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Comment by criddell | Hacker News Reader

I have a Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen. It's a nice pen but I don't use it for a few reasons. First, the ink evaporates very quickly. Secondly, the ink is always uniformly dark. I like that I can vary the heaviness of lines by varying the force I use as I write. Third, they are messier.

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Interesting: I own the same pen, but do not have the issues you listed. Mine is a Medium, but light inks remain light (i.e. the flow is not thick).

If you meant that you want the thickness of the ink to vary with angle, then yes - most modern fountain pens are designed that way. However, they do also make the "italic" type ones.

With ball points, I can vary the heaviness of lines by altering how hard I press the tip into the paper. Very light pressure yields very faint lines. A fountain pen is uniformly dark, which I suppose what most people want for writing.

Yep - that's true. With some fountain pens, you can vary with angle, but not as much control as with pressure.

Personally, one of the reasons I like fountain pens is that I don't have to apply pressure. :-)

I have the same pen. I prefer dark and rich lines, as long as it dries immediately and does not bleed.

One thing i do with all fountain pens are to resurface the nibs using dremel or grinding on any fine surface. Basically a hit and trial to get fine calligraphy like quality, writing after that is more consistent and in control.

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