Fp Is Kind Of A Rocket Science

[Vanessaa]

Hello everyone!

First I am very impressed. I would never imagine an entire and large community would exist for fountain pen art so I am really excited! I already found help and learned a lot on the website but there is so many choice that i am confused so i allow myself to request your advice. I spent the day watching different video and review and I felt overwhelmed. That's why this title.

I am ending a contract and my colleagues will offer me the traditional pen Caran d'Ache ivanhoe but I am sure I will not use it. instead of that it is a good opportunity for me to get a fountain pen with flexible nid but I do not know which one. I would like to do calligraphy and drawing with it only and not an everyday writing use. The budget is 200 - 300 Dollars.

I already checked and saw the following brands:

• PILOT CUSTOM 912 14k falcon
  
• Noodler's Ahab
  
• Desiderata Flex Pen (no idea if i can find this in Switzerland)
  

I also saw that it worth to check the vintage choices but since it is a gift and it has to be engraved it need to be new. I also know it is better to test before doing a choice but I do not have time. Finally I saw video like this

or

that made my mind blown.

So I am lost :-)

Thanks for your help. I am looking forward to learn more about FPN!

Best

Vanessa

[langere]

Hi Vanessa,

 

Welcome! I am glad you are joining us here.

 

I would recommend the Falcon. It's a semi-flex nib and has much better quality control than the Noodler's, alas.

 

I'm sure many others will chime in as well.

 

Erick

[Vanessaa]

Hi Vanessa,

 

Welcome! I am glad you are joining us here.

 

I would recommend the Falcon. It's a semi-flex nib and has much better quality control than the Noodler's, alas.

 

I'm sure many others will chime in as well.

 

Erick

Thank you for your quick answer Erick!

A lot of person mentioned it indeed that is how I found it. But then there is multiple choice (that I found here https://www.gouletpens.com/pilot-falcon/c/198: soft extra fine, fine medium and broad). I guess if I want a big difference between the upstrokes and downstrokes I should go for the fine or medium one?

Thank again and sorry to bother. it may be very basic questions :-)

[jar]

Soft nibs are not meant to be flexed; they are meant for minimal strokes as found in Kanji as one example.

[Wahl]

Hi Vanessa

[AmandaW]

The Pilot Falcon with SF nib is very popular among urban sketchers. I waited a long time to get mine, but at first I was disappointed with it because I thought it wrote more like a medium and that meant the variation wasn't very much. Since then I've changed inks and found it was the ink that was causing the problem. It's a great drawing pen and I finally see why so many people like it.

 

One thing the Falcon does that no other pen I've seen do is create a very broad 'wash' effect with the back of the nib held flat. I saw that on the parkablogs review video you posted - the bit about the back of the nib starts at about 4:45

 

editted: cos the OP linked to the same video. doh!

Edited November 27, 2017 by AmandaW

[ThomasB]

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

[mitto]

Greetings and welcome to FPN.

[Henricum_Tropen]

Hello Vanessa and welcome to FPN, from Cape Town, South Africa.

[Chrissy]

Hello Vanessa and welcome to FPN. ​

[Quill1]

Welcome, enjoy

[Vanessaa]

The Pilot Falcon with SF nib is very popular among urban sketchers. I waited a long time to get mine, but at first I was disappointed with it because I thought it wrote more like a medium and that meant the variation wasn't very much. Since then I've changed inks and found it was the ink that was causing the problem. It's a great drawing pen and I finally see why so many people like it.

 

One thing the Falcon does that no other pen I've seen do is create a very broad 'wash' effect with the back of the nib held flat. I saw that on the parkablogs review video you posted - the bit about the back of the nib starts at about 4:45

 

editted: cos the OP linked to the same video. doh!

 

 

Soft nibs are not meant to be flexed; they are meant for minimal strokes as found in Kanji as one example.

Thank you Jar and AmandaW for your advice and comment and thanks to the other ones for their welcome

I spent the night watching reviews about the Pilot Falcon with SF nib, The pilot custom 742 FA, the platinum 3776 Century SF. Gosh it is a huge world and my eyes are burning.

