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Another rabbit hole?

So I just ordered my first fountain pen, a Lamy Safari, and a few inks.

Plan to visit a local bookstore this week as well that has a good supply of inks and pens to pick up a Pilot Metropolitan. (Found a good deal on the Safari and converter online in Toronto but the Pilot is same price locally).

Saw those two listed most often as good first pens and thought I'd try them both.

Can't wait to try them out - though I might have to sell some razors and brushes that aren't regulars in the rotation to keep the spouse happy.

B&B strikes the checkbook again. 🤣

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I fell down that hole a few months ago! The Safari is working great for me at work, the triangular part above the nib makes it so easy to get the position right. I actually bought a second because you need backups, right?! And I just added a second Metropolitan, for the same reason, lol. The Metropolitan is lovely for use at home. Great choices!
 
That is exactly how I started: a demonstrator Lamy Safari and a Pilot Metropolitan. Great pens and amazing for the price.

I moved to a Lamy 2000 as my daily driver, like it a lot and like the piston filler. I could have easily used either the Safari or the Metro indefinitely, though.
 
It goes like this.

Fountain pen: awesome!
  1. Oh, I can get all sorts of ink? Lemme pick up a few bottles...
  2. What's this Japanese paper people keep raving about, I should add that to my cart, right?
  3. What? there are all sorts of filling systems? Piston, cartridge, penumatic, snorkel, syringe... I should probably check a couple of those out!
  4. Nib grinds, you say? A cursive italic sounds pretty cool. Or maybe an architect?
  5. These vintage pens are ridiculously cheap. I'll just need some restoration tools to replace the sack.
  6. "Honey, no it's a lathe, I'm going to turn my own pens! We can park the car on the street."
If you thought shaving was expensive, you are in for something of a shock! :)
 

Fred D

Member of The Illiterati
I just recently tried a Lamy Safari in a charcoal color, and I like it so much I ordered another one in white two days later.
Both have fine nibs and write very well.
IMHO, excellent value for the price.

I have one inked with Noodler's Heart of Darkness, and the second is filled with Pilot blue/black.

For me they are fantastic as knock around EDC pens.
 

tankerjohn

A little poofier than I prefer
Welcome to the sickness! Yes, the rabbit hole goes deep and wide. If you think there are a lot of artisan shaving soaps, try to tally up fountains inks sometime. Like the other B&B rabbits holes, I think the advice is pretty much the same. Go slow and enjoy what you have. Keep the FOMO in check - there will always be another [fill in the blank - pen, ink, whatever]. (except special editions, but that's a WHOLE other divergent rabbit hole) And may I suggest, use your pens for good! Write someone you love a note to let them know or send someone a thank you card.
 
It's as big (or as small) a rabbit hole as you want it to be. I'm perfectly happy paddling in the shallow end of the pool, but others find their happiness in the deeper waters.
So far I´m also in the kiddie pool with just a couple of pen kits that I turned (my first fountains, BTW). I have a feeling the nibs aren´t the best quality, but I´m making do and trying to avoid another rabbit hole. It took me boogering the last vintage SR I bought to restore, and the accompanying frustration, to get me to stop buying those all the time. But alas, that is just a ¨lick my wounds¨ hiatus. I´ll be on the prowl for another razor here soon. So I just have to be satisfied with my pens I have. And the ink/syringes I just bought. And the converter I´m looking at buying. And maybe just one vintage... you know to honor tradition and such. But that´s all! No more after that. Oh wait... I do want to try a dip pen too...
 
Welcome to the sickness! Yes, the rabbit hole goes deep and wide. If you think there are a lot of artisan shaving soaps, try to tally up fountains inks sometime. Like the other B&B rabbits holes, I think the advice is pretty much the same. Go slow and enjoy what you have. Keep the FOMO in check - there will always be another [fill in the blank - pen, ink, whatever]. (except special editions, but that's a WHOLE other divergent rabbit hole) And may I suggest, use your pens for good! Write someone you love a note to let them know or send someone a thank you card.

Yeah. I'm sure I'll fall in but hopefully not too deep

I think they are cool and I'm wanting to work on my handwriting/penmanship some

Just moved to Canada so I really like the note idea to send to family and friends back in the States. Remember seeing some cool bird postcards at the bookstore. Might pick those up when I pick up my Pilot Metro... And the Kaweco I decided to get too (oh no.... It's begun 😂)
 
I just recently tried a Lamy Safari in a charcoal color, and I like it so much I ordered another one in white two days later.
Both have fine nibs and write very well.
IMHO, excellent value for the price.

I have one inked with Noodler's Heart of Darkness, and the second is filled with Pilot blue/black.

For me they are fantastic as knock around EDC pens.
Exactly what I found, but I stayed with Lamy ink cartridges, as they were recommended for being more water resistant.
 

