Fabulous Fountain Pens - Golden Era classics you can use today!

[Two Gun Bob]

Duke pens are good but heavy, they are better made than some other Chinese pens - I have their Einstein pen and it's a great writer but quite hefty. Made out of brass I think.

Not keen on the HD pens myself, I'd rather have the bike lol

are Duke pens any good? I've been watching a "Charlie Chaplin" pen on ebay for a few days, but no knowing pens was hesitant to buy it.

edit:
also have been watching the new Waterman "Harley Davidson" pens, they're nice, not sure how practicall they'd be.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I hesitate to say this, because people will jump on me, but for your -very- first Fountain Pen, get one that uses ink Cartridges as well as a converter. I know when I started, it was much easier to plop a cartridge in then even consider an open bottle of ink.


When you are still figuring out if you like how it writes, etc. messing with ink is one too many variables, if you ask me.

Seconded. When I started using fountain pens in high school, Sheaffer had a line of very basic cartridge pens sold under the "No Nonsense" label. These came out around the time of the 30s nostalgia craze, so they had a very vintagey look to them, but they were very low maintenance and they were cheap enough that if you dropped one and bent the nib it wasn't any great loss to go out and replace it.

My current pen is a garden-variety lever-fill Esterbrook, which works fine for everything I need a pen to do, and is common enough that I don't have to feel like I'm risking a rare collectible by carrying it around in my pocketbook.

As for dip pens, I learned to use those as a kid when I had dreams of being a cartoonist -- I still have a couple boxes of Esterbrook Falcon (which I used for line drawing) and Jackson Stub (for lettering) nibs in the back of my desk!

 

[Feng_Li]

I have an Esterbrook Dip-Less inkwell and pen on my desk. It's technically a dip pen, although it has a feed. Apparently they were popular in Congress.

 

[freebird]

no luck yet with the local freecycle list. Going to check the antique mall this weekend.

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Those are some fantastic pens, folks. I have one, somewhere, probably in storage, that I've had for years. I think it was my grandfather's, but I'm not sure. I also don't know the make. I'll need to dig it out, someday.

In other news, Montblanc has teamed up with Van Cleef & Arpel and created the fountain pen you'll see at this link; it's called the Mystery Masterpiece. Click on "Next" to see it - and to see a larger image, go to the bookstore and thumb through the current issue of The Robb Report until you reach page 208. Personally, I'd like to have one, but I doubt I'll have the asking price anytime soon.


Lee
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By the way, since they don't mention it on the site, I'll tell you here: the asking price is a mere $730,000.00. Yes, you read that right.

 

[DerMann]

Modern Montblancs aren't anywhere near worth the asking price. Most users complain of skipping, poor feed and poor construction - Montblanc responds by blaming the users.

If you must own a Montblanc, stick with their vintage lines, up to 1960 or so.

 

[freebird]

Definitely out of my price range. I liked the German model better than the pen lol I'll do good to afford one from the antique shop.

 

[freebird]

Picked up a "Parkston" at a local flea market for a fiver today. It needs some serious work, the bladder has rotted and also needs general cleaning as well. I may wind up sending it to the fountain pen hospital, but I'm not sure if it's worth putting any cash into.

 

[RudyN]

I used a fountain pen a lot before I retired. I have a nice Mont Blanc and several 1950's pens put away (guess I will have to dig them out and use them a bit). I also had one of the lower priced Pelikans where I actually wore the nub out.

 

[freebird]

Purchased a Parker Frontier. Has anyone had any experience with these? My first use of it was forgettable to say the least, it skipped like crazy.

 

[RudyN]

I went and looked around on e-bay and found me a Hero 616 for $9.00 plus shipping. When I get it I will let you know how it works.

 

[Two Gun Bob]

If you got a good Hero 616 then it will write and handle well; I recommend the version with the arrow clip to anyone looking for something like a Parker 51 but who doesn't want to pay vintage Parker prices.

I keep one at work and although it's not as well made as a 51 it's a good writer and way better than anything Parker sells at the low end today.

The one issue is that sometimes the metal tube around the filler sac will come off; as this is aluminium you can squeeze the end of the tube a little by hand and it will make a firmer fit. Or a drop of glue will keep it in place more permanently.

I went and looked around on e-bay and found me a Hero 616 for $9.00 plus shipping. When I get it I will let you know how it works.

 

[Two Gun Bob]

They're not Parker's best; they're aimed as a school pen but the quality control is not great.

Purchased a Parker Frontier. Has anyone had any experience with these? My first use of it was forgettable to say the least, it skipped like crazy.

 

[freebird]

They're not Parker's best; they're aimed as a school pen but the quality control is not great.

Somehow after my initial experience, I'm not surprised lol. If designed for school, it would make the poor student throw up his hands and take to a gel pen (as I did) I purchased it for use in writing to a couple of pen pals,(fellow loungers), half-way through the first page I gave up and re-started with a gel.

 

[DerMann]

My "collection":

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/5872/zc141957nk1.jpg
Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Green on Clairfontaine paper.

 

[Tux Toledo]

I love your 1941 Parker 51 Double Jewel! May have to keep an eye for one of those.

 

[Two Gun Bob]

Two great classics there - HP Lovecraft wrote most of his spine-chilling stories with a Waterman's 52

My "collection":

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/5872/zc141957nk1.jpg
Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Green on Clairfontaine paper.

 

[Two Gun Bob]

I don't think a better pen has been made as a practical everyday writer. They have a real art deco mystique and yet still seem very modern today.

I love your 1941 Parker 51 Double Jewel! May have to keep an eye for one of those.

 

[sean138]

EVERSHARP

My favorites are Eversharp Skylines.

I use my Eversharp Pockette on a daily basis, though.

 

[DerMann]

Two great classics there - HP Lovecraft wrote most of his spine-chilling stories with a Waterman's 52

I've heard that same fact, and I love finding out little bits of fountain pen history like that. H.P. Lovecraft is actually the only horror writer I read, great author.

I don't think a better pen has been made as a practical everyday writer. They have a real art deco mystique and yet still seem very modern today.

The thing with hooded nibs is that people assume that they're modern ballpoints and treat them as such causing much harm to the pen.

I suppose I'll have to try a 51 some day...