I know we have a few folks on this board who use fountain pens.
For years I’ve used Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens as my “go to” pens for work. I love their vibrant colors, the way they feel on the page, and their old-school feel.
Today, Boing Boing put up a review of this pen as an excellent starter pen. The reviews on Amazon seem to agree that it’s a solid pen. I’m interested in purchasing a “real” fountain pen.
So, questions for the Dope:
Agreed? Is this a good starter pen? I’m open to other suggestions as well.
I’m seeing that this pen can use cartridges, but also has a converter so that one can fill with ink? Will these cartridges work?
2b) What’s the difference? I assume that loading ink manually is more cost-effective. Will the pen also write more smoothly if I load the ink myself? Or is it one of those “taking pride in the maintenance and care of your old-school writing implement” deals? Are there any other advantages that I’m not considering?
By all accounts that’s a nice pen regardless of price. I’m thinking of picking a couple up just to keep loaded with my rarely used colors.
In the past, my recommendation for a starter fountain pen has been the Lamy Safari. Ill let you know if i change my mind.
Why manually fill with a converter? Cartridges are relatively much more expensive than bottled ink, and come only in a small handful of colors. With bottled ink, you’ll have hundreds if not thousands of color options. Way more fun.
Check out Goulet Pens for all the ink in the world, with sample tubes available for most. I’m not affilitated, I just like them.
That looks like a pen that I need.
As already noted, use of a converter opens up a wider variety of ink colors. I favor Noodlers ink.
Every fountain pen enthusiast owes it hirself to have the hilarious Schrade Tactical Fountain Pen.
The comedy value of its fierce styling aside, it is a nice pen that writes very smoothly. It doesn’t come with a converter but easily available small ones fit it.
I have both Safaris and Metropolitans, both are great options for the price…I slightly prefer the Safari (though some can’t get along with its triangular grip section); the Metropolitan has a nice solid metal feel.
Bottled ink is cheaper per unit volume (though most people aren’t going to break the bank buying cartridges) and available in MANY more colors (probably the major advantage for most, who get into playing with ink/paper/nib combinations); cartridges are very convenient and a bit less fuss/mess (I built a little wooden jig to hold tippy ink sample vials upright - don’t ask why)…I also think most cartridges hold a little more ink than most converters, so if you go through ink quickly you refill less often (and spare cartridges are easy to keep on hand.)
I don’t really have a go to “entry” level pen. My current favorite is the yard-o-led Corinthian fountain pen. Bought it a number of years ago and I don’t know what it’s up to now. Not in the entry “class” to be sure.
I’ve had friends buy cheap fountain pens that feel "scratchy’ and are disappointed and throw them away. No kidding. I do think to some level you get what you pay for in fountain pens. I equate this to wine. Almost everyone can pick out a $5 bottle of wine from a $30 bottle. But most of us (myself included) can’t pick a $30 bottle from a $300 bottle (YMMV). I’m on that page with fountain pens.
I’m 100% in the cartage camp. They are cheap, transportable in my brief case, easy to use and don’t make a mess. The bottles just aren’t worth the clean up and are just a disaster waiting to happen on my desk.
I bought a cheapish fountain pen (I think it was about $20) to see if I enjoyed using them. I don’t remember what brand it is–I think it’s a Lamy. But it is scratchy, which is annoying. So I dug out my Waterman, which had long ago gotten clogged, and followed the instructions of a friend who’s into pens to rejuvenate it. That thing is a joy to write with. Smooth and even and tons nicer than the cheapie. I don’t remember how much it cost, but I’m pretty sure it was at least $100 (it was a gift many years ago).
I pulled the trigger and bought the pen! I got the silver barrel and the medium nib. I also picked up a package of six purple cartridges because purple ink is my jam.
If I like it, I’ll look into getting the bottled ink.
If you take a single edge razor blade, put the point of it into the nib’s breather hole, and run it down the slit once or twice, it will frequently correct scratchiness and poor ink flow. If you do that and then spend some time doodling on a piece of glass, you can make a cheap nib write well above its price point.
You’ve mentioned that buying bottled ink gives access to a lot more colors. How many pens do you have? What if you want to put a different color into the pen? Do you have to just dump the ink left in the pen, or do you eject it back into the bottle? I assume you flush out the pen with water between refills of a different color?
I have four pens in rotation right now. When one runs dry, I choose another to fill and put in use. I clean my nibs and converters by putting them in a cup and thoroughly rinsing them with lukewarm (NOT hot) water until the rinse water runs clear. I air dry them on a piece of paper towel. If you aren’t going to be using a pen for more than a couple days, it is a good idea to empty it and clean it before putting it away. Pens that are stored loaded often end up with clogged nibs as the ink dries. While clogged nibs can often be salvaged, it is a pain and some inks make it much more difficult than others.
The question of emptying the unused ink back in the bottle vs. down the drain (for fear of contamination) comes up regularly on fountain pen forums, people seem to be split about 50/50 on the matter.
[Note: Images grabbed from the Internet. Maybe I’ll take a picture of my pens sometime.]
After using the cheap, cartridge-type fountain pens I could pick up at the drug store when I was a teen and young adult, I bought a Waterman Phileas blue medium-point fountain pen. (I don’t know what’s up with the price for the pen in that link – I think I paid $40 or $50 for each of mine.) It’s a nice pen, which can be used with disposable cartridges or with the refillable reservoir that it comes with. I’ve always used the refillable reservoir.
Later I bought a Levenger (Schaeffer) Mediterranean fountain pen. The Watermans are living in my pen case with the vintage Esterbrooks. The Levenger is my ‘go-to’ pen for when I want to use a fountain pen. I find it attractive, and it writes well. I use dark blue ink, often adding black ink to blue if what’s in the jar isn’t dark enough.
As to ‘a good starter pen’, I really liked the Waterman. I’d suggest getting a fine nib instead of a medium. There’s a translucent blue Waterman Phileas at amazon for $25.
For the past couple of years I’ve been using a jade Parker Jotter, but it may be time to switch back to the fountain pen.
My pen came! I screwed up the first cartridge but managed it properly with the second.
The ink doesn’t flow as smoothly as it does with the disposable varsities and I think it requires a bit more pressure on the page, but I like the overall weight and feel.
