The anticipation begins...

I've been doing a lot of writing (and lurking) lately and I am finally
making the plunge into fountain pen addiction.

I can hardly wait. Just ordered a closeout fine point Waterman Phileas
and some Noodler's waterproof black from Swisher Pens. Can't wait for
them to get here. Untill then it's handwriting drills with my
rollerball...

Don't be surprised when you first use your fountain pen and it is not just
like your roller ball. The first thing that you need to know is that when
using a fountain pen you use hardly no pressure at all when you write. By
this I mean that with a fountain pen the ink literally flows from the tip of
the pen onto the paper and you will find this to be a very different
experience than using a roller ball.
I find using a fountain pen is much less tense than using either a ball
point or roller ball. In fact where a roller ball comes very close to using
a fountain pen the biggest difference is the fact that the roller ball is
so smooth as to be slick and slippery. By comparison using a fountain pen
is like using a brush with water colors versus using a colored felt tipped
color applicator.
I will look forward to reading of your first impression and use of a
fountain pen. By the way the Phileas was a good choice.

Reference your choice of the Waterman Phileas:

I have had one for several years and find it performs as well or better than
many pens costing several times as much. You will probably wind up, like
most of us, working at a desk littered with nibbed pens, but I have no doubt
that the Phileas will remain in your inventory.

Gordon

Kirk,

Don't forget the orange ink!! You will love it!

I agree, the Phileas is a great pen. Why, you should even get one in
every colour :-).




your friend and mine,
satrap
(who knows Kirk will probably have a nice stash of pens in about,
ohhhh.....6 months)

Orange ink, eh?
May have to work up to that one; I hear that it can melt your eyes.

On 28 Mar 2005 22:57:47 -0800, "Kirkaptain"
wrote:

I've been doing a lot of writing (and lurking) lately and I am finally
making the plunge into fountain pen addiction.

I can hardly wait. Just ordered a closeout fine point Waterman Phileas
and some Noodler's waterproof black from Swisher Pens. Can't wait for
them to get here. Untill then it's handwriting drills with my
rollerball...

Just remember that fountain pens have a range and feel that can be
compared to motor vehicles. They range from eighteen wheelers to
sports cars and everything in between.

Well, I've got the pen now, and it writes quite well. However, I find
that it can write a little dry. Giving the pen a hearty shake clears up
the problem for half a dozen lines, but it slowly becomes more dry. It
this problem typical of a fine-point Phileas running on Noodler's? I
have yet to try the blue cartridge that came with the pen and have only
been using the Noodler's. Any suggestions on how flow may be improved
are appritiated.

Also, I find that the fine nib is not quite as smooth as a Parker
Varsity (my only other reference point). There is no sensation of
scratchyness and the tines seem alligned to my youthful eyes. While I
would expect the a medium point to be smoother, I am supprised that a
$3 pen can outperform the Phileas in this resepect.

I am reluctant to send the pen anywhere because I have become quite
attatched to it. I'm already looking fo the next pen: gotta be able to
rotate ink colors, right

Thanks

Kirkaptain wrote:

Also, I find that the fine nib is not quite as smooth as a Parker
Varsity (my only other reference point). There is no sensation of
scratchyness and the tines seem alligned to my youthful eyes. While I
would expect the a medium point to be smoother, I am supprised that a
$3 pen can outperform the Phileas in this resepect.

Because the manufacturing process for fountain pens doesn't make a
completely uniform product, it's not really possible to compare brands
unless you have a lot of examples of each one. It's a little like
researching which brand of doughnuts is the roundest - I have to eat a
lot of them to make sure I have a reliable sample. :-)

David

Kirkaptain wrote:
Well, I've got the pen now, and it writes quite well. However, I find
that it can write a little dry. Giving the pen a hearty shake clears up
the problem for half a dozen lines, but it slowly becomes more dry. It
this problem typical of a fine-point Phileas running on Noodler's? I
have yet to try the blue cartridge that came with the pen and have only
been using the Noodler's. Any suggestions on how flow may be improved
are appritiated.

Noodlers is a wonderful ink, but not all of the colors flow well in
every pen. I took out a Lamy 2000 the other day and filled it with
Noodlers Zhivago. It stopped up badly. I thought the pen wasn't
working. I emptied it out and then put in PR 2003 Supershow Blue and
it's working well. Try the ink that came with your pen. Your Phileas
probably came with Waterman Florida Blue, which flows well in all pens.

Also, I find that the fine nib is not quite as smooth as a Parker
Varsity (my only other reference point). There is no sensation of
scratchyness and the tines seem alligned to my youthful eyes. While I
would expect the a medium point to be smoother, I am supprised that a
$3 pen can outperform the Phileas in this resepect.

I wanted a Phileas with a fine nib, but every fine I tried (and I tried
several) was scratchy so I bought a medium and it was smooth. Many
modern fine nib pens write a bit scratchy, offhand I can think of the
Namiki VP fine nib as one I won't buy. I tried a bunch of those too.
The medium and broad VP nibs are heavenly.

Nancy

"Kirkaptain" wrote in message
oups.com...
Well, I've got the pen now, and it writes quite well. However, I find
that it can write a little dry. Giving the pen a hearty shake clears up
the problem for half a dozen lines, but it slowly becomes more dry. It
this problem typical of a fine-point Phileas running on Noodler's? I
have yet to try the blue cartridge that came with the pen and have only
been using the Noodler's. Any suggestions on how flow may be improved
are appritiated.

I have two fine Phileases that I filled with Aquamarine Blue and Hellbender
Red, both waterproof, last spring/summer. A couple of months ago, they
started behaving as you described so I switched them over to a Pilot Ecrino
(blue) and a Cross ATX (red) which is also a Namiki nib. The red works well,
now, but the blue was still drying so I added a couple of drops of distilled
water to the cartridge. It works well so, I'm planning to put the inks back
in the Phileases with the drops of water as soon as the current pens are
empty.

Also, I find that the fine nib is not quite as smooth as a Parker
Varsity (my only other reference point). There is no sensation of
scratchyness and the tines seem alligned to my youthful eyes. While I
would expect the a medium point to be smoother, I am supprised that a
$3 pen can outperform the Phileas in this resepect.

a. Parker makes good pens
b. I'm confident that should you compare a broad to a medium, you'll find
the broad to be significantly smoother as well.

--
~~Bluesea~~
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