Inky T O D - How Did You Get Started On The Long And Inky Road? Merged With Your Inky Journey?

[kiavonne]

Once upon a time ago, I thought fp ink only came in cartridges and only had some generic black or blue for color choices. Then, I stumbled upon FPN on a chance google search, and I discovered bottled ink, and that I could get water resistance and permanence in inks as well as scores of different colors. My first bottled ink was Noodler's Red Black. Now, I have a lot of different colors, but all still Noodler's, most have some kind of water resistance or permanence, but I have branched out into their standard inks, as well (I just happen to like Noodler's, is all). There are so many colors to try. I have a lot of ink, more than I will ever use, in all probability, and I'll still add more.

[Eastree]

Years back, I stuck to cartridges. I tried a lot of office store budget pens, and found some I liked a lot -- except being able to consistently find more cartridges was difficult. At the time, I thought blue and black were the only possible options, as any other colors were reserved for ballpoint pens and the new ge; ink fad which was becoming ever more popular. I ended up throwing out a couple (should have been) perfectly good pens, for the inability to find ink. Then I came back to FPs, when I found FPN. My first order from a site I don't even remember now was for two Lamy Safaris, a large bottle of Baystate Blue, and a slew of samples. But a fine and EF nib left me dissatisfied with the result, as a thin line of any ink won't have a freat deal of interest. They seemed unremarkable, so I was hesitant to try more options.

 

I am still a big fan of standard black and blue, and the red that comes with Pilot Paralell pens is winning me over with italic and gothic lettering practice. One of my disposable FPs (I forget if it' a Varsity or one of the Bic disposables) had violet ink, and I used it for most of a day at work ... until it mysteriously vanished. I plan to try some samples of other violet inks now, and those will be added to the green inks I haven't yet loaded into pens.

 

I still empty all factory cartridges before moving on to other colors in each pen, but it's progress. Now, I look forward to running out of a color in a pen, so I can try another.

 

Fortunately I find more reasons to write than I used to, so the process is faster than it could be!

[alarickc]

I have started out pretty adventurous in my ink use, but that's probably understandable considering I decided to look into fountain pens for the wide array of ink choices. Spending your whole life with blue and black bics will do that. My first two bottles of ink I purchased with my first pen were Iroshizuku Yama-Budo and Kon-Peki. Next I picked up a bottle of J. Herbin's Rouge Hematite and then a bottle of Iroshizuku Murasaki-Shikibu. Finally I just recently got bottles of Noodler's la Reine Mauve, Pelikan Edlstein Amber, and Sailor Sei-Boku. May I never be forced to use black again!

[amberleadavis]

In the last week, 3 of my new pen pals have asked me how I got started. (Giggle) I wanted to tell them that my parents met in junior high school, but I don't think that's the "start" they were asking about. *grin*

 

So, I would tell you all about how when I was a little girl, I had a playhouse in the backyard, and I would play "office". I loved colored crayons and was always in search of the white that would show up on my white paper. I graduated to mechanical pencils and finally got my first FP in 1989 when I was in college. My first inks were MB Black and an Burgundy, Pelikan blue (or maybe blue black), Skrip Green, Red, Blue and Peacock Blue. My first FP pen was a MB black FP from Costco that was gone the first day I used it. The 2nd was a Pelikan M400. The next pens were a Sheaffer 1960s school pen and a green Estie ($8 each). I used the last two daily in college.

 

Really, though, I didn't get into FPs until after law school, when I had a little bit of disposable income. I saved up for a Monteverde InkBall (big dissapointment) and my first new bottle of ink was Bay State Blue. (Really bad combination). But I loved reading about Noodler's new inks and I didn't give up. I lurked here for over a year before I started posting.

 

Despite my contribution of a fade test, I had real trouble with my pens. See the post asking for help - what am I doing wrong for a real laugh. Finally, I ended up with a handful of great pens, two cabinets of great ink and a whole bunch of inky friends.

 

So, what about you? How did you get started on this long and inky road?

