I've Been Lurking, Here Is My Collection So Far!

[Keane]

I found this site quite a while ago, and have been following this site since then! My first fountain pen was a Lamy ABC that I got in grade school, though I've only recently started writing with fountain pens again. I decided to grab some pictures of what I have so far, and perhaps give a few comments on each. Esterbrook I found this pen at an antique store. It is unfortunately missing a few pieces and seems to leak ink (I've seen a post about bladder replacement, I might have to try that when I get brave), but it writes sufficiently. It seems to have a fine nib (labeled 9550). Kreko This pen is also an antique store pen. The bladder doesn't seem to work anymore, so it needs a repair like the above, but at least it is complete! It writes fairly nice when given the chance, and as you can see it is a very pretty pen! Hero 336 I found the three of these cheaply on ebay, and since I have lusted over the Parker 51 hooded nib (thanks to this place!), I decided to get them. The nib sizes seem to vary, but they write fairly smoothly. The only problem is that they leak like a sieve when shaken around (even with the cap on!), so they can't be used as cheap pocket pens. I keep them on my desk, and put a different color ink in each, so I always have a color available Cross Century This is a ballpoint and fountain pen Cross set that I thought was quite elegant looking. I'm a big fan of the AT Cross pens, since I grew up only a few miles from their store (and my favorite writing pens are Cross). However, this fountain pen seems to write pretty poorly, and the cartridge seems to have dried out in less than a week! Even so, they make for a very nice desk set, and I now have a ballpoint that I can let others write with. Pilot Vanishing Point There is not more to say about this pen that hasn't already been covered here a million times! I fell for this pen after seeing reviews here, and it works perfectly as a summer-carry pen, since it fits perfectly in my cargo short pocket. I can't write with it for too long, since it tends to squeak a bunch, but the retraction mechanism has all of the advantages of a screw cap (no leaking!) without taking a while to unscrew. Also, no cap to lose is a huge advantage when I'm just pulling the pen out to sign with. Cross Solo The black pen was a gift (same time as the Lamy ABC mentioned above!), and I was able to get the red one at the AT Cross store when I was visiting a few months ago for only $15! What a steal, eh? These are easily my favorite writing pens, they write extremely effortlessly, never leak, and have a great feel! Lamy Safari This is the first fountain pen I ever bought myself! I picked it up after reading around here for a while, since it is recommended as a great starter pen. To be honest, it is my least favorite pen, since it leaks around the nib (you can see the ink has leaked into the area below the grip) and gets my fingers dirty when I write with it. Worse, it seems to have an incurably scratchy nib! It has been refilled about 20 times (I wrote with it for years!), so the window doesn't line up anymore. I can't even use it as a pocket pen, since the cap won't stay on reliably. Even so, it has been a solid workhorse, and was a great pen to relearn writing with a fountain pen. Pilot MYU This pen was my first true "lust" pen, after seeing a post about it here. It is a fine nib, but it writes fairly well. The style is just amazing, though it doesn't seem to work well as a pocket pen since it is too small for a normal pocket, and too large for a small pocket :/ Even so, it is a great one to show off! Lanbitou Bullet Pen This Chinese made pen is my best 'diamond in the rough' pen to date, and seems to get the most use of all of mine! The hooded nib is great, and it has a good size when posted. It is the perfect size (see it next to the MYU below!) to fit in the 'coin pocket' of my jeans, which makes it a fantastic daily carry pen. It doesn't leak and writes well. All of this for less than $5 shipped! I wouldn't hesitate to buy this one again and again! So, I hope you've enjoyed my first post, and I'm glad I could finally make a contribution to the site.

[danahn17]

 

You got a nice collection going on I especially love the Myu! (one day...)

[NorCal Einstein]

You have quite the collection there, some nice vintage pieces that I don't think you get to see too often here!

