Intro to Fountain Pens

[LuBee]

I've been listening to that too, which is why I mentioned the F-C nib here. The Pilot Falcon looks like a very interesting pen. Does anyone have any experience of it?

Great postcast, I love it!

I'm not into flex pens my handwriting just doesn't suit! Tried a Noodlers Nib Creaper http://www.purepens.co.uk/acatalog/N...onstrator.html and decided I'm just not into flex pens, going to stick with stubs.

If anyone wants a hardly used Nib Creaper its yours for a tenner!

[robt]

Is there an affordable, usable flex nib solution for everyday writing?

Those titanium nibs that Namisu use are excellent. The only more flexible nib I've used apart from vintage gold ones (that usually aren't super reliable) is my Visconti Homo Sapiens, which is an incredible nib but not exactly cheap, nor practical as an everyday writer (it puts down far too much ink for most paper).

Having had a couple of Namisu pens for a few months now, the only issue with them is that the feed isn't as reliable as some more expensive pens. It's fine as long as you use the pen every day, but if you let it sit for a few days, it'll skip a bit until it gets properly saturated again. Sometimes I need to turn the plunger to get it started.

That's not the fault of Namisu, because the nib and feed are both come from Bock as an integrated unit. So the same nib on another make of pen would most likely be the same.

[Phil Lee]

I have been very pleased with the titanium nib on my Namisu. It does have a good amount of flex to it.

[LuBee]

I have been very pleased with the titanium nib on my Namisu. It does have a good amount of flex to it.

They've just released a Kickstarter for their latest pen https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...f=project_link

Which I have backed!

[PollandAkuma]

If you guys want new flex nibs, Aurora does really nice ones from what I've seen. FA and Falcon from Pilot are just great!

[LuBee]

If you guys want new flex nibs, Aurora does really nice ones from what I've seen. FA and Falcon from Pilot are just great!

Not cheap though at $650....I do like the yellow one they have released

[Uriel]

Thanks all. I was hoping to keep to below £100 (90% of my writing at work is done with fineliners).

Looks like I'm just going to have to consider this a little more of a 'treat' than I'd intended. Looks like it'll be a Falcon for me.

[robt]

Thanks all. I was hoping to keep to below £100 (90% of my writing at work is done with fineliners).

The Namisu isn't much over that, especially if you join their mailing list for the 10% discount. Can always unsubscribe immediately afterwards, but they only send emails when they have a new pen launch, which isn't that often.

I can't compare with the Falcon because I haven't tried it, but I did some digging around and found a couple of videos by the same reviewer:

• Pilot Falcon, 14k flex nib
• Conid Bulkfiller with Bock Titanium nib

Just so it's easy to understand why I'm so blown away by the Namisu pens: they cost about £100 but the nib is the same #6 Bock nib used in that Conid, which is a £500 pen. Plus, as someone who doesn't write enough to care about large ink reservoirs, I prefer the solid metal machined body on the Namisu pens too. Also I completely agree with him on how smooth those titanium nibs are. They really are exceptionally smooth writers.

It's a shame they don't offer the titanium nib in the aluminium body, since that would fall well within your budget. I'd drop them an email and ask if they can upgrade one for you as a one-off. It's the same size nib, so shouldn't be a problem. I had to swap the nibs on my copper one, and it was far easier than any other pen I've had to remove the nib/feed from. Even if you end up having to pay for the extra nib, it should still be under £100 all-in.

I have to say though, the Falcon looks good as well. I'll have to give one of those a try at some point. Not now though. Definitely not buying any more pens for a while.

[Uriel]

Okay, sold :)

I've backed the Namisu Kickstarter for a titanium body and nibbed Ixion. I think the colour and shape of the cap should nicely complement my Rotring 800 which is my everyday pencil.

What about inks, are there any in particular that work better or worse for flexing? I have a handful of Diamine sample bottles and a bottle of Lamy petrol, which I love. I can't help but be drawn to Pilot Iroshizuku, but that's more for the bottle than anything else.

[Miocene]

Is using a fountain pen, but then using cartridges considered as hideous a mistake as wearing black shoes and a brown belt?

I like that pen on kickstarter, but refilling a pen at work would just act as entertainment for my colleagues... at my expense.

[ach5]

Is using a fountain pen, but then using cartridges considered as hideous a mistake as wearing black shoes and a brown belt?

I like that pen on kickstarter, but refilling a pen at work would just act as entertainment for my colleagues... at my expense.

For me, it's all part of the theatre of using a fountain pen.

