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Post by radellaf on Mar 17, 2020 1:44:06 GMT
Yeah, "starter" just means that there's no need to spend a lot to get started in the hobby. A lot of <$50 or even under $25 pens write just as nicely as anything so you can see if you like fountain pens at all. If you're new and get a $300 pen you probably won't even know what's so much better about it, and you might make a newbie mistake and damage it. That's how I take it. You get started in tennis, you don't go out and buy a $300 racket, either, unless you have money to burn.
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Post by Lupine on Mar 17, 2020 20:07:18 GMT
Yeah, "starter" just means that there's no need to spend a lot to get started in the hobby. A lot of <$50 or even under $25 pens write just as nicely as anything so you can see if you like fountain pens at all. If you're new and get a $300 pen you probably won't even know what's so much better about it, and you might make a newbie mistake and damage it. That's how I take it. You get started in tennis, you don't go out and buy a $300 racket, either, unless you have money to burn. This makes sense to me and what I might've guessed, but I wondered if there were some other factors like broader nib, or easier to fill or something unspoken about learning how to write with a fountain pen. I'm doing some research trying to find an inexpensive demonstrator pocket fountain pen, so I'm apparently looking for a "starter" style although it won't be my first pen. Thinking of the Pilot Petit, but I'd want to fill with an eye dropper. Does anyone have experience with that?
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Post by Lupine on Mar 17, 2020 20:19:11 GMT
Or . . . Moonman Wancai Mini???
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Post by radellaf on Mar 18, 2020 1:32:35 GMT
The Wancai is nice enough, cheap, and definitely pocketable. There's also the Stipula Passaporto (≈$30). Franklin Christoph 45 might be an option too, though $115 is not what _I'd_ call cheap.
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Post by Lupine on Mar 18, 2020 13:25:27 GMT
The Wancai is nice enough, cheap, and definitely pocketable. There's also the Stipula Passaporto (≈$30). Franklin Christoph 45 might be an option too, though $115 is not what _I'd_ call cheap. I saw the Stipula passaporto and the paparazzi online! Yes, that's the idea. There was a terrible review of the Passaporto on Reddit . They may be making them differently now then they did in 2014. Can't find a Paparazzi anywhere. They were a limited edition. I saw the FC 45 in ghost. Wow. (I agree, that's too high a price for a pen that will float around in my purse.) Thanks for the suggestions. You're right.
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Post by radellaf on Mar 18, 2020 22:00:04 GMT
Yeah, I'd be sure to get the Stipula from a good seller in case you do have a problem. I got my transparent Passaporto Superleggera from PenChalet on sale (looks like it still is), but haven't inked it yet. I also have an old Passaporto, no threads on the back, that has been fine. I didn't eyedropper that one, though. In general, I'm not an fan of ED. The Moonman M2 & C2 are absolutely beautiful though. I don't write that much so while it's fun to watch the bubble in 2mL of ink, I'd generally rather have a .3-.5mL fill so that I can switch to another ink sooner. I'm using a Pelikan M600 a lot right now and it's bugging me how it always looks about to run out, but if I fill it much more, I'm going to finish all my March letters in Ajisai and never get to the 10 new Diamines that showed up yesterday. Problems can happen with any pen, but the Italian brands have given me headaches. TWSBI's earlier efforts were legend, but they'll help you out directly. To be fair, I had an expensive retractable Stipula have problems, maybe 10 years after I got it, and the US distributor was delightful to deal with (Yafa?). I can recommend, and it's not a comprehensive list or in any order: Anderson, PenChalet, Goulet, PenBoutique, GoldSpot, Pen Lovers Paradise, iPenstore, Jetpens, Dromgoole's, VanNess.
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Post by richila on Mar 21, 2020 22:43:12 GMT
I always think of a starter pen as one that I can lose or give away without a problem. I started using fountain pens while I was still teaching, so I never used a pen that I couldn't replace easily. I kept pens and ink on hand for students to try out in class and bought pens as student graduation presents. Since I always tested the nibs, even an inexpensive pen was a pleasant writing experience. My rose gold metal pens aren't starter pens because the company discontinued the color. I have also changed out the nibs and discovered the perfect ink.
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Post by davidv on Jun 5, 2020 3:20:36 GMT
For me my criteria is probably something like:
1. Condition/potential issues (for vintage) 2. Interest (esp. if different to pens I already have. Brand plays a factor in this) 3. Price (I'm hesitant to shell out mega cash, but more willing for an in-person buy)
4. Aesthetics (including body shape/weight) 5. Nib (I'm not too particular, but flex doesn't do anything for me) 6. Colour (certain colours could be annoying, black and gold is one of my favourites) 7. Filling system (as long as nothing's wrong with it, I find they all are nice. Mega ink capacity doesn't do anything for me, and I don't mind cartridge/converter. I do prefer to have a converter rather than only cartridges)
I much prefer fountain pens. For work I do a lot outside and we use "Write in the Rain" notebooks, which repel water based inks, so I use pencil or ballpoint for those. Even though Sheaffer claimed their Triumph nib was hard enough for carbon paper, I can't bring myself to push that hard on my fountain pens, so I also use ballpoint for a set of carbon copy forms we have.
