I mostly use a dip pen for calligraphy too, but I keep a Schaeffer cartridge pen for practice/travel.But they don’t make my model any more.
I reload my own cartridges with a hypodermic needle. I usually use Winsor&Newtons or Parker Quink inks.
Oh I hardly used it so I don’t want to give the wrong impression, but I don’t remember it as scratchy. I think it’s smoother than grinding a fountain pen to a calligraphy nib (that’s what you’re supposed to do, aren’t you?).
Man, this makes me want to take it out and play with it again.
I think it’s more about the ink than the pen when it comes to fast drying.
There are inks from Private Reserve that seem to literally never dry.
Also, the paper really matters. The paper has to absorb ink for it to dry.
So cheap paper will tend to allow the ink to dry faster.
You could watch this video by sbrebrown about calligraphy pens, although it is rather long:
Interesting discussion of calligraphy, though. The closest I come to that is having some calligraphy nibs for my Sheaffer No Nonsense.
Lamy, fine point, black ink.
I really like them because they’re smooth, don’t smear, and they allow me to write really small.
I use blue-black. If it’s too light for me, I add black to the blue. I find that Waterman blue-black ink is the right shade for me.
I have several fountain pens. One or two of them are cheap new ones you pick up at the drug store (cartridges), and others are vintage with the little levers. One has a bladder with a spring metal strap as the reservoir. And tI have a blue Waterman Phileas that I used before I got the Mediterranean. I have ink in red, green, brown (I think), and maybe a couple of others. Never use them. I like the Mediterranean with the dark blue ink.
0.7 mm is considered fine? I suspect pens in Asian countries are finer than in Western. I found this true in Australia as well. My favorite pen, the Uni Signo DX 0.38 mm isn’t even the thinnest - it comes in 0.28 and 0.18 mm versions.
I didn’t know they made thinner. Where do I find such things?
I have a Lamy with a medium point, three Onlines with wide points, a Pelikan, a couple of Parkers…
I have lots of fountain pens. I actually have to carry a “normal” pen around the office when I go to get things signed because no one can ever figure out my pens.
I have about five different ink colours in rotation - in the blue/green/purple range.
My daily-use pen is a Parker Sonnet, filled with Noodler’s Heart of Darkness. I’ve been using the same cartridge for the past three years because I refill it with a syringe and dispensing needle.
I also have a Rosetta cartridge rollerball pen which uses a recycled Waterman long cartridge filled with Noodler’s HoD. The pen is built around a Schmidt rollerball tip, which is easily replaceable for about $4.
I haven’t tried the Noodler’s pens. I might pick one up the next time I order something. I do have a Preppy eyedropper that came with a bottle of Noodler’s ink.
My new favourite is a vintage Parker Vacumatic with an italic nib. I also use a Twsbi with a 1.1 stub. Those nibs almost make my handwriting look acceptable. Almost.
I can’t master the art of not holding my pen in place and letting a big blob come out. Plus, I lose pens really easily, particularly the more expensive they are.
And if I do take up calligraphy, I’ll probably use the marker kind. Now markers are nice–if only they came with smaller tips without also being expensive.
I am a regular user of fountain pens, but I have never benefitted in this way.
I have several fountain pens, but these are my regulars:
— A vintage Parker 51 pen with a green barrel. Got it for about $40 on eBay. very nice.
— A Sailor “music nib” pen with yellow body
— A Cross Townsend. I love the weight of this pen (black body)
— A Namiki disappearing nib pen (red body)
I also have pretty nice Waterman and Shaefer pens with the Parker 51 style hooded nibs, but I always make a mess with those.
I used to use different colored inks, but now I stick to black and blue-black because everything else seems to clog the pens very easily.
I’m anti Mont Blanc. That’s the brand for people who want to spend a lot of money but don’t really care about pens.
I’ve tried out a few Levenger pens, but the only one that’s really any good is their basic True Writer.
I use dip pens too!
I have my treasured Jorg Hysek dip pen set.
But I also like a lot of the cheap dip pens that they sell at Barnes and Noble. Some of them have pretty good nibs.
I’ve tried to use quills, but I’ve never really gotten the hang of it.
Pens I have that I don’t use often:
Aurora Ipsilon — the ink refiller broke and I haven’t bothered replacing it
Jörg Hysek fountain pen —unlike the dipping pen, the fountain pen (which has the same overall design) is a piece of crap
Levenger Newton — weirdly balanced and comes apart
The Sheaffer I referenced above is the Legacy Heritage Look of Leather (black) and the Waterman is the Edson (sapphire). They’re beautiful pens, but I just can’t keep them clean. Every time I uncap them, there’s ink everywhere.
I’m interested to see the tendencies of FP users here on the SDMB. I’m surprised there aren’t more Noodler’s pen fans. Seems that Parker wins in terms of popularity.
But I got something interesting in the mail today that those of you who don’t like fountain pens may enjoy. It’s a refillable roller ball pen. You fill it with normal fountain pen ink.
I got a converter for it so I don’t have to use cartridges.
I must admit, it is pretty nifty. It is reasonably smooth, lays down a thin line, and generally seems to be good for any time when a fountain pen may not be practical.
(For instance, when you are forced to write on bad paper.)
(No affiliation to Jetpens. I don’t even shop there really. It’s just a good way to read about the pen.)
[edit] I haven’t tried most of the pens on here yet. I’m a college student, so I don’t have a lot of money to spend on pens. I did get a chance to try a Sailor music pen and found it really awesome.
I think you have nice taste!
I’ve never heard of Noodler until you just mentioned it.
If I want to use a cheap fountain pen, I use a Pilot Varsity or one of those Sheaffer cartridge fountain pens you can buy at the regular office supply store. But cheap fountain pens never have any weight or balancing.
Ah, well, you might want to give them a second thought.
The Noodler’s Ebonite Konrad in particular is quite large, heavy, and balanced.
It has a flexxy nib. It’s a great pen for the price.
The Ahab, too, I’ve had good experiences with, but that is not universal.
I’ve never heard of Noodler until you just mentioned it.
If I want to use a cheap fountain pen, I use a disposable Pilot Varsity or one of those Sheaffer cartridge fountain pens you can buy at the regular office supply store. But cheap fountain pens never have any weight or balancing.
I’d like to try a Pelikan or a newer Parker.
The refillable roller sounds interesting.
I’m left handed so no.
You know, I don’t have much experience with Parker of any kind.
I accidentally got sent a Parker Vector that I did not even order from an online retailer.
It is cool, I guess, but not my favorite pen. They are really cheap though, so that’s somewhat understandable.
I should give them another try.
You just have to use a very fast drying ink.
You definitely can use them without problems though.