[sukhbirST]

Wow what a collection. This also brought back great memories of pens gifted to me. Was lucky to get spares for few from Deccan pen stores in Hyderabad (in 1996) during a short tenure with IAF. Thanks for sharing and bringing back those joys of writing.

[veyron_head]

What a thread! I just got my son 2 pens similar to the 'hero' pens of the 80s and 90s, which was such a rage those days and something I could never buy. Tried my best to find the same hero pen but unsuccessful so far. It's a great feeling just looking at my son writing with it!

I did buy 40 reynold pens of all colors (they are still at 6 bucks a piece!)

[jusgetgoing]

Nice to come across this thread! I still reach for my Parker ink pen whenever I want to write. Apart from this, I also have a Sheaffer, Pilot, Lamy, Airmail and a Jinhao. Only the Parker and Jinhao are being used. Rest all are dried and stored.

Those are in Bangalore, please do check out J's La Quill Museum. The "first-of-its-kind" museum on Handwriting, Lettering, Calligraphy, Fountain Pens & other Writing Instruments. Website here I was fortunate enough to be present when it was inaugurated.

[dailydriver]

A pen, they say, is mightier than a sword. Both are sharp, double edged, capable of inflicting pain and death. In the right hands though, they can give, nourish and advance life. On a thread about writing instruments, I can only wish that the pen always maintains an upper hand over the sword.

Never been one to fuss over the kind of pen I have, all of my writing instruments have been run of the mill, low priced, easily accessible examples.

Friends tell me that my handwriting is good, but sadly, like most of the world, I too have very less occasions of actually writing anything on paper. For the majority of my working days, all I need a pen for is to sign the office attendance register. Had it not been for the monthly grocery list scribbled on torn notebook pages, I would have almost nothing to write even at home.

My first noteworthy memory of a pen is of one my father had borrowed from a colleague and had inadvertently brought home. Showing it to me, he had stressed that I was to remind him to take back and return it to the owner the next morning; more so because it was an expensive piece and we could ill afford to lose it. The dutiful son that I was, I carefully nursed it the entire evening and by the next day, had just managed to rip it open and made it unusable and irreparable.

True to word of my father’s instruction, I had not lost it. But in spirit, I had really lost two things - the pen and my father’s trust!

Fast forward a few years, a stingy relative was on a short term stay at our house. He had a Hero pen that I yearned to touch and use but never could. When he found a separate accommodation, he wanted to gift something to me and asked me to choose anything- budget no constraints! No marks for guessing wonder what I wanted. Sadly, he never actually brought/bought me the Hero.

x x x x x

Over the years I have gifted and been gifted numerous pens. Because of my expertise in losing pens at speeds and regularity that would put to shame Japanese bullet trains, I don’t possess a single one worth its name.

This thread, however, helps me vicariously enjoy rare, beautiful and unique pieces. The pride with which Bhpians preserve them puts me in awe and kindles the desire to own something similar. But knowing my limitations and limited use, I limit myself to just viewing pleasure.

Being a true blue Bhpian, it would be a travesty to write so much and not add anything substantial and useful. So, here’s something I found in The Asian Age a few days ago - the picture of a PEN HOSPITAL in Kolkata.

[meconi]

Aah! a thread on my favourite hobby in one of my favourite forums. wonder how I missed this all along .

I am a huge FP fan and keep experimenting with modern and vintage pens that I keep acquiring. have a fairly nice collection and example of which is the attached. I keep picking up some of my favourites - Lamy, Pelikan, Montblanc , Kaweco, TWSBI, Pilots , the list goes on..I also have a fair collection of Indian FPs- ASA, Gama, Kanwrite , Airmails etc.

I work a corporate managerial job in IT - Manage WW sales for couple of large customers and have to acknowledge that once this fascination started my notes and handwriting has become a well appreciated thing among my workmates. many of who wonder at my ability to structure well written summaries during meetings- Needless to say all of these would be with my fountain pens and that many a time have broken ice with my customers as an open discussion to start . they are sometime bewildered to see someone using an FP itself .

