Fountain Pens Anyone?

[LittleRed]

Who else enjoys a good fountain pen?

Fountain pens and their inks are a fun hobby of mine. Some good old pen and ink to paper is thrilling for me. I dabbled in learning to write in a beautiful penmanship style, but I have such a back slant as a right-hander that it just didn’t feel right. So I just write in my own haphazard way and am always looking for an opportunity to “play pens and ink.”

As for inks.... the colors..... so easy to collect!

Here are a few of my favorites:

 

[LJsapphire]

I like them, I'm left handed so I don't always get on with them. I used to attempt calligraphy in my teens and I bought a set of calligraphy pens.
I have a nice Parker pen from when I was at university (late 1990s) and my son was gifted one from my uncle that belonged to my great-grandfather. He was a past master of a masonic lodge in Scotland. It needs cleaning up because at the moment it doesn't work.
My fiancé has a Mont Blanc pen, which is quite swish but it's not a fountain pen. It's a rollerball/fineliner/digital pen.

In my job (teacher) I daren't use an expensive pen because it would just get stolen or I'd lose it.

 

[jaysonsmom]

 

[jaysonsmom]

My dad collects Mont Blanc pens, and he used fountain pens his whole life. He recently gave me one of his Mont Blanc sets, but I don’t think I’ll be using them. I’ll pass it on as an heirloom.

 

[LittleRed]

My dad collects Mont Blanc pens, and he used fountain pens his whole life. He recently gave me one of his Mont Blanc sets, but I don’t think I’ll be using them. I’ll pass it on as an heirloom.

Nice! Have you tried using it? They are really quite fun. Mont Blanc is up there so that’s quite a nice heirloom.

 

[LittleRed]

I like them, I'm left handed so I don't always get on with them. I used to attempt calligraphy in my teens and I bought a set of calligraphy pens.
I have a nice Parker pen from when I was at university (late 1990s) and my son was gifted one from my uncle that belonged to my great-grandfather. He was a past master of a masonic lodge in Scotland. It needs cleaning up because at the moment it doesn't work.
My fiancé has a Mont Blanc pen, which is quite swish but it's not a fountain pen. It's a rollerball/fineliner/digital pen.

In my job (teacher) I daren't use an expensive pen because it would just get stolen or I'd lose it.

I tried calligraphy as a teen too. The new style of calligraphy is more flowy, which is what my daughters prefer. The ink is what would really matter to a leftie. You’d need a fast drying ink. I hear there’s some good options out there.

 

[lilmosun]

What a fun hobby and only wish I had the penmanship to do something like this (I tried those self-teaching calligraphy sets when younger and gave up quickly).

I do have Mont Blanc rollerball - it was a going away gift from a job decades ago. As I am forever misplacing pens, I was always afraid to use it but didn't want to sell such a thoughtful gift. I came across it in the back of my desk a few years ago, bought some refills and keep it with my gems where I only use it to make jewelry notes.

 

[Ally T]

I have a fountain pen, which I used ALL the time in high school. Weall had to use cartridge fountain pens throughout high school, but they use biro’s these days, which makes me sound incredibly old when i’m only 44!

I use mine now to write gift labels & birthday cards. It just adds a more personal touch.

 

[Nikki1415]

I only use fountain pens because my regular handwriting is awful. My favorite is the Pilot Namiki Vanishing Point and Lamy pens. I've never spent a lot on fountain pens but I will eventually splurge on a Mont Blanc pen.

 

[LittleRed]

What a fun hobby and only wish I had the penmanship to do something like this (I tried those self-teaching calligraphy sets when younger and gave up quickly).

I do have Mont Blanc rollerball - it was a going away gift from a job decades ago. As I am forever misplacing pens, I was always afraid to use it but didn't want to sell such a thoughtful gift. I came across it in the back of my desk a few years ago, bought some refills and keep it with my gems where I only use it to make jewelry notes.

Ahhh.... but nice penmanship or not, it doesn’t matter. It’s like thinking you need beautiful hands in order to wear rings.

