New member from Minnesota

Hello everyone,
I just recently started in the world of fountain pens after purchasing 3 Ackerman pens (2 fountain and 1 pump) for drawing for Inktober. Normally I use dip pens for pen and ink drawing, but admit that I'm often too lazy to use them, and instead end up just using pencil. However, I love the look of pen and ink drawings and wanted to get more practice in the medium, but previously I found more portable pens less than satisfying. I've never liked fineliners like Copic Multiliners or Sakura Pigmas because I find the ink a weak black, fades when erased over, and they lack line variation. I tried fountain pens in the past, the Rotring Artpen which had a nail for a nib and the Noodler's Nib Creaper which had a moderately flexible nib but still a far cry from a dip pen that could go from a hairline to 5~6 mm. Plus both had to use fountain pen ink, which after trying Noodler's so called "waterproof" ink, I thought was all not actually waterproof. I tried brush pens but found them hard to control.

I had heard of fitting a dip pen nib to fountain pens before, but never tried it due to fountain pens requiring fountain pen ink and my mistaken belief that all of said category of ink was not waterproof. So when I saw the Ackerman pens with their ability to use dip pen nibs out of the box and the ability to use india ink and other waterproof drawing inks, I was excited. I had read some discouraging things about Ackerman pens, like they were leaky and dripped when pumped, but this was for older generations of the pens (I believe the current is the 12th) and I also heard good things from others. I had also heard although a very nice guy and willing to help, his customer service could be hit or miss, since this was more of a hobby for him and he had a day job. But I took the risk anyways.

When I got the pens, I immediately set about testing them and was disappointed. Initially, they had problems with hard starting and inconsistent feeding, sometimes I could get a nice amount (about 1/2 of a dip pen) and length of flex, other times they would railroad with just a bit of flex. I cleaned the pens thoroughly, initially I had only cleaned the nibs, and the hard starting and inconsistency disappeared. But I still wasn't happy with the amount of flex. I emailed Mr. Ackerman about it but he didn't respond, so I decided to hack the feeds to see if I could increase the flow. Well I only ended up ruining the feeds, the ink flow was worse. Still with no reply, I was frustrated and boxed up the pens to send back (he has a 30 day no questions asked return policy). Then he responded with a few suggestions and I responded that I had ruined the feeds trying to increase the ink flow, so he sent out some replacement feeds in various designs for me to try (which I am still waiting on).

With a level head, I looked at the results again, and realized my expectations were far to high and that the pens had actually functioned incredibly well. I was looking at them from the perspective of compared to a dip pen and expected them to match that level of performance, which frankly after actually researching a little into fountain pens (in an effort to increase the ink flow) is unlikely and probably impossible. Had I instead compared them to the performance of a fountain pen, I would have realized they matched or exceeded the performance of a vintage wet noodle, a modern flex pen modified for more flex, or a modern pen modified to use a dip pen nib. All this while using a waterproof drawing ink that would have clogged a fountain pen almost immediately, with the standard feed (turns out Mr. Ackerman currently makes two different feeds, a standard for fountain pen ink and a high flow for india/drawing ink), with a consistent ink flow and without clogging.

Silly me.

In my haste to be rid of the Ackerman pens, I purchased a Noodler's Boston Safety (actually two), since they supposedly can also use india ink. I plan on doing the ease my flex modification on one and using it for writing, and the other trying to fit a G nib to for drawing. I also just purchased the Kaweco Student (again two), despite the fact that this pen can't use india ink. One will get the ease my flex modification (or if that doesn't work a Noodler's or FPR flex nib) and the other a G nib, for writing and drawing respectively. I also purchased some Platinum Carbon Black ink and Pigment Brun Sepia ink, to see how well they work.

So I went from no fountain pens to seven in about two weeks. This is a dangerous interest indeed.

Welcome!

Some of the artists on here have suggested de Atramentis Document inks which are pigmented with micro particles making them safe for fountain pens (if maintained of course) and they don't bleed any color at all in the tests I've done.

There are other similar pigmented inks, some working better than others for art. I'm sure others can chime in with suggestions.

Hello and welcome to FPGeeks. :) :welcome:

Welcome:)

http://www.fototime.com/AFCBA208532F1D1/orig.gif

Hello and welcome!

Welcome!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Welcome !!!

I’ve been in Minneapolis the last few days for a work meeting and finally made it to the lone fountain pen store in the area, Fountain Pen Recycler. If you’re in the area it’s worth a visit.

:welcome:

Welcome to the forum. I have no experience with permanent water proof inks or with India inks. I am not a drawer nor an active calligrapher personally satisfied simply using the fountain pen for cursive notes and signing my name on contracts and legal documents.

Glad to have you here and to have you sharing in one of your inaugural posts so much information about your journey interesting as it is and likely will become as you put nib and ink to paper.

Welcome to FPG, Sean.