Fountain Pens

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Inspired by /r/fountainpens, a place to discuss pens, writing, ink, paper, and whatever else makes your pen flourish.

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Banner: @[email protected] (Nakaya Decapod) | Icon: @[email protected]

founded 1 year ago
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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

We have four possibilities for a new community banner image thanks to @[email protected]. Please vote by commenting on which image you would prefer. One comment will be one vote. Voting closes on Friday 4 August.

#1 - may need some cropping to find the right aspect ratio: Image #1

#2 - Montblanc Heritage 1912 Image #2

#3 - Nakaya Decapod Image #2

#4 - Waterman, TWSBI, Nakaya, Pelikan, Lamy, Parker, Montblanc, Pelikan, Montblanc Image #2

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These are photos from when I first took delivery of my Nakaya, an aka tamenuri (red urushi lacquer) Neo-Standard, from back in 2016. The nib was an SF with added flex cuts, and though it ran dry fairly quick, when it was primed it wrote in an almost brush-like manner. It was very unique, but difficult to use every day, which is part of why I got rid of it.

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The big, beautiful nib of the Montblanc 149 is what first captured my interest in fountain pens. Many years later, and many pens tried, I have a handful I really just love writing with and I still think the nib designs are some of the most beautiful.

1950s Montblanc Slimline, XXF
Modern Montblanc 146, BB CI
1960s Montblanc 149, EF
Montblanc Heritage 1912, B CI

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I saw this community and got inspired to buy a fountain pen as well. I bought a Monami Olika blue fountain pen. I'm still getting used to writing with a fountain pen but it's been a nice experience.

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I was riding with a Wing Sung 3009 today (a pretty nice, super cheap piston filler BTW) when I noticed this gunk on the inside of the cap. I'm pretty sure that I filled the pen up with Noodler's Air Corps Blue/Black a few months ago and then let the pen sit. It wrote pretty much right away.

But I noticed this brownish / tan / black residue on the inside of a cap, at the very bottom. I'm not sure if it was there before and I just didn't notice, or if it is new. It almost looks like burned plastic? Or maybe it's mold? But it seems like a weird place for mold to develop since there's no ink there. Has anybody seen anything like this before? I'm probably going to throw the pen away anyway (it's about $3.50) but was curious 🧐.

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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

I've tried lots of pens over the years. The ones I can remember:

  • Conid Bulkfiller Regular
  • Cross Aventura
  • Jinhao 159, X450, (also whatever the Safari clone is, 777 I think?)
  • Lamy 2000, 2000 Amber, Safari
  • Montblanc 145, 146, 149, 320, 1912, Slimline
  • Nakaya Decapod, Neo-Standard
  • Parker IM
  • Pelikan M200, M600, M800
  • Platinum 3776, Preppy
  • TWSBI 580, Eco, Vac 700
  • Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze Age, Dark Age
  • Waterman Phileas Blue

I'm not much of a collector, so I have cycled through and gotten rid of almost all of these. I only have around ~10 now, just the ones that I really like, or are sentimental, or are just super unique. One brand that's escaped me is Sailor. I've read about the 21K nibs and how people fawn over them. I know there are die-hard Sailor supporters and it seems to mostly revolve around this nib. But, $300+ for a proprietary cartridge/converter that isn't made from unique materials seems like a lot.

So, if I was going to "try" Sailor, as a manufacturer, where does it make sense to start to see if I get it or not? Do people prefer the Realo (piston filled) variants? From what I can tell here and on /r/fountainpens people are mostly content with the C/C versions. So is it just the unique colors? Or is it just the 21K nib and nothing else matters?

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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

New pen came today: a Jinhao 82. This is Jinhao's "homage" to the Sailor Pro Gear Slim, released late 2022 I think. I got a medium nib, transparent blue body. Takes a #5 nib, available in EF, F, and M.

Overall the pen seems great. Inked it up with Waterman Mysterious Blue and it writes like a treat. Very smooth nib (I don't have a PGS but they have a reputation for having a good amount of feedback; there is none of that with this nib).

The slight translucency and rich dark blue body combine nicely with the gold trim to make this a really attractive pen. I like slightly smaller pens, and got this one to see if I might like the size of a PGS at some point - this is a great fit for me.

Converter included. There's also an O ring - wondering if this might be amenable to eyedroppering?

