Fountain Pens in Singapore

[zilonable]

Thanks Alot for all the information you guys have given. I shall head down once again to mustafa once again when i am free. Not so soon though, as exams are coming and i live in CCK. I will probably get a pilot 7 bucks pen and a bottle of pelikan 4001 ink @ Jurong Point on my way home.

[zilonable]

Hi along,

 

I yet to go there, are the price reasonable over there?

 

Steven

[graceaj]

 

I like Fook Hing myself, and Bras Basah has quite a few other shops selling pens, but they sell at full retail. Also, they don't have cheaper pens. If you want PR ink or something like that then may you want to visit them. Also, if you're going to Mustafa's, you can get Pelikan 4001 ink from them. They take up an entire shelf in the stationery department and have the full range of colours. Most other stationers only have blue/black/blue-black.

[zilonable]

  Quote

Maintaining Your Pen

 

Just as your car needs its oil changed, your fountain pen needs internal cleaning. A once a month flushing will save you a trip to the nib specialist. After flushing the ink out of the pen with water, we recommend flushing with 1 part household ammonia and 2 parts water. Fill and empty the pen three or four times to dissolve the solids accumulation. Then flush the ammonia solution out of the pen with three or four more flushes with tap water. This is especially important if you change brands or even colors of ink, or use a cartridge exclusively. (Some inks react with each other, creating a viscous substance.) Even if you just flush several times with tap water on an irregular basis, you should be able to avoid the clogging problem. (Important note: Never use ammonia on the barrels of Wahl Eversharp pens from the 20's or 30's or any other pen with aluminum parts. The ammonia eats aluminum quite fast! Also, do not soak the barrels of nitrocellulose pens in ammonia for any length of time. It can discolor the plastic.)

 

Many twist plunger filler pens such as Pelikan and Omas brands will begin to twist hard if ink is allowed to cake inside the barrel. In an extreme case this can compromise the gasket or even break the twist mechanism. If you can see accumulated dry ink in the transparent part of a Pelikan pen you can see how this problem occurs and take the remedial action yourself.

 

Cartridge/converter pens also need to be cleaned regularly - especially if cartridges are used most. Never put your pen away with a cartridge full of ink in the pen. Very often cartridge/conveter filling system pens are the ones that are rarely, if ever, flushed. However, it's jsut as easy to maintain these pens as it is for twist plunger filler pens. Use the converter to flush with the 1 part household ammonia and 2 part water solution.

 

FYI: A "de-soldering bulb" available from Radio Shack for about $5.00, makes a great flushing tool. (Remove the nylon tip and slide the mouth of the bulb over the back of the section and pump away!) An ear syringe also may work. With household ammonia as a flusher, many plugged pens can be cleaned.

 

If the feed is just too plugged for flushing, of course send it in for our cleaning. We have specialized tools for clearing the worst case, impacted waterproof ink. However, because we cannot always see this plugged condition when the pen arrives for assessment, we sometimes have to add charges in order to clean out the feed system. The complaint is frequently that the pen has started skipping or drying out and the nib is believed responsible.

 

 

 

 

I got this information on a website, but after i wash with water, do i need to dry it? and if i need to dry my pen, how do i go about doing it? Sun dry?

[Mannenhitsu]

Wow! I had no idea that there were so many Singaporeans that enjoyed using fine writing instruments. I can remembering going to a stationery store in the Business District, and to another one at Ngee Ann City with my former girlfriend. Does anyone have a clue as to what stores I might have visited?

 

Does Singapore have a pen show or collector's meet for fountain pen collectors/enthusiasts? Also, does any pen store carry Aurora fountain pens, and ink?

 

I would love to go to a Hawker Centre right now.!

[graceaj]

  zilonable said:

I got this information on a website, but after i wash with water, do i need to dry it? and if i need to dry my pen, how do i go about doing it? Sun dry?

 

You should probably dry it if you don't want watered-down ink for a couple of sentences. I wonder how one would sun-dry a pen... :blink: Seriously though, just lay the nib on a paper towel or layered toilet paper overnight to let all the water be drawn out.

 

 

  Quote

Wow! I had no idea that there were so many Singaporeans that enjoyed using fine writing instruments. I can remembering going to a stationery store in the Business District, and to another one at Ngee Ann City with my former girlfriend. Does anyone have a clue as to what stores I might have visited?

 

Does Singapore have a pen show or collector's meet for fountain pen collectors/enthusiasts? Also, does any pen store carry Aurora fountain pens, and ink?

 

If there is a pen show, I haven't heard of one. As to what stores you visited, I would guess either Fook Hing or Aesthetic Bay in the business district. For Ngee Ann City, the first thing that came to mind was Art Friend. Maybe Kinokuniya or the Montblanc Boutique?

Edited March 21, 2008 by graceaj

[darrenimo]

I believe there is a shop at Bras Basah Complex, named Sin Ghee(introduced to be by Readymade), that sells a bunch of vintage pens. The shop keeper is very friendly, and he seems to be rather knowledgeable about fountain pens. However, the shop's only open from Monday to Saturday.

Edited March 21, 2008 by darrenimo

[zilonable]

Woah There are many shops here.

 

Okay now is a pen question, The 3rd day into using my Hero 336, the nib feels abit scratching and it no longer writes as smoothly. What could be the problem?

[graceaj]

  zilonable said:

Woah There are many shops here.

 

Okay now is a pen question, The 3rd day into using my Hero 336, the nib feels abit scratching and it no longer writes as smoothly. What could be the problem?

 

I'm no expert, but I've usually heard of pens getting smoother over time... :hmm1: Are you holding the pen the way you would normally hold a ballpoint?