If you want simplicity, get a Bic biro!

[robt]

Is using a fountain pen, but then using cartridges considered as hideous a mistake as wearing black shoes and a brown belt?

I like that pen on kickstarter, but refilling a pen at work would just act as entertainment for my colleagues... at my expense.

I tend to use standard cartridges in my Parker, just because Parker black ink is very good. This is a lot more convenient to take into an office, for example, compared to bottles of ink etc. The main reason you'd want to use a filler convertor cartridge is to use different inks, which aside from coming in different colours, can change how the pen writes (also depending on the paper) depending mainly on how thick or thin the ink is.

Another thing to remember about fountain pens is that if you take them on a plane, they will leak. Cartridges are good if you need to do that, as you can take the cartridge out before flying, and put another one in when you get there.

The main reason that some fountain pen people don't like cartridges is that they prefer a fountain pen with a built-in reservoir so you can fill the entire pen body with ink. If you are always filling from an ink bottle anyway, this is better if you write a lot because you can fill the pen with about 3-6 times as much ink as a cartridge. Personally I prefer pens with cartridges overall, because I don't write enough to worry about running out of ink all the time, and they are easier to clean.

For example, my Visconti, which has a plunger filling system, is an incredible pen. But it can't be disassembled, so if you want to put a different coloured ink in it, you need to spend about an hour flushing it with water and then leave it for a day to dry out. With a cartridge-based pen, you just need to run some water through the nib & feed, pat it dry and put another cartridge in. If you don't let it air dry overnight, all that happens is that it'll write faded for a while until you run all the water out of the nib.

The Namisu pens takes "standard international" cartridges, which are pretty easy to find. Most shops stock Waterman cartridges that will work.

[ach5]

... fountain pens is that if you take them on a plane, they will leak.

A salesman at The Pen Shop in Chester (I know, I know) once told me that Pelikans (M800 specifically, I think, but it was 8 years ago) are the only FP that can be taken on a plane filled with ink without leaking. No idea if this was sales patter or not?

[robt]

I've backed the Namisu Kickstarter for a titanium body and nibbed Ixion. I think the colour and shape of the cap should nicely complement my Rotring 800 which is my everyday pencil.

That's good. I prefer the slightly less industrial look of the Orions, but they do have a minor practical issue of rolling around on hard surfaces, which isn't a problem you'll have with the Ixion.

What about inks, are there any in particular that work better or worse for flexing? I have a handful of Diamine sample bottles and a bottle of Lamy petrol, which I love. I can't help but be drawn to Pilot Iroshizuku, but that's more for the bottle than anything else.

I'm not too sure TBH. I bought loads of inks when I first got into fountain pens but some factors make it hard to really narrow down how much difference the inks make:

• It takes a long time to run through an ink and replace it, unless you are only dip-testing. Even that is time-consuming and can be misleading about how the pen will perform, since it's not going through the feed and it's likely the ink will get mixed with water from rinsing between inks.
• It's hard to isolate the ink from the pen, and different combinations will perform differently on different paper.

As a result, whenever I get a new pen I tend to fill it with Pelikan blue or black ink, since those are the ones I tend to actually use most often (boring, I know) and see how the pen performs on various papers. This way I am isolating the pen from the other factors. To isolate the effect of ink, you'd need to refill the same pen with different inks, which is just really time consuming. I tend to have a couple of pens that I use most of the time loaded with blue and black, plus a couple with some more interesting colours that I only use occasionally.

As for what is a good ink that I've found to work in my flexible pens, I find that for general writing, the Pelikan inks are really good. They always lay down a consistent line and don't bleed badly. For interesting colours, Caran d'Ache are expensive but really good. I especially like "Grand Canyon" as an unusual colour that can actually be used without looking too flamboyant, as it gives a sort of aged manuscript look. One of the best inks I've found is Noodlers, but for a while you couldn't get it in the UK. I've just had a look and found a website selling it, so I would recommend starting there if you want a colour other than standard Pelikan black/blue.

The main difference between say Caran d'Ache inks and Pelikan/Noodlers is that the former is quite a watery ink, which allows you to get shading variation (if that's what you want), whereas the latter is thicker and lays down a more saturated line with a consistent colour, which is better if you want line width variation without overshading effect (similar to the effect you get with felt-tip pens, which makes it impossible to get a consistent shade). For example for the pen & ink drawing style, you'd generally use a very saturated black like Pelikan because the shading is all about line thickness variation, not colour variation. The less saturated inks make it look more like you're writing with a brush (obviously the effect looks a lot better than the felt tips I compared it to).

