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Write more. Seriously. My handwriting was tremendously worse a year ago than it is now and I haven’t been consciously practicing with drills or anything, just finding more excuses to write.
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Oct 30, 2017 19:18
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| # ? May 28, 2024 14:29 |
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This book helped me and I recommend it. But, the cliff notes version is: Know the shape of the letters you want to make, you want to have a template of the perfect version of the letter in mind. Don't mix different versions (i.e. 2 with loop and 2 without loop) of the letter forms. When you write, keep the shape in mind as you write each letter. Basically, be conscious of the shapes you make, and they will become natural and gradually you won't have to pay close attention. 'Slow is smooth and smooth is fast'
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Oct 30, 2017 19:54
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So I think I have confirmed mold in two of my Lamy Al-Stars. If I clean them with a 1:10 or 1:20 bleach solution, do I risk destroying the pen or the finish?
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Oct 30, 2017 20:04
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taqueso posted:This book helped me and I recommend it. But, the cliff notes version is: Heath posted:Write more. I should probably clarify: this is just standard printing that sucks. Cursive and me haven't gotten along since the last time I had to use it consistently, and that was probably 3rd grade.
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Oct 30, 2017 20:07
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imo if you're only going to print then fountain pens aren't worth the investment and a good gel pen will be better. Probably an unpopular opinion in this thread though  The advice for improving printing is pretty much the same though. Do a lot of writing every day, know how you want the letters to look, and go as slow as you have to. You'll naturally gain speed as your hand muscles gain memory. Oh, and make sure you're gripping the pen in a natural way. If your hand starts to hurt after a few minutes of writing then you're gripping the pen wrong and should change it.
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Oct 30, 2017 20:18
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MJP posted:I should probably clarify: this is just standard printing that sucks. Cursive and me haven't gotten along since the last time I had to use it consistently, and that was probably 3rd grade. Honestly it's going to take some time but there's a big difference between learning something as a kid and as an adult. When you're in school, you have to learn it, you don't have a choice. Now you're doing the same thing because you want to do it and that can make all the difference in the world. For me when I was practicing I would just write a stream of thought of whatever and if I didn't like the way a letter looked I'd take a break, practice that letter till it looked how I wanted, then go back to essentially doodling with cursive. The shape was always more important than the content when I was doing this. I also tended to look at actual examples of cursive writing when I was writing and not just the loopy practice sheets you used in school. Those teach you the shape and how to write them but they were always too round for my preference. Bulbous even. From there it's just a matter of regular practice in small chunks. Just a few minutes a day will have you writing better before you know it.
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Oct 30, 2017 20:44
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Eric the Mauve posted:imo if you're only going to print then fountain pens aren't worth the investment and a good gel pen will be better. Probably an unpopular opinion in this thread though I vehemently disagree with you about FPs not being worth the investment if you don't use cursive. My handwriting isn't just printing, it's block-caps. I still love using my FPs for it, though, because 1) it puts way less stress on my hands than even the smoothest gel pens; 2) you can't refill a gel pen with cool ink; 3) fountain pens are loving cool and how or what I write with them shouldn't matter. Moreover, though this doesn't really matter to me other than to shake my head, cursive really isn't being taught at all in primary schools any more. My wife's a middle school teacher and the staff pass "secret" notes in cursive since none of the kids can read it. You're right about the second and third parts, though. One last note: weirdly enough, heavier pens can be better for reducing hand fatigue and stress. Not sure why that is, but it's definitely something I've noticed.
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Oct 30, 2017 20:54
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Most of my writing is print and I still prefer fountain pens because yeah, they just hurt less to use than a nice gel pen.
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Oct 30, 2017 21:02
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I pretty much only ever write in cursive, and my handwriting has gone from atrocious to pretty acceptable (occasionally I get 'nice/fancy handwriting' remarks) in the last year. My first Goulet order was seven years ago, but I just haven't written much until more recently. Practice makes perfect, like any skill - just writing by itself will help, but dedicated practice times where you write certain common shapes over and over (like the Palmer method) will help even more. I totally get it if you don't want to invest that amount of time. Just write more. I keep a work planner, home/personal planner, nightly journal, and notes/memos all in writing. It's more of a personal touch when I'm delivering something, and it helps me remember things when I'm taking notes.
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Oct 30, 2017 21:38
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Found a Lamy Safari in Dark Lilac plus a bunch of dark lilac and petrol cartridges on holiday near Munich. No bottles unfortunately (of Lamy) but did pick up Pelikan blue black and Faber castell midnight blue ink. My wife thinks I'm a dork.
