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Great Horny Toads! posted:My hand likes to sweat all over my pen, or anything else I hold in my hand for over 30 seconds. I saw something about using cotton gloves, but do art supply stores carry those? Check the beauty aisles of Walgreens or CVS. They have cotton gloves there for people like my mother-in-law who slather lotion on their hands before going to bed. They're also useful for when you're cleaning silver and want to keep from tarnishing it with the oils on your hands.
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Feb 13, 2013 09:45
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Tank71 posted:So is a "Parker Sonnet Stainless Steel GT" a good pen? I've recently purchased one and know nothing about fountain pens. I'd never seen this thread until now. I also ordered some parker ink. After reviewing this thread I will get something nicer! The Parker GT is actually a good moderately priced pen from what I've seen. Parker Quink (which, I assume is what you ordered) is a nice ink with nothing terribly special about it. It was originally designed for the Vac 51and reformulated over the years (super Quink). I actually have a pen inked in it right now and it works nicely, there's just no real shading or depth to it.
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Jun 21, 2013 08:15
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At work yesterday I got to find out why one shouldn't cheap out on converters. I had picked up a plunger style converter that fits standard international size pens for $0.25 at the local stationery store a few weeks ago and filled it with some Pelikan brilliant black. Took it to work for the past week and was loving having my pen and not having to worry about changing cartridges when I ran low.  Then yesterday I noticed that somehow ink had leaked past the plunger and started filling the body of the pen and there was now ink coming out of the threads above the grip and all over my hand.  Now I'm buying a standard international converter on Goulet Pens. Oh, and a Metropolitan, since they're on sale. And adding the Con-50 to the Metropolitan since I don't like the Con-20s that well. And since I'm paying for shipping anyway, why not grab a bottle of Noodler's Air Corp Blue Black...  My five dollar order is rapidly approaching fifty. 
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Aug 1, 2013 06:23
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Welsper posted:I thought metropolitans can't take the con-70 due to size? They can't. They come with a Con-20 (ugh) and they can take a Con-50. Goulet "helpfully" offers the Con-50 as an add-on on the Metropolitan order page. It's only $5.50 more... Pens, guns, and woodworking. Why couldn't I choose inexpensive hobbies?
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Aug 1, 2013 07:23
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Welsper posted:My innumeracy aside, isn't a con-20 preferable to a con-50 due capacity? The con-20 has more capacity, yes. The con-50 is a piston fill rather than a squeeze-bulb fill, however, making them far easier to use (in my opinion) and easier to judge how much ink is remaining. Besides, there's only like 5-10 fewer pages worth of writing with a con-50. I'll save the con-20 for a Plumix or something.
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Aug 1, 2013 07:41
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asylum years posted:Sorry if this has been mentioned, but why is anyone disparaging Noodler's inks? Just because they don't like the company in general, or because there's an issue with the inks themselves? (I was about to order a bottle.) Of course I can't speak to the specific reasons but it boils down to two things: 1) Noodler's inks are crafted for particular properties (bulletproof, exact color match to an old ink, etc.) and little to no thought is put into how they behave aside from the qualities that they were specifically designed to achieve. Many of the best looking have some quirks (54th Mass. tends to creep all over a nib, many do not flow well and skip and stutter or they can be super wet, etc.) 2) The dude behind Noodler's is, as far as anyone can tell, insane. This shows in some of the names (Bernanke inks are a great example) and he's pretty abrasive and absolutely refuses to acknowledge, let alone respond to criticism. As has been mentioned earlier in the thread, Baystate Blue will quite literally eat the feeds of some pens and some of the biggest names in the community have confirmed this but his standpoint is that it's never harmed a pen ever. So it boils down to: do your research, decide if you want to support an insane libertarian with a reality disconnect, pick up a bottle of ink. I have bottles of Nikita, 54th Mass, and Black Swan in English Roses and I absolutely love each of them despite any issues. None behave as well as my bottle of Pelikan Brilliant Black (for documents that must be signed in black and only black) but they're all way more interesting and I keep a Metropolitan inked in 54th Mass and another in BSER on me at all times.
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Nov 14, 2013 07:52
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SnakesRevenge posted:That's still something else. It could be the same nib maybe, but the nib creeper is a piston fill, and this one is a straight eyedropper. Yeah, it's a completely different pen. I actually emailed Noodlers and they confirmed that those pens are Noodlers pens and are not nib creepers. I actually prefer them to preppies since they're designed to be eye droppers but they aren't sold individually.