Another thing to keep in mind is that fountain pen nibs take a couple of months to run in and adapt to your writing/drawing style. Every Parker I've had has started off fairly scratchy out of the box, and got much smoother over time. That's another reason why I tend to start off with Pelikan black, as it means I can use a new pen for everyday writing purposes for the first month or two until I get a feel for how the pen writes/draws, then I can decide if I want to continue using it as an everyday writer or for a more specialist purpose. If you plan to do this, it may be better to start with a blue ink, because it's the easiest to clean out fully, so less likely to pollute the colour of whatever ink you use later. Though obviously blue isn't as general-purpose as black. I've never had a problem flushing out black ink, but it does take longer.

Incidentally, I find the difference between Parker and Pelikan ink to be pretty negligible, with the Pelikan being perhaps marginally better, so for plain blue/black/red, I tend to use Parker ink in Parker pens, and Pelikan in everything else. Just found a nice comparison of a few different blacks. Haven't tried the MB ink myself, might need to give it a go some time, although "permanent" in the name suggests it is an archival ink, which you should not use in most pens as it can permanently clog up the feed:

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...-pelikan-4001/

Finally, if you want to play around with different inks, get yourself a Rhodia notebook for testing. It is by far the best paper for fountain pens and you'll be able to get away with much wetter inks that would destroy other paper. Do not use Moleskine: they use really thin paper that's terrible for fountain pens. The Rhodia paper is actually made by Clairefontaine, but it's a bit harder to find CF paper in the same weight as their own notebooks tend to be a bit thinner.

[bonzo697]

Is using a fountain pen, but then using cartridges considered as hideous a mistake as wearing black shoes and a brown belt?

I like that pen on kickstarter, but refilling a pen at work would just act as entertainment for my colleagues... at my expense.

I don't think it is. Diamine and J.Herbin cartridges are the same as their bottled ink without all the pfaffing, and with some smaller pens you get more capacity than you would with a converter.

[robt]

A salesman at The Pen Shop in Chester (I know, I know) once told me that Pelikans (M800 specifically, I think, but it was 8 years ago) are the only FP that can be taken on a plane filled with ink without leaking. No idea if this was sales patter or not?

Never heard that before, but based on some googling, it seems there are some pens including the M800 that are supposedly resistant to pressure changes. How effective it is appears to be in some doubt though as it's not clear that they will actually resist the sort of pressure change you'd get on a flight. It's kinda like "water resistant" on a watch: essentially meaningless in most cases.

Pelikan don't seem to have a better reputation than any other make for resisting leaks, so it's probably salesmen stretching the truth a bit. The general advice is to remove the ink if possible, and if not, fill it up completely so there's no air inside the reservoir. Then store it nib up and don't take it out in-flight. If possible, store it in an incompressible airtight container.

Most modern pens won't leak if completely full, but there's no guarantee that'll be enough every time. If you can't either remove the ink or use a completely airtight container, it seems to be a matter of luck whether or not the pen will leak. Also, like dive watches, most pens have internal gaskets, which can degrade over time.

Thinking about the airtight container idea, next time I need to fly with a fountain pen, I think I might try putting my pen case inside a clip-lock tupperware container (the ones with thick rubber seals). That should do the job without having to keep the pen in a pocket (which is dangerous, if it does leak). I've had a couple of leaks before, when I've had my usual pen case in my bag without thinking about it.

[ach5]

(Caran d'Ache ink)... I especially like "Grand Canyon" as an unusual colour that can actually be used without looking too flamboyant, as it gives a sort of aged manuscript look.

I have this ink and agree it's lovely and practical. You get a tiny amount for ££ but it's gorgeous.

[LuBee]

A few pen related specials on Amazon Prime

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/browse/re...2XTRSCKVBZ9CHW

[robt]

A few pen related specials on Amazon Prime

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/browse/re...2XTRSCKVBZ9CHW

This is a really good pen at a great price. Great styling too, as long as you like the black & gold option:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waterman-Ca...870041031_1_21

I haven't owned one but I did try one in the Pen Shop a few years ago and very nearly bought it for about £150. FP forum review here:

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...terman-carene/

IIRC it was a very smooth nib with a little bit of flex (neither stiff nor true flex). Would be a good daily writer.

There are some other cheaper Watermans listed which are OK for the sale prices, but those cheaper ones have basic steel nibs and I find them quite scratchy (not as good as Parker or TWSBI at the same price). One of my first fountain pens was a Waterman Hemisphere, which I soon replaced with a Parker Sonnet and never looked back. The Waterman is better looking, but the Parker is a much better writer.

