In my second post on fountain pens I’d like to share my likes and dislikes based on what I’ve tried. Disclaimer though: fountain pens can be very personal, so these are just my opinions. I also have no affiliation with any of the products listed below.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of everything I’ve used either. I’m just calling out things that stand out either positively or negatively.
Paper
Likes
- Maruman Mnemosyne: This is my go-to for notebooks. They’re available in a variety of sizes, the paper is a good thickness, and I’ve never had problems with any ink I’ve tried on it.
Dislikes
- Tomoe River: This is often called out as one of the best fountain pen papers, and it does show off sheen and shimmer in inks really well. However, I find the paper too thin and ink takes a long time to dry on it.
Ink
Likes
- Pilot Iroshizuku: Pilot’s upscale line of inks are fantastic. They’re available in a wide variety of colors, have great flow, always well-behaved, and come in large, easy-to-use bottles. I have the more Iroshizuku inks than any other brand and it’s my first stop if I want a new color.
- Birmingham Inks: Birmingham is a small, family-run business making inks out of Pittsburgh. They have a great variety of colors and their inks are also well-behaved. What makes them stand out is that they also have lines of inks designed with a variety of properties: working well on bad paper, permanent and waterproof, and easily washable. These properties are often hard to find in colors other than blue and black.
Dislikes
- Shimmer inks: Regardless of brand, I dislike shimmer inks. These inks of particles (usually of mica AFAIK) that create a glitter effect. However, in order to get this effect you have to shake up the bottle when filling and then again shake the pen before use, or else the shimmer particles will all have settled. It’s then really hard to clean out of pens and can clog the feed.
- Noodler’s: I am a little torn on this one because Noodler’s does offer some nice inks, and they’re a great source of inks with unusual properties (such as their bulletproof line which is apparently immune to being removed via lasers). However, there is a lot of inconsistency been batches and some inks behave very badly. While I have a couple I like, I probably won’t buy more.
Nibs
Likes
- Wavely: Also known as WA, this is an uncommon nib grind with an upturned tip (though less so than on a fude nib). I first encountered this on a vintage Sheaffer pen, and I believe Sheaffer used it commonly. I like it because it makes the nib work smoothly at a variety of writing angles. It is a lot harder to find on modern pens, however. I believe Pilot offers them only in Japan. https://fpnibs.com/ offers it as a custom grind on Jowo nibs as well.
Dislikes
- Jowo: Jowo manufactures standalone nib units, and is one of the most common nibs you’ll find in pens not made by the big companies that make their own. They work fine and have a good variety, but I find the writing experience to be just mediocre. However, they are nicely interchangeable between pens, and many customizations are possible.
Pens
Likes
- Pilot/Namiki: Pilot is my favorite modern pen company (Namiki is their high-end luxury brand). I find their nibs to be smooth and consistent at all sizes. They offer a wide range of pens from intro models like the Kakuno or Metropolitan up through the absolutely stunning Namiki models. I’m also a big fan of the Vanishing Point as the best combo of the convenience of a ballpoint with the good writing experience of a fountain pen.
- Franklin-Christoph: Franklin-Christoph is a small manufacturer of acrylic pens. I like that they break out of the mold of many such manufacturers and use more creative materials and designs for their pens. I also appreciate that they offer a much wider variety of nibs with custom grinds. They’re a great starting point if you want to try non-standard nibs.
Dislikes
- Platinum 3776: This pen is highly recommended, and I wanted to like it. I’ve now tried a few, however, and each time had a horrible experience with the nib. It was like writing with a needle and the flow was poor unless I used a very wet ink. I also really dislike their converters. The pens are beautiful, but not worth the trouble. I do have a Nakaya (Platinum’s high-end luxury brand), however, with a great nib.
- Sailor: Sailor makes a lot of different pens, and are particularly known for their collaborations. This is great because you can probably find a pen to match any aesthetic you’d like. The pens are manufactured well, and their converters are pretty good (though small). However, I really dislike the nibs. They are known for having feedback, and it is just too much for me.
- Lamy: The Safari is very commonly recommended as a starter pen, and the 2000 is often called out as one of the best fountain pens. I do like the Bauhaus design, and the pen bodies are really solid and stand up well to use. However, I dislike the nibs. The sizes are inconsistent (often writing a size or two larger than indicated) and the Safari’s nibs are scratchy. The 2000’s nib is smooth, but it has a very small sweet spot to get this smoothness. Slight differences in the angle of the pen make the writing experience worse. I also found the 2000 to be very picky about ink, with some inks exacerbating the sweet spot problem.
- Custom Acrylic: Rather than a specific company, this is the trend of small manufacturers or single artisans making pens on a lathe. There is a lot of skill involved, and I don’t want to diminish that. However, I find the acrylics used to be very gaudy, and the pens are often much larger than I like. Because many of these pens use Jowo nibs, the writing experience is all the same. I do own a couple of these, but I can only recommend buying one or two where you like the experience and sticking with that.
Up Next…
Next up I’ll be writing about my experiences with vintage pens.