Search the Community

Preamble: As a long time lurker (for over 15 years!), I have benefited from the deep well of knowledge here on all things fountain pens. So I want to say "Thank you, FPN!". I will also admit that my pen habit has been worsened by my visits here in the past 5 years. But as I tell my spouse, there are way worse "addictions" than collecting fountain pens and inks. About me: I grew up in India, towards the end of a cold war (and the decline and fall of an empire), and used fountain pens throughout my middle and high school days - mainly Heros and Camlins. During this time, I also got in serious trouble for "borrowing" my dad's more expensive US made Parker Classic GT fountain pen and losing the finial at the end of its barrel. Pen trauma is real! I had stopped using fountain pens for over two decades after high school, but have gotten back to collecting and using them, especially seriously, since we moved to the Bay Area in 2016, when my collection exploded from 20-ish pens to an out of control 100+ pens! Where is the fountain pen version of AAA group?! Pens and ink I am writing with this week: Wing Sung/ Junlai 630 14K fine nib inked with Montreverde Ocean Noir Platinum President 14K fine nib inked with Diamine Amaranth Hongdian N7 Grey Rabbit steel "long knife" nib with Diamine Earl Grey Other than pens and ink, I also enjoy: Reading across genres Writing (poetry mainly) Hiking Checking out live music and art How I hope I will be able to give back to the community here: Sharing experiences via pen reviews Enabling other pen aficionados by flagging deals in the market place watch (and not purchasing any more pens in the process!) Attending IRL meetings even - have been meaning to attend a SF Pen Posse meet for a while now Thank you for reading. 🙏

Hello! I’m new to the forum. I was interested in looking into local (or Chicago) based clubs I could start attending to talk about pens. I’m a computer scientist with a deep interest in networking in my day to day. Since graduating college, my friends and I have used letters to stay in touch, send photos, and generally enjoy not having to track social media all the time for all our important parts of life. There’s something so nice and intimate about not having an instant form of communication. An old teacher used to have us write instead of type our answers to practice standardized tests. She said, “You think differently when you have to make your words exist.” I’m honored my friends share that side of themselves with me. So I like to put a lot of effort and care into my letters. I’ve recently started to improve my penmanship and got a vintage Sheaffer off eBay for a few bucks. It was in a bad state, so I repaired it. That was such a fun experience that I’m solidly into fountain pens now! Nice to meet you! I’ll probably spend way more time lurking than talking, but please let me know if you have any advice or favorite haunts. Or if you know which clubs are active in my area (the ones I found seem to be defunct since the Pandemic).

Hello everyone: I'm Nestor, I came here to learn more about Fountain Pens. I've always loved them but just started to collect them last year. As of now my humble collection is made of 24~ pens and couple of bottles of ink. I love Fountain Pens because it honors the tradition of handwriting while conveying care and commitment in any letter or card.

Hello, let me say hello to all of the forum members, being part of other forums, it's my pleasure to enhance my presence into this community worldwide. again happy to be here. br jabbahulk

Hello there FPN! My name is Dylan and I hail from the frozen wastes above the wall (wait... no wall... yet). Though spring may be coming to Edmonton, AB soon... I hope. I've been into fountain pens for a good decade or so, but haven't really engaged a lot with the online community for some reason. It's time to change that! I look forward to connecting and engaging in the various shenanigans that may occur. Current EDC Pens: TWSBI 580ALR 1.1 w/ Noodler's Golden Brown TWSBI 580AL EF w/ Diamine Marine (and hunting for a pen for some R&K Alt-Goldgrün to live in)

Hello all; I've been stalking the forums for a few years now, but never really bothered to sign up or post, but I figured that it's probably long past the time I should have introduced myself. You guys, JetPens, Goulet, Anderson, and Peyton Street influenced me to start the hobby. I picked up a Metropolitan (F) and 78G (B ) a couple of years ago in the hopes that I could learn to hand-write my wedding invites (definitely did not go that route). Only ever used the standard Namiki black cartridges til recently. Anyways, I got myself a TWSBI Eco (EF) and a small bottle of Poussiere de Lune for the holidays this year and have actually started to enjoy taking diction and notes. Looking forward to start experimenting with inks and keep stalking the inky thoughts posts. In the meantime, hello again, and I hope that I might get a little involved and maybe toss some reviews up over time. Let me know if you all have any questions or comments. Trevor

