Any Pen People here?

[tribe125]

I’ve just remembered the fountain pens we were given at school. They were Osmiroids and mine looked like this -





We lined up at the teacher’s desk and couldn’t choose the colour. I remember being annoyed that I got a blue one like this and not a black one. I was about 10, so it would have been 1965.

They had italic nibs, and from that point on we were obliged to write in italic. Left-handed kids got something that looked impossible to operate. We had ‘handwriting books’ with lines like music manuscript. Small letters had to be half the size of tall letters. We started off with zig-zags until we got the strokes thick and thin. I think it ruined the handwriting of most of us.

[Raza]

I’m still moving through with my Baronfigs. I have three now, one in a stand on my desk, one in my bag, and one in my zip up notebook meetings and what not. Love them. Been thinking about fountain pens, but I love these pens so much, I’m not sure the hassle of fountain pens will enhance the experience for me.

[Kronos]

I’ve just remembered the fountain pens we were given at school. They were Osmiroids and mine looked like this -





Left-handed kids got something that looked impossible to operate.

A generation earlier and the lefties would have been forced to learn to write right handed.


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[Kronos]

I’m still moving through with my Baronfigs. I have three now, one in a stand on my desk, one in my bag, and one in my zip up notebook meetings and what not. Love them. Been thinking about fountain pens, but I love these pens so much, I’m not sure the hassle of fountain pens will enhance the experience for me.

The Baronfig Squire uses the Schmidt P8126 or P8127 short capless refill. (My understanding is that Schmidt makes the short capless rollerball refills sold by other campanies under their own names.) The P8127 has a broader point than the P8126.

These short capless refills used water-based inks, which used to be the distinguishing factor between rollerballs and ballpoints, the latter using longer-lasting, but less smooth paste inks. With the advent of gel inks and various hybrid inks, the distinction between rollerballs and ballpoints is much fuzzier.

Fountain pens, while also using water-based inks, offer a very different writing experience than even the smoothest rollerball. They take a bit of getting used to, and they are much more of a hassle than a pen which is filled with disposable refills. But the rewards are in the vast array of inks you can try and a feeling of pen to paper which is somehow more intimate and more direct.

I'm a fan of all writing instruments, from pencils to ballpoints. And there is much to be said for finding a quality version for all writing modes. A good pencil, for example, is an entirely different experience from the crappy, yellow #2 pencils we used to have in school. Still, I find myself looking forward to writing by hand when I know I'll be able to use a fountain pen.


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[Kronos]

Somewhere on the web, in the not too distant past, a blogger or a participant in a pen forum, wrote a post about enjoying his or her Kaweco Skyline Sport in Fox red/orange. They'd filled it with Sailor Shikiori Rikyucha Ink. And, for some reason, they'd attached a black sport clip to the pen, even though the standard move would have been to attach a chrome clip to match the color of the nib, if one were going to use a clip at all.

The photo looked cool; Rikyucha was a Sailor Shikiori color I did not have (though I have many, many others); and Kaweco Sport pens are very inexpensive, usually around USD $30. So, monkey see, monkey do. I ordered a Kaweco Skyline in Fox, a black clip, a mini converter (no converter is supplied with the pen) and a bottle of Rikyucha ink.

Kaweco QC is not the best on its Sport models; this shows up in the occasional misaligned or otherwise problematic nib. I've generally had good luck with the Sports and the nibs are easily changed if you don't feel like going through the hassle of returning the pen for a replacement. Fortunately, the pen I purchased wrote well right out of the box. Kaweco Sports are great pocket pens and I have been enjoying this one alot.







I'm enjoying this pen and ink combo. Mountain of Ink, one of my favorite ink review sites, describes Rikyucha as "in-between a dark olive green and a dark brown." https://mountainofink.com/blog/sailor-jentle-rikyu-cha. That's pretty consistent with my experience, though under the crappy, harsh lighting in my little home office, the ink appears more dark brown than anything else. The olive is in there, but, at a quick glance, this ink can almost look black.

Rikyucha has a nice wet flow in my Kaweco Sport, is well behaved, dries quickly and does not ghost or bleed -- even on cheap paper. I used it today to write in my Hobonichi Techo (which has wonderful Japanese Tomoe River paper) and it took to the paper very well. Again, no bleeding or ghosting and the color appears a little more "true" on this better paper.

Here's a quick sample of my writing with this pen and ink combo on cheap Exacompta FIF paper:

[Mediocre]

Somewhere on the web, in the not too distant past, a blogger or a participant in a pen forum, wrote a post about enjoying his or her Kaweco Skyline Sport in Fox red/orange. They'd filled it with Sailor Shikiori Rikyucha Ink. And, for some reason, they'd attached a black sport clip to the pen, even though the standard move would have been to attach a chrome clip to match the color of the nib, if one wee going to use a clip at all.

The photo looked cool; Rikyucha was a Sailor Shikiori color I did not have (though I have many, many others); and Kaweco Sport pens are very inexpensive, usually around USD $30. So, monkey see, monkey do. I ordered a Kaweco Skyline in Fox, a black clip, a mini converter (no converter is supplied with the pen) and a bottle of Rikyucha ink.

Kaweco QC is not the best on its Sport models; this shows up in the occasional misaligned or otherwise problematic nib. I've generally had good luck with the Sports and the nibs are easily changed if you don't feel like going through the hassle of returning the pen for a replacement. Fortunately, the pen I purchased wrote well right out of the box. Kaweco Sports are great pocket pens and I have been enjoying this one alot.







I'm enjoying this pen and ink combo. Mountain of Ink, one of my favorite ink review sites, describes Rikyucha as "in-between a dark olive green and a dark brown." https://mountainofink.com/blog/sailor-jentle-rikyu-cha. That's pretty consistent with my experience, though under the crappy, harsh lighting in my little home office, the ink appears more dark brown than anything else. The olive is in there, but, at a quick glance, this ink can almost look black.

Rikyucha has a nice wet flow in my Kaweco Sport, is well behaved, dries quickly and does not ghost or bleed -- even on cheap paper. I used it today to write in my Hobonichi Techo (which has decent wonderful Japanese Tomoe River paper) and it took to the paper very well. Again, no bleeding or ghosting and the color appears a little more "true" on this better paper.

Here's a quick sample of my writing with this pen and ink combo on cheap Exacompta FIF paper:

Nice, the orange_black works really well!!

[geoffbot]

Your uncomprehension for how we sometimes speak here pales in comparison to my uncomprehension of your interest in pens! I never write anything down. Maybe because I don't have a pen.

[Kronos]

^^^^^^
The difference may be partly generational. Good penmanship was greatly de-emphasized, at least in America, by time middle Boomers (born in the mid 50's) were growing up, but it was still taught in the lower grades in elementary school. I regularly got D's in penmanship and nobody, including my teachers, much cared. Nevertheless, we still wrote everything by hand. Pens were a more integral part of day to day experience than they are now.

(By high school, one typed longer reports, if a typewriter was available. Typing was a popular elective in 9th grade; and many kids got portable typewriters from their parents when they started high school. I got one at that time and used it all through high school, college and law school. By my daughters' generation, kids got their own laptops around that time, if they didn't have one already.)

I used to attend pen shows with some regularity when they started to become a "thing". Many pen freaks I met were into watches as well.


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[Mediocre]

My hand writing is no good

I enjoy fountain pens

I am lost in time LOL

[Kronos]

My collection of Conway-Stewarts. Modern versions on the left and bottom right. Vintage pens on the top right.




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