Author Topic: Fountain Pens...who still uses them? (Read 2926 times)

telewinz · « **on:** December 18, 2005, 09:20:18 AM »

I used them 30 years ago and loved them. Recently with the help of ebay, I've purchased several vintage desk and pocket (snake skin!) fountain pens. I enjoy a desk pen Parker 21, it writes as smoothly as any gel pen. Soon to arrive is a Easterbrook dip-pen to go with my vintage ink well. I must be getting old.

LawDog · « **Reply #1 on:** December 18, 2005, 09:42:21 AM »

In school, the only thing we were allowed to write with was a fountain pen and blue-black ink.

Then I wound up in the American Public school system and never had to use a fountain pen again.

While back or so, I was looking at some pens in an office supply store and discovered that there were now fountain pens which took a disposable cartridge. I bought one of those Parkers, and there's been a fountain pen or five on my desk ever since. I've even learned to actually like refilling a fountain pen from a bottle.
Never thought that would happen.

For notes to family or friends, and for jotting down my thoughts, nothing beats a fountain pen.

For everyday work, and everything else, I use a Pilot G2 gel pen.

LawDog

Silver Bullet · « **Reply #2 on:** December 18, 2005, 09:43:25 AM »

These folks' catalog has an extensive fountain pen section:

http://www.levenger.com/PAGETEMPLATES/NAVIGATION/CATEGORY.ASP?Params=category=8%7Clevel=2%7Cpageid=151

K Frame · « **Reply #3 on:** December 18, 2005, 10:39:05 AM »

I am a BIG fan of the old Sheaffer Snorkel fountain pens. Unfortunately, all of mine are currently out of commission.

bermbuster · « **Reply #4 on:** December 18, 2005, 10:56:39 AM »

I love fountain pens. I think they make the script in a letter look more personal. They are not very good for the outside of envelopes though. A drop of water will smear the address.

I am particularly fond of the Parker 51.

Antibubba · « **Reply #5 on:** December 18, 2005, 12:07:53 PM »

I love them, but as a lefty, I can't really use them.

Guest · « **Reply #6 on:** December 18, 2005, 01:18:58 PM »

Been using them regularly from highschool to this day. I find them easier to write with and they typically leave a nicer looking piece of work when all is said and done. They are also kinda cool and most people today are fascinated when they see you writing with one.

I've noticed that they don't seem to be teaching penmanship in schools these days. In college right now *very* few of my classmates are capable of anything other than basic "block" printing. Thats fine for most purposes but I cannot imagine having to take lecture notes like that.

Telperion · « **Reply #7 on:** December 18, 2005, 01:44:48 PM »

I love them, sadly my Aurora pen cracked a couple of years back and I haven't gotten around to finding a replacement.

telewinz · « **Reply #8 on:** December 18, 2005, 02:37:37 PM »

Quote from: Mike Irwin

I am a BIG fan of the old Sheaffer Snorkel fountain pens. Unfortunately, all of mine are currently out of commission.

I have Sheaffer Snorkel from ebay on the way. $8 vintage. Suppose to un-used. Bottled ink just about has to be ordered online. I paid $8 for 4oz of antique Parker ink still in the bottle(2) and I got 60 ink cartridges for $10. But nothing beats filling a pen out of an ink bottle! Some of these new fountain pens go for over $200 at Office Max and they aren't sterling silver or at least gold plated!

K Frame · « **Reply #9 on:** December 18, 2005, 05:38:16 PM »

"I love them, but as a lefty, I can't really use them."

Sure you can. I'm left handed and through 4 years of college took almost all of my notes with a fountain pen.

The secret is to use the finest nib you can find. If you can find one with an accountant's nib (super fine), use that one. That promotes rapid ink absorption and drying, and you're much less prone to smearing.

Standing Wolf · « **Reply #10 on:** December 18, 2005, 06:03:20 PM »

I returned to fountain pens about ten years ago in an effort to recapture the penmanship I had in college. I had a tall, evenly slanted Italic hand, very legible, very pleasing to the eye. It devolved into a muddled mess through lack of use.

I used to buy from Levenger (link above) until the company double-charged me for shipping an order, and wouldn't refund me the cost. Over the years, its catalogue has carried fewer and fewer pens of lower and lower quality. I buy pens now from: http://www.fahrneyspens.com

My penmanship, by the way, isn't all it used to be, but better than it was for awhile. Arthritis doesn't help. Practice does.

K Frame · « **Reply #11 on:** December 18, 2005, 06:21:24 PM »

Fahrney's is an institution in downtown DC.

garrettwc · « **Reply #12 on:** December 18, 2005, 08:00:46 PM »

Another fountain pen fan here. I need to start scoping them out on eBay because the ones around here are expensive. Someone listed Fahrney's in DC which is a great one.

Another one is http://www.fountainpenhospital.com located in New York City which numbers comedian Bill Cosby among its many customers.

This is a good information site with a discussion board http://www.pentrace.net and there are also some good links on wikipedia.

When using a fountain pen, don't scrimp on the paper. Cheap paper sheds it fiber and clogs your nib. For general notetaking, the Ampad Gold Fibre series of legal pads are great. You can get a pack of these at Office Max.

Telewinz, post some pics, I would love to see your collection.

