An update... just because... The X750 was still having the feed issues (ink getting stuck on the wrong end of the converter) so I removed the ink and tried rinsing with diluted soap water. I haven't used it much since then, but it appears to have worked. We will see when the ink level gets lower. The Halolilai cap keeps popping off. Today while grading, the cap popped off, hit the floor and the end of the cap broke. Crud... Well it is taped together for now. Got to glue that back together this weekend. I have received comments from a number of students that have seen me write with the pens. I noticed today that there are two kids that are using Plumixes in one of my classes.
That is awesome! Very cool that you are getting kids interested in fountain pens. Something they would have never otherwise been exposed to. :signs107
Yeah, while it makes sense when I think about it - everything being done on computers these days, I was shocked to read last month (can't remember if it was in Stylus magazine or Pennant) that something like 40% of students in 10th grade and under can't read cursive. I wonder if this is how dip pen users felt when fountain pens started to take over ...
I'm not surprised at all... I might still be able to read cursive if I saw it but I sure can't write in it anymore... at least I don't think I can.
I couldn't write properly in it in the first place... let alone write in cursive now. I can do it, but nobody should ever expect to read it... I would much rather read 150 student journal entries in print than in cursive. Some of my students have wonderful cursive; however, usually the kids who write in cursive are a PITA to read. So having typed that I grabbed a pair of fountain pens and tried writing in cursive. I can write in cursive better than I thought. However, now I remember why I hate writing in cursive so much - instant wrist pain.
I didn't realize writing in cursive was on its way out. That's what they taught me when I was learning to write and I thought that was still the case today. Does no one write in cursive anymore? It's so much quicker and more elegant than print.
I do.......... Bu then again, I do so since my early school years waaaaaaaaaay back and never stopped since
I have tried to resurrect my cursive skills. My current writing style is a mixture of cursive and print - it works well for me. But I thought I would try to resurrect my penmanship - since that was something I had to work hard at in grade school, I thought it a shame to completely lose that skill.
yup.. actually, this gives me an excuse to have a journal and fountain pen out... Whether printing or cursive I run into a few problems 1: wrist hurts after a period of writing. It is better with fountain pens than regular pens but it gets much worse with cursive. 2: I write too slow (I think sentences ahead of where I am writing) - but to ease up on pain and to be legible I should write even slower. As a result I skip letters and parts of letters and occasionally whole words. At least with print I can occasionally squeeze in part of a missing letter - it is harder to do that with cursive.
Yay... some more pen stuff came in... some converters for the Sheaffer and Plumix, a big 4.5 oz bottle of Noodler's Nikita and a dropper fill pen that came with the ink. That red looks great!
okay, I have a Plumix I've been enjoying for a couple months now, and about to order a 12 pack of Varsity's, along with some refills for the Plumix, when I came across the Pilot Knight collection and kinda like it, any thoughts?
I have a black one. I like it, would buy another, and would recommend it. Just know this, Japanese pens marked "medium" usually write like European "fine".
You can get a converter that fits the plumix. That would allow you to use bottled ink if you were interested. Unfortunately, the cap for my Plumix was dropped and has vanished. I would love to get a new cap without spending the $8 for a new pen. I haven't tried the knights. Let me know what you think of them if you get one. Currently, my rotation contains: Two Wality 69TL (one filled with green, the other red) Two Estebrook SJ (one blue, one red) A Platinum Preppy modified for Eye Dropper filling (filled with red) A Dollar 717i (filled with blue) Lamy Vista (filled with green) So far, I have found that I really like fine and extra fine nibs. Medium nibs can be smooth as butter but don't work for filling out passes, logs, etc... I have tried a Hero 329 and it is a wonderful pen... I have picked up a 10 pack of Hero 616 for 99 cents through e-bay. They had issues with the breather tube not being inserted completed so they weren't filling properly and after being fixed still have tendencies for overflow. The Jinhao X750 is a heavy pen and doesn't write consistently. The Haolilai 601F was a nice writing pen and looked nice, but the cap wouldn't stay posted and has broken as the result of a floor collision.
Haha. I'm late to the game, but you made a great choice, Jim. They're excellent pens - I've been very impressed with Pilot's pens (Pilot and Namiki are both Pilot, but they use the Pilot name for the less expensive pens and the Namiki names for the luxury line) whenever I've tried them and have always found them to be a bargain.
I guess old-school shaving goes in hand with Fountain pens after all I have a cheapo Hero pen which works wonderfully. I also have a Pelican future with a stub nib. I like it, but I wish it was finer... I miss being in school when I was using it all the time.
I bought a cheap (under $10) Sheaffer a couple weeks ago. I like it in general, but it has a cheap feel and I'm thinking of going for a nicer pen with a fine nib (the Sheaffer has medium). Looking around, what at first glance appears to be the best deal for me are the mid range ($20-40) pens at xfountainpens.com. Much nicer looking than the Lamay pens IMHO, but I have no idea about quality or feel. What are general opinions? Also, it seems Noodler's is the standard for everyday ink. Any reason to bother looking at other inks?
great to see the thread resuscitated... I don't have much advice to offer on the inks, I'm still using the Pilot ink cartridges for my Plumix and Knight. Ordered a box of Pilot Varsity's off Amazon, they're my daily pen. I use the Plumixes (a black and a blue) for fun stuff, writing notes to my wife, etc., and the Knight for formal or business like adventures - my first use of my Knight was signing the Marriage license for my sister, so that was pretty cool. The Knight does come with a, I don't know the official word for it, bladder? to fill with ink. Maybe one day I'll get to courage to try that out, maybe with the Noodlers ink
The Knight comes with a converter. Is yours a bladder with a metal band around it? If so, you can fill up with a bottle of ink or use a syringe. Fill it from the bottle and squirt it into the converter. I'll do that with empty cartridges since I prefer Aurora black ink. It's about all I use. Sometime I'll load up with Aurora Blue, but I'm not really into all the colors.