Beyond the keyboard: Fountain pen collectors find beauty in ink
washingtonpost.com
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Inks are fun, but the state of fountain pens themselves, for me at least, is way too "extremely expensive pens" instead of "investing in making excellent low cost flex nibs". Plenty of polymers and plastic that have infinitely better flex than the traditional gold or modern titanium (like Bock's) do, but no one's making any. And unless you want a pen that'll smell for a year, like Noodler's, or something that feels functional but that's about it, like a standard Lamy or TRB, there's just not a lot of low cost fun to be had.
And to make it just a little more annoying, if you do decide to go for the higher end fun (e.g. Pelikan flex pens and their ilk) you're stuck with "pick a nib. That's your pen now" rather than the "Pick a pen. And then put on whatever nib you want, they're trivially interchangeable. Buy a set, any #6 will fit, go wild" that lower cost but much more sensible pens go with.
I primarily use vintage fountain pens not because I would be averse to using modern ones, but because they have better options available. Pens from over a hundred years ago somehow have far better flex nibs than modern pens, despite, as you point out, the many technological advances in flexible materials. And I'm not aware of any modern manufacturers making filling mechanisms like, say, a snorkel filler. Even my 1970s Kaweco Sport has a hooded, semi-flex nib; modern Kawecos have the same generic stiff nib on a standard feed that every other modern pen has (they are apparently actually just a purchased brand name of a cosmetics company now). Surely we could do far better? Yet it seems like no manufacturer is really trying to innovate on the actual pen part of fountain pens at all.
I first got into pens 30 years ago, and I definitely HAVE a couple expensive (> $250US) pens, but my daily drivers are an Aurora (about $100), a Pilot Decimo ($140), and a TWSBI ($60).
I also keep some Lamy Safaris around, which are even cheaper and work GREAT in situations when you might not want to carry a more expensive pen.
A couple of years ago I got into making pens from scratch using a model maker's lathe. I mainly work in aluminium, brass, delrin or silver steel but do occasionally work in wood on a bead lathe.
It's fun mainly because a pen is mechanically complex enough to be interesting but also simple enough that you can easily design and make them yourself.
I'd encourage anyone even vaguely interested to give it a go.
I think the pinacle is probably Nakaya[1]. I've spent a bit of time looking at their designs just trying to work out the operations needed to produce them by hand. CNC or 3D printing could of course make something fairly similar pretty easily but that's not how they do it! ;)
Instead they have a group of retired old boys working only when the want to. Very simply and very, very carefully. True works of art.
Having said all that, if I was to write on paper I'd probably just use a Parker Jotter[2]. They're cheap, readily availible and I think they got the design just about right way back in 1954.
It actually reminds me of how Casio got the design of the digital watch just right with the F-91W
Metalwork is a big subject and there’s some great videos on YouTube. “This Old Tony” is the king.
Really the easiest way to start is probably with a pen kitI think.
They’re usually very simple and fun (but maybe a bit boring.)
With kit pens you’re only making the cladding of the pen. That’s usually wood, acrylic or ebonite and shaped by hand on a wood or beed lathe with chisels.
For steel you’d need a beefier metal lathe. To knurl the grip you need knurling wheels. They’re pretty cheap but it all mounts up.
I like to work with rod bar stock. I’ll work up a design in a notebook and cut/bore the various parts.
Holding up the work is really important. There’s various ways to do it but I’d suggest either an ER collet set or a 4 jaw chuck.
With aluminium instead of steel I can just about shape the metal with a high speed steel chisel. Steels too hard.
I don’t use CNC which limits accuracy and repeatability. What I end up with is “good enough” and I’m ok with that.
I’d suggest getting a second hand lathe, which will come with some accessories, and turning some metal into scrap. It’s great fun, especially if you’re a software engineer.
My personal favourite are the Personal Knowledge Management rabbits.
The way a large part of the hobby operates on limited edition group buys also creates massive FOMO. I’ve definitely been moved to buy things now that I would otherwise not have because everything is now-or-never. That dynamic makes it different from other pure collecting hobbies with more of a secondary market for used or vintage items (pens, typewriters, coins, trading cards, etc).
Are you optimizing? Do you have a measurable fitness function and know what will slide you up or down that surface? How do you know you're not just conjuring faults with old setups to juice novelty?
