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Hi everyone! I'm a 20 year old student and I've been writing with fountain pens since I was a child. I've always used a Rotring Rive until I lost the cap the first year of high school. Now that I'm in University I picked up some old fountain pens of my late father. I really enjoy the hobby and I'd like to join your community!

Though new to the joy of writing with a fountain pen (less than a year), I am falling down the rabbit hole fast! I inherited my Grandfather's Parker Vacumatic and before investing in restoring it I decided to see if I'd even enjoy writing with a fountain pen. 19 fountain pens and 14 bottles of ink later, I'm now looking for a well-skilled, reasonably priced, vintage pen restorer who can return my Grandfather's pen to it's former glory. Recommendations, testimonies, and referrals are most welcome. Cheers!

Glad to be part of the forum. I own an amazing stationery store in Central Florida. We provide services on most things paper. :-)

Good day all. Just a new member and owner of a Mont Blanc Boheme, Vert PP, retractable with M nib. Bought it new, put it on the shelf and never engraved or used it. Still looks too good to be used. Model 36535. Also have the matching short ball point and rollerball but had my head on backwards at the time I purchased them in downtown DC and had the BP & RB engraved. Anyone know If it is possible to have the BP & RB serviced to replace the section with the engraving. I would like to give them to my daughter, or resell the set. As most times, Her last name isnt her married name. Again respects to all.

Dear all, I am glad to discover the Fountain Pen Network. I've learned to write using an old Kaweco, and since then I have been always using fountain pens for writing on a daily basis. Fountain pens are my favourite tools of writing and I am the owner and heavy user of several pens such as Parker Premier Black edition (primary pen and reliable workhorse), Parker Urban London Black Cab (secondary pen for peer-reviewing manuscripts, also highly reliable), Parker 51 (two of them, including a Brazilian one), Waterman Harmonie, Kaweco Classic and a few others. I use mainly Quink Permanent Black and Waterman Harmonious Green inks. As a geologist & palaeontologist, I use such pens both in the office and in the field, teaching and doing research, and I am happy to find enthusiasm for fountain pens among my graduate and undergraduate students, a sign that fountain pens have a bright future. Fossils, rocks, science (and fountain pens) are all together a very powerful and fascinating mix. With all my best regards from Bucharest, Mihai a.k.a. Pachypteris.

Good evening all- I have been lurking and using the FPN as a resource for a few years. Even registered a couple years back but havn't posted. I'm still a newb as far as pens go. I fot my first FP about 40 years ago to teach myself calligraphy. As life moved on I didn't have much time for my FP. Finally, as my kiddos are moving toward leaving the nest permanently, I have taken up my love of pens and paper. I have about half a dozen Lamy Safaris in different limited edition colors that I've purchased over the last 6-7 years (really! Where does time go?). I have a Pelikan m200 with an XXF nib from Richard Binder (~ 5 years old) that is my daily go to pen. I've also managed to pick up an Imperial (Imperial Pen Co.) with a Warrented 14k fine nib (lots of flex) from Greg Minuskin; 1930's black Lady Schaeffer with ring on cap and a Schaeffer Liferime nib (no flex); and finally Waterman's 12 1/2 BHR with Watermans Ideal nib (patent date 1903) with a ver flexible nib. I am attempting to teach myself Spencerian, but still only use my flex nibs for drawing and not writing. Oh, and the Pilot vanishing point that dear hubby got me for my 50th! I'm a middle school teacher and for the most part only used FPs at work. I do have to purchase my own paper for use at work to be able to use my pens because schools can only afford the cheapest quality paper. One of my goals for this school year is to participate more here as I practice daily on my penmanship....

Hello from Jakarta, my name is Jeremy. I just started using fountain pen for about a month. My first FP was pilot metropolitan, now I started to collect more FPs. I bought this Parker yesterday at a vintage bazaar in Jakarta, and I don't know what type of Parker it is Can anybody tell me about it? and also what's the function of the thing that came with it? I also bought an Ero pen made in Germany Glad to join you all!

