What pens are we carrying today?

[DeaconKC]

A blue Parker 45 loaded with PR American Blues.

 

[James71]

I would like to try a fountain pen, but dont really want to spend hundreds only to find out its not for me.

I looked up the store in North Sydney but the prices scared me off. ;-)

Where would you pen experts suggest I go to pick up something as a trial that wont send me broke?

 

[Shangas]

Go to an art-shop or a craft shop or a stationer's shop or OfficeWorks or something. Buy a cheap kit-style calligraphy fountain pen & start from there.

 

[DeaconKC]

There are some disposable fountain pens made by Pilot/Namiki sold an most office supply stores. You can try them out for only a few dollars. Waterman, Pilot/Namiki are all available for under $50 to try out if you like those. Pelikan makes starter ones like the 150 that are easily found cheap that are great also.
http://cgi.ebay.com/PELIKAN-M150-Pi...ncils_WritingEquipment_SM&hash=item1c1c1fe275
http://cgi.ebay.com/Waterman-Harley...386?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5641ec018a
I actually have both of these and they are great writers

 

[John in Covina]

I would like to try a fountain pen, but dont really want to spend hundreds only to find out its not for me. Where would you pen experts suggest I go to pick up something as a trial that wont send me broke?

Go online and Google Pilot Varsity. It is a disposable fountain pen from Pilot that are really a lot of fun to write with. Hopefully they have them in your country.

After that the thing to do is find out if there are any fountain pen collecting clubs in your area, you may find some vintage pens that are inexpensive compared to new that are great to use. Over this way for vintage i suggest a good Esterbrook which has a replaceable nib that you can swap out for other widths and styles of writing. Parker 45's can some times be found for a fairly low price. In new pens I suggest a Lamy Safari or Allstar while modern they write well and are nearly bullet proof. Pilot makes a pen called the Knight that is nice. Waterman's Phileas is pretty good too. The thing is that some pens may have different names than that model name here in the US.

With inflation climbing the prices keep rolling up so it is hard to say what they are going for nowadays. Many people start with a cartridge pen but a lot of us will go for a bottle filler type at some point. There are some fairly inexpensive Pelikans like their Pelikino not sure of the spelling. If you can find on ebay a Rotring Core they're like a Nike sneaker but write really great for the price. Sometimes you can find the Chinese brand Hero on Ebay for fairly cheap too.

The thing is that a fountain pen can change the way you write and how you think about writing.

Note that sometimes paper from a copier , fax machine or printer can have chemicals on them that will make a pen skip. I suggest letting them breathe off the chemicals before writing on those. Watch for paper that has coatings on them they can give a pen fits.

 

[James71]

Thanks for all the great advice guys. Any problems with something like this?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Sheaffer-red-fountain-pen-fully-restored-/220792306255?pt=AU_PensWritingItems&hash=item33683f3a4f#ht_500wt_1156

 

[John in Covina]

Thanks for all the great advice guys. Any problems with something like this?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Sheaffer-red-fountain-pen-fully-restored-/220792306255?pt=AU_PensWritingItems&hash=item33683f3a4f#ht_500wt_1156

Personally, I have found that these have cheap Italic nibs that don't write particularly well and these always wind up leaking.

 

[James71]

Right you are. *deleted from watch list*

 

[John in Covina]

Search for Pilot Fountain Pen on the AU Ebay.

 

[James71]

Just did exactly that and we might have a winner. I even like the colour...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PILOT-78G-Green-Fountain-Pen-Gold-Plated-Clip-Fine-Nib-/120563835556?pt=AU_PensWritingItems&hash=item1c122a22a4#ht_4499wt_1139

 

[John in Covina]

I think you have good luck with that one. I have a couple of Pilot fountain pens and they are all quite good. Like I said the Pilot V-Pen which is disposable writes great so I am sure this one will be even better,

 

[James71]

Bought and paid for.

Thanks very much for the advice. I will report back on how it turns out!

James

 

[DeaconKC]

Looks like a winner.

 

[Kirk H.]

Pilot makes some nice Fountain pens in all price ranges. Today for work I carried my Pilot S20 wood ballpoint pen.

Kirk H.

 

[James71]

The pilot 78g turned up today. I filled it with Parker quink and away I went. Writes beautifully, but is very fine. Half an hour in and I am considering something with a slightly heavier line....

Thanks for your advice guys. The fountain pen will join my everyday carry items along with my marbles compass, Beattie jet lighter and pocket knife...

 

[Shangas]

You can tweak the nib and pull the tines apart slightly with your fingers to induce a more generous inkflow. It involves getting your fingers dirty, but it does work.

 

[DeaconKC]

Congrats and welcome to the world of luxury pen writing!

 

[Kirk H.]

Congrats and welcome to the world of luxury pen writing!

BTW congrats and remember life is to short to write with a cheap pen

 

[Talbot]

Modern chrome Cross Century II for the factory floor.

1960 Mont Blanc 32 for the office.

Very happy with both.

 

[John in Covina]

Pelikan 200 (Brown Transparent model) with broad nib using Black Aurora ink from Italy. The broad is fairly wet without being sloppy and lets me write fast with out skipping a beat.