Fountain Pens??

About a year ago I got fed up with trashy looking throwaway plastic pens the same way I got fed up recently with trashy looking plastic throwaway razors. I went back to the pens most of us who grew up in Georgia in the 50s and 60s used in school: the fountain pen. The ones I remember were the ones that had bladders or the ones that took cartridges. I remember having a cartridge fountain pen and writing on Blue Horse notebook paper. I saved the Blue Horse stamps too. This is only my personal opinion, but there's an elegance about a fountain pen that says something to me. It looks like an artist's instrument. They write so smoothly and the pen is fat enough that it doesn't cramp my hands holding it while writing.

Has anyone else returned to the fountain pen?

yup. i got the bug a while back and have settled on 1 FP. no AD's for me, just the 1.

Pilot Vanishing Point:

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(05-24-2012, 06:25 PM)brucered Wrote: yup. i got the bug a while back and have settled on 1 FP. no AD's for me, just the 1.

Pilot Vanishing Point:

I only have one also. I do have 3 bottles of ink though. Must be early stage AD.

Fountain pens? Me? I don't think so.


I lied.

I won't even begin to talk about inks.

(05-24-2012, 06:55 PM)freddy Wrote: Fountain pens? Me? I don't think so.


I lied.

I won't even begin to talk about inks.

WOW!!!!!! That's the biggest collection of fountain pens I've ever seen! Nice stuff man!

Thank you, Dave. Many are just inexpensive ones but I do enjoy writing with fountain pens. I have a few others that are not pictured but that is the bulk of them. Here is my TWSBI Diamond 540. I love writing with this.

(05-24-2012, 07:03 PM)freddy Wrote: Thank you, Dave. Many are just inexpensive ones but I do enjoy writing with fountain pens. I have a few others that are not pictured but that is the bulk of them. Here is my TWSBI Diamond 540. I love writing with this.

Did you do all that writing in the background???

Nice looking collection Freddy! What's your favorite pen?

I've have about 20 fountain pens. My main work horses are a couple of TWSBI's with extra fine nibs that I use in school to take notes and I use them at work too.

Now that I am retired I hardly ever write anything, so my pens get little use. But I still have the traditional gift Mont Blanc rollerball pen that I received when I graduated from medical school and the matching fountain pen that I got when I finished my fellowship. But like all the NOS Gillette razors I used to have, they just sit on a shelf for the most part.

Freddy, how long did it take you to be able to write like that?
I've never owned a pen like any of those. I have the plastic handled type with a variety of nibs. I'm horrible at dipping it in ink and always make such a mess. LOL

The only thing I have that is slightly similar is a .30mm Koh-I-Noor rapidograph that I bought back in college for a technical drawing course. The tip is like a needle. This looks like so much fun, but the last thing I need is another hobby.

(05-24-2012, 07:10 PM)uncledave Wrote:

(05-24-2012, 07:03 PM)freddy Wrote: Thank you, Dave. Many are just inexpensive ones but I do enjoy writing with fountain pens. I have a few others that are not pictured but that is the bulk of them. Here is my TWSBI Diamond 540. I love writing with this.

Did you do all that writing in the background???

Yes Dave, I did the writing in the background. The ink used is Diamine Grey and the nib on the TWSBI is a Fine.

(05-24-2012, 07:12 PM)Sully Wrote: Nice looking collection Freddy! What's your favorite pen?

I've have about 20 fountain pens. My main work horses are a couple of TWSBI's with extra fine nibs that I use in school to take notes and I use them at work too.

Shawn, I have a lot of pens that I like, from cheap and cheerful to a bit more expensive. I love the TWSBI shown here but the pen that goes everywhere with me is my Kaweco Sport Classic with an Extra Fine nib. It is seen here with my Ohto Rook. Both are pocket pens and while the orange and brushed aluminum of the Rook is really sharp looking, the Kaweco is a much more comfortable pen to write with. Also, the cap posts better on the Kaweco than the Ohto, which for a pocket pen is extremely important.

(05-24-2012, 07:34 PM)freddy Wrote:

(05-24-2012, 07:10 PM)uncledave Wrote:

(05-24-2012, 07:03 PM)freddy Wrote: Thank you, Dave. Many are just inexpensive ones but I do enjoy writing with fountain pens. I have a few others that are not pictured but that is the bulk of them. Here is my TWSBI Diamond 540. I love writing with this.

Did you do all that writing in the background???

Yes Dave, I did the writing in the background. The ink used is Diamine Grey and the nib on the TWSBI is a Fine.

(05-24-2012, 07:12 PM)Sully Wrote: Nice looking collection Freddy! What's your favorite pen?

I've have about 20 fountain pens. My main work horses are a couple of TWSBI's with extra fine nibs that I use in school to take notes and I use them at work too.

