So, this festive season, can I convince you to use a fountain pen?

Hello everybody.

My senior is miffed at my previous post, because he thinks one should not write about something unless he has a large variety of such things and a long duration of experience of using them. Point duly noted. So first I'll run  a disclaimer.

Disclaimer:  This post is not intended to teach anybody how to repair their fountain pens or to impart any other technical knowledge. This  is about sharing some feelings, some little nothings.

Whenever you are searching about a pen blog, some results might have surely intimidated you by the pure volume of technical jargon or the large collection of super costly pens paraded on screen. I am out of that exclusive club.

So what prevents you from buying something that can give you immense pleasure? Remember, while growing up, attaining the ability to write and draw was a big milestone in our lives, enabling us to express our inner selves efficiently and quietly. The joy of writing gradually disappears in the busy schedules of life. A fountain pen can reintroduce you to the lost pleasure quite easily.

The 'cons':

1. The system is complicated. 

If you were expecting price factor to be number one, I think you are mistaken. The first thought that comes to mind is an inexplicable apprehension, a big doubt about the convenience and the fidelity of the whole nib and ink system. 

The answer is : You don't need to know the basic physics of television to watch a sports match on it. Just buy a good fountain pen, ink it  and start writing. It's all that easy. If you don't want to perform the regular job of filling ink in a reservoir, there  are pens that have disposable cartridges, just like refills of ball point pens. After some effort, you may end up liking the whole concept and eventually acquiring more detailed knowledge.

2. They are costly

True, a good one costs about 100-200 times a cheap ball point pen. But that's because  they are a kind of investment. Fountain pens last longer than most cheap ball point ones, they are more beautiful and much better as writing instruments. Some people fear about losing such costly items. Here I agree with John Morgan, who have rightly mentioned in his blog that costly things get more care from the owner. You'll be more cautious about losing your prized possessions.

3. They are messy

NO, If you use good quality pens correctly, they are not. Occasional bad copies may bother you, but that's not the complete picture. Most standard fountain pens are well behaved when it comes to leaking or destroying your clothes. Ink quality and poor handling may have a greater role in such occurrences.

4. They require a lot of maintenance

This is only partially true. It all depends on the amount of use (or more specifically non-use after being inked). You can always use a quality pen for a long time before you have to take them to someone specialized in pen repairing for actual repair. Otherwise, routine maintenance is quite easy to follow. All you need to do is completely flush the existing ink out before using another colour or brand, and when you think that the pen might not be used for some duration.

5. They are old fashioned

Definitely they're Not, if you carry them effortlessly, without hesitation. They actually startle everyone in front of you, whenever you take them out and start writing as if nothing special is happening. The sheer admiration in their eyes is quite satisfying for the user.

The reason to buy one at this age?

For me there is only one reason strong enough to start writing with fountain pens: The writing experience.

It is unparalleled, inimitable. The ink simply flows through the nib to lay down line after line over smooth white paper. The smoothness of pen movements and relaxation of fingers would strike you at the very first instance. Your letters would come out whole in place of the indistinct gibberish lines of ball point pens and your brain would actually focus on the writing.

This blog post from EDJELLEY lists eight reasons for using a fountain pen. I am much inspired by his words, and would like to add only one more reason to the already impressive list.

When you successfully make a fountain pen work for you, when you regularly use that pen to elicit a smooth wet line, it gives a kind of satisfaction. A feeling of accomplishment, of being able to make something work properly for you. And whether you agree with me or not, this world is all about making things work to your tune.

So, I would urge you to just try an actual fountain pen for a few days. A good Pilot non-self filling eyedropper pen or Parker Vector  or Lamy safari or Hero 616 or even a Platinum Preppy may stimulate you to write in a better way.

Thanks everybody and enjoy your writing.

Are Fountain Pens relevant in today's world ?

Hello everybody

Most of us have heard about fountain pens, many of us have even seen or used one sometime during our school life. But somehow, as I grew up and got promoted to higher classes, they became obscured. This occurred in such a way that the whole ink and nib pen concept was completely out of my existence. Neither I thought about any way of writing other than ball point pens, nor did I come across somebody who actually used them in their practical lives. It was as if they'd never existed.

So, what now brings me to them?

I was doing some window-shopping on ebay, which sound much foolish thing to do to kill time. But nevertheless, I was at it, mostly visiting gadget and electronic stores. I had no intentions of buying anything, as neither I nor my stone-age gadgets were giving up yet.  So, how surprised I got when one of those stores hosted a vintage 'Wing Sung' fountain pen. That picture and description instantly brought back a whole lot of memories. I was suddenly flooded with pure 'Nostalgia'.

