Best Pens For Signing Papers

[Austinpen]

Greetings,

 

I need help finding the perfect pen for signing a lot of documents.

 

I sign up to 40 documents in a busy day at the office and have found my pens to be less than optimal.

 

My Waterman Charleston puts down a beautiful wet line but it is a bit thick and too wet.

 

My Aurora Talentum is scratchy and skips when I sign.

 

I am used to signing very fast and need the perfect pen.

 

I am considering the Namiki Falcon becuase of its softer nib and reputed no skipping.

 

Any thoughts??

 

Also, do I need to clean the Talentum? It skips too much for such a nice pen.

[PianoMan14]

Have you tried flushing the Talentum out with soapy water and then rinsing it? If that fails, since it is not made of hard rubber, it would be safe to flush it with a 10:1 solution of water to ammonia. If that doesn't work, I would contact Aurora; they have great customer service.

 

Auroras usually run on the drier side of things, so the problem might be that you are signing too fast and the nib can't keep up. Does it skip when you write normally?

 

You mentioned that your Waterman Charleston is too thick. Is it a fine or a medium?

 

If it is a medium, you can get a nice, fine, wet writer like a Pelikan. If it is a fine, I would either go for a Japanese pen (Namiki/Pilot/Sailor) or a western XF customized by a nibmeister, e.g. Richard Binder, to write a little wetter than most XF's do.

Edited November 11, 2010 by PianoMan14

[GOB Bluth]

Pilot Vanishing Point?

[Northwoods]

It sounds less like you need a perfect pen, than you need a pen tuned to your hand. I would recommend finding a pen you really like, that fees good in your hand, and then contacting one of the nibmeisters and see about getting the nib adjusted to the flow that best suits you.

[whichwatch]

I just bought an Aurora Tantalum from Richard Binder at the Ohio Pen Show. I watched as he adjusted it for me - first too wet, then too dry, finally just right. I haven't had the least bit of scratchiness or anything but pleasureable writing.

 

You might have someone like Richard look at the nib and adjust it for you.

[Austinpen]

Greetings,

 

I need help finding the perfect pen for signing a lot of documents.

 

I sign up to 40 documents in a busy day at the office and have found my pens to be less than optimal.

 

My Waterman Charleston puts down a beautiful wet line but it is a bit thick and too wet.

 

My Aurora Talentum is scratchy and skips when I sign.

 

I am used to signing very fast and need the perfect pen.

 

I am considering the Namiki Falcon becuase of its softer nib and reputed no skipping.

 

Any thoughts??

 

Also, do I need to clean the Talentum? It skips too much for such a nice pen.

 

 

I will clean the Talentum and see what happens. I love the pen; I don't want to stop using it.

 

Here is a sample of note takig with the Talentum.

 

What do you think?

 

And thanks for your reply. (Sola fide)

[nxn96]

Assuming you are sitting at your desk as you sign, have you ever considered a desk pen? There are a lot of nice vintage deskpens for sale on eBay at any given time, often at generally reasonable prices.

[Austinpen]

It sounds less like you need a perfect pen, than you need a pen tuned to your hand. I would recommend finding a pen you really like, that fees good in your hand, and then contacting one of the nibmeisters and see about getting the nib adjusted to the flow that best suits you.

 

Can i ship my pen to Richard?

[Austinpen]

Assuming you are sitting at your desk as you sign, have you ever considered a desk pen? There are a lot of nice vintage deskpens for sale on eBay at any given time, often at generally reasonable prices.

 

What is a desk pen? A kind of fountain pen?

[Austinpen]

Have you tried flushing the Talentum out with soapy water and then rinsing it? If that fails, since it is not made of hard rubber, it would be safe to flush it with a 10:1 solution of water to ammonia. If that doesn't work, I would contact Aurora; they have great customer service.

 

Auroras usually run on the drier side of things, so the problem might be that you are signing too fast and the nib can't keep up. Does it skip when you write normally?

 

You mentioned that your Waterman Charleston is too thick. Is it a fine or a medium?

 

If it is a medium, you can get a nice, fine, wet writer like a Pelikan. If it is a fine, I would either go for a Japanese pen (Namiki/Pilot/Sailor) or a western XF customized by a nibmeister, e.g. Richard Binder, to write a little wetter than most XF's do.

 

 

My Waterman is a Medium. I love the way its always ready for action but it is a bit wide.