 

Even though you have many pens to take the place of the Lamy Safari, I just wanted to give you a suggestion that might help to aid the nib. I just bought a Safari with fine nib last week (needed something to hold me through while online orders arrived), out of the box it giving me a lot of feedback and I didn't feel I had the same pen everyone else seems to say is a smooth writer. I did some really quick searching and found a few mentions about people using brown paper bags to "smooth" or "polish" nibs. I ended up taking a brown paper bag that I got from the grocery store, cut out a 6x7 inch patch, and started scribbling on brown paper for about 30 minutes. I scribbled on the "inside" of the paper bag so that I wouldn't be writing over any of the grocery store printed ink logo...if that makes sense. After 30 minutes of doing lots of figure 8's and some circles, the nib improved TREMENDOUSLY.

 

Pre "polishing" my Safari was not laying down a solid line on paper (from cheap stuff, to Rhodia) and it was just really scratchy. After the brown paper bag treatment, the pen was laying down a nice and uniform line on the paper, no skipping, and was smoother than any of the other low-end pens I had in the house. As you can see I did the "polishing" with a ink cartridge in the pen and I ended up burning about 2/3 of the cartridge which wasn't a big deal for me since I have converters coming. I don't know if you necessarily need to have the cartridge in the pen to do this polishing, but if I were to guess I would think it wouldn't be necessary.

 

I know you said your Lamy is also leaking and from what I've read Lamy has decent customer service, you might also consider contacting them to have them fix the leak. This all sounds like a lot of work for a cheap pen, but I just thought I'd pass it on since I was able to turn my Safari from something I hate into something that is quickly going to become a workhorse for me.

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

http://i.imgur.com/O3Srp.jpg

[Lalique]

Aloha, Keane:

 

Welcome to FPN!

 

Wonderful pictures and pen reviews of a variety of fountain pens! You've proven that a large collection of fountain pens for different inks does not have to cost a fortune.

 

I am happy you've joined us, Keane.

 

Happy pen trails to you : ) .

Edited May 21, 2012 by Lalique

[Sasha Royale]

Welcome !

 

And a fine contribution it is! Thank you for sharing the photographs.

Many collectors remember their school pens, and even have a same pen

the collection. However, a lot of us do not have the actual pen from

years past. Great job! Can you show us what the old pen look like?

 

Write with joy.

[crazystan]

Welcome aboard! Great collection you've got going there!

[dcpritch]

Hi Keane, and welcome to FPN. You have a nice collection of pens already, and the longer you hang around the more defined will become your tastes for pens, nibs, inks, paper, etc. I had a sweet Kreko pen that I sold earlier this year to a fellow FPNer - I love the art deco styling of their pens, the detail on clip and nib, and the colors. And they can write very nicely - all good reasons to look into the "lowly" third tier pens of the '20s and '30s.

 

I hope to see you around on the threads,

 

Best, DAVID

[Keane]

Welcome !

 

And a fine contribution it is! Thank you for sharing the photographs.

Many collectors remember their school pens, and even have a same pen

the collection. However, a lot of us do not have the actual pen from

years past. Great job! Can you show us what the old pen look like?

 

Write with joy.

 

Thank you all for the kind welcome! Also, thank you for the tip on the Safari, I am going to have to give that a try!

 

My school pen was lost a long time ago unfortunately, but I ended up writing with it a bunch! It is one of these: Lamy ABC

My grandmother bought it for me when she went to Germany, so I wrote with it then (way beyond the time when students in the US used fountain pens!, it was the mid 90s afterall...).

[Clancy]

Greetings from northern California and a warm welcome to FPN. It's great to have you here with us

[PAKMAN]

Hello and welcome to FPN!

[rcarlisle]

Hello Keane, welcome to FPN!

 

My Cross Solo is one of my favorite pens. I would definitely recommend it as a starter pen. Their nibs are great and my fine is so fine I can write on very cheap paper and it won't bleed through to the other side.

[Pandolfi]

Hello Keane, welcome to FPN!

 

My Cross Solo is one of my favorite pens. I would definitely recommend it as a starter pen. Their nibs are great and my fine is so fine I can write on very cheap paper and it won't bleed through to the other side.

Hello and welcome to FPN, Keane, beautiful pens!

Pandolfi