Fountain Pen

Kenneth Lawson · Jan 22, 2019

I've been thinking I'd like to try a fountain pen.
After watching many many videos covering pens ranging from 2-3 cheapies, that are borderline throwaways, to a video of the Montblanc Alfred Hitchcock limited edition, pen, of which I understand they only 3,000 of, and on eBay list for well north of 2,500. Used.
I've pretty much settled on the Pilot Metropolitan. As my first Fountain pen.
I think I can get it locally if nothing else Amazon has it for less then 20.00.
I was interested in hearing other thoughts and ideas on the topic of fountain pens. I see there has been talk of them. However, It seems to have been several years ago.

Edward · Jan 22, 2019

That's not bad - that sort of price should guarantee you something decent, and PIlot are good in my experience. Once you've decided fountain pens are for you, then you can experiment with the cheapies as a way of trying new inks or styles of pen that might or might not be to your liking.

Kenneth Lawson · Jan 22, 2019

Edward said:
That's not bad - that sort of price should guarantee you something decent, and PIlot are good in my experience. Once you've decided fountain pens are for you, then you can experiment with the cheapies as a way of trying new inks or styles of pen that might or might not be to your liking.

I have discovered that much like Vinyl, there are people who eat sleep and breathe the pens, and ink, and all that goes with it.
I doubt that I'll get that much into it. However, I think its cool, and It MAY help that Henscratch, I call handwriting. Which I can't read less than 5 minutes after I write it. If it turns into something I really like at some point I'll see about investing in some better pens.
That said, the idea of finding cool old pens and collecting does appeal to me. As with most of you here, I think, I have a thing for anything that is older than I am..lol

Kenneth Lawson · Jan 22, 2019

I settled on the Pilot because it showed up on several lst of best entry level,(Cheap) pens and was said to be not bad for the price. I suspect that a cheap pen today, is far better than a cheap pen many years ago..

Edward · Jan 22, 2019

Kenneth Lawson said:
I settled on the Pilot because it showed up on several lst of best entry level,(Cheap) pens and was said to be not bad for the price. I suspect that a cheap pen today, is far better than a cheap pen many years ago..

Certainly I suspect today's cheap pens are probably manufactured with much more consistency.

In terms of cheap and readily affordable, I've had good experience of the fountain pen version of the Parker Jotter series. Usually around GBP15 / USD20.

GHT · Jan 22, 2019

Kenneth Lawson said:
I doubt that I'll get that much into it. However, I think its cool, and It MAY help that Henscratch, I call handwriting. Which I can't read less than 5 minutes after I write it. If it turns into something I really like at some point I'll see about investing in some better pens.
That said, the idea of finding cool old pens and collecting does appeal to me. As with most of you here, I think, I have a thing for anything that is older than I am..lol

Teaching yourself to write in italic script will pay dividends. E-Mail is the communication of the day. Letters are a rarity, so a letter gets noticed, and if you are writing to an organisation a hand written letter in ink will always get a response. Those pain in the proverbial companies like Utilities, Insurance and Local Government never seem to bother with complaints by e-mail, but they certainly react to a letter. I know, from experience, that somehow the letter sort of intimidates, it says that you mean business.
If you really can't master script, there is a way to cheat. Select a font that you particularly like, increase the size up to handwriting size, type out and print off the letter, then carefully write over the print in pen and ink.

For what it's worth, I still use the Osmiroid fountain pen that I had at school, 62 years ago. It even has the same nib.

Kenneth Lawson · Jan 22, 2019

That's one of the things I've noticed about Fountain Pens in general, they seem to last forever. I saw a lot of folks restoring and getting pens from the 1930 and that era working again. So it seems like if you take care of it, and keep it clean it should last your lifetime or longer..

Dnewma04 · Jan 22, 2019

I bought 8 sub 40.00 fountain pens a year and a half ago. My favorite was a Lamy Safari. I’ve terrible handwriting but I find it relaxing to practice.

A friend restores vintage pens. He swears by older pens due to their more flexible nibs than what is available today.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Kenneth Lawson · Jan 22, 2019

The Lamy Safari was also listed as an excellent starter pen. I suspect that from what I've seen on YT there are a number of pens that will work well enough for one to decide if they want to jump down the Pen Rabbit Hole..
I'll get the Pilot Metropolitan and see how that goes. I picked the one that has extra ink cartridges, and an extra bottle of Noodles ink as its supposed to be the best ink for writing on regular paper, which is what I'll be using most of the time..
I also went and did some research on vintage pens, and set up a note in my Evernote about pens, listing various brands, both new and vintage, and some links to site for reference etc. That way when I'm out and about, and I spot an old pen I can at least have an idea what I'm looking at.

