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

[TheHOINK]

"Fude" is Japanese (Kanji(?)) for "Words coming from Baboo" in sense.

 

It is used to describe calligraphy Brushes, which were made of hair and bamboo/wood.

And it is used widely nowadays for brushes and pens being able to draw and write with a lot of line variation.

So, a "wet noodle" or a "superflex-nib" could be described as "fude", too.

 

To a lot of artists, "Fude" means Pens with brush nibs, made of hairs (Sable), artificial hairs (nylon and Glas-Fibre) or Felt-Tipped fibre.

 

__________________________________________

 

Anyway, I misunderstood the whole thread, as it seems, although I really did read any post ere the last hour.

A "Taboo" is something you should never do, "untouchable" would be the proper translation, a "no-go" or "dealbraker" maybe to be the more modern translation of the meaning in an emotional sense.

 

To mention it in advace, I love Pilot (especially the Capless line), like (standard, NO LE's) Montblancs with elder designs, and have been using Pelikans and Lamys my whole life.

 

To me, a "taboo" with fountain Pens should be:

 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

 

- No ink, especially no proprietary ink should stain a pen completely. I understand that ink is based on dyes and pigments, but a pen should not get stained by the ink from it's own manufacturer. Like my 16 Year old Pelikan got stained completely in it's ink window by Brilliant red in two weeks.

 

- No ink should be as acidic to remove "god plating" from a pens steel nib. Brilliant red encrusted a nib of mine, and while using paper tissue and water, I rubbed of ink and gold plating, almost completely.

 

- No ink should clogg a feed, feeds are all different, some let more ink through, some less, some inks are more viscose than others. But a proprietary ink should not clogg a feed. Again, Pelikans... and Parkers.

 

- No ink should smear after it dried up. I absolutely love Noodlers Buletproof black in intensity, but I can not stand it being dried for hours and then maybe smear across my drawings in the end, when I might touch it again. Any idead of a substitute, in waterproofness and darkness?

 

- No pen should have more decoration than function

I do not count on trim rings. As much as I love my Décimos and Caplesses, the Myu and their "simplicity", I like the Pelikan M800, the Montblanc149 etc... because they are "simple" and use rings or bands as decoration, which is okay. As soon as gems are included, they look cheap and blingy, and some pens, mostly limited editions, look like they are unwieldy, ostentatious and as useful and heavy for writing as bricks.

 

- No weight ever should be necessary / applied to a fountain pen

When I was in school, I never knew and never have been informed that you could exchange or buy extra-nibs for Lamys and Pelikans. And I never was dissassembling somthing that worked. Still had all my old Lamys, and just bought half a dozens of nibs now, and they are all working again. But I could never stand people who bent nibs up and down and in al different shapes so nibs look like a train was running over it, mostly bent down.

 

- No fountain Pen should be disposable

Dip-Pens, Piston, Converter, Plunger, refilled cartridges with a syringe..., I take every option, but I can not stand people and the option of buying disposable pens, in times, where it is clear, we are not destroying our planet, but ourselves, we are not killing life itself, but mankind and a hundreds of species with our trash, since we are producing 7 tons of trash for one ton of finished products. Why not using our ressources better? People are complaining oabout the fuel-prices, but buy disposable plastics... which are made out of fuel, also.

 

- No nib should be worn down or being damaged by drawing on drawing paper

 

- No pen should be so complex, that you can not exchange the nib or can not make small repairs by yourself.

 

 

Cordialement

TheHOINK

[mateo44]

  On 3/12/2010 at 6:20 PM, Aysedasi said:

  On 3/12/2010 at 6:00 PM, Kabe said:

one thing that few want to talk about is how Lamy rips off people by using three different names for one single pen (vista, al star, and safari).

 

In what way does that rip anyone off? It's not obligatory to buy all three, is it?

 

And, I don't think they're the same pen. I believe the all star is an aluminum version of the safari. It's made of a completely different material. And, the vista is clear -- umm, wait! -- in your defense, that does kinda seem like the same pen as the safari! At least as much as different colors of the safari are the "same" pen (they are).

[ImolaS3]

  On 3/12/2010 at 1:22 PM, BrandonA said:

From a personal point of view:

 

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

 

2) I see no point in people buying multiple copies of the same pen. There are 1,000s of pens out there, no one will own them all. Why restrict the number of different pens you will own by buying duplicates of ones you already have?

 

Took the words right out of my mouth (keyboard). I really see no point in buying cheap pens at all

[greggy]

having used all sorts of branded pens on and off for most of my life. i just cannot understand why montblanc gets such

great reviews. personally i do not rate them at all for the money.

in my veiw, a waste of good money. just my 2 pence worth.

[bushido]

  On 3/12/2010 at 9:22 PM, Anna Cecilia said:

Staff at pen counters in department stores. Why do they not receive proper basic training beyond selling Mont Blancs? I actually asked a lady at one of them if they sold Pelikan nibs and she asked me what a Pelikan was. I then showed her my pen and pointed out they sold Pelikan inks, to which she replied very few people buy bottled ink nowadays so she'd never really paid attention to them.