Edit: Another thing - I'm not 100% sure about Waterman but I know Parker and several others do this: if you buy with the medium nib, you can send it off to have the nib swapped to whatever you want within 30 days of purchase.

[LuBee]

This is a really good pen at a great price. Great styling too, as long as you like the black & gold option:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waterman-Ca...870041031_1_21

I haven't owned one but I did try one in the Pen Shop a few years ago and very nearly bought it for about £150. FP forum review here:

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...terman-carene/

IIRC it was a very smooth nib with a little bit of flex (neither stiff nor true flex). Would be a good daily writer.

There are some other cheaper Watermans listed which are OK for the sale prices, but those cheaper ones have basic steel nibs and I find them quite scratchy (not as good as Parker or TWSBI at the same price). One of my first fountain pens was a Waterman Hemisphere, which I soon replaced with a Parker Sonnet and never looked back. The Waterman is better looking, but the Parker is a much better writer.

I've got a couple of Carene's and they are really nice pens, with an unusual nib design. Not the lightest as they are metal bodied but that suits me :) They're quite classic looking

[Strnglwhank]

I've got a couple of Carene's and they are really nice pens, with an unusual nib design. Not the lightest as they are metal bodied but that suits me :) They're quite classic looking

I have a Carene but after years of problems with hardstarting & skipping even after nib exchanges, I've given up with it. I stick to my OMAS and Visconti pens mostly.


Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app

[robt]

I have a Carene but after years of problems with hardstarting & skipping even after nib exchanges, I've given up with it. I stick to my OMAS and Visconti pens mostly.

Those sound like feed problems, not nib problems. Quite a different price bracket too, you won't get any of those for seventy quid.

I find that even my Visconti has occasional feed issues, but only because it puts down so much ink that I can't use it very often. It just turns most paper into an inky mess. So it often gets a bit dried out between uses. Takes a while to get going again. Same thing happens to every pen I've used, except my Sailor, but only because it has a completely air-tight cap. You can literally leave that one untouched for months and it will work immediately. I generally find that my most reliable pen is whichever one I am currently using every day.

[LuBee]

Those sound like feed problems, not nib problems. Quite a different price bracket too, you won't get any of those for seventy quid.

I find that even my Visconti has occasional feed issues, but only because it puts down so much ink that I can't use it very often. It just turns most paper into an inky mess. So it often gets a bit dried out between uses. Takes a while to get going again. Same thing happens to every pen I've used, except my Sailor, but only because it has a completely air-tight cap. You can literally leave that one untouched for months and it will work immediately. I generally find that my most reliable pen is whichever one I am currently using every day.

If I could find an OMAS for £70 I'd be in heaven :)

An issue I have with the Carene is that if left for a little while ink dries underneath the nib and its not that easy to clean. So I tend to fill mine then keep it in my EDC until it runs out of ink.

[Miocene]

Decided to take the plunge with the Namisu on KS - blue... I think, with the titanium nib.

There's a fair chance it'll be coming to a SC near you soon... (or at least soon after it arrives).

Have a Cross ATX roller and fountain pen already. Never used the fountain, used the roller a lot but the cartridges don't last very long at all.

[robt]

An issue I have with the Carene is that if left for a little while ink dries underneath the nib and its not that easy to clean. So I tend to fill mine then keep it in my EDC until it runs out of ink.

I'm starting to think there's a market for nice, fully air-tight cigar-shaped pen cases. This is a common problem, though some pens are worse than others. Plus there's the issue of taking pens on planes discussed earlier.

My idea was to use a cliplock tupperware container for flights, but it's a bit bulky and inelegant-looking for daily use. Could be a workaround for Carene owners if they are especially prone to this though - just store it overnight in the sealed container to minimise evaporation. In fact, I'm inclined to try making one into a slightly better pen case by adding one or two dividers and lining the whole thing with felt. It would work better if it were closer to the size of the pen though, so there's less air inside and I'm not sure if they make them in good sizes, as they're designed for food. It's really just an imperfect substitute for a fully sealed cap, but not many pens have those. They've only been around for about 5-10 years I think.

[Strnglwhank]

Those sound like feed problems, not nib problems. Quite a different price bracket too, you won't get any of those for seventy quid.

