Do you use a fountain pen?

[bitchstewie]

I work in a role where pretty much my entire working life is spent using a mouse and keyboard.

I have the odd occasion to scribble stuff down and one of the things I'm making a conscious effort to do next year is to be more organised and to try to write in a more structured manner, by hand.

How many of you use a fountain pen?

There are loads of cheap ones out there so it's not about what to buy and more about the practicalities as most of my memories of fountain pens involve black fingers or some kind of explosion in my school bag.

[bitchstewie]

motco said:

In the past I have habitually used a fountain pen, but like the OP, most writing is now done by keyboard to the extent that my handwriting is very seriously degraded.

It's kind of why I want to give it a go.

Don't get me wrong my handwriting is very legible but I remember as a schoolkid having a sense of pride in what I wrote whereas now it's mostly hunting around trying to find whatever random post-it note I've scrawled the thing I'm looking for on.

I suspect I've given the impression I've forgotten how to hold a pen and that I write with a claw - not quite

Regards pens, I tend to get on best with the £1-2 gel pens and a bit like Robbo says they're cheap enough now that it's easy enough to collect a few plus it's quite interesting how many different types of inks are available.

Edited by bhstewie on Tuesday 27th December 16:18

[bitchstewie]

Thanks, I have a Rhodia notebook, one of the 90gsm ones as I also figure part of "making an effort" should probably go beyond a 50p spiralbound notepad.

I'd welcome any feedback on cartridges vs. convertors vs. piston fill pens.

[bitchstewie]

Robbo 27 said:

Is anyone still awake?

Yes thank you I'm tempted by the TWSBI piston pens as they seem reasonably priced and I struggle to find any bad feedback on them.

@Sticks http://www.purepens.co.uk/acatalog/Fountain-Pen-In...

http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/fountainpenink.php

[bitchstewie]

dfen5 said:

Preferred colour when using an ink pen? I'm using Lamy blue/black for signing docs that get scanned and emailed (I do have a digital signature pad but I don't like the result).

I must say I'm taken with some of the less common colours. When I was a kid at school I'm fairly sure it was blue or black and ink meant Quink.

Blown away at the choice available these days though I suspect that's more down to having the internet to choose from vs. WH Smiths.

[bitchstewie]

As a starter I've ordered a Jinhao X450 off Amazon and an interesting looking bottle of ink.

It's quite funny how you feel like you've been "done" paying £7 for what looks a good quality fountain pen but it'll be here tomorrow and I hate waiting especially on Xmas week when I'm off work anyway

[bitchstewie]

Robbo 27 said:

My logic may be skewed but if you are a first time user of a fountain pen then as much as I like the best of modern and vintage pens it is hard to justify spending £100+ just to try out, then use once and put away for years.

I know I like fountain pens, it's more about the practicality and perseverance vs. being lazy and reaching for a gel pen I suppose.

I like the Dunhill and Montblank stuff but I'm intrigued by the myriad of other stuff out there, Japanese in particular as some of the special editions simply look amazing, but then you're into being scared to use the thing.

[bitchstewie]

Well the Jinhao has arrived courtesy of Amazon and I must say I am floored at how nice it appears to be for £7.

There are no obvious rough edges, no chips, everything appears to line up so at worst I'm guessing the "gold" trim might wear quickly or something but I really can't complain at the initial impression.

Unfortunately Amazon haven't yet delivered the ink so it remains to be seen what it writes like.

[bitchstewie]

motco said:

Well folks, my Jinhao X450 pens arrived today complete with a cartridge to try them with. One piece I'll give to my son and the other I shall keep for myself. More detail when I have used it for a while.

I'd be interested to know how you get on.

Mine writes nicely but I've noticed that if I hold it vertically and simply watch and wait you can see gravity do its thing and ink will drip from the nib.

I have a Pilot Metropolitan on the way so it'll be interesting to see how that performs as I'm sure when I was at school the only way I could get a pen to leak ink was when it was being flicked at someone.

