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

richardspens.com

121–130 of 233 posts

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

#121

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.)

Maybe a fountain pen would help me with my painful cracked fingers during the winter. My only fear is that my handwriting is so bad that my notebooks would look like something by Ralph Steadman.

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

#122
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which one is it that won't run when I put a coffee mug down on my notebook? Because that's the one I want.

I've had good luck with De Atramentis Document Ink. Dries very quickly, won't smear when I set my beer can^W^W coffee cup down on it. I have been using it for years, and it hasn't screwed up my pen. I don't know if it is as safe on fine pens as the article would want, but since I use it in a $30 Lamy, I'm not too concerned.

Diamine Registrar Ink is another option. It writes blue then it fades to gray. Some Noodler's (US) inks are resistant to a wide range of solvents as well.

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

#123
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 was told that when witnessing documents having all parties use the same pen is actually better as it gives a higher standard of evidence that all parties were all in proximity. Having different writing with different pens can suggest they were done at different times.

The person that told you this is full of hogwash. Being signed with the same ink provides no evidence that two people were together at the same time (unless the ink is extremely rare and hard to procure), and you cannot tell if two signatures were done with the exact same pen. Two people can sign with the same model of pen within days of each other and you can't tell the difference after a few days- and most legal disputes are going to occur more than a few days after signing. Being signed with two different pens also doesn't suggest anything other than the two signatories used different pens.

If you want legally admissible proof that two people signed a document together then you need a notary. Of course a notary could be corrupted, but the courts are much less concerned about that than they are about the chance that two people both own a Pilot G2 in black.

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

#124
THERE ARE DOZENS OF US ... DOZENS!!!

And there are pen shows around the world where collectors and enthusiasts come together. e.g. sf pen show in the bay area (sfpenshow.com), LA Pen show (http://www.lainternationalpenshow.com/) which as been going for like 30 years, and more - many more.

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

#125

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?

Baoer makes some decent models (mostly ripoffs of Montblanc). They go for around $3, and are pretty durable as long as you don't drop them.

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

#126
post #109

Dude hates Noodler's ink, but Noodler's brought back fountain pen interest. I still only use Noodler's inks, including Baystate but not the weird ones.

Isn't Baystate the weird one?

It is the most ill-behaved fountain pen ink there is but it's also the most permanent (which is why Noodler's still makes it and people still buy it). You need a pretty strong bleach solution to get the staining out of anything. Water, ammonia, and other standard ink cleaners won't touch it.

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

#127

There's a really fantastic review of fountain pen culture within Something Awful at https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=37... that makes me laugh every time. Seems appropriate here.

That page is completely unreadable to me.

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

#128
post #8
post #5

I love fountain pens! I've been using them all my life and try to have my kids use them too (with some success so far). But, so called "rocking" (or rocker) blotters are increasingly hard to find, so much so that I decided to design and produce my own. (It's a beautiful sheet of metal with a bent plastic part to hold the blotting paper). But I wonder if there really is a market for it? Do people still use fountain pe…

Fountain pen-related stuff seems to do pretty well on Massdrop.

Massdrop does pretty well in the "stuff I only needed one of but ended up chasing a dragon" categories:

- Everyday carry tools/pocket knives - Mechanical keyboards - Headphones - Pens/pencils

There seems to be a common type of person that wants to have different stuff than the mainstream, and they all start by buying Benchmade knives, Ducky keyboards, Grado headphones, and a Lamy Safari.

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

#129
post #9

As someone who writes with his left hand I hate them with a vengeance. Haven't looked at them since primary school.

Same. My folks signed me up for a weekend calligraphy course around the same time frame (primary school). I've avoided calligraphy and fountain pens since. I avoid most pencils, too, so I don't end up with graphite all over my hand and smudges all over my paper.

After a reasonable amount of experimentation I've ended up just going with Uni Jetstream 101s because they feel smoother than most ball-points but dry fast enough that I don't get ink on my hands. I played around with modding various pen pieces to assemble a franken-pen but having to trim/tape ink refills wasn't much fun.

I'm always on the lookout for other recommendations from lefties. I've seen a couple in this thread already.

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

#130

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…

See, I have opposite problem, my Vanishing Point is fantastic pen and reliable, but I am worried that someone might swipe it, because it is so beautiful and it is not cheap.

I had my Vanishing Point Decimo stolen by a cleaner in my university.

I'm still upset about that.

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