Hi all, My name is Rene Truzzi, I'm 33 years old, professional with 8 years experience in retail. I'm new to the hobby, have a lot of questions but don't worry I'll do my part and research before starting any new topic. I'd like to thank the staff for accepting me and hope to meet good people. Truzzi

Hello from southwestern Wisconsin~ I've been reading the threads for quite a while and finally realized that I've grown quite attached to all things carved out by fountain pens. I have a Waterman Lady Charlotte (the blue lady)--a gift from my brother years ago. And last year I acquired a Pelikan 400. Since then I've learned so very much from all of you. So it seemed like the right time to join the conversation, novice though I still am. Thanks for the terrific reading and advice you all share so liberally!

Hello fellow FP geeks! I am a returnee to the fountain pen world. A couple of months ago, I picked up a Pilot Varsity and loved it. Then I ended up ordering three Lamys from Amazon - a Lx, an Al-Star, and a Vista. I also ordered a bottle of Shin-Kai ink and bought two different Noodler's inks (one of which being the infamous Bay State Blue) from a local shop that sold it. I got back into the FP world because I am studying for a tech cert and wanted to do handwritten notes. I am a believer in the science that handwritten notetaking vastly improves understanding and retention of the subject you are studying. I am also getting into bullet journalling - my BuJo is a Leuchtturm1917 Master. It's huge and I'm a bit disappointed with how much the BSB shows through the pages, but it's only enough to be mildly annoying. BSB really bleeds through my cert notebook, a Moleskine. Hindsight being 20/20, I would have stuck with the Iroshizuku ink and Rhodia or Leuchtturm1917 notebooks (more on the ink in another post.) My next pen(s) will likely be (a) Lamy Studio. Well, that's my short intro. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hello, My name is Mobin Haque. I'm from Rawalpindi, Pakistan... and I am really happy to be a member of this forum. I've just developed an interest in writing about two months ago after almost 26-28 years now. I don't consider this current pursuit a hobby or obsession. That, for me, is wet/classic shaving and other pursuits. I am not as interested in pens or inks as I am in the act of writing, transferring thought to paper, in an elegant manner. So, as I begin to settle into this rather satisfying interest, I plan on keeping my urges in check. Because in the past, after my 50th brush and the 100th razor, the ritual of shaving kinda lost its meaning for me so I got rid of a lot of them. So, having said that... I have given away a lot of rather nice pens throughout the years because I had no interest in them so I am starting from scratch now. I have a budding collection at the moment. A Sheaffer 440... The first pen I bought was a Pilot Metropolitan M. My only Japanese F is a Preppy. Two rather decent Luoshi Lami clones, A Jinhao 750 shimmering sands, a Wing Sung 6359, a Baoer 801, and a Jinhao 599, plenty of Dollar 717 demos for mad science experiments. A Faber-Castell Loom M and a TWSBI Eco F are on the way from Cult Pens. I have been very lucky with the Chinese pens so far. Only a few required the most minor adjustment. It's the Dollar demos that give me the most grief. I'm still trying to find my ideal line width so I cast a somewhat wider net, I think. I don't have a grail in sight as of now but I plan on buying the Lamy 2000 as my first $100+ pen because I'm a big fan of Neil Gaiman. In inks, Plenty of Dollars, Pelikan red, blue, green, black, blue-black... both new, NOS and ancient. Some Diamine inks are also on the way. In paper, I have settled on Navigator Presentation 100gsm. It's got a nice heft, fairly good feather and bleed resistance. Further more, luckily, good and reasonably priced paper is not that hard to find here. Some Rhodia paper is also on order. What I love about this new habit... Obviously the elaborate ritual of it, a bit like the Japanese tea ceremony. But also, it helps clear my mind of all the bad thoughts I gather throughout the day by transferring them or, using a rather crude term, regurgitating them onto paper. I find it very cathartic. So, this is me. I would love to make some pen pals here. Really looking forward to that. Also, almost everything I know about pens, inks and papers, I've learnt it here on this forum so thank you all very much for this excellent community.

