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Off late parker has been having quality control issues. Some in our local groups have had issues with parker fountain pen inks claiming Brill to be far better than Parker in terms of ink bottles. The gell refill breaking off halfway So it all starts with me buying their Parker Jotter in my favourite orange colour with a separate Parker Quink Black Refill The moment I start writing it starts to go thin and thick with no consistency at all so with this i complaint to the Parker India distributor Luxor Writing Instruments Pvt Ltd over their email on 7Feb 23 With no response over email i approach them on social media reminding them since 2 weeks my complaint is lying dormant in your inbox what have you done? They reply on 21Feb 23 "We are in receipt of the detail complaint from you. We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused to you and delayed reply from our end. We would like to thank you for your valuable feedback about the Parker Pens it helps us to improve the product quality and services to the customers. Kindly arrange to share your postal address we will arrange a reverse pick up for your defective writing instrument for repair/ replacement purpose for your continuous pleasure of writing with Parker Pens. Ensuring you best of our services at all times." Then i reply my details next day and since then they start ignoring. Then I approach consumer forum on 2 March 23 seeing this they reply the replacement refill will be dispatched in todays mail. On 13March 23 today i got a parcel just having 2 parker quink Blue refills not even an apology letter. When i checked the tracking number on the parcel it shows parcel booked on 10th March 23.Which shows they literally lied on 02 March 23. Now my complaint was for Parker quink black but the kind folks at Luxor sent me Blue which is not my issue and i wont accept this. When i contact Waterman they don't reply. -Why are customers treated differently based on the geographical locations when brands are taking the major share from the sale then aren't they equally or more responsible as is the distributor who takes some commission -The brands that never take responsibility passing on the blame on distributor isn't ethical. When it's registered under your brand and you are taking major profits then where are you when there's an issue of quality arises? ---- Update ---- Instead of asking 2 weeks time and sending black they send whatever they feel like and later when asked about they say We would like to confirm you that we were not having the Parker Ball Pen refill in packing for black colour, that is the reason dispatch team dispatched you blue Packed refill to you, if you allow we will dispatch you Black Ball Pen refill in loose packing Pls confirm ,we will dispatch the refill in today’s dispatch .

Today I took out my Visconti Federico II set and notice that the clips are rusting. The pens have been in containers with dehumidifiers together with other pens many of them much older and they don't show any rust. Is any solution ? It is a problem with the Visconti plating? Thanks for your comments.Sorry I can not post photos.

Two and a half years ago, I purchased a Montblanc 146 pinstripe Solitaire with an extra-fine nib. The nib wrote beautifully; but after a little while, the piston mechanism broke--despite the care with which I had treated the pen, I must add. I sent it to Montblanc for repair, as it was still in warranty. The pen came back with the piston in perfect order; but the nib had been put way out of adjustment. I then sent it to John Mottishaw, who reground it to a true extra-fine of extraordinary quality; and I have since used the pen daily. Well, this evening, the pen, which had been loaded with Montblanc Permanent Blue ink, appeared suddenly clogged and reluctant to write; so I immediately rinsed out the ink, using the piston mechanism, of course. In the process, the piston broke--again despite my gentle handling of it. I offer two questions to the experts at FPN: Firstly, is there some problem with the design and durability of the Montblanc 146 piston mechanism? Secondly, is there a problem with Montblanc's Permanent Blue ink? I should add, parenthetically, that I need to use an ink which will not wash away when exposed to moisture, rain, or spilled liquids; anything less negates the whole raison d'être of a pen, fountain or otherwise, as far as I am concerned. I should have used iron gall ink, except that I had some concerns about the effect of such an ink on the pen's sterling silver casing. I should add that I have had some very bad experiences with Montblanc's repair department in the past. They do make beautiful-looking pens, and sometimes, excellent nibs; but the company does seem to have problems which, I feel, need to be addressed better than they apparently are.

