Fountain Pen Recommendation as well as paper and ink.

[bamapendude]

Ok I am still a newbie to the fountain pen world. I have used fountain pens daily for the last 4 months thanks to my professor turning me on to them. I am looking for my next step up in fountain pens for a daily writer and to add to my collection. So far I have 9 pens I have been experimenting with. I will list those below. I have even dove into nib tuning with very good success. With that said I will admit I screwed up 1 nib off my LAMY AllStar. I decided to try to tune and smooth prior to getting the proper micro meshes and shims. A lesson I learned with a less expensive pen. Matter of fact I have improved my tuning and polishing all with low end pens. Now I am ready to dive off into better pens and not where to start. I would like to spend less than $140 however I would prefer to get more than one pen. If I am better off getting a more expensive pen and forego the multiples that is fine too. Overtime I plan to add to my collection. Any suggestions is appreciated.

As far as paper I use a lot of spirals and letter size pads. I have tested some of the cheaper ones from Staples and Office Depot with mixed results. I am looking for paper that has little to no bleed through and smooth. Any suggestions is appreciated.

In regards to inks. I have limited experience with inks. I have only used Lamy cartridges and Pelikan 4001 Black inks so far. What others should I try that are good with fountain pens. Again Any suggestions is appreciated!

Here is a list of my limited Fountain Pens I have tried. Some I have multiples in various nib sizes so I will not repeat those.

My son is 16 loves to write and has acquired one of my fountain pens and uses daily at school. I would love to share a hobby with him like this since he has interest in them.

1. Lamy AllStar
2. Baoer 801
3. Jinhao 599
4. Jinhao 250
5. Jinhao x450
6. Jinhao 159
7. Jinhao Shooter Series ( Same basically as 599 but all metal not plasic )
8. Hero 9315

[Dreck]

Over at FPN, they're doing a group buy on Ranga model 8 pens. I have two, and cannot recommend them highly enough.

[TheInkluminati]

Paper: R by Rhodia. Smooth and thick.

Pen: Platinum Century 3776 can be picked up from Japanese sellers on ebay for around $80-90. Plenty of pen body colors and nib options.

Ink: Iroshizuku. Pick a color. They are all great.

[VertOlive]

Welcome. Another set of recommendation to confuse you:

Pen: Pilot Metropolitan Retro Pop, Lamy Safari

Paper: Tomoe River pads or Rhodia spiral notebooks, or Kakuno notebooks

Ink: Gouletpens.com for samples of anything that takes your eye and won't break the bank.

[Kaputnik]

As always, the problem is that there are just too many possibilities. But you already know that, no doubt, so here are are few. I'll only mention ones that I've tried myself.

Pens:

• Sheaffer 100
• Pelikan M205 or M200.
• Platinum 3776
• Pilot Custom Heritage 92.
• Pilot Custom 74.
• Pilot Custom Heritage 91.
• Pilot Capless Decimo.
• Lamy 2000.

Papers:

• Clairefontaine (I like the blank paper in the Quo Vadis Habana, but their French ruled notebooks are also good, and cheaper).
• Life Noble.
• Kokuyo.
• Rhodia.
• Exacompta

Inks: Look through the selection of Sailor Jentle and Pilot Iroshizuku inks. For something less expensive, the regular Pilot Blue, Blue-Black, and Black are all very good.

As the Inkluminati mentioned, Japanese pens can often be found more cheaply directly from Japanese eBay dealers. There are also deals to be had from overseas dealers who sell on Amazon. But if you do have a problem, getting it resolved may be more of a hassle.

[Kaputnik]

Duplicate post.

[Sandy Fry]

You can buy Cross pens at Staples. They are often overlooked but are cheap ( $20 ) and I find them to be pretty nice writers. I have a bunch of them and have had zero problems with any of them.

Paper, if you want some pretty good cheap paper Staples sells " Sustainable Earth " paper which is sugarcane based and, as yet, I have not experienced bleed-through except for broad nibs with very wet ink. It comes as a pad, notebook or loose leaf copy paper.

David

[stub]

Go vintage.

Get a couple Parker 45s or an old Sheaffer Special or Admiral or some old school pens. Both neat-o but for different reasons. The P45 is great for testing inks, comes apart and is sturdy.

If you hate that idea then it is really hard to go wrong with a Pilot Custom 74 or a 3776. GREAT bang for buck workhorse pens.

