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Rollerball pens that use fountain pen ink

unsharpen.com

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Re: Rollerball pens that use fountain pen ink

#71

Post by slowmovintarget »

Symbiote wrote: post #67
slowmovintarget wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the features of a properly tuned fountain pen is that require zero friction or pressure to write. The reason for this is that they transfer ink to paper via capillary action so mere contact should be enough to put a line on the page. I can't say erasure is a typical ability in fountain pen inks. In fact if you look into Noodler's Inks (two of the rollerballs mentioned come from Noodler's Inks) you'll notice th…

> I can't say erasure is a typical ability in fountain pen inks By volume, it is probably the majority of ink sold. Several countries require children to use fountain pens at school, or still have widespreaf use even if it's no longer officially required. Germany, the UK, I think India. The blue ink that everyone uses most of the time is erasable with a chemical eraser pen [1], which everyone in my class (in the UK)…

Neat!

Re: Rollerball pens that use fountain pen ink

#72

Post by fishmaster »

frosted-flakes wrote: post #69
Symbiote wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can't say erasure is a typical ability in fountain pen inks By volume, it is probably the majority of ink sold. Several countries require children to use fountain pens at school, or still have widespreaf use even if it's no longer officially required. Germany, the UK, I think India. The blue ink that everyone uses most of the time is erasable with a chemical eraser pen [1], which everyone in my class (in the UK)…

> Several countries require children to use fountain pens at school Now I'm curious. Why is that? How are fountain pens different from regular pens when it comes to school? I've never even seen a fountain pen, let alone written with one (Canada).

It forces you to write in a certain way which means you learn correct hand placement, pressure, angle, etc. With a cheap pencil you learn bad habits.

Re: Rollerball pens that use fountain pen ink

#73

Post by fishmaster »

thom wrote: post #70
slowmovintarget wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not very familiar with modern fountain pens, are you? Most don't leak, and if you are really finicky about mess (like I used to be before children) you can fill them with a syringe... not a stray drop anywhere. The utility (and cost-effectiveness in many cases) of bottled inks, and avoiding the landfill waste of using cartridges is worth the extra effort in cleaning and maintaining a fine instrument.

That sounds pretty much exactly as high maintenance as I was picturing.

Which is not really that much. Clean it once in a while and the refill is extremely easy, even with a syringe.

Re: Rollerball pens that use fountain pen ink

#74

Post by danShumway »

If you currently use a ballpoint pen, switching to a rollerball will be a huge jump in quality to your writing experience. However, if you already use rollerballs, and you're looking at this and thinking you'd like to try it out, but you haven't ever tried a fountain pen, I would heavily advise giving one a shot. If you know you need a rollerball, then a stick with a rollerball. But don't dismiss a fountain pen out-of-hand -- the cheaper brands will be the same price as the pens listed here, and will be a big jump in quality for a nontrivial number of readers.

In particular, I've used a Fine nib Twisbi Eco (~$30) for multiple years now as my main pen, and I consider it to be one of the better purchases I've ever made. It's cheap enough that I can throw it into a bag or my pocket alongside my keys without worrying too much about it getting scratched or stolen, but it still looks reasonably nice, writes beautifully, holds a ton of ink, and is just a joy to use. There are cheaper pens out there, but I really like having a piston-fill pen, and I think it's just a really good quality, versatile, fun line -- there are even a lot of different color options.

I can describe mechanically why a fountain pen feels good, but I can't really convey how it feels. The best thing I can say is that it takes something that's very mundane (writing) and it makes it feel a tiny bit more pleasurable and 'extravagant' (for lack of a better word). I write a lot, I fill notebooks with handwritten notes. With a fountain pen, it just feels good to write. My handwriting has improved a lot, particularly my cursive -- I suspect in part because I pay more attention to what I'm writing. It's easy to take care of, but it feels good to occasionally wash it out and switch to a new ink color. It feels nice to use permanent things.

I've seen a few people talking about avoiding fountain pen ink even in the rollerballs because they dissolve in water. On that note I will swear by Noodler's Black Waterproof ink. I've completely submerged and soaked pages that I wrote on with that ink, and not only does it not dissolve, it does not even smudge. It's really crazy. One of the really nice things about fountain pens is that there's such a wide variety of colors and styles and glitters, and it just adds to this feeling of making your handwriting feel more expressive and personal. It makes total sense to me that rollerball users would want to be able to use the same ink.

Re: Rollerball pens that use fountain pen ink

#75

Post by rsl7 »

sizzle wrote: post #42
yumraj wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try fountain pen, they are much more easier to write, as in even less effort. Especially if you go with a medium nib.

My nibs are always getting clogged and feel dull like it starts to lack the precision it once had where the nib once felt like it was exquisitely carving into the paper. Any tips on good nib hygiene or how to restore nibs? I only have used Lamy fine and extra fine nibs, any recommendations for other companies?

