Another vote for the El Grande. Currently $5.50 for the platinum Elite version from Berea Hardwoods, so it won't break the bank either.
http://www.bereahardwoods.com/pen-kit/sets/El_Grande_elite_FP_platinum.html
$5.50? Why am I suspicious?
There's nothing to be suspicious about Don , these are "Presentation" kits , they are limited quantities and are most likely being closed out . They are the same as the regular El Grande kits with a little different centerband treatment , they are an excellent buy at this price . I would advise anyone thinking of getting these kits to buy the bushings elsewhere though , Berea only sells the bushings for the "B" mandrel . The "B" bushings will NOT work with a standard 7mm mandrel . Woodcraft and several other vendors sell the El Grande kits and have bushings that are for the standard "A" or 7mm mandrel .
Hi
I had the same experience at my fist show last weekend, several people asked, don't know if they would have brought or not.
Tell me, do you make the type that sucks up the ink, or a cartridge style fountain pen?
also
Do you keep ink in them? or just one to let them try it out?
Doesn't the ink dry and clog in fountain pens? Then do you have to clean out the tester each night?
I haven't touched a fountain pen since i was a kid, and then it was the cartridge type. I agree, with rollerballs around why bother with the mess, but if they sell, I 'd think about getting a couple to put on the table next time.
Thanks
Sulli
Any of the kit fountain pens we make can be used with a converter in place of the ink cartridges . There are several advantages to using a converter , they allow the customer to use a number of high quality inks which are not available in cartridges plus some fountain pen users like to custom blend their own inks to get colors not available otherwise and they can control the different characteristics of the ink to get an ink flow that they like .
A converter also allows for easier clean up of the pen for storage . You should not leave ink in the pen when it will not be used for more then a week because the ink will dry out and may clog the feed causing problems .
I don't know why people like to use fountain pens when there are such smooth working rollerballs. However, I sell a lot of fountain pens. I think that real pen enthusiast equate quality with fountain for whatever reason.
There are many cheap fountain kits to choose from. PSI has a "classic" kit for around $9 I think. I turned cheap pens a long time ago, but am no longer happy with the cheap kits. Buy a few cheap and a few high ends and turn them all. Give your customers a price range and let them choose whether they want quality or cheap. You'll be surprised.
There are several reasons why some people prefer a fountain pen over a rollerball pen . The main reason is that a well tuned fountain pen writes like no rollerball pen ever could . A good analogy is to think of a fountain pen as a artists brush and a rollerball as a crayon , both will put ink on the paper but the fountain pen glides across the paper like a brush glides across a canvas , this makes writing almost effortless .
I would advise that you stay away from the cheap fountain pen kits as most of these kits are not very high quality kits , the coupler threads are metal to metal and feel very cheap and don't stay closed very well without some extra help like "O" rings which can break and sometime make it difficult to properly close or open the pen . Most of the cheaper kits are also only available in 24k platings which is not best plating for durability .
