this post was submitted on 05 May 2024
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Fountain Pens

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First fountain pen of my life. Parker Vector with "Medium" nib. I've already had it for two weeks, and although this was only meant to try out fountain pens, I think I'll keep it, since the nib is a great compromise between being smooth while not being fussy with office paper. Already chewed through a cartridge. Only bad thing with the pen is that the grip is a little meh – my fingers don't really like it.

My next will probably be a Lamy (mostly Safari). Any recommendations for the nib size so it fits my criteria?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Vector and quink are still my favourites. Not bloated like most pens or unnecessarily frilled anywhere. Having a bit more sharp and flexible niin might be nice.

Pilot Birdie is another, though that's a bit different, obviously.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I find that the Lamy Extra Fine nib does quite well on office paper, but it's also very dependent on your ink. A thinner ink is much more likely to spread (it's before coffee idk the name). I need to find the manufacturer of the one I am using now (I was gifted the cart) so I can recommend it to you.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

My experiences with the Lamy polished steel nibs seem to be a bit of a lottery as to how close to standard they are.

I have used EF nibs that behaved more like a fine/medium nib and have a fine nib that was closer to an EF nib.

Then I got an EF black steel nib that was bang on.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Okay I have to say my EF black steel is definitely the best of the lot. It is a bit more scratchy, but paired with rhodia I like the feed back for faster notes.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

How scratchy (unsmooth?) is a Lamy EF?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Feedback (aka the scratchy friction from the nib rubbing across the paper fibers) all depends on both the paper and the type of nib you get.

The polished steel nib will have less feedback than the black steel nibs but the polished steel nibs will have greater variation in the line thickness.

Higher end/premium paper like Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Leuchtturm 1917 etc will feature smoother paper which will give less feedback.

Some feedback is wanted so you know how you are writing but how much feedback is needed is up to both the user and the situation.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

So I browsed around on my "local" (not really lol) stationery store thing, and there's this ONLINE Vision Classic, which seems to be quite good judging by what they say about it online. Does anyone have any experience with those?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

I'm not fond of the medium nib. I feel like I'm writing with a sharpie. I'm good to pick up an extra fine nib soon.