Wengy posted:Have been lusting after the Pelikan Stresemann for years, might finally pull the trigger soon... Does anyone here have one? Thoughts? I could get one for a decent price with the EF nib, which is usually my preference anyway, how are Pelikan's extra fines? I have an M805 Ocean Swirl with an EF nib, the nib is much more like a broad than an EF and is very wet, smooth and a pleasure to write with. I'd say it's the best pen I own by a fair margin, it's extremely reliable, holds plenty of ink and fills and cleans up really easily. It's also very beautiful, especially in the sunlight.
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Jun 4, 2018 04:52
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The Electronaut posted:Almost none, just one corner got dinged ever so slightly. The journal and case are pristine. Thanks for the feedback. We'll double down on the bubble wrap and add more void fill to see if that helps keep the corners nice.
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Jun 4, 2018 06:08
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Thanks for the feedback re. Stresemann! A wet EF nib is just the thing I crave, so I guess I’ll pull the trigger 
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Jun 4, 2018 10:29
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AVeryLargeRadish posted:I have an M805 Ocean Swirl with an EF nib, the nib is much more like a broad than an EF and is very wet, smooth and a pleasure to write with. I'd say it's the best pen I own by a fair margin, it's extremely reliable, holds plenty of ink and fills and cleans up really easily. It's also very beautiful, especially in the sunlight. I have wanted an Ocean Swirl since the first images leaked. I'm a sucker for shimmery pens like that. Good to see so much Pelikan love if I ever decide to spring for it.
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Jun 4, 2018 14:23
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effika posted:I have wanted an Ocean Swirl since the first images leaked. I'm a sucker for shimmery pens like that. Good to see so much Pelikan love if I ever decide to spring for it. It's a very light reactive pen, in low light it's fairly subdued, but in bright light it glitters and shines, my favorite part is that there are very small glittery bits that are invisible in anything but bright light like sunlight, they don't even show up in the photos I've seen of the pen but you can definitely see them in person. If I had to describe the material it's like aquamarine crystal or mother of pearl in deep, dark water.
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Jun 4, 2018 14:34
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Kessel posted:Thanks for the feedback. We'll double down on the bubble wrap and add more void fill to see if that helps keep the corners nice. Can confirm that the corners on mine were ever so slightly worn, but nowhere near enough to be bothersome. Also your website should mention how amazing the indigo on the notebooks smell.
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Jun 4, 2018 17:10
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As someone whose main use of a fountain pen is to jot down story ideas and story outlines in a small journal is a fountain pen worth it for me? I’m not going to be doing any cursive writing but I want something more substantial then junk dollar store pens and pencils are too prone to breaking on me at the worst times
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Jun 4, 2018 17:19
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I pretty much only use fountain pens to grade about 30 tests from time to time, it's much more comfortable to write with than other pens.
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Jun 4, 2018 17:30
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Get a cheap but good pen like a Lamy Safari or Pilot Metropolitan and a pack of cartridges and see what you think. If you like it, great! If you don't, you've not spent much money and you're not lumbered with something you'll need to get rid of.
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Jun 4, 2018 17:31
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There's no law for writing in cursive with a FP, they print just as nicely. Sometimes better if you like shading. If you print it makes every line of the letter shade.
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Jun 4, 2018 17:32
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Nine of Eight posted:Can confirm that the corners on mine were ever so slightly worn, but nowhere near enough to be bothersome. Also your website should mention how amazing the indigo on the notebooks smell. So we really do need to double down hard on the corner protection. Thanks, that's good to know. And yes, hah! You know, we have to air the books out for a few days before boxing them, because the "new book" smell combined with the indigo smell is so overpowering.
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Jun 4, 2018 18:03
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kim jong-illin posted:Get a cheap but good pen like a Lamy Safari or Pilot Metropolitan and a pack of cartridges and see what you think. If you like it, great! If you don't, you've not spent much money and you're not lumbered with something you'll need to get rid of. This is great advice but I kind of think he could just buy a couple jinhao 750x and check how you like it, Metros are cool but at 20+ USD are kind of over priced. One could check if he likes fountain pens for a couple of bucks instead of 30+ USD.
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Jun 4, 2018 18:04
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I would just go with a Lamy Safari, but then my experiences with Jinhaos have all been bad so that's not exactly a surprise.
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Jun 4, 2018 18:06
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I don't have any experience with Jinhaos but my understanding is that the QC isn't great so there's a reasonable chance you might get a duff pen, which is perhaps not the best intro to fountain pens for someone questioning if it's a hobby for them.