/rant

 

you must have never been to a montblanc boutique. awesome people.

[TheHOINK]

Point might be not to worry about them being clogged or worn down with extensive use and complex inks for drawing, scribbling and calligraphy.

 

Ever clogged a 10 Euros Pen? Yes, indeed, bought new ones.

Ever clogged a 100 or 500 euros Pen?

THEN you would know about buying cheap pens.

 

And by the way... a 10 euros Pen writes, maybe 70 Percent of quality with steel nib.

A 50 euros pen maybe 85%,

A 100 Euros Pen with golb nib maybe 90%... so,where is the point, for each percent the prize curve raises exponentially.

When a cheap pen suits your tastes well, why pay more?

 

Think, SailorKenshin will say the same ^_^

 

Cordialement

TheHOINK

Edited March 12, 2010 by TheHOINK

[stevlight]

  Quote

CS388, on 12 March 2010 - 11:27 AM, said:

For me, it's the ludicrous packaging that accompanies many high end pens.

Hardwood boxes with satin lining and jewelled metalwork with a luxurious full colour brochure the size of a shoebox.

 

 

I love the boxes, but I'm not quite sure why since they never do anything but sit around and take up space. My Divina Desert Springs came in just such a box.

 

It did seem vaguely ludicrous opening that huge heavy box to remove a pen taking up maybe one-fiftieth of the space inside, though.

 

Why not make a nice box that doubles as a nice case to carry my new pen in with a few others! Just make those liners come out and have some ridges or elastic loops for some pens--then i can keep it and use it instead of tossing them.

 

Pens that do not hold enough ink--All pens would hold a minimum os 3-4ml in my world! --don't even start me on cartridge convertor pens!

 

Skinny/light pens--yuk!

 

Slip on caps--I want my cap to stay on and twist tighten thank you.

[bushido]

  On 3/12/2010 at 9:38 PM, Bill said:

<rant on>

 

This morning I chose a Montblanc 149 for the day and then stopped at a gas station. After the third try to complete skipping characters in the gas log, I realized that the heap of a car at the next pump probably cost less than the pen BUT PERFORMED MUCH BETTER!

 

When I got to the office, I swapped the 149 out for a Pelikan M800 that has never failed me.

 

</rant off)

 

Bill

 

here you go: (and i'm a mb fan, too)

 

[TheHOINK]

Just a darn stupid question.... if every pen comes wit a box you could use for carrying a lot or some more pens than just one... you still would get a lot of unnecessary boxes, right?

 

I wanna pay for the pen, not for the decoration boxes etc, the biggest amount of the cost should be for the nib (at least the biggest "part" of amount, so if the nib is 40% of the price of the pen, all other single parts shoulkd be lower.. hope I did express it correctly or made it understandable.)

 

TheHOINK

 

(Pens come with boxes, not boys... edited for a funny spelling mistake ^_^ x and y are next to another on german keyboards...)

Edited March 12, 2010 by TheHOINK

[Pfhorrest]

I've heard that if you go out in the light of the full moon, and place the pen in an ox skull, and spin around three times, the nib will magically become smoother!

 

That is, if you're lucky.

[mateo44]

  On 3/12/2010 at 9:38 PM, Bill said:

<rant on>

 

This morning I chose a Montblanc 149 for the day and then stopped at a gas station. After the third try to complete skipping characters in the gas log, I realized that the heap of a car at the next pump probably cost less than the pen BUT PERFORMED MUCH BETTER!

 

When I got to the office, I swapped the 149 out for a Pelikan M800 that has never failed me.

 

</rant off)

 

Bill

 

I have a MB rollerball that writes flawlessly, now that I've replaced the refill with a Rotring. I went through about 6 or 7 new, fresh, pristine MB RB refills (bought from different stores, at different times, etc.) that all uniformly sucked big time. Every one. So, I've given up. But, maybe that was just my really bad luck. If that pen wasn't a gift, I would have returned it for sure.

[bushido]

  On 3/12/2010 at 11:05 PM, TheHOINK said:

Just a darn stupid question.... if every pen comes wit a boy you could use for carrying a lot or some more pens than just one... you still would get a lot of unnecessary boxes, right?

 

I wanna pay for the pen, not for the decoration boxes etc, the biggest amount of the cost should be for the nib (at least the biggest "part" of amount, so if the nib is 40% of the price of the pen, all other single parts shoulkd be lower.. hope I did express it correctly or made it understandable.)

 

TheHOINK

 

these limited edition boxes are not made for carrying but merely for display. however if you're going to use your pen, you won't be using the box anyway because it's too clumsy. that's why you'll need a good pen case. mine are stacked up in closets.

[Silvermink]

  On 3/12/2010 at 10:56 PM, greggy said:

having used all sorts of branded pens on and off for most of my life. i just cannot understand why montblanc gets such

great reviews. personally i do not rate them at all for the money.

in my veiw, a waste of good money. just my 2 pence worth.

