Fountain Pen Fun

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

It's about time that we had a thread about Fountain Pens, right @zil?  @Grunt, @Hemisphere wanna join us?  @Carborendum we will win you over yet!  @MormonGator have you ever tried a fountain pen????  

So for those of you that don't use fountain pens...(whether you were tagged or not) why not?  

So zil, I am fascinated with mini-pens.  I don't have one yet, but I'm thinking of getting one eventually.  Right now I'm just exploring the different kinds.  KarasKustoms has a mini-pen?!  Wow!  I didn't know that.  Thanks.  Who else has one I don't know about?  Okay the ones I am aware of are the Kaweko's, Pilot Petite 1, Conklin Minigraph,  Monteverde Poquito, TWSBI Mini, and TWSBI Vac Mini.  

Grunt, you mentioned in the other thread that you like fine pens but you would probably lose it.  I thought the same thing before I fell down the rabbit hole.  I've been using fountain pens for a few months now and I haven't lost any yet!  On the other hand, I would never buy an expensive pen for my husband because he loses things...I mean he lost his wedding ring...TWICE!  So I gave him a Platinum Preppy.  It's a nice writer for being "disposable".  You can use it more than once, in this case disposable only means that it costs about $3 and is made of materials that won't last forever.  For you though, I would recommend the Pilot Metropolitan.  It's a nice looking pen, good writer and only about $15.  

 

Edited September 27, 2017 by LiterateParakeet

[Guest MormonGator]

Just now, LiterateParakeet said:

  @MormonGator have you ever tried a fountain pen????  

 

Someone who will remain nameless sent LG and I a fountain pen in the mail. So yes, I have used them before. It was pretty cool! 

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

47 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

Someone who will remain nameless sent LG and I a fountain pen in the mail. So yes, I have used them before. It was pretty cool! 

Small world!  Some nameless person sent me a pen too! and now I am addicted.   

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

@Sunday21   How about you?  Have you tried FP's?   

[zil]

2 minutes ago, LiterateParakeet said:

So zil, I am fascinated with mini-pens.  I don't have one yet, but I'm thinking of getting one eventually.  Right now I'm just exploring the different kinds.  KarasKustoms has a mini-pen?!  Wow!  I didn't know that.  Thanks.  Who else has one I don't know about?  Okay the ones I am aware of are the Kaweko's, Pilot Petite 1, Conklin Minigraph,  Monteverde Poquito, TWSBI Mini, and TWSBI Vac Mini.  

 

 

Black n' Red paper.  Pilot Penmanship EF w/ Robert Oster Blue Denim, Waterman Laureat F w/ Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-Same, TWSBI Eco EF w/ Akkerman Oranje Boven, Pilot Vanishing Point F w/ Akkerman #09 Laan van Nieuw Oost-Indigo (holy cow do I love this combo).

[Guest MormonGator]

4 minutes ago, LiterateParakeet said:

Small world!  Some nameless person sent me a pen too! and now I am addicted.   

She's trying to lure us into addiction! Run @LiterateParakeet run!

[Sunday21]

7 minutes ago, LiterateParakeet said:

@Sunday21   How about you?  Have you tried FP's?   

I will pm you!

[anatess2]

I'm going to get me a fountain pen.  I am absolutely intrigued by @zil's multicolored dreamcoat, er, fountain pen.

But, my contribution to this thread would be a side-shoot of the main fountain pen topic and that is... penmanship.

One thing about Filipinos (at least my generation when typing was not a more important skill than writing) is a lot of them have good penmanship.  This stems from the common school feature of expensive copiers and not enough copies of books.  So we spend a lot of our time hand copying paragraphs of school material into our notebooks giving us lots and lots of penmanship practice.  Unfortunately, having been sucked into the world of computers at 11 years old, I have spent more time typing than writing so my penmanship is the worst of all my siblings and cousins.  If I happen to remember when I go to Walmart, I'll go get me an el-cheapo fountain pen and show you my poor penmanship.  So then, when I improve on my fountain pen collection, I'll see if I can get improved penmanship to go with it.

 

Edited September 27, 2017 by anatess2

[mdfxdb]

Fountain pens are great.  I use one almost everyday for signatures, and important documents.  Cross makes an OK pen, Waterman makes very nice pens, as well as Montblanc. Getting a fountain pen has actually inspired me to improve my penmanship.  I am actively trying to improve, as before it was the worst.

 

 

[zil]

1 minute ago, anatess2 said:

If I happen to remember when I go to Walmart, I'll go get me an el-cheapo fountain pen and show you my penmanship.

I have never seen a fountain pen at WalMart...  According to the online store, none near me have fountain pens.  And none near, for example 32824.