I've used printer paper for a year and used a fountain pen almost exclusively. Everywhere i go I hear that printer paper is bad and you shouldn't write with a fountain pen on it, but I've had pretty much no problem with it. I've only used Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue and Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black and I've heard they are dry inks, so maybe thats why I had no feathering, or any bleedthrough that's too bad. Also I've mostly used a Japanese medium nib. It was some 80gsm ink jet paper from Fabriano (it was Copy 3 I think) I got it because it was cheap, and it looks like it performs vastly better than cheap notebook paper. Why is printer paper frowned upon? Sounds like a good option for people on a budget.

Hi guys, I am from the UK but recently started working in the USA, I am unfamiliar with most of the US paper brands and don't want to import notebooks from Europe so thought I would ask for recommendations here. It originally took me a fair amount of experimentation to find my favourite notebooks for work in the UK (me being a bit fussy). I like lined spiral notebooks with paper good enough to write on both sides with an FP, obviously without bleed-through or feathering etc etc.I don't mind but also don't need perforations or punched holes but optionally do like a bit of tabs / colour coding. The notebooks I have been using are the following Clairefontaine ones which I can get in the US - to be honest though, although the paper is nice white 90 g/m2 it is not perfect as the coating does mean start-up / dry up issues occasionally. I can get these in the US, but my guess is you have something better http://www.zen101388.zen.co.uk/notepad.jpg Could any of my US friends recommend a good quality spiral wound hard back notebook with nice paper I can order on Amazon.com? Many thanks Jolltax

Dear FPN'ers , Good Morning!!!! We had participated in the First India Pen Show on 2nd and 3rd February-19 with tremendous response. We are happy to launch these New Limited Edition Handmade Ebonite Pens dedicating to the India Pen Show All these Ebonites are very unique , beautiful and different. We will not be making it for production run. You will be getting the same pens in the picture. We have just made 50 Pens in different Models all together. We wanted to introduce to FPN'ers first Please contact me in mpkandan@yahoo.co.in for any interest Payment : Paypal id: mpkandan@gmail.com All are ready and available for immediate shipment with in 3 days of payment Nibs : Jowo (Chrome /Gold Monotone ) : EF ,F, M,B,1.1,1.5 Converter: Schmidt K5 Converter 1. RANGA ARTISAN MASTERPIECE PEN (Designer): Price :120$ Capped Length : 7 Inches , Dia 17mm :Clipless Only 2. RANGA Model 5 PENS: Price: 84$ :Capped Length : 7 Inches , Dia 17mm (Flat Shaped Pens) , Dia :18.75mm (Round shaped Pens): Clipless Only 3. RANGA MODEL 4S PENS: Price: 73$ :Capped Length : 5.75 Inches , Dia 14mm : Clip: Chrome / Gold Mono tone 4. RANGA MODEL 9B PENS: Price: 78$ :Capped Length : 6Inches , Dia 16mm : Clip: Chrome / Gold Mono tone Regards, Kandan.M.P Ranga Pen Company

Hello, everyone! My name is Keith and, while I have been writing for many years, I have never given much thought to the quality of the pen, pencil, or paper that I've used. This has recently changed since I am preparing to begin working on copywork that I intend to pass down to my children as an heirloom; the Bible, both old and new testament, written in my hand (ESV translation). I just bought a ream of Crane's Crest 20lb. 100% cotton paper, but I am still trying figure out what pen to use. I have used (and am quite comfortable with) my Sakura Pigma Micron (005) pens for writing in my study Bible's. Unless I find something of better quality that does not have a tendency to bleed through the page, I plan on using these for my copy work. That being said, I have always been interested in fountain pens, but my experience with them has not been very good. Every one I have ever used has had a tendency to stop writing at the most inopportune times. I am also planning on either binding the finished product myself or having it professionally done, so I welcome advice in that area as well. Thank you all in advance for your time and thoughts!

Could magnet check/test the quality of a nib. To be more precise, a good nib shouldn't be attracted by the magnet. Is it true?

What's everyone's favorite pen/daily driver? I use a Dunhill Sidecar black resin ballpoint. Not the most popular pen out there, but sure is a beauty. Helps that I'm a huge fan of Dunhill! What do you all use on a daily basis??