Elated to see some of my fellow FP lovers and BHPians on this thread.

[ABHI_1512]

Nostalgia gripped me today when I went through this thread. But co incidentally or not, I also cleaned up my once prized possession and it is as good as new. Back during my school days, Wing Sung pens were a rage. I used to get one every year after the school results and the one I have now is the only one that was a special edition back in those days, at least I thought so. So here it is, Wing Sung Hero series special :

[ajayc123]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

Nostalgia gripped me today when I went through this thread. But co incidentally or not, I also cleaned up my once prized possession and it is as good as new. Back during my school days, Wing Sung pens were a rage. I used to get one every year after the school results and the one I have now is the only one that was a special edition back in those days, at least I thought so. So here it is, Wing Sung Hero series special :

Attachment 2356591

Wow, nice to recollect those days. I also used the same pens (maybe slightly different colours, but the same brand) during my school days. My guess is these were Chinese pens (that's what we used to call them), and were good quality, durable and reliable. [Unlike the present day Chinese products]

[adi.mariner]

For those in Pune interested in Pens, there is an exhibition on 10-11 December in JW Marriott on Senapati Bapat Road. News link below.
https://punemirror.com/pune/others/C...cid9394111.htm

[D4d-maniac]

This thread on Team-BHP just goes to show that you can find just about anything on this forum. Glad to be here.
My fountain pen journey started during Covid Lockdown. Started with a humble Pilot Metropolitan with a Diamine Presidential Blue ink.
The obsession quickly escalated, thanks to the Telegram Group by the name of Fountain pen club of india. Tried pretty much all the brands, now the halo pens that I have are
1. MontBlanc 149 with a medium nib
2. Sailor King of Pen Ebonite with a Broad nib
3. Sailor King of Pen Tea time Fika cup with Medium nib
4. Pilot Custom Urushi Vermillion Broad
5. Pilot Custom Irushi Vermillion Medium nib

Adding a pic of my collection.

[vrprabhu]

This is a part of my collection - a sample of 'entry level' and 'mid-segment' version

The high-end / luxury ones will be revealed later (a couple are 'previewed' in the middle box i.e. the smallest box of the lot, with the fewest pens)!

It has grown over 40+ years - comprising of freshly baked ones as well as vintage ones which are older than me!!

Beginning from a simple 'ink barrel' Camlin to the 'ink cartridge' Mont Blanc and Pilots and Parkers in between.

From a refillable Geeflo to a high end Cross, Waterman, Sheaffer, Parker and so on.

Not to left behind, is that from a Reynold lead (pencil) pen to a Mitsubishi propeller pencil.

And, a simple Ekco sketch (felt tipped) pen to a very fine tipped Uni.

Of course, there are Papermates, Bics, Senators, Schmidts, Pelikans etc. which are jostling for space with the Adds, Cellos, Rotomacs etc.

[vrprabhu]

Here's preview of the luxury models

The Montblancs -





The Cross, Sheaffer, Rudi Kellner -





These are two decades old (atleast) & are in pristine condition (sad part is the clip of the Montblanc steel ballpen caught some rust). The Montblanc fountain pen hasn't been used at all...

[gkrishn]

Couple of weeks back, ordered a desire fine regular from kanwrite website. This is primarily for my kids(was to order one more if this works out) school work.

When it arrived, i didn't think much about it. Filled up the ink in the converter, did some test write and handed it over to my kid. This is their first fountain pain.

This weekend, i got curious after noticing them using it for their homework. And gave it a more thorough testing.

It has been a bit of disappointment. The nib, scratched and and flow gets interrupted frequently. The ink is camlin royal blue.

Was trying mostly on the school provided notebooks. suspected that this could be due to the paper quality and moved over to few other high quality papers my daughter had. Mean time, gave a nice rinse to the nib section as it is, in tap water. Also moved to eyedropper mode, just to make sure the flow is good. This helped a bit, but the flow issue still persists.

