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Briarcutter

Lifer
Aug 17, 2023
2,147
11,924
U.S.A.
For those of you who like cursive ... I have always found this video enjoyable ...

That, is an incredibly video. Thank you very much. I saved the link and can't wait to show my daughter!
Thank you for posting this. Invaluable on many levels. Humbling as well, makes my work seem pretty crude.
 
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Hillcrest

Lifer
Dec 3, 2021
4,905
27,861
Connecticut, USA
@Briarcutter --- there are companies that sell kits for making fountain pens ... just like carving your own briar pipe but there are so many affordable options out there to simply buy. Believe it or not China has a huge number of people who write with fountain pens and while some of their pens are inferior ... some are actually fantastic writers and popular among collectors. You have to know which is which though so I would refer you to TheFountainPenNetwork site which is like these forums but for fountain pens. Almost every pen in the world is reviewed there including kits. I used to read that site alot until I became interested in pipes again.
 
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Briarcutter

Lifer
Aug 17, 2023
2,147
11,924
U.S.A.
@Briarcutter --- there are companies that sell kits for making fountain pens ... just like carving your own briar pipe but there are so many affordable options out there to simply buy. Believe it or not China has a huge number of people who write with fountain pens and while some of their pens are inferior ... some are actually fantastic writers and popular among collectors. You have to know which is which though so I would refer you to TheFountainPenNetwork site which is like these forums but for fountain pens. Almost every pen in the world is reviewed there including kits. I used to read that site alot until I became interested in pipes again.
Thank you! I'm aware of the kits and I like you, use to frequent the Fountain Pen Network. Not wanting to sound snobbish, I guess a purest would be a better word, building a pen from a kit doesn't appeal to me. If I can't make the nib and feed, what's the point, no pun intended😁 That's probably why I'll never make one. I still have a bunch of collectable fountain pens. I need to either get them back out or sell them. Better yet, teach my daughter how to use them! I have a Sailor with a music nib, have you ever used one? It's pretty cool.
 
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Hillcrest

Lifer
Dec 3, 2021
4,905
27,861
Connecticut, USA
Thank you! I'm aware of the kits and I like you, use to frequent the Fountain Pen Network. Not wanting to sound snobbish, I guess a purest would be a better word, building a pen from a kit doesn't appeal to me. If I can't make the nib and feed, what's the point, no pun intended😁 That's probably why I'll never make one. I still have a bunch of collectable fountain pens. I need to either get them back out or sell them. Better yet, teach my daughter how to use them! I have a Sailor with a music nib, have you ever used one? It's pretty cool.
I haven't used a Sailor but I used to buy my fountain pens at tag and jumble sales. I have a large one that is used to draw the lines to make music score sheets and I have a regular size one with three slanted tines if that is a music nib. I preferred fine points. I wanted a Mont Blanc with the calligraphy nib but alas I cannot and simply would not spend $900 + for a pen ... So I created my version which is the closest I will ever get and it only cost $2.60 ,,, I bought a Jinhao X450 for $.99 and used a vintage Sengbusch #17 fine point nib ($1.60) on it and get a close as I can given my defective abilities. However, it does add a flare to my daily writing and pushes all the buttons psychologically. I'm currently using a Pilot Metropolitan fine point as a workhorse pen. They are good as well. When your daughter starts to get better at script or calligraphy the Pelican M200 is still made with the old semi-flex nib and is a workhorse pen. Unfortunately, Pelican like Sutliff and MacBaren is out of business but there are plenty around. You can download practice sheets of almost any type of script for learning cursive. I would start with Palmer method as its simplest to learn.
 
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Hillcrest

Lifer
Dec 3, 2021
4,905
27,861
Connecticut, USA
Since when did Pelican go under? How sad, I'm glad I still have a few. Nothing flexes like the vintage pens.
Its in process now but announced 2023 ... they are being bought out and German plant may close.


 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
6,958
23,522
Humansville Missouri
Its in process now but announced 2023 ... they are being bought out and German plant may close.



Why they are in trouble is, which is the $20 Parker copy and which is the $400 Pelikan?

IMG_8114.jpeg

Yes, the German pen is better.

Not 20 times better, though.
 

MisterBadger

Lifer
Oct 6, 2024
1,211
10,682
Ludlow, UK
Give me a good old uni-ball pen any day. But, most of the time, I have to press hard to copy down below a carbon for my notes and taking orders.
I guess if I was penning something significant, for posterity, then I would have a need for a fancy-shmancy pen like those.
Wouldn't that depend on whether you wanted to give posterity a clear and unadorned picture of who and what you were? And remember that even vellum lasts only a few centuries, so gold plates are one's best bet - in which case, we are led back to the good old uni-ball pen (and pressing hard) 🙃
 

cosmicfolklore

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 9, 2013
36,465
89,336
Between the Heart of Alabama and Hot Springs NC
Wouldn't that depend on whether you wanted to give posterity a clear and unadorned picture of who and what you were? And remember that even vellum lasts only a few centuries, so gold plates are one's best bet - in which case, we are led back to the good old uni-ball pen (and pressing hard) 🙃
Leave it to a Brit to say that a couple of hundred years isn't all that long.
 

Choatecav

Lifer
Dec 19, 2023
1,949
19,328
Middle Tennessee
In Europe and Great Britain, a couple of hundred years is just getting broken in nicely....

I read a lot of letters and writings from the 19th century. Almost exclusively cursive writing. One of my cherished family history relics is a handwritten receipt of where my great grandfather bought a "sorrel horse" for $150 (which was a lot then) for "service of the cavalry of the Confederate States of America." I framed this receipt so that others coming to the house could see it. Of course, it is in cursive and no one ended up being able to read it, ha. I had to type out what it said and mount that just below the receipt.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
23,035
58,794
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Wouldn't that depend on whether you wanted to give posterity a clear and unadorned picture of who and what you were?
Honestly, I don’t care about how posterity perceives me, assuming any perception whatsoever. First off, I’ll be dead, erased.
Second, the vast majority of us are forgotten as soon as we’re disposed of.
So, a piece of chalk should suffice.
 

Zamora

Lifer
Mar 15, 2023
1,150
2,989
Olympia, Washington
I can read some people's cursive but not all. So many people write cursive in such way that it's just a clear first letter with the rest being squiggly lines. I learned to write cursive and still can but for me I have to make a conscious effort so it's quicker not to.
 

cosmicfolklore

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 9, 2013
36,465
89,336
Between the Heart of Alabama and Hot Springs NC
I can read some people's cursive but not all. So many people write cursive in such way that it's just a clear first letter with the rest being squiggly lines. I learned to write cursive and still can but for me I have to make a conscious effort so it's quicker not to.
Some people can't write cursive for shit, because they're idiots. And, some people can't read cursive, because they are morons. This is what I get from this thread. puffy
 

Zamora

Lifer
Mar 15, 2023
1,150
2,989
Olympia, Washington
I still write with pen and pencils all the time. I can grab a pencil and jot a note out much faster than I can bring up an app and type on tiny screens with my giant thumbs. I also carry a notebook with me everywhere.

Believe it or not, we won't always have devices like smartphones. Just because we do now, doesn't mean that they will always be here.
So do I. I do all my rough drafts by hand in a ringed notebook with a ballpoint. I used to use a computer for that but I've found I work better by hand because there's far fewer distractions, I couldn't imagine writing anything longer than a text on a phone.