[swanjun]

I was always obsessed with school supplies. I was the kid that would painstakingly put all my new erasers on all my new pencils and switch them around until they were just right. I coveted the pencil cases people put in their Trapper Keepers that didn't have a zipper but more of a Zip-lock slide enclosure.

 

I was, therefore, always inclined to check out the stationery aisle of stores. And one day, whilst in an Albertson's with my mom during the 1989-1990 school year (10th grade) I spotted a clear-barreled Sheaffer school pen and prevailed upon her to get it for me. I don't remember which cartridges I had first, but I soon got my best friend addicted, and we searched for the rarer colors—like Burgundy, Grey, and King's Gold—at the small brick-and-mortar stationery stores that still existed back then. Eventually, my pen broke and when I sought a replacement, I ended up with a Sheaffer Reacktor, which couldn't use the carts I had stockpiled. So I just kept everything for, like, twenty years.

 

Then in fall of 2011 I found this place and went ink wild.

[amberleadavis]

Wow, we could like have gone to Albertson's together (except I'm older). I love the story. Thanks for sharing!

[mikeschu]

One bottle at a time.

 

I'm a regular on a non-pen forum that has a section dedicated to pens and writing. I think I stumbled in there a little over a year ago. I was curious enough about fountain pens to order a three-pack of Pilot Varsity disposables. I noticed that even though I didn't like how they wrote, I enjoyed the experience enough to keep going. I ordered a Lamy Safari with a converter, a couple of spare nibs, and a Pilot 78G with a fine nib.

 

I don't have either of those pens any longer, but it was enough to catch me hook, line, and sinker.

[fledermaus89]

Costco..Alberstons...my first fountain pen was a Parker Jotter from Walmart.

 

few more pens i used before seriously getting into it with the M200 were Latitude and a Schneider, I know I had a Phileas but I don't know if it was pre-M200 or post-M200.

 

First ink was Quink Black from the Jotter's cartridge, first bottled ink was the same Quink black. Then I started using Pilot and Pelikan blacks before venturing into the wild colors with Pelikan Turquoise, green and red. Pelikan Red was a horrible ink; more of an orange and SITB developed very soon. Then I got a bottle of Pelikan Violet...

 

My brother got me Noodler's Turquoise and Tiananmen in 2009 or 2010, but it wasn't until earlier this year when I got myself a Sailor 1911 that I finally realized just how many colors are available for fountain pens. And then it all went downhill....

[inkstainedruth]

I had studied art in college, and used Rapidographs for drawing and drafting, but had taken courses in graphic design, so I knew all about stuff like the Pantone Matching System. A few years ago I picked up a copy of a book called _The Artists' Way_, which is a creativity course. Lost the book in my house, after only a few chapters, but part of the course involves keeping a daily journal. In order to keep myself interested (at least until I got into the habit) I decided to buy a nice journal. And a nice pen.

After a couple of years, and a couple of pens (by then I had graduated to a Parker Vector) I left the current volume and pen (and cartridges) at my in-laws' house. By then, writing in the journal with a BP just didn't feel right. And when I couldn't easily replace the pen, I started looking around (I had already done some searching for Parker pens and cartridges, because I liked Quink Permanent Blue over Washable Blue or Black). And in the process found that were other colors out there. Like... purple. I like purple. The idea of purple ink took hold. I had found the Goulet Pens website and was astounded by the variety of purple inks. That led, eventually to here, and to the Ink Reviews, and ALL THOSE AMAZING COLORS...

I was doomed.... In a good way of course -- although my husband might beg to differ....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Sleepyside]

I, too, was a school supply freak. Later on, the office supply store was my favorite place. And then I found Levenger in the early 90s and it was all over. I don't allow myself to order from them but about once a year. Thank goodness I don't live in Tyson's Corner. Also, thankful the Goulets are in Ashland, not Wake Forest and that they don't have a B&M store because that is still too close. Even back in school in the 50s and 60s, I had multiple bottles of Skrip including a quart of blue, and multiple school pens. It's a disease, I tell you.

[Mishka5050]

I was always obsessed with school supplies.

 

Lol, same here!

