Thread: Fountain Pens?

Originally Posted by bassguy

I thought I'd like fine nibs but the sailor i bought is too fine. I'm enjoying dumping all kinds of wet ink with the thicker nibs.

What sailor do you have? I haven't gottem any nibbles yet, not sure if I'm going to get amy takers...

Japanese nibs tend to run a full size smaller than western nibs run. So a M japanese nibe would be a F western nib.

I have the Pilot Custom 74 demo in a Fine nib and can only use it on high end paper. While the Pilot VP with a M nib is almost ok on cheaper papers.

I'm not sure, it's an 18k nib, fine, and a short sucker too. Wish I had known that before but I guess there was only one way to find out. I'm really liking this cheapo Noodler's eyedropper pen.

I'm hoping that there are still some left with the Black Swan ink. See what happens

Oooo Ahhhh Just got my box of ink

Noodlers Black Swan, Habanero, and Polar Brown. I also have a bottle of J. Herbin 1670, a great ink if you like shading

I was also wondering if anyone here would be interested in "Snail Mailing" with their fountain pens? Something I started doing over at The Fountain Pen Network is undergoing maintenance!

Just thought I'd put that out there

Originally Posted by Bill S

Did you get the one that was listed with the Pelikano 600? Is so, that's a great looking pen. The nib is a fine, isn't it? Should be perfect for those cookbook notations.

I bought this pen a while ago, about 2 years ago. Yes the fine nib works great in the books that accept the ink haha. Many cooks bade today are water resistant (for some reason )

Hey Chef, if "snail mailing" means what I think it means, I'm down!


It's cold out though, not sure where I'll find a snail except a pet store. Do they fit in a padded envelope?

Dwarvenchef, by "snail mailing", do you mean like a penpal type thing with actual letters?

I have a Lamy Safari in plastic with fine nib and metal with extra fine nib, both of which are fantastic writers but not as fine as I like.

On recommendation from someone from another forum, I bought a Pilot Knight in fine (which, by American standards is more like extra fine). It's a great pen but still a bit broader than I would like. Any recommendations on a good starter fountain pen that is has a bit narrower nib than the Knight?

Originally Posted by breadstick

Dwarvenchef, by "snail mailing", do you mean like a penpal type thing with actual letters?

I have a Lamy Safari in plastic with fine nib and metal with extra fine nib, both of which are fantastic writers but not as fine as I like.

On recommendation from someone from another forum, I bought a Pilot Knight in fine (which, by American standards is more like extra fine). It's a great pen but still a bit broader than I would like. Any recommendations on a good starter fountain pen that is has a bit narrower nib than the Knight?

I'll have to look at the Knight to see what nib it has.

In general Japanese F M B sized nibs are one step lower than western nibs but that also is not regulated at all, so even in the same make model line up you will end up with variation. Mr Binder makes some wicked tiny nib points that can cut paper XXXF nibs are crazy thin...

But what are you calling starter pens? What price range?

I have a Platinum Preppy with a .03 nib and it's pretty frigging fine, finer than my Pilot Custom 74 F nib. Also Inks can have any effect on the line size drawn, not only that but pressure (there's that word again ). A dry or fast drying ink will leave a finer line, in the same pen, than a wet ink. So some testing is in store.

Example, I have a couple of Noodlers Polar inks, doesn't freeze at 0F, that leave a wet wide line due to fast flow. Where as Noodlers X-Feather dries very fast and leaves a fine clean line. Yes the ink habbit can be over powering but I only have about 20 different colors

Ya the snail mail thing is like a pen pal thing. Just using the fountain pen and various inks

Received my Hero 100! This is made in China from the machines sold to them by Parker to produce the 51. Sweet Pen! 14k hooded nib!

I washed then filled with Noodlers Blue.