I did my schooling in India where, in those days, they transitioned us from pencils to pens in grade 5. Most notably, we were never allowed to use ballpoint or even felt-tip pens, it always had to be a fountain pen. I have never lost my love of the fountain pen. I bought a Kaweco just a few months ago.
Let the Fountain Pens Flow
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Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow
#12In the UK I think every school child still learns to write with a fountain pen around the age of seven. There's one particular cheap plastic pen that everyone used to have that stationers sold in bulk. I had to do a sort of thesis about a topic I was interested in and hand-write it in a fountain pen to become a 'master scribe' or something like that - I did mine about special effects in film.
Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow
#13The aesthetic value of fountain pens is undeniable but for the left-handed amongst us who refuse to twist their writing hand into some bizarre contortion, the fountain pen will never be viable. My personal left-handed recollections of using fountain pens all involve smears of ink on the side of my hands and smudged lettering.
I'm a lefty, and with fast drying ink, a fountain pen doesn't smear. Unlike ballpoint or pencil does when your hand moves across it. The "bizarre contortion" is needed anyway to get the stroke weighting correct, unless you use one of those weird offset nibs, which aren't readily available in quality pens.
Off topic, I once got a B+ on a high school physics test, but the teacher told me he marked me down from an A for having the temerity to use an ink pen.
Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow
#14> Packed around a table with notepads and test pens, the group, ethnically diverse but mostly men, lacked the slick appearance you expect of customers at a luxury boutique. Why do we have to know the demographics? How is it pertinent info, and why is it bad that it was mostly men?
It’s the New York Times. Everything is always about race.
Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow
#15You can get a Pilot Metropolitan from Amazon for about $14, and there are other fountain pens that are a little cheaper. It’s not like you need to spend $120 to start trying.
I started maybe two years ago with a set of Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens that I bought from Amazon for $9 or so. I liked the feeling so when one of them started to run low on ink I decided to buy a ‘real’ (non-disposable) fountain pen.
That was when I found the Metropolitan. If I’d known I could’ve bought a pen for so little I would’ve bought that instead of the disposable ones to start.
They’re so much smoother to write with and don’t require anywhere near as much pressure as a ball point pen. I’ve started thinking about improving my cursive because of playing with fountain pens.
If you do any writing at all, give it a try. I use mine at work for taking notes in meetings.
Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow
#16In the UK I think every school child still learns to write with a fountain pen around the age of seven. There's one particular cheap plastic pen that everyone used to have that stationers sold in bulk. I had to do a sort of thesis about a topic I was interested in and hand-write it in a fountain pen to become a 'master scribe' or something like that - I did mine about special effects in film.
The result is you can buy these pens for about £2-4 (depending on the "back to school" offer) from WH Smith.
They're OK for the money.
Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow
#17You can get a Pilot Metropolitan from Amazon for about $14, and there are other fountain pens that are a little cheaper. It’s not like you need to spend $120 to start trying. I started maybe two years ago with a set of Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens that I bought from Amazon for $9 or so. I liked the feeling so when one of them started to run low on ink I decided to buy a ‘real’ (non-disposable) fountain pen.…
I prefer the Metropolitan to the Safari. Sturdy design, and with a non-bladder cartridge, good to go for years.
Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow
#18My calligraphy is awful, but I've dipped a toe in fountain pen related items to attempt get into a ritual of writing. It's been fun so far, the usage of fountain pens have improved my chicken scratch for sure. I've got the entry level starter kit of a Pilot Metropolitan and a Bullet Journal.
Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow
#19> Packed around a table with notepads and test pens, the group, ethnically diverse but mostly men, lacked the slick appearance you expect of customers at a luxury boutique. Why do we have to know the demographics? How is it pertinent info, and why is it bad that it was mostly men?
> How is it pertinent info
It’s an observation. You colored it with a value judgement. I’ve had many a “huh” moment because of such randomly-scattered details.
Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow
#20The aesthetic value of fountain pens is undeniable but for the left-handed amongst us who refuse to twist their writing hand into some bizarre contortion, the fountain pen will never be viable. My personal left-handed recollections of using fountain pens all involve smears of ink on the side of my hands and smudged lettering.
I'm a lefty, and with fast drying ink, a fountain pen doesn't smear. Unlike ballpoint or pencil does when your hand moves across it. The "bizarre contortion" is needed anyway to get the stroke weighting correct, unless you use one of those weird offset nibs, which aren't readily available in quality pens. Off topic, I once got a B+ on a high school physics test, but the teacher told me he marked me down from an A for…
I was the same, I always did my work in ink and crossed errors out with single lines. Surprised that physics would prefer pencil over ink, most science classes require pen for lab notebooks just to get people in the habit.