What Fountain Pen Mimics My Favorite Gel Pen?

[LisaDRHC]

I grade a lot of papers and use the Pentel Energel Alloy (.7), BUT I really want to switch to a fountain pen for this task. What is the best way to match up a fountain pen and nib size to this favorite (gasp) gel pen?

 

EDITED: .7 pen point

Edited February 16, 2017 by LisaDRHC

[guyinkits]

No other way really than to go into your local pen shop and trying a bunch out with their assistance when telling them what you are looking for.

[LizEF]

.07, or .7 (maybe 07, no decimal point, on the pen itself)? Cuz .07mm would be microscopic.

 

I don't know about that particular pen, but Goulet Pens have a Nib Nook tool which lets you compare line sizes, and it includes some .7 rollerballs. So you could compare nibs there. From what I can see, you're looking for a Japanese Fine (or medium that's on the fine size maybe) or a western EF or F. Details depend on the brand of the nib as they're not all the same. You might even like a Japanese EF if you want to write really small.

[LisaDRHC]

Thank you, LizEF, for catching that number. I've edited the post to read correctly. (.7)

 

Unfortunately I don't have a local pen shop. Office supply stores, yes. Fountain pens, nope.

 

I'll pop over to the Nib Nook. I didn't think to put in a rollerball sample to compare.

Edited February 16, 2017 by LisaDRHC

[Bo Bo Olson]

What sort of paper are you grading?

EF is narrow in European, EF in Japanese is even narrower.

All nibs of all companies, varies due to each company having it's own standard and slop/tolerance.

Even if you buy these newfangled number nibs...they will have slop.

It will matter how much pressure you use, what ink....how wet or dry it is .... and the paper.

 

A Fat Fine can be exactly a Skinny M in the same company....and the next company over laps.

 

Spiderwebs, Very Skinny, Skinny, medium, broad, very broad...how ever you see that. It is all approximate.

I use a Western EF for editing....and that only. I like two toned shading ink and that needs an F nib, and 90g paper. So your paper will be lesser, so don't worry about Shading ink.

Noodlers is a very wet ...there for wide ink. The driest inks are Pelikan and Lamy (narrowest lines)....though I know nothing of Japanese inks, in in Germany they are way too expensive. So are Noodlers.

Once Waterman inks was thought wet. To Noodler users it's a dry ink.

 

For Skinny nibs go Japanese. Japanese EF=XXF in western. Spiderweb.

Such narrow nibs mean you have to be very precise in placing the nib on the paper, and you can't roll it.

[torstar]

I like my FP usage to be in a calm mood with languid writing.

 

Marking papers doesn't sound like my idea of FP fun... our mileage may vary.

[ParkerDuofold]

Hello Lisa,

 

It sounds like you want a Broad nib. Here's a GENERAL breakdown:

 

.3 Fine

.4 Fine to Medium

.5 Medium

.6 Medium to Broad

.7 Broad

.8 Broad to Double Broad

.9 Double Broad

1mm Get a Sharpie.

 

- Anthony

 

PS: I'd recommend a Lamy Safari or Al-Star with a medium nib or a TWSBI Eco with a Broad nib. Just my two cents.

Edited February 16, 2017 by ParkerDuofold

[PaganArcher]

I grade a lot of papers and use the Pentel Energel Alloy (.7), BUT I really want to switch to a fountain pen for this task. What is the best way to match up a fountain pen and nib size to this favorite (gasp) gel pen?

 

EDITED: .7 pen point

I find most fine nibs fall into this size range, depending on some variables (ink, paper, wetness of the pen, etc..)

[Arkanabar]

Platinum's fine nibs have 0.3mm wide tipping, and their mediums have 0.5mm wide tipping; they are found in e.g. Platinum's Plaisir and Cool pens. Your ink and paper will affect your results.

[milkb0at]

It sounds like you want a Broad nib. Here's a GENERAL breakdown:

...

.7 Broad

...

The 0.7mm on the EnerGel is the diameter of the ball, so the actual line size on paper is much smaller.

 

Lisa, I've compared my 0.7 EnerGel to some of my pens and inks. In terms of how the pen looks, the Lamy Logo immediately sprang to mind.

