Off Topic Knives and fountain pens

K.O.D. said:
I've become proficient enough to use my Lamy lefty. I find it works best it I write quickly, and on a softer medium like a noted pad. Unfortunately this makes my handwriting poor, but still legible.
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There's various papers in different gram strengths (Rhodia, Tomoé, etc that work well with different inks. There are so many types you'll surely be able to find a combination that works well for your ink/nib combination. Much of the pleasure of using fountain pens is in using a variety of ink and paper that expresses your style in much the same way as carrying an edc knife.
 
ADBrown said:
There's various papers in different gram strengths (Rhodia, Tomoé, etc that work well with different inks. There are so many types you'll surely be able to find a combination that works well for your ink/nib combination. Much of the pleasure of using fountain pens is in using a variety of ink and paper that expresses your style in much the same way as carrying an edc knife.
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I'm just a grunt using it at work, no real time for flair or style lol. I will say I enjoy writing with it.
 
ADBrown said:
Point taken. Thanks for pointing out It was a lame comment.
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Nothing lame about your comment. Silver is funny stuff. It didn’t tarnish much until Sulfur got in the atmosphere about the time they started extracting fuels from the ground. The pen gets shinier when it is being used. Silver jewelry is much the same.
 
Calligraphy used to be a hobby of mine, and occasionally I could do a nice fine ink drawing. As I aged though, I developed an intention tremor in, wouldn't you know it, my right index finger. My handwriting starts out fine, but after a few words, becomes progressively worse, to the point that it's pretty much unreadable after a few sentences. I still appreciate fine handwriting & nice writing instruments, but anything more expensive than the cheapest Bic pen would be wasted on me.:)
 
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Ironbut said:
Calligraphy used to be a hobby of mine, and occasionally I could do a nice fine ink drawing. As I aged though, I developed an intention tremor in, wouldn't you know it, my right index finger. My handwriting starts out fine, but after a few words, becomes progressively worse, to the point that it's pretty much unreadable after a few sentences. I still appreciate fine handwriting & nice writing instruments, but anything more expensive than the cheapest Bic pen would be wasted on me.:)
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I wonder if holding a pen between your 2nd and 3rd finger would work. Wild guess!
 
tiguy7 said:
The nibs are heavily shrouded which cuts down on evaporative ink loss and enables the making of Carbon copies.
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Being "FIRM" no flex nibs also helped making carbon copies.

Nice collection of spare nibs👍
My Super 21 has a "Firm" steel nib. According to Parker's ads, the 21's and 51's writing experience was the same, even tho the 51 came with a 14K gold nib.
I suppose if the nibs don't have any flex, it don't matter if it's made of a steel or gold alloy.

Gold nibs do look classier tho. 🤔😁
 
afishhunter said:
Being "FIRM" no flex nibs also helped making carbon copies.

Nice collection of spare nibs👍
My Super 21 has a "Firm" steel nib. According to Parker's ads, the 21's and 51's writing experience was the same, even tho the 51 came with a 14K gold nib.
I suppose if the nibs don't have any flex, it don't matter if it's made of a steel or gold alloy.

Gold nibs do look classier tho. 🤔😁
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My understanding of Carbon copying with the 51’s and 61’s was that the nibs were stiff from the tight curl and they were supported on the top side by the shroud.
 
tiguy7 said:
My understanding of Carbon copying with the 51’s and 61’s was that the nibs were stiff from the tight curl and they were supported on the top side by the shroud.
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My Esterbrook "J" pens with a 2556 Firm Fine and 9461 Rigid Fine nib (both un-hooded) are also capable of making carbon copies.

The "soft" flex and semi-flex nibs that have line variation are not suitable for carbon copies.
If you press too hard with those nibs; hard enough to make just one carbon copy -- forget two or three -- you can/will permanently splay and/or bend the nib tines, ruining/destroying the nib.

My Jinhao nibs are supposedly no flex, but they do flex a little if you press down a tiny bit more than if using a ballpoint. You can see the tines open at the tip.
If I had to make a carbon copy, I wouldn't use one of my Jinhao's with steel nibs, or my Waterman's Dauntless with a 14K semi-flex nib.
No matter how hard I press using the Esterbrooks, Heros (firm or rigid not sure which, extra fine, hooded nibs), or Parker Super 21 (firm fine (it might be a medium) hooded nib), the line width is unchanged. The tines don't spread even 0.001 inch.
The shade of blue ink changes if using even a slightly wetter nib. No change in color/shade, so I know the tines are not spreading.
 
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