this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2024
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Fountain Pens

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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~~
  1. non-scratchy nib
  2. 0.5-0.7mm line is preferred, but no more than 0.8mm
  3. it can use ink cartridges, but it needs to also handle other inks from bottles (pumps or wells, I think it's called)
  4. 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' : )

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

As the other commentator stated, you're looking for a FP.

The things you're describing can be easily found... but they usually cost a lot to have all of the qualities at once.

That is unless you can get your hands on chinese FPs where you live. I get mine ftom aliexpress.

Now from my own personal experience you can't go wrong with either Jinhao X159 or Jinhao Dadao 9019.

You can get a fine nib which I think is the perfect balance between smoothness and crispness.

Another tip: if you find that the feeling of the nib is not to your liking, you can tune the nib. There are many excellent tutorials for this and you can do it at home without special equipment.

Since money is a problem, you'll probaly have to substitute it with your time in getting exactly what you want.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Good, cheap, or fast; pick two. I figured it would be this way, but I was hoping it wouldn't be haha : /

I'm ok with substituting time for money. And it'll likely teach me a lot about the pen. The Jinhaos look like an interesting compromise between features and price, thanks!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

What you're describing definitely sounds like a fountain pen--specifically, an eyedropper (where the body acts as the ink reservoir), desk (long, gently sloping body coming to a point) pen--did it look something like this? https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-5ko0zosub2/product_images/description/sheaffer/sh_deskpen_greymarble_2.jpg (Sorry, can't get images to embed)

For your thinish line requirements with a non-scratchy nib, I'd suggest a European/American fine or Japanese medium nib size (Japanese brands tend to run thinner). Most pens you can buy have some sort of cartridge, as well as a converter that would allow you to use a bottle--you can also get a cheap blunt tipped syringe or pipet and refill washed cartridges with whatever ink you want. I use a hot glue gun to reseal mine for transport, and peel it off before reinserting the cartridge.

I would recommend going to a stationary store/office supply store and trying some out! If you give us a general geographic area we can try to recommend stores near you that cary pens you could try--in Europe I've found this much more common than the US. If in-person testing isn't an option, I would tentatively suggest a pilot kakuno--they look like they cost ~11€ in Europe, and come with one cartridge of ink. They're Japanese so I would recommend a medium if you want to avoid scratchy at all costs, or a fine if you have some tolerance for a bit of feedback and want a thinner line. Any of pilot's converters should work, looks like they cost ~6-12€ depending on refill mechanism and capacity.

A kakuno or other budget pen won't look as amazing, but in my experience write almost as well as pens costing 10x more, and honestly if it's your first one you probably won't be able to feel the nuance yet.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

If you like that long, tapered look, check out the Platinum desk pen.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

This is a great writeup, thank you!

Your suggestions look like a really good place to get started in this world without breaking bank.

The quill he had looked a little something like the smooth ones of these, but with the iconic black/white quill pattern and the ink was inside the shaft.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

In addition to the other recommendations, you can also still buy quills!

E.g. https://cultpens.com/products/manuscript-art-of-writing-quill-pen-and-ink-gift-set

No idea if they are any good.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Random unordered list of cheap fountain pens that I know to be halfway decent:

  • The Zebra V-301. It has a (partially) metal body and is reasonably slim, and has a unique feed mechanism that allegedly prevents it from drying out even if unused for extended periods. Price: Approx. $5 US.
  • The Pilot Penmanship. This is basically the refillable version of the Pilot Varsity and has a pretty similar nib. It takes Pilot's usual wide neck cartridges. Plastic body, for some reason no pocket clip. It has a slightly elongated tapered body that's maybe "quillish," but not really. Price: Approx. $10 US.
  • Pilot Parallel. This is a calligraphy pen with a flat/italic nib. This violates your maximum line width criteria even in its narrowest width (1.5mm) but definitely has an elongated dip pen/desk pen type of shape which may be what you like. Price: Approx $12 US.
  • The Platinum Preppy. Everyone raves about these as the quintessential beginner's fountain pen but I personally don't see the appeal. Plastic body, flimsy clip, but writes pretty good. It's cheap, though. Price: Approx. $6 US.
  • The Platinum Desk Pen, suggested elsewhere in this thread. It also has an elongated dip pen style body. Price: Approx $13 US.
  • Honorable mention: The Jinhao 85. This is a knockoff of the revived Parker '51, and has a similar hooded nib style. I own one and it looks sharp and writes well, too. Price: Approx. $15 USD.

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

No way! That's awesome! Someone else here suggested something like this, but I didn't realize it was for all cartridges. Very cool!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

@01189998819991197253 Think it's going to be hard to hit ALL the points.

The cheapest fountain pens are probably Jinhao, but nib QC is all over the place. Pilot has the most reliable nib QC, but the price for a Kakuno may be slightly out of budget. Could also consider the Platinum preppy, but they have more feedback than Pilots.

Not sure on mm widths. Finding larger than an M nib for any of the above is difficult or nonexistent.

All accept cartridges & converters.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Have you used the Lamy pens? My friend has one that I tried today, and it felt quite nice. The line was thick, looked like 0.8mm line, which I can get behind.

What do you mean by M nib? Do nib sizes come in letter sizes?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Nib sizes generally come in extra fine (XF on the nib), fine (F), medium (M), and broad (B), though some brands produce other nibs

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Ah. And from what I understood from other comments, some manufacturers' F might be another's M and such. That doesn't add complexity at all haha

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

@01189998819991197253 they come in sizes like extra fine (EF), fine (F), medium (M), broad (B), sometimes double broad (BB), also stub.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Ah that makes sense. And stub is super thick?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

@01189998819991197253 Lamy Safaris are list price 20€ but they often go on sale during back to school and I’ve seen them go as low as 10€. You could also consider Faber Castell Grip which is similar pricing and I see it for 12€ on Amazon.de right now.

If you want to truly go budget, I recommend the Platinum Starlet (also know as Meteor) from AliExpress, for around 4-5€.

For all of the above I would suggest F which is around 0.5. M is around 0.7.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Thank you! This is great!