Good starter Italic pen

[DickBrowne]

I feel compelled to try something more adventurous in my pen journey, and this may not seem to be adventurous to many of you, but I'm thinking of going italic...

I've never tried it before, so I don't want to break the bank on this, but I also don't want to make a mistake which may cause me to abandon this particular avenue of exploration, so the question I have is this - can anybody please recommend a good "starter" italic pen?

I have absolutely no idea which questions to even ask at this point, so all advice is welcome

Thank you

Richard

[Blue Note]

Italix from Mr. Pen. Around $50 for a Parson’s Essential with your choice of stubs, italics or regular nibs. You can look them up on line. Mass drop often has deals on them.

[Chrissy]

There is a difference between a crisp italic nib and a smoother edged stub nib. If you happen to have any cheap Lamy Safari, Al-Star, etc. pens, it's quite easy to get a 1.1mm stub nib to put in there and try it out.

[aquafox]

Heh, we're on the same boat! I'd like to try the Prera though.
I have also read excellent reviews for the Manuscript pens!

[catbert]

I'll second the Lamy 1.1 stub. More forgiving than a crisp italic and not unfeasibly broad if you're used to finer nibs or write small.
Pilot Metropolitan has a stub option. Pilot 78G is still available in stubbish B and BB if you hunt around.
Italix Chaplain's Tankard (http://www.mrpen.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d212_Italix_Chaplain's_Tankard.html) is even cheaper than the Parson's Essential and has the same nib choices.
The wonderfully named Gothic parallel art flower body Flat Tip Duckbill Tibetan Arabic Fountain Pen (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gothic-parallel-art-flower-body-Flat-Tip-Duckbill-Tibetan-Arabic-Fountain-Pens/263653870474?hash=item3d62fecb8a:m:mICdGHZbF_63DiS 3BYKP6bQ:rk:1:pf:0) is available in various widths for under $2 shipped.

[VertOlive]

Really inexpensive would be the Pilot Plumix.

[dneal]

I'll second the Lamy. If you already have a Safari, Al Star, etc... you can buy a $14 nib to try out. If you don't have a Lamy pen, you can get a Joy Calligraphy pen for $30 or so with a 1.1, 1.5 or 1.9 italic nib.

[Pterodactylus]

When it comes to try out good real, crisp italics at a reasonable price for me the Pilot Parallel Pens are hard to beat.
They are even used by calligraphers, they produce sharp edges, are easy to use and have a good building quality.
They are available in 4 sizes, for normal writing the 1.5 would fit best for most users.
You can order also a Pilot Converter (e.g, a Con-50) as they do not come with one (only with cartridges).

For me sooner or later the Parallel pens are a must have anyway....

[Chrissy]

On Amazon.UK a Lamy Joy 1.1 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/LAMY-Joy-1-1-Calligraphy-Fountain/dp/B000WKXICU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549438302&sr=8-3&keywords=lamy+joy) or 1.5 pen is available for £15.50. :)

Lamy 1.1mm nib only costs £8.89 on Amazon but you could probably shop around and get one for less.

[DickBrowne]

Thank you to everyone for the advice so far. In the opinion of the collective, would 1.5mm be a good nib size to start with?

[Chrissy]

Thank you to everyone for the advice so far. In the opinion of the collective, would 1.5mm be a good nib size to start with?
It depends on your handwriting. I always found 1.5mm a bit too wide and stuck to 1.1mm. I've narrowed down at least 3 wider nibs to suit my taste better. :)

I used one of my Lamy 1.1mm nibs when I wrote my Diamine Pumpkin (http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/13629-Ink-Review-Diamine-Pumpkin) ink review if it helps you to see some handwriting with one.

[amk]

Yes, Lamy italics are good. I also like the Rotring Artpen but it's not quite as forgiving.

If you enjoy using it, then your next step should definitely be the Pilot Parallel, because it's much easier to learn how to make the right penstrokes and learn different scripts if you start off REALLY BIG, at least, it was for me. I seem to remember there was a good deal if you bought the 3 Pilot Parallels together. The 6mm one is a blast, but probably not much good for taking notes or writing billets-doux...

[VertOlive]

Thank you to everyone for the advice so far. In the opinion of the collective, would 1.5mm be a good nib size to start with?

I am not the collective, but I believe that 1.5mm is too wide. I'd start with 1.1mm

[manoeuver]

1.1mm is a good size to start with unless you have very large handwriting. The Plumix is a great first choice, and the Parallels are an absolute blast to use, maybe not the ideal intro to italic nibs.

[Pterodactylus]

As said, nothing wrong with a 1.1 mm as starting point, but as wider they are as more expressive they look.
I also like the 1.5 mm.

https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/259fb5e6-8a21-42f5-a528-43fbc5b86e8d/dcs5a0i-096f005f-db12-4e25-8840-c382fba339aa.jpg (https://www.deviantart.com/ptero-pterodactylus/art/Quote-Albert-Einstein-772869618)
Quote Albert Einstein (https://www.deviantart.com/ptero-pterodactylus/art/Quote-Albert-Einstein-772869618) by Ptero Pterodactylus (https://www.deviantart.com/ptero-pterodactylus) on DeviantArt

(Pilot Parallel 1.5 ..... Diamine Blue Pearl)

[brunico]

The Pilot Pluminix only comes with an italic M nib. The Pilot Plumix can be found - with some searching - with EF, F, M, B and BB italic nibs (the B and BB are like the 78g nibs). I've found these the best italic nibs for normal-sized handwriting at this sort of price, and they fit into the Prera, Kakuno and several other Pilot pens. They are less rounded than the Lamy and Twsbi nibs and give a cleaner line for italic writing. The Pilot italic M is a fraction narrower than the typical 1.1mm nib and the B a fraction broader. Secondhand, an Osmiroid is about as crisp/sharp/formal as you can get in a factory nib for a fountain pen, but it will not forgive a sloppy pen hold.

I sometimes suspect that people think the typical line-up of 1.1mm, 1.5mm and 1.9mm corresponds to F, M, B. Not so. These are way broader than normal nibs. As amk says, a really broad nib - I have all the Parallels going up to 6.0mm - is good if you are wanting to learn pen strokes for a particular hand. Or just to have fun and burn through ink at a rate of knots.

Any of the options people have mentioned will be fine to start with. There's nothing wrong with the Lamy and Twsbi nibs - I've just caved in to a Twsbi Vac Mini with the 1.1mm - but my personal preference is to have something as sharp as an Osmiroid nib for everyday handwriting, because hairlines are hairlines. A real shame that Osmiroid is no more.

[Scrawler]

<snip> Secondhand, an Osmiroid is about as crisp/sharp/formal as you can get in a factory nib for a fountain pen, but it will not forgive a sloppy pen hold.

<snip>

<snip>
- but my personal preference is to have something as sharp as an Osmiroid nib for everyday handwriting, because hairlines are hairlines. A real shame that Osmiroid is no more.

Yes I agree. The Osmiroid had a wide variety of nibs. They work well in Esterbrooks and prior to my giving away most of my calligraphy nibs I used the Osmiroid nibs in my Esterbrook pens. Those nibs went all the way up to multi-tine broad nibs that looked almost like a brush and could draw lines over a quarter inch wide. In my personal opinion those pens had a superior hand feel to the original Osmiroid pens.