Fountain pen/ink starter kit

Nisse

Nisse

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Sweden
When I started school way back last century we were told to bring a fountain pen and a bottle of ink the first day. Then for some reason we were never allowed to use them it was pencils all the way. Now thinking maybe time to pick up were I left some 50 years ago so what would be a good fountain pen/ink start sort of a Merkur 34C/Astra/Palmolive Stick/BodyShop Synthetic set up but for writing :)
 
If you want to buy new, then Lamy Safari is a good way to start. Otherwise, there are plenty of older Parkers / Platignums / Sheaffers etc. on the bay of fleas for not much dosh.

Cartridge ink is OK, however, if and when you want to get really into it, then a convertor plus bottled ink is the way to go. In which case, Diamine ink is as good as it gets for sensible money.

If you want to start as cheaply as possible, then this Pilot disposable is great for the money and will enable you to try FP writing without investing too much money up front. Slightly higher up the ladder is the Pilot 78G which is a 'proper' FP with a 22K gold plated nib.

One word of warning Pilot F or M nibs can be a bit 'scratchy' straight out of the factory. That said, nothing that a bit of DIY with 12000 micromesh can't address.

Good luck!
 
Good quality 120-160gsm paper
Parker (most of them are good pens so buy what you like the look of in budget)
Cartridge ink is easiest but not as much choice as bottled ink but bottled ink needs a conversion cartridge (often included with a pen)
I like plain paper with a blue/black ink and I like to pencil in a very faint line to write to then remove it after

I either write quick notes for work but when I get time I enjoy a wide nib and play around with very curvy italics
 
Osmiroid was a pen I used to have that had an italics nib and was great. Now, I look at £2000 Montblancs and wonder who has anything that important to write? After spending most of my life on a keyboard, my handwriting is illegible after the first six words.
 
fancontroller said:
Agree about the Lamy Safari (or Lamy-AL aluminium body version).
If you want to try a Pilot Metropolitan you can pick up a Pilot MR from firststopstationers.co.uk for a bargain price of about £10. It's the same as the Metropolitan but has the advantage of accepting Standard International Cartridges. I have one and it's a lovely writer.
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I've literally just purchased a Metropolitan from Amazon over the MR as it comes with a convertor and I understand the MR doesn't.
Hadn't seen them for that price though!
I went with some brown waterman ink as well which looked nice.
Think it will be a step up from the Parker Vector I'm currently using.
 
The idea is using slow writing to win my handwriting back I would in the future like to be able to send handwritten letters or at least cards to friends again.
 
RoastSessions said:
I've literally just purchased a Metropolitan from Amazon over the MR as it comes with a convertor and I understand the MR doesn't.
Hadn't seen them for that price though!
I went with some brown waterman ink as well which looked nice.
Think it will be a step up from the Parker Vector I'm currently using.
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Yes, Pilot sell their pens for a much higher markup in the UK compared to the US and Japan. So normally I wouldn't recommend them but at £10 it's a real bargain.
As the MR takes standard cartridges, a converter is easy and cheap to source and I guess most fountain pen users would probably have a spare one anyways. A newbie would prob want to use use cartridges at first before going down the converter/ink bottle route.

Let us know what you think of the Metropolitan when you receive it. It looks simple but has grown on me surprisingly quickly; it just works so well.

Nisse said:
The idea is using slow writing to win my handwriting back I would in the future like to be able to send handwritten letters or at least cards to friends again.
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Good idea. I realised that by writing slower my handwriting improved so that I could read it myself :). Also I found that slower writing actually improved the content of what I wrote; so a double-win.
 
Bad news: Pilot 78 classic look but no seller in Sweden. Pilot MR/Metropolitan also nice but no seller in Sweden and the UK bargain seller only lists UK shipping.
Good news: Managed to find sellers of Lamy Safari in Sweden.
 
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Nisse said:
Bad news: Pilot MR/Metropolitan looked nice but no seller in Sweden and the UK bargain seller will not ship to Sweden.
Good news: Managed to find sellers of Lamy Safari in Sweden.
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I would imagine that you could find a Lamy in any half-decent high street stationer's. For instance, nearly every W.H.Smiths in the UK I've been in seems to sell Lamys.
 
Quick answer. Japan nibs have a wider range for the equivalent US/Europe nibs. So a Jap Fine is similar to a non-Jap Extra fine; a Jap Medium is like a non-Jap Fine. However I believe once you get to Broad the Jap ones are broader than non-Jap ones. This is just a generalisation so there can be exceptions.

Nib size is personal choice. I prefer the Lamy Fine over the Lamy Medium but Lamy nibs are very cheap and easy to replace which is a great idea. My Pilot MR was a medium and actually writes finer than my Lamy Fine.

Also bear in mind the quality of paper you're writing on. If you use decent quality paper (e.g. Rhodia) you'll find the lines are finer, but wider on cheaper paper like printer paper because cheaper paper is more absorbent and will pull more ink out of the pen. So, for instance, if you plan to use your pen at work on printer paper you might want to go finer nib than you might expect.

As a first pen I don't think it really matters though. Just try out a few different sizes and see what you like the best.

Write on...
 
fancontroller said:
Quick answer. Japan nibs have a wider range for the equivalent US/Europe nibs. So a Jap Fine is similar to a non-Jap Extra fine; a Jap Medium is like a non-Jap Fine. However I believe once you get to Broad the Jap ones are broader than non-Jap ones. This is just a generalisation so there can be exceptions.

Nib size is personal choice. I prefer the Lamy Fine over the Lamy Medium but Lamy nibs are very cheap and easy to replace which is a great idea. My Pilot MR was a medium and actually writes finer than my Lamy Fine.

Also bear in mind the quality of paper you're writing on. If you use decent quality paper (e.g. Rhodia) you'll find the lines are finer, but wider on cheaper paper like printer paper because cheaper paper is more absorbent and will pull more ink out of the pen. So, for instance, if you plan to use your pen at work on printer paper you might want to go finer nib than you might expect.

As a first pen I don't think it really matters though. Just try out a few different sizes and see what you like the best.

Write on...
Click to expand...

Well-explained - paper quality is important. Essentially, the acid test is to try a pen on the type of paper you'll be using most often, and write a few words as you would with any other pen or a pencil. Once you've got a few words on the paper, check them for legibility, with particular emphasis on looped letters such as "e", "a", "d", "b" and "g". What you want is to have a definite clear area or spot of paper in the centre of the closed loop. If the proprtion of white paper to line width is too high (a fine-ish line enclosing a large area of blank paper), the writing will be unbalanced, and you may want to use a broader nib. Conversely, if your writing is small, the loops may be filled with ink, becoming blobs, or may be tiny specks of white paper enclosed by ink. If this is the case, you need to switch to a finer nib.

NOTE: This isn't a sample of my handwriting - I did this quickly in MS Paint to illustrate my point!
Nib grades.jpg
 
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