Do you use a fountain pen?

[Robbo 27]

[quote=C&C]

+1


I started reading this thread several days ago and by the time I'd got a few pages in, found I'd ordered a Jinhao X450 in black and gold for around £2.50 from China:

X450 by conradsphotos, on Flickr

A few more pages through the thread and I was already getting impatient waiting the several weeks, so ended up ordering an X250 in blue and silver from a UK supplier:

X250 by conradsphotos, on Flickr

I’m also awaiting a couple of Rhodia notepads and some sample Pelikan and Graf von Faber Castell inks.

Well, with no option but to now sit and await the goodies on the way, I proceeded to read through the rest of the thread. This more than convinced me that I would definitely be using a fountain pen much more in the future.

I remember I used to enjoy using a fountain pen at school and college. It was nothing special and I've no idea where it is now as that was over 30 years ago, but I still remember taking some pride and pleasure with handwriting, and even dabbling a bit with calligraphy.

Other posts on the thread reminded me of older pens and the fact my Mum and Dad always tended to use a fountain pen when writing letters and cards. I’m sure my Mum had an old Parker 51 and my Dad had one with an inlaid arrow near the nib, so I guess that was a 61.

Anyway, it’s been a great thread, and whilst still waiting for the goodies to arrive, for some reason I can’t really explain, it would appear that I’ve ventured again onto that big electronic auction site and now I appear to have “won” yet another pen.



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This one is a 1946 Parker “51” Vacumatic in Cedar Blue with gold cap, medium 14Ct nib, and it’s fully restored with a new diaphragm, so ready to go:

51 by conradsphotos, on Flickr

I’m really looking forward to getting all the goodies delivered, but especially the “51”.

So I thank you for the thread (not sure my wallet does though), and I can’t wait to start improving my handwriting as soon as the tools get here.
[/quote]


Wow.

That Parker 51 is remarkable, if that is the actual pen that you have won then it looks fantastic, like new. It looks unmarked and the cap is rare and perfect. Very impressive. If you have bought that pen from Ebay UK and the pic you have shown is the actual pen you have bought, there are not many restorers who achieve that level of perfacetion, did your pen come from Bury St Edmonds in Suffolk?

You will enjoy them all, I have a Jinhao 250, in that colour you have chosen, and I am really pleased with the pen, cannot fault it. I have had many Parker 51s, just have two left and they are a pleasure to use. For those that dont know Parker 51s of the 1940s had a small hidden plunger at the end of the pen, which worked a diaphragm to pump ink into the body of the pen giving a very large ink capacity and a big step forward for the industry, a game changer.

Around 1949-50 Parker changed the P51 filling design to something called an Aerometric which was basically a metal bar pressing on a plyglass sac. A much simpler system and therefore maintenance free for the life of the pen but not the same ink capacity. Both types are highly sought after.

Parker and others have tried to reproduced the popularity of the Parker 51 but have not succeeded, Parker say that they sold a million Parker 51s every year during the 40s and 50s.

A basic Parker 51 will now cost at least £45 and going up in price year on year, but that gold capped vac is in another league.

Very envious.

Edited by Robbo 27 on Monday 13th March 14:52

[Vroom101]

This was written in Pelican's Violet ink, on some awful jotter pad that was lying around. I've still got to get some half decent writing paper. As I wrote, I think I prefer the medium nibbed Jinhaos to the fine. Seems to suit the cack-handed way I write.

[ClockworkCupcake]

Vroom101 said:

Seems to suit the cack-handed way I write.

Your handwriting is miles better than mine!

[FredAstaire]

Hey fountain penners, as said earlier in the thread I bought one off the back of this thread and have started using it daily [parker sonnet. medium nib. bit thick maybe, but not too bad. oh, and the little chrome ring around the neck gets a bit inky when you take the cap off].

Anyway to the question - how will it cope with a flight? got a trip with work coming up and thought i'd take it, but will cabin pressures leave me with an inky mess? I don't fancy taking it empty and a bottle of ink too, as I think that could spell even worse disaster - id need to triple zip-lock bag it for peace of mind!

[8Ace]

[quote=C&C]

RizzoTheRat said:

Damn you all.

+1


I started reading this thread several days ago and by the time I'd got a few pages in, found I'd ordered a Jinhao X450 in black and gold for around £2.50 from China:

+2.

Me too, I like using an FP and use my gradfather's Parker 51 and Parker 61 at work, as well as an engraved Parker 25 that I got for my 10th birthday.
I have since ordered the following:

Green Jinhao Y6
Lava Red Jinhao X750
Blue Twist Jinhao x450
Steel and Gold Jinhao x250
White and Silver Jinhao 159.

But they're no good on their own, so I received the following Diamine Inks from Cult Pens too

Pumpkin
Ancient Copper
Apple Glory
Majestic Purple
Aqua Lagoon
Deep Magenta

Can't wait for the pens to arrive

[RizzoTheRat]

8Ace said:

But they're no good on their own, so I received the following Diamine Inks from Cult Pens too

Pumpkin
Ancient Copper
Apple Glory
Majestic Purple
Aqua Lagoon
Deep Magenta

Can't wait for the pens to arrive

Stop tempting me Satan!

[Vroom101]

ClockworkCupcake said:

Vroom101 said:

Seems to suit the cack-handed way I write.

Your handwriting is miles better than mine!

Thanks!

