What pens are we carrying today?

[Shangas]

Thanks, John. I love this pen. It's simple, it's comfortable and it writes wonderfully. It's also pleasantly flexible.

 

[DeaconKC]

Annoyed, forgot my usual carry fountain pens for work today and had to run into the store and grabbed a cheapie roller ball. By the end of the day I was really missing my FPs!

 

[Doublegun]

As an upside down leftie I have always had a problem smearing what I write no matter what I write with. The only instrument I really don't have a problem with is the Pilot "Varsity" pens. I would like to find a vintage pen that produces a similar line. I am partial to the older Parker 75's but I am open to suggestions. Where is a good reliable place to find a quality fp? eBay makes me a little nervous as I am not that knowledgable about fountain pens. Any help and direction would be appreciated.

JDG.

 

[John in Covina]

As an upside down leftie I have always had a problem smearing what I write no matter what I write with. The only instrument I really don't have a problem with is the Pilot "Varsity" pens. I would like to find a vintage pen that produces a similar line. I am partial to the older Parker 75's but I am open to suggestions. Where is a good reliable place to find a quality fp? eBay makes me a little nervous as I am not that knowledgable about fountain pens. Any help and direction would be appreciated. JDG.

You won't find anything quite like a Varsity in Vintage as they are disposible. There are a number of work horse pens from the good old days. Ebay is not the best source since most people selling fountain pens are not expert. (Chances are they don't know what they have, what it takes to get it working and small details like a broken nib or cracked body might not catch their attention.)

Check around do some searches for pen collecting clubs in your area dealing with people at a club meeting will be a good experience usually. Some of the big pen stores have a vintage section and will be reliable as to their condition but you will pay a premium for those pens. One pen I can point to in the vintage line is Esterbrook. bulletproof easy to change the nib & feed section for the style of nib of your choice. You can find reconditioned ones from $25-$35 for the regular workaday ones- others will be higher. You can find new-unused replacement nibs around (look for the 4 digit numbers - not 3) There are websites with info on them so you can see the charts of nib types. Some modern pens are copies of early styles and would not look out of place in the past. Good pens are expensive, you can spend hundreds even thousands of $ on them. However a good fountain pen is supposed to last a lifetime so they are like watches you spend to fit your sensibilities. In Modern pens it is rare to go wrong and a good shop will do their best to help if you have any problems or disappointments. German and Japanese pens you can find some student ones that will write well and cost not so much.

Vintage: the big 3 are Waterman, Sheaffer and Parker.
Others of note are Wahl-Eversharp, Conkilin, Chilton, Carter, mabie Todd Swan and a long list as there were tons of makers way back.

There are books on the vintage pens, if you can do some research you'll have a better idea of what you'd like.

Good luck and enjoy

 

[mdove]

I attempted to use fountain pens in high school and college, but never having the money for anything more than cheap big-box store cartridge jobbies, I usually only succeeded in making a mess or having skipped, faded, illegible work.
I switched to various Parker roller balls, which is all my beer budget will allow.
Here in the sandbox, I keep a handful of Parker Jotter ball points. Medium point, black ink.
I may have to obey the Army's black ink rule, but I like to think I have a bit more class than the plastic Bic disposable allow.

The black Skillcarft....how wonderful.

 

[DeaconKC]

Grabbed my Cross ATX today for running around. Simple, beefy and when loaded with Quink, very unfussy.

 

[DeaconKC]

A pair of Cross FPs today, an ATX and a Classic!

 

[DeaconKC]

Waterman Harley Davidson Combustion loaded with MB Racing Green and a Cross ATX with Skrip Black

 

[John in Covina]

As an upside down leftie I have always had a problem smearing what I write no matter what I write with. JDG.

Some of the ink makers have quick drying inks for fountain pens.

 

[John in Covina]

Grabbed my Pilot Vanishing Point with Binder italic nib (PR Velvet Black) for some writing and then my Platinum FP with music nib to do about 40 Christmas cards with PR Spearmint Green.

 

[John in Covina]

I grabbed a 30's Depression era no-name fountain pen (lever fill) for some writing. It's a green pen smaller in size like a ladies pen. The nib says "Welsh" it's a wet writer and not bad a hint of scratchy on the way up.

 

[pgoat]

Much to my dismay, my work and fountain pens don't play well together. I use Pilot G-2s, Sakura archival markers and pencil in the office. At home I journal with a Pelikan M1000, a Montegrappa 1930 extra, Sheaffer Legacy Heritage and two late 50s Esterbrook Double Js that belonged to my Dad. They needed a little love to work well after a long inactivity, but I was lucky to work right around the corner from the Fountain Pen Hospital in lower Manhattan, which made it a fast easy fix.

I have to say the Esties are the best writers of the bunch by far. The Montegrappa, which is the most expensive pen I ever owned, is quite beautiful, but has a stubborn Baby's bottom issue which is rather frustrating.

 

[bburtner@moran]

My pen today is a Sheaffer balance ball point,great pen good size,they stopped making them awhile ago,but they still can be bought @about 80.00.I like the Sheaffer more than my Meisterstuck.

 

[John in Covina]

I find that work tends to do in my fountain pens. The chemicals used by photocopiers, faz machines and the coated paper that they inevitally buy winds up making my FP's skip.

Silver Bandless Dollar pen with 2968 broad nib Esterbrook for today.

 

[JohnnyDollar]

Up til Christmas I had been using disposable FPs at work, now I am using this:

Sold as a 1930s Salz Brother's fountain pen. Who knows about accuracy of the age but the damn thing writes like a champ! 100% better than the disposable ones!

 

[John in Covina]

The style and coloration points to depression era pen. Salz made many pens, I recall seeing some pens that were like novelty types. One of the guys in SCPCC had a large collection of neat Salz pens.

 

[TheRomanhistorian]

I have my Yard-O-Led Pocket Viceroy in barley with Diamine sepia ink. There's something satisfying about writing academic notes or the like in that sepia tone!

JohnnyDollar: I really like the marbling effect on that pen, it's very visually appealing. How smoothly does it write?

 

[DeaconKC]

In day to day use, I do like my FPs, however like you guys I have problems with gas pump receipts, fax paper, etc. Amazingly, the two best inks I have found are opposites: Shaeffer Skrip Black and Mont Blanc Racing Green.

 

[JohnnyDollar]

JohnnyDollar: I really like the marbling effect on that pen, it's very visually appealing. How smoothly does it write?

Like butter. I have never written with something so smooth. I thought the disposable ones I had were smooth but this thing is 300% better. In a short time it has made my hand writing a but neater (I think because I am paying attention to the pen more)

John - thanks for the info!

 

[Connery]

This is a wonderful thread. I am just starting to get back into writing again and I am learning a great deal. I figured these were good to practice with until I start getting serious about buying a pen.