Fountain Pens

So, I read an interview with Rick Wakeman from 2018 in the Daily Mail (My haven, Rick Wakeman) that he has a substantial collection of fountain pens: around 600 of them.

But doing a bit more research, I came across the above in a 1990 fan club newsletter.

Amazon has a whole new group of scammers that have shown up... I mean, blurring out the writing on the cap and nib? $385 for a steel nib? #2 Pencil?

Not in the picture: they recommend alcohol based ink.

So, I was trying to find an actual vintage version of the Conklin Crescent Filler (aka, the "profanity saver," according to Samuel Clemens) pen that was restored and in decent condition... But, I only found two, and they were well above where I wanted to be price-wise. So, I settled for the reproduction instead.

I have to say, even though it has a JoWo Omniflex Stainless Steel nib, it's a good writer. In fact, so good, that when it started acting up on me the other day it took me a few minutes before I realized the issue was that it was actually out of ink... I had actually written enough with it to go through a complete fill.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/52558086

Ever since I knew about the Vanishing Point, I've always wanted to try one. But I don't want the hassle of buying an expensive pen and having to sell it if I don't like it.

So ever since Majohn made the A1 and A2, I always wanted to buy them to try click fountain pens. I can only guess and lay out many ~~excuses~~ reasons why I waited until Jinhao's second shot at click fountain pens to get one. But not only that I gambled with 3!

But so far I am pleased with all three. Read that jinhao's model might have more QC variable what with some that dry out in minutes. Going with fine is perfectly fine for me.

I have heard several times some fountain pen enthusiasts reference a study that showed that taking notes with a pen and paper encouraged more active engagement, and better retention of material being presented in a class or a conference, than people using a laptop, tablet, etc. (ie, typing).

Does anyone know the exact reference for this study? Most of the time I only hear vague references like "a study found..." or "a study conducted at XYZ University", and I would like to find the actual study and read it for myself.

So I am more curious than anything. At first I was thinking that a rollerball could right on paper that fountain pens can't but as far as I can tell that is only marginally true and there don't seem to be many "inkball" or "cartridge rollerballs" or what ever desciption they go by. And of those that I have found, they are either plastic disposable looking pens or more expensive pens that leak all over the place. I have read that one of their main weaknesses is that since fountain pen ink is on lower end of viscousity, tolerances must be tight and the rollerball wears much faster than fountain pen nibs. After learning all this I wonder if there is a pen that has addressed all of this. One that lets you use fountain pen, replace the nib when it is worn, and doesn't look just like a disposable pen. Any one know of a pen like that?

It was around $30 and only once it was delivered did I realize that the design contains metalic threads. And the inside feels like a stiff yet thin leather. Got it from etsy and it shipped from China. If anyone is curious I can post the link in the comments

I had no ink flow issues with either while using them with fine and extra fine nibs. One of my pictures shows what happens when both ink get wet and are smeared. And for the Hongdian 1862, I bought it because I loved the look of the coral color and was not disappointed by its looks in person. Initially I was concerned by how much lighter it was than my 516 despite being larger. But as far as I can tell, the barrel and cap are all stainless steel with a coating and the only plastic is the feed and the converter.

I've had my pair of Hongdian M2's for a couple of weeks now, and last night ran into a bit of an issue...

Originally, I bought two: the brass version with an extra fine nib, and the blue aluminum version with a fine nib. I found that I didn't like the extra fine nib, so I ordered a set of replacement nibs (that has a fine nib) for the brass version.

Last night, I went to re-set up both pens: change the nib in the brass version, and swap the ink in the blue pen. While I was doing this, I noticed on both pens that the converter has an issue. Whenever the piston is fully extended it pushes against the feed tube, which pushes the body of the converter away, and reduces the seal between the two pieces. This makes getting a complete fill of the converter nearly impossible, as air gets into the converter.

Has anyone encountered this issue? Have you done anything to fix this issue? Is there a converter that will fit better in the M2?

Since I am fairly new to fountain pens, I need to build a bit more knowledge. Are there any online publications: books, magazines, blogs, etc. that I should be checking out?

So, I've recently been looking at pens from a certain company that has been around for a long time (read: over 100 years). They have a line of pens that have become quite iconic with both collectors and aficionados, and is still being produced today with only a few changes from the original version(s). The question is: when is it a good idea to consider buying a second hand / vintage pen instead of a new pen?

But more expensive pens or ones made elsewhere are not. There are only so many basic geometric shapes, no one has a patent on the hexagon. Every single company makes cigar shaped pens but they aren't being called knockoffs or clones. And even the ones that are even similar looking but not identical are still called clones. There are a few that even I would agree actually are clones such as the cap-less pens that use the same patented mechanisms but the term is getting way over used.

The pen started leaking from the body. I have a hard time understanding if it's the converter that is broken or the seal between the converter and the section 🤔
It's not leaking straight away but some days after inking. Any help would be appreciated 🫶

I've noticed several people with bent nibs that needed to straighten them... Thought I might mention these Igarashi Plyer IPS SH-165S pliers as they might be useful with their nylon lining which shouldn't mark up the metal. I learned about these back when I was messing around with keyboard switches...

The pen is a Kaweco Perkeo Infrared color. Didn't notice I did not cap it properly. The cap is on a pen holder with elastic that goes around my notebook. Took the holder to place around the book, pen fell put of cap and hit nib first on tiled floor

It still hurts even if it's a cheaper pen 🥺

Please ignore my horrible handwriting :)

I had wanted cheap black ink to experiment with and found a 40ml bottle of Boake ink for $3.81 and a 48ml bottle of Ostrich ink for $5.15. Since the prices went up right after buying them I am assuming I got a first time buyer's discount.

