How to Choose a Fountain pen

The fountain pen! The preferred writing instrument of poets, dandies, and other assorted weirdos, fountain pens can last a lifetime and, with a tiny bit of practice, are way more fun to write with than the ubiquitous ball points. Whether you're a student, an aspiring novelist, or a rising executive, a good fountain pen can be your best friend in the anomic wasteland of postmodern life, and this article will tell you everything you need to know about choosing one.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Cash or credit card.
• A willingness to learn about concepts like nib width and filling methods.
• Something to write about.

1. Decide what you're going to use your pen for. Is it for taking notes in class or at meetings? For writing in your dream journal (hint: do not tell your Freudian therapist anything about your love of pens)? Is it mainly a fashion accessory? All of these considerations will effect your eventual choice of pens, and will also impact how much you want to spend. You can get a very nice fountain pen for around $20, believe it or not, but if you want something fancy you can literally spend as much as you wish.

2. Check out some pens online, or at a fine writing instrument store (the chain store Paradise Pen, or the Fountain Pen Hospital in Manhattan are both good options). This may help you narrow down your search; maybe you'll like the looks of pens from a particular brand.

3. It's time to start thinking about fill mechanisms. These are the fountain pen nerd's ultimate dream, but you don't need to know all that much about them to buy your first pen. Basically, the fill mechanisms are the way you get ink into your pen.
   
   Most modern fountain pens are "cartridge/converter" fill, which means that you can fill it with small, disposable cartridges of ink (which are now available in an amazing array of colors), OR you can use bottled ink and a converter, which is a small plastic device that fits inside your pen and lets you draw liquid ink through the nib into a small internal reservoir. Liquid ink is usually cheaper than cartridges, and you have a (slightly) wider selection of colors; it also may feel more "authentic" to refill your pen by hand instead of snapping in cartridges.
   
   If you want to buy a relatively fancy pen (or a vintage pen), you may end up with a fancy fill mechanism: piston fill is probably the most common, but there is also lever fill, button fill, eyedropper fill, and even the elusive and mysterious "snorkel." None of these mechanisms are exactly brain surgery, but they are more complicated and delicate than the common converter, and most of them cannot be replaced easily if you break them. My recommendation for a first pen would be to go with a converter, which will also give you the option of using cartridges if you wish.

4. 
    
   NIBS

   Now it's time to talk about nibs. Most pens will come in Fine, Medium and Broad (F, M, and B). If you have messy handwriting, you will probably want to go with Fine, since the bolder nibs may make you writing illegible. Some pens may be available in extra fine, and some have "music nibs" which are extremely broad nibs which can be used for writing sheet music. Each pen brand is different, so some Fine nibs may be finer or broader than others.
   
   You'll also have to choose the material: most nibs are either steel or gold (and the pen you like may not offer a choice). This is mostly a cosmetic concern, although gold nibs may be slightly softer and smoother. Gold also resists corrosion better than steel. Steel nibs are generally less expensive, and high quality steel nibs perform just as well as gold.

5. Go to a pen store! Ask to write with the kind of pen you've picked out on the internet (if they won't let you try the pen, go somewhere else). You can ask the clerk to dip the pen in ink for you (and you might want to, since it's considered bad form to jam the nib into the bottom of the inkwell). Write a few lines - old penmen suggest that you write the word "Egypt" since it moves the nib in every possible direction. Remember that with a fountain pen you don't want to press very hard at all - the pen should glide on a cushion of ink over the paper (feel free to ask for advice on this - people who work at pen stores won't get offended).

6. Go ahead and buy the pen! Probably it's a good idea to spend less than, say, $100 on your first pen in case you don't like it (or if you lose it). Remember to buy some extra ink or cartridges, and enjoy!

Resources

• Fountain Pen Network
• Richard Binder - Pens and Information
• Fountain Pen Hospital

[asamsky]

on 6/19/2009 Clevergirl, thanks for the comment, but I believe that the gold vs. steel flexibility idea is a myth. Both gold and steel nibs actually write with a ball of an alloy usually called iridium, which wears only with years and years of extremely hard use. Vintage gold nibs can indeed be very flexible, but so can some modern steel nibs. As far as I know people become accustomed to fountain pens, fountain pens don't customize themselves to people. Check http://richardspens.com/?page=ref/nib_steel.htm for fountain pen expert Richard Binder's opinion on steel nibs.

[clevergirl]

on 7/21/2008 one thing, tho... gold vs. steel is not just aesthetic. a steel nib will be less flexible, and form itself less to your script - basically, i wouldn't be afraid to share a steel nib fountain pen with somebody else. but a gold nib...that you want to keep to yourself. gold very quickly forms to an angle and dimension that is unique to your own personal handwriting. if somebody borrows it for a day or two, it'll be all off and feel like a new pen again until you write the hell out of it again. gold nib offers that personal "this pen is my friend" feeling more than a steel nib ever could.

[KatYares]

on 1/20/2008 Great tips. I have everything from the elcheapo models to my MontBlanc (which I won in a writing contest). I rarely use anything else when writing on paper.