Hello to everyone, My name is Dan, and I hale from the high desert in southern California. About 2 years ago I discovered this wonderful website. As fate would have it at just about the same time I had many disruptive and traumatizing events happen in my life. So many of my goals and plans were derailed. In many ways I am still in the process of healing. Thank God that this year I am once again getting back on track. I am setting up a new art studio, and headed back in a good direction. In so many ways I believe happiness, success and quite a few other things in life are, to a degree, an important choice. I don't think that it would be a stretch of the imagination to say that using fine writing instruments is a related choice. To me, its a small voice wanting an incremental bit more individualism, a bit more grace in line, and something that touches the edges of the simple and elegant timelessness of artistic beauty. I can say with some certainty that my interest in fountain pens started on the day my mother gave me a company Esterbrook that my father no longer used for work. I was in grade school. I still have that pen. I've collected a few pens here and there, and as the years went by I can now say I have an interesting little collection. As an artist, perhaps we see the world somewhat differently? I think its more probable that we are taking the time to do so. Fine writing instruments are a direct expression of the entire artistic process of paying attention to each nuance of weight, color, balance, FEEL, and emotional response. Just like with fine art, it is my considered opinion that if ever the day comes that people no longer care about HOW they write, and what they write WITH, something idelably important to our identity and souls will have faded away. An actual mark. On actual paper, held by the hand that wrote those letters, creates a far more tangible connection to the person who had those thoughts, who wrote those words down, than any typed or printed or emailed version could possibly achieve. An artists palete, and a pen collection, are both an invitation to explore each and every piece of it and to find out where it leads. So yes, I think that fine writing instruments offer more than something cheap and generic. They offer the whispered invitation to find out something more, something about ourselves. A fine journey, with the hope and expectation of happiness, isn't that a great metaphor for LIFE? I look forward to many an interesting and insightful conversation on the FPN site, and to making new friends. Dan

Greetings pen lovers! I'm a longtime fountain pen lover who only recently decided to delve more formally into the hobby by tapping the great resources in the WWW. I hope to learn a lot here, especially about fountain pen repair. Regards,

Hi to all. Since age has got the better of me, considerably got the better of me, I have decided to go back to child hood and pick up a long lost friend and use it. Once that happened then I found I opened up a whole can of lovely worms and found myself regularly looking into this FPN forum. I have been helped so much that I thought I should seek to join and learn more. Pens acquired have all been in sales thankfully and I have Parker Duofold, Pelican M800. Cross peerless 125 and a Waterman Carene. All have medium nibs, all are great and all are giving great enjoyment. Now I have to learn to write. Regards

Hello all! Greetings from Sydney, Australia. I have been learning and will continue to learn about fountain pens via this lovely community. Everyone is supportive and has very good things to say! Thank you! According to http://www.melbpenshow.com.au/Ant&Art_page.pdf: "Australia has a small ‘pen population’. Fountain pen use in the UK and US equates to one in 25 to 30 of adult population. In Australia, fountain pen use equates to one in 120 of adult population. As a consequence, Australia has the smallest number of specialty pen retailers per capita, in the world. What follows is that Australians are not the modern pen manufacturers’ best friend!" It is nice to know that there is a global community of fountain pen enthusiasts. I'm aiming to get myself to the Melbourne Pen Show. Fingers crossed! This newbie thanks you all!

Hey everyone. Greetings from NYC. Glad to be here!

Hello everyone I am Alex but my nickname is Bagel, I am from Oklahoma and I am an avid fountain pen collector. I am new to the forum and I look forward to meeting a lot of new people!

Allow me to introduce myself, I'm a twenty-five year old housewife & Mother. I sort of fell into the world of pens. I didn't start off crazy about them. When I was nineteen I worked for a high end watch shop, that sold Montblanc pens & accessories, I was in charge of inventory & became very aquainted with the models we had in our store. When I left that job the only time I thought about a pen was when I needed to use one. Then last year my Husband's Uncle passed (RIP) & he left his pen collection behind. No one knew what to do with the pens or how to sort them out, they weren't exactly organized. I had the only knowlege of such a thing so I offered to help. It became my responsibility to research & catalog his collection for my Husband & his Sister. Eight months later, I've grown quite fond of pens & have aquired a great appreciation for them. I have a lot of fun researching & learning about fountain pens even though I have found it to be very time consuming! I especially love the vintage & antique pens as I just love history & anything vintage/antique! It's been exciting to jump into this unexpected hobby. I think it coincides well with my love for typewriters! Cheers! To writing instruments! -MM