Fred D

Member of The Illiterati
Exactly what I found, but I stayed with Lamy ink cartridges, as they were recommended for being more water resistant.
I tested the ink that comes with the cartridge in the Lamy Safari, and compared it on Rhodia and cheap legal pad paper, along with Noodlers Heart of Darkness, and Pilot blue / black.
I ran the page under tap water, and then soaked it in the sink submerged in water for a while. The Noodler's was completely untouched, and completely the same as when I first wrote with it on the page after dried. The Pilot blue / black was almost as good, with minimal fading. The Lamy blue ink was almost completely gone, and unreadable.

Perhapes you're referring to Lamy black or blue/black, which I've read was water resistant, but I don't have any of that version and have never tested.

The Noodler's HOD is a beautiful black in my opinion, and indestructible, and I don't even like black ink.
The Pilot blue/black looks very nice to my eye, much nicer than Parker blue/black.

I did try Noodler's Bad Blue Heron, which is supposed to also be waterproof, but I don't like the color, or that it is just too wet in most of my pens. The only pens that I use that in successfully is my Pilot Metropolitan and Kakuno pens.

I don't want to use either of the Noodler's inks in my Pilot Custom 912, so the Pilot blue/black ink is a very nice water resistant safe ink for that pen. I also don't want to use pigmented or iron gall inks in that pen (which noodler's is not), so I am happy with the Pilot inks in my more expensive pen.

For my one and only vintage Sheaffer Imperial VIII, I only use Waterman Blue ink.
 
The only Lamy ink with any water resistance is Benitoite, from their recent Crystal range. They describe it as "document proof". Their standard Blue Black up until 2012 was an iron gall, but after that time they changed the formula to remove the iron gall content. Their is some speculation that Benitoite is a return to the original gall formulation.

The rest of their inks are closer to washable, for me.

FWIW, I almost exclusively use iron galls in all of my pens, including vintage, and have done for decades. Modern iron galls are excellent inks across the range of performance criteria, and do not harm pens.
 
I tested the ink that comes with the cartridge in the Lamy Safari, and compared it on Rhodia and cheap legal pad paper, along with Noodlers Heart of Darkness, and Pilot blue / black.
I ran the page under tap water, and then soaked it in the sink submerged in water for a while. The Noodler's was completely untouched, and completely the same as when I first wrote with it on the page after dried. The Pilot blue / black was almost as good, with minimal fading. The Lamy blue ink was almost completely gone, and unreadable.

Perhapes you're referring to Lamy black or blue/black, which I've read was water resistant, but I don't have any of that version and have never tested.

The Noodler's HOD is a beautiful black in my opinion, and indestructible, and I don't even like black ink.
The Pilot blue/black looks very nice to my eye, much nicer than Parker blue/black.

I did try Noodler's Bad Blue Heron, which is supposed to also be waterproof, but I don't like the color, or that it is just too wet in most of my pens. The only pens that I use that in successfully is my Pilot Metropolitan and Kakuno pens.

I don't want to use either of the Noodler's inks in my Pilot Custom 912, so the Pilot blue/black ink is a very nice water resistant safe ink for that pen. I also don't want to use pigmented or iron gall inks in that pen (which noodler's is not), so I am happy with the Pilot inks in my more expensive pen.

For my one and only vintage Sheaffer Imperial VIII, I only use Waterman Blue ink.
Fred, you must be a Scientist! That is a very nice report. I will definitely be making some ink purchases! I was using information from Jet Pens website. This is really helpful.
 
Yeah. I'm sure I'll fall in but hopefully not too deep

I think they are cool and I'm wanting to work on my handwriting/penmanship some

Just moved to Canada so I really like the note idea to send to family and friends back in the States. Remember seeing some cool bird postcards at the bookstore. Might pick those up when I pick up my Pilot Metro... And the Kaweco I decided to get too (oh no.... It's begun 😂)
Amazon has some decent deals on Kakuno Pens $13-20 various nibs (I have a couple), the Prera Demonstrator can be had for under $60 there, shipped.

Wonderpens.ca seems like a well respected Canadian vendor, not used yet.

Do NOT use inkypaw. They take your money and don't ship. Numerous reviews say the same the past 6 months. I had to file a cc claim to get my money back.
 
Amazon has some decent deals on Kakuno Pens $13-20 various nibs (I have a couple), the Prera Demonstrator can be had for under $60 there, shipped.

Wonderpens.ca seems like a well respected Canadian vendor, not used yet.

Do NOT use inkypaw. They take your money and don't ship. Numerous reviews say the same the past 6 months. I had to file a cc claim to get my money back.

Wonderpens was where I ordered from
 
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Grabbed these today.

The Conklin was definitely an impulse sure to it being on clearance. I almost got the turquoise version but it was a fine nib. More to throw in the pocket than for lots of writing.

Really like the Metro so far. I find the Lamy's section indentations make my hand cramp a little over time and this one doesn't so much.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
Really like the Metro so far. I find the Lamy's section indentations make my hand cramp a little over time and this one doesn't so much.

Yeah, I got a Lamy clone early in my return to fountain pens, and I found I tired of the grip quickly too. The Metropolitan isn't as prevalent over here, so I haven't tried one, but it does seem to be a pen that's frequently recommended.
 
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