For those who joined in the last 60 days: How's your FP journey going?

[michaeldoleman]

I've been into fountain pens, now, for all of a couple months, and been a member of the forum for just a couple weeks, I think. So far so good! I've gotten some great advice on a few things, in terms of helping me make some decisions about what sorts of pens and writing experience I prefer. My interest has mostly been functional, in that I want to improve my penmanship, and I enjoy journaling and writing by hand, in general.

I started-out with a couple Lamy Safaris, a Pilot Metro, Pilot Explorer, and Kaweco Liliput. Based on my experience with those pens, I started gravitating toward pens that produces really fine-fine lines. The Pilot pens quickly became favorites, and I thus bought a Pilot Custom 74 in fine, as my first "nice" pen.

Since then, I purchased a couple TWSBI vac-filler pens, and I really like those a lot. I love the whole concept of filling the pen, itself, with ink, rather than involving a cartridge or converter. Functionally, it just seems more straightforward. One of the TWSBI pens is a square/italic nib, which I have really taken to. Both pens, in fact, led me to veer back toward liking a broader line width.

So, based on that, I decided to pull the trigger on a Lamy 2000, which had been my initial target for a really nice pen. It's quite a splurge, for me, and that'll round-out my small collection for a while. I decided I liked the overall look of the 2000 enough to spend the money and take the risk that I may not like it. I've yet to take delivery of it.

Next up, I would like to try Pelikan, Platinum, and Sailor pens, in that order. The Pelikan I have in mind is an M205 -- the olivine-colored piston filler. I'd like a Platinum 3776 and Sailor 1911, although I have to say I am less excited about both those pens, now, since they are both cartridge/converter, and I am beginning to think that for my really nice pens I might want to start sticking to piston, vacuum, or eyedropper fill only. We'll see...

I may simply hold-out and get a Pilot 823 -- I think that might be my "ultimate" pen, at this point.

Other, outlying pens I kinda want to try: a Faber-Castell, probably a Loom; a Caran d'ache 849; a Pilot Elabo flex-nib. Honestly, I really enjoy the TWSBI pens quite a bit. I may acquire a couple more of those.

I've taken a peek around eBay, and a few other sources, for vintage pens, but as of yet I'm not sure that's a direction I really want to go. I can tend to get really quite overly-consumed, early-on, with new hobbies. I want to keep something in reserve, and remember that the reason I even got a fountain pen, in the first place, was just to practice my writing :-)

[penwash]

I've taken a peek around eBay, and a few other sources, for vintage pens, but as of yet I'm not sure that's a direction I really want to go. I can tend to get really quite overly-consumed, early-on, with new hobbies. I want to keep something in reserve, and remember that the reason I even got a fountain pen, in the first place, was just to practice my writing :-)

With vintage pens, more learning and reading is necessary to get your bearing first. A lot of people made the mistake of starting their journey by buying from ebay which ended with a lot of disappointment.

[Butthurticus-VIII]

I've taken a peek around eBay, and a few other sources, for vintage pens, but as of yet I'm not sure that's a direction I really want to go. I can tend to get really quite overly-consumed, early-on, with new hobbies. I want to keep something in reserve, and remember that the reason I even got a fountain pen, in the first place, was just to practice my writing :-)

With vintage pens, more learning and reading is necessary to get your bearing first. A lot of people made the mistake of starting their journey by buying from ebay which ended with a lot of disappointment.

When I started out about 2 years ago that was the mistake I made. Don’t be me lol


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[calamus]

I've been into fountain pens, now, for all of a couple months, and been a member of the forum for just a couple weeks, I think. So far so good! I've gotten some great advice on a few things, in terms of helping me make some decisions about what sorts of pens and writing experience I prefer. My interest has mostly been functional, in that I want to improve my penmanship, and I enjoy journaling and writing by hand, in general.

I started-out with a couple Lamy Safaris, a Pilot Metro, Pilot Explorer, and Kaweco Liliput. Based on my experience with those pens, I started gravitating toward pens that produces really fine-fine lines. The Pilot pens quickly became favorites, and I thus bought a Pilot Custom 74 in fine, as my first "nice" pen.

Since then, I purchased a couple TWSBI vac-filler pens, and I really like those a lot. I love the whole concept of filling the pen, itself, with ink, rather than involving a cartridge or converter. Functionally, it just seems more straightforward. One of the TWSBI pens is a square/italic nib, which I have really taken to. Both pens, in fact, led me to veer back toward liking a broader line width.

