Conclusion:
Thank you, everyone, for your expertise, experience, recommendations, suggestions, and patience!!
I have decided to go with the Platinum Preppy in Blue Black with fine nib. I didn't want to jump too far into it with an expensive (to me) one without any experience. So far, granted it's the first day, I love it. A lot. I'm going to give it a few days to see how it feels as a daily driver, but if the few bits I wrote are an indication, it won't be an issue.
Again, thank you all SO MUCH for your help!
Here's a (poor quality, sorry, it's night) picture of my new favorite pen:
Original Post
I didn't see anything on the sidebar where this is not allowed. BUT, if it isn't, please accept my sincerest apologies, and feel free to remove the post (or let me know, and I'll remove it).
A little backstory:
Ever since a quill that I happened to use (without permission, might I add) at a friend's grandfather's house oh so many moons ago, my fascination with pens began. Up until then, all I've used were pencils, markers, crayons, and a couple cheap ballpoint pens.
Over the many years, I have gone from pen to pen, never really finding "that pen feel" I've craved since that single-digit age. Now, I understand that quills write very differently to ballpoints, and even differently to many nibs. However, price has always been an object for me, regrettably, limiting my choices, forcing me to stay on the 'budget' side of things.
The closest I've found to that feel was a 0.8mm Micron felt-tipped pen. However, it wasn't close enough for me to stay with it, so the search continues.
(The feel: smooth, light, almost effortless glide on the page, while still feeling the tactility of the page with each stroke. The resulting line is smooth, but crisp.)
Recently (past couple years), I've been thinking more and more about that quill, and started searching for it again, to no avail. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if his grandfather had it custom made.
I would ask the friend or grandfather, but the grandfather has long passed, and the friend has disappeared shortly after uni (he always talked about going full hermit... I guess he did).
Yesterday, as I was aimlessly scrolling Lemmy, after, what seemed like the billionth time searching for that quill, I came across this community, filled with people searching for their illusive perfect pen; my people.
The ask
As before, price is an object (again, regrettably). Are there recommendations for budget fountain pens or quills with a few must-haves?
Would-Really-Like-To-Have ~~Must-Haves~~
- non-scratchy nib
- 0.5-0.7mm line is preferred, but no more than 0.8mm
- it can use ink cartridges, but it needs to also handle other inks from bottles (pumps or wells, I think it's called)
- budget, so within the 5-10€ range (I know this might be the biggest ask here)
The original quill that started it all
The shaft looked like a thick feather, with the feathery bits removed. I don't think it was an actual feather, though, as it was much thicker than any I've ever felt. The shaft held the ink, which was added by unscrewing the nib and pouring the ink in (or, as he did it, using a pipette), then screwing the nib back on. The nib was ornate; etched gold on the outside, smooth silver on the inside, split down the middle, with a small hole halfway down the split.
A preemptive thank you to everyone, for reading and considering this post.
Edit: added the last section about the original quill
Edit: change to really like to have, since it seems I was being too wishy with them being a 'must' : )
Random unordered list of cheap fountain pens that I know to be halfway decent:
The Lamy Joy, Safari, and Al-Star may also fit your needs but are likely outside your budget. Lamy pens have very easily interchangeable nibs so you're not locked into whatever width you started with forever which is nice if you decide you'd like a broader or narrower point later and you won't have to buy a whole new pen. The Joy is also a calligraphy pen but has that elongated dip pen/quill shape. You could kit it with a normal nib if you wanted; I think a Lamy Fine or Medium nib would meet your line width requirement.
If you really, really want to have the quill pen experience you can get a dip pen. These will require you to be tethered to an inkwell at all times. The Speedball nib holder sets are ubiquitous and very inexpensive, and can be had easily at most arts and crafts stores. A dizzying array of different nibs are available for these which are very easily changed and extremely cheap.
Thank you for this!
I actually use a Zebra F-301 ballpoint, and it's great for its price. Do the converter kits work with this pen? Although, I'm not sure it'll be worth it, since the kits seem to cost more than the pen haha
I'm going to change the Must-Have to Really-Like-To-Haves lol I see I was being very wishy with them. I don't mind saving up and getting a more 'long term' pen that's reasonably priced to be a daily driver. I don't like dailying pens that would break me if they get lost or stolen. I travel for work, and have lost so many cheap pens over the years, and more than a few nice pens. The only one that truly caused me grief was one my grand gifted me.
I also fully expect to buy more than one pen and alternate dailies. But, that's problem for a future me to solve haha
Cards on the table: I own quite a few converter kits, invariably ones that came in the box with various pens, and I've never in my life ever used a single one of them. Not once.
Any cartridge compatible pen can be manually refilled by just refilling a cartridge. You can do it with a syringe or a pipette or even an eyedropper if you're careful.
No way! That's awesome! Someone else here suggested something like this, but I didn't realize it was for all cartridges. Very cool!