Recommendations for Fountain pens as a tactile experience?

[Anjor]

As a relative newbie to the wide variety of FPs, I am wondering... What would you recommend to someone who would like to experience a range of tactility when using pens? So far, I have experience with pens made out of plastic and smooth metal (and an ebonite on the way.) I would love to try something made out of other materials. Generally, I lean towards natural materials when it comes to manipulatives/tactility, but I know FPs have a lot of constraints in terms of what they can be made out of.

 

Budget would be around $150, although there's definitely flexibility to increase it, depending on how many "boxes" the pen checks for me.

 

As for the other elements I like or dislike, with my limited experience:

- I did not much care for the Pilot Metropolitan I used to have, because it felt too smooth and cold -- tinny, somehow. I found that I didn't pick it up that often, even though it was a good writer and the grip was plastic, not metal -- just wasn't that inviting even before I picked it up and started to write with it.

- I like pens that are on the lighter side, but not too light. My TWSBI Eco (12g unfilled barrel weight according to specs) feels just right, but the Lamy Safari (7g) feels too light. I hardly ever write with a posted pen.

- a smooth-ish nib for everyday writing. I like the Lamy Safari M nib for its smoothness, but really dislike the forced grip. The TWSBI Eco's nib is not quite as smooth, but I like the writing experience much better because of the round grip and weight.

- Between my F and M TWSBIs, I like the M nib better.

- While researching wooden FPs, I heard many of them can have issues with drying out. I did come across good reviews for the Pilot Custom "Kaede" and am very tempted to hunt it down, but even though I love the look of wood, I realized that the grip is plastic, which is where I'll be holding it while writing, so that gives me a pause.

- I have a FPR Jaipur coming, which is ebonite, so I guess I'll find out how that feels.

 

As always, I look forward to hearing from the experienced folks here, and grateful for the help!

Edited January 27, 2021 by Anjor
added info

[Karmachanic]

I suggest trying a matte Ebonite pen from ASA, or Ranga.

[Anjor]

1 minute ago, Karmachanic said:

I suggest trying a matte Ebonite pen from ASA, or Ranga.

The pen I have on the way from FPR is the Jaipur v.2 in matte Ebonite, so I'm glad to hear this. Thank you!

[Aysedasi]

Although they're not my favourite pens to write with, my black and maroon ribbed ('gathered') 3776 Platinums are very nice from a tactile point of view.  (Although the sections are smooth).  As Karmachanic says, ebonite may be your best bet.  

[sgphototn]

I like metal pens and ebonites. I find acrylics and 'precious resins' ( I have several) to be without a noticeable tactile quality regardless of price.

 

While I don't have one though I plan to, Micarta pens have a tactile quality.

 

For ebonites, it's FPR, Ranga, ASA, and Lotus. For solid metal pens in your price range, Italix is hard to beat for quality and variety of nibs.

[como]

The Visconti Homo Sapiens with lava resin is very tactile to me, though a bit out of OP’s budget range. Pelikan has school pens with rubber grip section, not beautiful but very good writers!

[Anjor]

12 minutes ago, como said:

The Visconti Homo Sapiens with lava resin is very tactile to me, though a bit out of OP’s budget range. Pelikan has school pens with rubber grip section, not beautiful but very good writers!

The Homo sapiens is definitely on my "some day" list...

[MuddyWaters]

I find polished ebonites nicer to hold. They are grippy and look more shiny. 

 

The Lamy 2000 has a very nice type of material (macrolon) and is a solid pen overall that will last a long time. 

 

If you like the eco, you might like the 580 which is also light but feels a bit nicer in the hand imo. 

 

For metal pens, I love the material of the Faber Castell é-motion Stealth black. It is heavy though and you probably would not like it. I like the material of the Lamy all-star but like you don't like the forced grip. I just got a platinum plaisir to see if it remedy that, but I do like the all-star body better. 

[Aysedasi]

I'd forgotten about the L2K.  That does feel good in the hand, although a little beyond the OP's budget, unless you get lucky second hand.  The one thing that I utterly hate is metal sections.  Slippy and uncomfortable to write with, for me personally.  

[Karmachanic]

 

15 minutes ago, Aysedasi said:

I'd forgotten about the L2K.  That does feel good in the hand, <snip> The one thing that I utterly hate is metal sections. 

 

Huh??

