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My appreciation for writing instruments began in college while taking a calligraphy class some 30-odd years ago. I later began a career as a draftsman (Think T-squares, triangles, rotary erasers, lead holders, pens & mechanical pencils). Over the years I've dabbled in design & sales until landing in a management position. I do travel for my company and before each trip, I research and pen stores/shows within driving distance. It is physically impossible for me to leave a pen shop without buying something.

Greetings from India, I just wanted to introduce myself to FPN. I have been scouring pages and pages of this website since many months. But i finally took the plunge and signed up. Hope i have a nice experience here. Namaste

Supposing you collect pens for writing, and that you really like to write with each of your pens (more or less). Then, each new pen means you have proportionally less time to write with each one of your pens, since you must divide the total writing time you have by the number of pens you have. The more pens you have, the less time you have to write with each pen. Time might come when you have only a couple of seconds to write with each of your lovely pens in a week or in a month... Does this sound like an ideal for a pen lover? Has anyone come yet with a solution to this sort of riddle for pen lovers?

Well, it looks like I have quickly developed an addiction to fountain pens and ink. I had a few old fountain pens that I had hidden away until about October last year. I cleaned these up after not using them for years and proceeded to purchase my first new pen in November 2013, a Delta Italiano. Since then I have purchased: 5 TWSBI mini's, 4 Sailor Sapporo's, 1 Sheaffer Balance 2, 1 Pilot Custom 92, 1 Pilot Custom 91, 3 Pilot Decimo's 2 Pelikan m200's I've also had Oxonian fix up some of my older pens including: 1 Montblanc 114 1 Parker 51 1 Vintage Platingum Plus a number of nib tunes on the pens listed above. I have also bought speciality nibs from Richard Binder and Pendleton Brown. I have also purchased 13 bottles of Pilot Iroshizuku ink and many bottles of other brands including: R&K Herbin Private Reserve Sailor Delta Diamine Lamy I worked out the cost of all this that I have acquired in 7 months and I am horrified! My wife is also less than impressed. The worst thing is I can't seem to satisfy my urge for pens or ink. I'm also discovering different papers and journals which are also pricey! What I can say is that I am developing a taste for particular brands of pens, ink, paper and particular nibs. I now have a much better idea of what works for me. All of my pens are inked and I use most of them daily, sometimes for work, sometimes for letter writing and sometimes just for writing none sense at the end of the day. I find it strangely relaxing! My handwriting has improved loads and I have acquired a number of pen pals from placing a profile on a web site. This is a hobby I very much enjoy, but I have to slow down. At the moment, I am very much into my Sailor and Pilot pens. I also love the Iroshizuku ink. I have a real affinity for the Japanese stuff. Part of me wants to sell the other pens in my collection and reinvest the money into Sailor and Pilot pens, but part of me likes the other pens I have. I know I can't continue spending money at the rate I am doing and my aim is to have maybe 10 pens (to fill my two Pilot Pensemble cases!) which are all used at least once per week. The problem is, there are so many brands of pens and so many inks and I haven't even got started with the vintage stuff yet! I think I am pen drunk and maybe ready for the asylum!!