Thread: Any Fountain Pen Users?

Yes, but I've solved that problem using a tiny bit of sticking gum. It comes of again very easy.

Here is a little poem written with my jinhao and based on a real life experience, that I just experienced.

Sorry I don't know why pictures orientate themselves like they do,
It is a bit poo
Second draft

Gentlemen,

Here is the link to a short video I wrote and narrated in which you'll see my sweet Pelikan in action. The video was made in my study. Enjoy, and thanks for watching.

Looking for Lamassu on Vimeo

Obie, my dear friend, please create more of these kind of short videos. It was an almost poetic tribute to one of the now unseen, but still here, cultures of the world. The quiet way it was presented has stirred a corner in my mind that is always looking to the past for guidance in the future.

Thank you.

Razorfeld,

Bless your heart for the kind words. Thank you. Yes, I had a lot of fun writing and narrating that. The first draft was done with the fountain pen; subsequent drafts with the combination of fountain pen and my laptop.

The piece started as a long essay after visiting the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. The museum has a big Assyrian wing culminating with the massive statue of Lamassu, the winged bull. These giant Lamassu statues had a human head with a winged bull or lion body, and they were constructed at the entrances of the great palaces in Assyria, which flourished in the northern area of the present day Iraq. The Lamassu were meant to protect the palace against demonic forces, as well as to show off the king's great power.

Anyway, the essay ran some 20 handwritten pages (with the fountain pen, of course); then I typed it in on the laptop — about 15 pages. Eventually I fashioned the essay into two pages of narration for the video.

The majority of my writing is done in a notebook. The kind that you carry in your pocket. Not the one that needs batteries or a power cord. I take down thoughts that strike me as important. I make notes of things that I aspire to do or change about myself to make me a better person. I write reminders of things I want to research when next I am at the computer with access to the internet. Sadly the cause of the demise of the Encyclopedia Britannica, and at the same time, so much better. I examine feelings and attempt to put them into words that are better than things like, what seems to me a bland statement. Things like, 'Live in the moment' are fine, but do little to express the feeling that you get when you do actually realise that is what you are doing.
I do have plans for a fictional novel based on my own experiences. Whether that ever comes to fruition is another thing. I seem to lack the time, inclination of motivation to get past the outline I've already drafted (in pencil at that time) as I don't see it as going any further than the paper I write it on.
I do tend to have my brain ticking along as much as possible with the motive to think of something worthy of noting down, just to have an excuse to write. The fountain pen only adds to the experience. And Carl described the act of slowing down and thinking about the writing very nicely.


Mick

Originally Posted by Obie

Gentlemen,

Here is the link to a short video I wrote and narrated in which you'll see my sweet Pelikan in action. The video was made in my study. Enjoy, and thanks for watching.

Looking for Lamassu on Vimeo

Those thoughts you expressed in that video could equally apply to my own life and my feelings for Wales (Cymru). Perhaps it isn't quite the same thing, nor with quite the same losses, but nevertheless, that's how your video spoke to me, and on some level, I fully understand where you are coming from. Well done, and thank-you.


Mick

Gentlemen,

Here is the link to my fountain pen essay for Figlo Press, my publisher, that I promised you a week or two ago. The Pelikan in the photo is mine, resting on the first draft of the piece. Thanks for reading.

Figlo Press

I'm really late to this thread, but I've been using fountain pens since the late '60's in middle school starting with Sheaffer school pens (which I've got a bunch of), then collecting and restoring some vintage pens (mostly lever fill Esterbrooks etc)

Lately I've been on a Chinese/Asian pen bender
Top to bottom: Hero 329, Platinum Preppy converted to ink dropper fill, Baoer 388, Jinhao x450, Jinhao 159

First of all, Thank you Obie both for that video and the essay. Very nicely put.

My two Jinhao Lamy knock-off pens arrived this week. (post #288 above) My expectations were quite low considering that they were ridiculously cheap and that since they are obviously pseudo-Lamys, they were obviously going to be compared to the Lamy, which is one of my favourite pens. After assessing my buttocks (please see previously linked post...) and testing them out, the results were mixed but really better than expected.

One of them (Item no. 221450478798) is actually very, very good! I would rate its performance as being just a little below that of the Lamy which form me is high praise indeed. The only minor issue has been that sometimes the first tiny bit of a stroke will not write, but I suspect that's due as much to me getting used to the grip as anything else. Like the Lamy it has a shaped rather than round grip and sometimes I notice I'm holding the nib slightly askew. So I'd chalk that up to user error. I'd rate it 7/10 for build quality, 8/10 for performance, 10/10 for value, 1/10 for respect of intellectual property (at least they don't copy the Lamy nib...)

The other (Item no. 111331502787) has been a little more disappointing. The converter seems a little loose, and the chrome ring between the body and nib section of the pen (I am beginning to realize that I am lacking in the pen vocabulary department!) is loose and likes to fall off when it is opened for filling. That having been said it, too, writes very nicely. And let's be clear: it cost me about $4.50 CDN delivered to my door. 4/10 for build quality, 8/10 for performance, 10/10 for value, and again 1/10 for respect of intellectual property

So for less than ten bucks in total, I have two pretty decent pens that will happily live at the office. They write nicely and if someone nicks them, it won't be a major loss. For a situation like that or for someone just wanting to try out fountain pens, these would be good choices. But I don't think Obie should run out to get one to replace his Pelikan.