I find that even my Visconti has occasional feed issues, but only because it puts down so much ink that I can't use it very often. It just turns most paper into an inky mess. So it often gets a bit dried out between uses. Takes a while to get going again. Same thing happens to every pen I've used, except my Sailor, but only because it has a completely air-tight cap. You can literally leave that one untouched for months and it will work immediately. I generally find that my most reliable pen is whichever one I am currently using every day.

I suppose I've been fortunate in that it's only been my Carene that I've had these types of problem. I've had a few problems of a different kind with my Homospaiens bronze due to Visconti's quality issues but they exchanged in the end for a Divina which has been perfect. No problems whatsoever with my Omas Milord or Paragon (which for a medium is a soaking wet writer).

But the Carene was a graduation present & I would love it to work properly 😢

[LuBee]

Decided to take the plunge with the Namisu on KS - blue... I think, with the titanium nib.

There's a fair chance it'll be coming to a SC near you soon... (or at least soon after it arrives).

Have a Cross ATX roller and fountain pen already. Never used the fountain, used the roller a lot but the cartridges don't last very long at all.

Me too going for blue and brass! If this is your first use of a fountain pen, I wouldn't go with a titanium nib as they are very soft and will be easy to spring the tines (and buggar your nib, unlike gold titanium isn't easy to straighten back) especially if you write with a heavy hand. I'm sticking with steel despite being a died in the wool fountain pen user.

[Miocene]

Me too going for blue and brass! If this is your first use of a fountain pen, I wouldn't go with a titanium nib as they are very soft and will be easy to spring the tines (and buggar your nib, unlike gold titanium isn't easy to straighten back) especially if you write with a heavy hand. I'm sticking with steel despite being a died in the wool fountain pen user.

It comes with the steel nib anyway, so I can use that until such a stage that i'm happy with it.

When I did my accountancy exams a few years back I tried loads of pens trying to find one that took very little effort to write with, as I find it much more comfortable (something I'd recommend to anyone doing exams... little worse than a crap pen when you're writing for three hours). Hopefully I'm not too heavy handed!

[ach5]

I had spotted this, but resisted, then saw the posts above including LuBee's photos and then couldn't resist any longer!

[robt]

If this is your first use of a fountain pen, I wouldn't go with a titanium nib as they are very soft and will be easy to spring the tines

A good point. These nibs require very little pressure at all. They will flex with the slightest of effort. You really do not want to treat them like a ballpoint. If anyone is getting one as their first pen, it's probably a good idea to get something like a fineliner, which doesn't need much pressure, and write with that for a few weeks before trying the fountain pen, to train out the habit of pressing down.

[LuBee]

I had spotted this, but resisted, then saw the posts above including LuBee's photos and then couldn't resist any longer!

Love to be an enabler!

[seffrican]

Is using a fountain pen, but then using cartridges considered as hideous a mistake as wearing black shoes and a brown belt?

Not at all, no one needs to know what's inside the barrel of your pen.

I tend to use standard cartridges in my Parker, just because Parker black ink is very good.

It may be very good, but only in the sense that almost any other black ink is better.

Their Royal Blue is popular with my local pen shop for testing, because it starts smooth and cleans easily. If you ask for Parker Black they will pretty much wrestle you to the floor and not let go until you promise not to ask for it again.

A salesman at The Pen Shop in Chester (I know, I know) once told me that Pelikans (M800 specifically, I think, but it was 8 years ago) are the only FP that can be taken on a plane filled with ink without leaking. No idea if this was sales patter or not?

It's not the ink that causes the leaks, it's the air remaining in the reservoir after the pen is filled. Most piston fillers can be bled of nearly all the air, if you know how, and don't mind ink on your shoes.

Trouble is that if they DO leak, they hold a hell of a lot of ink.

For air travel with a FP, cartridges are a lot easier to manage. Remove cartridge from pen, toss it, at destination insert fresh cartridge.

If I could find an OMAS for £70 I'd be in heaven :)

If you could find a whole bunch you'd be on SC :)

[robt]

If you ask for Parker Black they will pretty much wrestle you to the floor and not let go until you promise not to ask for it again.

That kind of thing is just stupid. I bet they keep their CDs in the fridge to make them sound better too. Parker black ink is fine. I've tried it in several pens and the differences compared to other decent black inks are negligible.

[LuBee]

It comes with the steel nib anyway, so I can use that until such a stage that i'm happy with it.

When I did my accountancy exams a few years back I tried loads of pens trying to find one that took very little effort to write with, as I find it much more comfortable (something I'd recommend to anyone doing exams... little worse than a crap pen when you're writing for three hours). Hopefully I'm not too heavy handed!

