Fountain Pens [Merged]

[bunnspecial]

I do suppose that fields can make a fundamental difference.

I'm in Chemistry, and our exams tend to be a mix of graded work and open response problems. In many cases, an open response problem is not so much an essay, but is rather either a math problem or requires the student to draw a diagram or figure to answer it(often times accompanied by a short explanation about why a particular answer is correct).

When grading, we have to be very diligent about indicating on the exam paper when something is missing that should have been there-again it's non unheard of for a student to go back and add to their answer after receiving their exam paper back, then claiming that part of the answer was missed in grading.

The vast majority of students I deal with are superb, but the ones who put more effort into cheating than actually learning the material make all of this necessary.

And, again, since I'm often dealing with pre-health students, the "cheaters" are often the ones who need to be "weeded out" before they enter a professional career where they can-quite literally-kill someone.

 

[mojolicious]

This has nothing to do with real fountain pens, but...

Does anyone know of an equivalent product to the Fountain Pentel? They're getting increasingly expensive and hard to find in the UK, and I believe they're no longer in production.

It's the only pen I'm truly comfortable using. I've got zero control over any ballpoint / fibrepoint pen, but have no desire to go down the 'proper' fountain pen route.

 

[bunnspecial]

This has nothing to do with real fountain pens, but...

Does anyone know of an equivalent product to the Fountain Pentel? They're getting increasingly expensive and hard to find in the UK, and I believe they're no longer in production.

It's the only pen I'm truly comfortable using. I've got zero control over any ballpoint / fibrepoint pen, but have no desire to go down the 'proper' fountain pen route.

I'm not familiar with that particular product, but from the name and a little bit of Googling I'm assuming it's a disposable fountain pen.

Your best bet is probably going to be the Pilot Varsity. It's actually very similar in construction to the Pilot V5/V7(I was a heavy user of V5s before I got into fountain pens), but has a nib in place of the "needle" ballpoint.

They're actually not bad pens. The nib is a bit "springy" but is smooth. They can be a bit tough to find in retail stores, but are plentiful and not that expensive from places like Amazon. I think the last time I bought some, they were $2-3 each.

 

[Huntn]

I owned a fountain pen back in the 60s. Now my favorite writing device is the Pilot G2-07.

 

[jpn]

Pilot Capless

my workhorse fountain pen is the Pilot Capless.
It never leaves my bag, always in use in meetings as well as jotting.
especially in use for blue sky thinking and developing new ideas.
my preferred ink is Pilot Blue Black
my preferred nib size for writing English: medium

depending on finish, between USD 100 and USD 150 retail.

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

Hmm, it seems this thread is in need of revival...
It was pointed out to me in another post that I should put some more detail about some pens I mentioned into this thread.
So...

I wanted to write a little about PenBBS.
Unlike many other pen companies, almost all PenBBS pens are unique designs. The one that isn't, the 308, is a very common shape that goes back to before WWII (no, Mont Blanc doesn't 'own' the cigar shape...).

These are the three models of PenBBS pens that I have --

From top to bottom - 323, 309, 267.

All came with the upturned nib. Some call it a 'Fude' nib, but it isn't. It is more like a Waverly nib that is turned up a bit to make writing a bit smoother. All mine have a Fine nib, which have worked out of the box, but for being a bit dry. It was a simple matter to open up the tines a bit to make them a tiny little tad* wetter**

All the pens are on the large size of medium (i.e. the 308 is between a Pilot Custom 74 and Pilot Custom 742 in size), are balanced, and comfortable to write with for extended periods.

All came with a converter, and because there is no metal in the barrel, and the barrels are sealed with o-rings, all of these three can be converted to an eye-dropper filler.

This is not my picture, this is from PenBBS's Etsy website. It shows a transparent (called 'Glass") 308 used as an eye-dropper filled with a green ink.

Another feature of PenBBS is that you can buy a little baggy of parts, including converters, feeds, feed/nib collars and an assortment of miscellaneous o-rings.

Some of these parts, like the feeds and collars, have been upgraded since I bought my first PenBBS pens some years ago, so the first thing I did when the kit arrived was to upgrade those older pens.

One final point on fountain pens in general. They should be able to write a line of ink just with the weight of the nib on paper. This means you can write without having to press down on the paper, and you can write for extended periods without stressing your hands and fingers. It annoys me no end to see pen reviews on Youtube where you can hear the pen nib scratching. That tells me the nib is not adjusted properly, and the user is pressing too hard.


_______________________

* This is a metric tad, not one of those flakey imperial tads...

** I use a 0.05mm feeler gauge between the tines to get a feel of the tension. Too much, the pen is too dry, too little it is too wet. Unlike others who want to see a gap at the tines, I want my tines to just touch. For me, that gives me optimal shading, without wasting ink by putting too much down.

 

[AVBeatMan]

Hmm, it seems this thread is in need of revival...
It was pointed out to me in another post that I should put some more detail about some pens I mentioned into this thread.
So...