Beautiful memories inside brain

My father first brought a pair of Wing Sung '233's when I was in sixth or seventh standard. One was maroon (Burgundy) and another was green. He always wanted good things in life, but lack of money was a constant problem for him. So, I can only imagine he must have been aiming for a good Waterman or Cross but settled for a Wing Sung! The pens were unique in that they had an odd  rounded nib attached to the end of grip section, unlike other indigenous cheap eye dropper pens whose nibs were inserted into the grip. And so the pens fascinated me. I don't remember much about the writing experience. The ink was Sulekha ink in the largest bottle available, probably 500 ml, and the nib was most probably smooth but too broad for my liking. Still the experience of holding such a unique gift from my dad was immense. 

                                         

The Wingsung 233 fountain pens

Then we (me and my elder sister) discovered 'Hero' hooded fountain pens with fine nib, probably the 329 and 332s in our local stationary shop. This may seem a miracle of sorts in today's context, but was perfectly normal back then, so even small book shops kept a few copies of cheap eyedropper and Hero pens.  

I liked those pens, since they laid down the perfectly fine but wet line for me. I practiced mathematics with these pens to my heart's content, notebook after notebook. Those costs rs 20-30 each (around 1996-98), a high price for my parents when I look back. We were small children then, and I was a bit demanding too. I always eyed my sister's pens, for they appeared better to me, but never got them. Once she bought a Hero 343 white, the only piece in the shop. And I was green with jealousy, I wanted that white beauty too much, and whenever she went outside to take a break from studying, I picked that up. I was captivated by the peculiar hooded nibs, feeds, golden caps and aerometric filling system of these pens.

Hero 332 fountain pens

What happened to my fountain pens?

I don't remember. As I got older, there was simply too much writing to be done. There was the fear of my answers wiping out in rain or water during transport by teachers, ink getting low/empty during exams, ink marks damaging my image to examiners, clothes getting soiled.....all non specific reasons. It might be possible that we never got a good enough fountain pen which will write fast enough for the exams. Our surroundings changed, all students (and teachers) embraced ball point pens in place of fountain pens. There was a problem getting ink bottles. The ball point pens were very cheap and disposable. So, I lost them from my mind. The last memory I have of them is that of keeping all of them inside a geometry box and placing that box in a corner of the wall cabinet. I was never to see them again. It is possible that my sister took them to her college hostel and gradually lost them one by one, or gifted them to somebody. The box might have been lost during the change of house at my father's retirement. But I remembered the box almost 15 years later!!!!!! Some love is never lost.

So, can one use them today?

I bought a few in quick successions from ebay. First the fine nib hooded Hero pens. Gradually I shifted to Jinhao and Baoer traditional medium nib pens. Later I bought a few 'Parker' s, 'Sheaffer' VFM, Rotring Espirit and Freeway, Platinum preppy, Pilot Metropolitan, and the list is growing each month. I'll create a separate post on why I got hooked to these pens once again, but concentrating on the salient question 'Could these fountain pens be used on a daily basis?', the answer is definitely a big YES. One can permanently shift from ball points to fountain pens even today, without much problems.

Jinhao x450 fountain pen

Baoer 79 star

What are the basic problems for a beginner?

1. Choosing the right pen for your type of writing is very  important. It's difficult for someone else to predict the proper nib and fountain pen for you unless you give a try with at least a few pens, and that too for some extended time. All ball point pens write same, the pressure required is excessive and our brain gets used to giving such pressure to the paper. The first thing while using a fountain pen is to decrease the pressure, relaxing your fingers. A good fountain pen must write with minimal pressure. So just practicing a bit with the new pen  at home before taking it for vital work is important.
2. Some pens are smooth out of the box, but most cheap pens (including the Chinese pens) are not. They require a good amount of flushing of the nib and feed before being inked. You can use gentle dishwasher as the cleaning agent with lots of water. This step will remove the grease in nib/feed and otherwise you may prematurely stamp these pens as unusable.
3. Writing with a pen adjusts our motor cortex, and regular writing with a particular grip and pressure will make the writing experience even better. Writing with a fountain pen requires careful control of the pen. It may slow you down initially but the experience is worth the extra work.
4.  The largest barrier to fountain pen use is not the pen or ink factor, but the poor quality of papers these days. The ball point pens work well on most papers, but fountain pens are comparatively picky when it comes to paper. There may be feathering, bleed through or dryness of pen if lower quality papers are used. But that doesn't disqualify these beautiful works of art from being your daily companion.
5. Initially, your fingers will get stained while filling the cartridge/ converters, even your clothes may suffer if you are not careful enough. Accept these as a part of (re)learning a new thing.

Thanks everybody and enjoy your new fascination.