I had a Mont Blanc fancy fountain-pen once for quite a few years, great pen. I shoplifted it from the old Hudson's department store when I lived in Detroit in the '90s. I put it on Ebay when I got hard up for cash and someone in a Scandinavian country bought it then tried to get me to take it back because he did not like it's condition. Thankfully my brilliantly worded description of the pen had no flaws and Ebay told him it was his to keep, and the cash was mine to keep. Not a fan of pens or any other material objects so much because then I may not be a fan of myself, but I am a fan of the physical act of writing, and of course also a fan of well written non-fiction prose.
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Share Your Fountain Pen Fascination
- Thread starter melanie.ylang
- Start date
melanie.ylang
Top Veteran
- Location
- Australia
For the longest time I intended to share more about my (almost entirely low budget) fountain pens, but I've been using them to draw and sharing that experience on my thread here: https://cameraderie.org/threads/my-visual-diary-turning-my-photos-into-art.57419/page-7#post-670029
My mum recently found my first leather notebook cover, which my dad made me when I was in my teens, and I used all the time for a decade. It features a carved caricature of an emu head. The one I've been using for drawing superceded it some years later, when I requested a black leather one with a more grown-up, elaborate scrollwork design carved into the leather. I was delighted to have my emu back, and decided it would be a good cover for a pen and ink journal dedicated to recording my pen - fountain or other - and ink fascination.
Here's my first entry, penned in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep. I used my latest pen, the aqua Pilot Metropolitan in the photo - it has a 1mm italic nib, which adds a touch more flair to my hand without any effort. The pen is heavier than most of my others, as I like a lightweight plastic pen for drawing and letter writing... Not classy, but it's what I prefer!
The ergonomics of the Pilot Metropolitan also doesn't favour long writing sessions, I find the grip section a little bit uncomfortable; perfectly fine, however, to write in a greeting card or a journal page.
The other pens in the photo are a Duke 209 fude nib, Pilot iro-utsushi dip pen, and Noodler's Nib Creaper. I'll add a post for each of these in due course.
My mum recently found my first leather notebook cover, which my dad made me when I was in my teens, and I used all the time for a decade. It features a carved caricature of an emu head. The one I've been using for drawing superceded it some years later, when I requested a black leather one with a more grown-up, elaborate scrollwork design carved into the leather. I was delighted to have my emu back, and decided it would be a good cover for a pen and ink journal dedicated to recording my pen - fountain or other - and ink fascination.
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Here's my first entry, penned in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep. I used my latest pen, the aqua Pilot Metropolitan in the photo - it has a 1mm italic nib, which adds a touch more flair to my hand without any effort. The pen is heavier than most of my others, as I like a lightweight plastic pen for drawing and letter writing... Not classy, but it's what I prefer!
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The ergonomics of the Pilot Metropolitan also doesn't favour long writing sessions, I find the grip section a little bit uncomfortable; perfectly fine, however, to write in a greeting card or a journal page.
The other pens in the photo are a Duke 209 fude nib, Pilot iro-utsushi dip pen, and Noodler's Nib Creaper. I'll add a post for each of these in due course.
melanie.ylang
Top Veteran
- Location
- Australia
Today's pen re-inking and writing exercise was with my first non-disposable fountain pen, a Noodler's Nib Creaper eyedropper pen (there's no ink cartridge in the barrel; the clear barrel IS the ink reservoir). The end, grip and cap are marbled grey plastic with chrome trim. It's very lightweight, and not premium, but I like it a lot.
Today's ink is Noodler's La Reine Mauve, from my purple phase which I grew right out of. No more purple for me. I don't much like this ink; indeed, it's possible I actually dislike it.
The Crimson Rosellas have been in the apple tree, going about their annual taste-and-spit exercise with the infant apples, which you can see. I used to get mad, but now I just appreciate the pretty birdies.
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Today's ink is Noodler's La Reine Mauve, from my purple phase which I grew right out of. No more purple for me. I don't much like this ink; indeed, it's possible I actually dislike it.
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The Crimson Rosellas have been in the apple tree, going about their annual taste-and-spit exercise with the infant apples, which you can see. I used to get mad, but now I just appreciate the pretty birdies.
