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

[PatientType]

 

While I agree quality engineering is a must and I certainly appreciate the merit of the various filling mechanisms mechanisms out there, I think you (an many others, perhaps merely to be snooty) give converters short shrift. I have come to prefer them actually (not carts, mind you, they're akin to ink training wheels). I find converters offer considerably less mess and waste - I fill (dip into the ink bottle) the converter directly instead of dipping the nib/section, and they make it quicker and easier to switch inks - just pop a new one in while sidelining the old one for more timely and thorough cleaning. If they break down they can be easily replaced and don't sideline the entire pen for repair. BUT, I agree you can't have every thing. They also offer the limitation of ink capacity. Perhaps someone will someday come up with a large capacity converter.

 

I find myself in agreement with this somewhat contrarian view regarding the virtues of converters. My two favorite filling systems are piston-fillers and converters. More complex vacuum systems seem tiresome to clean and rubber bladders compressed with levers or other means seem to be more fragile and prone to failure.

 

Saying all that, I've tossed a converter or two that failed to allow ink to flow well. When I've run into that problem a $3-$4 replacement eliminated the issue.

[cybaea]

I find myself in agreement with this somewhat contrarian view regarding the virtues of converters. My two favorite filling systems are piston-fillers and converters.

 

From an engineering perspective, converters are easy to fix. From aesthetics they can be pretty:

 

http://www.nakaya.org/products/IMAGES/OPTIONS/ACCESSORY/02009(3).jpg

 

http://www.nakaya.org/products/IMAGES/OPTIONS/ACCESSORY/02009(1).jpg

 

http://www.nakaya.org/en/review.aspx?id=02009&type=accessory

http://www.nibs.com/Nakaya-Converters.html

[cybaea]

Did somebody already link Brian Gray (from Edison Pen Company) defence of the converter? Here: http://edisonpen.com/page.cfm/Reevaluate-Converters

[Mezzie]

I need that goldfish converter! That's awesome.

[ethernautrix]

I read Brian's article a couple of hours ago, and I like what he said about the filling systems, that the purpose of the filling system is to get the ink into the reservoir. That's it. The nib and feed are what matter when getting the ink onto the paper.

 

Me, I prefer c/c. I have owned many different types of filling systems, and I still prefer c/c. I don't expect everyone to share my preferences. Brian writes that he loves his pump filler, loves watching the ink filling the reservoir. Me, just watching that gif he provides made me feel impatient. Hahaha. But I understand that others find it cool or fascinating or fun. It's just not for me, especially when cleaning pens or changing inks.

 

I love the efficiency of using a bulb syringe to clean my c/c pens. I'm also the type who prefers not to tinker with my pens. I want to fill it and write or draw.

 

I'm bemused at the position that c/c pens aren't legitimate pens, but I don't care to argue the point. I want a beautiful pen that writes the way I like without much fuss.

 

I also find amusing the opinion that people who use cartridges must be rich. I guess we're all rich if we're spending at least $20 on a pen and have more than a couple of them. I use bottled inks and a syringe to fill the cartridges and rarely buy new cartridges. I probably have enough Platinum cartridges (came bundled with my Nakayas) that I think I won't ever have to buy them again. Not to mention the converters that I also use.

 

My position is this: Who cares what pens other people are using? Use your pens and enjoy them. It isn't a popularity contest.

Edited September 25, 2014 by ethernautrix

[mrchan]

My personal gripe is with poor people giving (bleep) to others who can afford or are willing to save to buy more expensive pens. People going on and on about its so expensive, its not worth it, a cheap Lamy safari does the same.

 

If you can't afford it, don't bash those who do or are willing to buy it for their own personal pleasure.

 

Is it overpriced? Perhaps. I want to buy and so whats the problem?

 

These people are not living in the real world I think. Likewise a car can cost anything between 5k to more than a few million dollars, it still does the same thing, get you from point A to point B. Perceived value and true value are different things.

 

Bottom line is, for all you poor people out there who aren't willing to buy a higher priced pen, or can afford it but don't want to, just stop being an ass about it and try to enjoy some nice pics okay? You don't have to tell us how well your Pilot Metropolitan or Jinhao writes and tell us why we are being stupid for spending the money we do on the pens that we like.