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Jun 4, 2018 18:23
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My local friends say as far as Jinhaos go, about 1 in 7 or 8 is good and usable, which I think is a little worse track record than this thread has seen. In general, I think if you're trying to figure out whether you want a fountain pen, you'd be better off buying something with decent quality control rather than rolling the dice on a Jinhao. FWIW I think a Pilot Kakuno is a decent introduction to FPs that at least isn't quite as expensive as a Metro or Safari. e: or a Platinum Preppy, I've had a couple or three that I've basically just given away because someone will see me using it, ask if they can try, and kind of get hooked on them then and there.
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Jun 4, 2018 19:14
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MockingQuantum posted:My local friends say as far as Jinhaos go, about 1 in 7 or 8 is good and usable, which I think is a little worse track record than this thread has seen. In general, I think if you're trying to figure out whether you want a fountain pen, you'd be better off buying something with decent quality control rather than rolling the dice on a Jinhao. To each his own but for me the x750's have all been good. And I own pelicans, twisbi's and other "fancy and expensive" fountain pens. They do dry up in 24h but this is it. Otherwise they are very nice pens. edit: and at a couple of bucks you cannot go wrong at least trying one. Iznogood fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Jun 4, 2018 |
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Jun 4, 2018 20:10
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AVeryLargeRadish posted:I would just go with a Lamy Safari, but then my experiences with Jinhaos have all been bad so that's not exactly a surprise. I also would always suggest the Safari as a first fountain pen. It's the right balance of quality and price. If you buy literally the cheapest one you can find that's going to affect you idea of what the pens can be like forever.
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Jun 4, 2018 21:02
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Yeah, I've only had one or two minor problems with mine. Contacting the eBay seller usually means getting a refund, which you can put towards new pens! I've been enjoying the Diamine Quartz Black I've been using, however it has been hard to get it started. I think I'll buy a bottle of MB Oyster Grey as my next purchase. My Italics practice has been going really well. I've decided to stick with the MB Mystery Black, thanks for the suggestions though!  Edit:  I forgot I didn't try the Quartz Black out. It's close to the Mystery Black, only a bit darker and with better shading. I'll use it instead!
Professor Shark fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Jun 4, 2018 |
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Jun 4, 2018 21:12
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Only tangentially related to fountain pens, but how did y'all work on your script/handwriting? Everyone's got such pretty handwriting and I'd like to clean up my chicken scratch.
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Jun 4, 2018 22:47
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Poops Mcgoots posted:Only tangentially related to fountain pens, but how did y'all work on your script/handwriting? Everyone's got such pretty handwriting and I'd like to clean up my chicken scratch. I had to learn it in school
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Jun 4, 2018 23:18
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Poops Mcgoots posted:Only tangentially related to fountain pens, but how did y'all work on your script/handwriting? Everyone's got such pretty handwriting and I'd like to clean up my chicken scratch. These are pretty highly regarded. https://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-P...andwriting+book
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Jun 4, 2018 23:20
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My handwriting is still not great. I keep telling myself I'll work on it soon but then I just buy a pretty new ink instead.
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Jun 5, 2018 00:12
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Poops Mcgoots posted:Only tangentially related to fountain pens, but how did y'all work on your script/handwriting? Everyone's got such pretty handwriting and I'd like to clean up my chicken scratch. Have to say in my case it depends on the pen. With some I have pretty decent writing with others I suck rear end. I did practice some back in the days using youtube and printed practice sheets. But, really, like anything else you have to practice. I fill notebooks full of random stuff (sometimes just tests with new pens/ink ) and in time you will get better.
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Jun 5, 2018 00:40
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Sagebrush posted:I had to learn it in school This, but with the unspoken "and then years of actually writing things." Being taught and knowing the letterforms is a start, but it doesn't mean much of anything if you aren't constantly using it. Also sometimes I see some interesting handwriting and decide to copy a bit of it. Recently I've been writing my t's as i's, with the crosspiece over the top, where you'd dot the i.
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Jun 5, 2018 00:50
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Poops Mcgoots posted:Only tangentially related to fountain pens, but how did y'all work on your script/handwriting? Everyone's got such pretty handwriting and I'd like to clean up my chicken scratch. Thirty plus years of practice.
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Jun 5, 2018 01:28
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Poops Mcgoots posted:Only tangentially related to fountain pens, but how did y'all work on your script/handwriting? Everyone's got such pretty handwriting and I'd like to clean up my chicken scratch. I've been doing a daily handwriting practice for a bit over a month now. To me, it helps get me into thinking about the mechanics and techniques in a way I hadn't before, and lets me focus on the shapes of letters and the motions that put the pen in the right place at the right time. For correspondence writing, the best thing I did was to get in the habit of writing the letter once as a draft, and then transcribing it, so I don't have to think about composition and writing neatly at the same time. It's slow, but I'm not writing that much by hand ever (computer toucher working remotely, so just about everything is typed).   
