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Fountain pen inks: the good, the bad, and the ugly (2011)

richardspens.com

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Re: Fountain pen inks: the good, the bad, and the ugly (2011)

#141

Post by b3orn »

Moru wrote: post #135
rukuu001 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just want to say I'm so happy to see other fountain-pen users here on HN. There isn't a single other person in my life who uses them.

Every schoolkid in Germany seems to be using them. They even come in the cheap pen cases you can buy at the supermarket.

I don't know if this is still accurate, but during my time in school (finished in 2009) we had to use fountain pens from grade two and most teachers stopped caring what we were writing with in grade 7. From that point on most of use used ballpoint pens.

Re: Fountain pen inks: the good, the bad, and the ugly (2011)

#142

Post by weinzierl »

nimbius wrote: post #93

I went through a fountain pen phase for about a year and finally gave up on it after a few notable incidents. - going through the airport was hit or miss. Bristol? Stuttgart? things are perfect. interstate travel in the US? id lost two pens to the TSA. My flight to calgary started perfectly, and ended after a half full fountain pen quietly burst in my jacket pocket. not fun. - No one seems to know what these things a…

> My flight to calgary started perfectly, and ended after a half full fountain pen quietly burst in my jacket pocket. not fun.

This isn‘t too uncommon, I have been told.

Years ago, when I worked in aerospace, I had a colleague who always carried his precious fountain pen in a small black box.

When I asked him about it, he told me that the box was only partially to protect his pen but also to protect his bag and the things in it from leaked ink. He said that pressure surges during flights used to cause him a lot of trouble and he looked long and hard until he found a case that was airtight and sturdy enough to prevent leakage. I looked up the case and it was some military grade box.

Re: Fountain pen inks: the good, the bad, and the ugly (2011)

#143

Post by bayindirh »

freosam wrote: post #34

This articles says that inkjet ink "frequently uses pigment, not dye," but my understanding is that most inkjet inks are actually dye-based, and that you have to somewhat go out of your way to find pigment-based ones (and they cost more). The latter are usually recommended for archival printing purposes (e.g. Epson's "Dura Brite" inks), because they are less likely to fade over time and are better bonded with the pap…

For HP, the separation is made at product level. Both consumer and office ink jets have pigmented blacks, but consumer color cartridges are generally dye-based while officejet inkjets and professional printing machines use pigment based color inks.

Specification page for cartridges generally gives pigment/dye information.

Re: Fountain pen inks: the good, the bad, and the ugly (2011)

#144

Post by [deleted] »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #71
saspiesas wrote: post #68

To all the people who keep asking why we would bother write with a fountain pen, a few reasons I do: People are less likely to walk away or accidentally steal your fountain pen I can write in the exact colour I want I know scribbles or notes are mine without even looking at the writing My colleagues know which pieces of notes are mine without asking My notebooks never wander far I don't feel like I'm constantly killi…

> It feels better in my hand than a biro Ballpoints require one to constantly press down to keep the ink flowing. This makes writing tiring. (Fountain pens draw ink with capillary action.)

[deleted]

Re: Fountain pen inks: the good, the bad, and the ugly (2011)

#145

Post by kerkeslager »

gpm wrote: post #78
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It feels better in my hand than a biro Ballpoints require one to constantly press down to keep the ink flowing. This makes writing tiring. (Fountain pens draw ink with capillary action.)

This is the main reason I use one, keeps my RSI from acting up when I have to write a lot. Best $25 I've ever spent ($5 on a pen, jinhao x750, the rest on ink).

For what it's worth, those Sharpie felt tip pens also draw ink with capillary action. This is what I use and it definitely reduces fatigue as compared with a ballpoint.

Re: Fountain pen inks: the good, the bad, and the ugly (2011)

#146

Post by enriquto »

saspiesas wrote: post #68

To all the people who keep asking why we would bother write with a fountain pen, a few reasons I do: People are less likely to walk away or accidentally steal your fountain pen I can write in the exact colour I want I know scribbles or notes are mine without even looking at the writing My colleagues know which pieces of notes are mine without asking My notebooks never wander far I don't feel like I'm constantly killi…

For me the only important point is that you do not need to apply pressure in order to write. The ink just flows.

