Anyone else into fountain pens?

Chris McCollum · Jul 26, 2018

I have had quite a few of them....but my all time favorite EDC is the Pilot Vanishing Point in matte black with fine nib. That thing is bullet proof. Never had it dry up when i left it open, no hiccups in the ink, failures to feed, etc. It's been incredibly low maintenance which is what makes a good pen great for me personally.

https://www.gouletpens.com/collecti...untain-pen-black-matte?variant=11884888981547

What do you carry?

Bird Lives · Jul 26, 2018

My EDC is just a Cross Bailey in Red...Med.Nib....Nothing special, but a very good maintenance free daily writter. I use the propriatory refillable cartridge converter, and this combo has been bullet proof for me also.
I couldn'd be happier....

My favorite ink is Noodler's Air Corp...this is water proof and is exactly the colo that I remember my Grandmother used when I was growing up. She had a dip pen from the 1920's and did some calligraphy. I loved her handwritting aswell. I was trying inks non-stop til I found this one. Thats "IT" for me! I love this ink for everyday writting aswell as for legal documents.

Yep, Pilot has made some Classics, thats for sure. They have been a trendsetter for many years. How long have you been using your Vanishing point ?

Chris McCollum · Jul 26, 2018

Noodlers? Awesome! I will get some tonight. I've become a bit of a snob with pens, ink, and paper....and I hate it. Once I find something, I rarely step out and try new stuff. For example, I've never had much luck with refillable converters, so I never really use one. But I hate this because I have tons of ink bottles that I've used for other things. I just need to try some new stuff again! You've inspired me.... ;-)

I really LOVE those old dip pens. I remember a bank in Austin when I was a kid that still had some old dip pens chained to the desks where you filled out your slips. I was always so fascinated with them. That then got me into vintage ink wells....it never ends!

I've been carrying the Pilot for a couple of years now. It's beat up but works perfectly. I had a Faber Castell Ambition in black that was incredible. I actually preferred it's balance over the pilot vanishing point, but for an EDC pen in my line of work having caps is a pain for me. I needed a pen that still had a bit of penache.

Once i got the pen/ink setup, I started to realize that some papers really sucked to write on. So finding a moleskine/pocket notebook for taking notes got serious. My favorite pad for EDC work stuff is the Rhodia flip up notebook. It has 100gsm paper that takes ink super well. And, even better, it has perforated sheets so I don't have to tear it from the binding at top!

Noodlers is waterproof? Where do you get yours?

VintageEveryday · Jul 26, 2018

I have an early 40s Sheaffer military clip, a 1930s pen/pencil combo by ParkPen, two pthers whose names I don't recall and a modern conklin

GHT · Jul 26, 2018

My school taught every pupil to write in italic script, most never bothered with it after school, but my handwriting changed from a spider crawling out of the inkwell, to a tidy acceptable appearance. I have always used a fountain pen, indeed I still have the Osmiroid pen that I used at school, although the bladder perished I was able to adapt it to use cartridges.
Today's e-mail is such a quick, instant form of contact that most people don't bother with handwriting, it's there loss. I find that if you have a grievance with an organisation a carefully crafted letter, written in ink, provokes a response everytime.
As well as the school pen I have a number of fountain pens, but The Osmiroid is still my favourite.
You might like this thread:
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/fountain-pens-who-uses-them-and-why.42625/

Cassidy · Jul 27, 2018

I mostly use my two TWSBI pens (one is the Vac Mini with a stub, the other is the limited-edition gold Diamond Mini with a fine nib), but I do also regularly use my grandfather's Parker Vacumatic, mainly with Diamine Sepia ink. It's not a very fancy Vacumatic - opaque cap, translucent body - but it's from 1945 and may have been a graduation gift for him. The date works out, anyway, but it never came out of the drawer until long after his death, so I didn't have the chance to ask him about it.

Chris McCollum · Jul 27, 2018

VintageEveryday said:
I have an early 40s Sheaffer military clip, a 1930s pen/pencil combo by ParkPen, two pthers whose names I don't recall and a modern conklin

I think I've heard of the Shaefers.....don't they have the little bar on the side near the nib that you pull out and then in to fill it with ink? Very cool.

Chris McCollum · Jul 27, 2018

GHT said:
My school taught every pupil to write in italic script, most never bothered with it after school, but my handwriting changed from a spider crawling out of the inkwell, to a tidy acceptable appearance. I have always used a fountain pen, indeed I still have the Osmiroid pen that I used at school, although the bladder perished I was able to adapt it to use cartridges.
Today's e-mail is such a quick, instant form of contact that most people don't bother with handwriting, it's there loss. I find that if you have a grievance with an organisation a carefully crafted letter, written in ink, provokes a response everytime.
As well as the school pen I have a number of fountain pens, but The Osmiroid is still my favourite.
You might like this thread:
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/fountain-pens-who-uses-them-and-why.42625/
View attachment 128444 View attachment 128445 View attachment 128446

Is that the actual Osmiroid you used as a child? What a cool thing to have a favorite pen that's been with you since childhood.

Chris McCollum · Jul 27, 2018

Cassidy said:
I mostly use my two TWSBI pens (one is the Vac Mini with a stub, the other is the limited-edition gold Diamond Mini with a fine nib), but I do also regularly use my grandfather's Parker Vacumatic, mainly with Diamine Sepia ink. It's not a very fancy Vacumatic - opaque cap, translucent body - but it's from 1945 and may have been a graduation gift for him. The date works out, anyway, but it never came out of the drawer until long after his death, so I didn't have the chance to ask him about it.