 

[LittleRed]

I have a fountain pen, which I used ALL the time in high school. Weall had to use cartridge fountain pens throughout high school, but they use biro’s these days, which makes me sound incredibly old when i’m only 44!

I use mine now to write gift labels & birthday cards. It just adds a more personal touch.

Yay! A fountain pen user!

 

[LittleRed]

I only use fountain pens because my regular handwriting is awful. My favorite is the Pilot Namiki Vanishing Point and Lamy pens. I've never spent a lot on fountain pens but I will eventually splurge on a Mont Blanc pen.

Yay! How fun to use it all the time. Those are really nice pens. I have a Pilot and a couple Lamys and really enjoy them. I’m not sure I’d find myself with a MB, but would love to try one out. I think I’m actually done collecting them. Now I just need to use them more often.

 

[Cozystitches]

Yippee! Fountain Pens! I use one daily at work: I'm a Middle School Science Teacher I have a Lamy and I love it, it is on my lanyard. Kids are always interested in it and I let them try it. Adults aren't that excited when they ask to borrow it. Most don't know how to use it, which is challenging as most of them try to write with it upside down.

 

[snotty_pie]

I have a fountain pen collection as well, but I go through phases of using a fountain pen or not. My work pen is a Platinum classic maki-e that uses a cartridge. But the nib is fine, and I find it too scratchy to be really satisfying. I also have a Pelikan M805 Blue Stripe at home (medium nib) that I love.

And I think my love for inks goes hand in hand with my love of colored stones. Iroshizuku inks are my favorite, but I think I am mostly influenced by the shape of the bottle. LOL.

 

[missy]

My dh used to collect and use fountain pens to write letters. In fact back in the day he wrote many love letters to me using fountain pens on heavy stock paper Tiffany note cards. I loved reading his letters.

Beautiful and colorful collection @LittleRed

 

[AV_]

... adults... don't know how to use it, which is challenging as most of them try to write with it upside down.

This is terrible ...

Trrifying!

I have a love-hate relationship with the tool: my handwriting is a sort of personal stenography: small, sketchy & - thus calling for a well worn fine nib. So when a well worn nib dies, I get to live throgh frustrating weeks of scatching paper ,( This eventually led to ever less use of fountain pens. Today, there is none in the house & I am not exactly happy with the status quo of disposable, effective, dull & impresonal writing tools - while just about everything I do is writing something or other. [sidenote: keyboards die faster than nibs & they nudge style in an alien way: I need ot orgnize what I am saying via pagination & this is not how I am thinking through heaps of interreated notes - like swapping versets! Only the last draft of anything is typed; then LaTex - the beautiful typography tool, is soooo stunting as a writing tool it hardly qualifes as one ,( - pen & paper danse as I sing, relatively speeking.

rant over


The best use of a diamond I might dream up - would be to adorn a pencil-thin SS fountain pen ,) with a wonderfully soft, thin nib; I'd never loose that pen! [hardly ever do regardless - cheap as they are, pens are too important to just drop by the side; jewelry I have lost... - it gets out of sight easily]

TMI

 

[lyra]

I have a FP collection, but unfortunately it identifies me more than my jewelry! I don't have a ton, but I have some special ones and specially modified nibs (R. Binder). Sigh. My arthritis makes using them impossible. It's not so much the writing, it's the changing inks and cleaning nibs that is almost unmanageable. I think I should sell all except 2. Or 3, or 5.

 

[LittleRed]

I have a FP collection, but unfortunately it identifies me more than my jewelry! I don't have a ton, but I have some special ones and specially modified nibs (R. Binder). Sigh. My arthritis makes using them impossible. It's not so much the writing, it's the changing inks and cleaning nibs that is almost unmanageable. I think I should sell all except 2. Or 3, or 5.

@lyra I’m sorry to hear tending to them is too much for your hands. Cleaning and all does require some effort. I’d love to see a pic of your collection.

 

[lyra]

They are all packed away. My favourites are the Pelikan Cities ones and the Koi Nakaya with the Koi converter. I never used the converter of course. I'm also not sure where I put it. Probably with the diamond earrings I can never keep track of. It's like socks in the dryer for me these days.