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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)

#211

Post by wlesieutre »

projektir wrote: post #80
willspoke wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The good thing about noodlers is that they carry a waterproof range. I think they are called "bulletproof". A good resource for fountain pen lovers is https://www.nibs.com/ They do repair and custom work too.

...what is a reasonable price for a decent fountain pen?

Lamy Safari and TWSBI Eco are two popular starter pens, both around $25-30. The Lamy takes cartridges and the TWSBI is a "piston filler" with a reservoir filled directly from a bottle of ink.

On the slightly cheaper side, the Pilot MR is usually a bit under $20. It's more of a traditional fountain pen look. Pilot Metropolitan is a common name for it (or more specifically a type or MR, just different color/pattern options IIRC).

Then there's all the Chinese pens, some of these are fine but it's hit or miss. I'd suggest sticking with a known manufacturer for a first pen since they have better quality control (especially on the nibs).

Be wary of buying pens on Amazon, their counterfeiting problem extends to fountain pens. Pen retailers like JetPens or Goulet Pen Company are safer since you know they're coming through the real distribution channel.

http://www.deskoflori.com/blog/2015/4/16/my-experience-with-...

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

#212

Post by falcolas »

abritinthebay wrote: post #163
epx wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Put a JoWo #6 nib on it ($15) and it will write like a $150 pen.

I’m curious - what makes the nib “better”?

Both of the sibling comments, plus good nibs don't have any rough edges which touch the paper. They've been ground/sanded down so smooth that they effectively hydroplane on the ink they're depositing.

You can improve some inexpensive nibs by simply "writing" on a high grit sandpaper or sharpening stone, but if the metal is too soft you can quickly wear away the writing surface entirely. I'd do this with the pilot disposable fountain pens with good results.

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

#213

Post by falcolas »

cyberferret wrote: post #99
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…

I almost exclusively sign documents with a fountain pen - because I enjoy the process, and I usually get just the precise sort of ink flow to accentuate the flourishes in my sig. I've never had anyone question it to date, in my experience, and it would be sad if it was not accepted on formal documents any more. Actually, I have had a lot of e-signatures rejected recently, and ended up signing them with my fountain pe…

Similarly, I took a photo of a particularly well written signature, and paste that into PDFs as my signature. It's worked quite well for any "Sign Me" PDFs I've been sent.

And the signature just looks... nice.

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

#214

Post by falcolas »

rafael859 wrote: post #104
freosam wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's that?

The future. Seriously though, I can't find any information for that online. The first Google result is Impact Wholesale, which redirects to some very invasive ads. Impact printers on the other hand are printers that mark dots on the paper using a needle, so no ink is applied.

So, dot matrix printers?

;)

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

#215

Post by gumby »

samueldamon wrote: post #200
gumby wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> an attorney once insist I use his pen as he was convinced the liquid in the pen was not real ink. That's really funny! In Germany the opposite is true: certain transactions, like marriage licenses, are only legal if signed with a DIN standard ink guaranteed to last a century. There appears to be an ISO standard for Kugelschreiber (ball point, Byro) ink but in practice this has always seemed to be fountain pen ink (…

As an exchange student in Bayern, I've seen other students use fountain pens, though more often Kugelschreiber (ballpoint) or Filzstifte (felt tip). I'm not aware of any such requirement for fountain pens.

Are you in High School or Uni? Grundschulekinder use fountain pens (specific Pelikan or Lamy models with stiff nibs for kids) from Klasse 1. My son's homework was rejected unless he used one. By high school things had become more relaxed...and the handwriting less legible.

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

#216

Post by bayindirh »

jl6 wrote: post #201
bayindirh wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a bottle of cellulose reactive fountain pen ink for such purposes. Also, there are mass produced tamper-proof inks. So, in fact it's possible to sign documents with an FP. On the other side of the spectrum is "washable" blues which are waiting to disappear in a small drop of water.

I think the problem is that a notary might have trouble being convinced that your fountain pen ink is what you say it is.

Probably yes. For these stuff I always carry a Uniball elite with blue-black ink (I'm a blue-black guy), and for other documents -like office and other stuff- I use the reactive ink.

Uniball's super ink is ridiculously tamper-proof, contrary to its cheesy name.

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

#217

Post by bayindirh »

cm2187 wrote: post #199
bayindirh wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a regular Lamy user, none of my Lamys tried to mark my hand to claim me as its servant. Why your pen does it? Burping? Leak?

Across multiple models but with broad nibs. Usually it leaks into the cap when closed and then the part of the pen the closest to the nib is covered with ink.

I need to take a look at this. Are you sure that you're not gripping from the lip which locks and creates an air-tight seal? The grip would make it very uncomfortable though.

I have a medium Lamy which writes broad-ish (because of production tolerance + well smoothed nib due to long writing sessions) and wets its sealing lip, but even that one never stained my hand.

Which ink are you using? Is it extremely wet and eager to flow? Do you fly with the pen? Temperature around the pen?

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

#218

Post by twblalock »

enriquto wrote: post #148
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.

Actually I've heard that's being phased out in some countries in favor of... typing classes!

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

#219

Post by LyndsySimon »

nasredin wrote: post #185
epx wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Put a JoWo #6 nib on it ($15) and it will write like a $150 pen.

Why can't Chinese marketers come up with Western-sounding brand names? This is so annoying. They may be a better value, but European brands give you peace of mind.

I agree to an extent, but I think it's mostly an issue of branding. Consider that Japanese brands were once associated with poor quality, but as their quality improved their brands became better known.

Chinese pens have been greatly increasing in quality for a few years now. Today, I recommend the Wing Sung 698 and 608 for new fountain pen users.

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

#220

Post by LyndsySimon »

hungrynerd wrote: post #170
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.

Huuuge communities online exist though. You might be surprised - check out fpgeeks forums or fountain pen network - both forums list local gatherings and pen shows.

Reddit's /r/fountainpens, too. There's an IRC channel that's fairly active, but I don't have the server address in front of me.
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