When the nib dries up, i give it a couple of vigorous shake, which restores the flow. Stays wet for a paragraph or two, nicely. And then slowly the flow starts shuttering. At which point the vigorous shake restores the order!

Did look up videos from youtube. One suggestion was to completely dismantle the nib section and rinse/soak nib and feeder over night. I am unable to pull out the nib and the feeder. Is this feasible in the kanwrite desire nibs?

I can hold back on the scratchiness. Want to fix the flow first.

Any thoughts? Kids use ball point otherwise. So i don't have any other reference to compare with.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by gkrishn

Couple of weeks back, ordered a desire fine regular from kanwrite website. This is primarily for my kids(was to order one more if this works out) school work.

When it arrived, i didn't think much about it. Filled up the ink in the converter, did some test write and handed it over to my kid. This is their first fountain pain.

This weekend, i got curious after noticing them using it for their homework. And gave it a more thorough testing.

It has been a bit of disappointment. The nib, scratched and and flow gets interrupted frequently. The ink is camlin royal blue.

Was trying mostly on the school provided notebooks. suspected that this could be due to the paper quality and moved over to few other high quality papers my daughter had. Mean time, gave a nice rinse to the nib section as it is, in tap water. Also moved to eyedropper mode, just to make sure the flow is good. This helped a bit, but the flow issue still persists.

When the nib dries up, i give it a couple of vigorous shake, which restores the flow. Stays wet for a paragraph or two, nicely. And then slowly the flow starts shuttering. At which point the vigorous shake restores the order!

Did look up videos from Youtube. One suggestion was to completely dismantle the nib section and rinse/soak nib and feeder over night. I am unable to pull out the nib and the feeder. Is this feasible in the kanwrite desire nibs?

I can hold back on the scratchiness. Want to fix the flow first.

Any thoughts? Kids use ball point otherwise. So i don't have any other reference to compare with.

Scratchy nib is easier to take care of -
1) ascertain whether the scratchiness is due to misaligned tines or due to length difference of tines or due to material roughness on one / both tines
2) misaligned tines is difficult to correct because you will have to twist is gently (needle nose pliers) in the opposite direction - which may snap off the tine or the tip
3) length difference and material roughtness is easily taken care by simple use of file (like nail file) or a very fine sand-paper / emery-paper.


The flow issues are mostly (in my personal experience with multiple expensive and in-expensive pens) due to
a) inconsistent gap between the nib and the feeder (actually the channel inside the feeder). You would understand that the flow of ink is combination of gravity and capillary action. If the gap increases then the capillary action will fail: this is a challenging problem to solve and requires in person examination
b) misalignment of feeder channel and nib breather hole: both have to be aligned and there should be a considerable overlap (length wise) between the nib tines and feeder ink channel; otherwise how will the ink travel to the tip? This is mostly adjustment problem and easy to solve by pulling everything out and aligning and refitting

for reference regarding the terminology of part names used: https://www.gouletpens.com/pages/ana...a-fountain-pen

###

Off late I am observing that getting fine nibs is extremely difficult - there seems to be a market preference for broad nibs.
Is this what others are also experiencing?

[Eddy]

I've never been a fan of heavy pens. I make do with whatever I have handy, as long as it is not a ball pen. Any gel/pilot pen goes.

My favourite during school time was the humble Luxor Pilot pen (v5). My daughter has taken to the same pen.

[gkrishn]

Originally Posted by alpha1

Off late I am observing that getting fine nibs is extremely difficult - there seems to be a market preference for broad nibs.
Is this what others are also experiencing?

frustrated by the above experience, ordered a ITC Classmate branded 20rs pen thru bigbasket.
The flow and smoothness on that was pretty good! It was a too broad of nib, as you pointed!

Let me try to get hold of some 12000grit sandpaper!

Originally Posted by Eddy

My favourite during school time was the humble Luxor Pilot pen (v5). My daughter has taken to the same pen.

Agreed! probably i overdid for school activity!
But i wanted them to feel special and take up fountain pen. They have been pretty comfortable with the ballpoints.