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- Location
- Seattle
- Name
- Andrew
That's a very cool pen! They don't seem to have different nib thicknesses, do they? I usually have to stick with a pretty fine nib to avoid smearing, since I'm a leftie.
melanie.ylang
Top Veteran
- Location
- Australia
I've had a bit of difficulty deciphering their nibs, but from what I understand this one confess (edit: autocorrect fail! is a) standard with a #2 steel nib (possibly medium-fine?) with some flex, and a feed designed for higher ink flow. My hands is very light, and I've never gotten it to flex.
This morning I picked it up again and it wouldn't write, and I recalled that sometimes it's like that (not quite as reliable as I claimed; my Pilots and Preppies are better in this regard), but then the feed came out of the grip, so I've done something wrong in assembling it after the last cleaning!
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- Name
- Miguel Tejada-Flores
Fountain pens have always fascinated me. But my few forays into fountainpenland have always seemed to end semi-disastrously... with ink splotches. So, with tongue firmly in cheek, this Comic strip ("Pickles") made me laugh--
- Location
- Central Ohio, USA
- Name
- Andrew
Picked up this pen. Much better than I was expecting. Hongdian, $16.99. COmes with a universal converter. Inked it up with Noodler's Baystate Blue.
Medium steel nib. With the BayState BLue it is a smooth writer on regular paper, and feels like glass on quality papers like Mnenosyne, Clairfontaine or Rhodia.
Metal grip, cap, body. Friction fit cap and it friction fits to post. For me it is a good travel pen when going to on site work meetings.
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Medium steel nib. With the BayState BLue it is a smooth writer on regular paper, and feels like glass on quality papers like Mnenosyne, Clairfontaine or Rhodia.
Metal grip, cap, body. Friction fit cap and it friction fits to post. For me it is a good travel pen when going to on site work meetings.
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- Location
- Central Ohio, USA
- Name
- Andrew
It's even better if I take my time! LOL.
- Location
- Central Ohio, USA
- Name
- Andrew
I might have to get out my collection of Bexley Pens and run them through some "product photo" treatment.
melanie.ylang
Top Veteran
- Location
- Australia
Today's pen arrival was a Sailor Hocoro dip pen with 1.0mm stub nib and snap-on nib reservoir. It had occurred to me that a wide nib dip pen would be a good option for testing ink samples, and that's when I discovered this line by Sailor, which overcame my reluctance to use a dip pen.
I reached for a sample vial of Diamine Peacock Flare to give them both a test run. After a failure on the previous page (a blockage, followed by a big burp, which shows through), it settled down nicely. This entire spread was from only two dips. Amazing!
Please excuse my "rough as guts" (is that a saying outside of Australia?) photo, I wasn't going for art!
I reached for a sample vial of Diamine Peacock Flare to give them both a test run. After a failure on the previous page (a blockage, followed by a big burp, which shows through), it settled down nicely. This entire spread was from only two dips. Amazing!
Please excuse my "rough as guts" (is that a saying outside of Australia?) photo, I wasn't going for art!
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melanie.ylang
Top Veteran
- Location
- Australia
Last night, before sleep overtook me, I had a sudden thought, and this morning I took action. Why not use my Noodler's Nib Creaper pen as a dip pen? It is very easy to disassemble for cleaning, and I find it more comfortable to write with than my new Sailor Hocoro dip pen.
I discovered that the feed section allows it to draw up enough ink to fill at least an A6 page with writing.
Here I have compared it with the Hocoro 1.0mm dip nib, with the two green inks I'm currently sampling: Diamine Classic Green and Private Reserve Avocado.
Rather than write from my imagination, I've been copying from Gordon West's 1930s travelogue, 'By Bus to the Sahara', as I enjoy the writing style of the day. This has taken over from drawing with fountain pens lately, which I hope soon to get back into.
I discovered that the feed section allows it to draw up enough ink to fill at least an A6 page with writing.
Here I have compared it with the Hocoro 1.0mm dip nib, with the two green inks I'm currently sampling: Diamine Classic Green and Private Reserve Avocado.
