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Where is the best place to buy pens

I'm a newbie so I'm looking for a starter pen. A fountain pen I guess. I don't know anything about Nibs either.

Are the Pilot pens any good?
 
I don't think Pilot makes a bad pen. You could do a lot worse starting out than with a Metro from Amazon for $15 and some cartridges if the vendor doesn't include them. Or you could buy the packet of of 6 or 7 Varsity pens in various colors. Then, when you realize you're falling down the rabbit hole, you can drop a couple Benjamins over at Goulet... :)
 
I'd personally rather deal with Brian Goulet than Amazon, he has Metropolitans too. If you can spend more, get a Sailor 1911s or a platinum 3776 from John Motishaw at Nibs.com. You pay more but get a better pen and a garanteed great min and writing experience. Between those two options is a Platinum Cool from Goulet.
 
I see you live in LA. You might want to put the Los Angeles International Pen Show on your calendar. It'll be held on President's Day weekend next February, at the Manhattan Beach Marriott. Their web site is at http://www.lainternationalpenshow.com/ There are also a few pen stores in LA; don't know any of them by reputation, but "see before you buy" is always a good thing.

Pilot makes great pens, and you won't go wrong starting out with one. Make sure you get an ink converter with the pen so you can use bottled ink - *much* cheaper than the proprietary Pilot cartridges, and you have far more choice in colors.

I'm personally partial to classic era fountain pens, particularly the Parker 51 (advertised in 1941 as "Like a pen from another planet", in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, and voted the 5th best industrial design of any type in a poll conducted by the Illinois Institute of Technology).
 
Ok cool and I'm still trying understand the whole refilling of ink or to just get a new tank pre filled. Kind of confusing

Mine came with a cartridge and a converter. The cartridge is a disposable tube of ink. The converter is a 'pump tube' that allows you to load inks. The cartridge is easier, but the converter is more fun and allows for a greater variety of inks. The two methods are easily interchangeable.

There are other methods, but I do not want to overwhelm you. :laugh:


WARNING: Fountain pens can be messy if you are not careful.
 
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Looks like you got a lot of good advice here. As far as the nib goes, if you want to write on normal paper without a lot of feathering, stick with Pilot's fine nibs which write nicely. However, if you think you will stay with papers like Clairefontaine or Rhodia, then definitely go for the medium nib.
 
Looks like you got a lot of good advice here. As far as the nib goes, if you want to write on normal paper without a lot of feathering, stick with Pilot's fine nibs which write nicely. However, if you think you will stay with papers like Clairefontaine or Rhodia, then definitely go for the medium nib.

Nice thanks for this advice
 
The best place to buy pens is the place where you can actually feel them in your hand and compare. I don’t know where that would be in L.A., but there must be a decent shop or two.

That said, I think you can't go wrong with a Pilot Metropolitan, if ordering online suits you better.
 
Come on over to The Nib subforum for plenty of information about pens and other writing paraphernalia. A good place to start your education is The Nib's Wiki page, with plenty of detailed info regarding pens, inks, papers, etc.

The Nib Wiki
 
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