For $9 this pen is a terrific deal, and it comes in a ton of different color options. This is definitely going to be in my heavy rotation!

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Hello, I'm hoping to find someone that has experience repairing a Sheaffer Snorkel.

I recently inherited a Snorkel from my grandfather who passed away in the '80s. I read up on them a bit, and saw that you could buy repair kits, and got everything I needed to proceed. Well...I didn't read the instructions thoroughly before attempting to take the pen apart, and broke the filler tube insert.

It had slipped out the end of the tube, and I thought it was dried ink, grabbed and pulled, and broke it while pulling it out.

I'm guessing that the purpose of this is to keep ink from dripping out the filler tube while writing, but I'm not sure.

Does anyone know if it's possible to use the pen without a filler tube insert? If not, is it possible to find replacements, or substitute another material to fix?

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It'd been a minute since I bought a new pen, and I've always wanted to try a vacuum fill pen so I finally pulled the trigger. The pen writes so well straight out of the box but that's always been my experience with TWSBI pens. The kon-peki ink is a nice beautiful blue that also seems to dry fairly quickly which is nice because I'm a lefty and it's impossible for me to write without making a mess lol.

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Left hand Lamy Safari Vista alongside a travelers company notebook in basic brown leather.

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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 
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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

I was really excited to sneak away for an hour and pick this up on a recent work trip.

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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

A high school graduation gift from my step grandmother back in the day

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Now to figure out how to work it LMAO

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2030540

Do check it out and if you like it, please sign up :)

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Currently Im taking all my notes at work digitally again, after using my trusty Fountain pens for a while, because its just so more convenient. I really like the thought of taking notes to do lists again on paper. I seem to better recall written text and I like the attention it takes to think about What to write down and organize it. What are tips on note taking systems and notepads which work well with a Fountain pen. This also includes To Do lists and such. Anything good out there or is the digital age just that much better and analog cant compare anymore?

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I love retractable fountain pens. So when I found that Platinum had one I had to give it a try, and I'm glad I did. Overall experience is this is a pretty decent pen, it feels good in hand, and it writes very well. I also got this pen for about half the price of the Pilot Capless. I'm hoping this pen does well as an every day carry. Right now I've been using my Lamy Safari for that, but having a retractable that's both high quality and relatively inexpensive I think might bump my Safari out of that position. The ink also seems to be pretty solid. it's a good looking blue/black. Though I did read that the ink is on the acidic side.

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I was recently gifted what I believe to be a Pilot Metropolitan Taupe Lizard (see photo)

  1. Can anyone tell me if I’ve identified it correctly?

  2. This is my first squeeze converter. Is it opaque? If so how do you guesstimate ink levels? All my other pens have piston converters with transparent reservoirs, so you can just look.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/1622504

Check out the latest issue and sign up if you like what you read.

If you want your content featured in it, do reach out and I am happy to chat :)

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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

I made these on my laser cutter a few years ago. The lids use magnets to help them stay on. They're cut from 1/8" maple and walnut plywoods. Short demo video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjAaykdz8H8. If you have access to a laser cutter and are interested in making some yourself, the files are available for download on my website: https://www.laseredby.me/shop/iroshizuku-ink-box

edit: sorry - when I added the picture it lost the gallery link. https://imgur.com/gallery/xRRRxev

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[Image description: A white fountain pen with a silver clip on the cap and a silver zebra stripe band around the middle lies on a blue dotted grid desk pad.]

I impulse bought a Pilot Metropolitan (F) about a month ago and have had the worst experience so far. First it took 3 days of experimenting (squeezing the cartridge, flushing, cleaning, shaking, incessant scribbling) to get it to write at all. Then I noticed the nib was a bit off-center in the feed so I aligned it and it wrote pretty well for a while. This morning I grabbed it to take some notes and it won't start, even after a flush with water and re-seating the cartridge. This isn't my first fountain pen (not even my first Pilot!) but I'm really disappointed because the Metro seems to be such a popular recommendation as a solid, inexpensive starter pen. Did I get a dud?

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I've had my eye on this pen for a long time (thanks Reddit, haha), and I've wanted to try iroshizuku inks too. Found both for a decent discount, so finally pulled the trigger 😁

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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

Really happy with this one. I love the ribs!

More pics found here: https://imgur.com/a/6TUB90r

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