Re: Fountain pen inks: the good, the bad, and the ugly (2011)

#147

Post by noufalibrahim »

I use a fountain pen exclusively for all my work. I used to use a Waterman Expert[1] but someone I lent it to dropped it and destroyed the feeder. I've tried to get it repaired but it's dead and gone. These days, I use a Noodlers Ahab these days. It has a flexible nib and so I can do some amount of lettering and copperplate calligraphy when I need to (e.g. headings and for emphasis). I've tried a number of inks and I've finally settled on Private Reserve Velvet black[3]. I use other inks for calligraphy because those are with dip pens and the demands are different (specifically Winsor and Newton calligraphic ink).

The Ahab is always in my pocket along with a Rotring 3in1 Tikki[4] mostly for the pencil and for places which demand a ball point pen. I practice calligraphy and often use the Ahab to write nice thank you notes or other such short messages for people.

A sad thing I've found is that much of the paper you get today doesn't go very well with fountain pens. They're either too shiny (typical photocopy paper), too feathery (typical fancy notebook paper) or drink the ink too much. I've found a few companies whose books and papers are manageable and stick to them as much as possible.

Some of the other pens in my collection are a steel broad nibbed Sheaffer. It's a little too fluid for my tastes and I don't use it much. There's a small shop in Kozhikode (the town in Kerala, India where I'm from) who makes handmade pens[5]. It's fun to see. They have a foot powered lathe. They carve out ebonite rods and fix feeders and nibs. I have a few of these.

As someone who's very fond of handwriting (especially cursive) and calligraphy, It's heartening to see a renewed interest in this.

--

[1] http://www.waterman.com/en/expert/123-black-fountain-pen-gt-...

[2] https://www.gouletpens.com/noodlers-ahab-flex-fountain-pen-m...

[3] https://www.amazon.com/Private-Reserve-Velvet-Black-Bottle/d...

[4] https://www.cultpens.com/i/q/RT16730/rotring-tikky-3-in-1-mu...

[5] http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/253458-some-un...

Re: Fountain pen inks: the good, the bad, and the ugly (2011)

#148

Post by enriquto »

twblalock wrote: post #44

Fountain pens are one of those things that probably would have died out if not for the internet, especially on the cheaper end of the market. There are today more pens and inks to choose from than at any time in history, even times when fountain pens were widely used.

In many european countries all schoolkids use fountain pens at school, and then keep using them later in life. So it is very unlikely that they will die out any soon.

Re: Fountain pen inks: the good, the bad, and the ugly (2011)

#149

Post by webbrahmin »

In India kids use pencil up to 4th standard. From 5th standard onward they start using pens. Buying a fountain pen and inkpot used to be a big thing back in the day. I still remember my first fountain pen. My mother purchased it for me in 1987. It used to be sort of rite of passage. We did not have gel pens in India back the. Using ball pen was strictly forbidden. The reason given was that writing with fountain pen improves handwriting. These days kids use gel pen as their first pen. Usage of fountain pens in India is dying at least in bigger cities.

Re: Fountain pen inks: the good, the bad, and the ugly (2011)

#150

Post by schuke »

saspiesas wrote: post #68

To all the people who keep asking why we would bother write with a fountain pen, a few reasons I do: People are less likely to walk away or accidentally steal your fountain pen I can write in the exact colour I want I know scribbles or notes are mine without even looking at the writing My colleagues know which pieces of notes are mine without asking My notebooks never wander far I don't feel like I'm constantly killi…

I like all of them, but I always had problems with fountain pens:

-Ink not coming out for the few centimetres of writing.

-Ink not coming out if I leave the pen for a few days without using.

-Having to refill if left unused for even longer.

-Leaky tips, dirtying the hand.

-Tips easily broken in a drop.

Somehow I always don't get the instant ink, no matter what pen or ink I use. This is the number one reason I kept giving up.

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