[Scooby921]

For paper I highly recommend the Black n' Red brand. I have Apica, Rhodia, and Black n' Red notebooks on my desk. I've also tried small pocket pads from Banditapple, Leuchtturm, Field Notes, Clariefontaine, and Zequenz. I still need to write up a paper review and post it, but the Black n' Red pads are the best I've used. Thicker paper which seldom feathers or bleeds and has zero show through. I've also found it brings out more sheen from inks. They are also cheaper than the similarly sized Apica and Rhodia notebooks (1/2 of Rhodia). The ONLY negative I've found is that the thicker paper can be a touch slower to absorb ink meaning it stays we a bit longer. Not a big deal when this happens normally with most fountain pens on most papers.

Apica


Black n' Red

[penwash]

Welcome!

Here's my recommendation:

Pen: Italix Parson's Essential (a wide range of interesting nibs, and they are tuned by the vendor Italix, not factory "stamped")

Paper: Old notebooks that was produced when people use fountain pens

Ink: I am a big fan of Callifolio and KWZ inks carried in the US by Vanness Pens

[scrivelry]

Not so much specific suggestions, but things to think about:

Of the pens you have so far, are there any that seem to feel better in your hand?

Most of the pens you mention have medium nibs - Do you like how wide those lines are? Do they suit your handwriting? If so you are in luck because Mediums are easily found. If not, you might want to get a set of nibs in a size 6 which should fit your Jinhaos, or most of them, and start trying different nib sizes to see what is closest to perfect for you. xfountainpens has sets at a reasonable prices, or you could order nibs from Fountain Pen Revolution . I'm sure there are other vendors as well - those two come easily to mind.

I also agree with Stub that you might like to try vintage, and if you do, that Parker 45's or Sheaffer school pens are great to start with. The Sheaffer pens that used to come on a plastic card at the dime store are close to bullet-proof. They need a Sheaffer cartridge but you can keep refilling those for quite a number of uses if you get a syringe from any of the major pen sources and a bottle of ink to use. Sheaffer seems to have had no illusions about how delicately people would be treating those pens - the pens are extremely robust, and they came in fine and medium. They were inexpensive to begin with, and some "Fine" nibs are finer than others, but the only one I have ever run into that would not write seemed to have been used in its past to write with some form of glue or varnish. Even that, had I had an ultrasonic cleaner and the patience of Job, might have been usable in the end.

[bamapendude]

Not so much specific suggestions, but things to think about:

Of the pens you have so far, are there any that seem to feel better in your hand?

Most of the pens you mention have medium nibs - Do you like how wide those lines are? Do they suit your handwriting? If so you are in luck because Mediums are easily found. If not, you might want to get a set of nibs in a size 6 which should fit your Jinhao's, or most of them, and start trying different nib sizes to see what is closest to perfect for you. xfountainpens has sets at a reasonable prices, or you could order nibs from Fountain Pen Revolution . I'm sure there are other vendors as well - those two come easily to mind.

I also agree with Stub that you might like to try vintage, and if you do, that Parker 45's or Sheaffer school pens are great to start with. The Sheaffer pens that used to come on a plastic card at the dime store are close to bullet-proof. They need a Sheaffer cartridge but you can keep refilling those for quite a number of uses if you get a syringe from any of the major pen sources and a bottle of ink to use. Sheaffer seems to have had no illusions about how delicately people would be treating those pens - the pens are extremely robust, and they came in fine and medium. They were inexpensive to begin with, and some "Fine" nibs are finer than others, but the only one I have ever run into that would not write seemed to have been used in its past to write with some form of glue or varnish. Even that, had I had an ultrasonic cleaner and the patience of Job, might have been usable in the end.

OK everyone I want to thank you all for your suggestions. I did a quick side by side writing comparison. Pics attached below of the sample and pens in order left to right 1 -7. Honestly out of all the pens I like the Fine NIB the best I also like how super smooth and consistent Pen 1 Jinhao Shooter Series is buy I hate the feel. Even the NIB i really like. For feel in regards to size and weight I love Pen 5 Jinhao 250. Dislikes were the Medium NIB and it tended to roll in my fingers a bit a I was writing so perhaps something with better grip. Medium NIBs are ok but I really prefer a finer pen since that is what I always used in roller ball style pens. If I could find some pens with similar weights and profile with a fine nib, I feel I can enjoy my writing with fountain pens even more. Pen the Hero 9315 may be a contender after I tune the NIB and work on the ink flow. But heck I need a excuse to buy more pens anyway....

