True Pen-Fessions!

[Sailor Kenshin]

Come on now...fess up!

What quirks do you have regarding pens, even inks?

I cannot tolerate a metal section.


In fact, I'm beginning to steer clear of metal pens altogether. (Wanna buy some, lol? Got lots.)


One case where fat is good: I NEED a fatter section. No matter how purdy a pen might otherwise be or how well it writes. If it's not fat it stays behind.


I cannot, repeat, NOT, use any sort of fill system where I can't SEE the ink and color and amount left. Which means no rubberized converters. This means you, Sheaffer. Yes, and you, Pilot! Good thing carts are refillable.


But I don't do eyedroppers. No way, nohow. Except, of course, for my Recife Crystal. Which does not blurp.


I do not like piston-fillers. There. I've said it. Even though I own four of them and one's a Montblanc. They take forever to clean and it hurts my fingers twisting that little knob over and over and over and over.


If a pen has a cap, I want it to fit posted, without having to perform The Wiggle Dance to keep it from falling off. This means YOU, half my Chinese metal-bodied pens.


And then even if the cap posts, I do not want it scratching or marring the pen's finish. Hello, Carene? Are you taking notes yet?


I never flush a pen before testing. That's just how I roll.


When a pen is running low on ink and I'm too lazy to clean or refill, I leave it upside-down.



I appear to be genetically incapable of writing on both sides of the page.


I also appear to be genetically incapable of being, well, TOTALLY comfortable using more expensive pens.


The barrel color and ink color must at least harmonize. (Though, lately, I have been wondering just how a gun-gray ink might look, coming from the nib of my pink Safari.)


Come on. You know you have some too. 'Fess up.

[tiffanyhenschel]

I cannot use any ink color but black or Racing Green in my two pens made of ivory celluloid and black ebonite. Every time I try to break out of the mold, I end up changing the ink after a few sentences.

[tandaina]

Hehe, mine are sorta opposite...

I can't stand heavy pens! What reviewers call nicely weighty is too heavy for use to me. I like pens that float like feathers.

It has to be a pretty darn amazing pen for me to accept ANY filling system but a piston (see, opposite!) I find lever fillers annoying (so hard to flush), converters cheap (and most pens that use them don't have ink view), and carts well I don't own any carts and have no interest in ever owning any.

I will buy just about any tortoise shell pen, instantly. I adore tortoiseshell and am slowly (very slowly) trying to get all the Pelikan tortoises. Obsessed with that finish for some reason.

If a pen comes in only F,M,B I am unlikely to buy it. If it is a tortoise I'll buy it and have Pendleton stub it.

The only nibs I'll accept that aren't stubbish or italic are those that flex.

Even my italics I want oblique.

I don't post my caps. Even the ones that post (OK, sometimes I do, like a Kaweco, but I really prefer not to). I think I learned this with my Nakaya and now it is just habit.

While blue is my favorite color most blue ink is sooooo boring that I own very little of it. Kon Peki being an exception to that rule.

I own only one bottle of black ink that I never use, soooooooo boring.

I adore rose scented ink and will buy good rose scented ink no matter the color.

[85AKbN]

i like to experiment and got fished in to a do you expunge the air bubble from your converter thread and got ink all over my pen / hands because i failed to watch the filler hole to watch for ink ejection.

[scrivelry]

I am a grubby bottom feeder. I love bunches of one million old pens with bodyless sections and nibs thrown in for variety.

I love to buy Chinese pens for two dollars and change, shipping included.

I do not like 50's and 60's soft plastic barrels. I particularly dislike them with metal caps. There are a few exceptions, but basically, not a look I like, not a look that holds up well, not much to look at.

I'm not a big fan of metal sections either - I have considered painting them with something like that dip coat you can put on tool handles.

I love old celluloid pens in cool color combinations. I am a particular sucker for the ones that look like marble.

I am impressed with flex pens but so far cannot really write with them.

I have six desk pens, with bases. They are all on my desk. It resembles NY Harbor in 1875, with pen tails for masts. I am considering sticking little tiny flags on them...

I am very cheap about ink. In my soul, I am certain it should cost about three dollars a bottle, whether or not this reflects any economic reality since 1975.

I despise medium and broad nibs. Italic, fine, and finer I like.

I still do not fully understand the difference between a stub and an italic.

