FP needed: OS, weighty, big grip, gold stub

[David0966]

Hello,

I am new to all this, and do love it-despite significant arthritis that has come on since my fondness for all things FP began.

I am acquiring a few oversize pens, already have a couple-the bigger, the better.

Weight is good also.

After spending a lot of time looking around, trying to get a grip on my choices, I'm asking my esteemed colleagues-you guys.

Am looking for an oversize, heavy FP, larger grip diameter, gold stub nib.  Filling system doesn't matter as much.  Ebonite is great (but light?)

Any ideas please?

Thanks, David

 

[A Smug Dill]

Heavy fountain pens were recently discussed here:

 

Large grip diameter is not my thing, so I don't keep an eye on what's available, but there are others who have been interested in them piping up before; so perhaps do a forum search for “fat grip” or some such.

 

As for gold stub nib, I think that will further limit your search space, because that likely at least confines it to models with interchangeable nibs so that you can swap a stub nib into the pen after initial purchase.

 

I do have a feeling that one of the mega expensive Montblanc limited editions in the Meisterstück 149 form factor may suit, so perhaps have a look in the Montblanc forum on FPN as well?

[Penguincollector]

Another area to explore may be the world of large Japanese eye dropper pens. I remember reading that they specifically made big pens for folks with arthritis. I don’t know about a big stub nib, but many broken nibs are saved by turning them into stubs, so I bet a nibmeister would be able to do that for you. 

[David0966]

Very helpful.

More research is needed, as I just hate buyer's remorse

Thanks folks.

 

[Aysedasi]

Just as a matter of interest, why does the nib have to be gold?

[Maurizio]

I think it would be helpful for any of us to make suggestions if you gave us some idea of what budget you had in mind. There are some really nice oversized pens, but many of these are in the over $500.00 range. There are others less expensive, so your budget will save  time and agita for you and help us make appropriate recommendations for you. 

 

[XYZZY]

Knowing your budget is important, but also, what do you consider large?  Or heavy?  Measurements and/or example pens would help, here.

 

I enjoy writing with large pens.  I don't suffer from arthritis (at least not for writing, and "yet"), but for longer sessions they are more comfortable.

 

A Namiki Emperor (aka "No. 50"), Pilot Custom Urushi, Pelikan M1000, and Leonardo Momento Zero Grande are all large (by different standards), but none are cheap.  None with a factory stub nib, but could be bought from a place such as nibs.com or nibsmith.com where the owner of the shop is a respectable nibmeister who will grind it to whatever you want (although for the Custom Urushi it would be better for your wallet to order for half-ish price from Japan, then send it out to a nibmeister).

 

 

[David0966]

I must say, I did not want to put my limit up, but let's say around $1k.

 

I have an Emperor, Royale, Custom Urushi, and M800 (my biggest buyer's remorse-I really wanted the M1000, and couldn't find @ the time).

 

Why gold?  It looks great-that's all.

 

David

[XYZZY]

3 hours ago, David0966 said:

I must say, I did not want to put my limit up, but let's say around $1k.

 

I have an Emperor, Royale, Custom Urushi, and M800 (my biggest buyer's remorse-I really wanted the M1000, and couldn't find @ the time).

 

Why gold?  It looks great-that's all.

 

David

 

Your budget gives you good room to work.  Are any of those pens the "right" size?  Too big?  Too small?

 

I am in some ways spoiled for "large" pens because I write about four A4 pages/day with an Emperor, and by comparison all the rest of these are of course smaller.  To me these are "normal" pens. 

 

Sailor King of Pen.  Not sure why I didn't think of that before.  Fabulous nib, nice pen, converter that's too small.  Acrylic bodies will fit in your budget, an ebonite might, and they have many fancier bodies that won't.  The acrylic bodies come in the normal cigar shape as well as the "Pro Gear" style with squared ends.

 

I bought a Pelikan M1005 new a couple years ago and had to wait a month for the store to receive it from the factory.  I do not have an M800 to compare it to.  It's a nice solid pen.  I prefer pens that don't have a built in piston (so either a converter or an eye dropper), but I consider the M1000 a good pen to have to round out one's experience in the hobby.  I also have an MB 149 for much the same reason; it's got a nice solid feel, isn't small, but less large than the M1000.

 

I prefer my King of Pen to the 149, though.  I didn't mention it before, personally I would suggest a King of Pen, as long as you can get past the tiny converter.  And that will fit in your budget.

