Looking to pick up a fountain pen

YayILikePie

YayILikePie

Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
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Hey there guys. I'm in a little bit of a predicament. I just can't seem to find a decent pen that'll just keep working and'll accept bottled ink, rather than cartridges. I started out using whatever pens were available, which tends to be low end BICs. Eventually, I moved on up to Pilot Precise V5s and V7s, and finally, I'm here with Uniball Impact 1mms.

I just want a pen that'll keep working and can take a decent beating without being all scratchy. The Uniball writes smooth as Hell, but with those cartridges, I don't want to have to carry around an extra when I see the one I'm using draining so quickly.

Now, I did try and do a bit of research on my own, and I was able to come up with the Lamy Safari, as many have mentioned on other forums. Seems like it might make a decent starting fountain pen, as it can take a convertor that can be filled with bottled ink, and also cause it's durable. Either way, I'd like to hear what you guys have to say about this, as well as any suggestions you might have.
 
The Lamy Safari is a good pen, but the nib is a bit stiff. It's not as enjoyable an experience as writing with pens with more flexible nibs.

A good starter pen is the Pilot Knight. It's a good, inexpensive pen that has the capability of using both cartridges and converters. I have one and it is a joy to use. It is a bit heavy though, so you may want to keep that in mind.
 
I use a brushed stainless steel parker as an every day beater. It uses bottled ink with a parker converter. Only cost about £20 from memory
 
+1 for a Lamy Safari.

Since it has a stainless steel nib, it is a bit stiff. Then again, you don't have to put much pressure to write. I use a fine point Safari everyday and I don't feel its too stiff at all since I barely press against the paper.

Then again my friend has had loads of Safaris and he said I was pretty lucky to get one that writes really well.

Plus with a stiff nib, you won't ruin the nib as easily if you're not use to writing with fountain pens.
 
+1 on Lami Safari - or it's aluminum-clad sibling, the Al-Star, if you like shiney stuff

+1 on going with a stiff nib first until you get used to it, then going to a softer nib.

With the Safari and Al-Star, since you want to used bottled ink, make sure you also buy the converter (under $15) - you can only use cartridges w/o it.
 
You can also get italic nibs for the Safaris that will give character to your writing. They're easy to swap.
 
the only thing about cartridge/convertor pens is that they dry out relatively quickly. I'd suggest picking up a pelikan m200. they start at about 60-70 bucks, write well, and hold a ton of ink. if you go to richardspens.com, you can pick one up with a customized nib for a little more, and richard binder will work out any kinks in the pen before he ships it to you. you might also want to poke around fountainpennetwork.com, lots of nice folks and reviews of different pens/inks.
 
kamagong said:
The Lamy Safari is a good pen, but the nib is a bit stiff. It's not as enjoyable an experience as writing with pens with more flexible nibs.

A good starter pen is the Pilot Knight. It's a good, inexpensive pen that has the capability of using both cartridges and converters. I have one and it is a joy to use. It is a bit heavy though, so you may want to keep that in mind.
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Heavy is definitely good. I love a good, heavy pen. I'll have to do some reading up on that Pilot.

wintermute said:
+1 on Lami Safari - or it's aluminum-clad sibling, the Al-Star, if you like shiney stuff

+1 on going with a stiff nib first until you get used to it, then going to a softer nib.

With the Safari and Al-Star, since you want to used bottled ink, make sure you also buy the converter (under $15) - you can only use cartridges w/o it.
Click to expand...

I'm definitely going to pick up that convertor. Cartridges are convenient, but I'm sick of having to just throw them away whenever they're spent. Any suggestions on ink? I've heard good things about Quink.

termite said:
You can also get italic nibs for the Safaris that will give character to your writing. They're easy to swap.
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I've always wondered about those nibs. Do you happen to know off-hand the relative thickness of the fine and medium nibs? I love a good, bold pen, but I don't want it to bleed everywhere.
 
I personally have 3 Lamy's: 2 Safari and a Joy Calligraphy.

With the Safaris I have, the one I use most is a 1.1mm italic nib. Perfect for everyday writing without it being too broad. The other one is a regular M tip. By everyday writing that includes notes for school and charting at work, and that includes anywhere from 5 to 20 pages of handwriting. Nice thing about FP's is that after all that writing, my hands are never feeling fatigued.

It's easy to swap nibs out on a Safari pen too. All it takes is a strip of sticky tape and the replacement nib, of course.

I use Quink for my pens, have used it since I got my first FP (a Waterman Phileas). One ink brand worth looking at is Noodler's, as they are available in a very wide variety of colors; one could also blend inks as well.

Have fun looking around for your first fountain pen. I am very sure that it would not be your last!
 
i have a parker and a cross and with the converter cartriges niether one imho holds enuff ink, i bet they last 1/2 as long as with the std cartridge, other than that i like both of 'em though.
 
SIFU1A said:
i have a parker and a cross and with the converter cartriges niether one imho holds enuff ink, i bet they last 1/2 as long as with the std cartridge, other than that i like both of 'em though.
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Converters definately have much lower capacity, I get about 6 pages with a converter, and about 12-15 with a cartridge. But I can top up a converter at the start of the day, rather than having a nearly empty cartridge run out on me because I dont want to throw it away before its empty.
 
I have a modest, lower-end Waterman that I use every day, which takes cartridges or the converter. I actually prefer it to my more expensive FP's. Admittedly, I exclusively use the cartridges, and they seem to last me awhile. The medium nib is a bit broad, but I quickly discovered that I can get a very fine, consistent line if I turn the pen over so the nib is upside down on the paper.
 
The Waterman Phileas is a good starting fountain pen. Just get it in the Medium nib, as Waterman's Fine nibs are a bit too dry.

Ultimately, a $120 fountain pen and $20 worth of ink will last you significantly longer than the number of high-end gel pens you could buy for the price... and will give you more enjoyment too.
 
www.swisherpens.com is a good site, I've bought from them before. You can pick up a Pilot Knight in person if you have an OfficeMax nearby.

As for inks, there is a lot of variety out there right now. Waterman is a classic. Pelikan makes a nice black ink that I love. A couple of the new-ish ink companies that I like are Noodler's and Private Reserve.

Check out www.fountainpennetwork.com if you are really interested in picking up a fountain pen.
 
Looks like you guys know your fountain pens. I decided to start out with a Lamy Safari, simply because I love that yellow with the black clip. Something about yellow on black. Can't describe it. I'm gonna see how that works out, and if I have some extra funds later, I'll give that Pilot Knight a shot.

Waterman ink, eh? I'll have to look into it. Ink is one territory that's just much too vast for me to sink into just yet.
 
There's a couple fountain pen shops in Sacramento, if I were you I'd stop by and check them out. Any pen shop worth its salt will let you try pens before buying.

For general writing I like Aurora ink the best. It's among the smoothest, has good deep color with minimum bleeding and is foolproof. It comes in a wide variety of colors as long as all you need is blue or black.

FYI there are only a handful of ink manufacturers, and most of the private brands get their ink from them. Save your money on the fancy Dupont, Montegrappa or Montblanc ink and just buy Aurora, Pelikan or Noodlers. Waterman ink is also good; for the life of me I can't remember if Pelikan makes it for them or they do it themselves. Either way, it's inexpensive and good.
 
Another vote for Aurora, the best black in my humble opinion and many others' if you look around. Pam at Oscar Brauns is excellent to work with (no affiliation)....how many places send your order and trust you to pay them when you receive it?! Prices are hard to beat also. Just got one of the new orange Safaris. Got to like orange if you're Dutch!
 
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