I've decided to do a shootout of my lower-cost new normal writing pens. I've wanted to review most of these before, but haven't been up to giving each one its own review. I will be reviewing these in approximate price order, from $0 to $30, and scoring them in these categories (each from 0-10 points): Aesthetics, Functionality, Value, Desire, respectively.
When I first read the subject line for some reason I imagined two guys facing each other on Main Street in front of the Saloon, at high noon, trying to dowse each other with ink.-MilesAhead (April 27, 2014, 05:03 PM)
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So I was hoping more for some personal recommendations since I can read up stuff over at the review sites as well as the next guy. (Note: I also don't consider myself an aficionado. Just a person who likes to use well designed writing instruments.) Following recommendations on some of the "pen freak" sites, I've bought a few semi-expensive pens that came highly recommended. All of which I ended up not much caring for.
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I sometimes suspect half the people who do those "me too" chime-ins after a pen review don't own (and probably never tried) the instrument in question. Because I can't reconcile my experiences with some of the good things those reviewers and commentators were saying about those pens. Hence my wondering if anybody had a personal recommendation based on hands-on experience.-40hz (April 27, 2014, 12:37 PM)
I wouldn't call the Lamy Safari "cartoony," though it depends on what colour you choose (i.e., not some of the special editions).-rjbull (April 27, 2014, 05:33 PM)
I'm following right along with you, and I wish I had the resources necessary to really give a good review of some recommendations; I can only go on second-hand info for anything outside my price range. Please pardon my naïveté.-Edvard (April 27, 2014, 08:11 PM)
It appears that fountain pens are like guitars; everybody has their favorites and extols the virtues of each, but ultimately you get what feels good under your fingers and out of your wallet.
now let's y'all put away the nibs and uh... call it a draw, shall we?
thank you rjbull for recommending Stationery Art.Somebody on Fountain Pen Network recommended them when I was looking for a Pilot 78G as a good fine nib at an affordable price. I would repeat, don't overlook the Lamy Nexx which has the same nib, cartridge and converter as the Safari, but a very different look; which, if course, you may like even less...-Edvard (April 27, 2014, 08:25 PM)
Looks like they've got a more or less complete offering of Baoer's line, which I've been eyeing lately, and I'm liking the slim look of the Hero 7015, which being stainless steel might have a bit of weight to it...I think you take pot luck with most Chinese brands. Hero seem pretty reliable; my 329 is too fine for me for general use, but I'm happy with the way it writes. No so my Jinhao X450 with its supposedly broad nib, which is too dry to be much use. Fixes have been suggested on FPN but I haven't tried them; they don't seem to work for every pen anyway. Why not take a look at FPN's pen review section to see if there are any reviews of the Hero 7015? There are a number for Baoer, from memory, most of them favourable.-Edvard (April 27, 2014, 08:25 PM)
Check out Jetpens.com (http://www.jetpens.com/) as well. Great prices and I've heard their customer service is pretty good.I think Goulet Pens (http://www.gouletpens.com/) are good too.-Edvard (April 27, 2014, 08:25 PM)
Maybe Cheap should be in quotes :) The Cult Pens site had one in the $1000's.-1NR1 (May 21, 2014, 02:27 AM)
But seriously, I use fountain and ink pens for drawing and I'm on the lookout for a cartridge ink pen that allows different "nibs". Any ideas? Thanks.
Maybe Cheap should be in quotes :) The Cult Pens site had one in the $1000's.They also have cheap ones. The baseline for the cheapest good fountain pen seems to be the Lamy Safari, or now the Lamy Nexx with same nibs and converters, which are affordable.-1NR1 (May 21, 2014, 02:27 AM)
I'm on the lookout for a cartridge ink pen that allows different "nibs". Any ideas?Lamy Safari or Nexx... if you buy them from The Writing Desk (http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/index.php) (TWD), you can specify whichever nib you want. Quoting TWD's Lamy Safari page:-1NR1 (May 21, 2014, 02:27 AM)
The Lamy Safari represents Lamy quality, reliability and style in an excellent value-for-money writing instrument, available as a fountain pen with either EF, F, A, M, left-handed (LH), B or 1.1/1.5/1.9mm italic nib sizes (mechanical pencil, rollerball and ballpen available to special order). The fountain pen comes with a Lamy T10 cartridge (blue) but bottled ink can be used if fitted with a Lamy Z24 converter. Although the converter is not supplied as standard we offer a bundle of Safari fountain pen plus converter which represents a saving over buying the items individually. See individual product listings for details.
The original article only touched on pens in the $3 - $30 range, but yeah, thousand-dollar fountain pens are surprisingly common. :o-Edvard (May 21, 2014, 09:28 PM)
Thanks all, Edvard and rjbull for the 411. Several sites have what I am looking for, or pretty close anyway.
Some of you more exotic thinking types (which in my experience is just about everyone on Donationcoder) might consider making your own pens from quills and bamboo (search that).-1NR1 (May 22, 2014, 06:51 PM)
Lately I've been doing most of what drawing I can do with Pilot Razorpoint IIs in fine and superfine. They're porous felt so they can mush down or fray slightly if you're heavy-handed or drop one. But they have a clean line, write smoothly, and the ink is nice and dark. At $18-$21 per dozen (depending on where you get them) they won't break the bank either.-40hz (May 26, 2014, 10:01 PM)
(always took notes with one of these (http://thingsfromourchildhood.tumblr.com/post/16857807323), though)-app103 (May 27, 2014, 11:03 PM)
(always took notes with one of these (http://thingsfromourchildhood.tumblr.com/post/16857807323), though)-app103 (May 27, 2014, 11:03 PM)
Aha! Haven't seen one of those pens in years. (My GF loved them. She still buys these (http://www.amazon.com/Ballpoint-Retractable-Orange-BICFM11-Category/dp/B0006SVBNQ/ref=pd_sim_op_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=1ZZWETS30JFM7BW1RCYA).) I bet you were like her - one of those "brainy-girls" with that beau-coup cool and super-artsy notebook they all seemed to have weren't you? ;D-40hz (May 28, 2014, 12:45 PM)
I don't know about that. I don't know what a "beau-coup cool and super-artsy notebook" looks like.-app103 (May 28, 2014, 04:56 PM)
I don't know about that. I don't know what a "beau-coup cool and super-artsy notebook" looks like.-app103 (May 28, 2014, 04:56 PM)
Y'know...notebooks that look like this: :P
(see attachment in previous post (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=37824.msg356094#msg356094)) (see attachment in previous post (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=37824.msg356094#msg356094)) (see attachment in previous post (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=37824.msg356094#msg356094)) (see attachment in previous post (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=37824.msg356094#msg356094))
8)-40hz (May 28, 2014, 05:46 PM)