Hello Everyone. I discovered this wonderful group and hobby at about the same time. I'm looking to improve my handwriting and learn about penmanship and fountain pens. It looks like a great environment here, and I look forward to learning and socializing with you all! - MG

Hi Everyone, I'm Arun from Bangalore, India. As to why I am here, its kind of a funny story. I was introduced to fountain pens back when I was in school almost more than a decade ago. At that time, although I loved the experience of using a fountain pen, I was kind of frustrated with the ink spilling here and there (mainly due to running around), and the low quality paper which caused bleeding. I reduced using fountain pens just so I could avoid all this hassle. Last week, all of a sudden I woke up one morning, felt like writing something using a fountain pen and when I realized I didn't have any, I decided to buy one immediately, placed an order for a Parker Vector CT and since that day I have been watching several videos and reading several articles about fountain pens in this forum, about inks, which pen to get next and things like that. Today I placed an order for a Kaweco Perkeo and I'm quite sure I'll be collecting a lot more fountain pens in the future and once again enjoy the experience of using a fountain pen. Cheers!

Hello, new to FPN. Relatively new to FPs as well. Started using them about a year and a half ago and began to dive in. Still learning about all facets of the writing process, pen and nib feel, paper and ink differences, etc. I try to journal every day and keep about 4 pens inked at a time. My wife thinks I'm a little crazy, but she indulges. Looking forward to learning more.

Growing up in Germany (1980s), I learned how to write using a fountain pen, exclusively. Eventually, however, I ended up in less 'enlightened' corners of the world, where fountain pens are uncommon or even unheard of. Then there was also the small matter of computers taking over our lives and the internet happening. And so I found myself decades later without giving nary a thought to the pen I write with or the paper I use it on. Putting pen to paper had become a joyless affair. Then a few years ago, I bought a Lamy Safari and a Clairefontaine notebook during an internet-fueled drive down memory lane and... I had rediscovered the joy of writing. Since then, having had to make up for those many barren years, I have pursued my newfound passion with a vengeance. I own about 40 fountain pens now (at some point there were a lot more) and more notebooks than I could fill in a lifetime. During the past few years FPN has been a wonderful resource. The community is so active that I never had to post an inquiry as someone would already have beaten me to it. Still, this is way overdue and I am happy to finally be part of the FPN.

Hello! I am delighted to find this site and resource! I am a certified Apple technician who has an appreciation for well crafted, hand made items. I recently acquired a Waterman Ideal 0512 ½ VP pen and it has piqued my curiosity. I am looking forward to learning about these pens and sharing what I find with others. Thank you!

Hello all, I have been following this forum for a couple of years now and finally decided to get an account : ) I love Chinese laguage and culture and ofcourse everything ink, paper & fountainpen related! I'm very much interested in inks, in particular the Japanese ones. Sunny greetings, "Maqiulin"

Hello Everyone! I'm Jacob from Chicago. I'm new-ish in the fountain pen world. I have a few entry level pens and a few inks. I hope to expand my collection and save up to buy a pretty special pen, maybe a Pilot 823 or a Pelikan M100. I have an obsession with Diamine inks. ( Regency Blue is my favorite). I love to learn about fountain pens and their history.

