Personal Fountain Pen research

[Daniel]

Recently there have been some conversations concerning fountain pens. Some of my comments have not been all that enthusiastic about them regardless of there defense and recommendation by others. As I fully recognized that these "Others seemed to far more informed and experienced with them than I. I decided in all fairness that I should give fountain pens there best chance to inmpress me.
So taking much of the advice given in several conversations. I made myself a Gold and Platinum Statesman Fountain Pen. this being in my mind the best of the best or at least hoping so. I also primed the nib buy drawing curly ques on a brown paper bag after having washed the nib under cold water. Filled the converter that was generously supplied by Anthony with Private Reserve Ink also provided by Anthony. in this case I used the color Purple Haze. I did notice that the Ink seemed much thinner than Inks I have seen before.
I must now correct my previous statements about fountain pens. at least good ones that are treated right.
this pen writes smoother than my beloved Rollerballs. I cannot even feel the nib gliding across the paper. and I am only using copier paper. very fine even consistant flow of Ink. and I realize the nib has not yet even had the chance to break in or loosen up or whatever it is that it does to gain a little "Flex" so I expect it to get even better.
Note this is the stock nib that comes withthe Statesman. not the custom Gold nib that Anthony offers which I suspect would make the preformance better still.
Thanks to everyone that added comments and suggestions. thank you also for your presistance that caused me to reconsider my opinion of fountain pens. I think I have found a new desk pen. so if the shipping labels on your CA have pale purple ink on them it doesnt mean I've gone fruity on ya. It just means I'm trying one of the 30 or so ink colors I got from Anthony.

 

[PenWorks]

Great Daniel ! another fountain pen convert. []
Daniel....IAP....The World.... pretty soon ball pens will be obsolite AGAIN []

 

[scalawagtoo]

Any body wanna buy some goose quills?

the original fountain pen!

 

[PenWorks]

No, but Kurt H. was looking for porqupine quills, if anybody has any, contact him.

 

[Ben]

I'm not EVEN going to say I told you so.... but I TOLD YOU SO!!! Now all you need to get is your "Parker 51" with the 18k GOLD NIB!!!

 

[Thumbs]

Oh,no! It just goes on and on! [][}]

 

[Ligget]

Paul, my 12year old daughter reads the posts in this site.
Watch your language in future please.
Thank You!![!]

 

[Rifleman1776]

Originally posted by penworks
<br />No, but Kurt H. was looking for porqupine quills, if anybody has any, contact him.

Do a search for Crazy Crow Trading Post. Betcha they got 'em.

 

[driften]

I have tried a number of fountain pens. In the name of research for pens I am making. The nibs on the Barons are not too bad but are stiff and can be a little scrachy. Its not just the steel nib. I have a steel nib Sheaffer snorkel that was new old stock and its much better then the Lamy or Baron. The 14k nibs tend to be much nicer in any case. I think Anthony's gold nibs are going to make a big diffrence! I picked up a 1940's Wearever Zenith 195 that was new old stock with a 14k semi-flexable nib and there is a BIG diffrence in the fexability. I have a few pens that I need to replace the sacs in to have a chance to try a few more nibs. So far the snorkel is my favorite to write with.

All of the vintage pens are thiner and lighter then the baron. I want to try making some of the bigger CSUSA pens to try out though, esp with Anthony's gold nibs!

 

[Skordog]

Daniel, you have discovered what I was hoping would be the case with Fountain pens. After reading all of the posts here and doing tons of research I decided I needed to go buy a fountain pen to see what the magic really is.

I went out and bought a Lamy Al-Star fountain pen. It writes pretty nice but the line is a bit too thick for my taste. It has a medium size nib. I did notice I get different thicknesses of lines on different types of copier paper.

All in all though I still prefer my Gentleman's rollerball.

But, I am willing to give it one more shot. On my next order I will get a Statesman fountain pen kit and try it out.

Two questions: (for you or anyone else)

1) what size nib did you get? Fine or Medium
2) does the Private Reserve ink make enough difference to warrant ordering it?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Daniel]

Jeff,
Without having the experience to really know. I wold say the nib on my statesman is a med. for me it is a very heavy line as I like a fine even on my rollerballs. The Private reserve is a huge difference from what i have been using. appears to me like writing with colored water. the Purple Haze I tried first is a very pale purple, which is not necessarily my preference. but hey I'm just playing. the color selection I have in inks will be a blast if I get it in my craw to do an Ink drawing. Sort of an idea I have rolling around to make a set of fountain pens with varios nib thicknesses then use the inks to make a colored drawing. Maybe even of a pen. anyway my grandmother use to do ink drawing with black ink when I was younger. wouldn't mind trying one myself.
as for worth it. I think it was. and I bought over a hundred dollars of the stuff. My pen still writes the next day and everything. jsut pick it up and write just like I could my rollerballs. just signed my Dads fathers day card. I'm really impressed withthis pen, sort of restored my confidence in the pens I am making.

