What pens are we carrying today?

[John in Covina]

My rootbeer Esterbrook Dollar pen and the green J model.

 

[dr.velociraptor]

I don’t think it’s too bad, and I have a 9 1/4" hand span. For comparison, here are my most-commonly used pens laid out:

Left to right:

1) Pentel Rolling Writer - I don’t actually use these, but it’s what the Noodler reminds me of.
2) Noodler - a wee bit smaller than the Pentel.
3) Zebra Orbitz - the best throw-away ballpoint pen for my money.
4) Waterman Phileas - great for making notes in margins.
5) Sheaffer Prelude - great for signing things and general writing.
6) Esterbrook SJ - great nib, but just too small for general writing. Would be great for a check register with a finer nib, and if I can locate a full-size J someday with a fine nib, I will probably switch them.

A pen should be able to just write, you shouldn't need a separate pen for activities like one for writing notes in a margin, and one for signing checks, one for writing in a journal etc... These all basically cheaper entry level pens, you should sell all of them and buy one good pen that does everything you need.

 

[John in Covina]

A pen should be able to just write, you shouldn't need a separate pen for activities like one for writing notes in a margin, and one for signing checks, one for writing in a journal etc... These all basically cheaper entry level pens, you should sell all of them and buy one good pen that does everything you need.

I'd say that i need several pens. Sme are more dressy than others, some are vintage designs that i love to use, some have different nibs so I can select something that will write they way i feel like i want to write. I use my music nib Platinum for addressing envelopes or my italic Binderized Pilot Vanishing Point for writing my Christmas cards.

One pen may be all you need but I would find that way to (self) limiting for my tastes. I am a collector and a user.

The best all around pen is a Sharpie because you can write on glossy photos or even write on aluminum foil wrapped stuff like leftovers that are going in the freezer. Not my favorite pen but the most versitile pen going.

 

[dr.velociraptor]

I'd say that i need several pens. Sme are more dressy than others, some are vintage designs that i love to use, some have different nibs so I can select something that will write they way i feel like i want to write. I use my music nib Platinum for addressing envelopes or my italic Binderized Pilot Vanishing Point for writing my Christmas cards.

One pen may be all you need but I would find that way to (self) limiting for my tastes. I am a collector and a user.

The best all around pen is a Sharpie because you can write on glossy photos or even write on aluminum foil wrapped stuff like leftovers that are going in the freezer. Not my favorite pen but the most versitile pen going.

Being a collector is fine, but none of those pens are collectors aside from the Esterbrook J. If you want to collect pens that's great, but if you have a pen that isn't good at writing certain things then I would say it's just a poor pen. The idea you need a separate pen for different mundane activities is probably more in your head. I can see if you're drafting or an engineer using specialized pens, but taking notes and writing Christmas cards? It's in your head my friend...

 

[David Conwill]

A pen should be able to just write, you shouldn't need a separate pen for activities like one for writing notes in a margin, and one for signing checks, one for writing in a journal etc... These all basically cheaper entry level pens, you should sell all of them and buy one good pen that does everything you need.

Hi Doc,

Fine if you don't like my collection (an accumulation, really), but I'll be the judge of my writing needs. Even if I decided to pare down, I'd still keep the Waterman and the Sheaffer. The Waterman is too fine for my handwriting and turns it into chicken scratch if I'm writing a document out longhand, whereas the Sheaffer is perfect for that but too coarse for making legible notes in margins and between lines.

 

[dr.velociraptor]

Hi Doc,

Fine if you don't like my collection (an accumulation, really), but I'll be the judge of my writing needs. Even if I decided to pare down, I'd still keep the Waterman and the Sheaffer. The Waterman is too fine for my handwriting and turns it into chicken scratch if I'm writing a document out longhand, whereas the Sheaffer is perfect for that but too coarse for making legible notes in margins and between lines.

You should ditch the FP and just buy a decent ball point where you can write longhand and take notes in a margin. Again I think this idea that you need a different pen for every relatively pedestrian activity you do with a pen a bit odd, and I believe it's all in your head. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to try and determine what activities you may be doing that day and which set of pens you'll need on hand throughout the day. Imagine being stuck with the Sheaffer and having to write a quick note in a margine? The horror! I can see having multiple pens for ease of convenience (traveling and you want a cartridge pen etc...), large big swinging **** pen for your office to impress all your easily impressed friends and co-workers etc.. But are we really at the point where we need separate pens for writing out Christmas cards and signing checks? Any decent pen should be able to accomplish both those tasks without a problem.

