen, etc. can result in wobbly lines. The one caveat I have is that if I'm using it to shade large areas, I run through ink very quickly!

 

Amazon lists Sailor "fude de mannen" fountain pens, either 40 degrees or 55 degrees. I hope to get my hands on them at some point, and they run around $20 sans converter, which is not too bad. I found out about them through Jetpens, which unfortunately does not have either in stock at the moment.

[mhguda]

You can check out the links down in the also tagged frame to start. Also, stuff by Sailor Kenshin. I have one of the cheap Chinese fude nib pens and tried it some years ago. It was a novel experience - what can I say? but when the novelty wore off, so did my interest. I haven't used that pen in years, to be quite frank. So I'm glad I didn't spend a whole lot of money on it...

[mmg122]

I purchased the Sailor Fude de Mannen on Amazon for $17.50. Light weight. Takes cartridge or converter. Comes with cartridge. Fun pen.

[Ian the Jock]

The Kaigelu 368 with a fude nib can be had for a mere $7 or best offer on ebay, (or $50 to $60 from ebay Germany???) if you want to go for a cheaper "tryout".

It's actually quite a good pen. I have another 2 with standard nibs also.

There's a decent piece on the pen and the fude nib in the Chinese pen show and tell thread.

 

Ian

Edited August 10, 2016 by Ian the Jock

[Sailor Kenshin]

Hello fellow denizens,

 

I have a hankering on to try a fude nib. For those who aren't familiar with this, it's like a regular nib with the last 2-3mm of the tines bent up at around 40 degree angle.

 

Anyhoo, does anyone have any recommendations of where to start?

 

The Parkablogs guy - Teoh Yi Chie - reckons that the Sailor naginata fude de mannen (now there's a name to juggle with!) is an expensive option, perhaps too expensive, and gives a couple of other options from Chinese brands Duke and Hero.

 

Another option is a modified Jowo #6. If anyone has one of these a heads-up on what it's like would be appreciated.

 

 

So, your thoughts and discussions are much sought here.

 

I have many. As in, many. Some are too heavy even to write with, all the nibs are nails (they have to be!), and I've never mastered the up/down thing that gives interesting line variation.

 

The Sailors 'sticks' are lightweight and fun. Good value, too. And they give my handwritng an 'interesting' appearance.

 

I have tried to 'fude' a nib or two, with disastrous results.

[requiescat]

Yeah, I think they're a great tool for art, but I would hesitate to use them for daily writing--admittedly, the only Asian script I write is Hangeul (Korean) and I have no idea how to make that look properly calligraphic, although maybe I can ask my mother about that when I see her this winter. For writing the Roman alphabet, I found the fude nib kind of awkward.

 

Now that I've taken up baby-steps watercolor, I think it would be great fun to do the lineart with a fude nib in a waterproof ink (my go-to is Platinum Carbon, although one has to be careful not to let the ink dry up in the pen!) and then do watercolor washes over it.

[Sailor Kenshin]

This might take you to a post with a nice video...

 

Or so I hope...

[Cryptos]

Wonder what the model pen is in the video?

 

I may just grab the the Pilot version. It's long enough to remind me that it is an art tool at least.

[rwilsonedn]

This might take you to a post with a nice video...

 

Or so I hope...

 

Interesting comment the poster made: I don't think you have to keep changing the angle of the pen.

The writer's motion was too quick for me to see clearly, but it appeared that he/she was getting thinner lines not by changing the pen angle but by speeding up the strokes. That is not at all what I've read about how to use these nibs.

ron