[bitchstewie]

Robbo 27 said:

It should not drip ink when the nib is vertical, thats a fault.

I dont know what ink is in the pen, you might try a cartridge if you can find on and see if the nib behaves itself. This is more than likely to be the issue. But if its the first fill, hold it nib uppermost for a few seconds and allow the ink to run back, also make sure that the converter is pushed fully home into the nib section.

Something else to try is to take a kitchen paper towel and wrap it around the nib and feed (the black thing under the nib), hold it there for 5 seconds or so. Then with quite firm pressure squeeze the nib to the feed, as if you are trying to press the two a little closer.

Thanks There are a few forum posts out there that suggest the convertors that come with the Jinhao's are pretty terrible and it's basically air/physics at work.

I think the Pilot comes with a cartridge and a bladder filler so I'll try those and see how that behaves as it's a fine nib and is more likely to be the one I'd use day to day as the Jinhao seems pretty wet.

If a cartridge works it's a cheap and good pen still.

[bitchstewie]

Have a look here https://www.gouletpens.com/nib-nook to compare nibs sizes.

[bitchstewie]

mywifeshusband said:

I make people sign for cash using the Pilot pens and most say they've not used a fountain pen since leaving school. Our 18 year old IT Junior had no idea of how to use a fountain pen for which I berated his mother who is one of the senior executives.

I did wonder about this as I just take it as a given that people would know what one was and kids would still use them at school.

[bitchstewie]

blueg33 said:

Chap at work read that on average people with high IQ's prefer brown in in their fountain pens. So he went out and bought some brown ink............

Shall I tell him?

Haha that's funny because whilst I have genuinely never heard of that (and suspect it's a wind-up) the first bottle of ink I've purchased is brown

[bitchstewie]

What I have found interesting is that not only are pens a whole culture but, it seems, so is the paper you use to write on.

I got myself a couple of nice notebooks, a Rhodia and a Midori MD and I also have a few random notebooks laying around and I have noticed there's a significant difference in how well, or not, pens will write on some kind of paper.

[bitchstewie]

Treated myself to a Caran D'Ache Ecridor at the weekend. I think it's just a psychological thing where I find a lot of the resin/plastic pens a bit samey.

It's a lovely thing and something I hope to have for a number of years.

I still find the choice of inks overwhelming, I intend trying some Herbin Emerald of Chivor as it simply looks amazing.

[bitchstewie]

pgh said:

As it's semi-related, can anyone recommend a notebook with paper that handle a fountain pen without bleeding right through please?
I have an office littered with various notebooks, some expensive and leather bound, some cheap, a few Moleskines and similar but none of them deal with Diamine or Quink at all well

• Rhodia
• Clairefontane
• Midori
• Mnemosyme
• Tomoe River (expensive)

Those are the names that keep reoccurring when you dig into it a little.

[bitchstewie]

Parker or the 159 to me. I like broad/italic nibs but I think that's because they look good on "show off" writing rather than for day to day stuff.

[bitchstewie]

Can I get some feedback on practical differences between inks please?

For example I can get a 30ml bottle of Diamine for £2.50 but a (larger admittedly) bottle of Caran D'Ache or Graf Von Faber Castell or Pilot Iroshizuku will cost anything from £20-30.

What's the practical difference around what's in the bottle once you get beyond the label on the bottle?

[bitchstewie]

Rob thank you for that very informative reply, and it makes sense - must admit I've detected you're a bit against Diamine which has been interesting to reconcile with most of the reviews I've read online, and I'm fairly careful to look out for "They gave me the thing I'm reviewing for free".

Tbh the price cartridges are I'd be fine with cartridges given how long a pack of cartridges will last @ £3-4 for the "luxury" brands, at that point it's less about the colour range than about the glorious world of standards where a cartridge that will fit my Caran D'Ache won't fit my bloody Pilot!

[bitchstewie]

For the first stash of ink I've gone with cartridges as simply put I get to try more of the supposed top quality inks for less.

As much as I like the Metropolitan I far prefer a medium nib over the fine so I don't think it'll get a lot of use.