Fountain Pens

[SkippyLeDoo]

I've recently made a huge mistake and started a new hobby with fountain pens.

I now have a TWSBI 580 and a Noodler's Konrad, both of which I've already modified to fit Zebra G nibs, 7 bottles of ink, and 2 rhodia notepads.

Pics:

http://i.imgur.com/TsSW8XG.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/S79vmqs.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/fQnMc1W.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/XuVElaw.jpg

Since I've gotten them I've been practicing for hours on end every day with improving my handwriting. Here's a comparison (from a couple posts I made to /r/fountainpens).

A few days: http://i.imgur.com/Q43QPJZ.jpg

Two and a half weeks: http://i.imgur.com/V9FnfFt.jpg

----------

Any other fountain pen users or potential converts here? If you have any questions, I'll try my best to answer them.

Also, if you want, head over to the fountain pens subreddit.

 

[CrashMan054]

This sort of thread is why I love TEST.

 

[SkippyLeDoo]

This sort of thread is why I love TEST.

Since I've stopped spending money on spaceships, I redirected my money to something more practical. It's not a problem, I SWEAR.

 

[WarrenPeace]

I, uh, might have a few. I have a Lamy Safari, an old Levenger L-Tech, some Watermans that I got from my dad, and a handmade semi-flex pen made to work with Zebra G nibs. I've got a couple of inks that I like to use, and I use the L-Tech as my daily pen just because the metal body makes it hella tough. I use a Midori traveller's notebook with unlined paper for notes, plus a daily planner to help me keep track of things. I absolutely love my semi-flex; nothing else I've tried looks or feels as good to write with, though it's a bit of a chore to keep it clean and and working well.

 

[AntiSqueaker]

I consider myself a bit of a pen enthusiast.

Unfortunately, my prized pen, a Billet Ingenuir Concombre, Crystal series. 1.0mm is in the shop right now.

But here's a stock photo of it.


Some handwriting samples:
Before: http://imgur.com/zRjZlOG

After: http://imgur.com/roshBdi

 

[SkippyLeDoo]

I, uh, might have a few. I have a Lamy Safari, an old Levenger L-Tech, some Watermans that I got from my dad, and a handmade semi-flex pen made to work with Zebra G nibs. I've got a couple of inks that I like to use, and I use the L-Tech as my daily pen just because the metal body makes it hella tough. I use a Midori traveller's notebook with unlined paper for notes, plus a daily planner to help me keep track of things. I absolutely love my semi-flex; nothing else I've tried looks or feels as good to write with, though it's a bit of a chore to keep it clean and and working well.

I had done my modifications to my pens before I heard of desiderata. They look pretty nice, though I prefer piston fill because it's convenient.

Metal pens are cool, too. I hadn't mentioned the Cross Bailey I'm in the middle of repairing, but it's nice and sturdy. I might give it to my younger brother, though I may just help him pick out a pen if he wants one.

I consider myself a bit of a pen enthusiast.

Unfortunately, my prized pen, a Billet Ingenuir Concombre, Crystal series. 1.0mm is in the shop right now.

But here's a stock photo of it.


Some handwriting samples:
Before: http://imgur.com/zRjZlOG

After: http://imgur.com/roshBdi

I like your ink. Seriously though, fountain pens are so nice to write with. After switching over, I wish I had gotten into fountain pens sooner.

 

[maynard]

I didn't know until just now that writing instrument porn was a thing

 

[Sethiol]

This is more queer than people who love cats and are into coil porn..:cool:...ahhh man, my cat just got into my 24 guage kanthal wire again.

 

[SkippyLeDoo]

I didn't know until just now that writing instrument porn was a thing

Nothing turns me on like a fountain pen.

This is more queer than people who love cats and are into coil porn..:cool:

...ahhh man, my cat just got into my 24 guage kanthal wire again.

The only solution is to use your cat as a wick.

 

[Sethiol]

The only solution is to use your cat as a wick.

You are a brilliant man.


WIFE, READY THE SHEARS!!!!

 

[deathstrike]

I actually have moved to using fountain pens too. I like Lamy's and so far I have a Lamy CP1 (the smaller one) for daily use that I carry in my pocket and a Lamy Safari (too big to carry in my pocket) for letter writing and other stuff. I use noodler's ink and I really enjoy it. I can get away with filling the CP1 once a week even when taking a lot of notes. Nice ballpoints or gel pens were somewhat expensive and always started to write poorly after maybe half the ink was used. My penmanship isn't anything too special though.

 

[SkippyLeDoo]

My penmanship isn't anything too special though.

I think it looks pretty nice.

 

[Shar Treuse]

I find these absolutely fantastic (I am into steampunk), but a tad bit expensive:

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/montblanc-fountain-pen?PageSpeed=noscript

Quick pic for those who don't want to go to the site:

Though I am more of a calligraphy kind of guy, using solid pens with an ink pot rather than hollow fountain pens with internal ink.

 

[deathstrike]

Those are way to ostentatious for me own/use but they do look pretty cool.

 

[SkippyLeDoo]

Those are way to ostentatious for me own/use but they do look pretty cool.

I've embraced the fact that I'm a pretentious douche. I just don't care anymore if something is interesting to me. At any rate, there are plenty of fountain pens that aren't showy.

 

[Civil Hypocricy]

I am absolutely interested in converting, though I can't quite afford anything more than a few dollars right now... Oh well, in a month or so, I guess. Still, I think I'll get a lot of practice in the near future, hopefully. BTW, those steampunk pens look badass. :)

 

[SkippyLeDoo]

I am absolutely interested in converting, though I can't quite afford anything more than a few dollars right now... Oh well, in a month or so, I guess. Still, I think I'll get a lot of practice in the near future, hopefully. BTW, those steampunk pens look badass. :)

There are a bunch of inexpensive fountain pens to get you started. Here are a couple lists of pens with prices in ascending order: [goulet] [jetpens]
Personally I think the Pilot Metropolitan could be a nice start if/once you can afford it since they're metal and, from what I've heard, pretty smooth to write with. Just be aware that you'll be dropping another $10+ for ink before shipping. Jetpens does offer free shipping with $25+ orders though.

Also, for everyday writing, I'd recommend a fine nib. With mediums you generally have to write bigger than with a ballpoint or a pencil. The first handwriting example I gave was with a fine point on 5 square per inch grid paper and the fourth image link and second handwriting example were written with a modified Zebra G dip nib (extra fine flex).

-----

My god, though, those steampunk Montblancs. I don't think I'd ever touch them if I did have one. I'd be too afraid of breaking them and getting fingerprints all over them.

 

[rogesh]

if posible im always writing with fountain pens. got myself a few but mostly lamis. i love the feeling when writing with them :D

 

[deathstrike]

if posible im always writing with fountain pens. got myself a few but mostly lamis. i love the feeling when writing with them :D

Yea that's another nice thing about them. I have to press down a fair amount with ballpoint pens and my hand gets tired if I'm wiring for a long time, say, more than 30-40 mins, but I never really have that with fountain pens. You don't need the pressure to get the ink to flow.

 

[Shar Treuse]

Though I did, as I mentioned before, use calligraphy pens quite a lot in the past, I find that I just don't have much use for hand written anything anymore. Practically everything I do is on the computer, so I don't get much practice writing or even printing anymore. It's not quite a lost art but it is on the endangered species list, metaphorically.