[bamapendude]

Over at FPN, they're doing a group buy on Ranga model 8 pens. I have two, and cannot recommend them highly enough.

Any recommendations on the Ranga CC vs Eyedropper and what nib you would suggest for a fine or fine/medium? Medium is a bit bold for my liking. I signed up at FPN and plan to jump on the group buy and give one a whirl.

Thanks In Advance for any further recommendations.

[ac12]

For sub $30 pens:
- You gotta try the Pilot Metropolitan. I have the M nib, and it is smooth
- TWSBI Eco (~$30), with an EF nib, but you will likely have to adjust/tweak it, I had to tweak mine.
- Lamy Safari, or the clear Vista.

Next the sub $100 pens:
- Pelikan M200 series.
- Pilot
- Platinum 3776
- TWSBI; 580, 700, classic.

Paper:
- Office Depot; sugar cane paper in pads
- Staples; single subject, wire bound, made in BRAZIL (the country of origin is important). In the 'back to school sale' I got a bunch for 17 cents each.
- HP; 32 pound premium (blank paper)

Ink:
- My standard inks are: Waterman (wet) and Cross/Pelikan (dry).
- Besides this I use: Sheaffer Skrip, Parker Quink, Diamine, Private Reserve, some Noodlers.
Caution on the Noodlers inks, some of their inks are not particularly well behaved. So ask on the forum first.
You may have to match the ink to the pen. A wet pen (like Pelikan) prefers a dry ink (like Pelikan). A dry pen will prefer a wet ink (like Waterman). Or you adjust the nib, so that the pen will write with the ink that you want to use.

If you are in Northern California, at the SF Pen Show, we will have about 700 inks to sample. Although some will be 'unobtainium.'

[bamapendude]

For sub $30 pens:
- You gotta try the Pilot Metropolitan. I have the M nib, and it is smooth
- TWSBI Eco (~$30), with an EF nib, but you will likely have to adjust/tweak it, I had to tweak mine.
- Lamy Safari, or the clear Vista.

Next the sub $100 pens:
- Pelikan M200 series.
- Pilot
- Platinum 3776
- TWSBI; 580, 700, classic.

Paper:
- Office Depot; sugar cane paper in pads
- Staples; single subject, wire bound, made in BRAZIL (the country of origin is important). In the 'back to school sale' I got a bunch for 17 cents each.
- HP; 32 pound premium (blank paper)

Ink:
- My standard inks are: Waterman (wet) and Cross/Pelikan (dry).
- Besides this I use: Sheaffer Skrip, Parker Quink, Diamine, Private Reserve, some Noodlers.
Caution on the Noodlers inks, some of their inks are not particularly well behaved. So ask on the forum first.
You may have to match the ink to the pen. A wet pen (like Pelikan) prefers a dry ink (like Pelikan). A dry pen will prefer a wet ink (like Waterman). Or you adjust the nib, so that the pen will write with the ink that you want to use.

If you are in Northern California, at the SF Pen Show, we will have about 700 inks to sample. Although some will be 'unobtainium.'

I have a LAMY AlStar is that not basically the same as the Safari?

[Anne]

I have a LAMY AlStar is that not basically the same as the Safari?

They do take the same nibs but you may get a slightly different feel from both of them. The AlStar is slightly wider in girth than the Safari/Vista. Also, the barrel and cap of the AlStar is aluminum and the Safari/Vista is strong plastic, so you might feel a little weight difference too.
Hey, with all of the colors they offer for the Safari alone it is worth having a collection

[bamapendude]

I have a LAMY AlStar is that not basically the same as the Safari?

They do take the same nibs but you may get a slightly different feel from both of them. The AlStar is slightly wider in girth than the Safari/Vista. Also, the barrel and cap of the AlStar is aluminum and the Safari/Vista is strong plastic, so you might feel a little weight difference too.
Hey, with all of the colors they offer for the Safari alone it is worth having a collection

Good to know! Just what I need LOL. Actually The LAMY I have is nice however the weight is almost to light for my liking. I am tempted to get a Safari but afraid it may be too light. I have a Jinhao 599 thats plastic and to me its too light for my taste.