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Post by penguy on Nov 18, 2018 3:57:02 GMT
1. When you are looking to buy a fountain pen what is your criteria for making your selection? How would you rank the criteria below, starting with the most important and going down. The nib The price The filling system The color Aesthetics, overall appearance The Brand something else, what?
2. Are you a fountain pen user or do you use a ballpoint or rollerball? If you don't use a fountain pen do you think you would like to, if not why not?
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Post by filpot on Nov 18, 2018 8:26:30 GMT
To answer your second question first, I am predominantly a fountain pen user for letters. For other things I use ballpoint and sometimes rollerball.
As I'm an inveterate scribbler, the most important thing for me when buying a fountain pen (it I'm going to write with it a lot, and not just use it for odd bits of calligraphy) is shape. I hold my pen very low down on the barrel, close to the paper, and I have a "bump" on the side of my right middle finger - most shapes of fountain pen are quite uncomfortable for me to hold.
For example, I have a Parker Sonnet that I never use because the end of the barrel has a ridge around it right where the bump is that makes it uncomfortable to hold, and the nib is quite long, so I can't get near enough to the paper to write neatly. I have a Sheaffer Targa that I use all the time because it's sooooooo comfy and I can write neatly. Ditto vintage Parkers given to me by my husband - I love the 21 and the 61, not so fond of the 45.
When buying online I can't actually try a pen, so "overall appearance" is a primary consideration, not for aesthetics, but for comfort of use.
So, to answer your question in light of all that
1. Overall appearance for comfort 2. Price 3. Brand (up to a point - like everyone, I have my favourites - Sheaffer and Parker. The only Lamy pen I've ever owned was also the only fountain pen I've ever thrown away. Actually in the bin!) 4. Nib - this may rank higher if I'm looking for a particular thing - I'm being given a Conklin pen with an omniflex nib for Christmas!! 5. Filling System - I prefer not to use cartridges and not to have to spend extra money on a filler.
I'm really not bothered about the colour of a pen. I got a Sheaffer Taranis in Ferrari Red because it was the cheapest way to get the pen to see if I liked it. I wasn't prepared to pay an extra £100 for a different colour barrel!
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Post by stompie on Nov 18, 2018 11:42:10 GMT
1. When you are looking to buy a fountain pen what is your criteria for making your selection? How would you rank the criteria below, starting with the most important and going down. The nib The price The filling system The color Aesthetics, overall appearance The Brand something else, what? 2. Are you a fountain pen user or do you use a ballpoint or rollerball? If you don't use a fountain pen do you think you would like to, if not why not? The nib and price criteria are interchangeable. I don’t care how good the nib is , I am not paying £1000 for a pen! but, if it is a nib I really want, then I can go beyond a usual price range. The trouble is, unless I know the person who has done the sample of handwriting, I don’t really trust samples of hand writing. For example, I purchased a Stipula based on an advert from an unknown person. To me, the Stipula is useful purely as a paperweight and has been empty for many a year. i have found that I can do things with dip pens that a fountain pen ca never achieve so, for shaped writing, a dip pen is my preference and has been for a long time now. Also, for the convenience of changing ink, a dip pen makes it very easy compared to a fountain pen. i have stopped chasing fountain pens now and most of mine are cleaned and packed away with a few exceptions. My Manuscript pens are always full and at hand - cheap but efficient and with italic nibs that I enjoy best. i have a few Parker’s filled as well as som Schaefer’s, also, all with italic nibs. Colour is not really an issue as long as it not shocking pink. I have some noodles in some nice colours but I tend to use them as dip pens to try out new inks. I do have some Jinhao and Baoer pens that are also nice colours which I chose specifically but as they were cheap, I went for fancy colours. I prefer fountain to ball or rollers but, at work I have to use a ball point, much to my disgust, but if possible, I take paperwork home and complete it with a fountain or dip. My every day carry is a Manuscript pen, again, because they are reliable but also cheap, so if it breaks or goes missing I am not concerned. I have quite a few spares of them as, if on sale, I buy 6 at a time.
