5 ms·

What other quality pen could one recommend if I would like to get one and not spend a fortune on ones like these? By no means they look and feel probably great,

What other quality pen could one recommend if I would like to get one and not spend a fortune on ones like these? By no means they look and feel probably great, but I'm simply not in their target market. However, from my young years I remember owning few Parker pens, few Pelikan and one or two Waterman. I remember enjoying ones with a 'buttery smooth' writing feeling most (don't really know how to describe it other way) and hating scraping pointy ones. I don't care about gold finish at all, but solid wood or not-cheap plastic would be great.

godelski 9y ago
Lamy Safari [1] is generally considered a good "starter" pen. I love them and they aren't too expensive. It is big enough that it is hard to lose, so if you keep it for like a year or two+, it'll end up being cheaper than ballpoints. You might want to look at different nibs though, to find the right amount of fineness you want. [1] https://smile.amazon.com/Lamy-Safari-Fountain-Pen-Charcoal/dp/B0002T401Y https://smile.amazon.com/Lamy-Safari-Fountain-Pen-Charcoal/d...
- c5karl 9y ago
  I've been using disposable Pilot Varsity fountain pens. They're perfectly decent, medium nib pens that write smoothly. I've never had one leak or stain my fingers, and you don't have to mess with refills. I had given up on fountain pens, as I always had problems with them clogging or leaking or just not being able to find refills. The Varsity has me using fountain pens again. At about $2/per, there's no reason not to give them a try to see if you like them.
  - godelski 9y ago
    Personally I like refilling the pen. It is a lot cheaper and you get better inks.
    - mcguire 9y ago
      You can refill Varsities, although it's apparently a learned skill. Check YouTube. On the other hand, there's Platinum Preppys. I've been using one converted to an eyedropper much of the time for nearly a decade.
lytfyre 9y ago
I'd suggest trying out the Pilot Metropolitan, in a Medium nib. It's not an _Amazing_ pen, but it's got a nice solid brass body, the quality control is very consistent), it's a nice consistent writer, and they sell on Amazon for ~$12. It's my usual recommendation for a "gateway" pen.
- foopod 9y ago
  I would second this, awesome value for money. This pen won't let you down.
- bonaldi 9y ago
  If you don't think it's amazing I'd really appreciate your recommendations for my "next level" pen, because I got the Metropolitan and _love_ it. I've bought three already; it's also one of the first I've found flows beautifully even though I'm left-handed. (I prefer the fine nib, that said)
  - BeetleB 9y ago
    For me, I've tried a few pricier ones, and didn't like any more than the Metropolitan. But YMMV. What may work for you: TWSBI Eco. People talk about how smooth it is but I found mine to be scratchy (which may not bother you because you like the Metro Fine and I found it scratchy as well). Be warned, you cannot fill it using a syringe. Another option is the Jinhao X450, but use a Goulet nib instead of the Jinhao nib.
  - lytfyre 9y ago
    Its harder to recommend a second step pen, as it depends more on personal taste. There's two facets to what you get as you step up the price ranges - fancier nibs, and fancier bodies. Fancier bodies is almost entirely a style thing - if you want a certain look, you can pay for it. Nibs is a trickier thing. The "solid gold nib" thing isn't just marketing, there's actual advantages to it - mostly an opportunity to make the nib "softer" as it bends and flexes slightly as you write. This is very much a taste thing as well, but a much more difficult one to judge online! Different brands will generally have house "feels" - Lamy is a popular entry brand, and tends to make all their nibs super stiff, with almost no flex. Pilot or Sailors stlye tends to run softer. It's also worth mentioning that Japanese brands almost all run one size "finer", so if you're looking for a nib from a European company like Lamy or Pelican that's around the size of the pilot fine, order an extra fine. All that said, possibly my favorite nib is the pilot vanishing point, which is ~$120. I don't think there's much in the < $100 range that's significantly better than the metropolitan. I'm also a big fan of Sailor and Visconti's fancier nibs, but that's up a considerable price band.
Xophmeister 9y ago
Lamy make pretty nice fountain pens. I have a Lamy 2000 (my go to fountain pen) and a Lamy Dialog (I think; the one with the retractable nib, which is a neat trick).
- ijonas 9y ago
  +1 to the Lamy 2000. It’s a glorious timeless classic. It’s like a Porsche, useable as an everyday workhorse.
BeetleB 9y ago
I'll second the Pilot Metropolitan. Of all the pens I've liked, it is the cheapest and the best experience. Also, definitely do get the Medium nib. The Fine will feel scratchy. And keep in mind the Pilot Medium is almost the same as a Fine in the US/Europe. Your bigger challenge is finding suitable paper to write on. It affects whether you get feathering or bleeding. To a smaller extent it that will affect smoothness. My favorite is the Figurare notebooks. Clairefontaine is also decent. In general, I don't see a correlation between price of notebook and fountain pen friendliness. I've bought decent cheap notebooks from Office Depot, but the exact same "model", in larger size paper, was crap.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
mcguire 9y ago
Check Goulet Pens (https://www.gouletpens.com/ https://www.gouletpens.com/) --- there should be a fair amount of information around there and they have a great series of YouTube videos. Recent Parker fountain pens are pretty meh, in my opinion. Pelican has a good line, as do a number of Japanese makers (Pilot and Sailor are two). And here's my ad for my favorite current American maker, Franklin-Christoph (http://www.franklin-christoph.com/ http://www.franklin-christoph.com/). If you have a pen show nearby, they'll probably have a big booth where you can try all of their pens, all of their nibs, and get one tuned by their tame nibmeister, Mike Masuyama. Not terribly expensive, either. Then there's a world of Chinese and Indian manufacturers. Whoo. Let's not go there. You will find very few good pens involving wood---it's not a great material---in fact, none, except for kits from new wood turners. Those are cheap brass pens with an expensive decorative wooden tube glued on.