I cannot get over the idea that, somehow, these pretty pens should make my writing prettier...

[Lady Onogaro]

No hooded nibs. Yechh!

I am an fine (or extra fine) lady!

I love demonstrators.

I, too, like to buy the Chinese pens to see what they are like (I actually like many of them).

I am a fool for purple (inks, pens, etc.).

I am afraid of lever fillers and anything with a sac.

I turned my Noodler's Konrad into a EF with a Goulet #6 nib (we are both much happier for the operation).

It feels strange to me to write with a pen that doesn't have a postable cap. I can write without the cap posted, but I would rather not.

I started keeping a diary just to have something to write.

[KrazyIvan]

I do not like large ink capacities. I have mostly stayed away from piston fillers for this reason.

I do not like getting ink on my fingers which seems counter intuitive since I do like nib grinding.

I do not like purple ink that is passed off as blue. I have had my eyes checked and I am not color blind.

I have pens that no one knows about. Well, only a select few know about them. Muahahahaha!

[kia]

So many things have changed about me in 7 years.

However, I do still like big pens, if easy to hold. Arthritis, you know. "Balanced" has a lot of different meanings in pens. I want big, I want lighter (all that brass is hard to take), and a wider section. My Danitrio and Nakaya pens, as well as most of my Edison Pens fit the bill. That said...

I abhor metal sections. I can't keep my grip on them.

Those two things said, I absolutely love my Pilot Vanishing Points! They lay right in my hand, for being smaller, heavier, and having a metal "section." Maybe it's the clip, dunno. These are the only smaller, brass filled and metal section pens I can stand to write with.

I prefer tapered sections - with a stop at the end before I get my fingers on the nib.

I like nail nibs. Some of my best pens only came with soft nibs. I like nails. All that flex stuff looks really cool and I almost found myself getting a flex nib, and then reminded myself I'd have an unused pen if I did. That was a close one.

I like the look of "skinny" pens, but have very few of them, because I can't write well with them. I have a very expensive one on order, though, based on one of the few I can write with. It's an Edison custom based on the Edison Nouveau Encore. I always wanted a desk pen. This is it. The one I saw based on an Edison Hudson might have been better for my hand, but it is too big for what I think of as a desk pen.

I don't like the "classic" cigar shape in fountain pens. Yes, I have a few.

I like clips. Not that I have anything I would clip them to, now.

I want a fine nib that puts down a wet line. I haven't found my perfect nib.

I like cursive italic nibs, but I hate the feedback on paper.

I don't like Parker 51s.

I don't like the vintage patterns of Parker vacumatics.

Hm, I don't like Parker. My Sonnet sucks, too.

I like to refill cartridges and converters with a blunt nose syringe, I don't like dipping the sections of my pens in ink.

I don't like piston fill pens.

I like eyedropper pens.

I don't like demonstrator pens.

I used to like wood pens, now I don't.

I am fascinated by the Edison pump and vac fillers, but I don't want a pen requiring more maintenance - I am also lazy.

I don't see the fascination of TWSBI pens, but I am intrigued by their inkwell. It comes in red. I have no plans to get one.

I like bulletproof inks. I have several standard inks, but my favorites are bulletproofs, and I keep going back to them.

I like Noodler's Ink. An American ink, with something to say. I don't always agree with what is said, but I love the inks. I've never bought a bottle of another brand. Cartridges to refill with Noodler's, yes; bottled ink, no.

I like Edison Pens. An American pen company, whose start I witnessed and progress I follow, and pens I buy.

I wish "international" cartridges really were a good fit in all pens claiming to take them, and that they held more ink.

I don't want any more Chinese pens, cheap or otherwise (haven't bought one in years).

I don't like pink pens. I have two, which I no longer feel obligated to use and are now locked away out of sight.

Pink ink, it's ok as long as it has a little more to it than just plain pink ink. Bright, or really dark, ok, but not just pink ink. I don't think I have any just pink ink left, if so, it's in a cartridge somewhere and buried out of sight.

I'm trying to hang onto purple ink. I like purple, but emotional reasons have pushed it out of the limelight, and I'm having to force myself to use purple ink. It shouldn't be this way. But, I don't have purple pens.

I love green ink. I can't stand to write with green ink. It looks great - until my pen puts it to paper. Other people's writing, no problem. Why the hell is this??

[VertOlive]

I am not like y'all.