 

[Master Mason]

You should ditch the FP and just buy a decent ball point where you can write longhand and take notes in a margin. Again I think this idea that you need a different pen for every relatively pedestrian activity you do with a pen a bit odd, and I believe it's all in your head. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to try and determine what activities you may be doing that day and which set of pens you'll need on hand throughout the day. Imagine being stuck with the Sheaffer and having to write a quick note in a margine? The horror! I can see having multiple pens for ease of convenience (traveling and you want a cartridge pen etc...), large big swinging **** pen for your office to impress all your easily impressed friends and co-workers etc.. But are we really at the point where we need separate pens for writing out Christmas cards and signing checks? Any decent pen should be able to accomplish both those tasks without a problem.

My response to this would be because they want to and they can. If that's not for you great, but if it make them happy and they can afford it, the. They should do so because it makes them happy.

Do all these people on this forum really need more than one hat, after all you can only wear one at a time anyway. The answer is no They don't, but they do so because the get enjoyment out of it.

 

[David Conwill]

My response would be "I hate most ballpoints and I take pleasure in having a specific fountain pen for a specific job." It's not a great burden to have two, five, or hell fifteen if I wanted, fountain pens in my briefcase or desk. I'm also not so inflexible that I can't survive with a Zebra Orbitz for a day or week's general use if I forget or misplace my fountain pens.

Perhaps your rigid minimalism is all in your head as well. That doesn't mean it's not ok, just don't try to foist it on me.

You might be horrified to learn I also possess a full set of box-end wrenches rather than one single, high-quality adjustable wrench.

 

[dr.velociraptor]

I have a good collection of fountain pens, but I just collect them, I know there is a ton of redundancy going on, they're all good writers, if they're not they go. Montblanc 149? Writes about as well as a $30 Lamy, I sold it for that fact, I couldn't justify the cost of a pen that was that overpriced. I can understand collecting, but call it what it is, don't try to justify owning a large stable of pens for different tasks like one for writing Christmas cards, one for writing the grocery list, one for taking meeting notes, one for signing checks etc... Any decent $12.00 pen should be able to accomplish all of those tasks quite nicely, let a lone a $100+ pen. I carry my Pelikan m200 because it's small and sits in my shirt pocket cleanly, and I leave my Pelikan m800 on my desk, all things aside they write just about the same, the gold nib is no better than the steel nib, and I can use each for any writing activities that come my way.

 

[David Conwill]

Not a justification, just a preference. They're all adequate for any task.

Edit: I take it back. It lies somewhere between preference and necessity. My handwriting is far less legible with the wrong nib, and since I write for my secretary as well as myself, I don't think I could get along with just a single pen. The fountain part of the equation is certainly preference, however, as I despise buying cartridges and fear discontinuation of my preferred brands.

Further Edit: And this is the last I have to say on the topic. I'm sorry I ever posted a picture to try and help a fellow Lounger. Had I realized I was going to be insulted and interrogated, I'd have PM'd him.

 

[dr.velociraptor]

Further Edit: And this is the last I have to say on the topic. I'm sorry I ever posted a picture to try and help a fellow Lounger. Had I realized I was going to be insulted and interrogated, I'd have PM'd him.

Put on your big boy pants David, no one is insulting you, I own two of the pens you posted, fine pens. It's a message board and it isn't always ego stroking.

 

[DeaconKC]

Gentlemen, this forum is supposed to be a place of civility.

 

[Luscombe]

No better way to kill a good discussion than to criticize a poster.

So let's get the thread restarted.

I am a fountain pen user and have been acquiring them since 1990 when my Dad passed and my Mom gave me my Grandfathers' Sheaffer FP. It was from the 1930's so I had it restored and still use it today. I do not collect them. I use all of my pens, that's why I bought them.

I usually carry two FP's each day and rotate them in and out of my stash every week. That way I get to use each of my pens. For me, to quote Richard Binder, "The heart of the fountain pen is the nib".

Today I had the Kwaeco Sport with F nib, this is my pocket pen and is really a smooth writer for an inexpensive pen. The other pen was my Pilot VP with a 0.4mm CI nib that Richard ground for me. This pen is very practical operates like a cheap retractable ball point and writes with expression. SWMBO has informed me that she is taking possession of this one. She has perfect penmanship and when she uses this pen, the writing is exquisite.

I usually choose my pens based upon the expected writing tasks of the day. If I have to write proposals, I like to do that with an OM nib, smooth and expressive. If I am making notes on contracts, I like to use and EF nib. If I am writing notes in the margin of my Bible, I use an XXF or needle point.

The nib choices are endless, pen sizes are endless and quite frankly, life is just too short to not enjoy the variety. I enjoy meeting people in the work place that use fountain pens, it is becoming a lost art sorta like wearing Fedoras.

 

[John in Covina]

The rules we make for ourselves are for ourselves. The rules we make for others is called "imposition."

There is no one perfect pen. Many pens are designed to work well in many situations and they can be a joy to use. However, no pen performs perfectly for every task, it must fall short for some situation as in Jack of all trades, master of none. or master of some...