[como]

Desiderata BAMF, with its unpolished ebonite, can be a good candidate too. If you don’t mind the name, or even like it :-))))

[MuddyWaters]

The Lamy 2000 métal section end is not obligatory holding place. In fact it gets too narrow there for me and I tend to place my fingers above it. It is not polished metal like on Italian pens anyway. 

[corgicoupe]

In the vintage arena, I would suggest one of the Esterbrook Relief pens with the 14K left oblique stub nibs.

[Anjor]

5 hours ago, como said:

Desiderata BAMF, with its unpolished ebonite, can be a good candidate too. If you don’t mind the name, or even like it :-))))

I've been eyeing it, although I might have to use/store it judiciously 😉 I think the only one available right now on their website is a second quality (which I wouldn't generally mind but there seems to be an issue with the cap, and I don't want to take the risk of that leading to drying out etc.) I've gotten myself on the mailing list to be informed when they restock, so will have to see how that goes. Thank you for the recommendation!

[Anjor]

Interesting to hear about the Lamy 2000. I love the esthetic and have heard good things about it in general (and have liked the Lamy nibs I have.) The grip is different enough from the Safari and the weight sounds right too. I like the look of the textured metal at the grip, but no way to know how or if I'll like the feel. Will have to keep an eye on it. Thank you for bringing it up!

[Aysedasi]

6 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

 

 

Huh??

 I wasn't actually intending to connect the L2K and metal sections as your edited extract from my post suggests....

[Estycollector]

The Lamy Al Star and Vista feel good and perform well as a fine or medium. Both can use a converter which allows you the tactile experience of filling an FP. 

 

The Wing Sung 601 in plastic orsteel has a nice feel and also has the vintage vacuum fill system. 

 

Nothing for me beats a lever fill for a nice tactile experience as you feel and hear it sucking in the ink. Many of the old plastics including Bakelite feel good to me. 

 

'Nothing of these pens will cost what you've laid out as your budget. 

 

 

 

 

[Carrau]

Many of the Vintage Parker 75 pens have interesting barrels from a visual as well as a tactile standpoint, particularly the Cisele models and the Place Vendone series.  See link to some on Parker75.com, and choose any to view from the list on the left side of the page under French Pens.

http://www.parker75.com/Reference/Parker75_Ref.htm

[senzen]

There is something to be said for pens that fit well in your hand, of whichever material. I do really like my Faber Castell Ambition in pearwood.

[A Smug Dill]

9 hours ago, Anjor said:

While researching wooden FPs, I heard many of them can have issues with drying out.

 

They do. Even so, Platinum and Sailor pen models with wooden bodies (i.e. barrels and caps) will not dry out while capped and undisturbed overnight or even for a fortnight.

 

My personal minimum ‘standard’ for cap seal effectiveness is not letting a half-filled converter dry out in three months while capped. Not many pens with resin or plastic bodies in the market live up to that; it's just that wooden pens stand out to me as one category in which I've only encountered a single example of a model that does not dry out completely in six months or longer, that being the Pilot Custom Kaede. If your individual requirement of the pen is not as stringent, then you have a whole lot more options.

 

9 hours ago, Anjor said:

… I realized that the grip is plastic, which is where I'll be holding it while writing, so that gives me a pause.

 

You aren't going to find many pens with wooden gripping sections. For what it's worth, unless your grip is very unusual, the pen barrel usually rest and/or move against the webbing between your thumb and index finger, so there is still a kinaesthetic aspect to writing with a pen with a wooden barrel.

 

Other pens that have kinaesthetically unusual barrels include the Platinum Vicoh ‘Sheep’ (discontinued, but can probably still be found on eBay and such), Sailor Koshu-Inden, Sailor Kabazaiku, but I think they're all significantly over the US$150 retail price point new (or new-old-stock).

 

If it's all about the gripping section to you, outside of pens with smooth resin sections there are always those with glossy metal sections (on any number of pen makes and models), textured metal sections (e.g. Diplomat Aero, which also has a kinaesthetically interesting barrel), faceted metal sections (e.g. Aurora Alpha), ribbed metal sections (e.g. Lamy Imporium, brushed steel version of the Lamy Logo), ribbed plastic sections (e.g. Lamy ST, and the black version of the Lamy cp1, if I'm not mistaken), rubberised gripping section (e.g. brushed steel version of the Lamy Studio), interchangeable sections of all sorts (Lamy Accent)...