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Dec 4, 2013 21:09
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dino. posted:You actually like them? Well now. I'll be happy to trade you mine for a Preppy. Like? No. They're useful for testing inks since I can fill it, test the ink, and dump the ink back in the sample vial without dealing with a converter or worrying that the o-ring or silicone grease will fail, leaving me with inky hands. They're a terrible pen for regular use, though.
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Dec 5, 2013 02:02
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Solumin posted:I've been using a fountain pen off and on for the past couple years, though I started using it seriously last semester for writing all my notes. If your Franklin Covey pen is black with silver accents and has a medium nib (a.k.a. the Freemont), it's the least expensive, non-disposable fountain pen Staples carries in store. I own one (it was my second pen). Staples overprices it by at least $20, but it's a nice pen for the price. The Metropolitan blows it away, however. It's much better weighted and the nib is smoother. It's also cheaper. I hardly ever use black inks, but I've been pleased with my bottle of basic Pelikan black ink when I do need it. I tend to prefer blues for everyday use. My primary metropolitan has 54th Mass. in it right now and I love it. If you're at all OCD about your nib being spotless at all times, though, it's not for you.
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Jan 8, 2014 01:54
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Does anyone have any tips for writing on things requiring significant pressure like checks or other carbon papers? I know that back in the day it was typical for office workers to have a nail-hard nib just for that, but I don't really want to keep even more pens inked up (Right now I have two, both Metros-one in 54th Mass and one in Black Swan in English Roses) since I really only write one check a month and only occasionally have to fill out carbon copies and I think a nail-hard pen would just end up drying out which wastes ink and means I'd end up having to grab a ballpoint anyway.
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Mar 25, 2014 06:34
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Since someone upthread mentioned Massdrop earlier for a deal on Pilot Parallels, I thought I'd point out that they just launched a drop on Pilot Metropolitans. Two Metros, medium or fine nib, for $25, assuming they get 50 people to commit. Edit: they're offering them in either medium or fine https://www.massdrop.com/buy/pilot-mr-fountain-pen
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May 30, 2014 02:10
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that one guy posted:I did some looking around regarding the kind of stationery/writing box I was looking for, and found that the term for what I want is "writing slope" or "lap desk" or "writing box," and found this awesome site describing their history and different types of them: Try searching for a "campaign desk" or "campaign lap desk". I think I've seen some on Amazon, even. What's ridiculously priced, though? It's a pretty uncommon piece of furniture these days, so any that you find are going to be a bit pricey since they're either going to be actual antiques or a reproduction targeted towards the kind of people that shop at Crate & Barrel.
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Jul 12, 2014 09:17
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Zadus Rejan posted:Wait for the day when a massdrop happen at the same time as a good discount on a watermann carene on amazon.... Speaking of Massdrop, my matched-pair Lamy Safari pen & mechanical pencil just arrived today. The pen is a bit drier than my metropolitans, but that's mostly that I ordered it in EF. This is my first safari and I can see why people like them so much. As long as the writing position imposed by the grip section works for you, they're a really nice pen.
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Oct 20, 2014 19:05
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dexefiend posted:I just ordered a Lamy 2000 and some black Quink. Quink is about the best behaved, no-frills black you can find. It was designed to work in essentially every pen and do so well. If all you want is black--no shading, no bulletproof, no nothing aside from black--you can't go wrong.
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Oct 23, 2014 03:58
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Zorblack posted:I didn't see this thread until recently, but I have always had a great fondness for excessively smooth pens such as rollerballs (I particularly love the uniball vision line). This led me to become interested in fountain pens after a brief dabble in a cheap calligraphy set. I have a Cross Dubai from Staples that I picked up on a whim (it was on clearance for like  . It's a super wet writer and feathers like crazy on just about any paper and doesn't have any particular strong points for me aside from looking nice and being a weighty pen. That being said, I always reach for my Safari in EF and this is a very wet M, so I didn't expect to be wowed.I think if you like it, keep using it and consider adding (several) Metropolitans to your stable. The M nibs on those are slightly less wet than the ones on the Cross and since they're brass, they have a similar good weight. You might also consider getting some different nib sizes and types as they suit you. I love practicing lettering with my Pilot Parallels, for example and my first fountain pen was a Plumix (I've since swapped the nib onto a Metropolitan). Part of why this is a fun hobby is that you can feed that penlust in so many (often cheap) ways. And then you have to get inks for those pens....
