Anyone else like fountain pens?

[Certaindeaf]

Well, got my scritcher, $14 delivered Amazon. Ink tomorrow so the walls are safe.. for now.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I adopted this writing instrument a long time ago whilst recovering from injury and surgery in the right arm (among a number of other scar tissue acquired in that era), but kept with them because the are such a delightful way to write. I've received curious comments from at least one colleague, a business associate, and even detached bemusement from my beloved about this choice of pen. But, whatever, what works, works, so I am not deterred. (And, yes, I'm barely old enough to still write in that alien script known to the younger set as "cursive".)

Here are a few from office:

View attachment 733724

How about you? Any pics?

Hey, I just noticed the pen on the left is the same one I got.

 

[revjen45]

I would compare fountain pens vs. ball point and movement vs. quartz watches to walnut and steel guns vs. polymer framed/synthetic stock/MIM parts, etc.

The old stuff appeals on the basis of what it is as opposed to what it does.

A nicely made walnut and steel rifle is a pleasure to hold and use and performs well. "Nice" doesn't come cheap.
Today you can buy an entry level hunting rifle that consistently performs as well as or better than the elegant pieces bench made by craftsmen of yore. Whether that intangible pleasure of using something special is worth the added $ is entirely up to the individual.

You can buy an entry level 1911 that has the features and performance of a piece bench tuned by a craftsman 30 years ago. Some people still find it worth spending > $3K on a really nice one.

Modern motorcycles have performance out of the box that exceeds anything a speed shop could have built just 30 years ago. The intangible pleasure of riding a Knucklehead or an Indian Chief doesn't come cheap either.

Current production Corvettes have world class performance, but some people still pay for a Ferrari.

I really like flat nib pens, old S&Ws, original Indian Motocycles (No, that's not spelled wrong.), old Harleys, movement watches, and 1949-53 Chevy Suburbans.

I carry a Steyr S9, Drive a '14 Sonata or a '03 F-250, wear a Citizen Eco-Drive watch, and usually write with a gel ink ball point. Nice is nice, but practical means a lot.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

May be venturing off topic here but in relation to the evolution of paper documentary noted above, I noticed a new type of paper that may represent a
Smaller incremental next step in the evolution (u could say the same for write-in the-rain paper I think). Just bought a notebook with this paper for the kiddo to do math on and upload to school and I'm impressed so far. the name is Rocketbook.

u write on it with frixion pens (explained in an above post) and you can erase with water on a cloth.

But the biggest innovation is that each page can be scanned by ur phone/iPad etc and sent to ur desired destination such as email, Evernote, google drive etc. with a single click. So it is kind of an evolution in the sense that it combines paper writing with digital. U put a little x on the bottom of the page over the symbol for where u want it sent.

also the app turns handwriting to computer text (optical character recognition) if u want. Pretty neat technology cuz u can even search your handwritten notes by keyword etc. (I haven't tried this yet). I'm sure this kind of thing will evolve and improve over time but it's interesting

u can see the faint symbols at bottom of page in this pic. It uses the bar code in the lower left for orientation when scanning.

 

[Airgunner II]

I bought a fountain pen sampler from jetpens and love 'em

 

[Certaindeaf]

Stephan Schmalhaus will be starting a new fountain pen channel.
Here's his latest knife video..

 

[CountryGent]

Hey, I just noticed the pen on the left is the same one I got.

Indeed. I've got at least three; one at my office (work), one at home office, and one in brief case. I'd say I use those the most for day-to-day writing. They're solidly built and just work.

 

[RicInOR]

I saw this article a short time ago, may be of interest --

How the Ballpoint Pen Killed Cursive

Thicker ink meant it didn't smudge as easily as its predecessor, the fountain pen—but it also made writing by hand more physically demanding.

www.theatlantic.com

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I saw this article a short time ago, may be of interest --

How the Ballpoint Pen Killed Cursive

Thicker ink meant it didn't smudge as easily as its predecessor, the fountain pen—but it also made writing by hand more physically demanding.

www.theatlantic.com

Interesting article. The history part of it makes me think of one of my favorite pens, pilot razor point. It's still sold unchanged from the 1970s, complete with 70's style metal flake plastic (just like on the seat of my old Schwinn stingray!). They r really small so fit in your pocket easy and have a very fine (0.3 mm) felt tip point.