Settled on just four fountain pens

[tankerjohn]

Well DuckDuckGo seems to be taking me to places tat suggest tiny amounts of dish soap. As the ink is currently in a pen I'm not particularly enamoured with, I'll take a chance with it.

It's a piston filler, so I'll try to pull the nib and feed out, dip the needle of a syringe into some liquid soap (not draw it into the syringe, just coat the needle), and poke this down where the feed goes, and give it a stir. If that works without disaster, I'll go the same to the ink in the bottle.

If it all goes horribly wrong, I'll ditch it for another ink. Diamine Twilight, which I already have, is rather similar in colour but without the flow issues. I just want to see if I can salvage the Teal first, rather than waste it.

Cool. I really would recommend decanting and measuring the ink before adding the dish soap so you can reproduce your results and don’t accidentally mess up the whole bottle. But, it’s your ink, so do whatever makes you happy. Good luck.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Cool. I really would recommend decanting and measuring the ink before adding the dish soap so you can reproduce your results and don’t accidentally mess up the whole bottle. But, it’s your ink, so do whatever makes you happy. Good luck.

I don't have facility to check anything accurately, so I'm just creeping up on it in small amounts. The ridiculously small amount I added yesterday seemed to improve it, but not fix it. I reckon if I add twice as much again, it should be about right. That's in the pen. When I get to the bottle, I'll have to step the quantity up somewhat, obviously. If I wreck it, I'm only down a couple of quid anyway, so no big issue. Just my miserly ways, and trying to avoid ditching something that can be salvaged

 

[frozenoak]

I would start with a tiny amount of distilled water, in a sample sized separate vial. If that didn't help, I would then use some Kodak Photo-Flo, which reduces surface tension and encourages the capillary action.

 

[Clovis Man]

...

• Hugo Boss Pillar Medium...

I assume this is a fountain pen, not a ballpoint.

I have an opportunity to get one at a fairly low price. How is yours doing, several months in?

 

[gwsmallwood]

I assume this is a fountain pen, not a ballpoint.

I have an opportunity to get one at a fairly low price. How is yours doing, several months in?

Yes, I have the fountain pen. It's a decent pen, but not worth the full price cost in my opinion. I don't enjoy using it any more than my Pilot Metros. It's a snap cap, not screw, and it's a pretty run-of-the-mill stainless steel medium nib. It's also temperamental with cartridges and converters. I think it's supposed to be standard international, but it won't take my standard international Jinhao converters. It came with what looks to be a Diamine cartridge, so I've just been refilling that.

 

[Clovis Man]

Yes, I have the fountain pen. It's a decent pen, but not worth the full price cost in my opinion. I don't enjoy using it any more than my Pilot Metros. It's a snap cap, not screw, and it's a pretty run-of-the-mill stainless steel medium nib. It's also temperamental with cartridges and converters. I think it's supposed to be standard international, but it won't take my standard international Jinhao converters. It came with what looks to be a Diamine cartridge, so I've just been refilling that.

Do you carry it much? How's the finish holding up?

 

[gwsmallwood]

Do you carry it much? How's the finish holding up?

Finish is fine. The clip isn't as sturdy as it looks. It doesn't feel like it's going to break or anything, but it has more lateral movement than most of my other pens. Like I said, not a bad pen, just not worth the $200 price tag I've seen on it.

 

[Clovis Man]

Finish is fine. The clip isn't as sturdy as it looks. It doesn't feel like it's going to break or anything, but it has more lateral movement than most of my other pens. Like I said, not a bad pen, just not worth the $200 price tag I've seen on it.

I had read a report on a different group that the finish came off after two or three months.

I might just order it. Price here is pretty good -- just points on a web site.

 

[Tomo]

Platinum carbon ink black

That’s a fantastic permanent ink. This and De Artamentis Document black are my all time favorites. Solid inks with great performance. My MB 146 is always loaded with Platinum Carbon Black. It doesn’t miss a beat.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Since getting back into wooden pencils recently, my fountain pen use has plummeted. This has left a couple of my pens having hard starts occasionally. Not difficult to fix (a little saliva, and a wiggle of the tines with a tissue), and may easily be due to ink as much as the pen itself. However, I've decided to drop down to just two pens being inked at any time.

As a reminder, here's the main four.



I've decided to drop the Safari clone, as that's the least comfortable of the four for extended writing. The demonstrator inked with Sherwood Green definitely stays, and I'll now be bouncing between the Baoer 388 and Ohto Tasche with cartridges. When I say bouncing between them, I think I'll be using the Baoer most of the time, and just popping a cartridge in the Ohto if I specifically need a small pocket pen.



One reason for this, is I have spares of the Baoer. I got five for something like £8 delivered, so if I happen to lose it, or drop it on the nib, there's nothing to get upset about. Besides which, both the cheap Chinese pens pictured on the left, are excellent for both quick notes or extended writing. I have one spare of the demonstrator too.

