Fountain pens.

[Mack The Knife]

Shamsher,

That pen sounds interesting. Make sure the pics do it justice.

Thanks.

Mack The Knife

[Shamsher]

Hi Mack The Knife
Just spoke to my mother, the pen is in the bank locker, further she says it's a 1904 make
so i guess it would take time to post pictures of this one.

Regards
Shamsher

[Mack The Knife]

No worries. This one should be worth waiting for.

[Mark]

Welcome Fulcrum, sorry I'm a bit late to the party here!

I'm also an aviation enthusiast, even gone so far as to build a couple airplanes! I'm also a flight instructor and commercially rated pilot.

Here is a historical tidbit I could use to tie into this particular thread-

Back when we were getting involved in WW2 right after Pearl Harbor there were a lot of pilots volunteering for all sorts of flying positions, and as can be expected many low time pilots were "padding" their logbooks (writing in imaginary flights to increase their total log time as a pilot). Now a lot of flight time is classified by "time in type" such as "500 hours Tailwheel, 300 hours retractable, 200 hours multi engine" etc. Or it can be classed as "200 hours C-310 (cessna 310, a light twin). Anyway, the standing joke during WW2 was deriding someone who was suspected of falsifying flight time was calling it "P-51 time", which was both a reference to the North American P-51 Mustang and also to the venerable Parker 51!

Anyway, the Parker 51 is an historic pen and it is good to see them still being used and valued.

[Fulcrum]

Mark
This was nice.
BTW - you also reminded me of the fact that my dad used to have a Parker 51. I should try to locate that from the attic

cheers

[jayanta mukherjee]

Well Count me in as am surely a big fan of fountain pens.. started early from Artex, Camlin then came the time of Heros and don't remember other Chinese pens. Slowly graduated to Sheaffer and Parkers. But recently my priced possession are a Cross and Parker for everyday use. And though I never use the one i also have a MB inherited from my grandfather. Will try to post its picture as soon as possible. But the pen seems to be pre WWI. Hopefully you guys can shed some light.
love
Jayanta

[diskaon]

http://www.williampenn.net/productdetai ... =45&id=337

is this a good pen for starters.

I would personally prefer the Lamy Safari. By the way safari comes with various numbers like 17, 16, 18 etc. What do they stand for?

[Mack The Knife]

Try the Pelikano before buying one. If it is anything like what I bought for my son, it will be a good pen.

I am not sure what those Safari numbers represent. Perhaps a look at the Lamy website would explain those numbers.

[art_collector]

I have never been a fountain pen user . My only facination for an ink pen was an ink stand and the wooden pen with nibs that used to be in my Dads study. Recently managed to click the pictures of the ink stand, and the nibs.Another of Grand dads possession is an old philips radio ...it dosent work any more though it did till a few decades back.
[img2=http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s114 ... 075152.jpg][/img2]

[Mark]

How long do nibs usually last?

Unfortunately fountain pens here went out of use almost immediately when the ball point pen came out. I am sure there are exceptions but I started school in the 60's and I have never seen an ink pen used in school that was not a ball point.

[diskaon]

Pics of my humble Hero pen..

[img2=http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp11 ... 102008.jpg][/img2]

[img2=http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp11 ... 008001.jpg][/img2]

As you can see... the nib is integrated with the body. if this nib breaks i guess I will have no way to repair it.

diskaon

[BJL]

2 Mont Blanc Meisterstuck 146's. One in gold, and one in the classic lacquer. Fountain pens are such a delight to use. All this talk about the Parker 51 seems to ring a bell somewhere, I think my grandfather owned one that my Dad once showed me- so long ago, will remember to ask about it.

[shahid]

I love the art of writing, in ink with a fountain pen. Fountain pens have their own charm, an aura and style of the past.

My favourite FOuntepen is a Mont Blanc Maesturstuck in Black Laquer finish. I had bought it in Dubai in 2001, with a slightly thickish nib. I prefer writing in Black ink. This is kept at home mostly, I don't take it on flights with me because fountainpens might leak in low pressure cabins.

I always keep it in my study and use it to write notes, thoughts, articles or appointments in my diary. I love the feeling of ink flowing smoothly on fine paper.

It is the age of e mails and powerpoint presentations, but whenever sending documents / papers to people I love to write a small note along with it on fine handmade paper - not post it yellow pads.

Also I prefer to write bank cheques rather than print them with a printer. In many cases the paper on which cheques are printed is of good quality ( Not ICICI bank although )

To write notes, while on the move, in my pocket I keep the identical Mont Blanc Maesturstuck Ball point pen. For this too I always use Black ink cartridges. This was a gift from my UK distributor.

I have a Gold plated Cross Fountainpen as well, with green ink cartridges for writing remarks on documents etc.

I have about a dozen other cross pens, mostly gifts from various people, some in sets, with ball points, fountainpens or pencils, but I dont like these thin cross sterlings or medallions, they don't grip properly.

I also have a Cartier Fountainpen, a Parker and a Waterman, but I don't use them.

The Pistol maker Chacral from Abu Dhabi had gifted me a Mont Blanc Starwalker. I dont like this model and have never used it.

The Mont Blanc dealer in Dubai showed me a 50 year old Mont Blanc Fountainpen, it is from here that the current Mont Blanc Maesturstuck models have derived.

[SARGE7402]

If I'm off duty there's normally a parker fountain pen in my shirt pocket. At work when a letter needs to be signed, I take out of the cigar box on the desk my dip pen and open up my ink bottle.

If it's important enough for me to sign then it's important enough to use the right writing instrument.

[shahid]

Everyone knows the Pen is mightier than the sword. Looks like its mightier than the gun as well!