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Post by ginny on Jun 5, 2020 9:27:35 GMT
I'm really, really easy with pens. I've been using a fountain pen forever (since my second year at school which was in the early 1970s... during the first year we were not allowed to use fountain pens and only wrote with pencils on paper and white pencils on a blackboard - yeah, I'm that old), and as most people my generation, I started with a Pelikano - the beginner fountain pens of the 1970s - at first, I had an A nib (A=Anfänger -> beginner in German), later on, I switched to M and F nibs. I used that pen and its follower models for many, many years. They all operated on cartridges. As a grown-up, I had a Kaweco for a while (that one broke) and another fancy pen that got lost. Over the past years, I have turned to Pelikan Twist fountain pens, mostly with M nibs, but I have one F nib, too. I have a set of six Twist pens, each of them is filled with a different colour, partly I use cartridges, but mostly I have switched to converters. The Twist is between 8 and 15 Euros (depending on how 'glitzy' and trendy the colour is), and I'm very happy with it.
I love the more fancy pens, but I'm always afraid they'd break or turn out awkward, and then I'd have forked out a fortune for a writing instrument that doesn't work properly - ah no. I'd rather stick with what I know works fine for me.
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Post by vertolive on Jun 5, 2020 22:20:01 GMT
I think I’m at a point in my “Fountain Pen Career Trajectory” where I’ve owned ( and sold) enough pens that now I’m hunting for the one or two very particular pens that have escaped my clutches so far. Grail pens if you will.
Another possible pocket pen for Lupine might be the Kaweco Classic Sport Clear. You can get different nibs, add a clip, and either silicone grease the threads to use as an eye dropper fill, or use a mini-converter or cartridge ~ about $28 on Amazon.
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Post by Lupine on Jun 6, 2020 13:11:53 GMT
I think I’m at a point in my “Fountain Pen Career Trajectory” where I’ve owned ( and sold) enough pens that now I’m hunting for the one or two very particular pens that have escaped my clutches so far. Grail pens if you will. Another possible pocket pen for Lupine might be the Kaweco Classic Sport Clear. You can get different nibs, add a clip, and either silicone grease the threads to use as an eye dropper fill, or use a mini-converter or cartridge ~ about $28 on Amazon. I would love to know what your grail pens are. I listened to an interview of Neal DeGrasse Tyson by David Parker (Figboot). Neal has all the money in the world to buy pens and has quite a collection. He said that he is most interested in the nibs at this point. I think I agree with him. The suggestion of a Kaweco is excellent. I agree it would suit me very well. I do not yet own a Kaweco, but I have looked at them a lot. I bought a TWSBI diamond mini piston filled (not the newer vac by choice). I am SUPER happy with it, so the Kaweco will wait. I bought what I think of as my "grail" pen: a Nakaya desk pen in red on red, but I bought it from nibs.com so I could get a custom grind. Some people don't want a pricey pen to be messed with before they buy it, but I wanted an expert to check it out and "tune it up" and personalize the nib BECAUSE it was pricey. I feel extremely grateful and fortunate to own it. I don't suffer from the "just one more" ache of a collector. My nature is not a collector's nature. When the pandemic has subsided enough, I plan to attend a pen show. I've never been to one. I can imagine buying during that experience if something blows my mind because it will be a kind of souvenir of the experience. By the way, I forget where I posted it, but my 1.1 stub nib came in for my Conklin Earth and I am delighted with it. I bought it to replace the Omniflex. It is my broadest nib and will be perfect for signatures on documents paired with a permanent ink. I wonder if other people keep certain pens for certain uses?
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Post by davidv on Jun 6, 2020 13:26:43 GMT
#2 - #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. [. I really liked this pocket carry assessment. This is really important to me too. I don’t mind a pen that pockets flush against the pocket. For me the pickiness has more to do with the shirt. I need shirt that a) have pockets and b) have deep enough pockets. What I really dislike is when a pocket is too short and a pen that is meant to slide deeper only has the bottom of the clip on the pocket. It seems fashion around here is working against me, and most shirts I see have short or no pockets.
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Post by vertolive on Jun 6, 2020 19:40:05 GMT
Lupine—
I love my Nakaya desk pen. Of COURSE you want the nib tuned up at purchase, you made the best choice there.
Personal Current Grail: Sailor Black Velvet, any nib
I have owned a triplet of Mini-TWSBIs and enjoyed them. Mine all seemed to be constantly staining my hands. Wondering how your newer one does in this regard?
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Post by doultonmyra on Jun 6, 2020 22:18:01 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. 1. Aesthetics, overall appearance. 2. The nib. 3. The brand 4. The price 5. The color 6. The filling system
something else, what? reviews, experience
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 use a fountain pen but I don't carry them out of the house now that I am retired. I am mortified that right now I use a ballpoint to address most envelopes. I don't have any waterproof ink in stock and I had a couple of letters returned to me where the address had become wet and smeared and splotchy, and drippy and indecipherable.
I have had as many as 250 or 300 pens. I gave them all away except for an "elite squad" (thank you Dick Wolf) of about 20 citizens. I have dismantled most of my "elite squads" which also include socks, underwear, dresses, and nightgowns.
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Post by davidv on Jun 6, 2020 22:35:00 GMT
I have owned a triplet of Mini-TWSBIs and enjoyed them. Mine all seemed to be constantly staining my hands. Wondering how your newer one does in this regard? I have a TWSBI classic that originally leaked where the nib section screwed into the main barrel piece. I had to put silicone grease on those threads and then it performed well. Not sure if that’s where your ink staining was coming from...
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