Italix 'parsons' Essential' Fountain Pen.

[perfaddict]

My handwritten comments on what has fast become one of my favourite pens:

 

 

Edited February 7, 2015 by perfaddict

[perfaddict]

...

Edited February 7, 2015 by perfaddict

[papabear16]

I'm looking to get some quick advice on this thread from Parson's Essential users. Last Christmas, I bought a few of the Italix pens for my friends, all in fine cursive stub. I was very surprised by the thickness of what arrived, however, which I would call a medium to a medium-broad.

 

Although we are a bit past 30 days, Peter Ford has kindly allowed a change of all three pens. However, because we already took the finest option, I wonder whether specifying a fine round will be any better.

 

Here is a picture sent to me by the recipient. The Parson's is top, followed by a 0.5 pt tip pen, and regular ballpoint pen.

http://i.imgur.com/4AOcYxI.jpg

 

I am hoping that it was Ford's grinding it into a stub that made the tip so thick, and if we go with a regular fine, it should be smaller.

 

For comparison, here is papabear's picture, from this post:

 

Notice that the fine stubs we used to create our picture look even broader than the broad stub above. Though I don't have the pens myself, I can confirm that before I gave them, the thicknesses you see is representative over different inks and papers.

 

I'm quite confused about what I should be asking---to me, a fine round is probably the safest choice, but I don't understand how our fine stub is so much thicker.

 

Thickness is always a tricky issue, because not only is it tough to compare different pictures (unless something is there to provide scale), but paper and ink can make a huge difference.

 

I will try to remember tonight to give you a writing sample of Parson's (which lives at home, on top of my journal) and my Pelikan with a .6 mm Binder stub. (The problem is that I am pretty sure it's .6, but it may have been .8.) Anyway, I think the Parson's writes a little thicker on both strokes than does the Pelikan.

 

I've never had a round Italix nib, so I cannot compare. But I have to assume that stubbing any round point creates a thicker downstroke, so switching to a round nib should give you a finer line all the way around. But that's just a guess on my part.

 

Good luck, and as you've already discovered, Mr. Ford's service is excellent. In fact, I'm thinking of ordering another Parson's from him soon (I'm a righty who wants to try an oblique italic for the left-handed).

[Theo Moore]

 

Thickness is always a tricky issue, because not only is it tough to compare different pictures (unless something is there to provide scale), but paper and ink can make a huge difference.

 

I will try to remember tonight to give you a writing sample of Parson's (which lives at home, on top of my journal) and my Pelikan with a .6 mm Binder stub. (The problem is that I am pretty sure it's .6, but it may have been .8.) Anyway, I think the Parson's writes a little thicker on both strokes than does the Pelikan.

 

I've never had a round Italix nib, so I cannot compare. But I have to assume that stubbing any round point creates a thicker downstroke, so switching to a round nib should give you a finer line all the way around. But that's just a guess on my part.

 

Good luck, and as you've already discovered, Mr. Ford's service is excellent. In fact, I'm thinking of ordering another Parson's from him soon (I'm a righty who wants to try an oblique italic for the left-handed).

 

Thanks! I'd appreciate a follow-up once you can get that comparison.

 

It would be great if someone else could confirm that the fine round would likely be thinner than the fine stub. Like you, I believed that the grinding removing the ball likely makes it thicker.

[Martinsroom]

I am almost certain a round will give you a finer line. I have a fine cursive stub and find it a wonderful nib to use but I appreciate that the round would create a finer line across the range of strokes.

[papabear16]

Hopefully this helps. I was a bit surprised by the results, as my Parson's looks finer here than it does in my journal. But as I said, paper, ink, etc. all have an effect.

 

 

2015-02-07 by papabear163, on Flickr

[Theo Moore]

I am almost certain a round will give you a finer line. I have a fine cursive stub and find it a wonderful nib to use but I appreciate that the round would create a finer line across the range of strokes.

 

 

Hopefully this helps. I was a bit surprised by the results, as my Parson's looks finer here than it does in my journal. But as I said, paper, ink, etc. all have an effect.

 

 

Thank you to both of you. I've advised my friends to exchange their three nibs for a round. It is strange that their fine stubs ended up so much thicker than papabear's (even accounting for variation in ink and paper). I can only conclude that there is some variation in the grinding that resulted in the different thicknesses.

[hbdk]

As stated before - I have had rather hard starts and constant skipping problems with my Italix Parson's Essential. Sending a pen from Denmark to the UK, signed for, would cost me £17 - and is really not an option for a pen this price class - especially not with the risk of just getting a refund - shipping lost both ways, right!? So I ordered another complete section, simply because I liked the pen and the nib too much to just give up - same problem; no matter what paper, ink, cartridge or converter I tried - until I finally solved the skipping and hard start problem - with a Waterman converter - it now works like a charm with both sections/nibs and most any ink. Kind of weird, but nice to have solved it at last. £5 well spent...

