First Gold Nib Pen - The Lifelong Workhorse

[Honeybadgers]

One more hat in the ring - Cross Townsend - 18k nib that is smooth as glass and super consistent. They're on amazon right now for $140ish and $175 for the brushed platinum finish special edition (comes in a fancy box and includes a converter)

[welch]

For each of the pens, you are getting a pen more than a particular nib. Nearly any nib can be tuned to write smoothly, and nib specialists don't charge much for simple tuning. You might need several pens, used over several years, before finding something that your hand likes and wants day after day.

 

I write with a Parker 51, and carry my three favorites every day. A P51 feels just right -- to me. Will a 51 feel right to you?

 

(A test: a few months ago, I decided to write with Pelikans for a month, using an M600, a 140, and an M200 with an M400 nib. The 600 and 400 were Binderized, so we can consider them nearly perfect. After two weeks, I stuck the Pelikans in a coffee cup and went back to some P51's. Pelikan might make a great pen, but not for me. You should make your own search.)

[ParkerDuofold]

  On 4/17/2019 at 1:28 AM, Honeybadgers said:

One more hat in the ring - Cross Townsend - 18k nib that is smooth as glass and super consistent. They're on amazon right now for $140ish and $175 for the brushed platinum finish special edition (comes in a fancy box and includes a converter)

Be careful which color/trim you choose... I opted for the 10k gold filled version for $158... and read the fine print... it's sold by "Flying Fashions" and is warrantied by their own two year warranty... claiming the manufacturer's warranty may not apply to things sold by them.

 

Proceed with caution.

 

Be well all.

 

 

- Anthony

[Honeybadgers]

  On 4/17/2019 at 3:31 PM, ParkerDuofold said:

Be careful which color/trim you choose... I opted for the 10k gold filled version for $158... and read the fine print... it's sold by "Flying Fashions" and is warrantied by their own two year warranty... claiming the manufacturer's warranty may not apply to things sold by them.

 

Proceed with caution.

 

Be well all.

 

 

- Anthony

 

Cross doesn't require the lifetime warranty be performed through the retailer. They don't have a warranty card system. The only thing I'm aware of that you probably can't take part in is the nib exchange program (which would be cool, I'd prefer an EF, but the F will do)

[4lex]

  On 4/5/2019 at 3:18 PM, shadrickjr said:

And just when I thought my decision was made.....the Carene comes back into play. Have you used any of the other 3 pens that I listed?

My vote goes to Carene. For everyday use it is just more practical. I have bought Pilot CH 91 for my niece and it’s a great pen as well, but is take over two turns to uncap it. Anyway, you can’t go wrong with any of these two pens. If you go for Pilot, order from Japan. You will save 50%. Pisuke2005 (no affiliation) is excellent eBay seller.

[4lex]

I had US made Townsend with 18k medium nib that I sold and I regret selling it. I bough another newer Townsend on eBay, this time Chinese made and 18k fine nib was awful and scratchy.

But the lifetime warranty definitely works. Once I bought 20 year old Cross on eBay with broken inner plastic cap and they repaired it for free. You dont need a receipt.

Edited May 26, 2019 by vonManstein

[AL01]

So...

 

Has the OP made a decision yet?

 

Are we jus' confusin' ya?

 

 

Now some words for the OP:

 

Fountain pens are a personal hobby, and you will receive many a suggestion.

 

If ya can, find a way to test the pens that pique your interest in real life.

 

Ya won't regret it!

 

[thesmellofdustafterrain]

I'm not the OP, but I went with the metal falcon partly because of this thread. I'm very happy with it.

[SchaumburgSwan]

  On 4/17/2019 at 2:46 PM, welch said:

... You might need several pens, used over several years, before finding something that your hand likes and wants day after day.

 

+1

 

After writing with a Pelikan M250 OM for more than 20 years I saw and bought some dip nibs at the local art shop and discovered the joy of flex here.

I had been thinking of a Pelikan M805 before - after trying different Pelikans (600, 800 and 1000) and MBs (146 and 149) - at a good pen boutique... I still like its size and look. But the nibs were not my taste. Decorative and smooth, but too stiff, only very basic flex.

So I decided to go for vintage english pens, here I like Mabie Todd Swans and their nibs best.

Restoring those pens is much fun, too.

Many pens later a little flock of Swans is on my desk, different models, many great nibs...

 

So find your own way while walking, try a lot, find out what is important to you.

