Hello From New Rochelle, Ny!

[smudgy_the_whale]

Hello all,

 

Wow. I'm am so amazed that there are up to a few new members a day! FPN discussion threads have been coming up in searches I do on the web for various questions I have, and in pen images I look up for IDs. They have been so useful and fun, I decided to register! So here's my hello and intro!

 

I have a bit of a pen obsession. When I was in grade school and later high school in the 90s, I did enjoy writing implements, and liked to imagine I had a feel for their quality, and developed preferences. I liked to get my hands on a nice heavy pen, perhaps a pharmaceutical promotion pen or some such. I liked the pilot rollerballs, Bic crystals, and I enjoyed doing my calculus graphs and chem labs with the Pentel Quicker Clicker pencil. I loved the occasional Parker Jotter or Classic that I might come across, too. I remember buying myself a steel Parker Insignia with gold trim, and feeling pretty fancy about it.

 

By early college, I started to get interested in fountain pens. I recall I started with a few Parker Vectors and a couple of Cross models, the ones you might find in the office supply store. For some odd reason, that interest lay dormant for another 15 years.

 

A few years ago, I took out a couple of those Vectors and started using them in my teaching work (music and piano). Then, for some reason, I got more and more into it, and started to teach myself lettering and calligraphy with a cheap set of steel points for nice fancy cursive, and some broad calligraphy points for Gothic blackletter, which I got vaguely proficient with.

 

(Story's almost wrapping up, I promise.) That new hobby led to an interest in pens in general, and I have ended up particularly smitten by vintage Parkers. I have maybe around 8 or 10 Duofolds, (including red permanite and black permanite juniors, a few seniors in cracked ice and jade [dream of a Mandarin!], some later streamlines, striped, etc.) maybe 10 51s, 10 21s, some Challengers, 61s, and Parkettes and so on, and some other brands -- a nice old Sheaffer flat top, Waterman 92 I think, other Shaeffers, etc. I also have recently caught the Jotter bug, which is a dangerous ailment, as one $10-$20 expenditure after another can tick on without you really noticing! I particularly enjoy dabbling in restoration, mostly doing sac replacements, fill system fixes, the most basic nib tuning, and lots of cleaning and polishing (which I'm sure some of you would scold me for). I'm happy when I see a pen on ebay that is especially beat up, missing a part I have, or badly photographed (which encourages me to feel like I'm about to get a deal).

 

Actually, I know for certain that I have purchased pens from some of you over ebay!

 

I also have...... way more ink than I would like to admit.

 

Looking forward to discussing, learning, and being amused with all things penny!

[Chrissy]

Hello and welcome to FPN. ​

[Lexus77]

Welcome to our warm nook of the internet, where you can share this beautiful hobby with good and friendly people. Or as we say in low Saxon: Mooi a'j dr bint! (Good you're here.)

[jar]

Welcome home. Pull up a stump and set a spell.

[DaveT]

Hello and welcome from Indiana!

[inkstainedruth]

Greetings from Pittsburgh, from an ex-Westchester County person (I grew up at the other end of the county, up in Shrub Oak).

I also really started this journey with a Vector, and when I left it someplace and didn't get it back for a month I started looking for a replacement and that led me, eventually to here. I have a couple of Duofolds (a blue Laidtone, and a 1926 Lucky Curve ringtop (which isn't working at the moment). But my true loves are 51s and Vacumatics. And I'm still a *complete* sucker when it comes to Vectors.

I generally suggest that new people click on the "View New Content" button at the top of the page, to get a good overview of a lot of topics. Don't do what I did -- which was to read the ENTIRE Parker Forum (which at the time was 175 *pages* of threads (five years later it's a lot larger...). Also, have a look at the Pinned Index to the Ink Review Forum.

So, what ink(s) are you using?

Oh, and you should (if you haven't already) checked out Fountain Pen Hospital down in lower Manhattan.... I try to get there at least once a year, when I head east for the "do the holidays with the in-laws" thing. I was there the day before New Year's Eve to get a couple of bottles of ink (Noodler's Ellis Island Blue-Black, exclusive to them; and MB Leo Tolstoy LE before it's gone for good) plus I was able to get a small Pelikan pen stand.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[PAKMAN]

Hello and Welcome to FPN!! Glad to have you as a member!!

[Beauport]

Greetings and a warm welcome !

[Helen350]

Welcome to FPN!!! New Rochelle, ex-Shrub Oak, with an ex-White Plains and missing home.-

[Arkamas]

Greetings!

