Any one use fountain pens any more?

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 4:48 pm

I just cleaned out an old Cross fountain pen and refilled it (no leaks-YAY!). Anyone else still use one? I have my parent's Shaefer pens, plus ones I've acquired over the years.[/b]

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 5:33 pm

I just reclaimed one of mine from decades ago, still seems to be in good shape I've even got some ink for it... it's going to take a while to find the time to get back to using it though. I love them.

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 5:39 pm

I have a Pilot/Namiki Vanishing Point fountain pen. Mine is green with rhodium trim. I really like it, though I should use it more than I do...

It looks like this one:

mutepointe · Post by **mutepointe** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 5:40 pm

all the fountain pens that i have ever owned have leaked. so i just use calligraphy quills and ink. i like to mix from one ink to another and get a bit of a blend going.

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 6:33 pm

I use fountain pens!!!!

Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens are excellent, as well as inexpensive. If you're of a mind to try a fountain pen, that's a good choice. It's very forgiving, no-maintenance, and doesn't dry out readily. The points, regardless of whether they say medium or fine, are in the range of "fine." Readily available at Staples, sometimes at Office Depot, and www.pilotpens.com. Here's the multicolor pack. (Staples has a set of 3 -- black, blue, and purple.)

Oh, I should mention that bookstores like Borders often have these for sale loose, as in unwrapped. You might see a tub of them by the checkout. The points on these are often ruined by people pressing too hard when "testing" them. You can't see this, but you won't be able to write nicely with them.

One of my favorites is a Lamy Safari. It's not finicky at all, writes very well, and is dependable. It even keeps working when you're writing in bed.

Another favorite is a Waterman Phileas. It's a smoooooth writer, uses readily available cartridges, and isn't fussy. A plump, comfortable pen with a cool Art Deco "cigar band" decoration.

I also have 10 or 12 Esterbrook J-series pens from the 1940s and 50s, of which 10 work perfectly. After acquiring a couple which needed a part or two or which weren't quite matched, I ended up buying two lots of multiple pens on ebay, thinking they would be junk and hoping to find the parts. These turned out to be better than anticipated! Still could use a few new nibs, but nearly everybody writes, has a matching cap and is gloriously shiny with bright, shiny metal. Very easy to restore, too!

They are a bit fussy, drying out quickly if they're not used regularly. Nibs range from an extremely find accounting point to a flexible script to one industrial strength "manifold" nib which was intended to write on carbon forms.

You can't see it well in the photo, but they are jewel-tone marbelized celluloid. Cranberry, moss green, copper, brown, gray, and blue.

The pen images are from www.pendemonium.com, one of my favorite pen-related websites.

Another favorite website is nibs.com.

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 6:43 pm

Lambchop wrote:Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens are excellent, as well as inexpensive. If you're of a mind to try a fountain pen, that's a good choice. It's very forgiving, no-maintenance, and doesn't dry out readily. www.pilotpens.com

These Pilot disposable fountain pens are excellent. They were recommended by someone whose opinion on office supplies I respect and value (All right -- they were recommended by Lamb, but she is an office supply goddess), and now that is all I use. I am not responsible enough to have real fountain pens, but these are an excellent substitute. And they are cheap enough that when someone says "Oooh, that's cool. What is it?" you can just give it to them in hopes that yet another person will be converted to fountain pens.

mutepointe · Post by **mutepointe** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 6:56 pm

wow. i got a monkey on my back when it comes to office supplies and i have totally missed the disposable fountain pens. i bow to your knowledge of such gems. i can only ask forgiveness for being blinded by gel pens and my tendancy to be a bit old school and thinking that fountain pens were as good as they could get.

do they really not leak? i got a closet full of white shirts with blue ink stains on the pocket that i can only wear under sweaters and hope that no one cranks up the heat at the office.

beowulf573 · Post by **beowulf573** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 7:06 pm

I have several Pelikan's that I used day to day and my wife just gave me a very nice Mon Blanc for my 40th birthday. But it's too nice and I don't want to take it out of the house in fear of losing it!

It's a little difficult for me since I'm left handed, I have to make sure I don't drag my hand over the wet ink.

Edit; Let me second Lampchop's recommendation for Pendemonium. I've ordered several things from them and have always been happy with the results.

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 7:16 pm

mutepointe wrote:do they really not leak? i got a closet full of white shirts with blue ink stains on the pocket that i can only wear under sweaters and hope that no one cranks up the heat at the office.

There are always pocket protectors.

I've never seen one leak. I'm not sure where it would leak from, since it's kind of sealed. Fewer moving parts, so to speak.

Of course, if one were to put the pen in one's pocket without the cap on . . . <snerk!>

Check out a product called "Amodex" on www.pendemonium.com. It removes ink stains.

I, naturally, have never needed to use such a product. But perhaps someone who might have put a pen in his pocket without the cap on might speak to its efficacy . . .

bepoq · Post by **bepoq** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 7:34 pm

Use them mostly, myself. I've a couple old Swans, one with a relatively fine point and the other with an italic nib (both very flexible), and then a modern aurora italic nib (not really flexible at all but nice all the same). I used to have one of the older type vanishing point ones which was very nice til someone nicked it, I think under the impression it was a cheap click pen. I'm hankering after a Sailor 1911 - extaordinary nib - you wouldn't believe the ease with which they write.

djm · Post by **djm** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 8:54 pm

beboq wrote:I'm hankering after a Sailor

Wrong forum, buddy.

djm

In The Woods · Post by **In The Woods** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:08 am

I use a Waterman, used to own a Mont Blanc, and I really like fountain pens. There are websites that carry fountain pens and other writing instruments, but I just don't have the ready cash to indulge my passion for them!

Regards,

Steve Mack

MagicSailor · Post by **MagicSailor** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:41 am

djm wrote:
beboq wrote:I'm hankering after a Sailor

Wrong forum, buddy.

djm

Right forum, wrong gender...

Regards,

Owen Morgan

Yacht Magic
Anchored in the lagoon, St Maarten

My new blog.
Click here for my latest reported position. (Use the satellite view.)

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 12:18 pm

Barametric pressure gradients can have an effect on whether fountain pens leak or not. The fountain pens that I used to have had a rubber bladder that held the ink. If you happened to fill the pen on a high pressure day and then put the pen in your pocket, when a low pressure front would pass by, the ink in the bladder would ooze out of the tip of the pen, pass through the threads of the cap, and leave an ink spot on the shirt you were wearing. You can observe the opposite effect on a plastic drink container. If you close the top with ambient low pressure, when the bottle is exposed to a higher ambient pressure, the sides of the container will collapse. This phenomenon is very easy to see if you drive in the mountians. I used to drive from a mountain top at 9,000 feet elevation to my home in the valley at 2,300 feet. Any container with flexible sides that I closed at the top of the mountain would be completely collapsed when I arrived home.

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 4:10 pm

Ah ha! Thus explaining why they leak in airplanes!

Does the same hold true for cartridges, I wonder?