 

I was always like this-buying school supplies was my fav time of the year

The first fountain pen I got was a pearly pink panther from my uncle-still got it.

Youtube fp vids, ink reviews are my zen

 

Browsing this forum and seeing all the inks and penmanship is superb.

Love it

[dcwaites]

Blame it all on National Geographic. Long answer to follow.

[amberleadavis]

Oh, I love school supply season.

 

The year that I was in Durham for School Supply season, I went to Office Depot and went nuts buying for a teenager whose mom couldn't afford the start of the year. It was the first and only time, I've ever gone nuts and didn't look to see if something was on sale. She loved purple so I bought her the backpack, notebooks, pens, pens - it all matched.

 

Now I have kids so I can indulge in back to school supply shopping again.

[Bookman]

Mrs. Bookman gave me a fountain pen for Christmas in 1990, a black lacquer Waterman Exclusive she saw at the men's jewelry counter in Macy's. For the next five years I used that pen every day, even on the job as a lawyer—in the office, in court, in depos and negotiations—everywhere. I don't recall ever running out of ink at an inconvenient time, and so I believe I never did. I carried my ink bottle with me in my briefcase. Mostly Waterman Blue and sometimes Montblanc Blue and never anything but one of these two. Back then virtually all copy-machine copies were black-and-white, so blue ink was a must to allow one to tell the difference between a copy and an original. Anyway, people would stop what they were doing and literally gawk, watching me refill my pen. The care one has to take to do that and not get ink all over one's suit and long-sleeve white shirt cuffs—wiping the bottle's opening beforehand, every move measured and slow, wiping the nib after—to the uninitiated onlooker it must appear quite ritualistic. A good show all around.

Edited June 16, 2014 by Bookman

[dcwaites]

Blame it all on National Geographic. They used to have full-page ads for Sterling Silver Parker 75s, and I just lusted after one. My life would be complete when I had one...

In the meantime I was using a dip pen with clerical nib at primary school.

 

Soon after, however, I was going off to boarding school and bought myself a Chinese Dragon brand 666 fountain pen that was modelled on the Parker 51 that my mother had. This cost me 3 shillings (6 weeks pocket money, so it was a Serious Purchase) from Arthur Wyborn's Trade Store in Daru, Papua New Guinea.

 

At boarding school there was ink, so long as you wanted Parker Quink Blue-Black, with Solv-X. That, and my Dragon 666, lasted me through 6 years of High School. That poor pen never once was flushed out and cleaned. Solv-X must have done its job.

 

University found me with a Parker 45 and PQ Black. It was more 'serious' than Blue-Black. During a holiday job I had found an old box of unneeded crow-quill pens. They worked nicely with the PQ Black to make my handwriting legible, so all my essays were written with that combination.

 

Nothing much happened for a couple of decades, although I did pick up a Sterling Silver Parker 75 for $40. Strangely, owning one didn't make my life complete. Go figure...

I was working as a Marine Technician at the time, and found that salt spray resulted in the silver developing a nice grey patina (No, it's not tarnish, it's a patina.)

 

Then I discovered the FPN. I lurked for a couple of years, mostly following the threads on FPs. I got a couple of inks, modern PQ Blue (no Solv-X) and Sheaffer Skrip Blue, Blue-Black and Black. I was one of those that got a bottle from the infamous Blue-Green-Grey batch of Sheaffer Blue-Black.

 

However, it wasn't until I joined that I went crazy. I discovered Chinese and Japanese pens, and Noodler's inks, and powdered inks, and lots of friends.

 

And it has all gone downhill from there.

 

And the Sterling Silver P75? It's still here, with it's rather robust, grey patina, but it is really too small for me now. My stiffening hands now prefer fatter pens like the large Jinhaos and Sailor ProGear.

[cpark2005]

My story actually begins when my wife was in middle school. Her family had moved to England (somewhere near London, I believe) and she was attending school. Having grown up in the States until that point, she had never even heard of a fountain pen. According to her, EVERYONE at her school used fountain pens, and so she eventually convinced her parents to let her buy one. Fast-forward several years and she is living in the states again, can't find cartridges for her fountain pen, and so it goes into a memory box. When we were dating in college she would talk about her fountain pen wistfully.