[lmarine0510]

I think that modern Parker pens are ugly, perform quite badly, and are extremely overpriced.

[mrchan]

I think that modern Parker pens are ugly, perform quite badly, and are extremely overpriced.

I seriously couldn't agree more from a looks point of view and price. Performance I am not sure. Their new pens are just so uninspiring.

[lmarine0510]

I seriously couldn't agree more from a looks point of view and price. Performance I am not sure. Their new pens are just so uninspiring.

I have owned a Parker IM, a Parker Urban, and a Parker Sonnet over the past few years and each one was horrendous on a different level. Those little cheap-o nibs on the parker IM and the Urban (mind you they are priced at $28.50 and $67.50, respectively) are possibly the ugliest nibs that i have ever seen in my entire life (look up pictures of them). The IM, the first modern Parker I owned, was a POS from the get-go. this thing was scratchy, skippy, and dry. the nib literally dug into the paper i was writing on. For a 30 dollar pen, this is totally unacceptable. Even if it was a turd, that just reflects on the poor QC at the Parker factory. Being as stupid as I am, I picked up a Parker Urban kit off of eBay for $67.50. that thing performed unacceptably for a 70 dollar pen. to begin with, the design of the body was unspeakably ugly, and it had one of those stupid miniature semi-nibs reminiscent of what was featured on the old, cheap Vectors. this thing wrote unpredictably. the wetness of it varied between the extremes. it would sometimes dry up abruptly while writing, requiring the pen to be disassembled to squeeze the converter, and sometimes the line would be extremely wet. this pen was an all-around dud. Very disappointing considering that i paid almost 70 dollars for it. About a year later, i was given a Parker Sonnet as a gift. Upon looking at it, i was pleasantly surprised to find that it had an actual nib on it instead of having a Parker Vector-esque cheap stamped nib. I was bitterly disappointed upon using it. This thing was total garbage. I have had Jinhaos that were smoother and wrote more consistently. This thing skipped, scratched, and was an overall displeasure to use considering that it probably listed for about a hundred bucks. I am done with new parker pens. I love my Vac and my 51, but something must have changed for the worse in the past 40 years. These new Parkers are total garbage.

[arcadeflow]

I have owned a Parker IM, a Parker Urban, and a Parker Sonnet over the past few years and each one was horrendous on a different level. Those little cheap-o nibs on the parker IM and the Urban (mind you they are priced at $28.50 and $67.50, respectively) are possibly the ugliest nibs that i have ever seen in my entire life (look up pictures of them). The IM, the first modern Parker I owned, was a POS from the get-go. this thing was scratchy, skippy, and dry. the nib literally dug into the paper i was writing on. For a 30 dollar pen, this is totally unacceptable. Even if it was a turd, that just reflects on the poor QC at the Parker factory. Being as stupid as I am, I picked up a Parker Urban kit off of eBay for $67.50. that thing performed unacceptably for a 70 dollar pen. to begin with, the design of the body was unspeakably ugly, and it had one of those stupid miniature semi-nibs reminiscent of what was featured on the old, cheap Vectors. this thing wrote unpredictably. the wetness of it varied between the extremes. it would sometimes dry up abruptly while writing, requiring the pen to be disassembled to squeeze the converter, and sometimes the line would be extremely wet. this pen was an all-around dud. Very disappointing considering that i paid almost 70 dollars for it. About a year later, i was given a Parker Sonnet as a gift. Upon looking at it, i was pleasantly surprised to find that it had an actual nib on it instead of having a Parker Vector-esque cheap stamped nib. I was bitterly disappointed upon using it. This thing was total garbage. I have had Jinhaos that were smoother and wrote more consistently. This thing skipped, scratched, and was an overall displeasure to use considering that it probably listed for about a hundred bucks. I am done with new parker pens. I love my Vac and my 51, but something must have changed for the worse in the past 40 years. These new Parkers are total garbage.

 

The Parker IM is a Chinese pen nowadays, you can buy one for $12 on eBay. It is so cheap I thought of getting one, but since I knew it was Chinese, I thought it is probably a "glorified" Hero/Jinhao/Kaigelu, and for that quality, $12 may still be too much. Since the Pilot Metropolitan for $15, I can't really justify a cheaper pen that is probably not as good.