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Rather than write from my imagination, I've been copying from Gordon West's 1930s travelogue, 'By Bus to the Sahara', as I enjoy the writing style of the day. This has taken over from drawing with fountain pens lately, which I hope soon to get back into.
No pics as of yet, but I have been going back and forth with the Fountain pens since I got my first one, when we started learning cursive sometime in the late 70s. The first one is lost to time, but it was some sort of one step up from the most basic one which was on offer through the school. It was a black bodied Pelican with silver cap, and with my name engraved on it.
Then a bit later, 15 years or so, I got a wooden Parker with gold nib when I left office, having done a 4 year stint as chairman for a youth organization on the national level, that one I still have. It may need a new nib, if I can get around to it. It probably has some sort of caligraphy nib, and litterarily writes in broad strokes.
Bought a Schaefer or something along those line as a parting gift to myself on my last full day in A-stan in 10, and then added to that with a small hoard of very basic Parker Vectors, Kaweco Sports and Lamy Safari, as well as a couple of chinese "clones" of Mont Blanc models.
Turns out I still prefer my fat grip mechanical pencils with 0,7 or 0,9mm lead for handwriting purposes, they work in any condition and ease my death-grip on writing implements, something I have been privy to since my schooldays.
When I say death-grip, it is to the tune of having a indent in the bone of the long finger for squeesing writing implements.😳
Then a bit later, 15 years or so, I got a wooden Parker with gold nib when I left office, having done a 4 year stint as chairman for a youth organization on the national level, that one I still have. It may need a new nib, if I can get around to it. It probably has some sort of caligraphy nib, and litterarily writes in broad strokes.
Bought a Schaefer or something along those line as a parting gift to myself on my last full day in A-stan in 10, and then added to that with a small hoard of very basic Parker Vectors, Kaweco Sports and Lamy Safari, as well as a couple of chinese "clones" of Mont Blanc models.
Turns out I still prefer my fat grip mechanical pencils with 0,7 or 0,9mm lead for handwriting purposes, they work in any condition and ease my death-grip on writing implements, something I have been privy to since my schooldays.
When I say death-grip, it is to the tune of having a indent in the bone of the long finger for squeesing writing implements.😳
- Location
- Salish Sea
melanie.ylang
Top Veteran
- Location
- Australia
That's a great looking collection, I'd guess there's a fair representation of pens from several decades?
- Location
- Seattle
- Name
- Andrew
Granted it has been a long while since I used a dip pen, but that seems to hold a truly remarkable amount of ink per dip. Especially since it doesn't seem like a particularly fine nib width. My preferred dip pen back in the day was an extra fine - being left-handed, it was all I could expect to use without smudging too often. I recall having some powdered sepia ink mix that was made from seaweed or something like that, it mixed into a very nice ink. I think I still have this somewhere, I should dig it out.
Nowadays my Kaweco Sport fountain pens are in constant use, they're my standbys.
melanie.ylang
Top Veteran
- Location
- Australia
My apologies, I missed seeing this comment until now. It is indeed a remarkable amount of ink for a dip pen, and such a tiny - and simple - attachment... I worry that I'll lose it down the kitchen sink drain when cleaning it!
Your seaweed ink sounds very interesting, I'd love to see some samples with that if you do find it again.
melanie.ylang
Top Veteran
- Location
- Australia
My drawing slowed down for a few months, but I feel it returning. I did make these experimental drawings to use my various fountain pen ink samples creatively, and to try out working with pattern. It was enjoyable, but didn't feel as creativity satisfying as drawing from my own photos.
The first is a neurographic drawing, the idea of which appealed much more than actually doing it.
The others were based on patterns or photos I found online. With the exception of the first and last, all were done with a fountain pen used as a dip pen for the majority of the finished piece. I used a brush to apply colour to the last one.
The first is a neurographic drawing, the idea of which appealed much more than actually doing it.
The others were based on patterns or photos I found online. With the exception of the first and last, all were done with a fountain pen used as a dip pen for the majority of the finished piece. I used a brush to apply colour to the last one.
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Irene McC
Legend
- Location
- CPT, South Africa
Your work it absolutely wonderful @melanie.ylang
- Location
- Beaumaris, Melbourne, Australia
- Name
- John ...
You're spot on about that, Irene. A wonderful talent.