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Post by radellaf on Nov 18, 2018 18:57:41 GMT
I have such a surplus of pens at this point that I don't really rank criteria like that. I do like an interesting nib, and by interesting I don't mean just flex (not a big fan, though spring can be nice) or italic (a plus, but I have a lot). I just mean something that doesn't look like everything else. Yet-Another-Bock-or-Jowo makes a fancy pen body less interesting, because I have a bunch of pens with exactly the same business end (often to the point you can unscrew a nib unit and exchange them). OTOH, the Karas Pens being compatible with Kaweco EF nib units was great when I got a broader-than-usual F Karas. The price is extremely important. I love some of the new Aurora offerings, but I have some similar pens. $300+ had better be something really special, and at a point where I feel like I have "extra" money and no other hobbies are calling for it. For $20-$30 I might get something on impulse, if I'm not feeling over-spent. For around $100, something that really calls to me (Pelikan Olivine) I might get in a few weeks if I still want it. Huge (50%+) discounts or the rare time I notice or look for an eBay deal are dangerous. Filling systems don't have a lot of variety. It's usually CC. Something cool like the Pilot 823, which I got two of when I felt, perhaps unjustly, like I could afford it, are unusual and fun enough they can affect my choice, though really, it was the feel of the smoke F one in my hand that made me feel like I just had to have one with a M nib. My excitement, however, resulted in getting a M new without a good discount, as opposed to the used (barely) F at a better price. Not that I regret it. I do kind of regret how hard to clean out that filling system is. I leave pens with ink for years, so well-sealing caps and easy to flush feeds are a high priority. Color can be a great selling point, like with the M200/5, when I have at least one of that pen and really like it. If it's a <$5 pen, I may get a whole pack of colors. If it's the Pelikan, I have to be slowly led to make yearly payments for a similar pack. Stealth black pens are also cool, but when paired with inflated prices, they don't show up on radar. My 1990s (bought in the 1990s) black pilot VP is probably my favorite, though I have my eye on some sort of monteverde, or that Kaweco if I ever see it for like $50 vs $150. Overall appearance is generally what I first see and determines if I'll take a closer look or click, scroll, or turn the page. I love some of the ridiculous pens in the holiday catalogs and will oooh and aaah at them with no thought of buying one unless I suddenly find an extra year's salary in the couch cushions. Most recently, the Pilot Explorer in some emails has grabbed me for appearance and color. It's a _bit_ more than i want to spend on a whim but also I can't decide which color and it's too much to buy two straight off. The nib is not interesting, but that low-end Pilot nib in F or M is my favorite everyday writer. My Omas Arco's 18K F is my favorite nib of all time, but it's no longer inked after the nib fell out, I got a repair part, I didn't repair it perfectly (well enough), and finally got it cleaned and lubed in the primitive piston mechanism. If I ink it, I'll never get it that clean without removing the feed again, and unlike Pilot I'm not sure how many times I can do that without that repair part needing another replacement or the barrel cracking. It _might_ be the pen I could sell for the most money, too. My employment has been less than reliable. I should probably ink it anyway. The brand does not matter at all, except as I know what sort of appearance and features tend to go with the brand. If I hear there's a new TWSBI, I'll be a lot more likely to want it than a new Parker, but if I can see a picture of it that means a lot more than brand. I use fountain pens whenever I can and most always have one in my shirt pocket when I'm out. I also like G2, Sarasa, and Pilot V5 rollers and some ballpoints like the Lamy 2000 4-color or platinum 2+1. Bic Crystals I use more to separate hard drives in the stack to allow for better cooling, and to keep in the car since they'll write no matter what. Not a snob, though. I'll use my FP instead of the provided BP to sign a receipt but just so I can use the FP that I want to get more use out of. I also have a handful of dip pens hanging around the desk but rarely use them. They _are_ capable of italic and hairline writing that FPs pretty much can't manage, but I just don't like the feel of them that much.
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Post by MKB on Nov 19, 2018 7:01:24 GMT
#2 - I use a fountain pen at work, a Pilot Capless, which is convenient since I can click instead of uncapping. I also use fountain pens for personal correspondence.
#1 - I use different criteria on different occasions when deciding on a fountain pen. Sometimes performance is key, like a piston filler for the ink capacity & easy starting after long periods of disuse. I like a pleasant nib, an easy to clean pen. (TWSBI Eco for most of these criteria.) Often price or rather value is key (Nemosine). Other times aesthetic appeal wins out (MB Antoine Saint-Exupéry), or historic appeal (Waterman Safety Pen). Sometimes the specific application requirements are key to the selection (Capless).
