Need advice on fountain pen kits

[Rob]

I have a co-worker that wants a fountain pen turned me little old me. Having never even used one, much less turned one, I don't know what to look for in the kits. I see all kinds of kits from $10.00 to $100 for the kit, the nibs are made from materials I've never even heard of.

So what would write the best, what advice would one offer, do some write outstanding while other are ok, and some are trash? What do I look for in a good quality fountain pen?

Thanks in advance

 

[rcflyer23]

The only experience I have had so far with a fountain pen is the one I turned for my dad at Christmas. It was an El Grande kit. The kit is fine, it has a ton of plastic in it, still the kit is good. It has one of the cheaper nibs on it. You should be able to replace the nib on any of them with a higher grade nib in case you like a certain kit. I am pretty sure that the higher end nibs flow better and are smoother to write with as opposed to the one on the El Grande which is a nice one but I would probably upgrade it if I did another one.

You might want to just on http://www.penturners.org and here is a link to one of the articles over there http://content.penturners.org/BTN/BTN3-2008.pdf it is on How to choose a fountain pen. If you look in their library there are several articles on tuning a FP, etc. I really need to read a couple of them my self as I would like to turn a nice FP for myself.

Hope that sends you in the "write" direction.

 

[ChrisMathes]

The question, I guess, is if the customer is fountain pen 'saavy'. The quality of the fountain pen is judged by the nib. Basically, the inexpensive nibs are made of steel and are from Japan. The higher quality nibs are made from gold and may be plated with platinum, etc., are made in Germany and are obviously more expensive. My suggestion to you would be to gauge your customer's interest. If he doesn't really know pens, then you could order a nice kit from craft supplies (http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com)...their kits seem to have a good reputation for having a half way decent steel nib. I have read many accounts of people who are somewhat pen saavy being quite happy with their nibs.

Now, if your client wants to tack on an extra $80-100, there are opportunities to upgrade these pens with a gold nib that is as nice as anything else on the market. I'm not a fountain pen expert, but have sold a few fountain pens, a few of which included the 18 karat gold nib. I would be willing to bet that the average person would be quite happy with the csusa nib unless they are a collector. If they are a collector, you seem to know it right away as they won't deal with someone who isn't confident in their knowledge on the topic.

Finally, I would recommend supplying some ink with your pen. It is amazing how much inks differ and give you different writing experience. My experience has soley been with Private Reserve. Even within that brand, you will find some inks that flow nicely and others that are quite a pain to get to flow through the nib. Given that the pen writes through capillary action, the viscosity of the ink is important and that varies just from color to color within the same brand. I have found that tanzinite is one of the favorite colors in Private Reserve because of the flow/viscosity. My experience has black cherry to flow very similarly and I prefer the color. The other thing I found is that I like DC blue ...something..can't recall off hand. It flows much more freely than the other colors (a bit more water-ey) so you can write more quickly with it. So, black cherry is my fav, but would go to DC Blue if I will be more in notetaking mode and needing to write more quickly.

Hope that helps!
Regards,
Chris

 

[Rob]

Ok, my next question is that do the kits come with ink cartridges? I see the kits on crafts supply and the show the cartridges separate? So I'm guessing no, they don't. Are cartridges standard among the fountain pens? In my searches on the web I'm seeing [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]standard international size, is this what most fountain pens use?
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[JJD]

Generally the kits come with ink cartridges and bottle-fill inserts. I have had great luck with Classic American kits from Woodcraft. Recently also bought one of the high end kits from Craft Supplies (Emperor, I think). It is a beautiful pen. I like it because it is heavy and substantial. The Classic American is much lighter and smaller in the hand. I, too, have tried different kinds of inks, and each type of pen seems to work best with a different kind! The Private Reserve inks seem to work well with the Classic American, but Noodler's Ink works best with the expensive one I made. BTW, those high end kits can cost $40-60 without the wood! The advice of another poster to determine the person's pen saavy is good advice!!!

 

[ChrisMathes]

John makes some good points above, especially regarding ink types. I misposted the web addy above for craft supplies usa...its http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com....oops. Anyway, they do have a number of high end kits, but you could check out the Jr. Gentleman's pen for around $12...it will come with the same nibs. The problem is that you will then have to buy new bushings, drill bits, etc and pay for shipping...so...if the customer is just wanting to try a fountain pen then John may be onto something with the Am pen...

 

[GeorgeL]

Rob,

To add to the above comments:

This pen from PSI offers a German made gold and iridium nib and a postable cap. It is a mid sized pen, about the size of a cigar pen.

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKDBFBT.html

This fountain pen from CSUSA also has a German made gold and iridium nib but the cap is left off when writing. This is a large pen! The cap is 11/16" in diameter. A very good looking very elegent pen. :icon_thum

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/s...Kits___Statesman_Pen_Kit___statesman_pen?Args

If they like "bling" the majestic from PSI is a beautiful fountain pen however I see no mention of the country of origin for the nib.

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKMAFTP.html

Both the Majestic and the Statesman are available in smaller Jr. sizes with postable caps. These are about the size of a Baron/Navigator.

Hope this helps,

George

 

[ChrisMathes]

btw...a correction to George's comments is that all those nibs are actually made of steel but are plated with gold and platinum. It may seem picky, but you cannot sell a gold plated nib as anything but a steel nib to someone who knows fountain pens. Most people will be happy with a steel nib...just want to make sure you are clear on what is what FP snobs believe the gold nib writes better...fwiw.

 

[GeorgeL]

btw...a correction to George's comments is that all those nibs are actually made of steel but are plated with gold and platinum. It may seem picky, but you cannot sell a gold plated nib as anything but a steel nib to someone who knows fountain pens. Most people will be happy with a steel nib...just want to make sure you are clear on what is what FP snobs believe the gold nib writes better...fwiw.

Thanks Chris,

Good to know

George

 

[ChrisMathes]

George...I had not seen that Broadwell Nouveau Sceptre pen before from PSI. That's a nice looking pen...might have to get some of those kits. I especially like the way the pen flows down to the nib and the way they did the two tone. I've favored the csusa pens over penn state industry, but I'll be giving that one a second look

Chris

 

[GeorgeL]

George...I had not seen that Broadwell Nouveau Sceptre pen before from PSI. That's a nice looking pen...might have to get some of those kits. I especially like the way the pen flows down to the nib and the way they did the two tone. I've favored the csusa pens over penn state industry, but I'll be giving that one a second look

Chris

I agree, CSUSA seems to have better, high-end kits but the new Majestic and the Sceptre pens from PSI are pretty nice. I'm going to order 2 of the Broadwell fountain pens for Alex, one in each finish. PSI has a $15 off coupon on the front of their latest catalog.

George