Hellow guys

[Anderson Trindade]

My name is Anderson!

 

I started a fountain pen collection about one year ago and, since then , I’ve been looking for places and people who also share this hobby and interest for writting instruments

 

I’m glad to become a member.

 

 

[ArtfullyInked]

Hi Anderson, and welcome!   I’m new too—just joined last week.  What’s your favorite pen so far?

 

13 minutes ago, Anderson Trindade said:

My name is Anderson!

 

I started a fountain pen collection about one year ago and, since then , I’ve been looking for places and people who also share this hobby and interest for writting instruments

 

I’m glad to become a member.

[inkstainedruth]

@Anderson Trindade Greetings from Pittsburgh, PA!  Welcome to FPN!

I found my way here a number of years ago (more than a decade at this point) when the pen I was using for journalling -- and the then current journal, got left at my brother-in-law's Christmas one January.  I had started reading a book called The Artist's Way, a couple of years before, which is a creativity course.  Every week you read the next chapter and do the "think outside the box" exercises.  But you also do what the author calls "Artist's Day Out", where you do something JUST for yourself.  And also keep what is called a "morning pages" journal: every morning when you get up, you write 3 pages (whatever comes into your head goes onto the page) and then you close the journal and go about the rest of your day.  Now I hadn't kept a diary or journal since I was in high school (I quit when I realized it had basically turned into a spreadsheet -- although I didn't know that term back in the 1970s -- of songs I'd heard on the radio).  So in order to get myself back in the habit, I decided to buy a "nice" pen and a "nice" journal.  In retrospect, neither was, of course.  The first journal had really crummy paper and the pen was a Parker Reflex, and after a while the rubber on the section grip disintegrated.  The same thing happened with the replacement Reflex, and when I went to Staples to get a third one?  They no longer carried them.  But I still had cartridges, so ended up going on Parker's website and found an old-time stationers' in Downtown Pittsburgh, which was at the time an authorized Parker dealer.  And I bought a Parker Vector (and felt SOOOOO extravagant at the time -- I'd paid $9 US just for a pen that I was ONLY using for journaling!).  A couple of years later, I accidentally left the pen and the then-current journal volume, and the bag they were in, at my in-law's one winter and didn't get them back for a month.  By then?  Journaling with a BP or rollerball just didn't have the same "feel" to it.  And so went looking for a (temporary) replacement.  The place I'd gotten the Vector no longer carried them, and my choices were a Pilot Varsity or a $35 pen.  Well, the Varsity was a nice writer -- but ran out of ink in 3 days....  So I went back on line, and in the process found the Goulet Pens website, and also found my way here to FPN....  

I generally suggest that new folks here click on the "New Content" button when they log in, to get a good overview of a range of topics (the amount of information to be found here is kinda overwhelming); and to maybe check out the pinned Index to the Ink Reviews (some old images were lost a few years ago during the "Great Photobucket Hijack" 😞, but some people are trying to resurrect as many as they can) because I'm convinced we live in the Golden Age of Ink, with new companies popping up all over the globe.

But I also warn them that they've found themselves in a den full of "enablers" -- who will happily help them spend their discretionary budget on pens, ink, paper, desk accessories, repair tools, ephemera, and pen shows.

(Yes, I'm exhibit A ).  But I've also enabled my husband, who now has a few pens and few inks, and I've even gotten him to a couple of pen shows over the years....

Have fun here, and don't be afraid to ask questions.  I'm constantly amazed at the amount of information to be found here (and not just pen related at that) and the generosity of this community in the sharing of that information.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

[zmija]

Hi @Anderson Trindade - I'm also new here. Looks like there is a nice place for fountain pen people  

 

1 hour ago, inkstainedruth said:

And I bought a Parker Vector (and felt SOOOOO extravagant at the time...).

 

Oh, I shared the same feeling with Parker Vector but 20 years later... I switched from a Chinese Hero 330  

[OCArt]

[PAKMAN]

Hello and Welcome to FPN! So glad to have you join us!
 

[Wahl]

[Mark from Yorkshire]

[Russprechtl]

Hi Anderson! It's great to meet you.

[Anderson Trindade]

On 1/18/2026 at 7:46 PM, ArtfullyInked said:

Hi Anderson, and welcome!   I’m new too—just joined last week.  What’s your favorite pen so far?

 

Hi ArtfullyInked,

 

It's a tough question...without think to much about it : Pelikan M800, Waterman 52 and Lamy All Star...

[Anderson Trindade]

On 1/18/2026 at 7:56 PM, inkstainedruth said:

@Anderson Trindade Greetings from Pittsburgh, PA!  Welcome to FPN!