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Post by although on Nov 19, 2018 11:38:30 GMT
#2 - I use fountain pens almost exclusively. I will dig out a ballpoint if I have a multi-part form that needs filling out, or if I need to loan a pen to someone (Parker Jotter ballpoint with a Monteverde gel refill is my goto ballpoint for such occasions) #1 - My primary overriding criteria for a fountain pen is graceful shirt pocket carry. (of course, the pen has to work well, but that goes without saying) Here's my dimensional requirements; a - Must have a clip b - Pocket depth (distance from end of barrel to inside top of clip) should be less than 5 inches c - Must be relatively light (less than 40g, less than 30g is better) d - Must have some length of cap past the top of the clip (Sheaffer Balance is great, Parker 51 is a nope)(I don't wear shirts with pocket flaps) #2 - Looks... No ugly pens! This is entirely subjective. #3 - I prefer a wet writer. I don't mind waiting a bit for ink to dry, but I really like to see the color and shading. #4 - I kind of don't care about filling systems. I'm not super fond of cartridge fillers, but I can refill carts with a syringe. #5 - Nib size... F M B stubs... they are all good. I don't much care about flex. I've never had a monster OBBB or music nib... #6 - Balance... If you can feel where the pen balances, it's too heavy. Get a lighter pen. See #1 All that being said, I have some big pens and some desk pens. I use them fairly frequently and I like them for what they are. But, for me, a pen loses half of it's utility if its not right there ready to go in the shirt pocket. I have a Kaweco Sport for pants pocket carry on the rare occasions when I am wearing a *gasp* no-pocket shirt.
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Post by hoyabella on Nov 19, 2018 19:48:36 GMT
As a non expert, my criteria are: 1a - price because I would not buy an expensive pen without being sure that it suits me very well and it does not tire my hands after one page. 1b - how it feels when I hold it. That's why I haven't bought one on line, so far, even if there are cheap options... I have a metal Papermate whose barrel has a rough surface so it does not slip, I like how the greep feels very much and I'd love to find something similar. 3 - nib, that is, the nib size. I'd choose an F because sometimes I feel M nibs are too big for my handwriting. Apart the size, I don't know enough about nibs to be picky 4 - colour and overall appearance. 5 - filling system; I mainly use cartridges but also have a pen with a converter and one with an ink bladder, plus I am very comfortable refilling with syringes, too. Not the most important thing 6 - brand; at the moment I am not partial to (or against) any brand
Sometimes I think *my* writing instrument is the pencil! In general, I use fps for correspondence, ball point pens and pencils at work, mainly bpps for anything else (shopping list, crosswords...). I don't like gel pens and other pens with liquid ink very much.
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Post by motsamicaux on Nov 19, 2018 23:49:51 GMT
1. Price 2. Customer reviews (this isn't in your list) 3. Filling system 4. Nib 5. Brand 6. Aesthetics, overall appearance 7. Color
I'm a fountain pen user. (I don't collect fountain pens.) But I also use rollerballs and, sometimes a ballpoint if the paper or, more often, the postcard I'm writing on doesn't take fountain pen ink well.
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Post by christyotwisty on Apr 29, 2019 17:58:32 GMT
1. When you are looking to buy a fountain pen what is your criteria for making your selection? How would you rank the criteria below, starting with the most important and going down. 2. Are you a fountain pen user or do you use a ballpoint or rollerball? 1. The price 2. The color 3. The nib 4. The Brand 5. something else, what? -- how it feels in my hand. I have 'medium hands' but long fingers. Short pens as darling as they are, are more prone to making my hand cramp up. Also, I like to 'match' colour of pen to ink with a third of my pens 6. Aesthetics, overall appearance 7. The filling system
I am a happy yet covetous fountain pen user.
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kamuela
Crayons
Posts: 10
Looking for Penpals?: Yes. Global penpals welcome
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Post by kamuela on Aug 1, 2019 2:06:48 GMT
1. When you are looking to buy a fountain pen what is your criteria for making your selection? How would you rank the criteria below, starting with the most important and going down. The nib The price The filling system The color Aesthetics, overall appearance The Brand something else, what? 2. Are you a fountain pen user or do you use a ballpoint or rollerball? If you don't use a fountain pen do you think you would like to, if not why not? I prefer quality vintage fountain pens such as Parker, Pelikan, and Schaefer. New pens are all Pelikans. 1. They must hold a lot of ink. So that means Parker "vac-fils" and Pelikans. 2. The nib must be tuned and polished and of great writing quality, good flow, smooth writing. 3. The pen must "feel" and look like a quality well assembled item. Not feel cheapie. 4. I appreciate a quality writing experience. So, good Rhodia paper, great pens, and a well composed word for myself and others to enjoy. I am a dedicated fountain pen user. j
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Post by richila on Aug 22, 2019 16:50:40 GMT
2. I only use fountain pens and always carry a pen with permanent ink to fill out paperwork. 1. I love pocket pens, but I need a heavy pen. I have a collection of knock-off Kaweco Sports that are all metal except for 2 resin Delike Alphas that never leave the house. I only use c/c pens and have a dedicated ink in each pen. If I don't like the nib, I can smooth it, stub it or replace it. I prefer a size 5 nib because my handwriting is neater with a smaller nib. My current favorite pen is a metal pocket pen in Rose golden that matches my favorite outfit.