Is anyone can please explain me what means "it's modified by ...". (for exemple in the comment of this video below). Does it mean that the guy has manually modified and customized the nib?

I am really discovering a new world and feel a bit uncultivated but ready to learn

Edited November 28, 2017 by Vanessaa

[Vanessaa]

I got my answer :-)

 

[jar]

Remember, even the cut out modifications done to some modern nibs will not actually create a "Flexible Nib". To create a flexible nib the nib itself, its design and even its metallurgy will be different than a conventional nib.

 

For some basics on flexible nib fountain pens wander over to Maurice Aguilar's site and read his material on flexible nibs. 99% of what you see in YouTube videos is not flex but abuse.

[Vanessaa]

Remember, even the cut out modifications done to some modern nibs will not actually create a "Flexible Nib". To create a flexible nib the nib itself, its design and even its metallurgy will be different than a conventional nib.

 

For some basics on flexible nib fountain pens wander over to Maurice Aguilar's site and read his material on flexible nibs. 99% of what you see in YouTube videos is not flex but abuse.

Thank you Jar. I will dig into it!

Since I do not have the choice of the gift (an engraved pen) I wanted at least to have something more interesting that a classic caran d'ache. I will go for a modern one this time and will keep in mind your comment. I got the virus anyway so I will definitely search for a vintage fountain pen once I understand better the subtleties. Thanks for the link again!

[PAKMAN]

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

[Carrau]

Welcome aboard, from Charleston, South Carolina. If you are a newbie, you might look at the Reference Pages on a website called Richard's Pens: it has a wealth of info about the basics of fountain pens, their use and care, and it will help you avoid making some mistakes. A couple of other websites with useful information for newbies include PenChalet, Jetpens and the Goulet Pen Company. Goulet has made quite a few videos available on their website and on YouTube, which are helpful with some procedures related to FP use. Bear in mind that how your writing appears on the page is a complex interplay of pen, paper, nib, ink, and handwriting, so be patient as you experiment with these variables. Enjoy, and good luck.

Mike

[Sasha Royale]

Welcome !

 

I would not call it "rocket science", but I am amazed at the innovation and engineering that has been amassed, merely to control the leaking of ink onto my paper.

[tinta]

First of all .

May I also suggest Cult Pens (no affiliation) as an excellent source of pens & ink. In Switzerland, you'd be closer to Cult.

At FPN you can investigate the many aspects of the "pen/ink/paper/writing" community.

[Vanessaa]

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

 

Thank you very much :-)

 

Welcome aboard, from Charleston, South Carolina. If you are a newbie, you might look at the Reference Pages on a website called Richard's Pens: it has a wealth of info about the basics of fountain pens, their use and care, and it will help you avoid making some mistakes. A couple of other websites with useful information for newbies include PenChalet, Jetpens and the Goulet Pen Company. Goulet has made quite a few videos available on their website and on YouTube, which are helpful with some procedures related to FP use. Bear in mind that how your writing appears on the page is a complex interplay of pen, paper, nib, ink, and handwriting, so be patient as you experiment with these variables. Enjoy, and good luck.

Mike

 

Thanks for the website. I appreciate very much to have good references. I already watched most of the Goulet Pen company :-) I will come back to FPN once I tried the fountain pen i bought but after having practiced for a while :-)

 

Welcome !

 

I would not call it "rocket science", but I am amazed at the innovation and engineering that has been amassed, merely to control the leaking of ink onto my paper.

 

Hi Sasha! I agree. I was expecting an easy answer to my research and instead I discovered a big world of passionate people. Very nice!

 

 

First of all .

May I also suggest Cult Pens (no affiliation) as an excellent source of pens & ink. In Switzerland, you'd be closer to Cult.

At FPN you can investigate the many aspects of the "pen/ink/paper/writing" community.

 

Thanks Tinta!

Actually I am having hard time to find material in Switzerland . It seems finding a vintage fountain pen is much easier in the American continent that in Europe (I may be wrong). Also I called lot of shop selling fountain pens but they had non of the interesting brands (only few Pilot (no falcon) and caran d'Ache available by order). Ebay and online shopping are the easiest way I found so far.