Ever since I came back to the fountain pen world, I've been attached to the Lamy brand to the point of collecting more than 22 examples of Safaris and Al-Stars. Unfortunately, my experience with the Al-Stars has been very disappointing recently and so has been the poor quality of their customer service. The first issue I had was with a Bluegreen Al-star that had been inked for the first time with Emeraud de Chivor. While trying to swap the nib, the entire feeder came out causing a big mess over my work, a jammed feeder (while trying to push it back in a hurry, remember the pen was leaking) and a damaged nib. I promptly send pictures to Lamy Germany to tell them about this, they in turn, send my request to the local Lamy distributor which contacted me to sell me replacement parts. The way I see it, I didn't do anything odd or wrong with the pen so it was their responsibility to fix this under warranty (the pen was not even a year old) and yet, I discovered to my dismay that locally Lamy offers only 3 months of warranty! I was using tape to swap said nib, something I've done quite frequently with all my Lamy pens in our 3 year story. Never before with a feeder coming along with them. I thought I might have gotten a lemon, so I kept purchasing their pens. Then the other day, I noticed that my fingers where full of ink while using my Pearl Al-star (again, first inking). Turns out, the pen leaks all of the converter's ink into the cap even when the pen is left unused and in an upright position on my pen holder. I have cleaned the pen, reassembled everything back and used another ink to see if something changed, but no, still leaks ink like hell. Both the converter and the pen are brand new, so normal wear and tear need not apply. But what really made me steer away from Lamy, was Kaweco's outstanding customer support that dealt with me directly and until a happy outcome was reached. Customer support elsewhere might be better, but a Global brand is supposed to give the same brand experience everywhere, not only in selected areas, let alone same warranty terms.

Hello there, There are definitions and terms sometimes that I bump into and don't know meaning of. Would appreciate your help in clarifying. Let's start with definitions of words. Refillable and loose-leaf are basically synonyms of same thing i.e. in this case paper that is removable. Is that correct and which of these 2 words are more used today? Moving on to leather journal with binder rings, are these also "loose-leaf"? Can they be referred to as "loose-leaf construction" journals or something? I wouldn't think "refillable" makes sense for refillable journal whereas in paper context "refillable paper" sounds right. Now about paper. is there typical term for paper that is fountain pen, gel pen and rollerball pens "friendly"? Sometimes I want to know how to distinguish such paper from normal everyday paper. When I want to buy Leuchtturm 1917 paper or Clairefontaine, I always find by brand name but is there something general that would help me find paper by quality rather than by brand? Does "quality writing paper" make sense to anyone? Thanks!

Hello all, Firstly, I really like my Rhodia webbies. That said, I'm finding that the most recent one I got (orange cover, lined, v3.0) has led to some feathering and bleedthrough that has not occured before. I've only used four colours on the new one, but one of them---Diamine Imperial Blue (Ahab)---gets both problems. I double checked with the same combo in my previous webbie (black cover, lined, v3.0), and no problems with that one. Same room and time of day. For info, the other two inks didn't have the same problems: - Diamine Grey in an Ahab: fine, but less smooth letter edges - Diamine Onyx Black in Pelikan M200 (M) - Pelikan Mandarin in Lamy Safari (M) Am I just unlucky? Obviously this isn't all inks and pens so I'm not complaining too much! Was wondering if maybe there are significant batch differences or something.

I won't say I've done an exhaustive search for notebooks, but there are so many options and manufacturers that I believe I am more lost now than before. I was hoping someone would be able to help me. I'll attempt to describe what I'm looking for below. I am majoring in Math and Comp Sci in school, and need something to take notes on. I attempted to use ruled notebooks, but due to the nature of the classes and my handwriting, I can't. I write too large to take notes for the math classes on one line. I would like unruled paper of decent quality (possibly archival but not necessary), I would prefer it to be bound on the side with something other than staples, and something between 5 x 8 and 8 x 11 or so. I sincerely appreciate any input, but so far I have read about so many types of notebooks that I don't know what would work...