I found my way here a number of years ago (more than a decade at this point) when the pen I was using for journalling -- and the then current journal, got left at my brother-in-law's Christmas one January.  I had started reading a book called The Artist's Way, a couple of years before, which is a creativity course.  Every week you read the next chapter and do the "think outside the box" exercises.  But you also do what the author calls "Artist's Day Out", where you do something JUST for yourself.  And also keep what is called a "morning pages" journal: every morning when you get up, you write 3 pages (whatever comes into your head goes onto the page) and then you close the journal and go about the rest of your day.  Now I hadn't kept a diary or journal since I was in high school (I quit when I realized it had basically turned into a spreadsheet -- although I didn't know that term back in the 1970s -- of songs I'd heard on the radio).  So in order to get myself back in the habit, I decided to buy a "nice" pen and a "nice" journal.  In retrospect, neither was, of course.  The first journal had really crummy paper and the pen was a Parker Reflex, and after a while the rubber on the section grip disintegrated.  The same thing happened with the replacement Reflex, and when I went to Staples to get a third one?  They no longer carried them.  But I still had cartridges, so ended up going on Parker's website and found an old-time stationers' in Downtown Pittsburgh, which was at the time an authorized Parker dealer.  And I bought a Parker Vector (and felt SOOOOO extravagant at the time -- I'd paid $9 US just for a pen that I was ONLY using for journaling!).  A couple of years later, I accidentally left the pen and the then-current journal volume, and the bag they were in, at my in-law's one winter and didn't get them back for a month.  By then?  Journaling with a BP or rollerball just didn't have the same "feel" to it.  And so went looking for a (temporary) replacement.  The place I'd gotten the Vector no longer carried them, and my choices were a Pilot Varsity or a $35 pen.  Well, the Varsity was a nice writer -- but ran out of ink in 3 days....  So I went back on line, and in the process found the Goulet Pens website, and also found my way here to FPN....  

I generally suggest that new folks here click on the "New Content" button when they log in, to get a good overview of a range of topics (the amount of information to be found here is kinda overwhelming); and to maybe check out the pinned Index to the Ink Reviews (some old images were lost a few years ago during the "Great Photobucket Hijack" 😞, but some people are trying to resurrect as many as they can) because I'm convinced we live in the Golden Age of Ink, with new companies popping up all over the globe.

But I also warn them that they've found themselves in a den full of "enablers" -- who will happily help them spend their discretionary budget on pens, ink, paper, desk accessories, repair tools, ephemera, and pen shows.

(Yes, I'm exhibit A ).  But I've also enabled my husband, who now has a few pens and few inks, and I've even gotten him to a couple of pen shows over the years....

Have fun here, and don't be afraid to ask questions.  I'm constantly amazed at the amount of information to be found here (and not just pen related at that) and the generosity of this community in the sharing of that information.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

Hi Ruth,

 

It's always interesting to read stories like this and see how different paths bring us togheter in this hobby.

My interest for fountain pens started when I was 14 years old. I used to work for a company, where all the director board had their beautiful, shiny Montblancs. Sure, I had no means at that time to have one , so, I got a very cheep, unknown pen wish of course, brought hard moments with ink leaks on pocket, stains in the paper, etc... 

Time passed, I grew up , graduated in college, change from companies, got married, got childs and --- a little bit older now  ---  I felt desire to have at least one hobby to keep me inspired , to keep my mind distracted from daily issues, work routine and other stuff. Then I rediscovered the interest by fountain pains and also started to journal, which , by the way, have been so important fot mental health.

 

Thank you for the "new folks" tips and also for share your story.

 

And sory my any english mistakes , as I'm not fluent.

 

[]'s

 

Anderson

 

 

 

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

I actually got interested when I was a kid, and found what had been my grandfather's pen on my dad's dresser when we got back from my grandfather's funeral.  I have no idea what brand it was, just that it was a pen/pencil combo (pen at one end, lead pencil at the other).  And I was fascinated by it (because it was blue, and had BEEN my grandfather's.  I was so young that I thought the pencil leads went in what I realize now was probably the lever filler box.  My mother could NOT figure out what my fascination with it was (other than I was always "artsy" which my mom was not) -- my parents grew up during the Depression and probably couldn't afford anything better than some third tier junker pen; you have to consider that while $12.50 US for a pen sounds like a bargain these days, back in the 1930s and early 1940s dinner at a restaurant was 35¢ -- and if you went to a "nice" restaurant (i.e., some place that served alcohol) dinner was 50¢....  And of course lost my grandfather's pen pretty much straight away at that.... 

Then when I was in college, my first roommate (who was a year ahead of me) was taking a calligraphy class and was using some sort of fountain pen for it.  But the next year, with a different professor?  I was stuck with Speedball dip pens....  I think that's partly why, when I started doing "morning pages" I really wanted to have an actual fountain pen.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[Bisquitlips]

 

Welcome!

[Misfit]

Welcome to the community to all the new members in this topic. You are among friends. 

[AkitaMom]

Aloha and welcome to our Fountain Pen Place!

[garzaci]

Welcome. I am new as well. There is so much to learn from this community.  

[1nkulus]

You have successfully entered a rabbit hole/warren, who knows what it'll yield and where it'll lead.

Enjoy the fascinating journey and feel free to ask/share.