Fountain Pens

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Barryboy
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Re: Fountain Pens

Post by Barryboy »

Unfortunately it seems that a straightforward replacement 'screw in' italic nib unit is not available for my particular model TWSBI, but someone mentioned a 1.5mm stub as a reasonable substitute - and they are readily available for about twenty quid. I have never tried a stub pen - any thoughts, anyone, given that it's just wanted to 'add a little something' to my handwriting and I'm not looking at full-blown calligraphy?
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Re: Fountain Pens

Post by suicidal_orange »

An italic nib has sharp corners while the stub has rounded corners, this makes the stub easier to write with which sounds ideal if you're not doing calligraphy. There are samples at the bottom on The Writing Desk and the 1.1mm looks to provide plenty of 'something', though why settle for a little when you can have a lot :thumbup: (unless your writing is small)
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welshlad
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Re: Fountain Pens

Post by welshlad »

What suicidal_orange has said is spot on. I would say that a 1.5mm stub is pretty broad, so it's only really suitable for larger writing. A 1.1mm stub is more practical IMHO, although even that can be a bit too broad for me as I write fairly small. I've never really understood why narrower stubs, like 0.7-0.8mm, aren't more freely available. They do exist, but are harder to find.
Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. - Niels Bohr
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Re: Fountain Pens

Post by MrBen »

jkbarnes wrote: Tue Jul 27, 2021 11:44 pm “Walter, can I borrow your pen?”

“No, you cannot.”

He didn’t miss a bit or even lift his head. And nor did he try to explain why. The look of shock and disbelief on Madeline’s face was priceless. :lol: :lol: :lol:
I always carried a 'loaner' when we were in the office for that very reason :lol:

@welshlad - Who would you recommend for a UK based nib grind? I'm a long tern listener to The Pen Addict podcast so a lot of the nibmeisters I know about are US based. A podcast about fountain pens? Yup - they are up to over 470 episodes :thumbup:

My daily driver is a Lamy 2000 :D
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welshlad
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Re: Fountain Pens

Post by welshlad »

MrBen wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 12:36 am @welshlad - Who would you recommend for a UK based nib grind?
My recommendation would be Noah Maasarani, aka The Pen Doctor.

See here: https://www.thependoctor.ltd/

or here: https://www.facebook.com/thependoctor

He's done some work for me in the past that was excellent and he's a nice guy to deal with. I've also accumulated another list of pen/nib fixes that I need to send to him too! It never ends. :oops:
Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. - Niels Bohr
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Re: Fountain Pens

Post by MrBen »

Many thanks @welshlad.

So far I've not managed to damage anything (yet) but always fancied a custom grind.
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Re: Fountain Pens

Post by suicidal_orange »

missF wrote: Tue Nov 08, 2022 12:17 pmThere was. I was interested enough to find a UK fountain pen forum to ask a few questions. It was a bit terrifying! Kind of like this forum on steroids! So much obsession! So much to discuss! So much to know! So many different pens that mostly look the same to me! :lol:

Hmmm - perhaps my experience was the same as a non watch person would have coming here for the first time?!
(Quoted from another thread so as not to derail it further :thumbup:)

I would hope not, at least assuming you know little about watches you probably don't care about much beyond looks and functionality and it's only after spending some time reading and trying some you get a feel for the details.

I would approach pens the same way - you have small wrists so I'm guessing small fingers too meaning you don't want a thick, heavy pen. Next is the thickness the nib writes and again it's pretty simple - the smaller your handwriting the finer you need. Looking in the Sales Corner your writing looks to be average size so a medium nib would probably be good. You want a bit of character in the line width (else you'd may as well use a ball point) and you like quality but don't want to spend much - I'd suggest this 1960's Parker Slimfold would be a great first pen.
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Re: Fountain Pens

Post by JAFO »

Montblanc pens, eh?

Who would have thought a watchmaker could sell expensive pens. Well I never. :D