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Let the Fountain Pens Flow

nytimes.com

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Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow

#51

Post by the_pwner224 »

sandGorgon wrote: post #46

If you are like me - and yearn for the feel of ink, yet the convenience of a ballpoint..then do try using a rollerball. The hack here is to use some very specific refills and use it inside your cool Rollerball. For example I use a Signo 307 refill (which is smear, water and tamper proof and specially designed for anti-document signing fraud) inside my special edition Waterman. The other super cool Rollerball refill i…

I used the Uni-Ball Vision Elite rollerball from 7th grade to my first year of college (1 year ago, when I got a fountain pen). The bold point tip (0.8mm) lays down tons of ink, and the ball glides across paper smoothly.

I don't have a very expensive fountain pen, but to me writing feels just as good with the rollerball as it does with the fountain pen. One can feel a difference between the two, but IMO neither is 'better' than the other, and I still enjoy using the rollerball when I have to do so (they are better for extended journeys due to ink capacity, don't leak if you store them up-side-down, have anti-fraud ink, and are airplane safe).

The Vision Elites feel noticeably better to me than the Pilot G2 gel pens which I see many people using.

Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow

#52

Post by cyberferret »

pseudolus wrote: post #4

The 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 am left handed, and have no real problems with writing with a fountain pen at all. Smearing is not an issue, I assume because I hold the pen fairly straight, and don't have my hand curled around in a reversed 'U' shape as I notice some of my left handed compatriots do when writing.

I have FAR more problems with binders, with the rings or clips getting in the way - so much so that in school, I used to write on the BACK of the pages so that the rings were to the right of my hand.

Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow

#53

Post by saalweachter »

raphael_kimmig wrote: post #7
pseudolus wrote: post #4

The 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.

It doesn’t have to be like this. Look up underwriting - by writing from below the text you can write with a relaxed grip without any fear of smudges.

I learned about this as an adult and felt like such an idiot for going through school without learning the trick. And maybe a little mad at my third grade teacher.

Paper at a 45 degree angle + hand below the line I'm writing be works like a charm.

Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow

#55

Post by jypepin »

I grew up in France, where schools don't allow you to use anything else but fountain pens.

They don't teach you how to use one - to me, it's always been the same thing as using a ball pen, except you trade the convenience (you have to change the ink cartridge) for practicality (you can erase the ink with special eraser) while keeping some style (it's still ink, not pencil, kept for drawing).

Getting a new pen felt weird at first, but just like a new pair of shoes, you end up accustomed to it.

So it's interesting to read about fountain pens in America, where people talk about having to "learn" how to write with a fountain pain. It's seen as such a special, luxury or just nerd thing, while in France, it's just something common nobody really pay attention to.

Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow

#56

Post by camtarn »

chrisseaton wrote: post #12

In 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.

I can't find many references to this online - either fountain pens, or the 'master scribe' thing.

Certainly it wasn't the case when I went to school in 90s/00s UK - I had a cheap fountain pen, but only because I hated ballpoints and was experimenting with alternatives. I don't remember anybody else in my school having one or talking about them.

In the end I settled on the Uniball Eye as my favourite pen, and have been using it ever since. Glides like a fountain pen, but with less faff about the ink.

Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow

#57

Post by jdietrich »

chrisseaton wrote: post #12

In 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.

One of the many, many lies I was told at primary school: "You need to learn to use a fountain pen, because you have to use one at secondary school". Nobody used a fountain pen at secondary school.

Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow

#58

Post by stordoff »

camtarn wrote: post #56
chrisseaton wrote: post #12

In 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.

I can't find many references to this online - either fountain pens, or the 'master scribe' thing. Certainly it wasn't the case when I went to school in 90s/00s UK - I had a cheap fountain pen, but only because I hated ballpoints and was experimenting with alternatives. I don't remember anybody else in my school having one or talking about them. In the end I settled on the Uniball Eye as my favourite pen, and have bee…

It was certainly the case when I went to school (forced to write in fountain pen; born 1990), at least through primary school, and still appears to be the case at some schools (examples: [1], [2]).

(End result: I write in print...)

[1] http://www.stmichaelandstmartin.co.uk/handwriting-1/ [2] http://www.st-nicholas-newromney.kent.sch.uk/handwriting-pol...

Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow

#59

Post by black-tea »

chrisseaton wrote: post #12

In 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.

When I went to school during the same time period fountain pens were more of a fashion accessory. You didn't have to have one, and the school didn't teach you how to use one, but everyone wanted one. We used to like brands like Parker and Sheaffer.

The ones the school provided were those "Berol Handwriting" pens that I've never seen outside of a school.

Re: Let the Fountain Pens Flow

#60

Post by adfm »

tzhenghao wrote: post #29

Growing up in Malaysia, we students made the transition from mechanical pencils to using pens in high school. I pretty much hated ballpoint pens due to the increased force needed to make ink stay on paper (lots of fatigue when you write 700 word long essays). I grew up using Pilot G1 and G2 gel pens. I finally caved and bought myself a Pilot Kakuno fountain pen while I was back in the motherland a week ago. I doubt I…

I like how chunky and oddly modern the Kakuno is. It even comes in a clear version and is easily converted.
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