My bad, I didn't realise you'd gone for Titanium as an additional nib.

I'm really excited about this Kickstarter, reminds me of a grown up Kaweco - which I like the styling of but not the size.

[seffrican]

That kind of thing is just stupid. I bet they keep their CDs in the fridge to make them sound better too. Parker black ink is fine. I've tried it in several pens and the differences compared to other decent black inks are negligible.

Don't you find it quite watery to write with and lifeless on the page when it dries? To my eye, it doesn't compare with Waterman Black, which works well in any pen and isn't especially expensive.

BTW, what's a CD? Is it part of some old 20th century ritual?

[robt]

Don't you find it quite watery to write with and lifeless on the page when it dries? To my eye, it doesn't compare with Waterman Black, which works well in any pen and isn't especially expensive.

Nope. Maybe there's more variation on different papers though.

[ach5]

I have LuBee on WhatsApp for pen related chit chat - I wonder if the other pen fans who post regularly in this thread want to join a whatsapp group if I set one up?

PM me if so!

[72bpm]

Love to be an enabler!

Oh No! I'm not falling for that one. I feel the Waterman Fine will not suit me

[Uriel]

I'm starting to think there's a market for nice, fully air-tight cigar-shaped pen cases. This is a common problem, though some pens are worse than others. Plus there's the issue of taking pens on planes discussed earlier.

My idea was to use a cliplock tupperware container for flights, but it's a bit bulky and inelegant-looking for daily use.

What about a High 5 electorolyte tube? They're pressfit lids, but seal pretty well, I think. The big ones should be around the right size.

[Bluetorric]

You could get a parker 51, mine hardly ever dries out and its not a daily user..............

[robt]

What about a High 5 electorolyte tube? They're pressfit lids, but seal pretty well, I think. The big ones should be around the right size.

Maybe. Probably want to line it and maybe try to make it look better on the outside. Spraypaint it black perhaps.

[Steve B]

I've been looking for an alternative to the Kaweco Sport as a pocket pen and found the Ohto on Amazon for £11. It's even smaller than the Kaweco until you post the lid when it transforms into a full size pen and over 12mm longer.

After seeing this I looked on Amazon and got the Ohto for £7.98 delivered, it arrived in a couple of weeks but for the price it is a amazingly well made pen and writes reasonably smoothly abate a bit fine for a medium nib but I prefer it that way.
It is still the same price now.

[bonzo697]

^ It was that price when I bought it but I didn't want to wait for it to come from Japan so I paid extra to get it next day. They're amazing little pens and I'm more impressed by what you can find in that price bracket than I was spending £150.

[LuBee]

I have LuBee on WhatsApp for pen related chit chat - I wonder if the other pen fans who post regularly in this thread want to join a whatsapp group if I set one up?

PM me if so!

Having some great chats with Adrian, weapon of the day, new pen aquisitions and ink sampling.

Was stuck in a conference today so haven't managed to catch up with his posts today ;)

[ach5]

Having some great chats with Adrian, weapon of the day, new pen aquisitions and ink sampling.

Was stuck in a conference today so haven't managed to catch up with his posts today ;)

Although you've been studiously avoiding my attempts to buy some of your pens !

[LuBee]

Although you've been studiously avoiding my attempts to buy some of your pens !

Its hard to do, a bit like sending your kids to the orphanage :)

[ach5]

Its hard to do, a bit like sending your kids to the orphanage :)

Maybe i'll send in social services to remove them from your custody so I can adopt them

[Miocene]

It comes with the steel nib anyway, so I can use that until such a stage that i'm happy with it.

When I did my accountancy exams a few years back I tried loads of pens trying to find one that took very little effort to write with, as I find it much more comfortable (something I'd recommend to anyone doing exams... little worse than a crap pen when you're writing for three hours). Hopefully I'm not too heavy handed!

Backed this the other night... will it work with cartridges straight from the box, or do I need anything else? [/ignorance]

[LuBee]

Backed this the other night... will it work with cartridges straight from the box, or do I need anything else? [/ignorance]

They are talking about adding a Schmidt K5 Converter for £2.50. But if you want to use cartridges, standard international ones will fit fine.

[Phil Lee]

Bureau Direct have my favourite ink, Robert Oster Fire and Ice, on offer for £9.95 today. They also have Lamy Safari Petrol fountain pens on offer for £14.95.

Robert Oster Signature Ink - Fire and Ice | Bureau Direct
Lamy Safari Fountain Pen Special Edition | Bureau Direct