Fountain Pens

[puff_not_snuff]

It seems to me that a person who appreciates certain physical and nostalgic qualities that pipes embody would also appreciate fountain pens. I have two Kaweco pens, I appreciate a certain utilitarian aspect to their design which I actually find elegant. Their is something very grounding about carrying a nice object in one’s pocket that both has a link to the last and a real function; especially in a time that seems to be so much about the ephemeral and fleeting.

 

[buzkirk]

I have quite a few Vintage ones, just never get around to using them.

 

[sandollars]

Me too. I just can't figure out how to use them on a keyboard....

I will probably put my nicer ones up for sale..

 

[Casual]

Writing with a fountain pen in an old leather bound journal serves the same purpose in my life as smoking a pipe.

 

[irishearl]

Collecting nice pens, fountain or otherwise, was 1 of my collecting hobbies for awhile. Since retiring almost 1 year ago, hardly ever use a pen.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

Writing with a fountain pen in an old leather bound journal serves the same purpose in my life as smoking a pipe.

That’s exactly what I was trying to get at—even insignificant meanderings seem satisfying put down on paper with a nice pen.

 

[renfield]

I have a small fleet of pens, none very expensive. As with pipes, above a point, increased cost doesn’t necessarily equate to better performance, just nicer attention to detail.

I use mine when I want to chose a truly permanent ink colored something other than black to clearly indicate the original document.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

I have a small fleet of pens, none very expensive. As with pipes, above a point, increased cost doesn’t necessarily equate to better performance, just nicer attention to detail.

I use mine when I want to chose a truly permanent ink colored something other than black to clearly indicate the original document.

I agree, most people buy a Mont Blanca because of the name... once I actually found one on the floor of a hotel bar but sadly it was a ballpoint, really not sure what the point of buying a luxury ball point pen. I kept it for a while and lost it in a somewhat comical and obnoxious way, by swinging my jacket above my head at a club and it flung out into the night, don’t ask me why I did that (better to ask the alcohol).

 

[olkofri]

Writing with a fountain pen in an old leather bound journal serves the same purpose in my life as smoking a pipe.

Now, don't tempt me. ?

 

[olkofri]

Never owned one. Are good ones super expensive? Or are they more like pipes, that you can find decent ones for a medium-sized amount?

 

[bullet08]

handful of kaweco, some parker, lamy or two, some twisbi.. just wanted to find out how to manipulate nibs. it's relaxing to just write without much thought or reason. yeah, it's like smoking pipes.

 

[Casual]

Never owned one. Are good ones super expensive? Or are they more like pipes, that you can find decent ones for a medium-sized amount?

Similar to pipes, I think. You can get Chinese ones for a few bucks a pop but I wouldn’t, as many don’t work.

You can get decent working fountain pens from $25 and up. The sweet spot for me is more like $100-$300, and above that you’re paying for art/aesthetics only. A $5 steel nib, when tuned correctly, writes as smoothly as a $200 gold nib, which also has to be tuned correctly

Japanese companies (Pilot, Sailor, Platinum) are my favourite because they are fastidious about quality right from their inexpensive $25 pens right up to the multi-thousand dollar ones.

I think Montblanc is to pens what Dunhill is to pipes. Pedigree, but the company wants to be a luxury “brand” rather than to make great things. Dunhill sold off their pipe arm, and Montblanc’s pens, while beautiful, have a lot of complaints about function that one wouldn’t expect in so expensive an item.

I would say not to get me started but it appears that I already was.

 

[bullet08]

Never owned one. Are good ones super expensive? Or are they more like pipes, that you can find decent ones for a medium-sized amount?

depends on what you are looking for. cheap fountain pens usually have steel nib and plastic body. but that doesn't mean they are bad. kaweco sports in plastic body are around $25 and writes rather nice. then again you can go for japanese gold nib for nice smooth writing or to european pens for much more.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

depends on what you are looking for. cheap fountain pens usually have steel nib and plastic body. but that doesn't mean they are bad. kaweco sports in plastic body are around $25 and writes rather nice. then again you can go for japanese gold nib for nice smooth writing or to european pens for much more.

I would just save up for a brass Kaweco which runs $80 new...I feel like it would be very unsatisfying to have a plastic body pen, personally.

 

[bullet08]

I would just save up for a brass Kaweco which runs $80 new...I feel like it would be very unsatisfying to have a plastic body pen, personally.

have both brass and steel. but plastics write as well as metal body pens. they are all steel nibs. also they are bit on the heavy side. AL are solid and light. always wanted to try kaweco gold nibs. never got around to ordering one.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

have both brass and steel. but plastics write as well as metal body pens. they are all steel nibs. also they are bit on the heavy side. AL are solid and light. always wanted to try kaweco gold nibs. never got around to ordering one.

You might want to try their matte black aluminum pen which is rather light, I actually like the heaviness of the brass pens but maybe would have a different opinion if wrote with greater length with it.

 

[irishearl]

I saw fountain pens made with semi-precious stones in a shop window in Aruba priced at $12,000 and that was 23 years ago. Did pick up a Waterman there, but for under $100-rollerball, not fountain pen. Did pick up another roller ball pen made of mother of pearl and jet, (my favorite), in a Santa Fe jewelry shop which was going out of business for only $45, 20+ years ago.

 

[boston]

For some of the reasons that I collect pipes, I have also collected pens (to a far lesser degree) and manual typewriters. My wife purchased me a parker duofold international fountain pen 25 years ago. I enjoyed the pen a great deal. At some point maybe a decade ago I noticed a problem with the gold nib; it appeared that some of the metal as well as the housing had degraded - perhaps from using some exotic ink. The pens used to come with a lifetime warranty. After a bit of work, Parker replaced it with a used nib (unacceptable) and then a new one (which was fine). I have not used it since then - I'll give it to one of my kids. By the time that pen needs service again Parker will likely not be offering any support at all.

I do not collect much of anything anymore. Perhaps it's that I'm far too busy with work to dedicate the time; one does need to know what one is doing when collecting. And perhaps two college tuitions has me more acutely aware of how quickly money can be siphoned away.

Anyhow - back to the pens: If anything, my handwriting has degraded over the years because I use a keyboard for business writing and my fingers are just not used to handwriting. I never use my vintage typewriters, and when I do use a fountain pen I use a pilot metropolitan. They can be had on Amazon from time to time on sale and they have an excellent fine nib. And if I lose it or drop it, it's not the end of the world.

 

[smokiespipesmoker123]

I’ve got a bunch of pilot metropolitans in various nib sizes, love em

 

[puff_not_snuff]

I don’t collect anything for the sake of collecting—fountain pens for me are very much about possesing objects I actively use.