Shawn, I have a lot of pens that I like, from cheap and cheerful to a bit more expensive. I love the TWSBI shown here but the pen that goes everywhere with me is my Kaweco Sport Classic with an Extra Fine nib. It is seen here with my Ohto Rook. Both are pocket pens and while the orange and brushed aluminum of the Rook is really sharp looking, the Kaweco is a much more comfortable pen to write with. Also, the cap posts better on the Kaweco than the Ohto, which for a pocket pen is extremely important.

I am very impressed with your penmanship. That's another lost thing. If I sit down and really try hard I can come reasonably close to you but only because my 4th grade teacher literally FORCED us to learn to write cursive "correctly." I've always been grateful to her for that. Alas, I am so out of practice that my handwriting quickly degenerates unless I stop frequently to rest my hand. ( Carpal tunnel ).

---

I forgot to add that my fountain pen is one I got off eBay. It's a new one and was from China. It cost me 99 cents and then 4 dollars for shipping. I looked it up after I bought it. I don't remember the brand right now but it was deemed a good mid-range price fountain pen. Retail is 35 dollars or so. I'm very pleased with it. It has the little cartridge inside that you twist to move a plunger that loads ink. My only gripe is that it doesn't hold as much ink as I would like.

My inks are Waterman and Pelikan.

Dave, thank you for the kind words about my penmanship. Like you, I had an elementary school teacher (6th grade, in my case) who taught me penmanship. That was the one thing that I truly took away from that year that has served me well over the decades. Now, penmanship isn't even taught in many school districts and that is both a shame and a mistake in my opinion.

I have some nice Chinese fountain pens and some not so nice ones. It really is the luck of the draw.

I have both Waterman and Pelikan inks, among others. The Waterman Havana is my favorite brown, by far. I believe Waterman has recently changed the names of their inks but not the formulations so I'm not quite sure what Havana is called now.

(05-24-2012, 08:10 PM)freddy Wrote: Dave, thank you for the kind words about my penmanship. Like you, I had an elementary school teacher (6th grade, in my case) who taught me penmanship. That was the one thing that I truly took away from that year that has served me well over the decades. Now, penmanship isn't even taught in many school districts and that is both a shame and a mistake in my opinion.

I have some nice Chinese fountain pens and some not so nice ones. It really is the luck of the draw.

I have both Waterman and Pelikan inks, among others. The Waterman Havana is my favorite brown, by far. I believe Waterman has recently changed the names of their inks but not the formulations so I'm not quite sure what Havana is called now.

I have a little niece who is 9 years old. Thank God they are teaching her penmanship in school. Like you said, I have heard that it's not being taught anymore, but thankfully that hasn't happened here yet.

Along the same line, when I was in high school we were required to pass spelling each year. Each year gave a quarter unit. At graduation time if you had flunked spelling you flunked high school as well and weren't allowed to graduate. I'm thankful for that now too.

i got hooked last year with the Lamy Safari! i picked up four, two for marking papers at work and two for the home. i am looking for more pens to try. i love writing and calligraphy; beautiful art form!

I have been using and collecting vintage fountain pens for several years. I enjoying using a fountain vs a ballpoint.

I participate in letter exchanges and postcards exchanges worldwide, using my fountain pens.

I have a few fountain pens as well. I started with a Shaeffer that my parents bought me as a graduation gift. When I was writing a lot in school I used it and a nicer black one that I picked up.

Years later I had writers' block so I decided to break out the fountain pens and try writing longhand. It worked, and the itch was reignited.

I have a modest collection, but a few I'm really pleased with. I have a 1940s flex nib, a Pelikan M600 w/ a Binder italic nib, a couple of Reform school pens I keep at work, and a smattering of others.

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, on Flickr

Edit: found a pic.

(05-25-2012, 08:32 AM)Songwind Wrote: I have a few fountain pens as well. I started with a Shaeffer that my parents bought me as a graduation gift. When I was writing a lot in school I used it and a nicer black one that I picked up.

Years later I had writers' block so I decided to break out the fountain pens and try writing longhand. It worked, and the itch was reignited.

I have a modest collection, but a few I'm really pleased with. I have a 1940s flex nib, a Pelikan M600 w/ a Binder italic nib, a couple of Reform school pens I keep at work, and a smattering of others.


My Pen Collection: May 24th, 2008 by Songwind, on Flickr

Edit: found a pic.

Eric, that is a handsome collection. What is the white and black pen in the middle of the photo?

It's the Libelle Epic. Modern work, medium nib, catridge/converter fill, acrylic. It's a smooth writer, but in hindsight I wish I'd gotten the Fine.

It was the pen I bought at Ink in Minneapolis to re-start my collection.

Eric, I am not a real fan of medium nibs. I tend to prefer either Fine or Extra Fine and even some broad nibs if they are stubs or cursive italic. For some reason a plain medium nib line seems to lack any character, but that is just my opinion.