I've been meaning to pick up a spare of the Tasche too, but haven't yet. That too is a pen which feels really comfortable in hand. My biggest gripe with a lot of pens, is the transition between section and barrel, and that has such a long section, there's no threads or steps to irritate me. So many pricier pens took very offputting in that respect. With the exception of the Safari clone, all these pens are very good at slipping from awareness, allowing me to wholly focus on the words flowing from it. That hasn't been the case with other pens I've tried.

That's one of the reasons I like wooden pencils over mechanical pencils too. I'm more aware of the mechanical pencil in my hand (or at least with the ones I've tried), and like with shoes or hats, if you're aware of it, it's not as comfortable as it should be.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

As happens occasionally, everything changed. The four became six plus two. I have decsribed much of this in a separate thread, but thing have evolved slightly since then. Essentially, I doubled up on the users I had before, and got a couple of hangers on too.

Top: Helix Oxford and Ohto Tasche (for blue/green/purple cartridges)

Middle: Baoer 388 and Sheaffer VFM (for red/orange/brown cartridges)

Bottom: Wing Sung 3008 and Parker 45 Flighter (for bottled inks)

I only plan on having three pens inked at once, one from each group. When a pen runs dry, I'll either fill it back up with whatever I just used in it, or put it aside for cleaning, and fill up the other pen in the group with a different colour.

As for the hangers on, one is a Parker Slimfold. As mentioned in a different thread, I find the ergonomics on this to be awful. I have started improving them though.

With the section unscrewed, I have started truncating and smoothing off the threads a little. I'm trying to lesser the discomfort of the threads between section and barrel, without screwing up the security of the cap. It still needs more softening of the edges, but it is certainly not as bad as it was.

It's never going to compete with the other pens in terms of comfort, but if I can get it comfortable enough for maybe writing a page of A4, without cursing and throwing it across the room in frustration, I'll consider it an occasional user. The squeeze converter makes it useful for sucking up small quantities of brighter inks for annotations and editing.

Finally, I got a Parker IM Premium with a geometric chiselled finish and gold trim. I then tracked down a matching ballpoint, so I had a slightly dressy set without breaking the bank. I have yet to pick up a leather two pen case for them though.

The "six plus two" does feel like a bit of a cop out though. I suppose I'm trying to justify having two pens too many, and trying not to feel bad for overpaying for a pen I'm not enamoured with (the Slimfold), but it may end up coming in handy for short fills.

As for having a dressy set, it'll be once in a blue moon when that's needed, so I'll probably end up using it around the house occasionally anyway. At least I'll not be wearing the anodising off the aluminium too quickly, if I limit myself to occasional use with it.

 

[Dominic]

As happens occasionally, everything changed. The four became six plus two. I have decsribed much of this in a separate thread, but thing have evolved slightly since then. Essentially, I doubled up on the users I had before, and got a couple of hangers on too.

View attachment 1329994

Top: Helix Oxford and Ohto Tasche (for blue/green/purple cartridges)

Middle: Baoer 388 and Sheaffer VFM (for red/orange/brown cartridges)

Bottom: Wing Sung 3008 and Parker 45 Flighter (for bottled inks)

I only plan on having three pens inked at once, one from each group. When a pen runs dry, I'll either fill it back up with whatever I just used in it, or put it aside for cleaning, and fill up the other pen in the group with a different colour.

As for the hangers on, one is a Parker Slimfold. As mentioned in a different thread, I find the ergonomics on this to be awful. I have started improving them though.

View attachment 1329998

With the section unscrewed, I have started truncating and smoothing off the threads a little. I'm trying to lesser the discomfort of the threads between section and barrel, without screwing up the security of the cap. It still needs more softening of the edges, but it is certainly not as bad as it was.

It's never going to compete with the other pens in terms of comfort, but if I can get it comfortable enough for maybe writing a page of A4, without cursing and throwing it across the room in frustration, I'll consider it an occasional user. The squeeze converter makes it useful for sucking up small quantities of brighter inks for annotations and editing.

Finally, I got a Parker IM Premium with a geometric chiselled finish and gold trim. I then tracked down a matching ballpoint, so I had a slightly dressy set without breaking the bank. I have yet to pick up a leather two pen case for them though.

View attachment 1329995

The "six plus two" does feel like a bit of a cop out though. I suppose I'm trying to justify having two pens too many, and trying not to feel bad for overpaying for a pen I'm not enamoured with (the Slimfold), but it may end up coming in handy for short fills.

As for having a dressy set, it'll be once in a blue moon when that's needed, so I'll probably end up using it around the house occasionally anyway. At least I'll not be wearing the anodising off the aluminium too quickly, if I limit myself to occasional use with it.

Can you sell the Slimfold, since you're not enamored with it?

 

[steveclarkus]

I have a drawer full of fountain pens but have settled on two LAMY Safaris. I like the ability to easily change nibs, they are comfortable, reliable and write comfortably. Im left handed and their left handed nib is a joy for me. I also use LAMY ink cartridges, always black, for convenience. In fact, I’ve used black ink since I was a child.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Can you sell the Slimfold, since you're not enamored with it?

