Fountain pens - anyone write?

one foot in the past and the other in the present

one foot in the past and the other in the present

...my daily pen is an older (?) middlin' size mont blanc. not sure what model, the nib is engraved with "4810". the width of the stroke seems a bit wide sometimes. could be from using my ruby red tornado (rollerball cartridge repalced with a basic parker ball point refill) more often.

for me it is an indulgence of sorts. using it slows me down a bit...and that's not a bad thing. sort of like living with my manual wind wristwatch.


"...patience and shuffle the cards" miguel cervantes
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smile, breathe, relax, and enjoy
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hasta la vista, voyez-vous lus tard, adieu, daskorava, fino al prossimo tempo, auf wiedersehen, shalom, zaijan, and ... later y’all :p :D :p
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kenneth lockerman
NEVER FORGET BESLAN
www.neverforgetbeslan.org
www.neverforgetbeslan.com
 
My daily pen is an Aurora Ipsilon in Sunny Yellow, although I have several dozen from which to choose and over a dozen inks as well.

I find that fountain pens, medium format cameras, and, yes, rangefinder cameras, are a pleasant way to slow down from the pace of life.
 
I have two Parker 45 FP`s, one grey the other turquoise plus my fathers Conway Stewart 236 and a Onoto The Pencil, which he won as golf trophies in 1938. They both need a CLA, but will have too wait their turn, oh and I drive a C5 Citroen S/wagon. Earlier this year I was lucky enough to pick up an old Colnago steel frame bike with Shimarno 600, down tube shifters, singles, it`s red with a white Turbo saddle, real time warp stuff. Sorta matches the cupboard full of Yashica GS/N/T`s, the Leica M`s,the Linhof 6x9 & 6x7,the `blad, the nikon F/F2/Nikkormats, I think I have a problem Doctor!!!
 
great thread!

great thread!

I have used fountain pens ever since I was in college & use one daily in my work as a consulting physician
I have had a Mont Blanc, Waterman (got it in Oxford at a pen store in the mid '80's & still use it at home to sign checks & for letters), numerous inexpensive Pelikans, a Cross with cartridges that I hand filled
my favorite by FAR is a Pilot retractable fountain pen
this beautifully engineered pen retracts its nib into an air tight chamber which keeps it ready for use and assures it will not leak
there is an O ring where the body screws apart for refilling as well
filling it can be a bit messy as the screw siphon takes a little getting used to, though the technique is quickly learned
the pen fits my hand perfectly & writes quite well
unlike any other pen I have had, this one has never failed me in my years of using it & requires little maintainance ...really an outstanding design
 
I have been using fountain pens since my primary school years. I use daily a parker frontier and a very cheap pelikan. Now I'm looking for a replacement service for my father's parker 51. (he uses just his pc qwerty - what a generation! :) ). Im also planning to buy one of the japanese fountain pens, but a simple version.
In general I do not like too expensive fps, because I like to use it daily and not just for signing something. That's why I do not prefer too heavy fountain pens. On the other hand I like fountainpens so much, so I just registered in the fountain pen forum a few days ago... ;)
 
Several years ago, after despairing of finding a decent ink, I gave up a lifetime's habit and moved from fountain pens to gel pens. Three Sheaffer pens are in search of owners. Kids don't want them.
 
Artichoke said:
... my favorite by FAR is a Pilot retractable fountain pen
this beautifully engineered pen retracts its nib into an air tight chamber which keeps it ready for use and assures it will not leak
there is an O ring where the body screws apart for refilling as well
filling it can be a bit messy as the screw siphon takes a little getting used to, though the technique is quickly learned
the pen fits my hand perfectly & writes quite well
unlike any other pen I have had, this one has never failed me in my years of using it & requires little maintainance ...really an outstanding design
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You are evil, Doctor.

One of the problems I've discovered with changing over to FPs for work is the constant uncapping and recapping. After reading your post, I spent a few hours on FPN and Google researching these Pilot pens.

The Vanishing Point sounds like a perfect solution for me! I'm talking to a vendor now about a blue one in their "Carbonesque" finish with a spare nib insert.
 
I don't know much about fountain pens, but I make them on a wood lathe if that counts! I have tried writing with them but I've never had much success. I am probably doing it wrong I admit.

I doubt the tip and all is very high quality on the kits I buy to make mine, but they are fun to do with interesting woods anyways.
 
Brad Bireley said:
Is there a FSU or Yashica GSN version of fountain pens?
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If you want to talk vintage, Esterbrooks give a great bang for the buck. They were real cheap in their day, are still rather cheap comparatively speaking, have nice celluloid bodies, and have easily interchangeable nibs so you can go from, say, a fine rigid point to a flexy expressive point in no time. They're also super easy to work on and rather reliable.
 
mervynyan said:
speak of which, is there someone who wants a Montblanc Starwalker Metal & Rubber fountain pen. The medium nib is a little too big for my writing style, and retailer won't find me a replacement. and more importantly, ink cartridges are too expensive to use. the whole box costs more $10, I used to write some serious notes that a box can only last 2-3 weeks.

I don't want to sell for cash but would be interested to trade with something interesting. Perhaps a similar value fountain pen.
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Damn, I've had my eye on one of those since before they came out...wish I could think of what to offer you in trade...
 
