Help for picking fountain pens

[DerMann]

For all that it's worth, I have a Waterman 52 V and I absolutely adore it.

I bought it on eBay with a Waterman 1/2 52 V (essentially a skinnier shorter version of the 52 V). Both had gold nibs in excellent condition, however, both needed to be re-bladdered.

Ordered a few bladders from Pendemonium, bought a quart of orange shellac at Home Depot, and set to work. The section on the 1/2 52 V was cemented on by the ancient shellac, and in the process of removing the section, I fatally damaged it. Wasn't too heartbroken, as the pen was missing its cap.

The 52 V went rather smoothly, re-bladdered it, let it dry, and had a functioning fountain pen which had been manufactured in the 1930s in half a mo'.

The great thing about gold nibs is that they can go from being medium-fine to full blown bold. Many people mistake it for a calligraphy pen, but back in the Golden Era, all reputable fountain pen manufacturers produced flexible golden nibs.

I don't use anything else beside my 52 V, even for math. I've a bottle of Schaeffer Skrip (Black), Noodler's (La Coleur Royale, purple), and Pelikan 4001 (Royal Blue). Switch between colours as I get bored of them.

 

[John in Covina]

The great thing about gold nibs is that they can go from being medium-fine to full blown bold. Many people mistake it for a calligraphy pen, but back in the Golden Era, all reputable fountain pen manufacturers produced flexible golden nibs..

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Actually, It is the design of the nib allowing for the material that makes for a flex nib. THere are and were many steel nibs that were designed for flex. Not all gold nibs are flexible.

Shaeffer did make flex nibs but they are pretty scarce. Parker did make some flex also but not as many as Waterman. Wahl - Eversharp made a fair amount of flex nibs. In modern pens they are hard to find, few make them on purpose these days. Namiki makea a pen called the Falcon that is a flexible nib, I have one. I have a Waterman 52 also that has wonderful flex a Wahl desk pen that has medium flex and a Pelican 140 that has some too. One of my Duofold juniors has some flex.

 

[DerMann]

**************

Actually, It is the design of the nib allowing for the material that makes for a flex nib. THere are and were many steel nibs that were designed for flex. Not all gold nibs are flexible.

Shaeffer did make flex nibs but they are pretty scarce. Parker did make some flex also but not as many as Waterman. Wahl - Eversharp made a fair amount of flex nibs. In modern pens they are hard to find, few make them on purpose these days. Namiki makea a pen called the Falcon that is a flexible nib, I have one. I have a Waterman 52 also that has wonderful flex a Wahl desk pen that has medium flex and a Pelican 140 that has some too. One of my Duofold juniors has some flex.

You are quite right, sir.

I've also a dip pen, and several "flexible" steel nibs which were meant for copperplate. They do flex, but not nearly as easily or as smoothly as my 52 V.

I think gold is just an all around better material for nibs (effectively invulnerable from corrosion, for one).


Kind of an off topic remark, but why did the lever filler fall into obscurity? It is, in my opinion, the best way of filling a pen.

 

[John in Covina]

Lever fill

I believe it had to do with the rubber sac. Under the right (or wrong) conditions the sac tends to harden and crack creating a bad leak of ink. These days the rubber sac can be made of much longer lasting silicone type materials and should last longer but the lever has left the station as it were. I believe Delta has a couple of lever fills in their line up.

 

[donCarlos]

I got this beatiful Sheaffer fountain pen from my grandfather a year ago. Now I have decided to fill it and write with it. The trouble is that I don´t know why...
Inside is a very old system called "push button fill", but I also have a pack of ink cartridges. I doubt that the push button system is original, since I´ve read that it was made only between 1966-68.
The question is: How to use the push button system and is it ok to replace it with the cartridge?
Edit: Well, it has another big bug - the golden tip if the pen keeps separating from the pens´s body. It has a small screw, but it is not able to hold it in place... Any ideas how to repair it?