So, based on that, I decided to pull the trigger on a Lamy 2000, which had been my initial target for a really nice pen. It's quite a splurge, for me, and that'll round-out my small collection for a while. I decided I liked the overall look of the 2000 enough to spend the money and take the risk that I may not like it. I've yet to take delivery of it.

Next up, I would like to try Pelikan, Platinum, and Sailor pens, in that order. The Pelikan I have in mind is an M205 -- the olivine-colored piston filler. I'd like a Platinum 3776 and Sailor 1911, although I have to say I am less excited about both those pens, now, since they are both cartridge/converter, and I am beginning to think that for my really nice pens I might want to start sticking to piston, vacuum, or eyedropper fill only. We'll see...

I may simply hold-out and get a Pilot 823 -- I think that might be my "ultimate" pen, at this point.

Other, outlying pens I kinda want to try: a Faber-Castell, probably a Loom; a Caran d'ache 849; a Pilot Elabo flex-nib. Honestly, I really enjoy the TWSBI pens quite a bit. I may acquire a couple more of those.

I've taken a peek around eBay, and a few other sources, for vintage pens, but as of yet I'm not sure that's a direction I really want to go. I can tend to get really quite overly-consumed, early-on, with new hobbies. I want to keep something in reserve, and remember that the reason I even got a fountain pen, in the first place, was just to practice my writing :-)

I love love love my 1911. Pilots, too. I've heard that compared to them Platinums tend to be a little scratchy, but I don't know because I've never had a chance to try one out.

Also, there is an advantage to converters: you can change to a different ink sooner, if you want to play with lots of different colors. I've actually gotten bored with an ink and dumped out half an eyedropper load just to go on to another ink. So cartridges and converters have their place. Also cartridges are very convenient and much less messy than other systems. Very convenient for taking reams of notes without having to stop in the middle of what you're doing to refill, which can happen even with a piston filler or eyedropper. Just slap in another cartridge, and you're good to go.

BTW, Sailor also makes a 1911 Realo that's a piston-filler, but it's kind of pricey. I sure would like one. (That's just in case Santa Claus is listening).

[PhotoJim]

Sailor also makes a 1911 Realo that's a piston-filler, but it's kind of pricey. I sure would like one. (That's just in case Santa Claus is listening).

I treated myself to one of these a few years ago, with a Music nib (which is a delightful stub-like broad nib). It's one of my favourite pens.

[michaeldoleman]

Sailor also makes a 1911 Realo that's a piston-filler, but it's kind of pricey. I sure would like one. (That's just in case Santa Claus is listening).

I treated myself to one of these a few years ago, with a Music nib (which is a delightful stub-like broad nib). It's one of my favourite pens.

That sounds like a really great pen. Sailor has caught my interest in a big way. I still think that Pelikan remains at the top of my list as my next probable acquisition, but a Sailor will be next in line after that, I think. Great to know that a piston-filler is available.

[michaeldoleman]

Also, there is an advantage to converters: you can change to a different ink sooner, if you want to play with lots of different colors. I've actually gotten bored with an ink and dumped out half an eyedropper load just to go on to another ink. So cartridges and converters have their place. Also cartridges are very convenient and much less messy than other systems. Very convenient for taking reams of notes without having to stop in the middle of what you're doing to refill, which can happen even with a piston filler or eyedropper. Just slap in another cartridge, and you're good to go.

I am finding the differences in usage to be very interesting -- it seems that everyone has the variously individual reasons for liking one particular style of pen over another. Case in point: the very advantage you cite for cartridges and converters is exactly what I consider to be a disadvantage, and why I like piston- or vacuum-fill pens. With a piston-filler, I can very easily load it with just a but of ink, if I prefer, if I'm just wanting to try a new ink. Or, even better, I can easily press the ink back out, into the bottle, clean it, and start over, on a whim. This is true, also, for a converter pen, but one has to go through the extra step of disassembling the pen body and potentially pulling the converter, to clean it, separately. I like having the whole filling mechanism self-contained. I feel that it makes the process simpler. And in terms of having sufficient ink, nothing I know of comes close to the capacity of piston fill pens.

That Realo sounds like it needs to be on my shortlist :-)