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On Entry-level Fountain Pens
Apr. 13th, 2014 07:58 pmI’ve promised a few people on Facebook some words on fountain pens for beginners, and I’m putting it here because I don’t like how FB handles long posts and links. I'm not an expert on fountain pens, but here that may be an advantage. I also have some biases when it comes to pens, but I’ll point them out as they come up so that the reader can allow for them.
I’m going to start by explaining a bit about how fountain pens work. I’m not going to say a lot on this because other people have already done it better, in exhausting detail. If more information is needed, I highly recommend the Fountain of Knowledge section of the Goulet Pen Company website. (Bias: I have a mad pen-crush on the GPC and have bought many of my pens and most of my inks from them. Knowledgeable people, excellent service. There are other online businesses I use, but Goulet is my first stop when I am shopping for pen-related supplies.)
The ball-point pen that everyone is familiar has a ink in the form of a paste that is laid down on the paper by the ball in the point of the pen. (Hence the name.) This takes effort on the part of the writer, though admittedly some brands of ball points are less of an effort to use than others. In a fountain pen the ink is water-based, and it uses capillary action to get the ink from the reservoir in the body down on to the paper. One does not need to press the pen against the paper when using a fountain pen (indeed, pressing a fountain pen is bad)—physics does all the work for the writer.
( Read more... )
I’m going to start by explaining a bit about how fountain pens work. I’m not going to say a lot on this because other people have already done it better, in exhausting detail. If more information is needed, I highly recommend the Fountain of Knowledge section of the Goulet Pen Company website. (Bias: I have a mad pen-crush on the GPC and have bought many of my pens and most of my inks from them. Knowledgeable people, excellent service. There are other online businesses I use, but Goulet is my first stop when I am shopping for pen-related supplies.)
The ball-point pen that everyone is familiar has a ink in the form of a paste that is laid down on the paper by the ball in the point of the pen. (Hence the name.) This takes effort on the part of the writer, though admittedly some brands of ball points are less of an effort to use than others. In a fountain pen the ink is water-based, and it uses capillary action to get the ink from the reservoir in the body down on to the paper. One does not need to press the pen against the paper when using a fountain pen (indeed, pressing a fountain pen is bad)—physics does all the work for the writer.
( Read more... )