Well, I could, but it appears I overpaid. The return on it therefore wouldn't really be worth the hassle. Instead, I've opted to try and lessen the irritation/discomfort of the threads.

With the barrel unscrewed, the threads are fully accessible, so I can try to lessen the "sharpness" with some fine abrasive. All I need to do, hopefully, is soften the crests of the threads, and put a softer start on that first turn. That should still leave sufficient face contact for the threads to do their job, but not have them dig into the side of the middle finger quite so much.

While that still won't leave me a pen with any wow factor in terms of comfort, it should give me a very usable pen for highlighting, editing, annotating, and other brief uses. That's potentially of more use to me, than the meagre sum I'll get for selling it.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I should also add, that what my purchase lacked in pen, it made up for in lessons.

I learned that gold nibs don't work any better for me than steel, and that flex is not something that adds to the experience for me. I learned that click on cap pens are generally going to be more comfortable for me than screw on cap pens (this is the second pen that taught me that), which is another reason for me to avoid plastics and resins. I also learned that I miss the squeeze converters of my youth, but I would be more worried about them failing, than the piston and slide converters of today. Keeping the pen serves as a reminder of those lessons, and means I don't have to relearn them again later

 

[dojpros]

Comments in brackets:

I learned that gold nibs don't work any better for me than steel,
[for me, I agree. All of my Gold Nibs save 1 were gifts from a guy who was getting out of the game.]



and that flex is not something that adds to the experience for me.
[concur as well given my lack of cursive/penmanship beyond the basics]


I learned that click on cap pens are generally going to be more comfortable for me than screw on cap pens (this is the second pen that taught me that), which is another reason for me to avoid plastics and resins.

[ Plastic/Resin pens simply feel less well made to me than a metal pen. It may not be true, but it is how it "feels."]



I also learned that I miss the squeeze converters of my youth, but I would be more worried about them failing, than the piston and slide converters of today. Keeping the pen serves as a reminder of those lessons, and means I don't have to relearn them again later

[Given you like of click on caps, metal pens, stainless nibs and squeeze converters, Parker 45's in the sub 50USD vintage space and Pilot Metropolitans in the new sub 25USD would be a direction to go should you decide yo add any pens to the fleet.]

 

[AimlessWanderer]

for me, I agree. All of my Gold Nibs save 1 were gifts from a guy who was getting out of the game.

Nice to know I'm not alone

However, am I right in thinking gold nibs react differently to iron gall, and other older type inks? Better? Worse? I'm sure I read something about that at some point, but can't recall much about it..

concur as well given my lack of cursive/penmanship beyond the basics

Yup, I just do basic writing too. I can see the appeal of flex for those into calligraphy and other artistic endeavours, but I'm just writing. No aspirations of ressurecting old styles, or desires to improve upon what's already (mostly) legible. Just regular daily writing here.

Plastic/Resin pens simply feel less well made to me than a metal pen. It may not be true, but it is how it "feels."

Absolutely. A metal pen just feels like more pen for your money. Even if it only cost £2 like the Baoer 388. Maybe there are other materials in the higher tiers that feel more substantial too, but if I bought one of the fancy looking swirly acrylic pens for £100+ or whatever they sell for, I'd feel completely ripped off just by virtue of it feeling...plastic. Which of course it is... and then there's the issue of the threads...

Given you like of click on caps, metal pens, stainless nibs and squeeze converters, Parker 45's in the sub 50USD vintage space and Pilot Metropolitans in the new sub 25USD would be a direction to go should you decide yo add any pens to the fleet.

I have a Parker 45 Flighter, but it takes modern cartridges and converters. I'm perfectly fine with that. While I do like the one handed nature of the squeeze converters, I'd be very wary of relying on an old flexible ink reservoir.

I didn't realise the Pilot Metropolitan had those squeeze jobbies too? However, I'm very happy with the other cheapos that I got instead. I think (from memory) the Sheaffer VFM and Helix Oxford have very similar looking ergonomics, but with maybe a more pronounced step between section and barrel on the Metro. I could be wrong on that though. I'm sure there was something I saw on them that I wasn't enthused about, but it's a while since I looked.

I've managed to empty/use up the ink in the 45, IM Premium, and Baoer, and get them flushed out and stowed away. This has let me get settled back in again with those other two (Helix and VFM), and both are exactly how I want a fountain pen to be. Simple, robust, affordable, smooth writing (after a little refining), and able to take generic cartridges. I know the Metro is the most frequently recommended of that type, but the others of that genre that I have, definitely tick all the boxes too.

 

[Kent Kimmons]

If I had to settle on 4, they would be my Noodler's Ahab, Lamy Safari, Schaeffer Imperial and an old Tuckaway I own.

 

[Shutterbug57]

Man, if I had to pick just 4, a daunting task at that, I would have to go with:

Montblanc 149
Pelican M800 blue/black
Aurora Carlo Goldoni
Lamy All Star with an assortment of nibs.

Glad I don't have to do that.

 

[dojpros]

AW:

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