 

I am thinking of a Pelikan for Christmas. Maybe an entry level M200 or M205, M215.

 

Thanks,

 

(sola fide)

[jbn10161]

Can i ship my pen to Richard?

The Talentum ought to write perfectly--not just well, but perfectly. One of the signature attributes about Auroras is that they flow precisely and well.

 

Is the pen relatively new? There's a mysterious thing with many new nibs that requires writing for a few weeks before it all starts to work well. If that's not the problem, then either the nib needs some tuning or you're using a very dry ink (Auroras are designed for wetter inks). If you're not using a dry ink or you've already switched inks, or the writing is not marginally bad but really bad, then send it to Richard. I have two Aurora nibs that Richard tuned (actually his assistant Jim tuned one), and they are both beautiful writers.

 

(It is not difficult to increase the flow of an Aurora nib at home if you know what you're doing. It is, however, very difficult to restore them if you wind up spreading the tines too far apart.)

[nxn96]

Assuming you are sitting at your desk as you sign, have you ever considered a desk pen? There are a lot of nice vintage deskpens for sale on eBay at any given time, often at generally reasonable prices.

 

What is a desk pen? A kind of fountain pen?

A desk pen is a pen that sits in a holder on a heavy (usually marble or onyx, but wood or glass as well) base. The idea is that you have a pen on your desk that all you have to do is reach for it, pull it out of its holder, sign and stick back in the holder. They were very popular items back in the day when more people spent a fair amount of their day in an office and needed a pen to write with during the workday. The big difference between a desk pen and any other pen is that the desk pen is "capped" by the holder attached to the base and typically has an elongated barrel. They were big sellers for Parker, Sheaffer and Esterbrook for many years, but currently I can only think of Retro 51 and Cross still in that market. However, as I noted earlier, there is usually a "healthy" list of old desk sets on eBay at any given time.

 

Hope this helps you.

[Koyote]

Order a pen from Richardspens.com and it will be tuned to write well. They sell the Pelikans you are interested in, and also the Pilot Vanishing Point, which is a good option for your purposes.

 

Or order from nibs.com, and you can actually specify how you want it tuned - ink flow, etc.

 

You can send your Aurora for tuning to either place, with a long wait period.

[Northwoods]

This little

shows what 5 minutes in the hands of a good nibmeister can do for a pen. But like Koyote said, if you send a pen in, you're at the back of the queue. If you buy a pen, they adjust/tune it right away. You could always ask around and see what the wait time would be, but likely weeks to months.

[Silas]

Buy a Vanishing Point with a custom nib from Richard Binder.

 

I would suggest a Cursive Italic of .5 or so for a nice signature.

 

I personally use his Stub .9 for Signatures. Works great! You pay a bit more up front, but beats getting something that is not right and having to send and wait for it.

 

Another plus is if you are JUST signing papers, the Click and write is perfect....don't have to unscrew or pop off top!

[Have Fun]

The Sailor Calligraphy pen is good for signatures, the upturned nib gives distinct character & is different to other nibs

unlikely a signature could be easily forged

 

possible that the pen at around £25 is available too cheaply if you want the pen to impress, if thats the case look at more expensive options.

 

The Nib is very smooth & glides effortlessly & fast.

[SnowLeopard]

....MB149 vintage ... with a wet med+ nib has been doing the honors 4 me....plucked from it's screw in desk holder. When u sign...you might want to take your OST little more.Fast or slow hand, a big feed=surefire signature. Sailor's KoP Pro Gear & my Pel 800 with it's great iB are also candidates if inked and ready. I've found that a bigger barrel is essential for comfort as well as production when my JH is required.

Edited November 13, 2010 by SnowLeopard

[Austinpen]

I cleaned my talentum with warm water and ran a sheet of paper through the nib slit (I don't know the correct term) and it worked wonders.

 

I'll post example later. Thanks for the suggestions

 

I'll be in Chicago next week. Any ideas on pen stores downtown?

[Bearcat]

I have a Sailor 1911 (large) with a Medium Naginata Togi nib that is fast turning into my favorite signature pen.....

[handwriter]

If you like your Charleston you may try to buy just a new section with a finer nib for it; then you'll have two pens in one, and you may use one for signing and the other for some other writing. . Check FPM member dboulonnais, he's great for modern Watermans.