First-time fountain pen?

Iain Dalton "iain [dot] dalton [at] gmail [dot] com" writes:

As you said, the Pelikan M200 is piston-filled, though I'm not sure
what that is.

Piston-filler sucks ink from bottle.

http://www.vintagepens.com/filling_i...-fillers.shtml

Is there a downside to this? Is the ability to use cartridges better?

- Practically any piston filler holds more ink than cartridge. Don't be
surprised, if cartridge fountain pens becomes empty when you least
expect it.

- When filling fountain pen from bottle, you may get some ink to your
fingers, if you are not careful. In my experience four layers of
textile cloth is enough for wiping inks stains from nib after filling;
Ink do not go trough so many layers very easily. I bought black
bandana scarf for that task.

- Replacing empty cartridge with full one is easy and comfortable.

- Cartridges are comfortable during short trips. They are very tiny and
light to carry in your luggage.

- Empty cartridges are waste that contributes to landfill.

- Empty cartridges can be re-filled with syringe with needle. In that
case they are not waste.

- Cartridge fountain pen can suck ink from bottle, if so called
converter is used instead of cartridge. But it holds even less ink
than cartridge holds.


--
Juhapekka "naula" Tolvanen * http colon slash slash iki dot fi slash juhtolv
"She turns me on. She makes me real. I have to apologize for the way I feel."
Nine Inch Nails

On 6 Dec 2005 15:48:58 -0800, "Iain Dalton"
wrote:

Does it matter if the moleskine is ruled or not?

Personal choice.

I prefer the European style of ruling (grey lines) because you can write
or draw across them more legibly, should you have to.

On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 21:18:14 -0800, Iain Dalton "iain [dot] dalton [at]
gmail [dot] com" wrote:

As you said, the Pelikan M200 is piston-filled, though I'm not sure what
that is. Is there a downside to this?

I really like piston-filling Pelikans and I'd second the recommendation
for the Pelikan 200. Or the old Pelikan Go!, if you can find one and
you're amused by the '80s design style.

Piston fillers hold more ink than a bulb and so they need filling much
less often. I've never needed to refill mine during the week, I
sometimes do with my Parker 51.

Cartridges are obsolete. If you want absolute convenience, just get a
ballpoint. If you want freedom of ink choice, get a real fountain pen
or a cartridge converter. Converters are however quite small in
capacity.

Good advise from Chuck on the ink and pen. He's a good, well respected and
has competitive prices. You can't go wrong here.

I saw Pelikan Go's recommended earlkier I stillk have a couple if you are
interested. Remove nospam from reply to address.
Dov

"Chuck Swisher" wrote in message
news:nlplf.6066$SM5.3759@dukeread02...
Noodler's Ink has made some fast-drying fountain pen inks. They are
exclusively sold by Swisher Pens.

http://www.swisherpens.com/

Yes, made by Noodler's but has the Swisher Pens label on it (you wouldn't
find it if you searched for quick drying Noodler's ink). You can find it
at
the following link:

http://www.nexternal.com/swisher/Product1318

I think our fast drying ink in either a Waterman Phileas (fine point) or
Pelikan 200 (again fine point) would make an excellent starting
combination
for a left-handed writer. Hope this helps.

Best wishes,

Chuck Swisher -

Swisher Pens, Inc. - www.swisherpens.com

Tele: (757) 539-2209, TF: 1-888-340-7367, Fax: (757) 925-2787

On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 21:18:14 -0800, Iain Dalton typed:

As you said, the Pelikan M200 is piston-filled, though I'm not sure what
that is. Is there a downside to this? Is the ability to use cartridges
better?

I'll also go along with the Pelikan 200 - a great entry-level pen.
The 250 with a gold nib has a slightly better feel, but the 200 is
quite good.

And yes, piston fill is better; they hold a good amount of ink, and
you have your choice of many, many brands and colors of bottle ink.

IMO, cartridges are rather awful, and converters are hard to use and
hold very little ink.


--
Cordially,

Sonam Dasara
12/7/2005 11:06:13 AM

Andy Dingley wrote:
I prefer the European style of ruling (grey lines) because you can write
or draw across them more legibly, should you have to.

Too bad my local Barnes & Noble doesn't stock those. Do you live in
Europe, or have you found a store that sells them?

--
Iain Dalton

Sonam Dasara wrote:
And yes, piston fill is better; they hold a good amount of ink, and
you have your choice of many, many brands and colors of bottle ink.

So piston fills refill from a bottle of ink instead of replacing a
cartridge with a new-bought one?

--
Iain Dalton

Dov wrote:
I saw Pelikan Go's recommended earlkier I stillk have a couple if you are
interested. Remove nospam from reply to address.
Dov

Thanks, but I think I've decided on a Pelikan M200. It looks nicer,
though a quick Google shows people that say the Pelikan Go writes nicely.

--
Iain Dalton

BL wrote:
My top choice for a starter fountain pen would be a modern Pelikan 200
or 215. They're of very high quality but inexpensive. They fill from the
bottle and hold a goodly amount of ink. Plus, you can buy extra nibs in
different sizes for very little money so you can try different widths
and types (oblique).

What is a good size nib? Looking at pictures of different widths, the
fine (or maybe the medium) looks the closest to the pen I use right now
(Pilot G-2 07). However, when following some of the links with which
people replied, one page said left-handers would do better to use a
broad nib, because it writes smoother. Is this true?

--
Iain Dalton

"Iain Dalton" wrote in
BL wrote:
... try different widths and types (oblique).

What is a good size nib? Looking at pictures of
different widths, the fine (or maybe the medium)
looks the closest to the pen I use right now
(Pilot G-2 07). However, when following some of
the links with which people replied, one page said
left-handers would do better to use a broad nib,
because it writes smoother. Is this true?

Pelikans run wide. I think you could use an Extra Fine or Fine with no
trouble. Pelikan nibs are very smooth across the entire range of widths,
so the "choose-a-broad-nib-because-they're-smoother" argument doesn't
apply to Pelikans. Spare 200 nibs will cost you about 20 bucks a pop so
why not buy a 200 and a couple extra nibs... maybe get a 200 with an EF
or F and a spare Medium or something like that. -- B