I have no quirks.

I sleep with my pens. They are all capped, of course.

[scrivelry]

I am not like y'all.

I have no quirks.

I sleep with my pens. They are all capped, of course.

Do they hog the covers?

[tandaina]

I like cursive italic nibs, but I hate the feedback on paper.

This may be very dangerous to your pocket book... but order a pen from John Mottishaw and call and tell him exactly that. And he'll grind a cursive italic and then soften the shoulders and I swear it shouldn't work but you end up with a crisp cursive italic that also glides like it is on ice. I don't even. I have two now (my Nakaya and a Pelikan nib I had him grind) and I'm afraid I won't be able to stop with two, they are so amazing!

[Dreck]

Hooded nibs gross me out, & I secretely believe 'vanishing nibs' are for FP poseurs who want to look cool with a fountain pen, but cannot break away from retractable ballpoints..

I cannot abide a metal section, or any section much more than 1cm in diameter.

I want to be able to post my pen without it becoming top-heavy, but chances are I'll just clutch the cap in my off-hand as if it'll run off if left unattended.

I have discovered that I like nibs with a bit of flex, but readily admit my penmanship will likely never do justice to a flex nib's true potential.

I like brown. It is my favorite color. Most of my pens (and shoes & clothes) are patterned in brown.

It feels weird writing in any color besides brown or red, but I love seeing the array of colors my pen pals use when writing to me.

I like screw-on caps and piston-fill pens.

As much as I romanticize over owning a vintage lever-fill pen, chances are that I never will. The thought of something in my hand with that many delicate moving parts makes me nervous.

I consider a $40 pen expensive.

[reprieve]

While I'm drawn to them aesthetically, in practice I despise lever fillers. They are a pain (literally) to flush (the lever always ends up stabbing me under my fingernail - ouch!).

I almost never use black ink. Yet I have several bottles from several different brands.

I can't resist a pen with a nailhead cap. Or a pen with a pretty filigree engraving.

I like pens with subtle curves.

I hoard paper and notebooks. It's excessive even for a Fountain Pen Geek.

I like screw caps--I like the sound and feel of opening and closing threaded caps--but I admit snap caps are pretty convenient and I keep several cheapies on my desk.

I don't post my pens, ever, unless they are miniatures (like the Kaweco Liliput). I very rarely post even my Pelikan M300 and Kaweco Sport.

[klpeabody]

I love green ink. I can't stand to write with green ink. It looks great - until my pen puts it to paper. Other people's writing, no problem. Why the hell is this??

I have this same problem. With orange. I can't explain it.

[Murfie]

Oh, boy ... everyone is fessin' up in this thread big time. So I might as well join in and unload my predilections.

Likes:

• Demonstrators
• Nibs ground by either John Mottishaw or Pendleton Brown
• Italian pens
• Noodler's Baystate Blue!!
• The Parker 51
• Very wet EF, italic and stub nibs
• All pens Japanese
• Diamine inks
• Some Noodler's inks
• Gary Lehrer's Catalogs
• The people one meets via FPG
• Vegemite on my toast

Dislikes:

• Metal sections
• Any brand of pen with the letters M B in it
• Dry steel nibs
• Posting the cap
• Flushing a Vacumatic fill pen
• Expensive pens that don't work out of the box
• Some Noodler's inks
• Broad nibs
• Ink cartridges
• The narrow neck size on Diamine ink 30ml bottles
• Vegemite stains

[Tracy Lee]

Black ink? Never, and I mean that. Same goes for pinks, or pinks pretending to be red. Write to me in those colors, it's fun, but not in my pens.

Big, two tone nibs in gold is where it is for me. Even my Edison has a gold nib.

Steel nibs? Pffft. I think writing with a fork would have the same feedback. Makes my teeth itch and I have used many different kinds. My fusion is really the only tolerable steel nib for short periods (and that whole gold over steel is most assuredly a gimmick, my engineers tell me so).

I use no pressure to write, so flex is lost on me entirely. I appreciate very much the talent of others but do not long for the ability to be able to do it myself. Much like piano. I don't want to play, but I will listen and enjoy you doing it all day long.

Vintage smintage. Modern, baby, modern.

I have a problem with the number of green inks I have and it's growing. Serious problem. Same with browns now. 8 of my last 10 samples were brown.

