I bought an imitation Montblanc here in Korea. Looks good from far, but it is far from good. I like that it has a plunger ink well. There is a real market here for Fountain pens, unlike razors. So AD could really affect me. You will also have to find notebooks with good paper that won't bleed the ink and feather the edges. I am confused about the use of these pens. When I fill up with the plunger, do I push down the plunger to get the ink flowing? When I am done with it for the day. Do I empty the ink out? Do you clean the pen in some way?
I use so many notebooks for school notes that I'm not worried and dont plan on buying anything more than the 2$ college ruled books for my classes. I also dont plan on spending much money on some korean or japanese pens (which seem to perform well, look good, and be rather inexpensive). I believe I was reading that there are regions in asia that are very well known for pens? As for how to fill pens, I dont know You could google it.
There are different ways to fill a fountain pen. Most new pens come with an adapter, which is basically a cartridge with a screw type plunger. To fill these, dip the nib of the pen half way in the ink bottle (make sure the adapter is in place), screw the plunger down to remove air, then screw it back up. As it retracts, ink will be sucked into the adapter. You mentioned a plunger. I'm not sure if you mean a bladder or not. A bladder is a permanent piece of the pen and used very similar to an adapter in how it's filled. The main difference is you press the bladder and then release. Works sort of like a turkey baster. In all cases, gravity will supply the ink from whatever the pen uses to hold ink to the tip of the nib. You shouldn't have to do anything to get it flowing. When done for the day, simply cap the pen and you're done. You do not need to empty the pen out. The only exception is when flying. Due to changing air pressure, a partly filled fountain pen can explode so to speak. The solution is to completely fill it or completely empty it before the flight. Cleaning the pen should be done every few refills. Just rinse the nib in water until the water runs clear. There's other things to do if the pen is really clogged but I find just rinsing it out every dozen or so refills keeps it running smooth.
China is becoming more well known for producing good fountain pens. Germany as well. I use just plain paper. The ink will feather out a little so a pen designated "fine line" might effectively write as more of a medium on the regular paper but a good ink and a good pen goes far to counter the effects of cheap paper. You would have no troubles on most paper. It's true though that the true beauty of a fountain pen is seen on higher quality paper.
I'd believe it. From all the reading I've done it looks like ink takes a tad bit longer to dry on the more porus more expensive papers such as molskine and the like? I'm not sure. Anyway, I'm in no place to be spending that much on notebooks. Besides, I rather not stand out any more than having a nice pen
I have a nice collection of Sheaffer Fountain Pens starting with a couple of 1920's Jade models, moving through the 30's all the way to the 60's. Including Snorkels, Lever fillers, plunge fillers. I also have several modern pens, Monte Verde, Lamy, Pelikan, Parker and Conklin. I use Fp's exclusively and I dable into repair some of them. As for ink, Noodler's and Private Reserve will be all you need. Others like inks like Parker, Mont Blanc and Pelikan. Raf
Raf, have you tried the Private reserve quick dry inks? I need an ink to dry quick enough that I dont smear it while taking all my notes.
Well, for the longer drying inks that's what you need a blotter for You don't think FPAD stops at pens, do you?
Haha, I dont even know what a blotter is. I thought that was just used to clean the nib off after you fill it. Since its college you take notes untill the very last second of class and than as soon as the teacher says "well thats it..." the note book slams closed and I run out the door. I pretty much need instant drying.
Now I'm slightly worried about trying the Private Reserve quick dry because a couple people say it dries in their pen and clogs it and all that. Others say its the best stuff on earth. The people writing the negative reviews could just have cheap pens, store them incorrectly, and not cap them tightly. Hmmmm... May not be the best first ink to use.
After looking at all the links posted, I want to try all those inks. Actually I want a bottle of each. The bottles are just as nice as some of the pens. It's a good thing that the only colour I want is black.
Pick up the quick dry Private Reserve and see how quickly it dries I dont yet have a pen that takes anything but cartridges and havent picked up a converter yet. The Noodlers bulletproof black looked good as well as some of their other shaves of super black. Noodler has some awesome colors that I'd love to try if I had more than one pen and liked writing in anything but black. I find it a little bit on the annoying side to read notes written in anything but black. I guess this comes from reading so many text books printed with black ink? Sure, the colors look cool, but I dont think I could handle studying brightly colored or oddly colored notes.
http://www.goldquills.com/proddetail.asp?prod=A800&cat=39 I've really got a thing for that pen, but cant afford the 180$ price tag. I thought I saw a rip-off ish pen that looked very similar somewhere online but cant seem to find it. Anybody have anybody have any idea on where I might find one? I'm thinking more like 20$ haha. Its the Schaeffer Legacy.
Its an absolutely beautiful vinatage yet ultra modern pen. If it is made, there must be somebody making their own version of it.
So I ordered a couple pens and a couple bottles of ink. I ordered a Duke and a Hero pen as well as the quick dry black from private reserve and the Ottoman Azure from noodlers. I purchased them from isellpens.com But damn the 10$ shipping charges.
Very nicely done JayKay. Those are good starter pens. I own many high dollar pens but I find that Duke and Hero make pens that write comparably.
I hope so! I cant afford the one I reall want. Mmmmmmm shaeffer valor, but the legacy heritate is 150$ cheaper, but still 140$ more than I want to be spending. I cant believe I spend 20$ on ink. I'll have to start getting used to this and moderating between fountain pens and shaving.
JayKay, your next stop will be www.fountainpenhospital.com . I believe they are located in your fine city. They have a great selection of low-end through high-end pens. I have bought a couple of Montblanc and Visconti pens from here.
