A death in the family, or at least, the desk set.

[songwind]

I have been feeling the urge to write longhand, lately, so I hunted up my fountain pens and cleaned them out. I got some Higgins fountain pen ink at Wet Paint, and loaded them up.

I have two Sheaffer pens. The older one is a blue Triumph Imperial with a brushed chrome cap and a fine nib. The other is a black lacquer Targa with gold trim and a

Comments

[brithistorian]

If you'd like to make this post public, I'll ask roadnotes to take a look at it and give you some advice - she's easily the most knowledgeable person I know where fountain pens are concerned, and will probably have a great solution for you.

[songwind]

Done.

[brithistorian]

Okay, I've told her about it; hopefully she'll see it soon. (She's in Eastern time, so quite possibly asleep by now.)

[delchi]

Estate sales! I've nabbed some really nice very old pens for less than $20 at those. Also alot of run of the mill " antique " shops have piles of pens that just need a little ultrasonic TLC to put them back in working order. I scored 5 really nice ones that way. Two of them had rubber bladders that were completely shot, but I use them for dip pens.

[songwind]

Not a bad idea. What kind do you use?

[falcongirl]

Vanderbruegghen @ my LJ is a fountain pen whore. :)

[songwind]

*grin* Well, I changed the post to public, so send him/her over. :)

[mkille]

I have no opinion on pens, but I offer this collection of advice, even though it's not restricted to fountain pens.

here via <lj user=brithistorian>

[roadnotes]

If you like the weight of the Imperial, I think I might suggest the Sheaffer Prelude. Solid, metal-bodied pen, with generally good fine and extra-fine nibs right out of the box, cartridge and converter fill

Re: here via &lt;lj user=brithistorian&gt;

[songwind]

Hi! Thanks for stopping by, and for the advice.

I am not sure what to say about the inlaid nib. I have owned two (none-calligraphy) fountain pens in my life, and both have the inlaid nib, so I am not sure how to compare. They are certainly pretty to look at. What other affect to they have on the performance?

I like the weight of the Targa, and the even smoothness of the line. The Triumph Imperial has a similar smoothness, and the fine nib allows me to write smaller, which I tend to do. On the other hand, the fact that the Targa encourages me to use a bit of a wider hand seems to be keeping me from tiring as quickly. I like the barrel-width a bit more than the Targa, but the plastic body makes it feel a bit out of control to me. (I have the same thoughts on pool cues). I tend to write posted, but the balance is so good on both pens that it doesn't seem to make too much difference.

$30-$45 is about what I was expecting to pay for a decent pen, so I will definitely see if any local shops have a Prelude I can try.

Thanks