fountain pen taboos - don't enter if you're easily offended

[Alpha_Cluster]

The fact that lots of "blue" inks really look purple. LAMY blue carts I'm looking at you!!!!

[pajaro]

So..how many of you like fountain pens only because they're vintage? You know who you are, bragging about your fedora collection and your three piece suits

==========================

 

Don't forget the liesure suits.

 

==========================

 

I like Parker 51s because my father had one, and because they were on the market when I was kid.

I like Montblanc 144s and Cross Century I pens that were made in the best days of my career in IT.

This is a pure case of RESISTANCE TO CHANGE.

I like pens from the 1940s to the 1980s, but that doesn't mean all those pens. Mainly the above.

And a number of kinds of ballpoints.

Edited August 19, 2011 by pajaro

[FineNibs]

I use a fountain pen for every bit of writing I do. Especially the crossword and suduku every morning. Noodler Xfeather works really well but I do not mind the feathering either, within reason.

 

1) Always a fine or extra fine nib as my handwriting is small and I print. I have no use for a medium or broad nib, with exception of Pelikan highlighter.

 

2) Never post. Fine for you if you do. I find it changes the balance of the pen. Most of my pens are European and as the europeans typically do not post, my pens are not balanced to write that way.

 

4) I prefer a bigger, heavier pen. A pen is a tool and I like to have a tool I can rely on and has some heft. MB Boehme is a pretty pen, just disappears in my hand and my hands are not large. Of course this relates to #2 above, posting a weightier pen makes it too heavy.

 

3) Like the asian pens. In Japan a fine nib is fine. Enough said. Love my Homo Sapien, but the fine is really wet and broad to be classified a fine.

 

4) Preference against cartridge/converter. Never use cartridges- not economical, bad for environment, too little ink. Give me a big thirsty piston filler any day so I can write for a few days without having to rinse and reink pen.

 

5) Color, color and more color. Rarely use black or blue ink except for checks. Even work demands some color to bring life and interest to what I am doing.

 

6) When is a pen no longer a pen? I like expensive pens, no surprise there, but not into limited editions to stick in a drawer. I use every single one of my pens. Krone's Abraham Lincoln with dna in a pen makes me wonder why? K-Class would be more my thing. If it costs more than $100 it better be good at writing. If it is just clunky and overly artsy but can't write, I got no use for it.

 

7) Slick (Faber Castell) or lumpy (Lamy) sections that make it hard to grip while writing. It is a pen and pens should be made to write with.

Edited August 19, 2011 by FineNibs

[rfranca]

I lend any of my fountain pens to anyone who asks, with only brief instructions.

thank you, thank you, thank you

 

This for me is the most taboo of taboos !!!

[MidnightBlue]

All Posts should have your prefix added...."don't enter etc.........." Why,......... 'cause it'd keep those with fragile egos from reading on. Thanks

[SigmaZuiko]

I hate lamy.

I hate cross.

I hate the parker 51.

Krones make me sick.

Waterman was good but then turned into Sheaffer

Sheaffer was good but then tried to be cool and screwed up on their nib design.

 

Pelikans the only brand that has it right.

 

I love Wahl-Eversharp but they turned into Parker and now have an obscure website with "interesting" products...

[Bill Estherson]

I'm done with any pens costing more than $100. My experience this summer really took the wind out of my sails. Ordered a $400 pen from a very highly respected maker. Skipped. Scratchy nib. Sent it back for repair. It came back with the same problems. All that anticipation for nothing. From now on, I'm buying lower priced pens and sending them to Greg Minuskin. He turned my Conklin Duragraph's scratchy nib into the best nib I own. I dislike Oprah Winfrey.

[antimony]

I really dislike big wide nibs. To me they make a pen look like a shield on a stick.

 

I much prefer hooded, semi-hooded, or inlaid nibs. They look much more like the nib is part of the pen, not just a separate item stuck onto the end.

[pajaro]

I like to use the appropriate pen for each task. A fountain pen with dark ink makes what is written stand out better than the comparative gray of a black ball pen cartridge.

 

Blue inks make me ill, except for blue black. I prefer fountain pen inks in shades of black, like the plastic in the darker Parker 51 barrels: black 51, any black ink; midnight blue 51, blue black; plum 51, Noodler's Nightshade; forest green 51, Noodler's Sequoia. Other inks, with "color" are kid stuff to me, because they don't show up well, are harder to read and they look unprofessional on business documents. Pens are for writing stuff that can be read back. Stuff with "color" is more for artistic purposes and drawing.