godelski 9y ago

Lamy Safari [1] is generally considered a good "starter" pen. I love them and they aren't too expensive. It is big enough that it is hard to lose, so if you keep it for like a year or two+, it'll end up being cheaper than ballpoints. You might want to look at different nibs though, to find the right amount of fineness you want. [1] https://smile.amazon.com/Lamy-Safari-Fountain-Pen-Charcoal/dp/B0002T401Y https://smile.amazon.com/Lamy-Safari-Fountain-Pen-Charcoal/d...

c5karl 9y ago
I've been using disposable Pilot Varsity fountain pens. They're perfectly decent, medium nib pens that write smoothly. I've never had one leak or stain my fingers, and you don't have to mess with refills. I had given up on fountain pens, as I always had problems with them clogging or leaking or just not being able to find refills. The Varsity has me using fountain pens again. At about $2/per, there's no reason not to give them a try to see if you like them.
- godelski 9y ago
  Personally I like refilling the pen. It is a lot cheaper and you get better inks.
  - mcguire 9y ago
    You can refill Varsities, although it's apparently a learned skill. Check YouTube. On the other hand, there's Platinum Preppys. I've been using one converted to an eyedropper much of the time for nearly a decade.

lytfyre 9y ago

I'd suggest trying out the Pilot Metropolitan, in a Medium nib. It's not an _Amazing_ pen, but it's got a nice solid brass body, the quality control is very consistent), it's a nice consistent writer, and they sell on Amazon for ~$12. It's my usual recommendation for a "gateway" pen.

foopod 9y ago
I would second this, awesome value for money. This pen won't let you down.
bonaldi 9y ago
If you don't think it's amazing I'd really appreciate your recommendations for my "next level" pen, because I got the Metropolitan and _love_ it. I've bought three already; it's also one of the first I've found flows beautifully even though I'm left-handed. (I prefer the fine nib, that said)
- BeetleB 9y ago
  For me, I've tried a few pricier ones, and didn't like any more than the Metropolitan. But YMMV. What may work for you: TWSBI Eco. People talk about how smooth it is but I found mine to be scratchy (which may not bother you because you like the Metro Fine and I found it scratchy as well). Be warned, you cannot fill it using a syringe. Another option is the Jinhao X450, but use a Goulet nib instead of the Jinhao nib.
- lytfyre 9y ago
  Its harder to recommend a second step pen, as it depends more on personal taste. There's two facets to what you get as you step up the price ranges - fancier nibs, and fancier bodies. Fancier bodies is almost entirely a style thing - if you want a certain look, you can pay for it. Nibs is a trickier thing. The "solid gold nib" thing isn't just marketing, there's actual advantages to it - mostly an opportunity to make the nib "softer" as it bends and flexes slightly as you write. This is very much a taste thing as well, but a much more difficult one to judge online! Different brands will generally have house "feels" - Lamy is a popular entry brand, and tends to make all their nibs super stiff, with almost no flex. Pilot or Sailors stlye tends to run softer. It's also worth mentioning that Japanese brands almost all run one size "finer", so if you're looking for a nib from a European company like Lamy or Pelican that's around the size of the pilot fine, order an extra fine. All that said, possibly my favorite nib is the pilot vanishing point, which is ~$120. I don't think there's much in the < $100 range that's significantly better than the metropolitan. I'm also a big fan of Sailor and Visconti's fancier nibs, but that's up a considerable price band.

Xophmeister 9y ago

Lamy make pretty nice fountain pens. I have a Lamy 2000 (my go to fountain pen) and a Lamy Dialog (I think; the one with the retractable nib, which is a neat trick).

ijonas 9y ago
+1 to the Lamy 2000. It’s a glorious timeless classic. It’s like a Porsche, useable as an everyday workhorse.

BeetleB 9y ago

I'll second the Pilot Metropolitan. Of all the pens I've liked, it is the cheapest and the best experience. Also, definitely do get the Medium nib. The Fine will feel scratchy. And keep in mind the Pilot Medium is almost the same as a Fine in the US/Europe. Your bigger challenge is finding suitable paper to write on. It affects whether you get feathering or bleeding. To a smaller extent it that will affect smoothness. My favorite is the Figurare notebooks. Clairefontaine is also decent. In general, I don't see a correlation between price of notebook and fountain pen friendliness. I've bought decent cheap notebooks from Office Depot, but the exact same "model", in larger size paper, was crap.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

mcguire 9y ago

Check Goulet Pens (https://www.gouletpens.com/ https://www.gouletpens.com/) --- there should be a fair amount of information around there and they have a great series of YouTube videos. Recent Parker fountain pens are pretty meh, in my opinion. Pelican has a good line, as do a number of Japanese makers (Pilot and Sailor are two). And here's my ad for my favorite current American maker, Franklin-Christoph (http://www.franklin-christoph.com/ http://www.franklin-christoph.com/). If you have a pen show nearby, they'll probably have a big booth where you can try all of their pens, all of their nibs, and get one tuned by their tame nibmeister, Mike Masuyama. Not terribly expensive, either. Then there's a world of Chinese and Indian manufacturers. Whoo. Let's not go there. You will find very few good pens involving wood---it's not a great material---in fact, none, except for kits from new wood turners. Those are cheap brass pens with an expensive decorative wooden tube glued on.