Fountain Pen - Page 3

+1 for Pelikan - can't be beaten in my book.

I've been using and collecting fountain pens for about five years now. If I had to do it all over again, I think I would use Richard Binder as my information source. He is a very respected fountain pen collector and repairs pens too and has a blog and sales inventory of vintage and modern pens. At the first day of every month he puts out a tray of nice pens for sale and they are gone in hours of showing. But the best thing about getting a pen from Richard is that he services and adjusts and tunes each pen to bring out its inherent characteristics, whether new or vintage. My current fav is not a Binderized pen but I did learn so much from him to get to the point where I knew what I really wanted and really liked.

vintage sheaffers are good value.

I bought a pen from him. He's top notch.

Richard Binder is one of many good sellers but there others I would go to first. Go and have a look at pentrace for a less formal pen forum. They have quite an active selling forum and you can pick up all sorts of pens there, new/ vintage or pricey/ cheap.

Regarding my small collection of Eversharp Coronets, it just seemed to happen by accident...

I have a Lamy Al-Star (the aluminum version of the plastic Safari recommended earlier), and although it worked fine when I purchased it, a few months later it began skipping like crazy. I tried every cleaning trick in the book and after nothing worked, it now sits in a shoebox, unused. I do also have a Lamy 2000 that works perfectly.

If I were to recommend a brand for you to start out with (in your budget), it would definitely be a Waterman. You can pick up a Phileas or Graduate model for well under $50 and have a smooth writing, fun pen. But you have to remember that half of the writing pleasure comes from writing on good paper, so head to your local B&N or Target to pick up a Moleskine or Rhodia notebook.

I found moleskin to be fountain pen unfriendly

WOW! those look great what pens?

That would, of course, depend on what ink you are using. I have no bleeding (or feathering) issues with my Moleskine and Pelikan ink.

+1

Never knew there were so many fountain pen enthusiasts here on SF.

This is awesome!

+1 on the Lamy Safari. My father is a fountain pen collector, with pens ranging from $5 cheapos to vintage, solid gold Watermans and brand-new, top-of-the-line Mont Blancs. He constantly "complains" how frustrating it is that the $25 Lamy Safari writes so well at such a reasonable price.

It's certainly not a formal looking pen, but as a starter fountain pen, I think it's hard to beat.

Go to a stationary store that carries them and try out some different nib sizes. Personally, I prefer a fine nib, but many folks like a medium nib, especially if it is their only pen.

Finally, if I may, I recommend a blue-black ink (as opposed to plain black). Nice stuff!

Good luck!

Blue-black is just a personal preference. Traditionally, it was advantageous to use a non-black ink, because it would prove that a signature was real, and not just a photocopy. With the advent of color copying and printing, this doesn't really hold any more. There are many ink options out there, even more if/when you move to filling from a bottle (as opposed to cartridges).

Another Parker alternative would be a Centennial... I like their size.

+1 re: Richard Binder, there are also others...

The "problem" you're going to have to get used to is the ink. You're probably used to writing with a roller ball or ball point and not having to worry about the ink washing away if it comes in contact with liquid. Most inks for fountain pens will do just that. The ink washes right away with just the slightest contact of water (e.g. Waterman Florida Blue). Not a good thing if you're addressing and mailing an envelope on a rainy day...

I suggest that you do some research over at Fountain Pen Network and go with inks that are known to be water resistant. Personally, I use "bulletproof" inks for all my writing, including endorsing checks...

Welcome to fountain pens, next will be watches, then 2-channel audio, maybe a muscle car afterwards?