Sylvilagus Aquaticus · « **Reply #13 on:** December 18, 2005, 09:04:15 PM »

I used to use a cartridge Parker in college. Although I took a year of penmanship tutoring after school while still in elementary school one of my professors accused me of 'taking a spider dipped in an inkwell and slapping it on the paper' with my written papers.

I love fountain pens. I just can't write with one, at least legibly. I can, however, keyboard nearly a hundred words a minute.

Regards,
Rabbit.

Werewolf · « **Reply #14 on:** December 19, 2005, 05:09:01 AM »

Thankyou for the good memories.

I remember in 2nd grade when it was time to learn cursive each student was given a dipping style fountain pen and an inkwell. It was a day we all looked forward to (young eager minds and all). I remember how cool it was to use ink instead of pencil and how one could control the line and make it very thin to very thick. The range of possibilities for creating a style unique to oneself struck me even then.

But then my Dad got tranferred and in 3rd grade I was in a new school where fountain pins were not permitted (too messy, ink to spill, etc) and that was that.

Since then I've on occasion bought myself a fountain pen. I still enjoy using one but find modern inks to be lacking some particular quality I cannot identify. Modern papers too are lacking in that usually the ink from a fountain pen runs right through and the lines don't retain their shape as the ink spreads out like water being soaked up by a paper towel.

Sad really - fountain pens allowed a level of personal expression in one's writing style that just cannot be reproduced with a ball point. Sad

garrettwc · « **Reply #15 on:** December 19, 2005, 11:31:31 AM »

Werewolf, see my note above about selecting good paper. This is an often discussed topic on some of the pen sites. Paper just isn't the quality it used to be. The cheaper papers are so porous the ink gets soaked up into them.

You can still get good quality inks via mail order, or specifically through a pen store, but you have to buy the bottles because the cartridges aren't as good.

Sadly, I missed out on dip pens in school. We were already stuck on the #2 pencil by the time I was studying penmanship (an oxymoron, eh?) I had to discover the fountain pen on my own.

Quote

Sad really - fountain pens allowed a level of personal expression in one's writing style that just cannot be reproduced with a ball point.

I think due to email, IM, and such we are losing the ability to put pen to paper and write a well crafted letter or note. I love reading books that are collections of letters from the past.

Brian Williams · « **Reply #16 on:** December 19, 2005, 12:04:57 PM »

I like Fountain pens and Techinical Pens for Drafting. I have the worst penmanship in the world and that makes it harder to do the Architecheral style with the techinical pens.

telewinz · « **Reply #17 on:** December 19, 2005, 12:28:39 PM »

Just received my Easterbrook dip-pen from ebay. It looks unused and will go great with my antique fount-o-matic ink well. Since I use my pens exclusively at work (signature 90% time) I can't choose the quality of the paper I write on but it does make a statement and I find myself looking for reasons to write. I have to believe that the "sac" type fountain pen is better than the dip style (less mess & fuss) but we shall see. I plan to use both of them. Now if only that snorkle sheaffer pen would hurry-up and get here!
BTW: I'll be using 60+ year old Parker bottled ink!

crt360 · « **Reply #18 on:** December 19, 2005, 01:29:24 PM »

I like using fountain pens. I actually used them a lot in high school, college & law school for taking notes in class. I had a bunch of the cheap Parkers that used the refill cartridges. I write left-handed, too. I never found it to be a problem; probably because I write so slow the ink has time to dry before the rest of my hand gets close enough to smear it. As a lefty, I do have a problem with regular old ball points. The ink comes out light and uneven. I've always suspected it was because I was pushing instead of pulling and the ink had to flow over the top of the ball instead of under it. The modern liquid and gel inks are no problem, but I really hate writing with the old BIC and Papermate ball points. Now that you got me thinking about it, I might have to go find myself a new fountain pen.

telewinz · « **Reply #19 on:** December 19, 2005, 02:22:36 PM »

I look for fountain pens on ebay on a weekly bases, don't bid against me. I like those vintage $9.99 pens!

Word to the wise, get ones like new. When you find the "right" pen (you will go thru 2-3 before you find it) it should last you a lifetime. The type of nib metal (steel, copper, gold plated) is a poor indication. I've had cheap $3 pens with a steel nib perform better than gold nib pens costing many times more! Some say you have to "break-in" your pen to fit your style (I tend to agree) of writing. A flexible, medium nib IMHO is the best over-all. A nib thats too fine will cause the nib to "dig-into" the paper and if you are like me, you will be writing on everything from fine bond to cheap notebook paper.

telewinz · « **Reply #20 on:** December 19, 2005, 08:25:03 PM »

"Werewolf, see my note above about selecting good paper. This is an often discussed topic on some of the pen sites. Paper just isn't the quality it used to be. The cheaper papers are so porous the ink gets soaked up into them."

Being a printer, I know this to be true. Recycled paper as a general rule is inferior to virgin paper. The more cotton content the better, the less recycled content the better. IMO I think it's more the nib (ink flow) then anything else. It's a "hardship" I enjoy suffering with.

garrettwc · « **Reply #21 on:** September 14, 2006, 09:04:24 AM »

Yes I'm reviving a thread that is almost a year old, but fountain pens have been on my mind this week Tongue

Hey telewinz, found any goodies on eBay lately?

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Author Topic: Fountain Pens...who still uses them? (Read 2926 times)

Guest