I collect and use what I want, when I want, where I want. I will decide for myself and do not need some sort of cruel tutaledge of Pei Mei lessons on fountain pens, their use or their value. What is important to me is what "I" want not what others want. It is my expectations that need to be fulfilled for my enjoyment for my pens and my use of them.

To show hatred of a brand or style reveals more of the nature of the writer than of the pen. I have had some expensive pens that did not perform well and have a fair amount of relatively inexpensive ones in the student pen level that perfrom extraordinary well. However those that fell short are not symptomatic of the manufacturer because no one maker makes only crappy pens and stays in business. There can always be an off day, a part that was not formed correctly or simply bad vibes for an indivudual pen. Some pens I don't see as worth the $, they don't meet my perceived value concepts.

It makes no sense to berate people for what they enjoy in such a strident way.
It doesn't win friends that is for sure.

 

[Shangas]

Not a justification, just a preference. They're all adequate for any task.

Edit: I take it back. It lies somewhere between preference and necessity. My handwriting is far less legible with the wrong nib, and since I write for my secretary as well as myself, I don't think I could get along with just a single pen. The fountain part of the equation is certainly preference, however, as I despise buying cartridges and fear discontinuation of my preferred brands.

Further Edit: And this is the last I have to say on the topic. I'm sorry I ever posted a picture to try and help a fellow Lounger. Had I realized I was going to be insulted and interrogated, I'd have PM'd him.

I feel sorry that you had to experience that, David. For the most part, pen-collectors/users, and even pen-collectors/collectors are very nice people. it's not easy explaining our passions to those who don't understand, and so I personally wouldn't waste my time trying to explain, or justify anything to anyone who won't be bothered to listen, or won't want to understand. Just enjoy your pens as you do.

I have a collection somewhere in the region of three dozen fountain pens. So I'm probably even more insane than some people think you are. Don't worry about it.

 

[John in Covina]

So I decided to try the Cross ATX, I ordered it and recieved today. Waiting for the converter so I can use the noodler's eel blue that I got as well. But figured I would use the cartridge to see how it wrote. Answer was it wouldn't. I could get ink on the page if I laid the nib against the paper and it would come out of the hole on the front, but the ink wouldn't go down to the end to write.

Called cross and they suggested cleaning it, which I am trying now, but you would think a new pen would work... Hoping this fixes it and I don't have to send it back or in for repair.

I do like the way it feels in my hand though.

Problematic Fountain Pens



NEW & BALKY FOUNTAIN PENS? FORMULA 409 TRICK!

Have you ever had a new fountain pen that just won't write right? You have filled it and it skips or won't write at all. Well the culprit may be grease or oils left over from manufacturing that is interfering with the delivery of ink.

The short lived Stylofiles magazine gave this pointer but again use caution; you may damage a pen if the chemicals attack a part. I believe aluminum is the most susceptible to chemical damage of the metals and both celluloid and casein are easy to damage, so use caution if you've got those as components of your pen lengthy soaking may present a problem. The caveat: Do NOT DAMAGE YOUR PENS! We not responsible for any damages to pens!

VERSION ONE
Take regular Formula 409 and a small glass like a cordial or shot glass. Spray some 409 in the glass and mix with 3 to 4 parts of COLD water. Dip the nib and feed in the mixture then fill and flush the converter or filling system with the mixture for 1 or 2 minutes. Then replace the mixture with plain COLD water and flush for a minute replace water and flush repeat replacing and flushing again and again for a couple more minutes so no trace of the Formula 409 remains. Then fill with new clean ink, the pen should write better if the oil or grease was the culprit. Be sure to empty the pen of all ink first then flush with plain water before using the cleaning mixture. Always use COLD water as warm or hot can damage the feed!

VERSION 2
This is supposed to work on both new and older pens that are presenting a skipping on no flow challenge. Stylus Magazine and some Pen Aficionados contend Formula 409 and Simple Green as too harsh to use on pens. Their alternate flusher and cleaner is a solution you can easily mix up.

Mix 1 Tablespoon of Clear Household Ammonia to 2/3rds cup of Cold Water. Flush with this mixture and then flush thoroughly with PLAIN cold water to remove any residue. (Clear also means NOT sudsy type.)

Happy writing!

 

[Luscombe]

Good info re the 409. I have used that with great success. Just need to be careful with really old pens as it may damage the materials. For modern pens, I don't think it is a problem as long as you clean and flush but do not soak.

Also, a little baby bulb syringe is helpful for directing higher pressure water at stubborn parts.

 

[Kirk H.]

[/IMG]

Today it is my Grandfather's Parker 21 FP

Kirk

 

[DeaconKC]

Kirk, that is a beauty!

 

[dr.velociraptor]

Apparently the consensus is that I was a horses arse. David, honestly sorry if I offended you, carry all your pens till your hearts content. If I offended anyone else accept my apology.