Sunday, October 7, 2012

Fountain Pens

I've never had luck with fountain pens.  I like the idea of them.  Especially the kind you can refill from an ink bottle.  My grandfather had one with one of the those little levers on the side.  The rubber bladder inside was probable all rotted when I saw in that pen in the 1970's.

But they don't make those anymore.  Right?  Or you can get a nice vintage Parker or something for big bucks. [and I blame marko, partly, for the re-interest or spark I am having to older writing techniques...]

They still make nifty pens, but they are a bit spendy.

Well, what about this?  A Lami.  Extra fine tips (my preference in all things writing) available.  But still, you can't get those refillable from the ink bottle doohickeys on a pen. 

Then I learned about these little conversion cartridges.

That and Noodler's... well, this is fun!  The writing is very smooth.  A joy, compared to clunky ball point.  And carbon paper forms get rarer and rarer these days...  good.





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5 comments:

  1. PolyKahrOctober 7, 2012 at 8:01 AM

    Bolt,

    A Lami Safari is an excellent fountain pen for the beginner, and not too expensive. I use Estabrooks for my vintage pens. These pens are easy to repair, and there is a lot of new, old stock running around. Also, because they were the inexpensive pens that secretaries used, they are still relatively inexpensive. Check out the Washington Pen Show next August.

    Noodler's Ink has hundreds of colors to choose from. Of course there is also Noodler's signature inks that are bulletproof. But there are literally thousands of colors to choose from if you become addicted to ink. Right now I am using Monte Blanc Tofee Brown. Very nice.

    Regards,
    PolyKahr

    ReplyDelete
  2. BobOctober 7, 2012 at 8:23 AM

    The Lamy Safari is a great pen. You can also find them with an italic nib, so that you can both practice calligraphy and also so you can display the sort of elegant handwriting often seen in old letters from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

    I have some of them in EF nibs, as you recommend, but have gone to Medium over time, because I'm not doing work that calls for an EF nib, and M is fine for most tasks.

    There are still bladder-fill fountain pens out there. The Mark Twain Crescent Filler from Conklin is one example.

    ReplyDelete
  3. BorepatchOctober 7, 2012 at 10:13 AM

    I got a Waterman 15 years or so ago. Thin and elegant, rather than fat and clunky like a Mont Blanc.

    It's a whole different way of writing, as you say.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownOctober 8, 2012 at 7:34 PM

    Have you looked at William Henry??? The make great knives as well and started making pens a few years ago. http://www.knifeart.com/williamhenrypens.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. Roberta XOctober 15, 2012 at 8:08 PM

    Practice, practice, practice!

    ReplyDelete

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