 

[ThomasB]

Hello and welcome from Baton Rouge, Louisiana...Enjoy your time here

[Wahl]

[OCArt]

Welcome to our little corner of the universe from a pen user in San Diego. I greatly enjoyed your introduction.

[mitto]

Greetings and welcome to FPN.

[smudgy_the_whale]

Greetings from Pittsburgh, from an ex-Westchester County person (I grew up at the other end of the county, up in Shrub Oak).

I also really started this journey with a Vector, and when I left it someplace and didn't get it back for a month I started looking for a replacement and that led me, eventually to here. I have a couple of Duofolds (a blue Laidtone, and a 1926 Lucky Curve ringtop (which isn't working at the moment). But my true loves are 51s and Vacumatics. And I'm still a *complete* sucker when it comes to Vectors.

I generally suggest that new people click on the "View New Content" button at the top of the page, to get a good overview of a lot of topics. Don't do what I did -- which was to read the ENTIRE Parker Forum (which at the time was 175 *pages* of threads (five years later it's a lot larger...). Also, have a look at the Pinned Index to the Ink Review Forum.

So, what ink(s) are you using?

Oh, and you should (if you haven't already) checked out Fountain Pen Hospital down in lower Manhattan.... I try to get there at least once a year, when I head east for the "do the holidays with the in-laws" thing. I was there the day before New Year's Eve to get a couple of bottles of ink (Noodler's Ellis Island Blue-Black, exclusive to them; and MB Leo Tolstoy LE before it's gone for good) plus I was able to get a small Pelikan pen stand.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Haha, I might end up at least perusing a ton of Parker discussions! Well, I might just continue what I always did, which is to do a general web search on my question, and end up with a bunch of the best leads that are here on FPN anyway!

 

I have maybe 6 Iroshizukus. I really like Yama Budo and Shin Kai. I want to get Asa Gao, Chiku Rin, and Kon Peki. I have mixed feelings about Kiri Same -- sometimes I feel like it's just a watered down black, sometimes I feel like it's a mysterious wonder-ink that really shows depth and the dimensionality of your writing. I have probably about ten Noodler's, which I feel like have strengths and weaknesses (I know others have strong feelings about them, too). For one thing, at least some of the colors look simply horrid -- General of the Armies, for example. But Bay state Blue, Ottoman Rose, Purple, La Couleur Royale, they are wonderful. I could seriously just sit and stare at a drop of these inks. And Baystate Blue has a bizarre super-staining power, which probably have some upside to it.

 

I have used PR Avocado, Dakota Red, and Chocolate. They are ok, thought the waxed cardboard seal in the lid crumbles soggy. Avocado is a wonderful color, but it forms these deposits that are almost like crystals all over the nib, which is not great. I diluted the ink a little, though I'm not sure if that helped.

 

I'm also a pencil fiend, but I know that at least THAT is too off-topic!

[smudgy_the_whale]

Welcome to FPN!!! New Rochelle, ex-Shrub Oak, with an ex-White Plains and missing home.-

I teach in White Plains, nice place!

[estie1948]

Hello and welcome to the Fountain Pen Network. Glad you have joined us. You, having joined us, make us better. This is now your place as much as it is ours. Please don't be shy. Ask all the questions you have and don't hesitate to state your opinions. I hope you enjoy your time here.

-David (Estie).

[Sasha Royale]

Welcome !

 

Yes. We ARE fun !

 

Some members collect "promotional" pens, that support everything from individuals to businesses to organizations. The Sheaffer NoNonsense pens have a lot of surface for printing. I have seen promotion printing on them for airlines, banks, hospitals, even basketball. This might be a good place to seek the "pharmaceutical" theme.

 

Of inexpensive pens of PRC, the Jinhao models x250. x450, x750, 500, and 159 are of brass or aluminum tubing construction. These tend to be heavier pens.

 

Yes. We ARE fun ! (Did I say that already?)

[tmenyc]

smudgy -- welcome!

Please do join us in the Big Apple Pen Club, NYC's only active fountain pen club! The group is eclectic in every conceivable way, common only in our shared love of fountain pens, and we have a lot of fun together.

 

We meet almost every second Thursday, which since you're keeping score, means TOMORROW NIGHT...7-9 PM, west side of Midtown. The post announcing the meeting is here, and if you give me your email address via private message here or email to bapcemail@gmail.com I'll add you to the email list!

 

best,

Tim

[northstar]

Hello and welcome to FPN.