The more I obses... learn about design and design concepts, maybe especially Grange's work, the more interested I've become in pens. Uh-oh. I seriously hope this is not yet another rabbit hole as I've never been a "pen guy" but would, now, like to own one nice one and to make it even 'worse' I feel myself drawn to fountain pens. Some real quick (read: potentially dumb) fountain pen questions; a) Is it really realistic to intend to use one a a daily pen? - How about ink cartridge capacity, clogging, etc? b) Is it safe to keep in your bag? - Any risk of it leaking ink into your bag? c) Maintenance - If used as a daily pen what kind of cleaning efforts would be involved d) Ink issues? - How long does the ink stay wet on the page, and - Does the ink bleed through modern paper? e) Converter? I see a lot of pens having 'converters'. What is that? Update: Ah, never mind - it seems like a 'converter' is for filling the pen out of a bottle instead of using a cartridge Man, this is a whole new world.... So yeah, some rather basic questions to say the least. This is the model that has my palms sweating a bit...which, may not be a good thing as far a pen grip goes... The Parker 25 Writing demo with the pen:
I've carried many fountain pens over the past 10 years or so. Most quality modern pens are almost bombproof. Very few leaking issues. The biggest challenge I've experienced is not having ink in too many pens at a time. I settled on a rotation of having ink in a modern pen (Lamy, Pelikan, Franklin Cristoff(sp?) ) and in a vintage Esterbrook or Sheaffer at the same time and then if one runs out during the day, I can grab the other from my briefcase. If I only have 1 pen to clean every few days I don't tend to put it off. I don't mind a cartridge or converter pen. Cartridges can be more expensive than bottled ink, but can be had pretty cheaply. Watch that the pen you choose doesn't need a proprietary cart. Converters open up the world of bottled inks and you can experiment with different brands and colors. I've probably spent more money on pens and inks than I have on razors and soaps. I enjoy both hobbies. I also spend a little time with very amateur calligraphy and enjoy that as well. Good luck. That Parker looks very nice.
Fountain pens are fun to write with...I only use mine at home for keeping a medical record, but I do use them everyday. I went with mostly cheap Chinese pens. They are inexpensive( so you can buy a bunch of different brands and easily expand your collection ), easy to find and purchase on eaby. Most write pretty decently. One thing I learned is when you get a new pen clean it WELL before inking it up. This will save you a lot of aggravation. One of my favorite pens is the Japanese Pilot Metropolitan. The Chinese maker Jinhao makes good pens, I've also had good luck with the Hero 616 "Parker" clones. YES the fountain pen rabbit hole is just as deep as the safety razors hole!
It appears that I will be a fountain pen (and matching ballpoint) owner as of next week sometime as I just picked up this set for about $40 (which seemed fair looking at what these Parker 25s go for...): Parker enlisted Kenneth Grange in the early 1970's to design a pen that would be a bit more appealing to the younger demographic. The pen had a rather long production cycle from 1975 all the way up to the mid 90's. It came in a number of different colors (mine is the more common blue one) and in four different versions; - Mk1: Breather hole in the nib and a flat clip screw, - Mk2: No more breather hole - Mk3: Dimpled clip screw, and - Mk4: "Made in England" got changed to "Made in UK" As can be seen below the fountain pen has a breather hole which means it's an Mk1 And yes, it bothers me a bit that I know that... Looking forward to seeing what the world of fountain pens is a all about.... Video review, not me, of the Parker 25:
To 'go with my pens' I also ordered four notebooks by BanditApple (that have, as far as I can tell received some excellent reviews by people using fountain pens). It also didn't hurt that ordering four notebooks was $12 w/ free shipping from Korea. They have various sizes but I went with their PeeWee size that is the 3.5 x 5.5 a la Field Note size. The books are described as; "Banditapple Carnet is a small startup (SOHO) located in Seoul. We start by ordering special paper with specific properties. This paper is: Slightly off-white acid-free 80g fountain pen friendly paper Does not bleed Does not feather. 64 pages Hand stitched backs Then we hand-make each notebook, one at a time. We always use Fair Business practices, and always will." If anyone is interested, here's their notebook order page for first time customers wanting samples: https://sites.google.com/site/banditapplecarnet/get/promotions/samplerequest Arnie over there is also very easy to talk to via emails. And four different models: Update: W/in two hours I receive a photo from BanditApple in Korea with a package w/ my address on it w/ the four notbooks in it to be sent out today. So far $12 well spent.
a) Is it really realistic to intend to use one a a daily pen? - How about ink cartridge capacity, clogging, etc? I usually have a dozen or so pens inked. I do quite a bit of letter correspondence. I have one pen by the desk always, that pen is usually a TWSBI Vac 700. b) Is it safe to keep in your bag? - Any risk of it leaking ink into your bag? In The time I have been using a fountain pen I have never have had one that leaked. c) Maintenance - If used as a daily pen what kind of cleaning efforts would be involved I clean my pens once a month. I use lever fillers and convertors. I clean them with cool water flush out all the ink, if is a bit stubborn a drop of Dawn. d) Ink issues? - How long does the ink stay wet on the page, and - Does the ink bleed through modern paper? I'm left handed, I'm underwriter. There are ink brands that tend to dry slowly. Normally on good paper dry time is about 20 seconds or less. Rhodia Premium paper is my choice paper and I also use Tomoe River Paper. Noodlers ink has several quick drying inks, I use Diamine and Iroshizuku, ink most often. e) Converter? I see a lot of pens having 'converters'. What is that? Update: Ah, never mind - it seems like a 'converter' is for filling the pen out of a bottle instead of using a cartridge Man, this is a whole new world.... I have vintage Esterbrooks with a side lever that draws the ink up and other brands that also have a side lever. More modern pens have a convertor to draw up ink. Use one of these fill system opens a new world of ink choices. If you have any questions or need help just ask me. I have been hardcore fountain pen user over five years and to me it is the only way to write. Above all have fun.
Thanks! Speaking of ink it seems like Diamine is highly recommended and I see it comes in both cartridges and bottles so may try that one out.
Well, you got me started looking at pens too. Fortunately there seem to be quite a variety of very inexpensive Chinese pens, maybe too many. I did also come across pen cases, which might might help alleviate any concerns about leaking. There's quite a variety, I thought the following was an interesting example (includes room for more): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Rol...602344?hash=item3ab31504e8:g:eusAAOSw~bFWOWU5
Just want to add some international flavour here Two very popular pen choices in the medium price range on this side of the Atlantic are the French "Waterman Expert" and the German Faber Castell "e-motion" series. Don't know anything about the availability in the US though. This is the Waterman: And the Faber Castell with matching ball-pen And yes, Diamine ink is highly regarded over here as well.
My name is Darkbulb and I have a new addiction....pens and paper.... It's so "bad" that I just signed up on a pen-forum. I didn't even know those things existed and in comparison to wetshaving they are enormous... The one I signed up on has close to 100,000 members and 'most people online at one time:' over 18,000 people. Yikes. I have these things inbound.... - Two Parker 25 pens (fountain and rollerball), - One 80ml glass bottle w/ Diamine Black Onyx ink, - A pack of Parker rollerball refills, - A pack of Parker fountain pen cartridge refills - Four BanditApple notebooks - Three Calepino notebooks - One Hobonichi 2016 Techo planner - Three Field Note notebooks - California, special edition Oh wabbits why does thou have to dig thy holes.