 

http://www.pentel.com/store/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/480x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/l/bl407-a.pnghttp://d15bv9e9f3al6i.cloudfront.net/imgs/products/cp/450x450_fitPad/LM09633-ZZZ~Lamy-logo-Fountain-Pen-Matt-Stainless-Steel_P1.jpg

If you like a Lamy, then the F nib would be a decent match to the 0.7mm EnerGel's line. The Lamy nib is also quite stiff, so will feel similar to the Pentel's. (Most Lamy pens use the same nib type, so if you prefer the look of, say, the Lamy Linea, then it'll also work.)

 

My EnerGel has a royal blue ink, so the standard Lamy Blue (you'd get a cartridge with the pen) would be a good starting point, then you can work from there. Like the Pentel, the Lamy pen / ink combination writes reasonably wet but dries quickly.

[Dovucoe]

Don't have the 0.7mm here, but the Energel 0.5mm gives a line equivalent to a Japanese Fine. The 0.7mms should then be about a European Fine or Japanese MF.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Thank you Anthony for a list of number sizes.....in I am before Gel pens and marked in numbers....out side my 1.5 BBB or BBB1/2 Lamy Joy....have no idea what the numbers meant.

. in I have a Manuscript pen with BBBB and it is wider than 1.5.

 

I'd given different advice had I known she was wanting to write with a shading width nib, rather than a narrow spiderweb nib.

 

Pelikan 200....steel nib is one of the best nibs made, it is the old fashioned 'true' regular flex nib....that gives a real nice ride. Is 1/2 a width narrower than fat modern semi-nail 400/600 Pelikans and delivers a clean line.

 

Different width nibs cost @ $25-27. The nibs screw in and out.

 

Up to the Ham Fisted Ball Point Barbarian Invasion in the mid '90's and up to now, regular flex use to be standard issue in many pen companies. After repairing too many bent nibs from the Barbarians, the companies all seemed to have gone over to only Semi-nail and nail regular issue nibs. One of the reasons I call the old fashioned regular flex nibs, 'true'.

 

 

Oh by the way a fine Japanese poster measured the number sized Gel pens and found they too have major slop in the sizing.

 

 

With the Pelikan if the B is too wide because the ink feathers on cheap paper...go to Pelikan 4001 ink and a narrower nib.

 

 

Let me talk of the fun of two toned shading inks on 90g or 90g+ papers....for private use. A F is minimum, M is good and B will give slightly different patterns.

 

MB Toffee a nice brown shading ink:

Fine is light with dark trails.
Medium is 50-50.
Broad is dark with light trails.

Edited February 17, 2017 by Bo Bo Olson

[TheRealMikeDr]

If you can post a picture of a writing sample with your gel pen that would be most helpful.

[Wolverine1]

Lisa- my friend is a Asst. Prof in Mathematics at the Univ of Michigan. She uses a Lamy Al-Star pen with a Fine nib with red ink to correct papers and assignments that the students turn in.

[LisaDRHC]

The 0.7mm on the EnerGel is the diameter of the ball, so the actual line size on paper is much smaller.

 

Lisa, I've compared my 0.7 EnerGel to some of my pens and inks. In terms of how the pen looks, the Lamy Logo immediately sprang to mind.

 

http://www.pentel.com/store/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/480x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/l/bl407-a.pnghttp://d15bv9e9f3al6i.cloudfront.net/imgs/products/cp/450x450_fitPad/LM09633-ZZZ~Lamy-logo-Fountain-Pen-Matt-Stainless-Steel_P1.jpg

If you like a Lamy, then the F nib would be a decent match to the 0.7mm EnerGel's line. The Lamy nib is also quite stiff, so will feel similar to the Pentel's. (Most Lamy pens use the same nib type, so if you prefer the look of, say, the Lamy Linea, then it'll also work.)

 

My EnerGel has a royal blue ink, so the standard Lamy Blue (you'd get a cartridge with the pen) would be a good starting point, then you can work from there. Like the Pentel, the Lamy pen / ink combination writes reasonably wet but dries quickly.

 

WOW! What a great community! Thank you, everyone, for your input. Milkb0at, thank you for hunting down pictures. Yes, that is my pen! I have four barrels (silver, blue, pink, black) and switch out ink colors (purple, pink, green, red, blue, black) depending my needs/mood.