 

My MB 146 is one of my most comfortable and reliable pens.

 

Here's another one that's come up in a few other variations: I think nibs should always be easily user-swappable, (for example) along the Pelikan/Aurora/Esterbrook model, unless (some non-trivial aspect of) the design somehow makes it impossible.

Edited March 12, 2010 by Silvermink

[bushido]

  On 3/12/2010 at 11:07 PM, mateo44 said:

  On 3/12/2010 at 9:38 PM, Bill said:

<rant on>

 

This morning I chose a Montblanc 149 for the day and then stopped at a gas station. After the third try to complete skipping characters in the gas log, I realized that the heap of a car at the next pump probably cost less than the pen BUT PERFORMED MUCH BETTER!

 

When I got to the office, I swapped the 149 out for a Pelikan M800 that has never failed me.

 

</rant off)

 

Bill

 

I have a MB rollerball that writes flawlessly, now that I've replaced the refill with a Rotring. I went through about 6 or 7 new, fresh, pristine MB RB refills (bought from different stores, at different times, etc.) that all uniformly sucked big time. Every one. So, I've given up. But, maybe that was just my really bad luck. If that pen wasn't a gift, I would have returned it for sure.

 

roller balls are among the worst values in the long run vs fountain pens. i had a mb roller ball and the cartridges didn't last long either. the 146 fountain pens are more enjoyable anyway.

[karinh]

  On 3/12/2010 at 11:05 PM, TheHOINK said:

Just a darn stupid question.... if every pen comes wit a boy you could use for carrying a lot or some more pens than just one... you still would get a lot of unnecessary boxes, right?

 

TheHOINK

 

If that was the case (see bold italicized word) I would buy more brand new pens - those boys would be useful to do all the chores round here, that's for sure!

 

As for my gripes:

 

Metal sections are too hard to keep a grip on for long.

Some of those mottled coloured pens look like my cat sicked them up.

Short pens you have to post the cap of but the cap weighs a ton.

Lairy colours with lots of bling. Lairy by itself is sometimes fine but with bling it is a bit OTT.

Boring stiff nibs on a pen with a stingy feed. Ack!

And I hate ink that stinks and makes my nose hurt & my head ache!

[Stylo]

  On 3/12/2010 at 9:19 PM, ethernautrix said:

How come you don't think like me? Let me show you how to live....

Yeah... that's what the topic of this thread should have been

[Scrawler]

  On 3/12/2010 at 11:07 PM, mateo44 said:

  On 3/12/2010 at 9:38 PM, Bill said:

<rant on>

 

This morning I chose a Montblanc 149 for the day and then stopped at a gas station. After the third try to complete skipping characters in the gas log, I realized that the heap of a car at the next pump probably cost less than the pen BUT PERFORMED MUCH BETTER!

 

When I got to the office, I swapped the 149 out for a Pelikan M800 that has never failed me.

 

</rant off)

 

Bill

 

I have a MB rollerball that writes flawlessly, now that I've replaced the refill with a Rotring. I went through about 6 or 7 new, fresh, pristine MB RB refills (bought from different stores, at different times, etc.) that all uniformly sucked big time. Every one. So, I've given up. But, maybe that was just my really bad luck. If that pen wasn't a gift, I would have returned it for sure.

I hate my MB rollerball. It skips and squeaks.

[riff raff]

  On 3/12/2010 at 10:55 PM, ImolaS3 said:

  On 3/12/2010 at 1:22 PM, BrandonA said:

From a personal point of view:

 

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

 

2) I see no point in people buying multiple copies of the same pen. There are 1,000s of pens out there, no one will own them all. Why restrict the number of different pens you will own by buying duplicates of ones you already have?

 

Took the words right out of my mouth (keyboard). I really see no point in buying cheap pens at all

Everything's relative, I suppose.

 

So you're saving up to buy this pen, right?

 

http://www.elitetraveler.com/~resources/images/products/02_Emerald_Pen.jpg

 

At 1.5 million USD, anything else is a "cheap pen."

[ttakacs]

Fountain pen taboos?

 

1. Never use an open-nib pen to apply Preparation H. That is what hooded pens are for.

 

2. If you are in an English pub, do not let your pen out of your sight. It might wind up on the dart board.

 

3. Fountain pens are not can openers. There are some exceptions, however.

 

4. Do not use a fountain pen to write on a duck's back. It will feather badly.

[Kabe]

  Quote

In what way does that rip anyone off? It's not obligatory to buy all three, is it?

Ok, maybe ripoff is not he correct word, but marketing one product under three different in the same market names is dishonest.

 

 

This one will probably be contoversial, but I hate when people state that they feel loyalty to a luxury brand like MB, and when asked for it, deny it's loyalty. When you pay huge premiums for stuff, it's not loyalty you feel, but an appropiate reward for your overpaying.

Edited March 13, 2010 by Kabe