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Oct 30, 2017 21:55
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MJP posted:I should probably clarify: this is just standard printing that sucks. Cursive and me haven't gotten along since the last time I had to use it consistently, and that was probably 3rd grade. That book is 2/3rds printing and the last bit has cursive stuff. I only did the printing sections.
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Oct 30, 2017 22:17
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Also writing in (terrible) italics with a parallel can be a lot of fun.
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Oct 31, 2017 00:17
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Magnus Praeda posted:I vehemently disagree with you about FPs not being worth the investment if you don't use cursive. My handwriting isn't just printing, it's block-caps.
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Oct 31, 2017 02:36
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Heath posted:So I think I have confirmed mold in two of my Lamy Al-Stars. If I clean them with a 1:10 or 1:20 bleach solution, do I risk destroying the pen or the finish? The finish on Al-Stars is anodized, which can react with bleach in strong enough concentration. I don't know what a 1:10 or 1:20 might do. I know a 1:4 ratio will screw things up, based on this post on a yo-yo forum. Have you done much searching on the FPN forums? The general consensus there seems to be an ultrasonic cleaner and biocide of some type. I've seen ammonia, vinegar, dedicated fungicide, and phenol all recommended. Never bleach, though. I'm not sure which of those would be safe for anodized aluminum and the plastic in the feed/section-- you'll probably need to do a bit more research.
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Oct 31, 2017 03:43
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Rocko Bonaparte posted:I'm so sorry, but the rest of your post turned into ALL-CAPS in my head. It's amazing.  EVERY PAGE IN MY BULLET JOURNAL LOOKS LIKE I'M REALLY EXCITED OR REALLY ANGRY ABOUT MUNDANE poo poo!Pretty much like that, yeah.
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Oct 31, 2017 03:55
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effika posted:The finish on Al-Stars is anodized, which can react with bleach in strong enough concentration. I don't know what a 1:10 or 1:20 might do. I know a 1:4 ratio will screw things up, based on this post on a yo-yo forum. I had mold in my Vista. The feed will tolerate bleaching just fine. Can't help you with the aluminum parts.
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Oct 31, 2017 05:01
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I’m afraid of there being residual spores in the cap since I had some fuzzies on my nibs. If I tried vinegar, how strong should I dilute it?
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Oct 31, 2017 08:55
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You need chemicals and/or mechanical action to clean the growth in the feed, but I would kill the spores in the cap with heat.
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Oct 31, 2017 09:03
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I have access to a hospital autoclave 
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Oct 31, 2017 09:13
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So after trying a bunch of different kinds of paper, I oddly discovered how much I like french-ruled paper. A lot. It's so....orderly!
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Oct 31, 2017 09:28
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Heath posted:I have access to a hospital autoclave Your feed is likely plastic so I wouldn't put it in the AC. However, a hot bleach solution in a cheap sonic cleaner would likely do you wonders.
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Oct 31, 2017 21:51
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What are you people doing with your pens to get mold.
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Nov 1, 2017 01:26
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grack posted:What are you people doing with your pens to get mold. I put them in an old wooden box. Mold spores are insidious.
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Nov 1, 2017 01:48
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oh gdi, i snapped the feed on my celluoid Platinum 3776 cleaning the pen. 
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Nov 2, 2017 04:38
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Happy Fountain Pen Day everyone! I picked up a Pelikan from cult pens (10% off!) which I am very much looking forward to.
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Nov 4, 2017 02:23
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In honour of Fountain Pen Day I put a bid on some very pretty looking vintage Urushi
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Nov 5, 2017 05:09
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I've finally realised that I'm buying Lamy cartridges faster than I'm using them. Oops. I refill my Pilot cartridges, but I can't face refilling the Lamy ones.
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Nov 5, 2017 10:04
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If half the fun of fountain pens is playing with beautiful inks why buy Lamy cartridges?
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Nov 5, 2017 10:54
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Safari for work, Metro for play. But the Lamy cartridges have a very narrow opening, much smaller that the Pilot ones, so I tend to stick to the basic colours for the Lamy.
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Nov 5, 2017 11:06
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Bought this in a nice hole-in-the-wall shop I found while visiting my sister, along with three nice ink samples. (Here's hoping they don't blow up in my suitcase, but I think I packed them well enough.) Still haven't tried the pen, but I really liked the look so it was an impulse buy. The nice lady at the shop said it takes standard cartriges, but she doesn't know if there's enough space in the barrel for a converter. Ah well, if worse comes to worst I'll just refill the cartridges.