 

I also have an Edison Collier Grande.  The "Grande" is relatively new.  I find the section to be a bit too narrow for the rest of the pen, but the pen has a nice feel in the had.  That might also be because I bought one in ebonite, not his more common acrylics, and I have a suspicion that the warm body of an ebonite pen makes it feel nicer in the same way that a larger pen does.  They only come in #8 Magna Carta steel nibs, but there is an option of a gold plated steel nib.  Note that a #8 nib will seem small compared to some of what you're used to.  I think the #8 Magna Carta uses the same threads as a Bock #8, so you could ask them about swapping in the latter.  I don't know if Edison would sell the Bock nib unit, but they might sell a pen without the nib.  The folks at Edison are awesome to deal with.

 

I do not have any Indian pens and keep telling myself that I should try some.  There are many large Indian pens, and some are available to take a Bock #8 nib unit instead of a #6 nib.  And of course the Bock #8 is available in gold.

 

I also have the Custom Urushi, won't write about that since you have one.  The bicolor #30 nib in the Custom Urushi is my favorite, and I love how bouncy it is.  I have read that Namiki will be making pens using the #30 nib from the Custom Urushi, but I would assume they will be outside your budget.  Here we go, they are called "Aya":  https://www.pilot-namiki.com/en/collection/aya/  Too new to find much mention of them from users, though.

 

Everything I mentioned here I have (except the Indian pens).  Of those I would put the MB 149 last; the others feel nicer to me, more value for the money, and easier to work on.  Not saying don't get a 149, just that personally I wouldn't get it before the others.

 

[Penguincollector]

I found one of those Jumbo eye dropper pens on the Bay- look at how girthy it is!

 

Jumbo pen

[David0966]

15 hours ago, XYZZY said:

 

Your budget gives you good room to work.  Are any of those pens the "right" size?  Too big?  Too small?

 

I am in some ways spoiled for "large" pens because I write about four A4 pages/day with an Emperor, and by comparison all the rest of these are of course smaller.  To me these are "normal" pens. 

 

Sailor King of Pen.  Not sure why I didn't think of that before.  Fabulous nib, nice pen, converter that's too small.  Acrylic bodies will fit in your budget, an ebonite might, and they have many fancier bodies that won't.  The acrylic bodies come in the normal cigar shape as well as the "Pro Gear" style with squared ends.

 

I bought a Pelikan M1005 new a couple years ago and had to wait a month for the store to receive it from the factory.  I do not have an M800 to compare it to.  It's a nice solid pen.  I prefer pens that don't have a built in piston (so either a converter or an eye dropper), but I consider the M1000 a good pen to have to round out one's experience in the hobby.  I also have an MB 149 for much the same reason; it's got a nice solid feel, isn't small, but less large than the M1000.

 

I prefer my King of Pen to the 149, though.  I didn't mention it before, personally I would suggest a King of Pen, as long as you can get past the tiny converter.  And that will fit in your budget.

 

I also have an Edison Collier Grande.  The "Grande" is relatively new.  I find the section to be a bit too narrow for the rest of the pen, but the pen has a nice feel in the had.  That might also be because I bought one in ebonite, not his more common acrylics, and I have a suspicion that the warm body of an ebonite pen makes it feel nicer in the same way that a larger pen does.  They only come in #8 Magna Carta steel nibs, but there is an option of a gold plated steel nib.  Note that a #8 nib will seem small compared to some of what you're used to.  I think the #8 Magna Carta uses the same threads as a Bock #8, so you could ask them about swapping in the latter.  I don't know if Edison would sell the Bock nib unit, but they might sell a pen without the nib.  The folks at Edison are awesome to deal with.

 

I do not have any Indian pens and keep telling myself that I should try some.  There are many large Indian pens, and some are available to take a Bock #8 nib unit instead of a #6 nib.  And of course the Bock #8 is available in gold.

 

I also have the Custom Urushi, won't write about that since you have one.  The bicolor #30 nib in the Custom Urushi is my favorite, and I love how bouncy it is.  I have read that Namiki will be making pens using the #30 nib from the Custom Urushi, but I would assume they will be outside your budget.  Here we go, they are called "Aya":  https://www.pilot-namiki.com/en/collection/aya/  Too new to find much mention of them from users, though.

 

Everything I mentioned here I have (except the Indian pens).  Of those I would put the MB 149 last; the others feel nicer to me, more value for the money, and easier to work on.  Not saying don't get a 149, just that personally I wouldn't get it before the others.

