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Anybody into Fountain Pens?

Danddd

Danddd

Somewhere on the Edge
Subscriber
I had a couple of Sheaffer Targa fountain pens from the early 90s. I decided to clean and ink them up during the pandemic and see how they write. But like my audio, cycling and photography hobby, I started doing more of a deep dive. I didn't realize how hot fountain pens were today. I even bought better notebook, Rhodia, for writing. Of course then I started to learning more and more.

Anyone else here into fountain pens?
 
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I have a few--Lamy, Pelican, Schaefer, Mont Blanc

I go through phases where the novelty seems worth the hassle. Most of the time it's not, and I use a Mont Blanc roller ball.

I use the Moleskine notebooks--they have great paper for good pens.
 
I use an elegant Pelikan fountain pen to smoothly write checks; along with a few others and hundreds of nice ball pens (Lamy, Montblanc, Cross, Aurora, Parker, etc.).
 
Daily use the Montblanc 146 daily I got 30 years ago. Since day one I always had trouble with the ink feed causing the pen to skip. Have to rotate the fill screw to "force" the ink to the nib when it runs dry.
 
I had quite a few nice ones long ago but all I now have is an old 1930s Parker and an Aurora my wife gave me, oh, 15 years ago. I now have no use for either but have the Aurora on display in its case on a shelf; it's been demoted from a tool to a knick-knack. It looks cool, blue marble.

When I write a check or make a shopping list I use a Zebra ball point pen, I like Zebras.
 
Have several Pelikans. My favorite has a custom made 18k gold nib. Turn the pen upside down and it writes in fine point. Hold normally and it writes in medium nib. Want to vo down a rabbit hole? Subscribe to Fountain Pen Network. Discuss all things fountain pen and ink related
 
I like 'em and was (ahem) well into them in the Nineties, but kind'a got out of it by ~ 2000.
 
peterp1 said:
Preach it!! :thumbsup:

12 years of Catholic school -- forgot about that, but they did hate it -- I was not to be deterred however :D
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Kindergarten to 8th. Had wood map pointers broken over my back, knuckles smack with a solid brass ruler, kneel on the concrete floor with a No. 2 pencil under each knee cap, Side burns (for back then) pulled....etc. Nuns trained the Nazi SS.
 
Had a few in school and thought they were cool. Got tired of blue fingers and ruined shirts. I use nice ball point's now. Favorite is Sciveiner for price and quality.

JoeShimandle said:
Kindergarten to 8th. Had wood map pointers broken over my back, knuckles smack with a solid brass ruler, kneel on the concrete floor with a No. 2 pencil under each knee cap, Side burns (for back then) pulled....etc. Nuns trained the Nazi SS.
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There was a Catholic school across the street from my public school. A lot of friends went there and told tails of the same. The corporal punishment was bad enough in the public school. The down right meanness behind the punishment I heard that the nuns dished out would have brought on my rebellion a lot sooner than it eventually happened in public school.
 
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sanford12 said:
Had a few in school and thought they were cool. Got tired of blue fingers and ruined shirts. I use nice ball point's now. Favorite is Sciveiner for price and quality.



There was a Catholic school across the street from my public school. A lot of friends went there and told tails of the same. The corporal punishment was bad enough in the public school. The down right meanness behind the punishment I heard that the nuns dished out would have brought on my rebellion a lot sooner than than it eventually happened in public school.
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The girls were all angels and us boys were the Devil. A girl could take a dump on a Nun's desks and she would find some boy to blame to dish out punishment. Then there is being sent to the principle office for a paddling.
 
peterp1 said:
Preach it!! :thumbsup:

12 years of Catholic school -- forgot about that, but they did hate it -- I was not to be deterred however :D
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Remember using the fountain pen to put a dot on the back of the shirt of the guy in the row ahead of you?

I'll say one thing for the nuns; you goddamned well learned and you weren't mollycoddled. A good life lesson there: nobody is going to put up with your bullshit unless you claw your way to a situation in which they have to.
 
Tom Brennan said:
Remember using the fountain pen to put a dot on the back of the shirt of the guy in the row ahead of you?

I'll say one thing for the nuns; you goddamned well learned and you weren't mollycoddled. A good life lesson there: nobody is going to put up with your bullshit unless you claw your way to a situation in which they have to.
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Yep. You learned your stupid actions had severe consequences.
 
Danddd said:
I went to Catholic schools 60s-70s no fountain pen use.
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I know we did in Charleston in the 8th grade which was 68-69. Not sure when we 1st were allowed to use them. We had to use them for penmanship class to learn to write cursive letters properly.
 
Another deep hobby for me. I've stopped buying, because there are only so many pens one can rotate through. I started collecting pens at about age 11... Got back into FPs in a big way about 20 years ago. IT all started because my dad gave me a ~1928 Parker Duofold as a teenager, told me the history of it - still have it, of course. My go-to pens are Parker 51s and 45s, but I have and use Esterbrook, Lamy, Sheaffer, Waterman, Indian eyedroppers etc. Sold my Montblanc 146 from college days many years ago, stopped liking the brand image a while back.

All in all, fountain pens are great values in the pen world, as you can refill cartridges and bottled ink is still (relatively) inexpensive. The cost of quality ballpoint and roller refills keep going up and up. I plan to sell some of mine off as finding the proprietary refills at a decent price is tough. A lot of rollers can be modified to use the Pilot G2 refills, which are great - I use those in most of my Lamy rollers.

Favorite? The iconic Parker 51. I used my first one about age 45 and regret the lost time before. Everyone should have one, IMO. All my aerometrics still have the original pli-glas sacs from the 50s. Like the receivers and amps we love here, the overbuilt Parker 51 gives pretty trouble-free service long beyond its expected life span.
 
JoeShimandle said:
The girls were all angels and us boys were the Devil. A girl could take a dump on a Nun's desks and she would find some boy to blame to dish out punishment. Then there is being sent to the principle office for a paddling.
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Mister Silverthorn 6th grade social studies teacher arranged his class with 2 rows facing each other and a big aisle in the middle that he would walk up and down pontificating. His classroom was his little fiefdom. He was at his desk doing some work while the class was studying. I looked up and was gazing around. Out of my peripheral vision I saw him reach into a drawer and pull out one of his film canisters which he would throw at people's heads for committing a transgression. As soon as he let it go I leaned back and it pegged the girl that sat next to me right in the side of the head. She instantly started crying. I thought it was quite unfair that I got a paddling because he missed.
 
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