Looking for a goto everyday pen.

[MuddyWaters]

Mr Lee, I'm sorry to hear about your misfortunes. I hope your next pen will fit the bill. I am not sure if you will use your pen for work or journalling. If predominantly for work, the first pen suggestion that came to mind was a Wing Sung 618. They are cheap and love black ink, kinda like a Parker 51 mixed with the Eco. 

[MHBru]

so i see recommendations for LAMY 2000, Pelikan 200, and Esterbook Estie.  I have all three and enjoy them all.  If I had to choose only one it would be the 2000.  feels great, writes, great and holds a lot of ink.  Downside.... its 30% over your $150 target.  If you want to stay closer to that price I'd say that the Estie is a great choice.  Mine writes great and writes reliably.   FYI.. I use the 200 for my every day pen for my planner... it's smaller than the others.... If you like smaller pens then the 200.   Good luck and write memorably!

[A Smug Dill]

4 minutes ago, MHBru said:

Downside.... its 30% over your $150 target.

 

I think there are more than a few of us on FPN who have bought new Lamy 2000 Makrolon pens for US$99 (excluding shipping).

[Mech-for-i]

the question regarding is always - " how fine is fine enough " ... if you want it wet, and smooth, then you are asking it to laid down a fair amount of ink, in which case its highly unable to maintain a FINE line, fine as in FINE writing with fountain pen always require a controlled flow of ink, just enough to laid down that fine line but not enough to start flowing into the paper area otherwise .. and by that regard fine nibbed pen , those that really write fine, will always write with some feedback, skate on the ice butter smoothness is not the norm and not likely to be , and wetness, well it just goes against the FINE part ...

 

You sould be looking at Asian in particular Chinese and Japanese FINE , on condition that you mean fine as FINE ... do look a their FM , M and see if that would be fine enough for you

[Mech-for-i]

net issue, nothing here ..

[A Smug Dill]

53 minutes ago, Mech-for-i said:

You sould be looking at Asian in particular Chinese and Japanese FINE , on condition that you mean fine as FINE

 

 

[pearlfox]

15 hours ago, ENewton said:

 

I would have recommended Sailor most heartily had the original poster not specifically cited smoothness as a desired attribute.  

Yeah, I hesitated at first.  But since his complaint was about his TWSBI being scratchy, which Sailors aren't, figured I'd throw it out anyway.  I hate scratchy too and my EF Sailor's slight feedback is fine with me.

[pearlfox]

You saw nothing.  This post does not exist.

[AL01]

15 hours ago, Matthew Lee 1959 said:

I was thinking modern, but I'm open to vintage.  Speaking of vintage, I have a Parker button filler that needs the sac reglued and probably a new pressure bar.  I'm not sure where to send it.  Fountain pen hospital, maybe?

 

Life has really changed since I lost my wife and I gave up on writing and a lot of other things until a few months ago.  Now I'm having to refocus and I'm finding I need to write by hand for physical reasons as well as more esoteric ones.  It helps with fine motor skills.

 

 

 

 There are tons of people you can send your pens to.

 

 I personally haven't sent any of my pens for restoration in a while, so I am not the right person to give you advice on that.

 

 I was reading in later posts that you want a pen that has the characteristics of a Japanese nib. I could personally care less for Sailor, and I am not a big fan of pens with a semi-large step between the section and nib. If you don't mind this as an issue, a Platinum 3776 is a PHENOMENAL option. The pens are well-made, and the nibs are GREAT, but, according to a nibmeister who I talked to (take it with a grain of salt) the UEF is not suited for English.

 

In my experience, I think a Pilot Prera or a vintage/modern Elite are pens that are not fragile in any way. If the vintage Elite ever needs repair, you can ship it off to Pilot and they WILL take care of you. They are absolute wizards... One time they fixed a rusted clip on an uncommon Elite I own. The Elites are great, don't have much of a step, are made out of a wonderfully silky plastic that is smooth and "soft" to the touch, the capping mechanism along with the pen's feed are perfect for sudden temperature and altitude changes, etc. I just recommend you occasionally change/ reshape your cartridges, (if you refill them), to prevent sudden leakage. The Prera was also an absolute treat to use, but I don't own one anymore... 

 

Now, if you don't want a pen with a C/C mechanism, there are other great options as well. Parker 51s are probably your best option, (I personally don't care for that pen after owning three of them). Vacumatics, Skylines, Estie Js, etc are wonderful options as well, but you want to treat them a little more carefully than modern pens, especially when it comes to clipping, (if that's even a term), and their cap lips. LAMY 2000s are fine, but those have came and went in my hands, so I personally can't recommend them either. But heck, you could just get your Duofold restored and you may enjoy it more than anything else...

 

(I'm done ramblin' for now. 😃)

[Matthew Lee 1959]

Goulet has a Pelikan M200 gold marbled demonstrator on sale, so I decided to order it.  I may eventually add one of the other suggestions people have made as well.  I am trying to start a new ministry which might give me an excuse to dress up a bit and carrying a nice pen would add a bit of pizzazz.  Sometimes people ask special speakers to sign their Bible, doing it with a nice fountain pen is a little more classy than a disposable ballpoint.