Do not adjust your screen. You're seeing it as I do

[Robbo 27]

FredAstaire said:

Hey fountain penners, as said earlier in the thread I bought one off the back of this thread and have started using it daily [parker sonnet. medium nib. bit thick maybe, but not too bad. oh, and the little chrome ring around the neck gets a bit inky when you take the cap off].

Anyway to the question - how will it cope with a flight? got a trip with work coming up and thought i'd take it, but will cabin pressures leave me with an inky mess? I don't fancy taking it empty and a bottle of ink too, as I think that could spell even worse disaster - id need to triple zip-lock bag it for peace of mind!

Almost all pens do not cope with flying. The pressurisation causes a problem in flight and you will end up with a mess.

Best advice is to buy Parker cartridges, having emptied and dried the pen completely, fit the cartridge after you have landed.

Bad news is that the cartridge needs to be thrown away before the flight home.

Edited by Robbo 27 on Monday 13th March 13:32

[Robbo 27]

Vroom101 said:

Thanks!

Do not adjust your screen. You're seeing it as I do

Thats amazing, never seen anything like that before.

i have seen someone write with a pen in each hand, and she wrote something different on each page. i have watched an Israeli person write from the right hand side of the page to the left and a Chinese person write down the page, but all these were quite conventional compared to you, all credit to you for persevering and producing very readable script.

[Robbo 27]

8Ace said:

+2.

Me too, I like using an FP and use my gradfather's Parker 51 and Parker 61 at work, as well as an engraved Parker 25 that I got for my 10th birthday.
I have since ordered the following:

Green Jinhao Y6
Lava Red Jinhao X750
Blue Twist Jinhao x450
Steel and Gold Jinhao x250
White and Silver Jinhao 159.

But they're no good on their own, so I received the following Diamine Inks from Cult Pens too

Pumpkin
Ancient Copper
Apple Glory
Majestic Purple
Aqua Lagoon
Deep Magenta

Can't wait for the pens to arrive

Thats a good cross section, hope you can post some pics when they arrive, the inks sound good too.

I have heard, no personal experience, that the Ancient Copper from Diamine can leave some crusty deposits on the nib and possibly blocking the feed, if it happens suggest that you empty the pen back in the bottle when you have used it and leave the pen in storage with some water in the converter. You may not have any problem but others have said that it was an issue.

[ATG]

I vaguely remember being told by some salesman that the Parker Sonnet was supposed to cope with air travel OK, but I can't see how that could be true. If there's air in the ink adapter or cartridge, it's going to expand as the air pressure drops.

I've got away with it a few times by brimming the pen so there's no air in the adapter and then keeping the thing upright during the flight. It hasn't always worked perfectly, but never created a huge mess either.

[Robbo 27]

ATG said:

I vaguely remember being told by some salesman that the Parker Sonnet was supposed to cope with air travel OK, but I can't see how that could be true. If there's air in the ink adapter or cartridge, it's going to expand as the air pressure drops.

I've got away with it a few times by brimming the pen so there's no air in the adapter and then keeping the thing upright during the flight. It hasn't always worked perfectly, but never created a huge mess either.

I thought I could get away with it, just travelling a short distance up to Aberdeen, and it was only a cartridge pen, never seen such a mess. The cap contained all the ink at least until I took the cap off at the start of the meeting.

[RizzoTheRat]

Must admit I hadn't thought about this. I'm going to be working abroad again for several months this year so I guess I should take the converters out before travel and get some cartridges to use over there.

[motco]

One of the X450 Jinhao pens I bought from Vintage Pen Collector in November last was for my son who was over from Sydney. He wanted to put a cartridge in straight away, but I suggested he should wait until he's back because of the air pressure drop. I have to admit that I didn't know whether it was a problem, but it seemed likely. Good to know my fears were well founded!

[Mr Peel]

Great thread. Thanks for all the input.

Re flying: I did Birmingham-Munich and back the other week with a nearly new Parker IM in my jacket pocket. No problems. Did I just get lucky?

[Robbo 27]

Mr Peel said:

Great thread. Thanks for all the input.

Re flying: I did Birmingham-Munich and back the other week with a nearly new Parker IM in my jacket pocket. No problems. Did I just get lucky?

Maybe, the difficulty is that who dares to repeat your trip to see if it was a one off!

With all respect to your Parker there isnt anything special about the pen that make it immune to changes in air pressure so perhaps it was a lucky escape, trouble is that if the pen is in a jacket pocket or hand luggage does anyone want to take the chance?

My advice is to leave the pen empty and buy ink abroad. or to remove the cartridge, wash out the pen and take a cartridge with you. This is perhaps one of those times when I would take a ball point pen, perhaps my favorite, a Fisher Space pen.

Edited by Robbo 27 on Monday 13th March 17:49

[ClockworkCupcake]

Would storing your pen(s) in an airtight container alleviate the issue? A metal cigar tube, for example?

[FredAstaire]

for the avoidance of an inky disaster i think i'll just leave it behind then.

[Vealie]

Another lefty here....

I taught myself to use a fountain pen and write below the line once I left school. It's not perfect but it was bloody awful when I was a kid. The Parker 61 is a love and hate relationship. When I'm writing well it's good but at other times it's a pain. I suspect I need a bigger nib or even an oblique one.

[williredale]

I've flown with a number of pens and never had a problem. Usually a Kaweco Sport but Parkers and a Jinhao x450 on occasion. I do put them inside sandwich bags and with spare cartridges though just in case!