 

The best take away for me is the question "What paper are the students using?" Unfortunately, the paper is the standard US loose leaf or copy paper. In other words, thin, porous, junk. I was hoping to infuse the hundreds of ink colors into the rotation to keep grading "interesting" for me, however, it sounds like my ink choices have just dwindled drastically due to the quality of paper.

 

The next obvious question, and perhaps the one I should have started with, is which ink for the porous paper and (fingers crossed) are there color options? I'll try and upload a picture of my writing however, forums are new to me. Prepare for trial and error, and error, and error.....

[LisaDRHC]

First attempt at uploading pictures of my writing sample.

 

Can't get the photo to upload. I'll check with the Mr. to see if he can solve the issue.

Edited February 17, 2017 by LisaDRHC

[LizEF]

WOW! What a great community! Thank you, everyone, for your input. Milkb0at, thank you for hunting down pictures. Yes, that is my pen! I have four barrels (silver, blue, pink, black) and switch out ink colors (purple, pink, green, red, blue, black) depending my needs/mood.

 

The best take away for me is the question "What paper are the students using?" Unfortunately, the paper is the standard US loose leaf or copy paper. In other words, thin, porous, junk. I was hoping to infuse the hundreds of ink colors into the rotation to keep grading "interesting" for me, however, it sounds like my ink choices have just dwindled drastically due to the quality of paper.

 

The next obvious question, and perhaps the one I should have started with, is which ink for the porous paper and (fingers crossed) are there color options? I'll try and upload a picture of my writing however, forums are new to me. Prepare for trial and error, and error, and error.....

 

The finer the nib, the less likely you are to have problems with feather / bleed-through. The drier the nib, the less likely you are to have problems with feather / bleed-through. (Reviews often mention the dryness of the nib.)

 

There are inks which are better or worse than average when it comes to feather / bleed-through. Reviews often mention these things, and whether the ink is wet or dry (for bad paper, dry is generally better). But have no fear, I don't think you'll be limited in range of colors.

 

I use everything from Japanese EF to western fine on junk paper, and have seen others use western medium, and they work, it's just that the line is a lot wider than on good paper (spread). A Lamy EF nib (wide for EFs) with De Atramentis Steel Blue (pretty wet) did just fine on copy paper.

 

You may want to get a finer nib than you think you should... If you want a pen that will write finer on the students' paper, but don't want to use that same nib on good paper (because of the difference in line size), Lamy is a good choice because it's really easy to swap the nib while inked, and the nibs are pretty cheap - a bit of scotch tape, and you can swap the nib back and forth easily. Alternately, just get two pens, and dedicate one to grading...

[milkb0at]

Here's how to upload pictures.

 

I must say that I'm not a big fan of the EnerGel since its ink is much more prone to feathering, bleed-though etc than the equivalent Pilot G-2 or Uni Jetstream.

 

But what that means is if you're happy with how the EnerGel performs on the cheap paper currently, then a lot of fountain pen inks will be similar or better, especially if you stick with finer and drier nibs.

 

I've just tried my EnerGel on cheap paper I have handy and it's ok. Trying a selection of pens with different inks, Diamine Oxford Blue is similar to the EnerGel and some, like Diamine Registrar's, are excellent - but that is a "boring" blue/black. I'm not an ink expert, so have a look at the Ink sub-forums here or do a search for "inks for cheap paper" to see what's out there. But you shouldn't go too far wrong with standards like Quink, Skrip, Lamy, Pelikan 4001 etc to start with, which are available in a variety of colours.

[richila]

Hi, I grade with fountain pen all the time. As long as you use a fine nib, you should be okay. I have used Diamine, J. Herbin, Parker Quink and Iroshizuku without problems.

[RoSpectre]

I used a 0.7mm Zebra ballpoint most of my life, and it set me up to favour finer point fountain pens. I would say try a western extra fine... by the time you factor in ink bleed and writing pressure your line will be a bit wider than your roller I bet. You might also miss the feedback of a rollerball; occasionally I do, where the fountain pen feels very slick and almost "unauthoritative". An extra fine might give you some of the familiar "scratch" while you write, hopefully in a good way.

 

I haven't tried it personally but Noodler's X-Feather is designed to not feather or bleed on cheaper papers... but its dry time is longer and it may have other quirks. Someone who's used it can provide a better recommendation on this one.