Just want to Write of Derby (UK)

[David Edge]

That's about it really. I never learned joined-up writing at school and am young enough to (born 1958) to get away with it using computers and printing (by hand). I remember the scratchy nibs of the school pens and appreciate the tactility. There are times when I feel taking pen to paper would be productive.

 

My last encounter with a pen shop was looking with undisguised lust into the display of a commercial stationers in Regent Street, Rugby circa 1964. However if you manage to find a sample of my "handwriting" in the last 20 years it will be a 0.5mm pink rollerball. Before that a Parker 51 and brown ink. In the 1970s, a 0.35 Rapidograph and possibly a 0.13 if I wanted to annoy people.

 

So here I am wanting to have another go. I really don't care about the aesthetics. Ergonomics, yes, something better than a tube. Tactility, yes, something better than an Apple Pencil. Materials - frankly m'dear I don't care if it is made out of dried camel-poo. Cost - I feel no need to spend the GDP of a small African nation on a fashion statement. Robust would be good - I want to lay in down in the workshop where it might end up under a pile of chisels. I just want a pen. And remembering all the messing about over the years with the things drying up, running out of ink or spraying it everywhere, frankly cartridge or one-shot would be fine. I get through about one Pilot V5 a year, although a variety of ink colours might force messing about with bottles. Oh and what really started this off, a chunky oblique nib. Let's say 2mm in one direction and 0.35 in the other. What I want is probably more like the DDR 1955 Volkstintenstift in black bakelite made by the Leipziger Stiftfabrik VEB*.

 

So now all I need to do is to go into a pen shop and try it out. Oh dearie, dearie me. Whatever happened to them? The business seems to have gone further underground and online than I would have expected for something about as intimate and personal as it gets (see my birth year above). The shops I see seem to emphasise luxury whereas I want to make marks on paper. Perhaps I really want a John Bull Calligraphy set. But I don't want an inkwell.

 

In the end I think maybe the best thing to do would be to develop what I want by taking a whittling knife to a sturdy wooden pencil. But are there places you can go into and try pens and nibs out? As a retired railwayman living in Derby I wouldn't be keen on a shop north of Glasgow, west of Plymouth or more than a kilometre from the nearest bus stop.

 

Any thoughts chaps?

 

David Edge

 

 

* somebody right now is Googling it. Tee hee hee

[northstar]

Hello and welcome to FPN.

[Stompie]

Your local W H Smith would be a fair place to go into but I am not sure if they let you try the pens out. Most Smithers keep Parker, Lamy and a couple of more pricy items.

If you could get to Shrewsbury then John runs a shop called Write Here and he is good at pen testing and decent advice/information

[David Edge]

1 hour ago, Stompie said:

Shrewsbury then John runs a shop called Write Here and he is good at pen testing and decent advice/information

Many thanks - I had found the shop in Salop online and it looked promising. I'll give them a ring to find when they're quiet and set forth when the floodwaters (on the railway, not Salop itself)  have subsided.

 

cheers

 

David

[PAKMAN]

Hello and Welcome to FPN!! So glad to have you as a member!! Italic stub in a Lamy Al-Star might be a good starting point. 

[Mark from Yorkshire]

Welcome from a little further north up the M1 there is a pen shop in Oxford and a few in Scunthorpe/ Lincoln way. Nothing in Yorkshire or Derbyshire that I’m aware of. Failing that online cultpens are brilliant. 

[Pete of Killeen]

Isnt Dylan.Stephens pens based in Derby?  It is an on line shop specializing in high quality used pens; he is a firefighter for his day job I believe.  Maybe if you sent him a note you could get together.

Edited October 3, 2024 by Pete of Killeen

[Duffy]

[OCArt]

[Bisquitlips]

Welcome from Missouri!

 

[Mercian]

On 10/3/2024 at 9:41 AM, David Edge said:

I had found the shop in Salop online and it looked promising

 

Greetings from Staffordshire!

If you do manage to get over to Write Here, I advise you to have a look at the range of Lamy pens that they sell.
One of the advantages of Lamy cartridge/converter pens is that, although they are made in several different shapes and sizes, they can all accept each other's nibs.

So, you could decide which Lamy pen best suits your hand/aesthetic preferences, AND then pick out whatever grade(s) of nib you prefer/are interested in.

 

The 'basic' Lamy nib (model no. Z50) is a stainless steel nib that can be had in chrome-coloured or in PVD-coated black.
It is available in EF, F, M, B, and 1.1i, 1.5i, and 1.9i (the italic nibs are only available in chrome-coloured steel).

The company even publishes the nominal widths (and manufacturing tolerances) of their nibs:

 

Spare Z50 nibs in different grades are inexpensive, and they are really easy to swap on and off one's pen.

i.e. one pen can have many nibs, for not much more money

 

Once you know what nib grade you favour, you could (if you choose) buy one of the various 14k gold nibs that Lamy makes, because they too will fit on to all Lamy c/c pens.

 

I hope that Write Here will let you have a play around, to work out what nib grade(s) you prefer, and which pens will best suit your preferences.

 

Slàinte,
M.

[Mercian]

Nearly forgot...

 

On 10/3/2024 at 2:58 AM, David Edge said:

However if you manage to find a sample of my "handwriting" in the last 20 years it will be a 0.5mm pink rollerball.

 

...if you really like writing in pink, Lamy even makes a pink ink for its pens:
https://mountainofink.com/blog/lamy-rhodonite

 

I wish you happy hunting, and hope that whatever you end up buying provides you with many years of writing pleasure 😊

Enjoy!

[David Edge]

On 10/4/2024 at 12:53 AM, Pete of Killeen said:

Isnt Dylan.Stephens pens based in Derby?  It is an on line shop specializing in high quality used pens; he is a firefighter for his day job I believe.  Maybe if you sent him a note you could get together.

Well certainly near Derby, thanks. But 'luxury' puts me off. I want something that I can shove in my pocket. cheers d.

[David Edge]

On 10/11/2024 at 8:14 PM, Mercian said:

Once you know what nib grade you favour, you could (if you choose) buy one of the various 14k gold nibs that Lamy makes, because they too will fit on to all Lamy c/c pens.

Apologies, I thought I'd replied. I see - I think what I had been told - and misunderstood -  was that the cheaper Lamys can't be bought with the more extreme nibs already fitted, but you can add them.

 

It looks as if you are on the border of the Danelaw and the Gaeltacht!

 

Orrabest!

 

d.

[Mercian]

5 hours ago, David Edge said:

Apologies, I thought I'd replied. I see - I think what I had been told - and misunderstood -  was that the cheaper Lamys can't be bought with the more extreme nibs already fitted, but you can add them.

 

Well, if you want a nib with an oblique grind, they only offer those on their 14k gold nibs, which aren't available 'as standard' on the less-expensive pens.
(But can be bought separately & swapped on to the pens.)

 

5 hours ago, David Edge said:

It looks as if you are on the border of the Danelaw and the Gaeltacht!

 

Orrabest!

 

d.

 

Full disclosure: I have only blatantly stolen lovingly borrowed our northern cousins' salutation as a result of my deep admiration of/gratitude for their Water of Life 😉

[Wahl]