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Dec 3, 2014 06:16
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NeurosisHead posted:Doesn't the Plumix nib fit the Metro as well? Yep.
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Dec 7, 2014 18:49
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Josef K. Sourdust posted:Ok. About to go into a shop and choose (and probably buy) an FP for $150-200. Can you guys give me tips on makes to look for and to avoid re build quality/reliability? I don't want to choose a pen I like only for it to die on me. I'll be using it for drawing as well as writing. Obviously I will try a number of pens and will get something that feels good and that I like the look of (and something for the right price) but obviously reliability isn't something you can judge in shop. I really don't think at that price point in a retail store you're going to find anything of truly questionable build quality or reliability. Keep in mind you'll probably be paying a slight premium for being in a brick & mortar store, but the advantage is that you get to try out a bunch of pens. As far as paper, that ends up here, too, typically. Are you looking for recommendations for a notebook, loose leaf, notepad...?
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Dec 8, 2014 23:56
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Everything Burrito posted:I was feeling a little festive so I put some Rouge Hematite in a cartridge and stuck it in one of my Metros. I haven't used this particular ink in a cart before, usually have used it in a pen with a piston or piston converter nor have I used it in this particular pen. I took the pen to an out of town meeting so it spent some time in my pocket (also doesn't usually happen but I didn't have a bag with me today) and about midway through the meeting had a pretty awful ink blowout, had ink in the cap, basically just ink everywhere which was very unusual. Now I'm not sure if it was from riding around in my pocket, getting warm in my hand during the meeting, lingering damage that I didn't know about from dropping this pen a while back, some property of the ink making it want to flow out more than inks I usually use, or just an unfortunate combination of some/all of the above but it pretty well sucked and I hope it doesn't become a recurring issue. Are you sure you fully seated the cartridge and/or have you checked for cracking around it? Is the nib/feed fully seated? You mentioned you dropped it, which could have loosened the feed or nib and if it's a refilled cartridge, it's possible that there's some abrasion/cracking/loosening around the open end. I keep my pens in my pocket all the time and haven't had an issue with it aside from a couple drops if I'm really running/bouncing around. The heat from your hand shouldn't affect the cartridge too much, either, given the insulating properties of the air in the pen body. The only time I had a pen leak from getting warmed up was with an eyedropper converted pen sitting directly in a patch of sunlight (and it was full of Noodler's Nikita--that was a mess).
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Dec 17, 2014 00:48
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Remora posted:Nope. If it looked like this, that's a Platinum Preppy. If it looked like the Airmail 69T or 444 or 67T or 90 with a little plastic bit on the barrel end that screwed off and matched the cap plastic? If so, still no, I have no idea WTF that thing is but it's not a Creaper. I've got one though. I've actually emailed Noodler's and Goulet about the free pen that isn't a converted Preppy that comes with some bottles (like Nikita) and it's apparently not available to purchase outside of buying a bottle of ink that comes with one. Edit: I just looked closer at the Airmail 67T and that's totally it. They must have just bought a bunch cheap and rebranded them.
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Dec 17, 2014 22:38
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blue squares posted:Oh... well I want to use the Lamy she got me. I have never liked the body on my Metro. The Lamy feels great. Medium is just too thick for me, though. I like writing small letters. Once I get my converter in the mail I'll fill it up with my noodler's ink but I doubt that'll make a difference in the weight of the lines. Pick up an F or EF nib from Goulet and try it for yourself. I use an EF Lamy Safari daily and haven't ever found it "too scratchy" or anything of the sort.
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Dec 18, 2014 18:06
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Noctone posted:would be cool i suppose if they just said hey keep the VP for your trouble and we'll get that Falcon on it's way If it was like a Metro or Safari, they probably would. I ordered a poster from them that arrived all beat up and they're just sending a new one (or rather having the original company send a new one). Told me to just toss the damaged one.