 

Just thought you might like to know...

[papabear16]

As stated before - I have had rather hard starts and constant skipping problems with my Italix Parson's Essential. Sending a pen from Denmark to the UK, signed for, would cost me £17 - and is really not an option for a pen this price class - especially not with the risk of just getting a refund - shipping lost both ways, right!? So I ordered another complete section, simply because I liked the pen and the nib too much to just give up - same problem; no matter what paper, ink, cartridge or converter I tried - until I finally solved the skipping and hard start problem - with a Waterman converter - it now works like a charm with both sections/nibs and most any ink. Kind of weird, but nice to have solved it at last. £5 well spent...

 

Just thought you might like to know...

 

I didn't have much problem with this issue, but after one of the converters leaked, I swapped all of my Italix converters for Schmidts, and they worked wonderfully.

[httpmom]

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj229/Popsjill/pens/DSCN1613_zps6661a2cb.jpg

 

 

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj229/Popsjill/pens/DSCN1614_zps7a0bdeda.jpg

I realize this is an older post but Can I ask you which nib you purchased for this sample? Your writing looks Spencerian (as opposed to Italic) and this is what I am looking for.

Thanks!

[Stompie]

I realize this is an older post but Can I ask you which nib you purchased for this sample? Your writing looks Spencerian (as opposed to Italic) and this is what I am looking for.

Thanks!

 

The standard italic nib that comes with the pen but I ground it down a bit.

 

Actually it makes no difference which nib you use because the type of writing is just my style of writing with any pen.

I have a stock standard old Parker that I ground to an italic type nib and I write in this same style with that as well.

[blackcat99]

Just ordered a standard medium Italix Parson's essential - will see how it writes first and will probably end up ordering the fine italic etc can't wait to receive it

[mmg122]

I've been writing with fountain pens my whole life and collecting them since the early 80's. I recently purchased the Italix Parson's Essential after seeing SBRE Brown's You Tube review and reading all the great things folks said on FPN.

I'm far past the age where I get unduly enamored with "things"...until I saw the PE in person. WOW

I love the looks of it, the feel of it, the overall design. My cap band is the Celtic knot band and the pen is black lacquer. I immediately filled it with Noodler's FPH exclusive Manhattan (Blackest) Black and took my Broad Cursive Stub for a test drive. This pen is , without a doubt, the best writer I have ever used. No skipping, no start up problems, smooth as silk and lays down a beautiful line of ink with perfect feedback. I love this pen beyond reason...so much so that I ordered another one in burgundy on the first day I used it.

Many kudos to Mr. Ford for making a wonderful pen that will be my daily writer for years to come. The unbelievable thing is that this pen is so gosh darn affordable. I would recommend the Italix Parson's Essential without hesitation.

[Blue_Moon]

I've been writing with fountain pens my whole life and collecting them since the early 80's. I recently purchased the Italix Parson's Essential after seeing SBRE Brown's You Tube review and reading all the great things folks said on FPN.

I'm far past the age where I get unduly enamored with "things"...until I saw the PE in person. WOW

I love the looks of it, the feel of it, the overall design. My cap band is the Celtic knot band and the pen is black lacquer. I immediately filled it with Noodler's FPH exclusive Manhattan (Blackest) Black and took my Broad Cursive Stub for a test drive. This pen is , without a doubt, the best writer I have ever used. No skipping, no start up problems, smooth as silk and lays down a beautiful line of ink with perfect feedback. I love this pen beyond reason...so much so that I ordered another one in burgundy on the first day I used it.

Many kudos to Mr. Ford for making a wonderful pen that will be my daily writer for years to come. The unbelievable thing is that this pen is so gosh darn affordable. I would recommend the Italix Parson's Essential without hesitation.

 

Mmmmmmmahahahahahahahaha..............Another one has fallen down the PE rabbit hole.

[blackcat99]

whispers quietly - I have 3 now and about to order a 4th

[blackcat99]

and I am even doing my maths with the medium italic nibbed version - beautiful to write with

[Jeffrey Garrett]

Whispers even more quietly... I have 5 now and have run out of colours! ... great pens with a nice selection of nibs available.

 

 

 

 

 

[mmg122]

Jeffrey...great collection! I think the green will be my next Parson's Essential. Now to decide on the nib.

[blackcat99]

Whispers even more quietly... I have 5 now and have run out of colours! ... great pens with a nice selection of nibs available.

 

 

IMG_0067.JPG

 

 

very nice - what is the red one next to the black parsons?

[Jeffrey Garrett]

very nice - what is the red one next to the black parsons?

 

That is the Parker Duofold Special Edition named 'Red Mosaic'. There are several in the series Blue, Black and I believe there may be a violet coloured pen although I have never seen one for sale. I believe production dates around 2002. Google throws up more pictures of the full range of colours.