Maybe it's the paper? I have a Lamy with a fine nib and it's amazing. I mostly use decent printer paper, but coarse paper like a typical composition book is not so great.

Re: Rollerball pens that use fountain pen ink

#76

Post by slowmovintarget »

skat20phys wrote: post #59
hoorayimhelping wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. I use Muji gel ink ballpoint pens, typically 0.7mm tips, and they are they first pen I've found that hasn't given me cramps (found 0.5mm to be too scratchy feeling). So I haven't really looked much beyond them. The comments in this thread lead me to the wikipedia article for rollerball pens, which mentions the ink being the main reason the pens require less pressure to write and therefore produce less st…

My experience with gel ink pens is that they're incredibly smooth to write with but that you go through refills a lot more often than with ballpoint or rollerballs. I've settled on a Retro 51 Tornado. Nice price when I've bought them and they take a lot of different refills.

Get the Retro 51s while you can. They're going out of business from what I've heard.

Re: Rollerball pens that use fountain pen ink

#77

Post by iCarrot »

danShumway wrote: post #74

If you currently use a ballpoint pen, switching to a rollerball will be a huge jump in quality to your writing experience. However, if you already use rollerballs, and you're looking at this and thinking you'd like to try it out, but you haven't ever tried a fountain pen, I would heavily advise giving one a shot. If you know you need a rollerball, then a stick with a rollerball. But don't dismiss a fountain pen out-o…

Nice to see another fountain pen enthusiast here. I love my Twisbi Eco too, in fact I love all demonstrator pens especially with the Iroshizuku ink. It's not unlike swirling wine.

But for beginners I would only recommend the Pilot Metropolitan, coming at ~$19 with fancy metal body and high quality Pilot nib. That pen is insane bang for your buck and will last years.

Re: Rollerball pens that use fountain pen ink

#78

Post by phaus »

sizzle wrote: post #42
yumraj wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try fountain pen, they are much more easier to write, as in even less effort. Especially if you go with a medium nib.

My nibs are always getting clogged and feel dull like it starts to lack the precision it once had where the nib once felt like it was exquisitely carving into the paper. Any tips on good nib hygiene or how to restore nibs? I only have used Lamy fine and extra fine nibs, any recommendations for other companies?

That shouldn't be happening even with an extra fine nib, what kind of paper are you using?

Re: Rollerball pens that use fountain pen ink

#79

Post by wenc »

iCarrot wrote: post #77
danShumway wrote: post #74

If you currently use a ballpoint pen, switching to a rollerball will be a huge jump in quality to your writing experience. However, if you already use rollerballs, and you're looking at this and thinking you'd like to try it out, but you haven't ever tried a fountain pen, I would heavily advise giving one a shot. If you know you need a rollerball, then a stick with a rollerball. But don't dismiss a fountain pen out-o…

Nice to see another fountain pen enthusiast here. I love my Twisbi Eco too, in fact I love all demonstrator pens especially with the Iroshizuku ink. It's not unlike swirling wine. But for beginners I would only recommend the Pilot Metropolitan, coming at ~$19 with fancy metal body and high quality Pilot nib. That pen is insane bang for your buck and will last years.

As someone who owns two Pilot Metros F and TWSBI Ecos M and F, I would say it really depends on several variables like how big your handwriting is, what kind of paper you write on etc.

The Pilot Metro is often recommended as a beginner pen, but I’m not sure if it ought to be. The F is a little scratchy even on Rhodia Premium paper.

In retrospect, I would have saved the $15 and paid $30 for a TWSBI Eco F. That said, there is a mental barrier to paying $30 for a pen, especially for beginners who are just testing out the waters. On the other hand, the Pilot Metro doesn’t really adequately represent the true pleasures of writing with a fountain pen—-it gives one glimpses but falls short of a full experience.

P.s. pen enthusiasts should check out the upcoming Chicago Pen Show. Yes, there’s a trade show for pens.

Re: Rollerball pens that use fountain pen ink

#80

Post by krapht »

Symbiote wrote: post #67
slowmovintarget wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the features of a properly tuned fountain pen is that require zero friction or pressure to write. The reason for this is that they transfer ink to paper via capillary action so mere contact should be enough to put a line on the page. I can't say erasure is a typical ability in fountain pen inks. In fact if you look into Noodler's Inks (two of the rollerballs mentioned come from Noodler's Inks) you'll notice th…

> I can't say erasure is a typical ability in fountain pen inks By volume, it is probably the majority of ink sold. Several countries require children to use fountain pens at school, or still have widespreaf use even if it's no longer officially required. Germany, the UK, I think India. The blue ink that everyone uses most of the time is erasable with a chemical eraser pen [1], which everyone in my class (in the UK)…

I didn't even know chemical eraser pens were an option. As a kid, we had to use Tipp-Ex to cover up our mistakes.
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