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Jun 5, 2018 01:48
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Thanks for the recommendation, y'all. Mr. Domo likes it! 
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Jun 5, 2018 01:55
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Kessel posted:So we really do need to double down hard on the corner protection. Thanks, that's good to know.  And the corner behind it are like this, like I said, very slight. I enjoyed your interview with BYOB btw.
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Jun 5, 2018 01:58
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Thanks for the advice everyone! I was considering starting a daily-ish journal anyway, so that'll be good for taking time to think about my handwriting. Most of my writing so far has been "I need to get these facts and formulas on the page before the slide changes" so slowing down should be a nice change of pace.
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Jun 5, 2018 03:51
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Handwriting Tip when taking notes - Switch to a different, less familiar language. Having to slow down enough to hop to a different language helps you focus on what you are writing.
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Jun 5, 2018 04:12
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A big one too is learning to write with your arm, not your fingers. This may also require adjusting your grip on the pen if you hold it all fucky.
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Jun 5, 2018 04:17
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404notfound posted:A big one too is learning to write with your arm, not your fingers. This may also require adjusting your grip on the pen if you hold it all fucky. My handwriting was hosed up because up until I gave a poo poo I was writing using my wrists.
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Jun 5, 2018 06:56
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I'm looking for a place to buy a nib puller and a #16 ink sac (or two in case i gently caress up). I have an esterbrook dollar pen that once belonged to bell labs, and I'd like to get it working. I tried to fill it and it only writes few sentences so I'm going to assume the sac is dead. I know it's a common pen and the sac is going to be more than buying a fixed one.. but my bro sent it to me, and I've wanted a lever filler since I started
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Jun 5, 2018 15:21
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Just to make sure you know, Esterbrook nib units unscrew out, that’s the point of them, they’re easily replaceable. Just saying because I got worried the second I read esterbrook after seeing “nib puller”. Also esterbrooks are real common, so don’t forget to look at some of the billions of guides written about disassembling and repairing them.
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Jun 5, 2018 16:08
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tater_salad posted:I'm looking for a place to buy a nib puller and a #16 ink sac (or two in case i gently caress up). You will need sacs, a bottle of shellac, and a bag of talc. I think you should be able to get the lot for less than the price of a restored Esterbrook, though you might as well buy sacs in bulk and then start buying up all the dead lever fillers you find. If you only do the one pen, what're you gonna do with the rest of the shellac? Apart from the three mandatory items above, you might find it useful to have a hairdryer or heat tool, dental picks, and long round brushes. These are often sold with other pen repair supplies. Off the top of my head you can shop at Indy Pen Dance, vintagepens.com, pentooling.com or pendemonium.com, among others. It's often the case that one site will only sell part of what you need so do take your time looking around first.
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Jun 5, 2018 16:46
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Cool I didn't know they unscrewed I hadn't looked at a guide for pulling one apart yet. The only place that I've seen for #16 nibs is Etsy and they want $12 to ship and $6 for 2 sacs which I feel is kind of expensive. Edit... It seems like it'll hold water/ suck it up if I take the nib out, it won't drain even with nib out unless I pull the lever. It won'tt fill through the nib so the nib might be clogged with dried up ink. tater_salad fucked around with this message at 16:59 on Jun 5, 2018 |
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Jun 5, 2018 16:47
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Soak the nib unit in a solution of 90% water/10% ammonia overnight. If you don't have any ammonia, white vinegar will work as well.
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Jun 5, 2018 17:48
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Okay I'll give that a try.. no amonia so I'll toss in some white vinegar (I may be out of that too)... I just ordered a NOS nib from ebay for $12 and tossed a most likely not winning $15 on 3 NOS nibs.. drat my brother I was staying away from this thread and Fountain pen sites to avoid buying more pens. But now I want a vaccumatic and to fix the Esterbrook, and maybe finally get a demonstrator to hold my robert oster orange ink kuz it' looks super cool... rip 
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Jun 5, 2018 17:59
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I can’t seem to figure out how to write using my arms 
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Jun 5, 2018 21:41
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Xun posted:I can’t seem to figure out how to write using my arms I have fantastic arm writing when the letters are at least half an inch high, legible and clear and evenly-formed. I can't seem to get that to work any smaller than 1/2 inch... but eventually I'll get there. Maybe. Try writing on a chalkboard or dry erase board, in really big letters. That's arm writing, or at least it should be. (If you don't feel like you're moving at your shoulder, make the letters bigger until you do so.) Now you just have to take those movements, and make them much smaller. You can still lightly rest on your palm/forearm until strength builds up, but be careful that you don't slip back into finger/wrist writing.
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Jun 5, 2018 22:51
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