Staples sometimes has them.  OfficeDepot may, once in a blue moon.  Hobby/craft stores sometimes do - for ridiculous amounts.  Generally, these will have disposable Pilot Varsity pens, or non-disposable Pilot Metropolitans.

Actual pen shops (like Goulet Pens, Anderson Pens, or Vanness Pens) are a better bet, and often have better prices.  Amazon and eBay have many pens, but not all sellers are trustworthy, IMO.  There appear to be some pen stores in Florida - just google "fountain pen stores in florida"...

[zil]

2 minutes ago, mdfxdb said:

Fountain pens are great.  I use one almost everyday for signatures, and important documents.  Cross makes an OK pen, Waterman makes very nice pens, as well as Montblanc. Getting a fountain pen has actually inspired me to improve my penmanship.  I am actively trying to improve, as before it was the worst.

Sweet!  What pen(s) do you have?  My aunt has two Cross pens from the 1980s or 1990s - one is super nice.  Both are too skinny, IMO, but the one writes like a dream.

Edited September 27, 2017 by zil

[anatess2]

1 hour ago, zil said:

I have never seen a fountain pen at WalMart...  According to the online store, none near me have fountain pens.  And none near, for example 32824.

Staples sometimes has them.  OfficeDepot may, once in a blue moon.  Hobby/craft stores sometimes do - for ridiculous amounts.  Generally, these will have disposable Pilot Varsity pens, or non-disposable Pilot Metropolitans.

Actual pen shops (like Goulet Pens, Anderson Pens, or Vanness Pens) are a better bet, and often have better prices.  Amazon and eBay have many pens, but not all sellers are trustworthy, IMO.  There appear to be some pen stores in Florida - just google "fountain pen stores in florida"...

Dang!  You know something is special when they don't sell it at Walmart!

[mdfxdb]

2 hours ago, zil said:

Sweet!  What pen(s) do you have?  My aunt has two Cross pens from the 1980s or 1990s - one is super nice.  Both are too skinny, IMO, but the one writes like a dream.

My next fountain pen will be this one: http://www.montblanc.com/en-us/collection/writing-instruments/meisterstueck/112670-meisterstueck-red-gold-legrand-fountain-pen.html

I have several montblanc's from the legrand line, and they are nice chunky writing instruments.

[zil]

37 minutes ago, mdfxdb said:

My next fountain pen will be this one: http://www.montblanc.com/en-us/collection/writing-instruments/meisterstueck/112670-meisterstueck-red-gold-legrand-fountain-pen.html

I have several montblanc's from the legrand line, and they are nice chunky writing instruments.

Nice.  I don't really like the cigar shape myself, but I'm sure it's a quality pen.

[mdfxdb]

I also like the starwalker line.  I think they are cool.  I have one of the ball point versions.  Here is their fountain pen.  http://www.montblanc.com/en-us/collection/writing-instruments/starwalker/8482-StarWalker-Platinum-Resin-Fountain-Pen.html

Very cool looking.

[Grunt]

I'm not sure I even know what a fountain pen is.  Time to google.

[zil]

21 minutes ago, Grunt said:

I'm not sure I even know what a fountain pen is.  Time to google.

 

[zil]

Hmm.  I was trying to link to the second video in this series.  It answers your questions.  Just click the "next video" button on above video.

[Grunt]

 

12 minutes ago, zil said:

Hmm.  I was trying to link to the second video in this series.  It answers your questions.  Just click the "next video" button on above video.

I hate you.  I hate you so much.  My children will go hungry this week.

[Grunt]

Suggest one for me.

[zil]

Just now, Grunt said:

I hate you.  I hate you so much.  My children will go hungry this week.

IM me if you want - I'm an enabler (we (fp people) all are, really).  I'll set you up.  No need for the children to go hungry just yet.

[zil]

Just now, Grunt said:

Suggest one for me.

OK, we need to answer several questions to get this right:

1. Do you consider your hands large, average, or small?
2. What size pen do you write with now?  If you happen to use a Pilot G2 (a shocking number of people do), what size is it - the numbers on the clip?
3. Do you have a color preference?
4. Do you have a material preference (e.g. metal vs. plastic)?
5. Are you left-handed?

That should get us started.

[Grunt]

1 minute ago, zil said:

OK, we need to answer several questions to get this right:

1. Do you consider your hands large, average, or small?
2. What size pen do you write with now?  If you happen to use a Pilot G2 (a shocking number of people do), what size is it - the numbers on the clip?
3. Do you have a color preference?
4. Do you have a material preference (e.g. metal vs. plastic)?
5. Are you left-handed?

That should get us started.

1. Average to large hands.

2. Various pens, whatever is available with my logo on it.

3. Neutral colors 

4. Metal or plastic, depending on looks (image)

5.  Right-handed

I also sent a PM

[zil]

Compiling info.  Will IM.

[Grunt]

I still hate you.