Fountain Pen Self Education

Still enjoying learning about fountain pens. Very unlike I had thought (or hoped). Not much mix and matching unless you use international standard pieces. Most brands want you to only use theirs, so the components are proprietary. If you go with brand A, everything has to match: the pen body, nib, cartridges . . . I guess it makes sense from the business standpoint. Even within the same brand, not everything is interchangeable. Of course, depends on the brand. Some have nibs you can easily swap out. Others, if you were to accidentally damage the nib, well, you need to buy a whole new pen. Replacement parts aren’t available or recommended by cannibalizing other pens.

In short, it’s a lot less user-friendly than I’d hoped. Don’t even get me started on inks. It’s not that you absolutely can NOT use certain brands with certain pens, but certain combinations may not have the desired outcome. As someone who values all the marvelous color combinations (ink sheens to appear differently at different angles), you can’t simply get a color you like, because it may or may not agree with the pen you already have. Some might clog up your pen or not write smoothly as they would with other pens. In an ideal world, I’d design these with completely interchangeable parts, so one could just take them apart and put them in different configurations to accommodate the ink properties. Supposedly some companies rate the viscosity pr other scientific properties of each ink (not all colors are the same) so picky writers know exactly what they are getting and can choose what prefer.

There are some online communities where one can ask questions, but you have to be careful. Some of them get irritated with novices asking similar questions over and over. On the other hand, in attempted research, some discussions have comments removed, so when someone responds "thank you, that was very helpful" you have no idea what the helpful info was because it's gone. Some of us don't know how to search in order to get the most helpful results. Maybe the results we needed were on page 17 and we didn't make it that far.

There are various youtube videos but I don't have a ton of time to wade through 60-90 minute commentaries to sift out the information I am searching for. It's probably all good when I'm this uneducated, but that's a lot of time and sometimes I get to the end and realize it mis-represented what it was discussing in order to get more views. I may feel like I deserve a masters degree if I eventually get the hang of any of this.

Despite all this, I still like fountain pens and want to learn more. I've always liked writing (or printing) and pens. There's something fun about using an old-timey pen and seeing an ornate silver or gold colored nib at the end (there are a plethora of different colors to choose). It's a different writing experience. At any rate, still having fun.

Happy Fountain Pen Day

Fountain Pen Day is the first Friday of November, and can be observed all weekend. I still don’t know what I’m doing, but it’s kind of fun exploring this new option of pens. Wish there were more places to explore. I might be able to access a physical store in the coming months while traveling to visit family. I wonder if that might make or break my experience. I already rushed in way too fast and purchased 4 low level pens and a cheap calligraphy pen from a craft store. I’m not trying to be a “collector” like some. It’s just this brand new world, and there are so many choices, so many different shaped and types of nibs. As a newcomer, it can seem difficult to resist.

The last pen is an infamous student pen that is supposed to force one to use proper technique. I didn’t really want it, but found a discounted one, and thought it might be the “good for you” practicing pen. I already hate it. Yet I wonder if I need to keep it in order to prove I’ve tried it. I can imagine years from now, some expert, somewhere, will tell me to try it again while I roll my eyes and groan internally. It looks cheap, feels cheap, writes dry and scratchy. I could probably handle some of those things, but all together – glack. The calligraphy pen is scratchy and cheap looking, but the markings it produces are pretty, so it’s more tolerable.

I have to admit the looking down at the nib is fun itself. Not saying I need to look or feel fancy in front of others. It’s a different adventure, though. If one is considering all elements of writing – how the pen feels, how smoothly it writes, how the ink appears, and all that, it can be considered part of the overall experience. I’m not saying I need to run out and get scented inks (those do exist), but I can see a lot of fun with this. Even if you don’t consider the hundreds of different types of inks, look at some of the choices one has for black: https://www.jetpens.com/blog/The-Best-Black-Fountain-Pen-Inks/pt/20

I love how this page shows a comparison of drying times. That is one part to get used to. Since you’re dealing with liquid ink, you have to wait a bit for the ink to dry. The ones that came with my pens don’t take too long. What I noticed right away was how intensely black it was, compared to all the pens I’ve had before. Unfortunately it was a generic cartridge, so I can’t identify to re-purchase. One would think it shouldn’t be too difficult to get some good ink, but look at all those choices! And that’s merely one store’s suggestion of offerings to consider. Who knew such a simple thing could be so complex. Wish me luck.