[lmarine0510]

 

The Parker IM is a Chinese pen nowadays, you can buy one for $12 on eBay. It is so cheap I thought of getting one, but since I knew it was Chinese, I thought it is probably a "glorified" Hero/Jinhao/Kaigelu, and for that quality, $12 may still be too much. Since the Pilot Metropolitan for $15, I can't really justify a cheaper pen that is probably not as good.

if you were to compare an IM and a Metropolitan, there is no contest. Having owned both, the Metropolitan is probably one of the best pens that you will ever buy in the price range, and the IM, well, i should need not have to repeat myself on the subject...

[Black Spot]

I used my Lamy 2000 as a door stop and now I have a ding in the bottom of my door thank you bushido.

 

 

do not juggle pens with the caps off.

[Algester]

do not put pens in an active blender unless you want to answer the question of will it blend...

there needs to have a need of precious resin fragrance cologne

Edited September 29, 2014 by Algester

[mrchan]

Taboo for the day, are people who review pens and give a 10/10 for everything. You simply can't trust a review that gives a pen with a steel nib that says "iridium point" a 10/10..

[Medsen Fey]

Why do all nibmeisters seem to have at least a 2-3 month (or more) backlog? Maybe someone should charge more - make the same money and give customers a turnaround in days rather than months. We can't all be too cheap, right?

Edited October 2, 2014 by Medsen Fey

[mrchan]

Why do all nibmeisters seem to have at least a 2-3 month (or more) backlog? Maybe someone should charge more - make the same money and give customers a turnaround in days rather than months. We can't all be too cheap, right?

Mottishaw from nibs.com can hasten your order if you pay double. 6months --> 2 weeks.

[Behike54]

1) People feeling the need to bash pens because they don't work for them ergonomically. What the FRICK is that all about?

 

2) People who comment on certain ink brands despite never having used them. Okay, first of all, you don't know what that ink looks like from a pic online, don't even get me started on shading, saturation, what it looks like after drying, nib size, etc. NOBODY CARES. (no, REALLY.......NOBODY)

 

3) People who wait to post last due to a need to have the last word on everything. Ironically, this has more to do with knowledge than bona fide experience, but they need to see their words in print like they need to hear their own voice. The saddest part is they think this is a substitute for experience and ability to think critically.

 

4) People who say this THING (pen, paper, ink, pen-case, business card holder) is THE BEST, rather than the best for THEM. Relax, it doesn't negate your joy or productivity if others think less of your pen and/or accoutrements. Write with what you like, your attachment and joy is valid, nobody else needs to "get it." If I got bent out of shape by all the BASHERS, I'd have to take a brick to someone eventually. Fortunate enough for me, I have a life. (sort of)

5) I think posted pens look terrible, and while my experience is limited, all then pens I have feel out balance when posted. I mentioned the UGLY part, right?

 

6) People that pass off crapy performing ink as currency to get something they think they will REALLY like.

 

7) People who take themselves too seriously and go on about EVERYTHING, typically negative comments, and manage to suck the FUN, WONDER, AND MAGIC right out of this hobby for themselves. Go buy a Porsche already.

 

8) People who reference a novelist or any other kind of artist when discussing something and know nothing about their work and the connection is superficial, at best. NOBODY can be an expert at EVERYTHING.

 

Too much? TOO LATE!

 

...........did I mention my supervisor just may be cognitively impaired?

Edited October 2, 2014 by Behike54

[PrestoTenebroso]

 

These opinions are going to come off like I'm extremely passionate about them, but really it's more like I dislike this aspect of whatever in this context and while my opinions are fairly concrete, in the grand scheme of things my feelings are lukewarm and whatever I was talking about isn't really a significant aspect of my life. But because I'm sure of my opinions and I want to emphasize certain things, everything comes out in absolutes and I'd rather not write out what I just did in every other sentence. It would just sound so snobby...^{and yet I just did it}

 

• Stop trying to flex every nib. Seriously, what are you doing?

When did this become a universally desirable thing? Flex pens have always been a subset everyone explored eventually but now people are judging the quality of their nibs by how flexible it is? It seems like especially new users are making up a huge part of this everything has to flex! cult. It doesn't help that every review on Goulet Pens or FP Geeks has a portion where they test out how flexible the nib is like apparently it's a good thing.

