Beginner Fountain Pens | Hacker News Reader

Beginner Fountain Pens

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29 pointsaxiomdata31621 comments

My advice to fellow fountain pen users is to get one of those syringes. It’s just so much easier and so little mess, a rare object that is both cheap and effective. No more angling your ink bottle, no more rotating or squeezing converters, no more wiping down the pen, no more accidental palm discoloration. Just one pull, one push, rinse, and done.

I’ve never thought about trying this to refill a converter. I assume this is what you’re getting at? Or are you just refilling regular (normally disposable) cartridges?

You can fill both converters and cartridges. And it's in fact easier to fill a converter with a syringe than using the converter itself.

Interesting. I'll give it a try, thanks!

I got a siringe for free at the local drugstore. It's used for giving liquid medicine orally to infants. It has no needle of course, but it works on my fountain pen.

For anyone interested, this is where you can get a syringe. I also recommend the bulb for cleaning your pen

https://www.gouletpens.com/products/goulet-5ml-ink-syringes

https://www.gouletpens.com/products/goulet-bulb-syringe

Much better bang for the buck, the Zebra disposable fountain pens. A pack of 7 different colors for less than $15 [1]. For those who don't know (I didn't), Zebra is a Japanese company [2]. The quality of their pens meets my expectations for Japanese craftsmanship.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Zebra-Fuente-Disposable-Fountain-Colo...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_(pen_manufacturer)

I think the state of our planet indicates that we should try to avoid disposable things.

We are talking about pens here. 99.999% of pens are disposable.

My mentor got me into fountain pens... It's nice to have a fine instrument for contemplation. Something a little more exciting to use than a regular pen, really encourages you to pick it up and write something just to watch the ink flow. Then your thoughts unfold and you keep writing just to see where it goes. I've been able to discover and clarify ideas many times through this process.

I suggest a lamy safari and a rhodia pad. You can get ink samples from goulet pens and try a bunch of different colors.

Any lefties wanna chime in?

Love the charm of a fountain pen, convinced my left-handedness would hamper the experience greatly.

“Proper” writing technique has the pen being right angled to the line, which puts the wrist below the line and avoids smudging. It’s pretty uncomfortable at first, but can be learned.

Not a leftie, but this is a common theme in FP communities. Loads of videos on YouTube, for example this [1] is one of multiple videos from Goulet on this subject.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3sAngid8aI

There's several points but iirc the other main point of focus is getting an ink/pen/paper combination that gets ink dried asap. But that's quite finnicky and you can't just start writing on any random document…

Honestly, if you've been traumatized by a fountain pen as a leftie, maybe don't force yourself through this again, but for many lefties it seems to be going great!

I’m a lefty. Been using fountain pens exclusively for years. Find a quick drying ink and paper. I love Kon Peki (great blue that dries fast enough for me to write). And don’t worry about having ink on your hands. You look like an artist.

It's less about my hands, and more about reading the paper :D

Pens get lost; so don't spend big bucks. The Lami Safari works for me.

DO NOT carry your pen in your shirt pocket with a phone if you don't want to lose it answering a call.

Had a fountain pen in elementary school, but I’m left handed and all my writing was smudged

Been using one for 10 years. Same pen. Love it. I need to find me a syringe though.

10 years is a long time. What is that pen?

For anyone interested, this is where you can get a syringe. I also recommend the bulb for cleaning your pen

https://www.gouletpens.com/products/goulet-5ml-ink-syringes

https://www.gouletpens.com/products/goulet-bulb-syringe

What, no Parker Vector?

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