I have continued to use fountain pens (occassionally rather than always, I must admit because they are often just not practical) right up to today and I can't ever see myself not using one.

More to the point, even in business, I still send clients and prospective clients letters signed in real INK! One commented a while ago: "thanks for your letter, it was the first letter I have received in a couple of years and so refreshing!"

Maybe it is also called differentiation!:)
 
I love fountain pens, and I have several cheap models; I like using them when writing letters, using Pelikan ink in different colours.
Now I am waiting for the return of my father's Pelikan 120 (bought in the sixties) after a CLA.
 
I only use fountain pens. At school I was told pencil or (ink) pen - no biros were allowed. So I use fountain pens all the time - both my daily writers are Conway Stewarts - a black ebonite Churchill and a red ebonite 58 Duro. I buy my ink in boxes of 12 bottles and have bottles everywhere - at home, in clinic (at both my hospitals), in my secretaries' offices etc. I almost feel naked without them!

Charlie
 
foto_fool said:
I have been using fountain pens for longer than I have been using rangefinders. After trading back and forth for several years I decided I prefer the piston-fill designs by Pelikan and Omas. My daily user - and the one that actually got me to start practicing penmanship again - is a vintage black M800 with a medium-oblique nib hand-cut by John Mottishaw. My signature pen is a newer green-stripe M1000 with a Pelikan stock medium-oblique; broader and more flexible than the custom nib. My occasional-use pens are a black/gold Omas Paragon M, a black/gold Omas Ogiva F and a green Omas 360 M - all with stock nibs. I have big hands and the big pens feel better in use - less cramped. I blend an ink I like from Levenger Cocoa and Cardinal Red with a touch of Waterman Black. I also like the flow and transparency of the Pelikan Blue.

- John
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Doppelganger, my friend. The matrix has you. You travel the Internet and discover yourself someday.

No, seriously, I think you have more than a good taste in fountain pens - you have excellent taste. My favorites are Pelikan M800, then M700 Toledo, an Omas Bibliotheque Nationale, Medium Italic 14karat Superflex - cut by John Mottishaw of course. No need to elaborate - you know the feeling.

What's next - Zippo lighters? Bicycles? What's your dream car - i bet its a SAAB 900 SPG. Aren't we all the same kind of nuts?

P.S. Who of you freaks is receiving the Fountain Pen Hospital Catalogue? I only know a new year has started when it comes.
Fountain pen shops behind the Pantheon, Rome, anyone? Les Stylos d'Opera, Paris? Bush house, London, pen shop? Been there, done that
 
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I need to get one, I think I'll try one of those chinese Heros. My Aurora Thesi ballpoint still stops traffic, purchased long ago. It's half of the Hastil (fountain)/Thesi set. I have no hope of ever affording the Hastil. I also have a Rotring Quattro, and I'd like to try a Rotring Core. I sort of like the dichotomy of that...a fountain pen that looks like a running shoe.
 
Two pens arrived today: the replacement Rotring Initial and a Lamy Al-Star. I also have a Pilot Blue Kasuri Vanishing Point on the way for a daily carry office pen.

That's it, I'm done!
 
Ah... it had to happen: the rangefinder/fountain pen connection...

Pelikan M800, blue
Pelikan M400, black/silver
Pelikan M400, red
Pelikan M400 ball, converted to a stylus
Pelikan 100N, green, ca 1942, w/ gold "document" nib (extra stiff to write on carbon paper)
Montblanc 1518
Sailor Music Pen
Namiki Falcon
Waterman Expert Chrome
Schaeffer Legacy, Sterling Silver
Rotring 600 fountain
Venlo 20 pen burled maple case

All are filled with Noodlers ink (black, Legal Blue, Widow Maker Red)

Pelikans are my favorite. I love that the nibs are interchangable and that relative to the ubiquitous Montblanc, the price is lower and the quality higher.

Boy, do I love fountain pens (and Leica cameras)!

John
 
Basil - I envy that JM Superflex for your Omas. John's nibs can cost half the pen, but are worth every penny. Matt Fury complained that modern nibs are not flexible - he should get John to cut a Superflex for him. I also recommend the Sailor line from Japan - simply amazing. Their "musical" nibs are SO flexible that the merest pressure results in a miniature brush stroke. I kept one just for the nib, even though the pens are cartridge/converter rather than piston fill. And though I don't use them because they are too small, I have a old Pelikan 400 (JM nib) and new 620 "Stockholm" that I hope I can interest the children in.

Zippos? Not yet. Bicycles? - mid-1970's Motobecane with the original work-of-art Huret derailleurs and Stronglight crankset. I did break down and put a set of new Shimano side pulls and easier-to-keep-straight Mavic wheels on it, but it is still a lightweight silver and red thing of beauty. I put almost 100K miles on an 1984 SAAB 900 Turbo and loved every minute of it. Motorcycles? Wannabe amateur racer for many years, until I built a BMW R75/5 from a basket of parts and slowed down. Eventually traded down to a Vespa 50. Vinyl? - check that other thread. Wine? Not even a hobby anymore - day job.

RFF is s self-selected group of people many of whom appreciate timeless, not to say anachronisitc, technologies. And also for many of us, not to the exclusion of the modern.

- John
 
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