Fountain pens

[Blinder Data]

There's been decent fountain pen chat on here but it's disparate. Let's bring it together in one place.

My first was a Waterman Laureat, a gift for starting secondary school. Its design is of its time but it definitely makes me feel special when I use it.



I recently purchased a Cross ATX in brushed chrome because it was pretty much 50% off.



I want to get a dark non-blue ink for it. Any recommendations?

I've got my eye on a Pilot Metropolitan but can't justify it just yet.



What pens you got and which ones you want?

[Fr.Bigley]

I use this..



And I'll probably buy this, once im done with it...

[Captain Z]

I want to get a dark non-blue ink for it. Any recommendations?

Black?

[wosl]

At school I once swapped a hoard of assorted gubbins (including a copy of the Stranglers' No More Heroes 7" in a picture sleeve) for a Parker 51 with a nice Prussian blue barrel, and then couldn't get on with the titchy nib and ended up switching to a Parker 25.  I've still got a '25 somewhere (with black rather than blue trim).



I haven't used a fountain pen for ages. I'm a fibre-tiper these days; a favourite is the Uni-PIN Fine Line. 

[Butchers Blind]

Haha, look at all the grandads here using pens. LOL!

[Spoon of Ploff]

One word for you : Feather Quills

[Fr.Bigley]

One word for you : Feather Quills

That's two words.

[Spoon of Ploff]

That's two words.

hark at the maths genius here.

[paruses]

I have one of those stubby japanese ones as recommended by blue jam .  Not Makita but a word a bit like that. Is really nice to write with.

I would like to get one of the metal ones that burnishes with age and handling. Would have to find the old thread to get the maker's name though.

[Fr.Bigley]

I have one of those stubby japanese ones

Is your missus pleased?

[Cuellar]

Fountain penis

[Blinder Data]

I have one of those stubby japanese ones as recommended by blue jam .  Not Makita but a word a bit like that. Is really nice to write with.

I would like to get one of the metal ones that burnishes with age and handling. Would have to find the old thread to get the maker's name though.

Kaweco sport?

[studpuppet]

I have one of those stubby japanese ones as recommended by blue jam .  Not Makita but a word a bit like that. Is really nice to write with.

I would like to get one of the metal ones that burnishes with age and handling. Would have to find the old thread to get the maker's name though.

As Blinder Data says, it's the Kaweco Sport, but Kaweco are a German brand and the Sport has been made (on and off) in Germany since 1934.

There are Japanese makers who make pocket pens, as they were really popular when fountain pens were still the writing instrument of choice, most notably Sailor, Platinum and Pilot. The nicest of these in my opinion are the metal (stainless steel or sterling silver) versions of the Pilot Elite, and the closely related Pilot MYU. The only issue with Japanese pens is that they generally have a lot finer nibs than Western pens, because of the intricacy of writing their characters, so if you like writing with a big broad line then these aren't for you.

Top to bottom: steel Elite, silver Elite, MYU

[paruses]

Kaweco sport?

Yes that's the one. I didn't realise they were German. I must have conflated Koweco and Kawazaki and decided they were a though and through Japanese brand like Super Dry.

By coincidence - as studpuppet points out - it is the fine nib on this German pen that I like. My handwriting is too cramped to cope with a thicker line. I do have a really nice 1920s pen but the nib is just too broad. It's a shame as it was bought as a present a long time ago but I just can't use it.

[Gulftastic]

I'm a lefty and fountain pens don't like me.

[studpuppet]

I'm a lefty and fountain pens don't like me.

I'm a lefty and I have, I dunno, somewhere between 50-100. Don't let them brainwash you! Lefties can use fountain pens without any problem, and left-handed nibs are bollocks too - most RH nibs are just as usable.

[Blue Jam]

Fountain penis

https://www.penisland.net/

[studpuppet]

https://www.penisland.net/

"We specialise in Wood..."

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

I've noticed that I write things down so rarely nowadays, what with phones and everything, that I'm actually forgetting how to do joined up writing, which is quite disturbing. I seem to have extra trouble with the lower case w, which often comes out as u.
Suppose I should start carrying a little pen and pad everywhere to get back into the swing of it.

[Gulftastic]

I'm a lefty and I have, I dunno, somewhere between 50-100. Don't let them brainwash you! Lefties can use fountain pens without any problem, and left-handed nibs are bollocks too - most RH nibs are just as usable.

I smudge everything I write as my hand drags across the page.

[Dex Sawash]

https://www.penisland.net/

If you want one that fits in the fold of your wallet

http://www.shortypen.com/shorty/shortypen/

[touchingcloth]

I use this..



And I'll probably buy this, once im done with it...

I don't know whether the humongous size of these images is ineptness on your part or deliberate to hammer the point home. Either way, I love it.

[paruses]

https://www.penisland.net/

The logo is a disguised penis isn't it? And there are tiny abstract penises all over the background aren't there? Or have I turned into Renfield (but with penises)

[studpuppet]

The logo is a disguised penis isn't it? And there are tiny abstract penises all over the background aren't there? Or have I turned into Renfield (but with penises)

Q: Can I provide my own wood?
A: In most cases we can handle your wood. We do require all shipments to be clean, free of parasites and pass all standard customs inspections.

[Blue Jam]

Yes, penisland is not a real shop selling pens. Apparently if you actually tried to email them to place an order you'd get an automatic reply about an outbreak of bird flu on "the island" stopping them shipping any pens.

Would seem like a legit excuse now.

Anyway, I love fountain pens and will post a proper lengthy reply to this thread later.

[Chollis]

i don't like fountain pens and I'll not be taking any further part in this thread

[touchingcloth]

What makes a pen desirable? Are there qualities which make some massively more effective than others, or is it more like watches where their desirability isn't linked to their usefulness?

That sounds a bit inversely snobbish, but I'm genuinely interested as before this thread (and the discussion in another recent thread which probably sparked it) I hadn't thought about fountain pens since I was in school, and I didn't know there were people who loved them.

Parker pens were what the fancy kids had in school. Are they any good?

Quink.

[Cuellar]

I had one of these https://www.kaweco-pen.com/schreibgeraete/fuellhalter/213/kaweco-liliput-fuellhalter-schwarz?c=57

but it went missing at work and so now I've sworn off fountain penis altogether

[markburgle]

Do kids still use fountain pens at school? Most kids (or was it just my mates?) at my school used fountain pens. I remember the whole intricate web of pen-related decisions. You wanted blue ink cartridges, so you could use an eraser pen. "Have you got a spare cartridge?" "Only black" "I'll have to scribble out the mistakes then". Sometimes the barrel would split and it would all fall apart, then the new pen would be scratchy until the nib wore away to suit the angle of your hand.

Or you could use a biro, and tippex - but it seemed a lesser option. The whole ink-cartridge business just seemed more fun. Satisfying little interlude in the tedium of class, snapping a new one in.

[JaDanketies]

Do kids still use fountain pens at school?

In our school, at around year four or five, you'd graduate to a handwriting pen and then when you mastered that, a fountain pen. And if you used anything other than a fountain pen or a handwriting pen from that point on, and didn't write in joined-up writing, then you were supposed to be in trouble, although some teachers were bad at noticing or caring about this infraction. Biros were a no-no. Here's a handwriting pen:



Nowadays I only ever really use a biro to write on paper, and tbh the whole process of writing on paper feels a little weird and foreign to me now. I don't know what the deal was with fountain pens in school. I assume that it was the professional standard at one point in time for documents to be written with a fountain pen? And in joined-up writing?

What are you guys writing on paper so much as to want to invest in a nice pen?