First I’d like to say hello! My name’s Ava Marie. Born and raised in the south (little German town right outside Austin, TX), but I live and breathe in Portland, OR. I’ve loved pens since I was very young. I would see your typical ‘Unused Corporate Desk Pen Set'™ while roaming the halls of IBM’s Austin campus with my mom in the 90s. I always got so excited when she let me pick up and inspect them. I wanted to understand them and just...create. Writing eluded for a lot of reasons, but being dyslexic & dysgraphic tend to be the top 2 on the board. I’ve always hated anything that required picking up a pen as it all got worse. So I just put it all out of my mind and carried my laptop everywhere for 15 years. Though I was never caught without my trusty Parker Jotter (guess it’s in my blood, eh?). ——— Last year marked the end of that extra 5 pounds I walked around with all day when I needed to take notes quietly in a few seminars I was planning to attend. I finally revisited writing and took a new approach this time. I started to rummage through old letters from friends and family…comparing my letter forms to the ones I liked in those pages. I formed my own set of “rules” for myself on how to write each letter. Now I’ve formed that bond with analogue I wanted as a kid (even managed to find it somewhat as an adult, being a tube amp & vinyl nut, too). Every day of my life is full of ink on paper now, and it feels great. ——— But for the sake of keeping this somewhat brief I’ll just show you how far the rabbit hole has taken me so far without the help (and I’m sure enabling nature) of FPN so far. Really happy to be here to learn more and maybe even pass a few tidbits of my own on. http://i.imgur.com/v8xM1Aa.jpg?2 My 'Daily Drivers' right now are the Pilot Heritage 92 (Fine Nib, Noodler's 'Borealis Black'), the Lamy Al-Star (1.9 Stub, Diamine's 'Imperial Purple'), and a little prototype of my own fitted with an EF Bock 250 (between the VP & Urushi Brush) sporting Pilot's Standard Blue.

Hello, FPN and all it's users. I am who I am. I come here frequently as a guest, going through topics and such, looking for the information I've been hunting for at that particular moment, which will usually come in the form of questions regarding inks or their reactions to certain tools. Seeing as I go to this website as much as I do, I said "why not" and I decided to make an account. So here I am. I am a university student from the Philippines. I am someone who is very involved in the arts, mostly in illustration. I own a few fountain pens, not a lot but five, a Pilot Kakuno, a Pilot Metropolitan, a Platinum Preppy, and two Pilot Petit1s, are a start. I own many art supplies but I do not think you people would be so interested in them, this leaves me with the various brushes and nibs that I own which can be readily applied to calligraphy, lettering, drawing, etc and the inks that I have lying around, both of the fountain pen and the non-fp varieties. I see fountain pens as beautiful, economical and very interesting things. The thrill of buying, using, caring and trying to understand them better is what makes me go back to these things all the time. Of my small and cheap collection, the Kakuno with its medium nib, which I swapped from my older Metropolitan, and the black inks I always place in it are my favorite. The smoothness of the writing experience, the lightness of the pen, the length and the colors just make want to use that pen as much as I do. The Pilot Petits are also just a sheer joy to use. I don't know how to end this introduction so I'll just leave it at that.

Hey all, I'm a high schooler from Berkeley, California who just started using fountain pens and is quickly becoming obsessed. My handwriting isn't quite good enough to deserve them, but I'm working on it.

Nice to have found the forum. I have been interested in pens for a few years, but not on a level I wish to reach, or one comparable with y'all. Have a small collection of pens, but just learning, really. Have none of the gorgeous pens I see here on the forum, with the most beautiful macro photos. But . .. hope to get started. Would appreciate advice on restarting inflow in a few pens owned by my spouse, who hasn't used them in years....it's frustrating to try to figure out how to solve the hesitating flow of some of our favorites, after they sit for a while. Guess I will learn this by researching topics on care of pens here in the forum. Thanks to all. . . In celebration of the handwritten word, Joe

Hello fellow FPN'ers, I have been browsing FPN for around a year and this is my first post. I have been an avid FP user for the last 15 years. I used FP's exclusively through school and university and only recently since last year, started a collection. Here is an initial set from my humble collection: http://i.imgur.com/uRMXxKc.jpg http://i.imgur.com/CssrPnS.jpg From top to bottom: Parker 45 flighter - Good deal on eBay. Wonderful writer Pilot Vortex - Good nib, but very disappointed with the pen quality overall Sheaffer No Nonsense - Smooth wet medium nib. hate the color My first "foreign" FP - Lamy Safari M. Should have got an F or an EF. Reynolds Grippy (in blue and red) - tiny little school pen that punches far above its weight Flair Inky - Indian version of Pilot Varsity. Nice. Surprisingly good build quality. converted to ED Maped free writer - French? school pen with an interesting design. Smooth M nib Another Flair inky Maped 'Click' reload - Interesting cartridge load mechanism and feels very good in the hand. Kudos to Maped for trying something different Pilot Varsity? - older gen Varsity I guess. Very smooth wet nib. Should have got an F Pilot Preppy - excellent build and smooth nib. Used as EDC for a month. Enjoyed every bit of it Also have a ton of chinese pens in my collection - Another post maybe....

