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sensibly priced fountain pen

It's been a few weeks now with a Lamy and lemme say that I'm a total convert.

Ball-point pens can bite me, man! I still like pencils, though.

Joe
 
Bear in mind the ink is important. I use Watermans ink, because that, the experts tell me, is designed to go with my Waterman Fountain Pens. One lovely lady refused point blank to sell me Parkers ink, as the flow rate (!) wasn't right for my pens.
 
Joe P said:
IBall-point pens can bite me, man! I still like pencils, though.
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Pencils are great. I've got an old-style Rotring 600 like the one in this review and I love it, probably my favourite writing implement. I'm no fan of ballpoints, but I do have a Fisher Space Pen as it's cool!
 
Nifty looking pencil, Tony.

Is the world of graphite as replete with options as it is for fountain pen inks?

Joe
 
Joe,
In a world where people sit over keyboards for hours debating which brand of shaving soap goes with which razor, do you honestly imagine any situation where there can't be an equally dazzling choice of pencil leads?
 
Steve,

...do you honestly imagine any situation where there can't be an equally dazzling choice of pencil leads?
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In hindsight, no, but before I had read a bit about fountain pens I didn't appreciate how many kinds, colours and makes of inks are available -- and the heated discussions people have over them.

I also didn't realize that Mont Blanc is the Bose of fountain pens. Well, not exactly, but Mont Blanc is similarly well known outside specialist circles but is not as highly regarded as other pen manufacturers.

Joe
 
stevec67 said:
Joe,
In a world where people sit over keyboards for hours debating which brand of shaving soap goes with which razor, do you honestly imagine any situation where there can't be an equally dazzling choice of pencil leads?
Click to expand...

Back in my first 'proper' engineering post, I sat beside a learned chap who gave me the full low down on why the choice of lead and indeed the propelling pencil itself was far too important for any aspiring engineer to leave to chance. The key variables (or the only ones I remember 30 years later) were the hardness grade (see below) and the diameter of the lead - the latter which controls not only the script size and time taken to shade in various areas, but also goverens the amount of material desposited on the page and hence wear rate and lifespan of the individual leads. I was gently rebuked for my choice of a 0.3mm B pencil/lead combination, and advised to switch to either a 0.5mm or 0.7mm HB or 2H combination for increased longevity consistency at the earliest possible opportunity.

I can quite honestly say that was probably the moment when I realised that where there's a problem, there exists - somewhere - a true engineering type who will deem it worthy of proper analysis :)

http://www.pencilpages.com/articles/grades.htm
 
Well, one purchase may beget another...

When I bought the Lamy Studio, which really is a nice pen for sensible cabbage, I got a bottle of Waterman blue-black ink. Does what ink is supposed to do, but it seems that ink is almost as important as the pen -- well, as the pen's nib.

Any suggestions -- sensibly priced -- for other inks?

Joe
 
Alex N said:
...you'll be needing some ink, of course. Diamine midnight and Noodler's bulletproof black for me just now. I'd have you down as a Noodler's man.
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http://noodlersink.com/noodlers-ink-color/

Joe, Noodler's works really well in all my pens, old and new. I have some of the black in my little Pelikan M150 just now.

Not my pic:

3685983531_147bbef843.jpg


(vuk posted the same link while I was writing this!)
 
If it doesn't have to be new I'd get a nice Parker 51.
The 61 is nice too and adds a little gold detailing above the nib. Some had special editions with fold plated cap and fancy colours.

Definitely the Planar 3 of fountain pens.
Lot's of nice clean ones out there.
I have a few 51s in the house and always had one in the suit pocket.


<edit> Ah I see you got something.
 
Thanks, dudes.

Man, no limit to ink colours it would seem, many with cool names like Beaver, Purple Wampum and Year of The Golden Pig.

Joe

P.S. Any truth to the rumour that Pelikan ink is best with Pelikan pens, Lamy ink with Lamy pens, and so on?
 
Joe P said:
P.S. Any truth to the rumour that Pelikan ink is best with Pelikan pens, Lamy ink with Lamy pens, and so on?
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Joe, I really don't know, though I did find this ink review while trying to find you a picture of Noodler's (Canadian) Blue Nose Bear. Shows how much some folks care about all this kind of thing.

Give it another month, and you'll be asking what paper/notebooks to use.
 
Alex,

I know. ErikL tried to nip this one early on, but I wasn't wise enough to heed his wise words.

But, hey, I found a fun toy for about a hundred clams.

Joe
 
I use fountain pens all the time...I get a strange effect in that when I start to use a pen far too much ink flows to the nib and I have to blot. Once the excess ink is gone all is well, until the next day...what is going on ?
 
With one pen, or on all of them
- and if the latter, do you shake the pens to get the ink flowing first by any chance ?
 
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