 

Great input...Thanks

 

Already have the 149-wife bought it in Munich  

 

Right now, am looking @ KOP, and Wahl OS Decoband, the Italian-can't think of the name, one model come w octagonal barrel.....too many pens

 

Then I think...wait a minute: enjoy the pens you have-how much is enough?  That's a philosophical question.

 

David 

[David0966]

A Smug Dill......those are some seriously heavy pens!  I suppose I should weigh a bunch of my pens w/o ink and see what my personal gram-weight is on light (so much that is feels cheap) v heavy (akin to quality).

 

The winner for now is the Estie OS w stub nib (Fountain Pen Hospital).   Next will likely be the KOP.  I've heard that Sailors nibs are intentionally not too smooth-something probably talked about before here.

[Runnin_Ute]

My largest (but not necessarily heaviest) is my Guider Capsule. Guider is a Indian company. Capped it is 159 mm long. By comparison, a MB 149 and Pelikan M1000 are 147 mm long. It weighs about 32 grams, roughly the same as a M1000. Widest part of section is about 12/13 mm, narrowest about 11 mm. Mine has a Schmidt #6, not sure what else he has available. I ordered a B. It does not post, you could put a clip or roll stop, although I didn't. Mine was a special order via a group buy and took about 14 months. Cost was about $80 in 2018.

 

I couldn't get a photo to upload despite being under size limit.

[sandy101]

Visconti homo sapiens or opera? They come with stubs are pretty hefty.

[XYZZY]

On 1/13/2023 at 12:42 PM, David0966 said:

Great input...Thanks

 

Already have the 149-wife bought it in Munich  

 

Right now, am looking @ KOP, and Wahl OS Decoband, the Italian-can't think of the name, one model come w octagonal barrel.....too many pens

 

Then I think...wait a minute: enjoy the pens you have-how much is enough?  That's a philosophical question.

 

David 

There are a few Leonardo Momento Zero Grande pens with #8 nibs out there. I have one in #8 and one in #6.  The 8 looks right, the 6 a bit small.  But it’s a nice sized pen, and all the different materials are something you could make a hobby of. Normally I dismiss limited edition materials as silly and wasteful, but for some reason I keep picking up Leonardos. 
 

A couple years ago I was seriously jonesing for the Decoband.  There are a couple of reviews here on FPN that do a good job.  The only thing holding me back me back used to be the clip. No, wait, the amazingly wasteful box was off putting, too.  But when the company was sold to the new ownership I lost interest. If I ever make it to a pen show it would be something I would be looking for, though. 

[Chimera01]

On 1/13/2023 at 12:30 AM, David0966 said:

I have an Emperor, Royale, Custom Urushi, and M800 (my biggest buyer's remorse-I really wanted the M1000, and couldn't find @ the time).

I have an M1000 with a broad nib which the nibmeister John Sorowka stubbed. It's magnificent. Might be the sort of thing you're after. I would urge you to give it a go although the line variation might not be sufficient as even with the B nib it's still fairly subtle. 

[amberleadavis]

the M1000 is a great choice.  How about a Delta Oversize?

[David0966]

On 1/21/2023 at 2:36 AM, amberleadavis said:

the M1000 is a great choice.  How about a Delta Oversize?

I just looked on ebay for Delta-interesting ;

 

Since I started this thread, I've acquired a Maiora Liberta (OS)-I love it.  Taught me a lesson-when buying pens that have swirling patterns and different colors (variable coloration)-in the future, I will always ask for a picture of the exact pen I'm getting.

 

I just picked up an Esterbrook OS w a 1.1 stub.  It's pretty good.   It's a sad thing when you can tell a $250 pen from a much more expensive one.

 

I must admit here before God and everyone that I've not only been bit by this bug, but am rather snobbish about it.  Not at all what I imagined myself to be.

 

Also, I just looked on stats @ Goulet (they have an M1000 on bottom shelf) v the 800, the M1000 is 4gm heavier, 5mm longer posted, and you get 1mm larger diameter in grip (most imp to me) and 1mm in barrel.

 

Despite my snobbery, I'm  keeping the M800

[Aysedasi]

On 1/22/2023 at 5:59 PM, David0966 said:

Despite my snobbery, I'm  keeping the M800

 

And you're still only looking for gold nibs?   

[David0966]

On 1/25/2023 at 7:34 AM, Aysedasi said:

 

And you're still only looking for gold nibs?   

Mostly, yes.

Am now waiting for a Santini "Giant" Olimpia...the grip diameter, I believe is a little over 12mm