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Dec 23, 2014 19:39
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rio posted:How do you all decide what pen to use when you have several to many? I have 10, which I know is less than a lot of you guys, but I have to keep them all inked because I can never decide which to use. Do you go in rotations or something? I keep my Safari in my shirt pocket for work and notes on the go, typically inked with 54th Mass or Pelikan's Brilliant Black. I have one Metropolitan in silver inked in a Noodler's red of some variety (usually Nikita or Black Swan in English Roses) for editing duty. I have another Metropolitan in black for letters or journaling that rotates ink depending on how I'm feeling or what I want to play with. I have my parallels inked up only when I want to play/practice with them. The rest of my pens just tend to get used when I'm feeling like something different. Usually I swap them for the black Metro for journaling.
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Feb 19, 2015 17:42
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Lamy Safari in M? Inexpensive and lightweight. Ink capacity isn't fantastic with a converter, but a refilled cartridge should last through three hours of essay writing. Or just use the Lamy blue or black cartridges. Maybe not exciting, but very well behaved and professional. That's also got the benefit of being able to refill by just swapping in a new cart.
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Apr 9, 2015 19:38
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Brightman posted:Well if you're going the route of just switching cartridges then the solution is in the thread title I love my Metros but they're heavier than the Safari and they're largely metal, so depending on where/how she grips it, it may be more palm-sweat-inducing. They are "juicy" for sure, especially in M.
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Apr 9, 2015 21:19
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Alder posted:It's decent but the Lamy M nibs write too broad for me. I prefer finer nibs as I have small handwriting. I still say the best value is in the $70-100 range even for student pens. Also, you're not supposed to be replacing them and try to think of it as a good investment. I, too, prefer a much finer line and have an EF nib in my Safari. But I disagree that one cannot have an "investment" pen in the $30-40 range. Both the Metro and the Safari are wonderfully built, durable pens that should last for decades despite their inexpensive nature. Meanwhile there are ample examples of $70-100 pens (TWSBI, especially) that are finicky, fragile, and require a much greater time investment in addition to the financial one.
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Apr 11, 2015 21:28
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Loucks posted:I finally left my Vac 700 lying around once too often, and a coworker grabbed it off my desk and yanked the cap off the screw ring with gusto. Should've seen her face when I told her she broke a $70 pen. That's why I keep my pens in my shirt pocket. I don't know why, but it seems like people are more apt these days to just help themselves to stuff on someone else's desk these days and if they do ask, "hey can I borrow a pen," it's as they're picking it up and yanking the cap off. In other pen news, Rakuten has a three-pack of Plumix pens for 14.99 with free shipping right now.
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Apr 23, 2015 20:57
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Mikl posted:Good price, not very good pen. In my experience the only thing the Plumix (and its colleague Penmanship) are good for is yanking out the nib and putting it into a Metro or Prera. You're right about that and this is a cheap way to get three nibs.
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Apr 23, 2015 21:10
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Cast Iron Brick posted:Has anyone had any trouble with Lamy Safaris leaking? I use mine maybe once every two days, but every time I do I get a three-finger carriage covered in ink. It looks like it pools up just on the little ridge between the hand grip and the pen. Is your feed fully seated?
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May 21, 2015 18:35
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Titus Sardonicus posted:I ended up getting the Muji aluminum pen and a Lamy Safari, as prophesied weeks ago. But I have a question about my Metro: it leaks into the cap, big time; every time I uncap it, I end up with ink all over the tips of my fingers. I recently replaced the cartridge with a converter and filled it with some Noodler's Blue Black. Initially, I used the bulb converter that came with the Metro, but I hate that thing since I have no idea how much is being drawn into it, so I switched to a CON-50. The pen leaks no matter which one I used, so I'm wondering if the leak is to do with the converter or the ink itself. I want to figure it out before I run out of the ink in my Safari and switch to the converter. Anyone know what it is? Check to make sure your nib and feed are fully seated and test with a different ink. Noodler's inks are notorious for prioritizing colors and features over good behavior.
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Aug 6, 2015 19:00
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grack posted:Those pens are the ones I was talking about at the end of the last page. They're Safari copies (obviously) but they write really well, come with a high quality converter and have a damned good standard #5 nib. I've probably given away 10 or 12 and everyone I've given one to loves them. I test them first but I haven't had a bad one yet. What kind of cartridges/converters do these things take? I'm thinking of picking up 5 or so to keep at the office so I don't have to care when people "borrow" my pen (or grab it out of my hand and jab it into a piece of paper).