And the picture (it is labeled as Sheaffer 14K)

 

[John in Covina]

Not familiar with a 60's push button fill. Your best bet it to take it to a local pen shop for advice or see if there are instructions in the bottom of the box.

Some later systems that have converters are removeable and then you use cartridges. However i would suggest if the push button fill works buy a bottle or two of good ink in colors you like and go that route.

 

[DerMann]

One should generall shy away from cartridges, as manual fill pens basically clean themselves everytime you fill them (movement of ink in and out of the pen).

Plus, there are literally ten times as many colours of bottled ink as there are catridge colours.

 

[Socrets]

Just to add another recommendation for it, I've been using the Pelikan M200 for about roughly a month now and I can say that I like it a lot. It's a manual fill, not cartridge. I haven't had any problems with it at all except for maybe the occasional giant blot that sneak attacks me after I refill it. In my hand it feels rather light and has pretty much served me well when writing notes or doodling. It's also cheap. No more than $60.00 if you find the right place. Although, I'm still rather new to collecting fountain pens (undergrads don't make much money to support hat and fountain pen collections at the same time) I think the M200 works well and looks nice too.

 

[DerMann]

As long as we're mentioning good, cheap fountain pens, I might as well mention the first cartridge pen I ever picked up.

I'm sure you've seen the commercials on TV, the Classic Writing Set, or what not. It comes with a ball point pen, a roller ball pen, a multi-colour pen, a mechanical pencil, a miniature pen, and, most importantly, a fountain pen. It's only $20 at your local Wal-greens, and it comes with 5 black cartridges, 5 blue, and five red.

The pen itself is made out of metal (except for the section, which is black plastic). It wrote very smoothly and reliably. The ink colours were sort of bland, but one can procure new ink with incredible ease. I actually broke mine because the section was stuck and I twisted a bit too hard and broke off the threads D:

Great pen for notes (used it in school) and writing in general. The point was iridium, medium and firm.

 

[FinalVestige79]

Where to get good reliable correct fountain pens?

-I think there have been other posts about this, if there is can someone direct me to it and delete this post? -

I am looking to buy some era correct fountain pens, I used to write with then all through middle and high school. And I guess I used them too much and the nibs broke. There is just something about using a fountain pen thats so...idk its like your true hand writing. What would be a good company? Conklin? I miss writing with fountain pens a lot!

Thanks and best regards,
Dylan

 

[Shangas]

Hi Dylan,

Pen companies that make fountain pens include:

Waterman, Parker, Sheaffer, Conklin, Montblanc, Rotring, Visconti, Bexley, Conway-Stewart...there are dozens of them.

But what kind of fountain pen are you looking for? What do you want in a fountain pen?

 

[FinalVestige79]

Im actually looking for a pen thats simple black. Thats not top heavy for when I write I dont drag. The first pen i had was one of those with a suction pump.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Most Staples stores are carrying (again) the Waterman Phileas which is a good starter pen that's pretty forgiving for beginners. While not vintage age-wise, they have a vintage look at a reasonable price (I believe they're going for about $35). It comes with a converter so you can use cheaper bottled ink, and it comes with at least one cartridge if that's easier or more convenient for you. Staples also carries blue & black cartridges, and (I think) bottled black ink.

A good pen shop that does repairs can replace nibs. In fact, there are some pens on which replacing the nib isn't that hard to do yourself...although if it's an old pen you haven't used in awhile, I might be inclined to have it done at the shop. I'd have the repair shop go over the whole pen, do a thorough cleaning, see if it needs any other repairs, and let them tune it up so it's like brand new.

And I'm surprised John in Covina hasn't already posted - he's the resident expert on fountain pens. He'll, no doubt, have a lot of great advice for you.

 

[FinalVestige79]

Thanks for the advice, I was just on the Conklin website and took a look at the list of dealers in California, and most are down by me I think Im gonna start looking next weekend!!

