True Pen-Fessions!

[pajaro]

Ethernautrix, entirely too rational. Except for converting a 51 to an eyedropper because of sac-dislike, thus vitiating the best feature of the 51, its long-lived sac. Unless, of course it has a Minuskin stub.

I coexist with italics, but I like CIs better, stubs are a blunt instrument in my slow left-handed progress across a page, smudge, smudge.

I love to use a nib upside-down.

I love Pelikans and never use mine.

I love Montblanc 144s and Generations, others not so much.

I like blue-black ink best, hate orange and yaller.

I like Parker Sonnets, but they need tuning. Best to buy the nibs from nibs.com. At least they will write.

[pengeezer]

I like pens.

Don't you just hate it when one of us posts the one thing we all missed?


John

[lisantica]

I should have stopped after buying my first two, but I didn't. I should have stopped after my first twenty, but I didn't. I might stop after my first 200, but I doubt it.

When I use eyedroppers and syringes I feel like a scientist/doctor.

Love me some caps that snap on with an authoritative click.

Dislike pens that roll in my grip.

Love, LOVE line variation.

[kaisnowbird]

Man, it's been a long while since my last confession, but here goes...

When it comes to pens, I let my judgmental stuff out of their cage and have free rein. I'd get rid of any pens that has a flaw that I don't love (I do love some flaws). For example:
- just sold my only Parker 51 (vac-fill) because the ink capacity is somehow not very good (less than 10 drops) and I hate the fact that I can't tell how much ink is left in there -- unlike Vacumatics.
- really want to get rid of my Carene as the inlaid nib leaves mini droplets of ink in the inner cap and then on to the section, but my wife just loves that pen and pleads with puppy eyes every time I speak of selling it.

I can tolerate relatively large pens or heavy ones (no tree trunks or anvils please), but I won't have pens that are both large and heavy.

I like fat pens with EF nibs and thin pens with BB nibs.

I like pens made of materials that resemble other natural materials, but generally don't like the real thing. For example, I'd say no to untreated wood, actual marble/stone, porcelain, most leather and antlers, but I'll make exceptions for precious/ancient things, like jade, mammoth ivory, mother of pearl (not that I have any).

I don't want my pens to be too flashy, but the nibs... the flashier the better.

I'm obsessed with using up the things I don't like first. It's a raw deal as I almost never get to use my favourites (pens, inks and paper alike), but I can't help it.

I like inks in the red/orange family, but it seems I never use them. Must break that pattern and start writing with some of them.

I keep most of my pens in their original packaging and hate pens that come with huge boxes. I wish each would just come in a small leather/velvet pouch. Storage would be so much more efficient.

Enough confession for now, the priest needs to use the bathroom or go eat once a while too, right?

[Aleks]

well, here goes nothing!

i absolutely abhor black ink-- i just find it dull to no end;
i can't stand my pens touching each other, they shouldn't even be a cm from each other;
purple inks are my vice, i dont care what shade is it I MUST HAVE IT;
i have never understood why flex nibs dont make my writing beautiful...why?!
red ink? you better have a very good darn reason to use it, really;
every pen in my arsenal needs to be accounted for in a weekly basis while i perform cleaning duties, and i mean every single one;
i can't stand cheap converters... Sheaffer, Parker, im definitely looking at you;
i have never understood this question: "which fpen is your favorite?" they're all my babies i love them all;
last but not least, there's no such thing as "too many pens/ink/paper" in my drawer... that's just crazy talk.

[welch]

It's too late to make a complete list, but:

- I hate metal gripping sections. I have put finger-nail polish on the brushed metal grip of a Lamy 2000...and I'm not ashamed! I just wish that Lamy had brushed their brushed steel side-ways, or cross-hatched...or even put a rubber coating on it. Works well on the Studio.

- I love hooded nibs, especially the Parker 51: an elegant design.

- I dislike skinny pens. A tech writer once said, "Oh, you have carpel tunnel!", as if saying, "You just won some money in a lottery". Not what I wanted to hear. Might be arthritis, or might be result of having used a mouse since I switched to Windows 95 and it became pretty much necessary to click or double click with the left-mouse button. Whatever the reason, I cannot tolerate a slender pen.

- This month, I like heavier pens. That's handy, since pen-makers seem to believe that every pen should be brass underneath.

- I hate dry inks and dry pens. I even keep a spare bottle of Private Reserve Tanzanite to mix with dry dry dry inks.