I wanted to write a little about PenBBS.
Unlike many other pen companies, almost all PenBBS pens are unique designs. The one that isn't, the 308, is a very common shape that goes back to before WWII (no, Mont Blanc doesn't 'own' the cigar shape...).

These are the three models of PenBBS pens that I have --

View attachment 2162072

From top to bottom - 323, 309, 267.

All came with the upturned nib. Some call it a 'Fude' nib, but it isn't. It is more like a Waverly nib that is turned up a bit to make writing a bit smoother. All mine have a Fine nib, which have worked out of the box, but for being a bit dry. It was a simple matter to open up the tines a bit to make them a tiny little tad* wetter**

All the pens are on the large size of medium (i.e. the 308 is between a Pilot Custom 74 and Pilot Custom 742 in size), are balanced, and comfortable to write with for extended periods.

All came with a converter, and because there is no metal in the barrel, and the barrels are sealed with o-rings, all of these three can be converted to an eye-dropper filler.

This is not my picture, this is from PenBBS's Etsy website. It shows a transparent (called 'Glass") 308 used as an eye-dropper filled with a green ink.

Another feature of PenBBS is that you can buy a little baggy of parts, including converters, feeds, feed/nib collars and an assortment of miscellaneous o-rings.

View attachment 2162078

Some of these parts, like the feeds and collars, have been upgraded since I bought my first PenBBS pens some years ago, so the first thing I did when the kit arrived was to upgrade those older pens.

One final point on fountain pens in general. They should be able to write a line of ink just with the weight of the nib on paper. This means you can write without having to press down on the paper, and you can write for extended periods without stressing your hands and fingers. It annoys me no end to see pen reviews on Youtube where you can hear the pen nib scratching. That tells me the nib is not adjusted properly, and the user is pressing too hard.


_______________________

* This is a metric tad, not one of those flakey imperial tads...

** I use a 0.05mm feeler gauge between the tines to get a feel of the tension. Too much, the pen is too dry, too little it is too wet. Unlike others who want to see a gap at the tines, I want my tines to just touch. For me, that gives me optimal shading, without wasting ink by putting too much down.

Fascinating. Thanks for this post. I never knew that about resting the nib on the paper and writing a line. Off to test mine now!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Hmm, it seems this thread is in need of revival...
It was pointed out to me in another post that I should put some more detail about some pens I mentioned into this thread.
So...

I wanted to write a little about PenBBS.
Unlike many other pen companies, almost all PenBBS pens are unique designs. The one that isn't, the 308, is a very common shape that goes back to before WWII (no, Mont Blanc doesn't 'own' the cigar shape...).

These are the three models of PenBBS pens that I have --

View attachment 2162072

From top to bottom - 323, 309, 267.

All came with the upturned nib. Some call it a 'Fude' nib, but it isn't. It is more like a Waverly nib that is turned up a bit to make writing a bit smoother. All mine have a Fine nib, which have worked out of the box, but for being a bit dry. It was a simple matter to open up the tines a bit to make them a tiny little tad* wetter**

All the pens are on the large size of medium (i.e. the 308 is between a Pilot Custom 74 and Pilot Custom 742 in size), are balanced, and comfortable to write with for extended periods.

All came with a converter, and because there is no metal in the barrel, and the barrels are sealed with o-rings, all of these three can be converted to an eye-dropper filler.

This is not my picture, this is from PenBBS's Etsy website. It shows a transparent (called 'Glass") 308 used as an eye-dropper filled with a green ink.

Another feature of PenBBS is that you can buy a little baggy of parts, including converters, feeds, feed/nib collars and an assortment of miscellaneous o-rings.

View attachment 2162078

Some of these parts, like the feeds and collars, have been upgraded since I bought my first PenBBS pens some years ago, so the first thing I did when the kit arrived was to upgrade those older pens.

One final point on fountain pens in general. They should be able to write a line of ink just with the weight of the nib on paper. This means you can write without having to press down on the paper, and you can write for extended periods without stressing your hands and fingers. It annoys me no end to see pen reviews on Youtube where you can hear the pen nib scratching. That tells me the nib is not adjusted properly, and the user is pressing too hard.


_______________________

* This is a metric tad, not one of those flakey imperial tads...

** I use a 0.05mm feeler gauge between the tines to get a feel of the tension. Too much, the pen is too dry, too little it is too wet. Unlike others who want to see a gap at the tines, I want my tines to just touch. For me, that gives me optimal shading, without wasting ink by putting too much down.

Actually, the thread that I had in mind was (is) located in the "Picture Gallery" sub-section, (which is part of the Community Section area of the forum); the actual thread goes by the name of "Fountain Pen Owners Rejoice" - and is very much alive.

Nevertheless, lovely to see your pens, and thank you for sharing these images with us, and glad to see this thread revived.

Well wear and happy writing.