Writing with a Fountain pen

[k5MOW]

Good morning all

I know this must be a very basic and maybe a stupid question. But I am looking forward to my first Fountain pen coming in the mail. Is there anything different from writing with a Fountain pen. Can you all give me some tips for a very new beginner never have written with one. For a beginner is it best to use the ready to go ink cartridges. I would like to use bottled Inc. eventually but is that something I should wait on.

Thanks

Roger

[Kaputnik]

Welcome!

There are all sorts of things that will be helpful to know, but you don't necessarily need to know them all at once. What kind of pen are you getting?

Just a couple of things might be worth mentioning. A fountain pen should virtually write under its own weight, being lightly drawn across the paper. If it isn't writing, then pressing down hard is never the solution, and can damage the nib. I mention this because if you are planning on using a cartridge, and you stick a cartridge in a previously unused pen, the ink is not going to find its way to the tip immediately. You can hurry it up a little sometimes by gently squeezing the cartridge, but hold your pen over a paper towel when you do that.

The writing angle may be different than you're used to. Some people hold ballpoints almost vertically. You will want a much shallower angle than that. Experiment a bit.

Ink cartridges are convenient, but they are more expensive than the same ink in a bottle. You can refill a used cartridge with a syringe, but if your pen will take a converter, that's the easiest way to use a variety of inks.

Many fountain pen inks are not water resistant. That may help for cleaning them off your clothes, but don't write checks with them until you have done a water resistance test with them on other paper.

Always cap your pen when not in use. Most pens do fine if stored nib up. If you find that yours is a hard starter after being left that way overnight, you could store it on its side. A few pens do okay being left nib down, but others with spill ink into the cap if you leave them that way for too long.

Ask more questions as they occur to you and have fun! :welcome:

[Fouez]

Fountain Pen 101 is a great place to start:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1AEFDC6AC935BAFC

IMHO pen angle and nib orientation are the two factors that you need to understand and experiment with first.

[RuiFromUK]

Hi Roger,

One of the reasons why I started using fountain pens is because I suffer from arthritis and my hands become quite painful if I write for a while. With fountain pens one needs to exercise less, or no pressure, of the nib on the paper. For most pens the nib just glides on the surface of the paper.

Also if one has developed bad writing habits, like angle of the pen to the paper, a fountain pen will 'encourage' one to correct that.

As to ink cartridges vs. bottle ink is the fact that one can use any brand and colour of ink with the second option. One is not restricted to a certain type of cartridge and limited ink colours available in cartridge format.

[Rusty888]

Going back recently to my situation.

Buy a cartridge converter pen pen. Start with cartridges. Once you get the hang of it then transition to bottle ink. Unless you write lots and lots the difference in price is soo minimal from bottle v cartridge. Think less than $50 a year easily.

[Neo]

Always clean your pen out thoroughly before switching to a different ink, especially if the new ink is from a different brand than the old. If you plan to try out different kinds of ink, stick with samples for a while until you figure out what you like.

Also, if your experience leads to ink going through the other side of the appear when you write, you may need to try using different paper. A fairly economic choice is the sustainable earth series from Staples.

welcome to the forum and enjoy your pens. ;)

[k5MOW]

Wow a lot of great information. One question arises. I work in an office that I am up-and-down and away from my desk a lot. One of the suggestions here was to storeyour pen nip up. Would it be okay to store it in my pocket with the pocket clip throughout the day. Using the pen often and on through the day. I guess I mean storing it nip down just during the eight hour workday as I use it.

Roger

[elaineb]

Absolutely. I store my pens nib up all the time, and I've been using fountain pens since childhood. I agree with most everything posted above, but will add: don't worry too much about it all. Short of dropping the pen nib first on the floor, or using the nib to pry open a can of house paint, you can't really break fountain pens all that easily. They're pretty robust, easy-to-use tools. I know a lot of people treat them with reverence (and for very expensive pens, there's economic sense in that).

But when you're getting started, just push all the secondary concerns about ink flushing and ideal storage conditions and fear of scratches aside. What matters is: does your pen function well, i.e. does the ink flow well and is the nib smooth enough to use comfortably? And then: are you holding it so that the nib is facing up and the black feed is facing down? If those two things are true, then just go to town and enjoy yourself. Our hands are smart, and they're good at learning to use new things. Give yourself time to noodle around on scrap paper, draw silly stick people, copy the first sentence from the Declaration of Independence, and just get to know how it feels to make marks with this tool. Remember, fountain pens used to be as universal as ballpoints are now, and even the most inept people used them daily, without needing to concentrate on how to do it.

My biggest concern for a new fountain pen user is that their first pen doesn't write well, they won't know what's wrong, and will assume it's their fault. There are few choices to -guarantee- that you'll get a decent pen, besides buying in person, buying from a dealer who personally tests and adjusts every pen they sell, or buying from a trustworthy user who says it's in good working condition. Even the most reliable manufacturers, such as Pilot and Lamy, produce occasional duds. (My first Pilot Metropolitan was awful, for instance.)

So if you're not finding it easy to write with your new fountain pen, that's when you can turn to all us geeks here and ask questions. We'll help you troubleshoot and get things fixed. These pens should be easy and a joy to use. Welcome to the madness :)

[j01270]

I would say learn to write slower and with very little pressure. Let the pen do the work.

I also might suggest some handwriting lessons as over the last 30 odd years mine had gotten terrible. I took calligraphy lessons to learn how to hold the pen correctly and form letters and that helped a lot with my cursive writing.

[k5MOW]

Thank you all for all the great information.

Can't wait to receive my first Fountain pen.

Roger

[cwent2]

:welcome:To the forum and to Fountain Pens the video link for Fountain Pen 101 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1AEFDC6AC935BAFC is a treasure trove of information
that is IMO nicely put together - Lots of sound advice/information from the prior posters

Again Welcome!

[sharmon202]

Go to Goulet Pens website, they have many helpful videos for beginners.

[johnus]

You already have some great ideas. You may find yourself tempered to buy more pens before you're really ready to do so.
My suggestion is to look to the very reasonably priced disposable fountain pens like the BIC and Pilot . Easy to use, no great loss if (when) you miss place them. Ink never seems to dry out and just take and use them everywhere.

[tandaina]

Don't be afraid to jump right into bottled ink. My first fountain pen I used bottled ink. Heck it's still all I use. Wasn't all *that* long ago that cartridges didn't exist and even kids filled their fountain pens from bottles. Nothing scary about bottled ink and the colors are so much more interesting!