> limited edition group buys also creates massive FOMO
I've been here. I recently spent some time looking at new vehicles, trying to decide which one was "best", agonizing over minor ergonomic details, how clean each company's color would be in 10 years, etc. After a little too much of this I came to the conclusion that that was exactly what manufacturers wanted me to do so I would be susceptible to any and all advertising. Ultimately I looked at the two vehicles I spent the most time thinking about, said "Which of these is most comfortable immediately after getting in", and pulled the trigger. I'm infinitely happier for having finalized something and freeing up bandwidth for other things I truly enjoy than for having spent six more months agonizing over where a switch was located.
I started with a stock Filco 75% TKL layout with cherry mx browns (as vanilla as it gets in mechanical keyboards). Then a couple years later I bought a nicer TKL board and my first fancy keycaps just for aesthetic reasons, and while doing that I became exposed to the wide range of layouts that exist. I had some wrist pain so decided to try some exotic angled layouts (atreus62, alice, etc). Eventually decided I needed a fully split layout to get my shoulder position and overall posture where I wanted it, and there are a lot of these variants at various levels of compactness and functionality. And of course once you’re into nonstandard layouts it’s always a battle to find caps that will cover it, so often nice caps that I bought in the past can’t transfer over to a new layout because I don’t have the right mods and spacebars.
I like the aesthetic element also. But it’s not been my primary driver. The keycaps I have are very nice and more than enough to satisfy me.
Luckily now I am better at recognizing and stopping this pattern, asking myself what the hell I am buying this stuff to accomplish and focusing back on that - writing, programming, the actual act of photography, etc. And recognizing if there are unhealthy mental patterns underlying the behavior that need to be tackled head-on.
I'm not a mechanical keyboard fanatic, but I browsed their forums and found an excellent, affordable, keyboard I would have never found otherwise. I just use it and get on with my life, not going down that rabbit hole, but I'm grateful for the ones who did and found this beautiful board that I really do enjoy using.
Same with wetshaving - they're a little obsessed, but I benefit from that because now I have an irritation-free shaving routine that I would have never found without them!
What you are describing is fascination with the engineering aspect of things. That's something I would expect the HN crowd to easily relate to.
For a long time I was also a member of the air-cooled sports-car world, and for most of my driving life I've been a member of the three-pedal club.
True life, writing with a fountain is WAY nicer than a crappy gel or ballpoint, and typing on a mechanical keyboard feels really lovely if you're used to the awful low-travel keyboards most companies issue, or that are built into most laptops.
Paper: Back then, I could walk into Staples or the campus bookstore and buy inexpensive paper pads that worked well with fountain pen ink. Then, the major American companies like Tops, National, and Ampad moved their production to Mexico and quality went over a cliff. These days, I special order a variety of Japanese stationery. Some people like Clairefontaine paper from France, but not me.
Ink: It used to be considered a basic office supply item and bottles of ink cost around $5. Then companies realized they could sell it as a luxury item, so they changed the labels and upped the price.
Gel pens: Today we have remarkable quality and variety in ball pens. In the 1990s, ballpoint and gel pens were stiff and tended to glob. The better modern gel pens (from Japan) feel nearly as nice as a fountain pen and glob very little. Color choice has also expanded. There used to be just black, blue, red, green, and sometimes purple. Now you can find a gel pen in practically any hue you can imagine. So, while the FP writing experience is still the nicest, it's not the vast improvement it used to be.
A couple other things to note about fountain pen culture...About antique/vintage pens, people outside the hobby make a big deal about using one, but it's actually the more practical option for a high quality pen. Back when fountain pens were everyday tools for the masses, quality control was much higher. Today, most new expensive pens are bought as jewelry and don't see much use, so manufacturers don't waste money on precision fabrication. For a pen in the $100+ range, you will generally get better quality for your money by buying vintage.
The other thing is about etiquette...Never ever ask to borrow someone's fountain pen. Not only are the tips easily damaged by the inexperienced, but FPs are considered a very personal item.
You'd think that would have traumatized me, but once all grown up, I never liked ball point pens. Mechanical pencils are nice, sometimes very nice, but today I have gravitated back to fountain pens. The writing is smooth and effortless and looks fantastic, in spite of my poor handwriting. I am no connoisseur of fine pens, nibs, or inks, but today I write my journal and sign my checks with a fountain pen.
