Finally caved in.

[Unkas]

Today I finally caved in and got myself a nice fountain pen.

I bought a LAMY Al-Star in aluminium with a medium nib and I got myself a converter. The guy in the store said cartridges last about 20 pages so it should last me a while before I have to go buy myself my first bottle of ink!

I have to say it is a beautiful pen and it was very nice to write with when I tried it in the store!
Thanks to all of you that helped me before when I asked for help here!

 

[the_edski]

Congrats, that is a great pen! You will probably not wait for the cartridge to go dry, there are so many other colors out there! Look into 2 ml ink samples if you are wary about committing to a whole bottle!

 

[Unkas]

Congrats, that is a great pen! You will probably not wait for the cartridge to go dry, there are so many other colors out there! Look into 2 ml ink samples if you are wary about committing to a whole bottle!

The samplers sound like a good idea but I don't really like having to ship things from the US over here to Sweden. It always ends up with me buying way too much stuff to justify shipping costs

How do you clean out the converter between uses of different inks?

 

[celestino]

Congrats on the Lamy. They are very nice pens. Enjoy.

 

[the_edski]

Flush it out with lukewarm water til it runs clear (or nearly clear). Very simple!

How do you clean out the converter between uses of different inks?

 

[Doc4]

The samplers sound like a good idea but I don't really like having to ship things from the US over here to Sweden. It always ends up with me buying way too much stuff to justify shipping costs

How do you clean out the converter between uses of different inks?

You can consider joining the Ink Drop, which will send you 5 of those samples every month for $12us/month. You can look at the archives of past ink drops to see what sort of selection you can expect ...

You clean out the converter (and the nib & feed) by submerging the nib in water and then twisting the converter back and forth, like you are loading and unloading the converter with the water. After a while, you will see that no ink comes out when you push the water out. After that, you can use JB's Perfect Pen Flush (which is mainly an ammonia solution) for an even better clean, if you want.

 

[Dave258]

The guy in the store said cartridges last about 20 pages so it should last me a while before I have to go buy myself my first bottles of ink!

FTFY!

Welcome to the Nib, enjoy your new Al-star! When you break down and order your first bottle(s) of ink, think about trying a Lamy 1.1 nib (it slides right in when you take off the medium nib) makes it even better IMO!

 

[Unkas]

Thank you all for the warm welcome! I will think about getting another nib when I order my first inks!

A somewhat embarrassing question I have is; at what angle should the nib be touching the paper and like how do I write the best? I am still used to writing with rollerballs and stuff

 

[Dave258]

Some different pens and nibs have different "sweet spots," but you should grip the pen in a way that you are comfortable. Your writing may look different depending on what angle the nib is hitting the paper. The thing about the Lamy Al-star and Safari is the triangle grip section that forces you to hold the pen a specific way. It doesn't bother me, but some people do not like it.
You don't want to be using your pen like a pencil where you are holding the nib almost straight down, on the tip, you want to have the nib at almost a 30ish degree angle... Now remember that all nibs are different.

 

[Dave258]

The Goulets have some great Fountain Pen 101 videos that may help you also.
http://www.gouletpens.com/Fountain_Pen_101_s/1135.htm

 

[Andy]

Congrats on the Lamy, another vote for the 1.1 nib, it changes the handling completely.

As for the angle, everyone is different, but somewhere around 10 - 20 degrees I would think.
You will know once you have found the correct angle as the pen will seem to just slide.

 

[Unkas]

I have a couple of additional questions; Does anyone have experience with a Medium nib LAMY using the cartridge that came with it? I assume the Vista and Safari at least have the same feed and nib so they should write the same.
I get some troubles writing that I think might be ink related but I have no proof. I can write with the pen at what feels like a good angle and it writes nicely but then it just skips occasionally and many times I have a hard time getting the writing to start.
And the 1.1 nib that gets suggested, is it the italic? Will it change the writing experience significantly?

 

[Dave258]

I have never used the Lamy carts that come with the pens, but before you installed the cart did you try to flush the pen with something? Usually an empty converter, or a baby bulb sucker thing?
Lamy test writes their pens, so I am sure there was dry ink, or wet ink in the feed when you got it.
A good flush would probably fix your problem.
The 1.1 is an italic/stub, and I really like how it makes the writing look.

 

[Unkas]

I have never used the Lamy carts that come with the pens, but before you installed the cart did you try to flush the pen with something? Usually an empty converter, or a baby bulb sucker thing?
Lamy test writes their pens, so I am sure there was dry ink, or wet ink in the feed when you got it.
A good flush would probably fix your problem.
The 1.1 is an italic/stub, and I really like how it makes the writing look.

I didn't flush it so I guess I'll do that. I had no idea LAMY test wrote the pens. I'll try to flush it with the converter I got but that would have to wait a week since I'm away and left the converter at home.

I'll probably order some noodler samples and a 1.1 nib from Goulet or hope that by some freaky luck it turns up on the BST

 

[Andy]

I have a couple of additional questions; Does anyone have experience with a Medium nib LAMY using the cartridge that came with it? ..<snip>

I used the cartridge for a little while with my medium nibbed Safari before purchasing a converter, it was a little dry to start with but came good after a little while.

..<snip> And the 1.1 nib that gets suggested, is it the italic? Will it change the writing experience significantly?

Yep, the 1.1 is an italic nib.
IMO it improves the quality of writing considerably.
Keeping in mind that my handwriting looks like chicken scratches anyway, but here is the 1.1

 

[Unkas]

I used the cartridge for a little while with my medium nibbed Safari before purchasing a converter, it was a little dry to start with but came good after a little while.



Yep, the 1.1 is an italic nib.
IMO it improves the quality of writing considerably.
Keeping in mind that my handwriting looks like chicken scratches anyway, but here is the 1.1

That settles it! I am getting a 1.1 and some ink samplers from Goulet!

 

[oc_in_fw]

That settles it! I am getting a 1.1 and some ink samplers from Goulet!

Good choice. I have a 1.5 italic and love it, but it can be a bit large sometimes. I plan on getting two 1.1s (for my Al-star and Studio)

 

[Unkas]

I just have to update a little here. I flushed the pen as Dave suggested and woah, what a difference! It writes so much easier now that I almost feel stupid for writing with it in its previous state. Now I really see what fountain pens are all about with how smooth the writing gets when the ink actually flows well

I still have absolutely horrible handwriting but at least now it feels nice to write! I also have a 1.1 nib and 8 different ink samples on the way here to Sweden. I hope I didn't make a really stupid decision here but I chose a couple of scented inks (just out of curiosity) and some inks from Noodler's. In retrospect I think I would've ordered a couple of samples from Private Reserve as their inks look really nice and seem to be very popular around here.

 

[Andy]

I haven't tried the scented inks, however, it is my understanding that they scent disappears almost immediately when writing.

 

[Dave258]

Glad the pen is working better for you! Enjoy your ink samples!

I have had samples of the scented inks from the ink drop. The scent does go away fairly quick.