I've never written with a Stub before. What is it used for? Just plain old writing or caligraphy?

Bird Lives · Jul 27, 2018

Not all noodlers inks are water proof...But their Black is WaterProof and Laser proof...they call it bullet proof..And their Air Corp is a very dark Turquoise that is water and laser proof.
I got mine from Amazon but Goulet carrys them aswell.

If you don't get on with the cartridge converters, you can always reload your used cartridges with a syringe so you can use different inks...I've done it...It's VERY EASY to do...And there are some really great inks out there these days.

Inks....now theres another slippery slope...

Absinthe_1900 · Jul 28, 2018

I got lucky, I found these in a box of things my Mom kept from her younger days.

Left to Right: Esterbrook J, in Black, and Green and Copper pen and pencil sets. (still have the box for the copper set) Parker Challenger, and a Waterman 94 were her school pens. My favorite is the Parker Challenger, but love using all of them.

robrinay · Jul 28, 2018

I’ve still got a few favourites left over from my fountain pen collecting days. About twenty years ago I even went in a one day course to learn how to fix them. The course was taught by Arthur Twydle (father of Peter who now runs the website, (http://penmuseum.co.uk/index.html),
a very skilled kind and knowledgable teacher. The cost of the course included a days teaching lunch a video of how to pens an essential tool kit and full use of Arthur’s spare parts to fix a dozen of my own pens he’d invited me to bring along to the course. I realised immediately that he wasn’t running the course for profit but to pass on his skills to the ‘next generation’.
Peter has included lots of free advice on pen repair in the ‘master class section’

Cassidy · Aug 19, 2018

Chris McCollum said:
I've never written with a Stub before. What is it used for? Just plain old writing or caligraphy?

Sorry for the long wait! I use it for just plain old writing, myself - it adds a bit of spice. With a more graceful hand you could probably use it for a modified form of calligraphy (1.1mm isn't a broad as real calligraphy nibs, like for dip pens), but with my semi-Spencerian handwriting it tends to come off like 18th century-style writing with a quill.

ronbo · Aug 19, 2018

I love Parker pens. There an ASMR guy on you tube who's Grandfather worked for Parker and he has some great stories. Here is one of his links. I find ASMR relaxing

MontaukTrl · Sep 3, 2018

Chris McCollum said:
I have had quite a few of them....but my all time favorite EDC is the Pilot Vanishing Point in matte black with fine nib. That thing is bullet proof. Never had it dry up when i left it open, no hiccups in the ink, failures to feed, etc. It's been incredibly low maintenance which is what makes a good pen great for me personally.

https://www.gouletpens.com/collecti...untain-pen-black-matte?variant=11884888981547

What do you carry?

Right now I just carry a Pilot Metropolitan. Inexpensive pen and cartridges, writes very well and the ink dries quickly. The ink dry time is important as I am left handed. I have a Lamy with a much broader nib that I like quite a bit, particularly the wider nib, just need to order more cartridges for it.

Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk

HudsonHawk · Sep 11, 2018

I'm not a collector, but I pretty much use fountain pens exclusively. In my pocket I have a Pelikan something or other, and on my desk a Visconti Rembrandt, which I love because it's a little bigger. I have a few others, and probably a dozen or so Lamy Safari pens, which are fantastic because they are not only awesome little pens, but are ridiculously cheap for the outstanding quality. That's what I usually use for travel as I can stuff three or four in my laptop carryon bag. For the converter pens, I use Waterman Florida Blue ink, though I think they call it something else these days. For the Lamys, I use the disposable cartridges because they're easy and you can simply pull them out when on a plane and not worry about them leaking. They take their own cartridge. I always use blue ink unless the task specifically calls for a different color such as red.

STEVIEBOY1 · Sep 27, 2018

I Really enjoy using proper ink/fountain pens, we had to at school, ballpoints were banned. I would like to get my hands on a real old one again.

GHT · Sep 27, 2018

STEVIEBOY1 said:
I Really enjoy using proper ink/fountain pens, we had to at school, ballpoints were banned. I would like to get my hands on a real old one again.

Well, as you are based in London, get yourself along to:
The London Writing Equipment Show at:
The Holiday Inn
Coram Street
Bloomsbury
WC1N 1HT
It's on next Sunday week, that's the 7th of October, starts at ten am. If you can't get there, this fountain pen trader is worth a look.
https://www.vintagefountainpens.co.uk/

STEVIEBOY1 · Sep 28, 2018

GHT said:
Well, as you are based in London, get yourself along to:
The London Writing Equipment Show at:
The Holiday Inn
Coram Street
Bloomsbury
WC1N 1HT
It's on next Sunday week, that's the 7th of October, starts at ten am. If you can't get there, this fountain pen trader is worth a look.
https://www.vintagefountainpens.co.uk/

Thank you very much for that, I shall have a look at that website.

Roadopen · Sep 28, 2018

My pop had a few original vintage old Cross and as of late a Montblanc Meisterstuck I used when writing chord notes for music. Them are really smooth and just glides which is supposed to with no drag nor snag on any type of paper.

Lots of great original ones from way back that are keepers/collectors.

Write On Fella’s

Roadopen

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