- I distrust inks that cannot be washed out of clothing. My parents (graduated high school in 1940) taught me: ink always spills when you are filling; silliest pen disasters happened to friends who had pens explode in their pocket. Dad was an aviation machinist's mate in WW2, meaning he maintained a plane and repaired it, and got flight pay (50% extra??) so he and the other "plane captains" rode in the tail-gunner's seat every chance they could, and every time he had fixed something (You pulled the engine and fixed it? Then you're going to take the first ride). Often rode on practice dive-bombing runs, and never, to my memory, thought twice about riding a roller-coaster. He talks about mechanics who forgot to take a pen out of their shirt pocket before diving practice.

- I dislike pens that cannot be posted, although I sometimes prefer to write un-posted. Hats off to Brian Gray (Edison Pens) who skimmed out a cap slightly so one of his pens would post neatly. Brian is a fine person...yet another of the wonderful people who make and repair fountain pens.

[youstruckgold]

Yes, I'm a penaholic.
I'm also a pen's half-full sort of guy, so let's start with the positive:
I love Italian pens! Delta, Montegrappa, Stipula, Visconti, Aurora, Ancora, Tibaldi (older ones) but especially OMAS (over 60 of them - yes, I have an obsession - no, I dont have a problem).
I love celluloid. This fuels my love of Italian pens as they seem to do them best (especially Omas - although Tiblaldi transparente is pretty spectacular).
I like to post, and I like a clip as I use all my pens and the repairs to my suit jacket pockets lay testament to that!
I also love colour; so most of my pens are other than black bodied)
I love difference/ innovation - so the two-sided nib of the Omas 361; the original Omas 360 shape, the grace and flow of the Pilot 701, the cheekiness of the Pilot VP sand even the apparent lack of science in the Delta fusion - all work for me. And don't mistaken innovation for gimmick - it still has to feel good in my hand and write well on the paper.
I love flex (vintage remains the best - no idea why); and I'm evolving from a fine man ( in so many ways) in my early days, to a medium, italic or stub sort of guy (maybe to match the stubble on my chin).
Gold nibs rule, but steel are not off the list.
After Italy, Japan. Always reliable, very innovative and so much variety. Nakaya pens are just beautiful works of art. Sailor nibs are spectacular.
For inks, I don't collect but I have boxes of them - how did that happen? Focus is on blue, green and purple. Love inks that shade. Favorite colour: Noodlers bay state blue ( just wont put it in my pens). Otherwise I oscillate between PR Avacado, Diamine Blue Sapphire, MB Racing Green, Herbin Violette Pensee. Love Noodlers Apache Sunset too.
Prefer heavier, bigger pens
Prefer piston fillers (but not to the exclusion of others )
Have a preference for Rhodia grid paper ( until I discovered Tomoe River).
And that should do for a start! I'll do a separate post for the not so likes

[Llewellyn]

I'm relatively new to FP's but:

I don't like medium nibs, they make my writing look like a continuous blob.

I don't like clear demonstrators

I don't like small or light pens

I like (no, make that love) Visconti's

I like big pens. This surprises me because I have small hands.

I'm particularly attracted to pens that are multi-coloured and / or have unusual designs such as the Van Gogh's, Desert Springs, Divina Proporzione and Michelangelo.

[sharmon202]

Likes:
Smaller, narrow/thin pens like my Pilot Cavaliers. Small hands, small writing, fast writing.
Ink that is bold, dark lines using EF nibs
EF nibs
The fp community I discovered last October
All Pilot pens I have tried so far
Goulet & Jet Pens who know what customer service really is
The best..........spending Sunday morning surfing for fp news/learning's

Dislikes:
Never buying a Chinese pen, if I know it is Chinese
Purchasing a pen and the nib is not ready to go had two of these so far and I really DISLIKE dealing with this
Pastel color inks
M nibs
Not very much really

[Plume145]

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 consider a $40 pen expensive.

OMG, that used to be me too! Except then I got a project where I'll be taking LOTS of notes on the fly, sometimes in or around a building site, and I kind of started to see the appeal of being able to have the comfortable and familiar writing feel of a FP without the hassle of capping/uncapping. Just bounce the clicky button on your hip, and write :P

'course, I agree with the second part too, so that kind of makes it unlikely to work out for me!

[Fawkes]

I'm extremely boring when it comes to inks, as I mostly use blacks, greys and browns with the occassional green or red at the holidays.

I hate, hate, hate cartridge/converter pens, yet most of my pens from the early days are C/C.

I also find it hard to give those old C/Cs of mine away. Too much sentimental value, I suppose.

I hate stub nibs, yet I really like the old oblique nibs from Montblanc and Pelikan.