Kane · Jan 23, 2019

The Pilot Metropolitan is a good pen. I carry one with me, along with a Fisher Space Pen ballpoint. I keep my Metropolitan inked with Noodler’s Black which is a waterproof ink and I use it for writing checks, addressing envelops, and general note taking and doodling. I have a few nicer pens that I write with at home, but the Metro is my EDC. I think it writes pretty well for what it is.
The other good cheap fountain pen is the Lamy Safari. The Pilot Metro is a bit heftier as it’s a metal body, and more traditional looking, but the Safari is a good pen as well. One thing to keep in mind is that German nibs, as on the Lamy, write a broader line than a Japanese nib, as on the Pilot. So a Piot Metro medium nib is about as broad a line as a Lamy fine nib.

Edward · Jan 23, 2019

Kenneth Lawson said:
The Lamy Safari was also listed as an excellent starter pen. I suspect that from what I've seen on YT there are a number of pens that will work well enough for one to decide if they want to jump down the Pen Rabbit Hole..
I'll get the Pilot Metropolitan and see how that goes. I picked the one that has extra ink cartridges, and an extra bottle of Noodles ink as its supposed to be the best ink for writing on regular paper, which is what I'll be using most of the time..
I also went and did some research on vintage pens, and set up a note in my Evernote about pens, listing various brands, both new and vintage, and some links to site for reference etc. That way when I'm out and about, and I spot an old pen I can at least have an idea what I'm looking at.

The Lamy SAfari was originally designed as an ergonomic pen to introduce children to fountain pens, but it rapidly caught on elsewhere. Too modern in aesthetics for me, but if that's the only criticism I can have against it, that has t be impressive.

Kane said:
The Pilot Metropolitan is a good pen. I carry one with me, along with a Fisher Space Pen ballpoint. I keep my Metropolitan inked with Noodler’s Black which is a waterproof ink and I use it for writing checks, addressing envelops, and general note taking and doodling. I have a few nicer pens that I write with at home, but the Metro is my EDC. I think it writes pretty well for what it is.
The other good cheap fountain pen is the Lamy Safari. The Pilot Metro is a bit heftier as it’s a metal body, and more traditional looking, but the Safari is a good pen as well. One thing to keep in mind is that German nibs, as on the Lamy, write a broader line than a Japanese nib, as on the Pilot. So a Piot Metro medium nib is about as broad a line as a Lamy fine nib.

A Space Pen is a joy to have for those few thnigs on which a fountain pen simply won't write...

David Conwill · Jan 23, 2019

I started out with Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens and loved them. I've never heard of the Metropolitan, but I'd say that I would trust Pilot, given my experience with the Varsities. In fact, I've been contemplating picking up some Varsities, since in my current job I don't have much call to use my nicer fountain pens, but go through a lot of disposables marking up documents for correction.

Sanford Goldstein · Jan 23, 2019

I was a fountain pen enthusiast and wrote with them for a bit.... buy a blotter it will come in handy depending on the type of pen wether cartridge or bladder pen. My were pens more 50’s vintage.

From what I’ve heard out here around Scottsdale is the Metropolitan collection from Pilot is quite good.

Most of them were Schaefer’s, a few watermans like the Opera and a Cf, also a montgrapa, two Montblancs- the 149 and the Hemingway. I also had quite a few Parker’s in the mix. The thing I regret is that is I had to practice writing with my right hand to pull the pen from me and not as a lefty pushing the pen away.

The pen nib of course doesn’t roll across the paper but actually inscribes the paper leaving a channel for the ink to flow into... as a lefty pushing the pen across paper seemed To have drawbacks for me. My hand seemed to work it’s way over the script being written leaving me to also learn how to write with the paper side ways so my hand wouldn’t smear over the ink... yes I rest my side palm on the paper as I write. I also used roughed 100% deckle type paper I would make and the paper isn’t as smooth as manufactured Paper, however I didn’t have much luck with that either. I also had issue with it “catching and tearing” paper.

It also cost me because of “sprung” nibs... using too much pressure will spread the nib too much that it may not return to its natural state and need to be replaced. I used medium and large nibs for my work and 14kt nibs were pricey, and some I could just replace.

Now day if you use a non lined paper such as greeting cards and invitations may I suggest use a laser level to create the line and move it down each time you finish a line

If you practice and become profiecient with the fountain pen you will be very happy. I just couldn’t get the grasp of it

Kenneth Lawson · Jan 23, 2019

As I said, when I decided, on a whim, that I wanted to try a fountain pen, I knew nothing about them, other then generally what they are. I don't think I've seen one at least not that I can remember. certainly not to use for any length of time.
So that required some research as to what was out there, and how they work etc.
In the course of watching a lot of video on YT, I saw they there are a wide variety of pens manufactures, and price points ranging from 2-3 dollars, up to hundreds and even thousands of dollars.
Obviously as a newbie, in the field, I want a cheap but good pen to start with. and the Pilot pen seemed like a good one to start with.
So that's what I'm aiming for.
If I go down the Pen Rabbit Hole, which is a distinct possibility, I'll try other pens, such as the Lamy Sarfi, and others. Not to mention it is one more thing to look for in garage sales flea markets etc. After seeing several videos with folks restoring older, 1930-50's pens back to working order, I'd probably pick up an older pen and try to get it to work.
Which goes with my love of all things "Older Than Me..."