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Nov 5, 2017 11:48
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VelociBacon posted:If half the fun of fountain pens is playing with beautiful inks why buy Lamy cartridges? I find the cartridges more convenient and worry free. I had a incident with my Vista the other day and almost ruined a dress shirt, fortunately the ink pooled in the barrel. I think it was my fault for not cleaning properly when I was refilling it with my ink, but still, that's something you don't have to deal with when using cartridges.
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Nov 5, 2017 15:30
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Mikl posted:Bought this in a nice hole-in-the-wall shop I found while visiting my sister, along with three nice ink samples. (Here's hoping they don't blow up in my suitcase, but I think I packed them well enough.) Still haven't tried the pen, but I really liked the look so it was an impulse buy. The nice lady at the shop said it takes standard cartriges, but she doesn't know if there's enough space in the barrel for a converter. Ah well, if worse comes to worst I'll just refill the cartridges. Yeah, from what I can tell those are cartridge-only pens because they put something in the barrel to help the cartridge seat when the barrel is screwed back on. You might be able to get a shorter standard converter in there (I think Monteverde has one) but refilling cartridges is your best bet.
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Nov 5, 2017 18:07
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MJP posted:Peripherally related, but worth an ask: is there a thread-preferred method of improving lovely handwriting? Mine sucks. A lot. Always has. Grew up during penmanship classes and didn't do well, even with a handwriting tutor. I started typing my assignments in 1996, and I never looked back. I don't even know how I did well enough on handwriting-only college exams. I had an interesting experience a while back. I bought some roller balls at a grocery store a while back and I was a bit angry because they didn't work. They would work for the first 30% of a word or something and then just smear. But because they worked at the beginning, I didn't give up on them. And then during a kind of lull in work I messed around with them and I realized that the ink only flowed so fast and if I wrote slowly, well it worked. A consequence of this? My handwriting was MUCH better. I also take notes on things in a notebook, and honestly, it's just a matter of deciding to have good handwriting. I'm going to switch to my Dad voice and say that if you're having trouble with something, slow down.
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Nov 6, 2017 10:58
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bollig posted:I had an interesting experience a while back. I bought some roller balls at a grocery store a while back and I was a bit angry because they didn't work. They would work for the first 30% of a word or something and then just smear. But because they worked at the beginning, I didn't give up on them. And then during a kind of lull in work I messed around with them and I realized that the ink only flowed so fast and if I wrote slowly, well it worked. A consequence of this? My handwriting was MUCH better. I also take notes on things in a notebook, and honestly, it's just a matter of deciding to have good handwriting. That's actually been good advice. I've slowed down in my daily journaling and while my handwriting isn't great, it's actually legible compared to how my fast handwriting looks. Meanwhile my Hero 616 has developed a wonderful habit of leaking. I opened up the cap to use it the other day and got a smear of ink on my hands. Same condition happened after cleaning it up. Am I just unlucky or is this a Chicom pen problem?
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Nov 6, 2017 16:38
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I splurged on a matte black Vanishing Point with a real gold nib (I had the “special alloy” version and it was already my favorite pen) and the difference is subtle but noticeable. It almost glides too smoothly and my writing looks like the tracks left by someone trying to ice skate for the first time.
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Nov 6, 2017 18:09
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My Vista leaked on me again today, the second time in a row after filling it. Edit: Leaked mostly dried ink into the barrel.  I think my converter is the culprit. It's also leaked from the seam between the "twisty" part as well. Would a new, correct fitting, converter help? Professor Shark fucked around with this message at 23:42 on Nov 6, 2017 |
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Nov 6, 2017 23:30
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Professor Shark posted:My Vista leaked on me again today, the second time in a row after filling it. It's certainly the easiest thing to try. If ink is coming out from around the piston, it definitely needs to be replaced anyway.
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Nov 7, 2017 00:10
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Professor Shark posted:My Vista leaked on me again today, the second time in a row after filling it. Is that the Z-whatever converter that's official for Lamys?
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Nov 7, 2017 00:11
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effika posted:It's certainly the easiest thing to try. If ink is coming out from around the piston, it definitely needs to be replaced anyway. unkle77 posted:Is that the Z-whatever converter that's official for Lamys? Yeah, the Z26. I'll go with a Z24/28 (the red one) next time. I bought it at the relatively inflated North America price too, which is annoying since it started leaking almost right away.
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Nov 7, 2017 00:33
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How do the Sheaffer 300 or Taranis feel compared to the Metro in terms of weight and balance? I passed my MCSE last night and I'm now allowed to buy a Ferrari pen if I want. It's probably the only Ferrari in Rosso Corsa I'll ever own but I like the Metro for feeling nice and dense. FPH has the 300 available to sample but no Taranis.
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Nov 8, 2017 13:28
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