[zilonable]

  Quote

I'm no expert, but I've usually heard of pens getting smoother over time... hmm1.gif Are you holding the pen the way you would normally hold a ballpoint?

 

 

Yes, I'm writing using underhand.

[damien]

Hi guys,

 

Just to clarify, the price of Avalon is S$5.00, NOT S$1.50 for 40 sheets. I must be drunk when I wrote that post.

 

 

Best,

 

Paul

[graceaj]

  zilonable said:

  Quote

I'm no expert, but I've usually heard of pens getting smoother over time... :hmm1: Are you holding the pen the way you would normally hold a ballpoint?

 

 

Yes, I'm writing using underhand.

 

I'm not exactly sure what's underhand, but if you're holding it at 90-degrees or thereabouts, you may want to lower it to around 45-degrees and relax your grip. That's where the 'sweet spot' of the pen is more likely to be, plus you gain the no-cramp advantage of a fountain pen. You may also want to check if there is some hair or fibre trapped between the tines as well. Just a tiny bit can make the pen write like a brush(hence the feathering) and make it less smooth. Same thing happened to me just yesterday.

Edited March 23, 2008 by graceaj

[zilonable]

graceaj, where did your get your jotter fountain pen and what price? i wan to complete my jotter series, i currently own a ballpoint and mechanical pencil.

 

 

[graceaj]

  zilonable said:

graceaj, where did your get your jotter fountain pen and what price? i wan to complete my jotter series, i currently own a ballpoint and mechanical pencil.

 

I bought it from popular for $30. Its the plastic one with the metal cap, and I don't think they had the flighter version. If you want to save some money, you can get it when you go to Mustafa. I remember it being $23 for the Jotter. Generally, I've found that they charge about S$5-$10 less for lower end pens, ballpoints included($7 for Ballpoint Jotter vs. $12; $34 for Lamy Safari FP vs. $45), and for higher-end pens can even be half the price of somewhere that sells full retail like a stationery store or B&M pen store. Sure they have little to no product knowledge, but if you don't have much to spend(like me), its a good place to get savings.

[fibreglass_works]

Good to hear that. Study hard now, You will collect well when you starts working like me. I was then a jotter but "labelled" a collector :embarrassed_smile:

 

I'm not much of a FP fanatic as i have not much cash to build a collection. I will start with pens i can afford, write with it and love in love with it first before i go into collection. haha

 

 

Steven

 

[pencilx]

Wow,

 

Glad to see some of you fellas from Singapore too. I'm in NTU mech engine, been using fountain pen since sec school days.

I suppose collection is best reserved for those with money and time on hand.

 

Anyway is there any place in Singapore that sells Pilot Murex/ Pilot Myu?

I have some reservation regarding buying pens from Fook Hing and E & C. If you'd like to know more, you can drop me a PM.

 

Cheerio!

DREW

[damien]

  pencilx said:

Wow,

 

Glad to see some of you fellas from Singapore too. I'm in NTU mech engine, been using fountain pen since sec school days.

I suppose collection is best reserved for those with money and time on hand.

 

Anyway is there any place in Singapore that sells Pilot Murex/ Pilot Myu?

I have some reservation regarding buying pens from Fook Hing and E & C. If you'd like to know more, you can drop me a PM.

 

Cheerio!

DREW

 

 

Oh hi! Another person in NTU! We should start an NTU pen club! I'm in Bio Sci btw. I suppose you don't need a collection to enjoy using your FP. Besides, as long as you have more than 2 FP, that qualifies as an FP collection, no? :roflmho:

 

I have some reservations about Fook Hing and E&C too. Most of my pens I get from Ebay (after checking the seller out thoroughly) as they are much cheaper, but for Pilots, maybe Popular? I saw a collection of Pelikan, Shaeffer, even Fabell Castell in the branch at Jurong Point, but can't remember if there were Pilots.

 

 

Best of luck for the upcoming exams!

 

 

Paul

[pencilx]

Exams on the way. Do you use fountain pen for your scripts?

I used it last sem (my first sem in NTU), carried 2 in case one of it ran out of ink.

 

What pens have you bought online so far?

 

 

[njwbert]

Hello!

 

I'm from NTU too and I just bought my first fountain pen. Loving how it writes compared to a ballpoint. Am not that bothered by the nib creep. It does not appear as long as I slow down my writing a little and use as little presure as possible on the paper. I am using a Sailor XF nib though as I take notes in margins and I tend to scribble. Good as my everyday pen. I'm so tempted to get so many pens right now it's ridiculous. :embarrassed_smile:

 

The irony is that the ballpoint I used to use always leaked to some degree. Much worse than the nib creep of the fountain pen. Was an Uniball Signo 0.38, the finest ballpoint tip I could get in Popular. It always leaked, and the worst time was when it flooded the entire cap, much to my surprise, so I am glad to make the jump to a fountain pen.

Edited March 29, 2008 by njwbert

[purpledog]

I can't restrain myself from joining in the chat after seeing correspondences being exchanged among fellow Singaporeans.

 

I was from NUS, but as a student then, it never occurred to me to use fountain pens. Probably because of ink feathering through papers that were of poorer quality, and I used to have a habit of resting my pen on paper, so that would cause blotching.

 

My use of fountain pens started when I was given a Sheaffer Prelude fountain pen by my colleagues when I was about to leave Singapore for my graduate studies. As a student again, I get the chance to use the fountain pen. I used it sparingly initially, and am beginning to use it more frequently for the past 2 years. Now I only use fountain pens. I have over 30 fountain pens, and mostly are Sheaffer Preludes and Legacies.

 

ok, so much for now...need to zzz.

 

purpledog