 

Don't get me wrong, I came over to fountain pens from dip pens and I love flex, but I don't pick up a fountain pen expecting it to do the same thing. No fountain pen flex nib will ever match up to a simple steel dip pen.

 

It irritates me when people expect the Pilot Falcon to flex. No. It's not made for that and DO NOT expect it to be capable to producing Spencerian, let alone Copperplate. I think the nibmeisters out there that advertise their Spencerian Approximation grinds are misleading at best and dishonest at worst. Sure there's lip service as to the difficulty in using those nibs, but even that's to make overcoming that difficulty a goal. Those nibs are structurally unsound and if they can't even create the subtle swells of Spencerian, how in the world are they going to produce Copperplate letters? Also, too many people don't seem to understand that the fineness of the hairline is far more important than how much a nib can flex. A fountain pen's iridium tipped nib will never produce true hairlines.

 

People watch that video of that Falcon that went viral and get very unreasonable expectations from seeing the penman's skill. Then people in the fountain pen community itself can't correct their misconceptions because they have them too. I'm happy for Pilot's sales, but not the state of the fountain pen community if this kind of misinformation and false hope is allowed to run free.

 

Side note: I am so excited for the Desiderata Flex Pen (in this I really am pumped up IRL). Finally a fountain pen that can take a steel dip pen AND has a feed that can keep up? It's what we hoped the Ackerman Pump Pen would be except it had to be pumped (well duh, but it's still a bad system) and couldn't keep up with the flow. What we hoped the Ahab would be except it had to be tinkered with endlessly and also couldn't keep up with the flow. It's what every vintage flex pen hoped it would be, but couldn't be from the fact that they had the limitations of a fountain pen nib. Early reviews have been promising, so hopefully it's not another disappointment.

 

• I don't like overly smooth nibs.

When did smoothness become universally desirable? It's even part of the fountain pen recruitment speech now. Oh it's so much smoother than any other kind of pen out there! No, it's not. And why do you say that like it's a good thing? The sales pitch used to be, the feedback allows you to be in touch with and feel the paper like no other pen. It's just a trend.

 

• I don't want to share my fountain pens with the world.

I know we're supposed to be penvangelizing to spread the word and prevent the extinction of fountain pens, but I just... don't want to talk about it. Except with internet people, of course. It's not like you guys know me in real life. I don't get excited if someone notices me using a fountain pen and want to start spouting off about its history and how it writes and how it's so superior or whatever. In fact, I really don't like it when it's noticed. To the point that I will avoid using pens in front of people I know. Around strangers in a library or cafe, whatever, I can just put on my don't talk to me face. But I don't want to be associated with the status symbol fountain pens have become; the snobs that deliberately wave around those oversize, overpriced phallic pens, trying to make sure everyone sees them and thinking what they paid makes them superior; and those special snowflakes who spread misinformation about how their pens are going to adapt to them or other similarly absurd factoids.

 

Fountain pens are not an identity. They're not even the main focus of my stationery hobby. I have plenty of other hobbies, and let's be honest this one is much more frivolous than we like to admit.

 

Hey, I love The Side Note. Flex isn't ubiquitous, nor for everyone, and it shouldn't be.

For what it's worth, my daily writer is an EF firm, and a firm .8 italic!

Anyhow, my site is up and you can get flex fountain pens there if that's your thing.

Peace out!

[dojpros]

A. Noodler's Ahabs

1. They Stink

2. Too wet

3. Skippy in all three examples I owned.

 

B. The Pilot Metropolitan punches way above its weight

 

C. Preppy ED is stunningly smooth with a nice Waterman blue for the 5.00 you have in the pen.

D. I just discovered Esterbrook pens & I suspect that I am going to own a a few before the end of the year.

My ATT marked Dollar pen wih a 9668 nib is a joy with Waterman blue/black.

 

E. I would go Pelikan v. MB but what do I really know as I have owned or written with neither.

Edited November 6, 2014 by dojpros

[Rosebud]

Being rich sometimes places a target on your back.

 

Experimentation with a $5 pen seems acceptable but what if the person has disposable income which allows him to experiment with a 500$ pen ? Does it even matter if he has earned it or inherited it ?