Most Staples stores are carrying (again) the Waterman Phileas which is a good starter pen that's pretty forgiving for beginners. While not vintage age-wise, they have a vintage look at a reasonable price (I believe they're going for about $35). It comes with a converter so you can use cheaper bottled ink, and it comes with at least one cartridge if that's easier or more convenient for you. Staples also carries blue & black cartridges, and (I think) bottled black ink.

A good pen shop that does repairs can replace nibs. In fact, there are some pens on which replacing the nib isn't that hard to do yourself...although if it's an old pen you haven't used in awhile, I might be inclined to have it done at the shop. I'd have the repair shop go over the whole pen, do a thorough cleaning, see if it needs any other repairs, and let them tune it up so it's like brand new.

And I'm surprised John in Covina hasn't already posted - he's the resident expert on fountain pens. He'll, no doubt, have a lot of great advice for you.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Come to Monrovia.

See Fred at the pen shop. Tell him that John sent you.

2640 S Myrtle Ave # 12
Monrovia, CA 91016
(626) 294-9974


Seriously....having a local pen shop is a blessing, and keeping him in business is IMPORTANT, so go there rather then anywhere else. Even if you decide to pick a pen up at a flea market or on ebay....Fred will fix it right up for a reasonable price.

May I suggest you start with an Esterbrook J in black?

 

[FinalVestige79]

I've heard of him before and he was the first on my list!!! Thank you very much! Fedora Lounge is a godsend!

Dylan

 

[Widebrim]

Come to Monrovia.

See Fred at the pen shop. Tell him that John sent you.

2640 S Myrtle Ave # 12
Monrovia, CA 91016
(626) 294-9974


Seriously....having a local pen shop is a blessing, and keeping him in business is IMPORTANT, so go there rather then anywhere else. Even if you decide to pick a pen up at a flea market or on ebay....Fred will fix it right up for a reasonable price.

May I suggest you start with an Esterbrook J in black?

I was just typing in Fred's address and phone number, when you got the jump on me! Fred is the expert on fountain pens, and his grandfather was a co-founder of the original downtown L.A. shop in 1922. And an old Esterbrook J is a good choice (I used one in junior high).

 

[Miss Neecerie]

I was just typing in Fred's address and phone number, when you got the jump on me! Fred is the expert on fountain pens, and his grandfather was a co-founder of the original downtown L.A. shop in 1922. And an old Esterbrook J is a good choice (I used one in junior high).

heh...


the Estie is also an -economical- choice.....buy one pen body for say under 40 bucks...try it with the nib that came with it...hate that?

go on ebay, buy a different nib for 5-10 bucks for more common numbers...try that one....

repeat until you find -your- nib...

way way cheaper in the long run then buying a 35 dollar pen with no nib switching.....and hating how it writes.....

I would always suggest it as a first pen, because of that, since many first timers or -returns- to FP's....don't yet know what they want in terms of how the pen writes....I certainly didn't, as my collection of 'searching for -the- pen' pens attests....


and trust me....I have found Esties at local flea markets for the 5-10 range....take to fred for a sac and tune up....and its a great pen for under 50....

heck...half the Esties i buy at flea markets actually -are- working...no work needed, only vintage era pen I can say that about.

and no, they don't pay me a retainer.

 

[FinalVestige79]

Now that i think about it an Esterbrook J was my first pen!! LOL wow 6th Grade was long ago.

 

[JennyLou]

I didn't know about this place

Come to Monrovia.

See Fred at the pen shop. Tell him that John sent you.

2640 S Myrtle Ave # 12
Monrovia, CA 91016
(626) 294-9974


Seriously....having a local pen shop is a blessing, and keeping him in business is IMPORTANT, so go there rather then anywhere else. Even if you decide to pick a pen up at a flea market or on ebay....Fred will fix it right up for a reasonable price.

May I suggest you start with an Esterbrook J in black?

I've been looking for a fountain pen for a while. I didn't know I could look so close to home. I volunteer at a museum in Monrovia every Thursday so next week when I go there I'm going to stop in and do some pen shopping (or window shopping- oh my poor empty pockets)