I do have a ton of fountain pens, insane amount of inks etc. I love it, I find it easy to drop money on this as it makes me happy and it is a good distraction compared to computers.
It's a real pleasure to look at, carry, and use, but it's too nice to be the pen that lets you discover that fountain pens aren't for you. It's ok if they aren't, they really aren't for everybody. As a daily driver I highly recommend it.
There are also a wide variety of nibs to choose from. They can vary in material, widths, firmness, and how they flow across different papers. If you mostly like a nib, but it's still not quite right for you, you can have a nibmeister tune it more to your liking.
Some who write a great deal are not comfortable with the smaller quantity of ink in a cartridge converter or the shorter refill cartridges. I have used pens with these and still have some, but prefer a piston filler for the usually larger quantity of ink it can hold. It is even better (for me) when I can also look at it and see how much ink remains. But, if you have those and then rarely use it, ink can dry in the feed. In that case, something with an ink cut-off, like the Pilot Custom 823 Amber, may let the majority of ink remain even if not used. That pen is one of my favorites.
You can try any pen as a starter. But, if you don't like it, remember the preferences. That pen may not suit you, but another may be a perfect fit. Welcome to the hunt for the perfect pen.
The reason for this has to do with paper composition and weight and how free flowing (liquid) ink interacts with the paper fibers. [1]
[1] https://www.jetpens.com/blog/The-Best-Fountain-Pen-Paper/pt/...
Another option at the impulse buy level is pilot Petit1, it is a short pen you can throw in a pocket. It is refillable, not disposable.
I also strongly recommend using an iron gall ink (Platinum makes a few; another very good one is http://www.registrarsink.co.uk). Those inks are very easy to work with, even on the crappiest paper, and are quite resistant to UV, water, and other hasards.
It does put down a very fine line though, and it won't play nicely with crazy particle-heavy inks.
CHEAP: Lamy Safari. They come in plastic or in slightly more expensive aluminum (the Al version may have a different name, but it's the same size & shape and uses the same nib insert). These are gonna be $20-30 US, depending on your vendor. They are undoubtedly not as smooth to write with as my nicer pens, but they punch WAY above their weight, and deserve a spot in your rota -- especially clipped into a notebook you carry with you instead of something nicer.
ALSO INEXPENSIVE: Kaweco Sport. These are super compact when closed, so they fit into a pocket better than a conventional pen, and (like the Lamy) write better than their low-end price would suggest ($27 at Jet Pens; they also make them in brass for $90).
STEPPING UP A LITTLE: At $50-60, you can get one of the current "hot" affordable pens from TWSBI.com. They're pretty great; I have a 580 that I keep inked. You'll feel the difference between these and the lower-end pens. Be aware these are also a larger pen diameter-wise, and are thus sometimes less popular with small-handed people. TWSBI is also traditionally bottle-fill only -- no cartridges -- which puts some folks off. Don't be one of those; buy some bottled ink! You can get more variety that way. Plus, TWSBI pens in particular have enormous ink reservoirs -- I can write 2x or 3x as long with mine than I can with any of my other pens.
OK NOW YOU GET TO SERIOUS PENS: I had a good dot-com boom, and bought some spendy pens, but what replaced them ALL as my daily driver was the classic Namiki / Pilot Vanishing Point. They still make this pen, but a recently introduced variant of it has stolen my heart: the Decimo. It's the same style and mechanism, but just a little bit smaller in diameter. It makes it more comfortable to use, even for me with larger hands. Both kinds of Vanishing Point are ~$140-150, and well worth it. As a bonus, the carts for this pen are widely available in multiple colors, and the ink feels good to write with and behaves nicely on most sorts of paper (this can be an issue with some pen/ink combos).
That's the reason I used ONLY the Vanishing Point for the years I traveled all the time. Cartridge use seemed to work better on planes than bottles for me.
ANOTHER FINE OPTION: My sister gave me an Aurora Ipsilon a few years ago, and it's just a JOY to write with. I use the converter and bottled ink with it. It's been inked & ready to go since the Christmas Day I unwrapped it. About $120 at Amazon.
Enjoy!
https://smile.amazon.com/PILOT-Kakuno-Fountain-Pen-10822/dp/...