 

[DCBluesman]

Originally posted by Skordog
<br />Two questions: (for you or anyone else)

1) what size nib did you get? Fine or Medium
2) does the Private Reserve ink make enough difference to warrant ordering it?

Quick answers for your two questions, Jeff. First off, all of the nibs on the kits are European mediums. I stress European because Japanese nibs tend to be one grade finer for the same naming convention ( a Japanese "medium" is equal to a European "fine"). As for Private Reserve Ink, it is an excellent ink and has received fantastic reviews from a number of fountain pen gurus. There are other inks that are it's equal or better (Pelikan comes to mind), but it is better than most of the common brands. You may not notice it in the writing, but you will notice it over time in how well it cleans up. Some inks have enough solids in them to clog feeds and points if left in the pen for too long. In over two years with Private Reserve, I have never had a clog (knock on a blank []).

One other thing, while we're on the subject. Driften, the nibs of the 1940's and prior were made much more flexible than the nibs of today, regardless of whether they are steel or gold. The wide acceptance of the ballpoint pen caused many writers to revert to grinding their pens into the paper. The older, more flexible nibs simply could not hold up under such use. Again, the standard has dropped by about one level, with a "standard" of the 40's being the equivalent of a "semi-flex" today. Today's "flexible" is the equivalent of a "firm" nib from the 40's. Some of the high end pens today come with a "super-flex" nib which closely feels like the "flexible" nibs of the 40's and before.

Lastly, when testing a fountain pen get a high quality pad of paper, such as the ones made by Rhodia. Once you use a high quality stationery, copier paper feels like 80 grit. [8D]

 

[Skordog]

Thanks for the replies guys. Do you know if CSUSA sells "fine" nibs for the Statesman to use in place of the "medium" with which it comes? I can look it up or call them if you don't know the answer offhand.

I'll be putting in an order probably this week and I'll pick up some Private Reserve as well as some good paper to give fountain pens a complete fair shot. I have some spalted maple blanks which I sent out for stabilizing that should be back any time now, so I'll probably use one of those.

 

[DCBluesman]

Yes, Jeff, CSUSA carries Fine, Medium and Broad for the Statesman. They carry those three plus a calligraphy nib for the Jr Statesman and Jr. Gent. The ones for the Statesman and Gent are not in the catalog (at least I don't see them) but they are orderable over the phone. They do not carry other nibs for the Havana, though

 

[Thumbs]

<b>Gentlemen!</b> My compliments! One learns so much from reading these various threads. Whether one wants to or not! [] <b>Thank you!</b>


[}]<b>BTW</b>, I'm still gonna use my ballpoints! They don't call me Thumbs without reason........ [V][] Nobody has to second that!........

 

[Ryan]

Lou,

FYI, CSUSA does not sell diferent nibs for the Statesman and Gentlemans pen. They sell replacement nibs for them but they are still the medium.

Thanks,
Ryan

 

[Rifleman1776]

Two responses here.
First to Jeff. I recently made a Baron fountain pen as a gift for my Pastor. I had heard and read a lot of confusing, conflicting information about nibs and became concerned that I would be presenting him with a pretty klunker. Well, he loves the pen and writes with it on a regular daily basis. And he likes the nib and the way it writes. Others may feel differently but the Berea/BB Baron is not a bad way to go.
And to what Lou said about folks "grinding" ball point pens into the paper. Yes, that is what they do. Young folks of today do not have to do the tedious penmanship exercises, moving the whole arm, not just fingers as we did in days of old. I learned a light touch with the pen and a heavy punch on the manual typewriters. Personally, those were not 'good' old days. I love a good ball or roller point pen and computer keyboard.

 

[Skordog]

Frank, glad your pastor likes his pen. I have made a rollerball version of the Baron and like it but it is just a bit small for my hand. I prefer the Gentleman's pen. I have not yet tried the Stateman or the junior version of those two. They are on my list.

I still think I will want to try a fine point nib.

 

[Skordog]

Frank,

Just saw this picture of the Stubby Baron.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7324

Made me think that maybe I should try the baron again but make it fatter than usual. Most of my pens tend to not to stray too far away from the size of the hardware.

Guess I'll have to put a couple of Barons in the next order as well.