 

I am also trying something else, I have ordered sugar cane based paper.  I have journals that use this paper and my Eco does well on it.  The only bad part is that the ink tends to bleed through a bit.  I wish I could have found it in #24 instead of #20.  I might try to get a bit adventurous and try some different ink colors as well.  I admit that even when writing, I tend to be too serious and afraid to get out of my comfort zone.

 

I am enjoying all of the posts and I am learning about what pen brands to trust.  I'm sure this won't be my last pen purchase. 

[A Smug Dill]

33 minutes ago, Matthew Lee 1959 said:

Goulet has a Pelikan M200 gold marbled demonstrator on sale

 

The two highlighted pen model designations are mutually exclusive; it's one or the other. The pen you ordered is a Pelikan M200 Gold Marbled, which is not a demonstrator model through whose body you can see the clear workings of the fountain pen, including the internals of the ink reservoir and filling mechanism, even when the pen is capped and unused. The M200 Gold Marbled only has an ink window near the gripping section, and it is normally obscured when the pen is capped.

 

It's a lovely pen you bought, and given it's a special edition which has already been discontinued while there is still some latent demand, that's not a bad price to pay for it. I hope you chose the nib width wisely, and enjoy using that pen!

[Matthew Lee 1959]

25 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

The two highlighted pen model designations are mutually exclusive; it's one or the other. The pen you ordered is a Pelikan M200 Gold Marbled, which is not a demonstrator model through whose body you can see the clear workings of the fountain pen, including the internals of the ink reservoir and filling mechanism, even when the pen is capped and unused. The M200 Gold Marbled only has an ink window near the gripping section, and it is normally obscured when the pen is capped.

 

It's a lovely pen you bought, and given it's a special edition which has already been discontinued while there is still some latent demand, that's not a bad price to pay for it. I hope you chose the nib width wisely, and enjoy using that pen!

I was just going by their description of the pen.  Goulet lists it as a demonstrator.  I bought it because I like the looks in the photo, it's a great price and over the years I have seen a lot of recommendations for the M200 and 205.  It did look like the body might be a bit translucent, but frankly I didn't even notice they say it's a demonstrator until after I ordered it.  I ordered the fine nib since anything broader looks like ink blobs with my writing.  Now I have to wait like a kid at Christmas.  Nothing like buying my own birthday present.

[Switala]

23 minutes ago, Matthew Lee 1959 said:

Eu estava apenas passando pela descrição da caneta. Goulet o lista como um demonstrador. Comprei porque gosto dos looks da foto, é um ótimo preço e ao longo dos anos tenho visto muitas recomendações para o M200 e 205. Parecia que o corpo poderia ser um pouco translúcido, mas francamente não Eu nem percebi que dizem que é um demonstrador até depois de eu ter feito o pedido. Eu pedi a ponta fina, pois qualquer coisa mais ampla parece manchas de tinta com a minha escrita. Agora tenho que esperar como uma criança no Natal. Nada como comprar meu próprio presente de aniversário.

Congratulations, I'm sure you will like your gift very much.

It is a fantastic pen and with all the predicates you are looking for.

I wish you lots of joy with your fountain pen when I receive it!

Welcome to the Pelikan perch.

[A Smug Dill]

26 minutes ago, Matthew Lee 1959 said:

I ordered the fine nib since anything broader looks like ink blobs with my writing.

 

An Extra Fine nib may suit small handwriting better, although some of the M200 (gold-plated) steel F nib are not too bad when it comes to line width; I have a couple, and they don't both write as finely. Whereas the M400 gold F nib could be a disaster for small handwriting.

[MHBru]

On 1/13/2021 at 8:56 PM, A Smug Dill said:

 

I think there are more than a few of us on FPN who have bought new Lamy 2000 Makrolon pens for US$99 (excluding shipping).

anyone know where you can get one for that price today?

[jchch1950]

The Lamy 2000 is a good everyday working pen. They are reliable, quite resistant to minor accidents, good after sales service and smooth  writers. The Lamy 2000 has been in production for a long time and still on demand. If the price of a new one is over your limit you can try to find a second hand one.

[AL01]

 

9 hours ago, MHBru said:

anyone know where you can get one for that price today?

 

 The closest I could get to $100.00 was $113.xx shipped (and taxed) for a 2000 when they went on sale some time ago at Endlesspens.

[amberleadavis]

On 1/13/2021 at 4:59 PM, Switala said:

I am suspicious to indicate, because I like these pens a lot, for great reasons they are among my favorites for everyday life.

I suggest a Pelikan M 200, like the one in the photo or another model among so many that the brand offers in this price range.

Regards

 

I was going to suggest one of the M200 demonstrators. I love mine and the ability to change nibs is nice.

[inkandseeds]

Late to the discussion.  While it is not a screw cap and you are willing to go vintage, my recommendation would be a Sheaffer Imperial (triumph nib, touchdown filler). I have had one of mine filled with Noodlers Baystate Blue for about a decade.  Often don’t use it for a couple of months or so, but it always starts right up when I uncap it.  Have used in the past for long writing sessions.  Years ago, showed it to a colleague and she went out and bought one.  It was her second pen and she loves it.  
 

Yes, BSB has stained the plastic.

[Switala]

1 hour ago, amberleadavis said:

 

Eu ia sugerir um dos manifestantes do M200. Eu amo o meu e a habilidade de trocar de bico é legal.

The M200 are passionate and addictive !!

! Writing with them is always a great pleasure!