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And now you can get a cheap fountain pen that won't leak and writes delightfully. Financially, you're probably better off with hundreds of cheap Bics, but foun

And now you can get a cheap fountain pen that won't leak and writes delightfully. Financially, you're probably better off with hundreds of cheap Bics, but fountain pen ink lasts a long time.

inetsee 7y ago
I just started exploring fountain pens (inspired by a previous HN posting), and the feature that appeals to me the most is the variety of ink colors available for fountain pens. Most ballpoint pens seem to have just a handful of ink colors, but it seems to be possible to get a lot more colors for fountain pens, and some of the colors are really exotic.
- justanothersys 7y ago
  Also fountain pens draw really fast with almost no pressure and have such a consistent line. I've been making little musical drawings with them. https://tiktok.com/@whistlegraph https://tiktok.com/@whistlegraph
- tenpies 7y ago
  > variety of ink colors available for fountain pens Just wait until you start mixing inks to produce your own signature colour. It gets to the point where your ink is as unique as your calligraphy.
RandallBrown 7y ago
> and writes delightfully If you're right handed. Fountain pens simply don't work for lefties, without writing in a completely unnatural way.
- greggyb 7y ago
  I must write in a completely unnatural way, then. My hand is always completely below the current line of text. Which hand is writing simply cannot affect whether my hand touches just-written ink. Edit: Just wrote some test lines, forward and backward. My whole hand is multiple lines down in the notebook. Writing in a way so as to get my pen-hand on the same line I'm writing feels incredibly weird to me. I think it just goes to show that whatever you get used to feels natural.
  - RandallBrown 7y ago
    You're lucky. Me, and every leftie I know, grew up dealing with this in school. http://i.imgur.com/kTT6O.jpg http://i.imgur.com/kTT6O.jpg
    - greggyb 7y ago
      Luck seems a poor thing to attribute this to. I used to smudge all the time as a righty. I have taken time to adjust habits in day-to-day activities. Luck seems to apply only insofar as I do not am neurally and physically typical enough that I can adjust these habits. If you don't like something, especially if it's your own behavior (and writing style is absolutely a behavior), it is likely within your power to change it. Maybe you would need help from a coach or perhaps pharmacological or therapeutic if there is some pathology. For me, it is always a no-brainer to change things that annoy me.
- probably_wrong 7y ago
  In case you missed it, there was a thread here yesterday about pen grip with a sub-discussion regarding left-handed writing and fountain pens: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22287679 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22287679

And now you can get a cheap fountain pen that won't leak and writes delightfully. Financially, you're probably better off with hundreds of cheap Bics, but fountain pen ink lasts a long time.

inetsee 7y ago

I just started exploring fountain pens (inspired by a previous HN posting), and the feature that appeals to me the most is the variety of ink colors available for fountain pens. Most ballpoint pens seem to have just a handful of ink colors, but it seems to be possible to get a lot more colors for fountain pens, and some of the colors are really exotic.

justanothersys 7y ago
Also fountain pens draw really fast with almost no pressure and have such a consistent line. I've been making little musical drawings with them. https://tiktok.com/@whistlegraph https://tiktok.com/@whistlegraph
tenpies 7y ago
> variety of ink colors available for fountain pens Just wait until you start mixing inks to produce your own signature colour. It gets to the point where your ink is as unique as your calligraphy.

RandallBrown 7y ago

> and writes delightfully If you're right handed. Fountain pens simply don't work for lefties, without writing in a completely unnatural way.

greggyb 7y ago
I must write in a completely unnatural way, then. My hand is always completely below the current line of text. Which hand is writing simply cannot affect whether my hand touches just-written ink. Edit: Just wrote some test lines, forward and backward. My whole hand is multiple lines down in the notebook. Writing in a way so as to get my pen-hand on the same line I'm writing feels incredibly weird to me. I think it just goes to show that whatever you get used to feels natural.
- RandallBrown 7y ago
  You're lucky. Me, and every leftie I know, grew up dealing with this in school. http://i.imgur.com/kTT6O.jpg http://i.imgur.com/kTT6O.jpg
  - greggyb 7y ago
    Luck seems a poor thing to attribute this to. I used to smudge all the time as a righty. I have taken time to adjust habits in day-to-day activities. Luck seems to apply only insofar as I do not am neurally and physically typical enough that I can adjust these habits. If you don't like something, especially if it's your own behavior (and writing style is absolutely a behavior), it is likely within your power to change it. Maybe you would need help from a coach or perhaps pharmacological or therapeutic if there is some pathology. For me, it is always a no-brainer to change things that annoy me.
probably_wrong 7y ago
In case you missed it, there was a thread here yesterday about pen grip with a sub-discussion regarding left-handed writing and fountain pens: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22287679 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22287679