Do you write with a fountain pen?

[Slite]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's interesting! Presumably "penna", though, is not the Swedish word for "feather"?

Nope, the swedish word for Feather is "Fjäder", and the original type of pen you refered to is here called a "Fjäderpenna", so basicly it's a "FeatherFeather"

[HarryT]

So it seems as if both Swedish and English have got "feather" from the Germanic root, but "pen" from Latin.

[AprilHare]

A month ago I decided to 'get into' fountain pens, just to see what they were about and to see if using one would be easier on my hands (a major issue for me - writing used to leave at least one of fingers bleeding from the pressure needed to hold a hand steady to write).
I must say I am very much surprised and pleased.
Now I have three pens - one plunger type Conway Stewart, one screw type generic Chinese pen and one disposable Pentel.

Originally Posted by Jaime_Astorga

I have seen fountain pens before, though only occasionally. Never used one. I consider them archaic devices, like typewriters or feathers and inkwells.

Typewriters can work without electricity - something handy to have occasionally, but generally not used, it's true.
I agree that feathers and inkwells are outmoded (although artists may find them interesting).
But I do not consider a fountain pen archaic. - How else could I buy 50 mL of ink for next to nothing and just repeatedly refill a pen for ages and ages? It's economically sound, good for the environment, easier on the wallet, easier on the hand and leaves a really nice result to do things that way.
Even my disposable fountain pen is by no means archaic. It's functionally and practically equivalent to a disposable biro, felt tip or roller ball pen; it looks great; it's easier on the hands; and the result looks very stylish.
I think you've fallen into the 'new is always better' trap, Jaime. It aint always so.

[pking36330]

Originally Posted by Juliette

That's why they're called fountain pens?

While in school and in the first years of university, I had a couple of fountain pens whose nib was a bit crooked from some incident- which, against all panicky feeling, made writing with those pens easier.

Getting a crooked nib could be from letting someone else write with it.

One of the 'rules' of using a fountain pen is that you never let anyone else use it...at all, ever. As i recall this is because the affect of your writing style (pressure, angle, etc.) as it becomes imprinted on the metal nib can be ruined by loaning it to someone else that presses harder or uses a steeper angle and thus flexing the tip differently and creating new metal memory.

Might just be tribal lore, but I never let anyone write with my main fountain pens. I keep a couple of nice ball point pens on my desk for the times someone motions for me to hand them the fountain pen I'm using so they can jot something down. I just point to one of those. For people who say they want to try writing with a fountain pen with the idea of using my Vanishing Point, I pull out a very nice fountain pen that I personally never use and let them write with that. I'm careful not to be rude, but very adamant about never letting anyone else write with my good fountain pens.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by sherkanner

I love to write with a fountain pen, it slides over the paper, love it.
Nowadays I don't use it so much as I'm writing almost everything on computer.

i agree. i have several fountain pens including some really cheap ones which are actually among my favourites, which you can see in this picture (the black rocket-shaped ones with the orange fins on the cap) :



but i also like pilot V ball pens and at some point i started using them more than my fountain pens. but now i'm feeling the urge to go back...

Originally Posted by Slite

Nope, the swedish word for Feather is "Fjäder", and the original type of pen you refered to is here called a "Fjäderpenna", so basicly it's a "FeatherFeather"

in french, pen is "stylo" but a fountain pen is a "stylo plume" which means "feather pen".

Originally Posted by pking36330

Getting a crooked nib could be from letting someone else write with it.

One of the 'rules' of using a fountain pen is that you never let anyone else use it...at all, ever. As i recall this is because the affect of your writing style (pressure, angle, etc.) as it becomes imprinted on the metal nib can be ruined by loaning it to someone else that presses harder or uses a steeper angle and thus flexing the tip differently and creating new metal memory.

yep, i've heard the same, and i never let anyone write with my fountain pens either. that's why i started carrying a non-fountain pen with me at first too, specifically to lend it out.

[pshrynk]

I have a Waterford fountain pen that my wife gave me for Christmas one year. I use it for signing things that don't need carbon.

I also carry a gel ink pen tht one of my brothers made to commemorate the time all four brothers got together for a weekend of sihing and mostly beer. He made four pens out of the same piece of wood that came from Africa. For my brother who has cancer, he added abit around the front of the barrel that was olive wood from the Holy Land. I carry that with me everywhere I go.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by pshrynk

I also carry a gel ink pen tht one of my brothers made to commemorate the time all four brothers got together for a weekend of sihing and mostly beer. He made four pens out of the same piece of wood that came from Africa. For my brother who has cancer, he added abit around the front of the barrel that was olive wood from the Holy Land. I carry that with me everywhere I go.

that's a wonderful present pshrynk, what a lovely idea. can we see a photo of it ?

[Jaime_Astorga]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

Typewriters can work without electricity - something handy to have occasionally, but generally not used, it's true.
I agree that feathers and inkwells are outmoded (although artists may find them interesting).
But I do not consider a fountain pen archaic. - How else could I buy 50 mL of ink for next to nothing and just repeatedly refill a pen for ages and ages? It's economically sound, good for the environment, easier on the wallet, easier on the hand and leaves a really nice result to do things that way.
Even my disposable fountain pen is by no means archaic. It's functionally and practically equivalent to a disposable biro, felt tip or roller ball pen; it looks great; it's easier on the hands; and the result looks very stylish.
I think you've fallen into the 'new is always better' trap, Jaime. It aint always so.

Archaic does not mean "obsolete." My regarding fountain pens archaic has left to do with its objective qualities and more with its associations with a bygone time; they seem to have been more prominent in the past, but cheap and easier to use pens appear to be the norm now. Fountain pens are archaic in the same sense togas are archaic; nothing wrong with them, its just that you don't see them anymore.

Also, a lot of newer stuff is better despite requiring infrastructure, because the contexts in which they are deployed guarantees the infrastructure is in place. Typewriters may work without electricity, but this isn't a problem for countries in which virtually all homes have it. Cars require fuel, yet that doesn't mean horses are better; as long as fuel doesn't become scarce enough to become too expensive, cars are better modes of transportation. This is not to say newer is always better, either.

As for me, I don't like any kind of pen much. Pencils are my writing utensils of choice, if keyboards are not counted. Ballpoint pens of moderate quality come in third place, and mechanical pencil are at the very bottom of the heap. I hate those things.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

My option would have been .

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

I love... the little robot on the chain! Where can I get one of those?

[Crowl]

It's quite shocking just how rarely I write anything at all these days and owning a fountain pen would probably just be a waste of ink.

[Dylrob]

No. Though I have dabbled with dip pens for art.

[pking36330]

Originally Posted by Crowl

It's quite shocking just how rarely I write anything at all these days and owning a fountain pen would probably just be a waste of ink.

Or you could be like me and a good fountain pen becomes an excuse to write more in a journal or jot a letter to a friend.

[mikemc2]

I do less writing with fountains pens than I would like. I have a Lamy Safari and a bunch of Pilot Varsity disposables in different colors. I'll use them at work on occasion just to see the puzzled looks on some peoples faces. Speaking of Lamy I wonder where the heck my Vista rollerball is...

[BooksForABuck]

For those of us who are left-handed, a fountain pen is a nightmare. You write, then you drag your palm through the wet ink. The result is less attractive than what you might have intended...both on the page and on your body.

Rob Preece
BooksForABuck.com