 

Best wishes

Jens

Edited May 27, 2019 by SchaumburgSwan

[AL01]

  On 5/26/2019 at 8:51 PM, the-smell-of-dust-after-rain said:

I'm not the OP, but I went with the metal falcon partly because of this thread. I'm very happy with it.

 

That's an interesting choice.

 

I remember handling a Falcon once.

 

Not my type, but ya know Pilot makes some phenomenal pens...

 

Enjoy it!

[thesmellofdustafterrain]

  On 5/27/2019 at 2:47 AM, AL01 said:

 

That's an interesting choice.

 

I remember handling a Falcon once.

 

Not my type, but ya know Pilot makes some phenomenal pens...

 

Enjoy it!

 

I do wish I had looked up how fat the pen was first. It's a bit fat for my hand.

But I love how responsive the nib is. I often lift my pen when writing so that it comes off the paper but this pen seems not to have that trouble. Even with the soft-fine, the line is lovely and fine with my normal writing. I like the line variation I can achieve when I put some pressure on the pen. I haven't tried much flexing.

 

Interesting thing about this pen is that the nib is so long, I find it impossible to print with this pen. It's forcing me to write in cursive. Since I've been doing mostly note taking and research these last few weeks, I'm going to need to read these notes again later. My cursive writing has improved drastically.

[miel]

I do love my Carenes. I have four of them. Each equipped with a special nib. Waterman offers nib-exchange of new pens without any charge.

 

My most preferred (and daily writers) are a Carene with OL (oblique bold) and a Stub. Fantastic.

Great weight - great balance - perfect for me.

 

But yes - one of the four - has the chips on the laquer.
But I bought this one used (it was my first) already with that chips.

 

I have a Pilot 91 and a 912 and both are to light for my taste. Nibs are a pleasure but not for daily writing for me. (I have a soft fine and a FA.)

 

If you want to go for a Carene please check if it works with your grip because if you like to have your fingers close to the nib, it might be not something that fits for you, because of the inlaid nib.

[DonM]

Another vote for Pilot 91, 92 or 912. I have a fine medium, a soft fine medium and also a medium on order. I'd strongly suggest against any of the soft or FA nibs if you are looking for a smooth writer. The soft nibs, IMHO, are specialty items that are fine if you know what you are getting into in advance. But for a daily writer that will just perform standard nibs get my vote every time.

[shadrickjr]

Thanks for all of the comments and reccommendations. I ended up finding a pen that suits me. After a decent amount of research I decided to go with the Lamy Aion, and I love it. I use the Aion for journaling. Shortly after purchasing the Aion, I bought the Lamy CP-1 to use as my EDC since it's a relatively thin and light pen that shares that minimalist design. In hindsight, I should have bought two Aions and used one as an EDC.

[shadrickjr]

Hey everyone, I'm back again with another update. After using the Aion and CP-1 as my one-two punch for a while, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a Pilot Falcon SF. I mainly chose the Falcon due to looking on Goulet pens and seeing that the grip section should be around 10mm. Although I love the Aion, the grip section is just slightly larger than I probably prefer. Also, I've found that the position of my fingers and the weight of the pen cause a little more hand fatigue than the lighter pens that I have. Due to this experience, I took the Carene and Karas Kustoms off of my list of desirables.

 

That led to the faceoff, the CH91 and the Falcon. I couldn't find a good reference for the grip section of the CH91, and I like the unique look of the falcon a tad bit more.....so I took the plunge. My Falcon should be here Tuesday. We shall see how it goes.

[shadrickjr]

Ok, so I received the Falcon a day early (yesterday evening) and.....wow. It feels good to know that my search is over. The lifelong workhorse has finally been retrieved, dressed, and mounted. Now off we go into the sunset. I thank you all for your assistance...what a great community.

[WLSpec]

  On 4/28/2020 at 2:52 PM, shadrickjr said:

Ok, so I received the Falcon a day early (yesterday evening) and.....wow. It feels good to know that my search is over. The lifelong workhorse has finally been retrieved, dressed, and mounted. Now off we go into the sunset. I thank you all for your assistance...what a great community.

Congrats! It has been a while since the start of this thread... Glad to know that you are enjoying the new pens

[shadrickjr]

Well.....I ended up buying a second workhorse pen just incase something was to happen to my Falcon. This was my LAST fountain pen purchase. The Pilot Custom 74.

 

I've attached both in this picture. Now, I am thinking about workhorse notebooks....

 

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by shadrickjr