I do seem to have a thing for black and dark green stationary, but I'll soon be havine some more colorful additions

The last three pens that I picked up were Nahvalurs, including a couple of big, chunky Nautili. I love the heft of those pens, and when I first pulled this M205 out of the box I was shocked by how tiny and light it is. At first I would have described it as feeling insubstantial, but after spending a few hours with it, I'd have to say that it is a delicate pen. Not fragile, but delicate. It is such a lovely writer!

I have it inked up with Anderillium Roseate Spoonbill Pink.

I had met a woman working at my local mall's antique store. When I asked about fountain pens she said that while there weren't any in the store at the moment she had one gathering dust in her cabinet drawer and that she would bring it the next day. I had thought she was bring it to sell to me but she just gave it to me for free. It was a very pleasant surprise and the pen wound up being a TWSBI Vac700! There was also a store closing sale going on elsewhere and I have quite a few Christmas/Birthday presents. Today was a very lucky day.

Though I don't own either of these pens, they are both on my list. There is just something about the simplicity, texture, and colors that are real appealing to me. Are there any others similar to these? What would you even call this kind of design?

It made it almost exactly to its two year anniversary. Just 13 days short, in fact.

The other day I noticed my A2 seemed to be clogging and drying out an awful lot, and was giving me trouble even after a quite thorough cleaning of the nib and feed assembly. Then the light bulb in my head finally started to give a flicker, and I took a closer look at the little trap door in the nose and sure enough: It's not springing closed anymore.

So obviously I did the only logical thing and placed an order for a brand new and very shiny A1 Press, the metal bodied variant, to have something to tide me over while I figure this out.

The A1's very nice. I slapped my modified oblique nib assembly into it and it's off and running like champ. Superficially it's every bit of a poor man's Vanishing Point and for only $8 more it's a no-brainer for anyone holding a busted A2... Provided it manages to hold up as well or better. That says maybe.

But never mind that, because today I says to myself, I says: What do I have to lose if I rip my old A2 apart? Because this right here, this could be content.

The nose cone of the Majohn A2 (and presumably the A1 and A3, the OG Pilot Vanishing point itself, and other similar variants) is glued on. It's obviously not meant to be functionally user removable, but I managed to get the adhesive to let go via the simple expedient of throwing caution totally to the wind and briefly boiling the front section in a pot of water. I figured this was probably a less dumb avenue of attack than cooking it with my heat gun, which is what I was going to graduate to if this strategy failed.

But it didn't. Wa-hey. So here's what the business end of an A2 looks like with the nosecone ripped off. It's totally held together with a vaguely unctuous glue that seems to remain somewhat flexible, which may or may not be a consequence of my boiling it. It feels like ordinary contact cement and I imagine when you go to put the thing back together maybe you could substitute it with the same.

The trap door is a tiny stamped steel part and it seals up against a rubber (or possibly silicone) bucking seal that's just pressed into the end. An infinitesimally microscopic little torsion spring is what serves to keep the trap door shut against the seal.

Except as you can see in my case it... doesn't.

It's busted clean off right at the end of the coiled section, where the arm goes up to hook into the trap door. It beats the hell out of me how that happened, but I guess it's just one of those things. I'm glad it happened to my $27 knockoff and not my $180 genuine Vanishing Point. ("If you have a genuine VP, why don't you just use that?" I hear you cry. Because I don't ever take my Vanishing Point, my Dialog, or my vintage Sheaffer Targa into the field. I may be stupid, but I'm not made of money.)

Anyway, once you're in there it's easy enough to get everything out. Even the rubber seal is removable, and just indexes into a little notch in the guide tube at the end of the pen. The spring and trap door are held in with the same cross pin that's also the pivot point for the door.

It's worth mentioning that the guide tube is also just glued in, and its alignment relative to the pen body is crucial to allowing the nib assembly to slide in and out freely. If you find yours is binding up after ripping your pen apart, you'll want to gently heat it up and stick something in it to help you straighten it out until the glue cools. It didn't take much heat to get the adhesive to let go, and that raises the irritating possibility that just leaving your A2 in a hot car could be enough to compromise the adhesive and give you problems. I imagine this is probably not the case with the genuine article, and would go a long way towards explaining the roughly sextuple premium in cost. I reckon I'll goop this up with T-7000 glue or something when or more likely if I ever put this back together, to make sure it stays put.

Because the question is, now what?

The spring is seriously tiny. Insofar as I can tell you can't buy it as a repair part separately, even for a genuine Vanishing Point. So the only option is to bin the thing, or have a go at making your own replacement. I measured its wire diameter at 0.26mm which is pretty much 23 wire gauge. One unit of 23 AWG watchmaker's spring wire is $27.50 but a whole new pen is only $27.99. The only reason to even attempt to wind my own spring for this would be for the lulz, and of course for the content. Clearly only a fool would even try.

...

So, I just ordered a roll of that wire.

Wish me luck. I have a feeling I'm going to need it.

So I'm a relatively new fountain pen user. I've got two Platinum Preppys, F and M, but one's barrel is cracked, and the crack will get bigger with time, I'm afraid. So I'm looking for a replacement. I love the feeling of the nibs in the pens I have, so I was thinking about buying a Plaisir. I've also found a Teranishi Guitar pen, which looks like a solid option - brass, converter. Does anyone have experience with TG pens? What's their build quality? How does the nib feel?