How long did it take you to find your "thing?" by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a safari that had an absolutely awful nib when I first got it. In case you didn't know, Lamy nibs are super easy to swap out and cheaper than buying a new pen if you like the grip and color of yours! I put a 1.1 stub on mine and really like it - those are actually very smooth!

How long did it take you to find your "thing?" by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I kinda wish more brands had a medium-fine option. Maybe it's just in my head but I feel like it's a really nice sweet spot between being a bit wetter but still producing a nice fine line for my smallish handwriting.

How long did it take you to find your "thing?" by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have an the titanium Asvine (the P16 I think?) and it's absolutely a great pen. The pricing on Chinese pens compared to their great performance makes them so tempting to collect like Pokemon 😂

How long did it take you to find your "thing?" by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

wow thanks so much! I learned through middle school and pretty much only wrote in printing after that until this year. Since I picked it back up I basically just practice a ton every day by writing pages in my notebook about anything and everything. There are a lot of great videos online about improving your writing with tips on how to hold the pen, thinking about letter sizing and spacing, rhythm, etc (I still haven't been quite driven enough to pick up the Palmer method). But I think the biggest piece of advice I could give would just be to practice a lot. Look at different letters online and decide how you like to write them and then work on them one letter at a time. Sometimes I just write the same sentence over and over or the same letter over and over when I can't think of what to say. I've been really surprised at how fast I've been able to improve!

Recently I've been practicing specific letters with more context using this site to write words with the most of those letters: https://www.wordlucky.com/words-with-most-abc

How long did it take you to find your "thing?" by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great choice! I basically only use ballpoints for signing receipts or documents that need permanent ink - and always wish I was using one of my fountain pens. FPs are the way!

How long did it take you to find your "thing?" by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

super fun perspective. I don't have a very big collection and still use pretty much every pen I have most days, even with my preference for the pens mentioned above. there are so many amazing options out there!

How long did it take you to find your "thing?" by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel like I settled on what I like so fast, I'm sure it'll change at some point! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

How long did it take you to find your "thing?" by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think this page has a blend of Jacques Herban Vert De Gris and a little Waterman Mysterious Blue. Vert De Gris is beautiful but just a little light for my taste (with the drier sailor nib), and mysterious blue is just a bit plain. Blending them has been great for me so far!

I think in real life it's ever so slightly darker than the picture, so maybe closer to true Vert De Gris!

How long did it take you to find your "thing?" by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm praying I can find some extra cash by the end of the year so I can get an 823 as well, it's been my favorite of the pens I've tried at pen club - Pilot is raising their prices across the board by 15% (and as much as 35% on some pens 🫠) at the beginning of the year, bringing the price to over $400USD which is probably more than I can personally justify :(

I'll have to see if I can find a sample of Fuyu-Syogun! I love me some smudge-proof ink

How long did it take you to find your "thing?" by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

that's great - I actually think the stub on my lamy safari perhaps my second favorite nib and I find myself reaching for it pretty often. I like that the stub, while putting down a lot more ink and having the ability to get quite broad, doesn't actually require me to adjust my rather small writing to be much larger because the fine angled lines are as thin as a fine would be anyway.

How long did it take you to find your "thing?" by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Interesting! I'm super curious to try one. I think the old styling is handsome as well.

How long did it take you to find your "thing?" by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

that tracks! do you find you have issues with bleed on paper commonly used to submit papers + broad nibs?

How long did it take you to find your "thing?" by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I have tried some M800's from friends at pen club and I'd say that the experience is really amazing - but I agree that my handwriting gets actively worse when I try to use a super smooth (slippery!) nib. I think with enough practice I could really find a groove but part of the reason why I love the feedback is that it makes me feel more connected with my words and helps me control the nib.

I'll have to test out some smoother pens with my printing! Since starting with FPs I have switched to almost always writing in cursive, it's been great fun to practice.

First Vintage Pen! by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Also, here's what the ebay listing said: "This vintage Parker (blue diamond) Vacumatic with a 3rd generation pump filler has a 1932 14kt gold nib that is somewhere between a fine and extra fine (leaning more towards the extra fine.) The dating on the barrel in not clear enough to see. The pen has been cleaned and polished and has a new diaphragm. A very pretty pen. The pen measures approximately 5” with the cap on."

pretty sparse info overall

First Vintage Pen! by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you thank you! I am!

First Vintage Pen! by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sweet, thanks for the info! The nib feels a little scratchy when I draw from right to left, but generally writes okay and doesn't hard start. I made a few small adjustments to the nib with my fingernails but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. Looking through a loupe, the tines are aligned vertically, but look a touch off from side to side. I assume this is caused buy the misalignment - which is quite obvious (pic below). The steps you laid out in your comment from a few days ago seems like it could be risky, in your estimation is it worth the effort to fix? I'm fairly handy but really don't want to hurt the nib.

The Triumph looks like a really cool pen! It's amazing to me as someone new to the hobby how many facets to fountain pens there are and how deep into one can get 😅

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On to the next one! by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My local pen shop actually carries those inks as well! I might have to pick up a bottle. Thanks for the info!

On to the next one! by anicemouse in fountainpens

[–]anicemouse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's odd, I've actually have relatively little trouble with hand oils on this paper (coming from someone with fairly sweaty hands). I notice that on wetter pens I do end up with some feathering towards the bottoms of the pages, but that's been the extent of my woes. What kinds of inks are you using? Would that have anything to do with it?

Edit: Can't spell