I don’t recall using special ink for it. I always just bought the little box of tn Waterman cartridges. The eraser was like a two headed pen with caps. One side had the eraser part, which was a white fine felt tip. It had some sort of neutralizer in it. The other side was a blue fine felt tip for writing over, because the fountain ink wouldn’t work over the spot you erased. I will do.some.looking around to see if I still have one. Something tells me I tucked one away in a drawer just in case I came across one and wanted to compare.
I have a bunch, but rarely use them because I change altitude too much and they all wind up leaking. They wind up sitting at home and dry out and get gummed up.
Well, except for my Pilot Varsity, I love those guys.
I do use dip pens. Over the past few years I’ve been trying to improve my terrible handwriting by learning to do copperplate/engraver’s script. The only problem is that I’ve found that that style of writing has more to do with drawing than handwriting, so my script is very pretty, but my normal day-to-day handwriting hasn’t changed significantly.
Years ago, I got a Monteverde Mega Ink Ball pen that’s similar - fountain pen feed, roller ball tip, takes a refillable ink converter or cartridges. It’s OK, but I’m not really happy with it. The feed is unreliable. It’s a shame, because it’s attractive, feels good in the hand, and has a more abuse-resistant tip than a traditional fountain pen.
If anyone has one of these and has been happy with it, I’d love to know what kind of ink you’re using. I’ve been using Private Reserve Tanzanite ink. It’s a glorious purple-blue color, and it handles nicely in my other pens.
One thing I never quite understood. All the advice says that pens should be store upright. But unless you’ve got it in your pocket, I don’t see a very convenient way to store pens upright. Even the fancy stationery box I have that came with a couple of fountain pens (true, they’re not particularly great ones) has space for storing them flat. I really am not interested in investing money (and space!) in acquiring a lot of specialized storage cases that stand upright or have loops that hold a pen upright.
Back when I did a lot of writing at work, I used either my Parker Vector or my Pelikan Pelikano, and used primarily a lot of Noodler’s Legal Lapis, and occasionally dipped into my bottle of Parker Penman Ebony ink if I wanted really, really black writing for some reason.
Oh, yes, I love me a good fountain pen. I’m a pen guy - I love using 'em, looking at 'em, playing with 'em. I use a fountain pen exclusively anymore. I have a battered but much-loved Waterford, a custom-made fountain/ballpoint that I bought at a pen show (it leaks like crazy, but I like the heft and balance), and my current everyday pen, a Lamy Safari. Very inexpensive - plastic body - but it has the easiest inkflow and softest drag of any pen I’ve used. Plus the grip is ergonomic and easy on the hand.
I do prefer a metal body, so I just last week bought a Lamy Studio. Love it, but don’t love the medium nib I bought, so I’m sending it to Lamy U.S.A. to have them put in a fine nib.
One of my dreams one day is to own a Montblanc Meisterstuck.
The secret to keeping pens is to be just enough of a jerk about it whenever someone “borrows” your pen that they give it back. Hesitate just a fraction of a second before saying “Sure,” and handing over a pen. Make sure they notice you are still looking directly, obsessively at the pen after they’ve used it, instead of looking them in the eyes.
I’d go a step further—never let anyone use your pen. Once you’ve started using it, the nib starts to change shape based on your own hand, angle, etc. Letting someone else use it will screw it up.
And in any case, most people have no idea how to use a fountain pen. They don’t know that you have to position the nib a certain way. They don’t know that you can’t twist/turn the nib while writing. They scribble too much to get the ink flowing. They press too hard, endangering the nib. Most importantly They don’t care, because they aren’t used to the idea of a pen that you have to care about.
I try to keep another pen on me that I can hand to others.
Oh, yeah, I was just addressing people who say they can’t keep any pens long enough to run them empty of ink. I would never lend out a fountain pen; if there is some time-important reason to write something down, I’ll write it for the penless.
I always say “Nib up” as I’m handing over the pen. Makes the recipient look at the pen and realize it’s not a cheapie Bic or Paperwrite. Also intimidates a little bit.
The reactions I get at college when people ask to borrow my pen are priceless.
One person said referring to my Rotring Intial, “Oh, my dad used to use real fountain pens.”
I was confused, and they said, “Yeah, that actually take ink, not one of these fashionable pens to made to look like fountain pens.”
It was confusing because the Rotring Initial barely does look like a fountain pen.
Anyway, the other reactions tend to be that people are afraid they’re going to break it, or jamming it into the paper like a ballpoint, holding the nib upside down, asking why I gave them a calligraphy pen to use, etc.
One person I know uses a dip pen because it is slow. He takes his time to think carefully before he writes, and as he writes. BTW, he’s a judge, and a very good one at that.