I wish sometimes I didn't think a good, comfortable price point for a pen is $500+. But I am not sorry that is where I tend to shop.

I cannot tolerate super light pens. See the part about writing with no pressure. I need a pen that writes by itself. If someone made a pen out of an anvil I would probably use it.

I won't use Noodler's ink. Like putting crude oil in my pens.

Fine nibs? I only own two. Used for editing at work but rarely for writing letters. Stubs rule, broads are great too. I need to see my ink in a fat line.

Posting is the preference, if it can be done safely and securely. I really don't like putting a cap on the desk separately.

I do not get the interest in Jinhao and other cheap pens. I try, but I can't get there. Something wrong with me I am pretty sure. See above comment on my price point.

I love eyedroppers. LOVE.

Wood is not a favorite medium for a pen, but I try to be open-minded. There are some lovely ones out there, I will admit, though I own none.

I am quite sure there is more, but for now, that is enough flaws. I need to have some secrets, after all. I am so glad there is totally something for everyone in this world of pens.

[kia]

I like cursive italic nibs, but I hate the feedback on paper.

This may be very dangerous to your pocket book... but order a pen from John Mottishaw and call and tell him exactly that. And he'll grind a cursive italic and then soften the shoulders and I swear it shouldn't work but you end up with a crisp cursive italic that also glides like it is on ice. I don't even. I have two now (my Nakaya and a Pelikan nib I had him grind) and I'm afraid I won't be able to stop with two, they are so amazing!

Yeah. I have one, lol. On a vanishing point nib unit I can swap between my various vanishing point bodies. Very dangerous, indeed. There are a few regrinds in the future for some of my pens. One day.

[klpeabody]

I cannot tolerate super light pens. See the part about writing with no pressure. I need a pen that writes by itself. If someone made a pen out of an anvil I would probably use it.

LMAO.
Having received several handwritten letters from you, I think I can vouch for this. lol.

[klpeabody]

While I'm drawn to them aesthetically, in practice I despise lever fillers. They are a pain (literally) to flush (the lever always ends up stabbing me under my fingernail - ouch!).

I almost never use black ink. Yet I have several bottles from several different brands.

I can't resist a pen with a nailhead cap. Or a pen with a pretty filigree engraving.

I like pens with subtle curves.

I hoard paper and notebooks. It's excessive even for a Fountain Pen Geek.

I like screw caps--I like the sound and feel of opening and closing threaded caps--but I admit snap caps are pretty convenient and I keep several cheapies on my desk.

I don't post my pens, ever, unless they are miniatures (like the Kaweco Liliput). I very rarely post even my Pelikan M300 and Kaweco Sport.

Ditto to all!

Except the lever fill part. Not my favorite filling system, yet, I own several. Surprisingly, they are some of the best pens I own. I always feel like they are laborious to clean, though. That's the part I don't like very much.

[Kaputnik]

I love variety almost for its own sake. My hand will quickly adapt to pens of different weights, dimensions, and materials. Fine, medium, and broad nibs are a pleasure to write with as appropriate. Although I won't keep too many pens inked at any one time, I rotate frequently. I like the feel of my all metal Montblanc Noblesse, my BCHR Conklin Crescents from the Nineteen teens and early twenties, my celluloid Esterbrook Js, a Taccia Overture with its metal section and marbled plastic body, my fine nibbed Pilot Vanishing Point with the pocket clip removed, the tiny Kaweco Liliput that can only take short cartridges. There is no practical reason why I couldn't just settle on three or four favorite pens, but I'm not always practical.

Speaking of practicality, if a filling system doesn't leak, I'm always interested in trying it out. I like lever fillers, crescent fillers, TDs, vacumatics, aerometrics, piston fillers, and don't object to cartridges or converters if they work well in a particular pen. I'll have to try a button filler and a snorkel some time. The only thing I've tried that I don't much care for is an eyedropper.

Except for the Vanishing Point, I don't like pens where the cap won't post, or which aren't practical to use when posted.

I like a variety of colors for inks, but they have to be water resistant. When I first took up fountain pens, it never even occurred to me that some of the inks wouldn't be. The non water-resistant ones I have left may get used again purely for testing a pen, maybe by dipping, but I won't use them in my notebooks, journals, or for writing letters. I also like colors that aren't too bright and provide a good contrast, easy on the eyes if I'm going through a dozen, or a couple of dozen pages of notes.