I'm sure you all have much nicer pens than me :)
Oh fuck yes, this is my jam. I've got a TWSBI Diamond 580, a Pilot Metropolitan (silver, no design around the grip), a Lamy Safari, a Parker Duofold that needs repairs before it works, and I'm currently eyeing a Lamy 2000 because it's a sexy, sexy beast. I fucking love fountain pens. I like how they look, how they write, the care you have to take with them, and the communities. Favorite inks right now are Diamine Oxblood and Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo. Reaaaaally would love some J Herbin Stormy Grey, but I don't need to be spending money at the moment. So glad someone else is into fountain pens here :)
I've heard good things about the Diamond - how do you like it? The Lamy 2000 is super good looking even though I like exposed nib pens. That stormy grey ink looks really cool.... Inks are to me a slightly baffling but really interesting part of my new hobby :)
I'd love to hear your ink recommendations. If I was to buy an ink, it would be either a pearly black or a a dark blue (maybe with a bit of grey.) In fact, a nice grey ink such as the J. Herbin would also be awesome. It would need to be better than standard cartridge ink to write with if I were to buy it, and I'd like an ink that is clearly different to your average 'biro blue' or 'ballpoint black'.
Is it back heavy with the cap posted, or is it the pen body itself? I've been mulling over getting one for my spouse. The Diamond seems like it'd make a good gift while also possibly infecting her with a pen habbit. She has short fingers though, and if it's balanced weird... might not be the best introduction?
I love how steampunk/ quirky they are - and I love them, write very smoothly, hasn't ever really leaked badly - and they are solid steel, so they are very heavy, which I absolutely love - no pressure needed, and I just love the fact that they are very heavy.
So I have: - Parker 51 Aeromatic - Lamy 2000 - Lamy Studio - Esterbrook J - Esterbrook SJ I used to have: - Pilot Decimo The P51 Aeromatic is my absolute favorite pen design. I don't write much any more, but when I do, that is the one I reach for. I like my Lamy 2000, too, but the hood design is the older one. It is prone to ink seeping through the seams and staining fingers. A design defect that they have since corrected. What got you into fountain pens? I did it by accident. Bought a cheap disposable pilot one day by mistake. I used it and realized that ballpoints felt terrible in the hand. I'd just never realized because I didn't have anything to compare them to.
Why did you used to have a Decimo? I've been seriously thinking about buying one of these.
I ended up having two complaints with it. A minor complaint: filling it is a little disappointing with a converter. The converter capacity is not very large, and the design of the pen makes it tricky at times to actually pickup ink. Especially in an ink bottle that isn't filled to the brim. The larger complaint was that it slipped in my hands during extended use. I'm an exceptionally sweaty guy, and my hands are particularly bad. I think it was more that I wasn't a good fit for the pen than the other way around. Which is a shame, because mine was a Fine point, and I loved the way it wrote. If I'd had an easier time gripping it I would have loved the heck out of it, I think.
Hmm. Now I'm back to undecided. My primary interest is because I use EF nibs, and I've damaged two nibs so far (one cheap, one expensive) by leaving the cap off and having those pens roll off the table. My hope is that the retractable nature of the Decimo will make that less likely.
If it helps, they're also less likely to roll to begin with thanks to the fact that the pen's clip is built into the grip. Just be sure to keep an eye on it when filling if you do get it. The nib/feed/converter assembly does like to roll when not inside the pen.My hope is that the retractable nature of the Decimo will make that less likely.
Sure! It is a well thought out pen design. Very comfortable in my hand, and easy to take apart. If you want to completely take it apart, you can, but be careful with the piston mechanism. I marred the threading on mine, and now the twist when plunging is stiffer and toothy. If you want to buy one used, try to get one with a solid metal section / nib hood / grip. Like I said above, the older design for this part is the biggest complaint I have with my pen. The seam between the plastic and the metal is where my fingers sometimes go during writing, and ink would slowly seeps through and stains me. What I'm talking about here is, when you flip the pen over and look and the under side of the nib, the plastic U shape where the nib meets the pen. Not where the metal section joins with the fiberglass body. The 2000 is prone to 'burping' ink into the cap due to temperature changes. Often times it will need a wipe after uncapping. The fiberglass body is a really nice experience. It feels 'warm' or like an organic material to the touch. Similar to a textured wood. My nib was a dry writer when I got it. I spread the tines to make it much wetter, but it wasn't bad out of the box. The 2000's nib is different (smaller) than the rest of Lamy's line. There is one compatible pen from their history, the Lamy 27. The 27 had some nib grinds available that the modern 2000 doesn't have. I've often thought about swapping out my Medium nib with an Oblique Double Broad from a 27. It's a semi-hooded nib, so it does ...ok... if you leave it uncapped on the desk for a while. You'll find you can take a moment's pause with having problems with dry out. If that pause becomes a pondering rest, though, you should probably recap it. The nib feels soft and supple, but not springy when writing. My pen is 7 3/4 years old. The body is free from scratches or signs of abuse. It looks like it did when I got it. Writing reviews isn't a strong suite of mine. If you'd like to hear something about it in specific, let me know. There is an interesting post about the design of the pen on FPN
Thanks so much for taking the time to write this out for me! I'm so glad to have something that isn't from goulet pen's marketing team. Overall, if you knew everything you know about the pen now, would you buy it if you were me? My collection is mostly pretty low end, I think this would be the priciest one I will have purchased.