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Sep 10, 2015 09:35
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Keetron posted:Holy poo poo, the blunt end of my Pilot Metro works as a stylus on my Samsung smartphone. It's because the Metro is a brass-bodied pen and conducts the capacitance charge of your hand very well. Be careful that you don't inadvertently scratch the poo poo out of your screen, though. Styluses usually have those rubber tips for a reason. The metal of the pen body is still harder than the glass of your screen.
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Oct 1, 2015 17:57
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enzeen posted:Should I shake my penis that a bad idea? Sometimes if I shake my pen it squirts ink. I really enjoy shaking other people's pens while they shake mine. Some people have strong opinions on whether they prefer to shake pens that are posted or unposted, but I think either is fine. Be sure you clean up thoroughly afterwards, though. Wouldn't want to stain anything.
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Oct 16, 2015 23:40
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FAUXTON posted:You know who also writes nicely? I feel the same about Noodlers as I do about Dr. Bronner's. Good products and I get to read the insane ramblings of a crazy person if I get bored enough.
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Jan 26, 2016 17:17
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Solumin posted:Is Baystate Blue safe in a Pilot Metro? I'm honestly very tempted to get a pen dedicated to using just that ink, since it is such a perfect color. If you don't mind staining the poo poo out of whatever converter you use, sure. Just give it a good cleaning more regularly than you would if you had it loaded with something like Quink. Now on to my question: I finally picked up a Plumix with the intention of swapping the nib into one of my Metros but I decided to try it as it came first. I loaded up the included cartridge of Pilot black and away I went, but it feels decidedly scratchy. I'm not sure if that's just because it's an italic nib and I'm used to the EF on my Safari or the M on my other Metro or if Pilot's black ink is kinda dry or what. Should I do some fine tuning after I work through this cartridge or just try another ink after I swap the nib over?
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Feb 1, 2016 19:24
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JEBOman posted:On an unrelated note, does anyone know any good resources for improving handwriting/penmanship? I've found a lot of scans of old copybooks just by googling around. That might be a good place to get started. Some of them might be :files: but most are long into public domain. My grandfather tried to teach me the Palmer Method when I was younger and I've been trying to relearn it. This website has a lot of information and some great resources for that. Also, I hate to mention it, but the Handwriting subreddit has some pretty great resources and inspirational posts (and the usual Reddit circlejerking).
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Feb 2, 2016 03:06
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Rocko Bonaparte posted:I just reused a Pilot Metro cartridge by filling it with a sample of Noodler's Antietam. First, those cartridges really don't hold much, do they? My sample vial could probably fill 5 cartridges or more. Yeah, they're only like 1 mL. But A) that's more than any converter that fits in your Metro and B) you should get 8-12 full pages of writing out of one fill. As an aside, my wife asked me if I'd cut myself shaving after I cleaned the Nikita out of my pen in the bathroom sink and missed a few drops.
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Feb 17, 2016 19:18
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Rocko Bonaparte posted:Well sure, but did any schoolchildren even use them? I'm just so perplexed. I think I only ever saw a fountain pen in use once in my life. I think one kid got one was a gift in elementary school, tried use it, and it completely exploded on them. America seems to have switched to a #2 pencil-or-bust mentality for at least grade school, probably because of our hard-on for standardized testing. I don't think I was even allowed to use ANY form of pen for assignments until I got to upper middle school. I got my first fountain pen in grad school because I was looking for something to help reduce hand cramps and fatigue and wound up with a pack of Pilot Varsities.
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Feb 19, 2016 19:35
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Keetron posted:But is it a nice red? Can we see some writing samples? From some of the early reviews I've read, it feathers like a motherfucker even on nice paper. I think Nikita's a better "OMG COMMUNISM" red.
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Mar 7, 2016 14:55
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grack posted:Fast drying inks almost always have this issue because they're designed to be absorbed really quickly. Iron galls tend to be the exception. Oh, I know why it's doing that. He designed it for leftists--er... left-handed writers, thus the quick-dry. I was just saying that unless someone wants the quick-dry property, they're better off with another red. And yeah, NeurosisHead^^^ dude is a loving fruitcake, but I always have a pen inked up with 54th Mass.
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Mar 7, 2016 21:02
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Remora posted:Berning Red sample. Pretty great drying time. The paper is 24lb copy paper. Also learned my Hadrian has a serious dead spot in the nib on right-curving upstrokes. Wow. That looks way better than the samples I saw.
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Mar 8, 2016 02:22
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