I really enjoy the idea of keeping only one or two pens for all of my needs, but I don't want to part with my MB and Pelikan collection as I get too much satisfaction from collecting them and writing with them.

I seem to be a bit of a contradiction...oh well.

[kia]

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 consider a $40 pen expensive.

OMG, that used to be me too! Except then I got a project where I'll be taking LOTS of notes on the fly, sometimes in or around a building site, and I kind of started to see the appeal of being able to have the comfortable and familiar writing feel of a FP without the hassle of capping/uncapping. Just bounce the clicky button on your hip, and write :P

'course, I agree with the second part too, so that kind of makes it unlikely to work out for me!

Uh huh. Huh. I have nearly a dozen VP's and I am proud of it!

I never expected to like the vanishing point as much as I do. Though, I do admit to thinking them cool because I don't have to worry for a cap. These are my workhorses.

That said, I can't stand hooded nibs on any other fountain pen. No. Nada. Nil. I don't like them.

Early, $30 was too expensive. Then $100. Then $200. Then $500. Then I purchased a pair of pens at 10x that price point.

Now, $50 is starting to look expensive.

I currently lust after several pens, but I also know that I have plenty of pens right now - hundreds, in fact - and I don't need any more, especially if it means the cost of the dog's food (or mine) for a month! Dog comes first, then me, now.

Oh, and I have never liked snake pens or snake clips.

[Scrawler]

I confess, it was me that wrote the vituperative letter, decrying modern education, to the editor, in jade green ink, using an early 1930s Waterman #3 fountain pen, and complaining about school children who could not read cursive.

[scrivelry]

I have managed to crack three or four pen barrels in the last week inserting sections, and one while trying to get a j-bar out.

I am not a brutal person.

I am. however, a person who is now giving significant thought to how to fix those barrels...

[SIR]

Great reading about all y'all's wierdnesses and idiosyncrasies, now here's one (or a few) of mine;

I like more...
more technology = piston filler rather than cartridge or convertor
more ink capacity = see above
more pen = bigger pens, bigger nibs, nibs with more tines, nibs with more nibs (i.e. Sailor's speciality nibs)
more style = more art, more craft, more than just a pen/writing instrument
more materials/workmanship = urushi on top of ebonite, raden on top of urushi
more stuff = lacquer boxes, travelling inkwells, pen kimonos
more minimalism = I prefer clipless pens, and not owning too many pens
more line variation = e.g. cursive italic and flex nibs

[Wahl]

My confession is very simple,

I only care about oversize pens made around 1920/30, matching pencils are appreciated.

I will make an exception for the Parker 51, which I use as a daily "carry pen".

Inks can be blue, black or a combination of both

[penwash]

What an interesting thread.
Nice thread resurrection, SIR!

[kevmid]

I second that! This is interesting.

Love clipless pens

Disappointed with lever fillers - such a shame to spoil a lovely barrel!

Find urushi reaaaally boring in whatever finish. Good job as I could never afford one.

Dealbreakers are metal sections or big steps to the section or black sections on other coloured barrels

Love C/C's and piston fillers

Can only tolerate hooded nibs on my Lamy 2000 and 2000M as they are such design classics

Love colour and transparency in pens, only two black pens

No large pens but like heavy ones

Never post a pen

Most scary of all just upped my one pen spend limit as my Conid Bulkfiller arrived this week! Good timing for FPD!

[VertOlive]

The down and dirty: I confess that I hide from my family when opening a new pen that has arrived in the mail. I plot and scheme until I know I'm alone for The Unboxing Ritual. Then I savor it. I like to be all alone when bonding with a new pen.

[Wuddus]

Excellent thread! Here's mine...

I am cheap. Very cheap. I just ordered my sixth pen, and total expenditure is less than £25.

I consider six fountain pens to be too many.

I consider £20 for a pen to be a bit pricey, £50 to be expensive, and over £100 to be obscene.

I think hooded nibs are ugly.

I think a lot of the pens in the expensive and obscene price brackets are ugly.

I have no qualms about buying cheap no name cartridges off ebay, and refilling them when they are empty.

I fill cartridges with a syringe.

I fill converters with a syringe.

I have no interest in buying pens that aren't new.

When I see the price of a nib, I don't understand why it doesn't already have a pen attached to it.

I don't understand what the rest of you are talking about half of the time, but I suspect it's stuff I wouldn't be interested in.

I have considered taking a stone to a couple of my nibs, and wouldn't feel guilty about it.

I don't like steps between the section and barrel.

The Parker Vector is my least comfortable pen, and my most expensive.