 

A few more years pass and I find myself writing a number of brief letters and notes as part of my job. I had never really been one to write things with a pen, and writing with a ballpoint regularly just fatigued my hand. A bit of research and some conversations with my wife led me to pick up a cheap Baoer. I grabbed some Parker Quick - Black from our local Staples and started using it. I fell in love fairly quickly. Far more comfortable to write for extended periods of time. A few weeks later (this would be the end of 2013), I found FPN, Goulet Pens, sbrebrown, and several other blogs, youtubers, etc. I was pretty much hooked. So many colors to choose from! Now I have probably too many ink samples and a wish list of ink bottles far longer than it should be. Plus, I've gotten my wife back into using a fountain pen!

[swanjun]

Wow, we could like have gone to Albertson's together (except I'm older). I love the story. Thanks for sharing!

 

I should add that my friend's pen did *not* break and he gave it to me a couple of years ago.

[swanjun]

I, too, was a school supply freak. Later on, the office supply store was my favorite place.

 

When i was a teenager, I DESPERATELY wanted to work at Office Depot. But you had to be 18 'cos of the machinery on the premises.

[Runnin_Ute]

My first foray into fountain pens was sometime in the late 1960's I believe. A Sheaffer cartridge pen, that thanks to ink on my hands and in my parents eyes elsewhere - lasted only a few days. A variety of "nicer" ballpoints along the way - Parker Jotter's, both regular and flighter versions, mechanical pencils, a couple of different Parker bp/mp sets - Classic GT/Insignia, a 45 Flighter bp, a Latitude Flighter bp. Along the way I picked up a Staedtler Mars 700 technical pen (spring 1980) in .18 mm size.

 

Back to fountain pens in the late 1990's. A Lamy Al Star, a bit later a red marbled Waterman Phileas (F). That was when I got my first bottled ink. Levenger Raven Black and Cobalt Blue.The next one was Pelikan 4001 Blue Black. Then I found FPN while looking for another Pelikan BlBlack....

 

While I only have 8 bottles of ink, I have started getting colors among the rainbow: Apache Sunset, Classic Red, Steel Blue, Sherwood Green, 54th Massachusetts, Noodler's Black, Diamine Blue Black, 4001 Blue Black. Some of my samples include Shocking Blue and Voorhout Violet from Akkerman. I need to broaden my color spectrum a bit more still.

[WaskiSquirrel]

When I was in 3rd grade, my parents got a pen catalogue as junk mail. I looked through it and was fascinated. As it turned out, the only pens I could afford with my extremely limited funds were a Parker Vector and a Sheaffer of some kind (yes, I probably spelled the latter brand incorrectly). I didn't like any of the Sheaffer pens.

 

So, when I was in fourth grade, we were in the Colonial Park Mall in Harrisburg, PA, and I stopped at a store that is probably no longer there: it sold stationery, magazines, and a miniscule selection of books. Maybe called the News Center? Anyway, I found a Burgundy colored Vector and bought it.

 

When I got home, I was horrified to discover it had only blue ink, so I rectified that the next time we went to the mall with a purchase of black cartridges. I was disappointed that it didn't fill from bottled ink, but I loved writing with it. Bonus: I had developed an interest in writing during third grade, so this pen became my daily writer for many years. I found a converter somewhere along the line and was able to use bottled ink.

 

Later on, I did purchase a Cross Century and a Parker Frontier, but they were my only pens until my late 30s when I discovered the Noodler's brand. My ink and fountain pen horizons were greatly broadened. Now the fountain pen is more than just my prefered writing instrument. It is a passion and genuine interest all by itself. And the collection of pens and inks is no longer so modest.

 

ETA: Somewhere in high school, my father showed me his Parker 51 which had been in his desk drawer for decades. I tried it out, and even though it had a built-in filling mechanism, I hated it.

Edited June 16, 2014 by Waski_the_Squirrel