 

Generally I don't care much for black pens. Bright colored pens, dark, dark inks. Black pens seem too funereal, especially with silvery trim. A whole bunch of black pens is what I call dreary. But I like blackish ink. It stands out. Really kicking up my heels with that Nightshade ink. An expression denoting humor.

 

I always post the cap of a pen that has a cap. If a cap won't post on a pen, I get rid of the pen and have gotten rid of a few for this reason. YMMV.

 

Maybe I didn't get along with the Pilot VP because there was no cap to post.

 

I find bigger, heavier pens really impressive and I admire them. I like writing with them, but for some reason they seem to find their way back to their boxes--Pelikan M1000 and M800 especially. The pens I do most of my writing are Parker 51s, Montblanc 144s, a MB Generation and a Cross Century, classic type. When I was in school I avoided writing as much as I could avoid it, and I suppose lighter pens make lighter work. You do less work moving less weight across the paper. For those who like to do work, knock yourself out. YMMV.

 

I have thought a good deal about filling systems. Most of the ones built into the pen leak, sooner or later. I prefer to keep pens running by my own efforts. Sending a pen off for filling system maintenance is just something I don't get around to. It's kind of like watching paint dry. So, for me the cartridge/converter (c/c) works well. I do not use cartridges, because they are expensive. I like piston converters because they last about ten years, and I keep spares to avoid more than temporary inconvenience. It's a user replaceable piston filler, albeit smaller than the built-in kind. The Parker 51's squeeze filler I accept because they have long life and I have several 51s to fill in for a hypothetically inoperative one or an empty one. So far the inoperative has been hypothetical. 51 Vacs are another story. Speak softly and carry several pens.

 

I love the Parker 51 aerometric. I got to use my dad's when I was a kid, and I bought one when I got out of college. These pens have a modern style probably coming out of the streamlined styling of the 1930s, and the appearance of the Parker 51 is upbeat. It doesn't look like all those cloddy other pens with their open nibs reminiscient of dip pens. If you had to write with a dip pen in school, especially if you were left handed and had to reach all the way to the upper right of your desk to dip the pen, dip the pen, dip the pen, you might feel there is a special place in technology hell for open nibs.

 

I can tolerate the open nib on the Montblanc 144 because of the special slender beauty of the pen, and most of mine are red, which is prettier than the black one. The fatter the Meisterstuck, the more it looks to me like a cloddy old pen, and its that fat shape, with those rounded ends like every leaky old pen I used as a kid. There is no accounting for tastes and the funny, contradictory and contrarian way we like things.

 

I am in agreement with those who feel a pen is to be used and not put in a drawer like the bourgeois collectibles designed to gather money from those who like to collect stuff. YMMV. I do put some pens in a drawer, but it's just until the mood moves me to pull out that Parker 51 and put ink into it. The Montblancs and a few others stay in pen cups. Fancy pen cups. Lenox china, crystal or beautiful colored glass. These pens that have given me so much pleasure deserve TLC. They don't always get it.

 

 

I use my fountain pens less and less these days, because at work most of my documents are electronic. The way of the world. I am actually starting to think it might be time to put the pens in someone else's hands, and spend my collecting efforts on my lifelong stamp collection and model trains. There are a few I won't go of for sentimental reasons. The other keepers will be ballpoints. The best I have found are the Montblanc red 164, the Pelikan K400 and K200, the Parker Jotters, 61 BP and 51 BP, the funky swirly yellow Ariel Kullock crreation from a fountain pen barrel that you have to uncap, and the Cross Select Tip with a ballpoint refill. I think that Cross is both classy and wide enough for a comfortable grip. I don't use fountain pens much at home. Writing is too much like work.

 

Ultimately, fountain pens are interesting gadgets. If I don't have to write with them they become even more interesting. Even the piston fillers and 51 Vacs. Back and forth. Back and forth goes the piston while the nut plays with the pen, or mindlessly pushes the plunger. As the NCR mainframe maintenance guy used to say, "the problem is caused by the loose nut in the chair."

[SigmaZuiko]

I went into a Mont Blanc store with my ghetto dip nib Eversharp Skyline, and asked to try out some pens. I asked the salesman if they had anything with some flex to it and he looked confused asking me what I meant, so I pulled out my Skyline and wrote the word test with heavy shading and the man said, "Oh. I don't think our pens can do that."

 

Perhaps I'd only like vintage flex/semi-flex pens? (including vintage Mont Blanc) :hmm1:

 

I understand the price points on owning a super or luxury car due to the vehicle's performance, but I agree that most modern pen companies aren't interested in the nib that comes on a pen. They need more options!

[Florida Blue]

I understand the price points on owning a super or luxury car due to the vehicle's performance, but I agree that most modern pen companies aren't interested in the nib that comes on a pen. They need more options!