After eleven months of the fanatic and blissful madness I call my love for fountain pens, which included Googling questions that often led me to this forum, I'm finally joining FPN. So...hi, at long last! Call me Amy. I didn't try my first FP until I was around 12-14 years old and got two Pilot Petits in blue and purple at a bookstore in Taiwan. It wasn't until my mom clarified they were fountain pens that I was awed at the incredible historical tradition that I'd fallen into--I'm sure many of you understand and share the "wow" moment when you realize you're holding the same kind of pen that dozens of famous writers and thinkers have used! Though I was floored, the feeling didn't grow into a real attachment--I gave one of the Petits to my cousin, and somewhere down the line I finished using the cartridge for the other Petit and threw it away (I wince to admit that now!). In December 2014, someone who follows my blog messaged me about my declared love for rose gold with a comment that in his opinion, the best use of rose gold he'd seen was with a certain Monteverde pen (either an Impressa or an Invincia, I've forgotten). Of course, he provided a link to a photo of the pen, and BAM--that marked my rediscovery of fountain pens. In the following days, I watched dozens of fountain pen videos, fell in love with the incredible variety of ink colors out there, and finally ordered a Pilot Metropolitan. Believe it or not, that's still my most expensive pen! Because I know somebody will ask, here are the pens and inks I have/have tried: Pens: Pilot Metropolitan (M) in White TigerPlatinum Preppy (F) in purplePilot Penmanship - I love how intensely EF it is, this was my go-to pen for taking notes for classPilot Plumix in blueParker Vector (F) --I hear there's a metal version? But I have the plastic oneNoodler's Nib Creaper in Vulcan's CoralPilot Parallel (1.5 mm)--Sometime this week, I'm hoping to be lucky enough to secure an order for a Pilot VP in the Twilight Limited Edition! Huge upgrade for this here small-budgeted fountain penner, but worth it, I've heard!Paper: I like Clairefontaine a lot, and recently bought a Rhodia dotpad. Amazing! Though most FP lovers don't seem to like Moleskines much, I also use FPs with them sometimes too--perhaps my preference for finer nibs is the reason why I can get away with it. Inks--I don't have an ink journal, but these are the inks I've definitely sampled: Diamine Red DragonDiamine Soft MintJ. Herbin Bouquet D'antanJ. Herbin Emerald of ChivorJ. Herbin Stormy GreyLamy NeonlimeNoodler's Apache SunsetNoodler's Bernanke BlueNoodler's BurgundyNoodler's Cactus Fruit EelNoodler's Gruene Cactus EelNoodler's X-FeatherPrivate Reserve DC Super VioletPrivate Reserve Purple HazeSheaffer's TurquoiseProprietary cartridges: Parker's blue, Pilot's black and blue, Platinum's purple. I also just ordered samples of Diamine Golden Sands, Diamine Blue Pearl and Diamine Apple Glory, the famed Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses, Monteverde Pink, and J. Herbin's Bleu Azur.I am so excited to finally join this forum! I've always been impressed by FPN's incredible knowledge and friendliness and I look forwarding to lots of great discussions with all of you

Greetings, I just got into fountain pens in July. Frankly, I had been interested before but I just never realized it was so affordable, that there were good pens to be had for less than fifty bucks. So far I have acquired the following: Lamy Safari in school bus yellow, Medium & converter Lamy Vista Medium & converter Jinhao 159 in orange, Medium came with a converter Jinhao X750 in Shimmering Sands, Medium came with a converter Pilot Metropolitan in black, Medium & converter Kaweco Sport in Mint, Medium Noodler's Charlie Noodler's Nib Creaper in Midas Pearl I've also got 3 Goulet Ink Drops, a Goulet random sample and bottles: Parker Quink Black J Herbin Stormy Gray Noodler's General of the Armies Noodler's Heart of Darkness Levenger Shiraz So I came here because - OMG PENS! - and also the Classifieds section. I'm highly interested in trading pens and ink and getting to know other people.

Hi I'm Anthony from Boston. New here and also to pen collecting. I have made a few kit pens and love the custom made pens I see on here.