Hmmmmm. The problem is that I don't really know how you'll use the pen, or how much you'd value owning it. There are lots of pens that I've heard hyped up and then found disappointing in person. Mine was a gift, and has emotional attachments. It's an iconic pen, and I'm glad I have it. If it were ran over by a semi truck, would I replace it? Yes. I wouldn't pay $150+ for it, though. I'd either bide my time and wait for a sale, or purchase used. I'd have a hard time justifying that kind of price for any pen. If both my Parker 51 and Lamy 2000 got ran over, I'd replace the Parker first. For me, the Parker is a better pen. It'd also be more economic pen to acquire. Limiting myself to piston fillers, the 2000 would definitely be my choice. I'm not sure if this was helpful or not.
I too love the Pelikans! I have a Souveran M605, blue with silver trim. It's got the same fancy 14K nib, but the rest of the pen is more of a workhorse than the rest of the Souveran line. I have to disagree with you on the ink, though: I got a bottle of Noodler's Bernanke Black, and it's turned my pen from a once-in-a-while to a daily driver. The Bernanke Black dries incredibly quickly, so much so that I can write on one page, turn it, and write on the flip side with no smudging. I thought that India ink wasn't good for fountain pens, what with them being pigment-based... you should google that. I'd hate to see that nice pen get wrecked by ink that shouldn't be used in a dunker.
Good choice! I love Pilot pens. I usually have a few of these kakunos inked in different colours. At the moment they are filled with some inks from a J.Herbin scented sampler box. I was sharing the joy of cursive with my little niece.
I've had high-end pens over the years, but I always seem to come back to this one:
It's a Rotring ArtPen.
I've been using it/ones like it on and off since primary school (when I thought the tapering was the height of elegance. I have since discovered reason and find it appalling, but it does balance the pen wonderfully. The tapered end can also be used for no end of things, from prodding coins out of car seats to poking the drawstrings back into hoodies.)
This pen gets no love at all on the internets, though. I'm not sure why.
The B nib is maybe overly wet, but I like fountain pens that way. I have weird spider hands and it's the only way I manage to avoid scratchy scribbliness. I use Clairefontaine notebooks, and they can handle absolute torrents of ink, so it works out OK. Glad there's another fountain penner on here :) :)
Hey! Does your Rotring ArtPen use cartridges or ink from a bottle? I've done my best to avoid cartridges (I'll admit, it's a little bit of a vanity thing. I think it's cool as hell to fill from a bottle!), but it seems like a reliable little every-day pen!
It depends which version of the pen you buy - some (the calligraphy sets, for example) come with this piston converter in the box. They're pretty easy to get separately, though. I'm using standard cartridges in mine at the moment - I'm in the middle of moving house and all my stuff's in boxes. It's handy to be able to switch between the two. I'm missing real inks, though - Especially because I'm in France, and even the tiny small-town newsagents (now I've realized how many fountain pen appreciators there are here I'm going to sneak a photo next time I go into one) stock J.Herbin and Lamy and Waterman and Clairefontaine paper and and and... so much temptation...
Oh my, I wouldn't be able to manage in that town. Can I ask where you're at, and where you came from? It sounds like it'd be an interesting story! And that looks like a standard international converter, if I'm not mistaken...I think I might already have one, in which case I'll be snatching up an art pen before too long :) We should really try to breathe some life into #fountainpens, I think it'd be cool to build up that community!
Honest question: how do you guys NOT lose these expensive pens? I have a pentel pocket brush pen for inking my drawings and I am scared that I'll lose it or somehow break it, even though it's a lower end pen. I lose normal writing pens all the time.