 

Montblanc has many options for nib performance: M, EF, F, B, BB, OM, OB, OBB. However, they do not make a flex nib. The only modern company that I know of that does this is Noodler's and their flex nib is nothing like the flex nib on your vintage Eversharp Skyline, it's not really a true flex nib in the correct sense of the term.

[professionaldilettante]

1) I see no point collecting lots of cheap pens. Instead of owning x10 $50 pens you could get yourself one very nice pen.

 

 

For what price is a fountain pen considered cheap?

 

+1

 

anything under $100 isn't worth bothering. it's synonymous with photographers; you will never see them carrying cheap cameras or equipment if they call themselves photographers.

Oh..... yeah.... you keep on thinking that. I've seen TONS of people carrying $2000+ worth of cameras and gear, and all they use is full auto. If you're a photographer, an artist that captures images on film, you don't need all of that. You can make a bad camera do what you want. Just cause you have the money to plunk down on something, doesn't mean that you know how to use it to its fullest extent. You sometimes see them here on FPN, with a post saying, I have $XXXX.XX to spend, and I want to buy the most expensive pen as my first pen. NO!!! You buy the cheap pens, and work your way up. That way, you know why a $40 pen is a $40 pen, and a $200 one costs @200. And then you can figure out what pen is a good deal for the price, etc.

[rapid_butterfly]

I'll throw my hat in the ring. Like at least one other poster, I've purchased two M200 series pens from an impeccable nib tuner, both new. One's pretty decent, the other is an absolute fire hose no matter what ink I put in it. Both EF nibs, because I tried one with an F and thought I had entered the "wide line twilight zone." I have some ergonomic issues with both of them too, but don't fault the pen for those. But I also find them a pain to clean and, frankly, kinda cheap looking / feeling. Too expensive, IMHO, for me; I know they're fantastic for many folks - the rep is why I tried them.

 

OTOH, I wish I'd found vintage Sheaffers sooner. I love them. I think I'm with at least one other poster in this thread - I think I will only buy NOS vintage or restored vintage from here on out.

[renegawlt]

I'll throw my hat in the ring. Like at least one other poster, I've purchased two M200 series pens from an impeccable nib tuner, both new. One's pretty decent, the other is an absolute fire hose no matter what ink I put in it. Both EF nibs, because I tried one with an F and thought I had entered the "wide line twilight zone." I have some ergonomic issues with both of them too, but don't fault the pen for those. But I also find them a pain to clean and, frankly, kinda cheap looking / feeling. Too expensive, IMHO, for me; I know they're fantastic for many folks - the rep is why I tried them.

 

OTOH, I wish I'd found vintage Sheaffers sooner. I love them. I think I'm with at least one other poster in this thread - I think I will only buy NOS vintage or restored vintage from here on out.

 

+1. I personally, have never met a Sheaffer I didn't like. Although I have avoided all hooded nibs, for thirty years. They appear uncircumcised, to me.

 

Yeah. It's weird. I know.

 

The differences of opinion in this thread is what makes FP users so fascinating. Some love cheap pens (I do, too; I have a basic curiosity about them, plus I am a DIY kind of person, and have ground the nibs of cheapo pens to make them very, very attractive writers), there is the never-ending MB controversy (I spose I should dig through things and try to find the two I got in the 80's when I was rich. Where did I put them?? Anyone here know?) and the tug-of-war re: vintage (I love things with a history; I always have. But there are people who loathe antiques, and refuse to buy any house but a new one.)

 

I like to try to decipher which opinions are based on experience, which culture, and which just DNA. Experience can trump DNA, I reckon. But it's hard to make a prejudice rooted in DNA try something new and get trumped. Self-preservation, I guess.

[box_camera]

We can bash ink too, right?

 

Noodler's Blue Nose Bear is totally blah. It's too blue to be gray and too gray to be blue, and it's got just enough brown and green in it to make it murky, not enough to make it interesting. And the "halo" just looks like feathering to me. I've been trying to use up my Ink Drop sample at work, because I don't want to write letters or in my journal with it.

[Torculus Resupinus]

However, [Montblanc] do not make a flex nib. The only modern company that I know of that does this is Noodler's and their flex nib is nothing like the flex nib on your vintage Eversharp Skyline, it's not really a true flex nib in the correct sense of the term.

You're overlooking the Stipula Model T, with a titanium flex nib (whence the "T"). I have the FPN version on order and am eagerly looking forward to it. How it compares to a vintage pen I don't and won't know. My experience so far is with dip nibs only.

