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Question about fountain pens

Picard1138

One of the Regulars
Messages
229
Location
Philadelphia
Ah, my mistake, perhaps. I was using "epoxy" as a generic term, I should have said "adhesive." Unless you're saying that one shouldn't use adhesive at all, in which case, also my mistake.

Adhesive is fine, as long as it's shellac for pens. I fountain pen hospital's sac cement is the correct stuff, you're in good hands with their products!

-Max
 

Bern1

One of the Regulars
Messages
219
Location
West Coast
The Safari is an excellent pen and a cutting edge design! I'll venture you will wind up using it a lot and getting different inks for it....
 

DeaconKC

One Too Many
Messages
1,732
Location
Heber Springs, AR
And remember, everyone's hand and tastes are different. While many folks love the Safari, it doesn't fit my hand well. It is an excellent pen for most folks. I love the old Shaeffers, but the much less prestigious Esterbrooks are now my favorite vintage pens. Try them out and enjoy the experience.
 

Picard1138

One of the Regulars
Messages
229
Location
Philadelphia
And remember, everyone's hand and tastes are different. While many folks love the Safari, it doesn't fit my hand well. It is an excellent pen for most folks. I love the old Shaeffers, but the much less prestigious Esterbrooks are now my favorite vintage pens. Try them out and enjoy the experience.

Agreed, I use an Esterbrook for my daily use, and switch to a Sheaffer for special occasions. I did use a Sheaffer happily for over a year and would again.

-Max
 

Picard1138

One of the Regulars
Messages
229
Location
Philadelphia
My evening activity, Historyteach sent me a few tired pens to be refreshed to brand new. Take a look:

Before:
IMG_20140103_205531_485.jpg IMG_20140103_205638_381.jpg

Wearever, during restoration:
IMG_20140103_212416_612.jpg IMG_20140103_215432_062.jpg

Sheaffer Touchdowns can be a pain to clean out. First photo shows the old hardened gasket removed, the second photo shows the crud left over from having to drill out the old hardened ink sac:
IMG_20140103_211159_798.jpg IMG_20140103_214128_659.jpg

Sheaffer Touchdown ready to go back together:
IMG_20140103_215752_080.jpg

Completed and polished, with dip-tested writing samples:
IMG_20140103_222948_016.jpg IMG_20140103_223330_783.jpg

Enjoy,

-Max
 
Last edited:

Nobert

Practically Family
Messages
832
Location
In the Maine Woods
And remember, everyone's hand and tastes are different. While many folks love the Safari, it doesn't fit my hand well. It is an excellent pen for most folks. I love the old Shaeffers, but the much less prestigious Esterbrooks are now my favorite vintage pens. Try them out and enjoy the experience.

My main pen is a Esterbrook, too. They're not too hard to find, and if you don't like the nib, you can often find N.O.S. variants on Ebay or elsewhere. (For those who may be new to this, one of the features of the Esterbrook pens is that they were made to have easily interchangeable nibs.)
 

hatguy1

One Too Many
Messages
1,145
Location
Da Pairee of da prairee
I've been doing my journaling with my Cross fountain pen. I'm going thru cartridges about every 3rd entry now. Wow! Already ran thru a box of them. But, I'm learning a lot about fountain penning from this experience. Enjoy using it. May expand use beyond just journaling and/or increase the number of FPs I own, maybe someday venturing into owning a vintage one or two.
 

DeaconKC

One Too Many
Messages
1,732
Location
Heber Springs, AR
hatguy, look for a Pelikan 150 or 215 on ebay. These are piston fillers that hold about a quart of ink. These are excellent pens, the "entry level" of Pelikans and will not disappoint.
 

Strapped-4-Cache

One Too Many
Messages
1,112
Location
Lawrenceville, GA
I've been following this thread with interest, and ended up purchasing one of the sets of Bulows from Amazon.
The pens write well if filled with better ink than they're shipped with. However, I have a question: Is it possible to acquire fine-point nibs for the pens? They're a bit wide for my taste and I've been forced to write with them upside-down (on the opposite side of the point) in order to get them to write with a more fine line.
 

Historyteach24

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,447
Location
Huntington, WV
I think if you go to xfountainpens.com they have nibs that will fit on the Bulows. I love the Bulows that I got from them. xfountainpens also has really good deals on Chesterfield ink...and tons of colors.
 

MJCR

One of the Regulars
Messages
174
Location
Lancashire, UK.
If you're looking for a decent piston filler, at a reasonable price, the new TWSBI Classic looks good and stylish. I don't have one yet, but I have their Micarta 2 and the original Diamond 530. Excellent pens for the price (the Classic is £41.99 over here in the UK).

6501b45aa72837bef22d0c898a245730_zpsa99883cc.jpg
 
Last edited:

hatguy1

One Too Many
Messages
1,145
Location
Da Pairee of da prairee
Was wondering if you were still in the hobby, Teach. I haven't gotten up to piston fillers myself,
But have been enjoying using my cartridge FP.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Historyteach24

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,447
Location
Huntington, WV
I enjoy the hobby, but I have enough right now. I have 9 that I really like with two being those vintage ones Picard restored. I will keep looking out, but right now I am content to not buy any more for a while. Hats on the other hand......
 

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