Edit: 100% true update! I always carry a small moleskine sketch book in my back pocket and the aforementioned brush pen. Always. I'm literally never without them. I just went hiking with my wife and noticed that I had the sketch book but not the pen. I know I had it before the hike. It must have gotten snagged on something and pulled out of my pocket. Such a dumb bummer. I'm actually kind of surprised I was able to keep it for as long as I have.
I find that when I really-honest-to-god-lose-it's-never-gonna-be-back something, it is because the thing I lost was something I didn't care about. Why do I lose Bics? Because they are disposable. They are a consumable. I misplace my pens all the time. I misplace my house key all the time. I've never permanently lost either. Basically, for the reason you said above:I am scared that I'll lose it or somehow break it, even though it's a lower end pen.
Yeah ~ I was a little worried at first - but I have had my 3 pens for one year now, and all good so far. My mentality is that I bought these pens for a lot of money, and I love them - they are the best, and I'll keep them forever and they'll be the last pens I ever buy. If they start disintegrating, I'll fix them until they fall apart into dust ~ I lost my wallet as a child and it was traumatic, so I have never lost anything from my pockets since then.. I kept my pen(s) clipped to my pants pocket and it was all good for a while - now I keep them in a sunglasses case along with my 'wallet' clip, so it's all together, always with me The pen fell out of my pocket at a friend's place - and I was stressing out so much.. I contacted them asking - and they found it - I was so relieved,, so that should keep me in check for the next year or so **heart beating*** - n__n I've had what seems like hundreds of bic pens through the years, and they all magically disappear..
pls stop using those to type roleplay stuff it makes the whole screen go italic
Yeah, that makes sense. Oddly enough, I actually just lost the brush pen I mentioned earlier while hiking with my wife. It was dumb of me to bring it with but I developed an ocd-like habit of carrying it with me at all times. The ones I lose are usually cases of
Wife: do you have a pen I can use?
Me: sure, here you go.
Wife: ooo I like how this writes. And I never see it again. I usually carry a cheap pilot v7 as well as the brush just in case I need to write something and don't want to fuss with trying to write with the brush.
I have to admit, I lost a Mont Blanc pen one night while helping some friends move office furniture into their new business premises. Of the 4 or 5 expensive pens I have owned, this is the only one I've lost. After a while I tend to give my pens to friends who share a similar interest and passion for expression through hand writing. That way, I've spent some time with a nice pen and I get to pay forward the enjoyment.
You already are! :) I should add, I ask my friends to also pay the pens forward after a while, unless they particularly fall in love with one. And I've had my current Sailor Professional Gear with EF nib for a good long while, as I particularly like its EF nib. But, I'm thinking about buying a Vanishing Point / Decimo, so maybe that will bump my Sailor into someone else's hands.
My college graduation present from my girlfriend(at the time)'s dad was a 75th Anniversary Meisterstuck. I don't lose it by never letting it leave the house. It's kind of lame that the craziest writing implement I have is plastic, though. I'm kind of not down with Mountblanc.
I bought a Lamy fountain pen and I still writte like a 5 years old :(
I've got the same. I like it a ton, though it can get messy at times. Among starter pens, the Metropolitan is really the only one that looks nice. It's main competition there is probably the Lamy Safari, but to me, it looks like a children's toy. The Metropolitan is something I'd feel fine pulling out in front of the president. Do have any ink suggestions? I'm using IC-100, and not loving it. Do you use a converter, or cartridges?
A converter will open up your options, and be less wasteful in the long run. My ink supply is frankly too big for my meager writing habits, and as such I haven't allowed myself to buy any more for going on four years. So, formulations may have changed since I bought them, but out of what I have, the following strike me as both well behaved and classy like your Metropolitan: ->I'm linking to jetpens just because it is convenient for me. Shop wherever.<- - J. Herbin Perle Noire - Waterman Purple - Lamy Blue-Black {in bottle!} I also like the old formulations of Mont Blanc ink, but I haven't tried the new stuff. The Lamy Blue-Black is an iron gall, so be sure to flush it regularly if you pick it up. Goes on blueish, but becomes gray over time as it bonds with the paper. The stuff in the cartridges is different. Pilot Iroshizuku is also amazing stuff, but it is expensive. If I had to single out a favorite from the above, it'd be the Waterman Purple. If you are ever near a well stocked pen shop, it is a lot of fun to go in and look at ink. I highly recommend it. Do have any ink suggestions? I'm using IC-100, and not loving it. Do you use a converter, or cartridges?
Holy shit there are some fountain pen afficionados up in here... Cool! I only have one fountain pen, but it's awesome and I really really like it. It's a Cross Century II Chrome.