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Help the newbie

After a wonderful round of bingo in the nib I have earned the title of bingo champ! I love that it was for this forum. I am an art teacher but other than college days practicing letter types and fonts, I've not done a lot with calligraphy. My only current working pen is a glass ink dip. I own lots of artists markers that work well but would like to get a fountain pen. So I need advice from you gentlemen of the nib. What's your suggestion for a starter pen keep in mind my budget is $30 and under. I've been looking at the Pilot metropolitan. I would really appreciate your suggestions as knowledgeable users of these pens.


Independent mother of 2, Artist, Teacher, L.O.L.S, W.I.S.E.
 
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Rebecca,

Welcome to the Nib. It sounds like you are going down the right path by pursuing the Pilot Metropolitan; It is about as good of a starter pen as you can get for the money.

I was an art major myself once...That being said, I think that the temptation of a flex nib may get into your blood. Resist it...You are not going to find a fountain pen that compares to the Speedball nibs or dip pen nibs you used for calligraphy (at least not at a reasonable price) If you do have to have a flex nib, do your research...vintage is best.
 
Fountain pens are not just for calligraphy, they can be for everyday writing. In fact, if it's calligraphy (or drawing) that you want to pursue, then you might want to consider a couple of dip pen holders and several steel nibs for them. But others would have to advise you on the specifics. I have some dip pens which I use from time to time, but don't really know the best nibs to recommend.

But for fountain pens in your price range, there are a number of pens with italic nibs that can almost instantly make your handwriting more interesting, even if they're not necessarily the best for writing normally. Look at the Lamy Joy series for example. There is the very cheap Pilot Plumix, with a sort of stub nib, and the Pilot Prera if you get one with the CM nib. Or you could just get a regular fine, medium, or broad nib on any number of pens.

Other popular recommendations for inexpensive beginner pens include the Pilot Metropolitan (which many like, but I dislike because I find it uncomfortable to hold), the Pilot FP 78G, and the plastic versions of the Kaweco Sport. Some people are happy with their Jinhao pens, but I don't trust the QC, and find the popular 159 much too heavy, as well as being an uncomfortable size.

Inks meant for dip pens tend to clog fountain pens badly, so you'll want to budget a little, say between $10 and $15, for a bottle of fountain pen ink. Or you could get a bunch of samples from Goulet's pens.
 
Hi,
It might be worth checking out the Lamy safari or similar... Very easy to change nibs if you want to play around with different sizes etc.
Cheers
Sean
 

Billski

Here I am, 1st again.
Pilot: Varsity

These can be bought for $8.34 for three throw away pens.

Use the ink in these pens. Then the the pen is a good dip pen.

I use this dip pen to write to a pen pal.
 
I don't own one yet but I have been looking at Fountain Pen Revolution pens. They seem to have good reviews on YouTube and you can get regular nibs anywhere from extra fine to a stub nib for there pens. They seem to sale extra nibs and feeds for there pens so you can try out what you want and if you don't like it you can change the nib easily till you find one you do like. The nibs are around $3 each for what they call the 5.5 nibs in two tone and the pen I'm looking at is only $18 for a piston fill pen +$3 for the flex nib option. As I said I don't own one yet but I'm probably going to try one in the near future.
 
[MENTION=99814]Badger babe[/MENTION]

I have no suggestions to offer since I use cheap ballpoints at work and I can't even keep those in my pocket for a whole day....

But I can say

Congratulations!!!

:a50::thumbup:
 
My current recomendation for someone looking to buy a pen, to use forever as their sole pen is a Lamy Al-Star. It's slightly larger than the Safari, and the aluminium provides a cool, sophisticated tactile sensation when picking it up (will warm very rapidly). The 1.1 italic nib is a favorite, but EF-F-M-B nibs are all good.

There are some staple colours, one new every year, and the coming Luxe line, which seem very nice.

$LamyALStar029.jpg
 
Thank you so much for all of the help. I feel like I may be falling down another rabbit hole of art stuff. Since I already have a pottery wheel and kiln at my house for clay, I make my own jewelry and love blowing glass, I better tread lightly. Lol


Independent mother of 2, Artist, Teacher, L.O.L.S, W.I.S.E.
 

Claudel Xerxes

Staff member
Thank you so much for all of the help. I feel like I may be falling down another rabbit hole of art stuff. Since I already have a pottery wheel and kiln at my house for clay, I make my own jewelry and love blowing glass, I better tread lightly. Lol


Independent mother of 2, Artist, Teacher, L.O.L.S, W.I.S.E.

It's an easy rabbit hole to fall down. :001_smile

If you're into glass blowing, have you ever tried making your own dip pen?
 

Claudel Xerxes

Staff member
I just found out that glass dip pens don't involve actual blowing. It's just a lot of spinning and shaping a glass rod. I would imagine that one would use the same concepts and some of the same principles and techniques for both, though.
 
It would seem that if you know your way around a glass oven, it's easy to make glass pens. Now all we need is a badger stamp for decoration and she can sell it to members... :)
 
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