Hello everyone, I am hoping to buy a industrial quality fountain pen that is very durable and will not be broken easily. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

Sometime in 1986 or '87 my father gave me a Cross Century Classic set as a gift (black/ gold finish; fountain pen, ballpoint and mechanical pencil). Shortly thereafter, the fountain pen was damaged after falling from my shirt pocket and was never repaired (parts got lost along the way). As the years passed, I kept wanting to replace the pen with a similar one but for one reason or another, I never got to bought it back. Last week I finally went to a pen shop to look for it, but I came away empty handed and feeling sad for what was shown to me. A far cry from the great pen of my memories. The black finish had almost the same texture, but the pen felt noticeably lighter. Also, the blind cap was a gold-colored contraption about an inch in length, that look cheap and also made the pen IMHO, look like a pirated version of the original (mine had just a gold button up there). To make matters worst, I was told that Cross had moved their entire production to China, which kind of mooted the point of expending extra for the brand. I still own the pen and pencil, and they definitely feel much more solid and of better quality than the "new" fountain pen. Does anyone here has purchased this new version? How does it compare with a 30 year old model?

By old I really really mean older production like the 80s and 90s. So, what do you think? I have a few of the older ones and it seems all of them have better quality than the newer model.

Hi everybody, There is something wrong with my pen' s "HOMO SAPİENS" writing on the bronze trim. When I hold my pen to write, "HOMO SAPİENS" writing on the trim isn't parallel with the nib. photo is attached. I unscrewed the nib section but it doesn't work. I can't take the "HOMO SAPİENS" to the front part. Please advise... Cengiz

Just a quick and short question: Why is some paper more expensive than others? I heard that the quality of expensive paper is better (obviously), but what are the benefits of writing in a good quality and expensive paper? Is it smoother or something? Thanks.

I am just dipping my toes into the wide ocean of fountain pen collecting and I see that it can easily become an obsession. Up to now, I have made my selection based on looks...and price... and have been mostly lucky with the results once I put pen to paper. Now I am venturing further into the deep where the expensive pens live, but being a practical person, I would hate to spend money on something that writes like doo doo and I know that $$$ don't necessarily mean the pens write well. Aside from tweaks and adjustments that are sometimes necessary, are there any pens out there that are pretty, pricey but poor writers? Or put in a more positive way, what pens are true beauties, regardless of the price and write like a dream? And yes, i know that price and beauty and probably even quality are subjective. I trust that most of you have a fairly common understanding of these elements but please feel free to explain your position! and Thanks!!

I have a Jinhao X450 (marbled finish) that I got a while ago when I bought a couple of Chinese pens (one is my knock-about Hero 110 that's quite good). I avoid Chinese pens unless I need something that I can use when working in the lab or that can be knocked-about, be lost (or stolen). Given that, I don't usually pay more than $10 for them, and don't care much if they don't work. But I have taken a liking to the very sturdy brass and enamel construction and the excellent M nib that I have gotten used to (though I greatly prefer F and EF nibs and usually avoid M or bigger because it is impractical to write calculations with them, and the fact that I simply really like EF nibs). Unfortunately, after writing two paragraphs, a vacuum forms inside the converter and no ink at all flows into the feed/nib section. I end up having to turn the piston in and out to manually draw air in every ten minutes. I took every single piece of the pen apart and soaked it in household bleach (it was fine, but please don't anyone soak their Montblanc in bleach! I DO NOT recommend trying this on any pen you spend more than $10 on! ). Cleaned every single channel and section with a little nylon brush. Everything was free of any contaminant or manufacturing residue. Put everything back together perfectly. Tested pen. . . And the same thing happened. I can hear a slow bubbling sound as the air tries to get into the reservoir. It is obvious that the feed system is not allowing for any air to enter. The system consists of a partially hollow feed with a little capillary feed that slips inside of it, it is this narrow little capillary feed that plugs into the tiny hole in the section and connects to the converter's reservoir. I don't think the design facilitates for any air to enter to stop a vacuum forming. Does anyone else's X450 do this? Is there any way to fix it? I would really like to find a way to solve the problem, as I have taken a liking to the pen. Thanks in advance for any advice.