Unknown but cute by Valerie Kelley, on Flickr
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Post by Lupine on Mar 15, 2020 23:23:07 GMT
1. When you are looking to buy a fountain pen what is your criteria for making your selection? How would you rank the criteria below, starting with the most important and going down. The nib The price The filling system The color Aesthetics, overall appearance The Brand something else, what? 2. Are you a fountain pen user or do you use a ballpoint or rollerball? If you don't use a fountain pen do you think you would like to, if not why not? I'm very happy to see there are other fountain pen enthusiasts on this forum. No one's posted here in awhile, but since this is a hobby of mine, I'll chime in. Fountain pens are my go to because they require a very light pressure, and I have more choices in ink color. My Esterbrook steel nib writes as smoothly as my 14k Pilot S95e, so I'm not sure it's worth the money to buy an expensive pen just for the gold nib. I'll let you know if I change my mind once my ship comes in and I splurge for a Nakaya. Using a fountain pen creates an aesthetic mood, so the color is VERY important to me because I like to match the ink to the pen, and the brand is important because I like the history that goes along with the pen. I have small hands, so I choose lighter and smaller pens, but not too thin. One point I'll add is that except for price, I really don't know what advantage there is to what people seem to be calling "starter pens." All fountain pens are easy to fill and easy to write with. What do you think? Does "starter pen" just mean a cheaper pen?
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Post by stompie on Mar 16, 2020 4:21:40 GMT
One point I'll add is that except for price, I really don't know what advantage there is to what people seem to be calling "starter pens." All fountain pens are easy to fill and easy to write with. What do you think? Does "starter pen" just mean a cheaper pen? Yes, I think a starter pen is a cheap pen. If a new fountain pen user manages to bend/damage the nib it doesn't really matter because it is just a cheap pen. Having said that, the Manuscripts I use are cheap £3.00 each but I like the way they write. They do look cheap though, black plastic. Jinhao are cheap as well and are good if you want to practice shaping and tuning nibs but they can look very good!
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Post by voiren on Mar 16, 2020 14:04:12 GMT
Yes, they're "starter" in terms of collection, not features! (Though there are a few filling systems you used to be less likely to find at that price, but that's changed with a lot of the Chinese pens).
I have a few gel pens knocking around that are for very specific things, Sharpies for labelling purposes and ballpoints as backup-backup-backup emergency pens, and use fountain pens for nearly everything.
Pelikans of any era are probably my most-collected, but I like cheap, pretty and modern pens as well as vintage ones needing repairs and having interesting nibs. (Not done any nib grinding yet - it is a matter of time. I'd quite like to join the crowd cursive-italicising everything in sight). I have many inks so I like having many pens I can put them in!
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Post by penguy on Mar 16, 2020 18:44:46 GMT
Starter pens are usually less expensive pens but not necessarily 'cheap' in terms of functionality. I purchased an Indian made pen from Fountain Pen Revolution for under $40 plus 2 nib units that could be switched in. I use it for a sketch pen and as an eyedropper and found it is very smooth writing. Ended up purchasing two more for my grandsons. I use mine for sketching and really give it a workout.
Most of my pens are vintage and are purchased primarily for their nibs (most 14K flex nibs) but I also purchase an occasional pen for aesthetic reasons. When a pen is aesthetically pleasing and has an especially good nib, well that's perfect. There are some less known brands that offer some very good pens. I am especially fond of Moore pens (primarily because I like their nibs). I have a couple of Pelikans that I am especially fond of and also a couple of Weidlichs. As far as expense, I doubt I will ever own a Montblanc pen, feel they are too expensive and that you are paying for the name above a certain price point...I'm sure Montblanc owners will disagree with me.
One way you can assure yourself of an pen that is aesthetically pleasing is to have a custom made pen created for you. I have three from Scriptorium Pens. Each is very unique in its own way and I have enjoyed working with Renée Meeks getting exactly what I want.
There are so many aspects to the fountain pen obsession....history, manufacture, repair, calligraphy, fellowship with other fountain pen people, and of course letter writing.
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