No, it’s the size of the nib. If you get a fine or extra fine nib, there’s less ink going down on the page, so the drying time is faster.
According to the Goulet video, it sounds like you’re a sidewriter as opposed to an underwriter (no pun intended here although you might be both) or overwriter.
Fountain pens and dip pens are very different. The ink flow is more controlled with a fountain pen. Quick drying ink can help with dry time. I was surprised that some of the popular inks like Pilot Iroshizuku is a quick drying ink, so you might not even need to get a specialty ink.
Here’s a Goulet video on products and issues for left handers and fountain pens.
When i have a smeary pen, I’m an over-writer. But it’s awkward. And pens that don’t deposit liquid ink on the paper are easier for regular use.
The point is that fountain pens ARE smeary pens. And the joy of using them is having a range of thickness, and the liquids feel of the ink. Otherwise, it’s just a less-well-designed ballpoint.
I actually played with calligraphy for a while. I know what I’m talking about. And when someone writes
I’m jealous of their right-hand privilege. Because it is lovely to feel that flow of liquid. It’s just too much of a nuisance for me to do it often.
For me, there are lots of joys of fountain pens that make them better than ballpoints. Back before I really got into fountain pens, I was buying a bunch of different pens, looking for the one that I liked. I color code things so there needed to be different colors. I bought probably somewhere near a hundred pens at the time. I didn’t foresee that when I was ready to use the pens, they would be dried out, unable to be used. That was a waste.
That doesn’t happen with my fountain pens. I’ve had some for decades. Just put in more ink, and they’re good to go.
I also didn’t foresee that the manufacturers of some ballpoints would discontinue certain pen types and certain colors. With my fountain pen, when I found a shape, size and weight that I like, I don’t have to try to find it again. It can last a lifetime.
Then there was a period when I was into mixing ink colors. You can mix any color with three ink colors. That was fun.
Then there was a time when I didn’t want to spend any money on my writing utensils. I used a decade old Waterman $10 bottle of ink with a pen I already had for 2 years. Worked great.
I also like that the fountain pens I have get better over time as the nibs shape to the way I write and get smoother all the time. For me, I use less pressure with a fountain pen than a ballpoint, so it’s easier to write long journal entries with them.
Sometimes I like the smooth feel of the liquid ink, but sometimes I just want a reliable writing utensil.
The more I’ve been using my fountain pens, the more I find to like about them.
They’re not for everyone, but I find a lot to like about them.
If you like a fine point pen that flows smoothly, try the uniball signo sometime. They seem to be marketed for Japan. I first noticed them when a Korean co-worker brought some back from a trip to Korea. But they can be found on Amazon.
I have. It’s probably my second favorite. I might have bought this set later than the other pens, but I still have one. I was using it to label stuff. I just checked it out. It still works! It has lasted longer than any of the other pens, so there’s that.
JetPens has a large selection of writing implements, including fountain pens. I’ve enjoyed their multipacks; I’ve been able to try out lots of different pens – like the Signo – that aren’t typically found in US office supply stores.
If you really need a million colours simultaneously, I am not convinced fountain pens are the best choice. For one, you would need a million fountain pens, and if they are different pens the nibs may not match, etc. There is a reason for the enduring popularity of dip pens, brushes, pastels, conté, etc., and of course various gel-based products.
Actually, if you need a million colors, fountain pens are the way to go since ink can be mixed endlessly. There are no ballpoints that come in even hundreds of colors.
You wouldn’t have to load every color at the same time. You could get some cheap pens like these Jinhaos. That would make the pen and the nib uniform.
For the inks, you have a few choices, you could either buy 3 huge bottles of ink to mix. You’d have to record the formulations if you wanted to replicate them. There are some charts on the internet for this.
Or you could buy cartridges like this Kaweco set, but that limits the colors a lot.
Or you could get sample inks from places like Goulet pens for about $2 each. They carry around 700 inks, based on their website. Other pen places sell samples too. A sample would fill a pen at least a couple times.
The problem I had with getting big sets of colored ballpoint pens is that they’d be dried out before I used them all. This post reminded me that I had bought some samples over 15 years ago and never used them. I vacuum sealed them in a food saver pouch and left them with my fountain pen stuff. I just looked at them today. 2 of the 4 sample bottles look like when I got them. 2 of them dehydrated some.
If I was going to use samples, I’d probably put them in used cartridges that I’d fill with a syringe. Then I’d put them in an airtight container and load them as I needed the colors.
Indeed. I love writing with a fountain pen, even those which are fairly dry, with fairly dry blue or black inks. It just is a more pleasant tactile feeling than a ballpoint.
I have a pen from the early 1920’s (Waterman 52), one from the 1930’s (Eversharp Skyline), from the 1940’s (Pelikan 100N), from the 1950’s (several). All write differently from each other but all wonderfully. They are made of vulcanized latex rubber, celluloid, and modern resins. I love them all and write with them all.
When I have to write with a ballpoint I’m always mildly disgusted at the shallow, greasy, crude, forceful writing experience. I don’t mind a very high quality gel pen but they are a disposable modern experience. No one is going to be cherishing a gel pen for a hundred years.
