What's new

First fountain pen

tankerjohn

A little poofier than I prefer
My first was not one of those new fangled fountain pens but rather a post office nib pen. It was in the final two years of primary school. Prior to that it was pencils only. The nib was dipped into an inkwell fitted into the desk. That is were we learnt our first penmanship.

We were not allowed the luxury of fountain pens until we started high school.
Did you stick the girl in front of you's pigtails into the ink well? :shifty:
 
I'm getting ready to go into town, and there is a Staples on the way. I checked their website for fountain pens. One of them was a Schmidt Intrinsic. If you're familiar with them, what do you think about them?

Second question, is their a particular brand of pen that I should simply avoid?
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
@Dominic be careful about fall into into another rabbit hole. I have yet to find a fountain pen by a major manufacturer that I would say should be avoided like the plague. Fountain pens are like razors in that you settle on one or more that suits you, your style and your needs.
 
@Dominic be careful about fall into into another rabbit hole.
Fountain pens are like razors in that you settle on one or more that suits you, your style and your needs.
I don't plan on going down the rabbit hole. I would like to get one, (extra?) fine point with converter. I don't want to buy one of the disposables, because if I'm going to put in the money, I'd rather that money go to one I will be able to keep and re-fill. If I really enjoyed using a fountain pen, I might get a second.

I'm pretty good at staying out of the rabbit hole. I've used only Dad's old (sorry, vintage) Gillette DE razors until just recently when I bought the two SRs (different grinds to see what I preferred). I've only ever had 2-3 soaps/creams at a time, and I've used only one boar brush until recently I bought a second brush (silver tip). I've had only one aftershave (Pinaud Clubman 12.5 oz bottle), until recently I bought Proraso red, and one AS balm. I see the rabbit hole, and it can be attractive, but I try to stay away from it.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
I don't plan on going down the rabbit hole. I would like to get one, (extra?) fine point with converter. I don't want to buy one of the disposables, because if I'm going to put in the money, I'd rather that money go to one I will be able to keep and re-fill. If I really enjoyed using a fountain pen, I might get a second.

You, in a 12-18 months' time:

1623106365505.png
 
How do fountain pens take the heat or cold? What if I left it in my car? Would that damage it?
 
Theoretically if you had just brim filled it and the temperature dropped overnight the ink could expand to the point where it burst something as it froze. But I think that is really unlikely.

Most pens should be fine with it, although you might need to change the ink. I've never tried to write with ink that has frozen and then been defrosted.
 
Well, I made my purchase. A gold Metropolitan.
Congratulations!

I came to suggest the same pen.
I use a Pilot Metropolitan in Lizard print and a Lamy Safari in Green.

Both are excellent pens, EDC without worry and consistent performance.

I do miss the old eye dropper style Camlin pens from my school days, but they were accidents waiting to happen, I'm happy to have given them away.
 

jar_

Too Fugly For Free.
How do fountain pens take the heat or cold? What if I left it in my car? Would that damage it?
Heat can be an major annoyance. Leaving a fountain pen in a car will very likely also lead to ink in the cap and then on your fingers.

The issue is expansion. As heat increases the ink will likely get pushed out and into the cap. I would not leave a fountain pen in a car.
 
Theoretically if you had just brim filled it and the temperature dropped overnight the ink could expand to the point where it burst something as it froze. But I think that is really unlikely.

Most pens should be fine with it, although you might need to change the ink. I've never tried to write with ink that has frozen and then been defrosted.
Heat can be an major annoyance. Leaving a fountain pen in a car will very likely also lead to ink in the cap and then on your fingers.

The issue is expansion. As heat increases the ink will likely get pushed out and into the cap. I would not leave a fountain pen in a car.
Thank you. Now I know if I ever took one with me, I'd better not leave it in the car.
 
Congratulations. I hope it suits your style and gives you many decades of enjoyment. Now all you will need are some inks (another rabbit hole for you).
It comes with one cartridge. That gives me time to think about ink later. Since it only holds one color, I'll only need one bottle.
 
It came down to a choice between the Metropolitan, the Lamy Safari, and the Kaweco Sport. The Metro. was the least expensive, and people said it wrote very well, so that's how I made my choice. Plus it was the most attractive of the three to me. Although, I did like the idea of the triangular grips on the German pens. I have a ballpoint with a grip like that, and it's very comfortable.
 
Top Bottom