yipe
August 18th, 2013, 12:02 AM
Hello FPGeeks. I'm very new to fountain pens. Right now all I have are a few pilot varsities (two blue ones and a troublesome one in black) that have been sitting around nearly a decade, and a calligraphy pen with three interchangable section+nib units, in (I believe, from memory) 0.8, 1.1 and 1.5 italic. That one has some problems not starting or skipping, less so when I use ink other than the standard international cartridges it came with. It did come with a converter, but right now it has one of those cartridges in it, which is filled with a mixture of the generic brown the cartridge was shipped with, mixed with a bit of Pelikan Brilliant black, which is the only other ink I own. That mixture results in a brown-black that I rather like and that flows much better than the brown on it's own.
Yesterday I ordered an FPR Dilli, green with their fine stub nib, that will be my first real pen, and I also ordered a handful of ink samples from Goulet Pens.
Let me tell you the story of the first fountain pen I ever used. This took place nearly a decade ago, my first few days at university. It was a dirt cheap cartridge Parker that I picked up in either the bookstore at school or a big box store like Wal-mart, I'm not sure which. I pulled it out of it's package and put it in my bag, and thought nothing of it. Later that day I meet with my adviser, and discuss my class schedule. He has a few forms I need to sign too. At this point I excitedly pull out my new fountain pen, and put nib to paper. Nothing. I scratch a bit at it, try a few times, and no ink will come out. I say aloud "stupid fountain pen!" I unscrew the section and I immediately facepalm as I see the problem. No cartridge, I forgot to put it in! My advisor sees I'm having trouble and hands me a Bic ballpoint. I feel stupid but I sign the paper and that's that. About one year later I see this same man talking to a group of students, and he proudly declares that he is a huge collector of fountain pens. I turned bright red, and that embarrassment kept me away from fountain pens for a long while!
Yesterday I ordered an FPR Dilli, green with their fine stub nib, that will be my first real pen, and I also ordered a handful of ink samples from Goulet Pens.
Let me tell you the story of the first fountain pen I ever used. This took place nearly a decade ago, my first few days at university. It was a dirt cheap cartridge Parker that I picked up in either the bookstore at school or a big box store like Wal-mart, I'm not sure which. I pulled it out of it's package and put it in my bag, and thought nothing of it. Later that day I meet with my adviser, and discuss my class schedule. He has a few forms I need to sign too. At this point I excitedly pull out my new fountain pen, and put nib to paper. Nothing. I scratch a bit at it, try a few times, and no ink will come out. I say aloud "stupid fountain pen!" I unscrew the section and I immediately facepalm as I see the problem. No cartridge, I forgot to put it in! My advisor sees I'm having trouble and hands me a Bic ballpoint. I feel stupid but I sign the paper and that's that. About one year later I see this same man talking to a group of students, and he proudly declares that he is a huge collector of fountain pens. I turned bright red, and that embarrassment kept me away from fountain pens for a long while!