GHT · Jan 23, 2019

This is a fortuitous thread, I have a new fountain pen that my wife bought me for Christmas. It's a Waterman, a French company, they have been producing fine pens since 1883, round about the same time as Kaweco. My beautiful gift is still unused, I'm waiting for a collection of italic broad nibs to arrive in order to give it the style it deserves. The model is based on a similar one of the late 19th century, but of course it doesn't have a rubber bladder, it has a cartridge that works like a syringe, drawing the ink up with a suction device.

Kenneth Lawson · Jan 23, 2019

Waterman is a brand I saw a lot on YT. It seems to be a well-respected brand, that's been making pens for many years.
This is where learning about the brands and their history is important.
Like stereos cars, guns, even pottery, and lamps almost everything we use today has a history going back decades, and many companies and individuals behind them. Learning the history of what you're interested in and the evolution of the product can only make the collecting and use of the item that much more enjoyable.

GHT · Jan 24, 2019

Here are the italic, Gothic & cursive script nibs for The Waterman:

JimK · Jan 24, 2019

I would be surprised if those italic nibs fit into the Waterman. They look to me like the nibs for the Kaweco Calligraphy pens: https://www.jetpens.com/Kaweco-Calligraphy-Pen-Set-Black-4-Nib-Sizes/pd/6832

Waterman started in New York, at the end of the 19th Century. I don't know when they stopped manufacturing in the USA... not until the 1960s at least.

A fountain pen should require very little pressure. It certainly should not be making any kind of groove in the paper! The basic operating principle is ... oops, I forget the name! But if you dip a corner of a paper towel into water, the paper towel will draw the water up a bit. Similarly, the slit between the tines of a fountain pen will pull the ink down to the paper and the paper will pull a bit of ink off the nib.

If you put a cartridge into a new pen, the nib will be dry. You need to prime the flow. There needs to be a continuous line of ink from the cartridge to the page. Well, of fluid. I sometimes prime a pen just using water. Dip the nib into water, just maybe half an inch into the water, for just half a second. That wets the nib and feed, which should get the ink to flow out of the cartridge. Of course you'll be writing with water for a few sentences until the ink shows up, so just do zig zags on scratch paper until the ink starts coming out.

** Capillary forces, that's what makes the ink flow!

Edward · Jan 24, 2019

My latest 'cheapo' pen arrived today. It is a Wing Sun 601 - essentially a copy of an early, vacuumatic Parker P51. Unlike Hero versions of this pen I have tried in the past, This one is a perfect copy in terms of the overall size and feel of the pen; for less than ten pounds, it feels pretty solid too. I an indifferent to their use of a cap which copies Parker's feathered arrow clip; as, overall it copies (and I bought it because it copies) a model no longer available from Parker, I'm prepared to write this off as an 'homage'. It certainly doesn't say Parker anywhere on it - the cap bears the Wing Sun logo and model number.

I'll have to see how this one lasts with me over time, but as long as it doesn't leak or casue other problems, this could be a fantastic entry-level "P51" or a take-anywhere and don't worry about it option for the P51 fan.

Purchased mine from eBay, here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vacumati...var=552961362892&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Randomly, the seller also enclosed a universal cartridge-convertor as seen in the auction photos, but the pen is a pump / piston filler....

Edward · Jan 24, 2019

JimK said:
I would be surprised if those italic nibs fit into the Waterman. They look to me like the nibs for the Kaweco Calligraphy pens: https://www.jetpens.com/Kaweco-Calligraphy-Pen-Set-Black-4-Nib-Sizes/pd/6832

Waterman started in New York, at the end of the 19th Century. I don't know when they stopped manufacturing in the USA... not until the 1960s at least.

A fountain pen should require very little pressure. It certainly should not be making any kind of groove in the paper! The basic operating principle is ... oops, I forget the name! But if you dip a corner of a paper towel into water, the paper towel will draw the water up a bit. Similarly, the slit between the tines of a fountain pen will pull the ink down to the paper and the paper will pull a bit of ink off the nib.

If you put a cartridge into a new pen, the nib will be dry. You need to prime the flow. There needs to be a continuous line of ink from the cartridge to the page. Well, of fluid. I sometimes prime a pen just using water. Dip the nib into water, just maybe half an inch into the water, for just half a second. That wets the nib and feed, which should get the ink to flow out of the cartridge. Of course you'll be writing with water for a few sentences until the ink shows up, so just do zig zags on scratch paper until the ink starts coming out.

** Capillary forces, that's what makes the ink flow!

This, I think, is the joy of a 'true' fountain pen over cartridges: as the ink is drawn into the pen through the nib, the whole outfit gets ink in.

FWIW, I've never 'cleaned' a pen between inks, as I rather enjoy the 'evolution' from one colour to the next in my writing. That said, I generally handwrite only for myself, so this sort of foible is easier to get away with.

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