Fountain pen, someone?

Fountain pen, someone?

  • Fountain pen

    Votes: 212 70.0%

  • Roller

    Votes: 33 10.9%

  • Computer

    Votes: 38 12.5%

  • I do not write

    Votes: 5 1.7%

  • Others

    Votes: 15 5.0%
  • Total voters
    303
S

Sonny Boy Havidson

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Aug 3, 2008
Messages
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As someone created a "Digital watch, someone" thread, here is another out of topic thread* about pens and your writing tools.

For me, I am deep into fountain pens.

* Not totally in fact: pictures and words get on well.
 
A Bic Roller for me...anything that's smooth but not a fine point...
My handwriting alone would have qualified me for medical school...a fountain pen would be out of the question...I recognize my own writing but there are times I cannot read it...
 
There is a difference between what is my favorite and what I normally use. My favorite is an antique fountain pen I've had since I was in grade school. I normally use a computer.
 
37 of them at the last count, dating back to an Aiken Lambert from 1916. Most regularly used are a Pelikan 800 and a Sailor 1911 with a Naginata Togi nib.

I wonder also how many of us use mechanical watches in preference to quartz? I suspect that we are all Luddites at heart :)

Tinribs
 
Lamy fountain pen whenever possible, but you can't get by without a roller as well. Mechanical pencil completes the trio.

Steve
 
My company has the Uni-Ball Signo 207 roller as standard pen. I love it, have them in black, blue and red and use them a lot for conceptual sketches and notes.
Two weeks ago I cleaned and loaded my old Pelikan fountain pen again and was very disappointed. I like writing with the Uni-Ball much better in the meantime.
 
Namiki Vanishing Point (Carbon Fiber Blue, Fine Nib 60149) - used every day and my "carry" pen (high quality, good value). The Fine Nib is similar to the Extra Fine in the Pelikan.

Next two in use would be Pelikan Souveran 800 (red/black) with Extra Fine Nib, and a Sailor Professional Gear (funky Orange color) with Extra Fine Nib (which really is very fine).

Worst purchase: Marlen Basilea (might have just gotten a lemon)

Good starter to try out a fountain: Lamy w/ Z24 Converter (<$30).

Have others but those are my "writers"

Best inks for me: Noodlers. The Heart of Darkness is a good black, as well as their Bulletproof Black. Have some other colors (Red-Black, Green, etc.) but don't write with them much.
 
I've been seeking for "my" pen quite long.. Went from Sailors through Pelikans and Lamy2k and Omas pens to vintage ones - Sheaffers, Parkers, and others more obscure, but neither was quite right for me..
But then bought a Pilot 823 and now I use it almos exclusively. Remarkable pen. And combine it with some of the Pilot Iroshizuku inks and it perhaps cannot get better!
 
dogberryjr said:
I'd love to use a fountain pen, but for a left-hander they are pretty impractical.
Click to expand...

You just have to find the right inks and nibs.

I'm also a southpaw, and find the Japanese pens to be perfect. The two Pilot/Namiki pens (a Vanishing Point, carbon fiber blue just like ederek's pen, and a Namiki Falcon) that I have are wonderful. Both have Namiki medium-size nibs, which on a European or American pen would be a fine-size. These Namiki pens work so well for my hand that I'll likely never buy another brand of fountain pen. My mom, who is a trained calligrapher and a southpaw, was simply in awe when she tried the Falcon out. It's her favourite (round-nib) pen ever and I'll have to get her one so she won't steal mine. I like both of these pens a LOT more than any Mont Blanc or Pelikan or Parker that I've personally used. YMMV, of course.

The salient features for a lefty are relatively low ink flow (to speed drying) and high flexibility (for smoothness, even when writing on a push rather than pull stroke).

The Noodlers Legal Lapis ink works well for me, and the Namiki blue and black inks write even better, although they are less water-resistant. Other Noodlers inks that I've tried don't dry fast enough for this lefty to avoid the dreaded smear.

I also have about a dozen different 0.7 mm mechanical pencils (Pilot, Pentel, Steadtler), all filled with Pilot HB lead. Jetpens.com is a great place to get all of this stuff, though they admittedly don't have the best prices.
 
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You left out 'Chisel and Stone' as one of the options. That setup is too important to be classified with 'Others'. :D
 
Mechanical pencil or just simple pencil. But I do not do overly too much handwriting (good for the world, my handwriting was never too nice, I turned to script hand writing at age about 14 to be able to read my own notes)
 
I am left-handed, so that rules out any pen with ink that stays wet on the paper. And I am losing the feeling in my finger tips - caused by a 30 year old neck injury. So it's computer for me, with ball point pen (preferably with a big fat barrel) a loooong second.
 
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