[Inkquest]

I'll throw my hat in the ring. Like at least one other poster, I've purchased two M200 series pens from an impeccable nib tuner, both new. One's pretty decent, the other is an absolute fire hose no matter what ink I put in it. Both EF nibs, because I tried one with an F and thought I had entered the "wide line twilight zone." I have some ergonomic issues with both of them too, but don't fault the pen for those. But I also find them a pain to clean and, frankly, kinda cheap looking / feeling. Too expensive, IMHO, for me; I know they're fantastic for many folks - the rep is why I tried them.

 

OTOH, I wish I'd found vintage Sheaffers sooner. I love them. I think I'm with at least one other poster in this thread - I think I will only buy NOS vintage or restored vintage from here on out.

 

+1. I personally, have never met a Sheaffer I didn't like. Although I have avoided all hooded nibs, for thirty years. They appear uncircumcised, to me.

 

Yeah. It's weird. I know.

 

The differences of opinion in this thread is what makes FP users so fascinating. Some love cheap pens (I do, too; I have a basic curiosity about them, plus I am a DIY kind of person, and have ground the nibs of cheapo pens to make them very, very attractive writers), there is the never-ending MB controversy (I spose I should dig through things and try to find the two I got in the 80's when I was rich. Where did I put them?? Anyone here know?) and the tug-of-war re: vintage (I love things with a history; I always have. But there are people who loathe antiques, and refuse to buy any house but a new one.)

 

I like to try to decipher which opinions are based on experience, which culture, and which just DNA. Experience can trump DNA, I reckon. But it's hard to make a prejudice rooted in DNA try something new and get trumped. Self-preservation, I guess.

 

Agreed on the Sheaffers and other things, well, except for:

 

>>Although I have avoided all hooded nibs, for thirty years. They appear uncircumcised, to me.<<

 

To which all I can say is :ltcapd: :ltcapd:

 

Never really thought of them from such an angle, and cannot actually DISagree, but probably won't be able to flush that mental image (though I did try submerging my head in the ultrasonic for several cycles). Guess I'll get a good chuckle whenever I whip out the ole uncircumcised, er, pens...

[spiv]

inlaid nibs always look like old ladies hoary fingernails

 

they creep me out.

[stez]

I don't like Omas, Montegrappa or Visconti. Nibs with too much flex and uneven ink flow.

 

I don't like fancily designed pens with ornamentation that prevents it from being used as a writing instrument.

 

I can't understand Delta or Bexley, or Namiki.

 

I don't like metal body pens, and I like metal sections even less.

 

I don't like Noodler's ink, tried it once, flows poorly and the bottles are ugly.

 

I will try to avoid buying pens with converters, but I do have a few such pens.

 

"It's a tool, not a jewel"

They actually make something for people like you......it's called a pencil. :roflmho:

Edited September 21, 2011 by stez

[stez]

I'll throw my hat in the ring. Like at least one other poster, I've purchased two M200 series pens from an impeccable nib tuner, both new. One's pretty decent, the other is an absolute fire hose no matter what ink I put in it. Both EF nibs, because I tried one with an F and thought I had entered the "wide line twilight zone." I have some ergonomic issues with both of them too, but don't fault the pen for those. But I also find them a pain to clean and, frankly, kinda cheap looking / feeling. Too expensive, IMHO, for me; I know they're fantastic for many folks - the rep is why I tried them.

 

OTOH, I wish I'd found vintage Sheaffers sooner. I love them. I think I'm with at least one other poster in this thread - I think I will only buy NOS vintage or restored vintage from here on out.

 

+1. I personally, have never met a Sheaffer I didn't like. Although I have avoided all hooded nibs, for thirty years. They appear uncircumcised, to me.

 

Yeah. It's weird. I know.

 

The differences of opinion in this thread is what makes FP users so fascinating. Some love cheap pens (I do, too; I have a basic curiosity about them, plus I am a DIY kind of person, and have ground the nibs of cheapo pens to make them very, very attractive writers), there is the never-ending MB controversy (I spose I should dig through things and try to find the two I got in the 80's when I was rich. Where did I put them?? Anyone here know?) and the tug-of-war re: vintage (I love things with a history; I always have. But there are people who loathe antiques, and refuse to buy any house but a new one.)

 

I like to try to decipher which opinions are based on experience, which culture, and which just DNA. Experience can trump DNA, I reckon. But it's hard to make a prejudice rooted in DNA try something new and get trumped. Self-preservation, I guess.

 

"Although I have avoided all hooded nibs, for thirty years. They appear uncircumcised, to me."

Just what are you trying to write with?.....Oh, wait, I probably don't want to know the answer to that. :roflmho: