Geekhack Handwriting Thread and Fountain Pen Thread

[Zeal]

Seeing as we apparently type way too much here...

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<transcript below since my handwriting can be pretty indecipherable>

hello Geekhack!

Fountain pens has [sic] been a hobby of mine for quite a while now... about 6 years or so. Collecting and using, then and now, both pens and inks, as well as other stuff like paper/notebooks too.

Thanks to them, I've bettered my penmanship; but I also have other styles of handwriting, based on the situation, as some people may find my regular writing tough to read.

Sometimes I also vary it based on the pen and paper I'm using, as some pens write very wide and therefore need to be handled in a different way.

However I also just like to vary it based on what I feel like; playing with fountain pens is fun.

Pens used in this post, from the top:
Omas Milord w/ Diamine Sapphire Blue;
Mont Blanc Herbert von Karajan with Sailor Tokiwa Matsu;
Lamy 2000 with a green ink I mixed;
Kaweco Elite 587 with Rohrer & Klingner Alt-goldgrun;
Sailor ProGear Realo and Sailor Shigure;
and a TWSBI Vac 700 I just turned to a cursive italic.

Nice pens! I really like the Diamine Sapphire Blue.

Is that Kaweco Elite 587 the same as a Dialog 2? It looks very similar at least. And you ground the nib in the Vac 700 yourself?

The Elite 587 looks like this (though mine is missing two of the gold cap rings and the picture there has one missing). It's an old pen from the 1950s I got for a steal from eBay. Was worried that the piston seal, which is made of cork, was already dried up and deteriorated, but it was working perfectly - what a miracle. The best part is definitely the flexible OBB nib, which is stubby. Amazing line variation, and writes very wet!

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The Vac 700, indeed I ground myself, just last night. I do a bit of work on the side, doing nib grinds and pen adjustments for the local fountain pen group, and this was just another of the requests I got.

hmm... i would also really like to file down an italic to maybe 30deg.. 

any tips on this...

Hmm, do you mean grinding a pen nib to an oblique nib? The general process is that I use rough micromesh or even sandpaper to remove material and shape the nib, then I use an ultra-fine Arkansas stone to re-shape, smoothen, and polish the nib. The rest of the equation is just practice and building technique.

Wow, the "hello Geekhack" in the first picture almost looks like it was typed out! Fountain pens have such cool line variation.
Very neat handwriting, too!

I think as a kid, I tried to play with my dad's fountain pen, but it just ended up scratching the paper without any ink coming out/ then started leaking. :(
Never touched a fountain pen since.

[CPTBadAss]

Today I tried my first Pelikan!!! It's a blue marbled, pre-'97, Pelikan M200. The weird part is that it's got this super fun vintage nib. It's a 14K music nib.






Terrpn where you at? I need to thank you!!

[jdcarpe]

Anyone ever use a nib holder pen and India ink? I remember doing that "back in the day."

[CPTBadAss]

I haven't personally but I've seen some incredible handwriting from that. Check it out in this post on FPN.

[terrpn]

Anyone ever use a nib holder pen and India ink? I remember doing that "back in the day."

not india ink, but dip pens............yebber-- all the time

[terrpn]

Today I tried my first Pelikan!!! It's a blue marbled, pre-'97, Pelikan M200. The weird part is that it's got this super fun vintage nib. It's a 14K music nib.

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Terrpn where you at? I need to thank you!!

nice handwriting there

[CPTBadAss]

The Pelikan and it's nib makes my handwriting look way nicer than I think it is :3

[Melvang]

Thought you guys might like this one.

[tp4tissue]

Thought you guys might like this one.

I'm tried a glass dip pen a few times.. 

I don't see a point to it really..   there's no real advantage to it in my opinion. the tip might be more durable, but what's the point..  it's pretty damn hard to wear tips out given proper use of fountain pens.

[CPTBadAss]

If you're trying to test a lot of inks at once, it's really easy to do so with a dip glass pen. Don't need to flush the pen every time.

[tp4tissue]

If you're trying to test a lot of inks at once, it's really easy to do so with a dip glass pen. Don't need to flush the pen every time.

test lots of inks.. hmm I must admit, I don't do comparisons, i just write with black and blue, so they're all pretty much the same....

most blacks are grey-ish, and most blues have black bits in them, some are genuine blue, but i find them too light..

[IonutZ]

Holy smokes Zeroblade... that super flex nib is super flexible

I collect fountain pens too... this is my favorite: )

Pelikan M640 Polar Lights edition with a 18ct white gold oblique bold nib.

[SL89]

Has anyone taken a stab at making a demonstrator eyedropper from the body of a Lamy Vista Rollerball and the section / nib from a Lamy Vista?

I want to make the plunge, but i am hesitant because all the instructions and outcomes seem a little too good to be true!

I use a ton of red ink for work and refilling just seems tedious as does setting up an Ahab to write properly.

[tp4tissue]

Has anyone taken a stab at making a demonstrator eyedropper from the body of a Lamy Vista Rollerball and the section / nib from a Lamy Vista?

I want to make the plunge, but i am hesitant because all the instructions and outcomes seem a little too good to be true!

I use a ton of red ink for work and refilling just seems tedious as does setting up an Ahab to write properly.

what type of work is this..  I've always found ball point and marker more convenient vs the restricted writing angle on fountain pens when it comes to "work".

[CPTBadAss]

Has anyone taken a stab at making a demonstrator eyedropper from the body of a Lamy Vista Rollerball and the section / nib from a Lamy Vista?

I want to make the plunge, but i am hesitant because all the instructions and outcomes seem a little too good to be true!

I use a ton of red ink for work and refilling just seems tedious as does setting up an Ahab to write properly.

I've seen a video of this, it seems pretty easy and failsafe. Actually, all the pen mods I've seen seem easy compared to keyboards.

Pelikan M640 Polar Lights edition with a 18ct white gold oblique bold nib.

Damn that is a fine looking pen. Could you do a writing sample of that OB Bold nib against something like a medium or broad?


Some of today's writing practice. Only because riot asked so nicely.

[terrpn]

Has anyone taken a stab at making a demonstrator eyedropper from the body of a Lamy Vista Rollerball and the section / nib from a Lamy Vista?

I want to make the plunge, but i am hesitant because all the instructions and outcomes seem a little too good to be true!

I use a ton of red ink for work and refilling just seems tedious as does setting up an Ahab to write properly.

I've seen a video of this, it seems pretty easy and failsafe. Actually, all the pen mods I've seen seem easy compared to keyboards.

Pelikan M640 Polar Lights edition with a 18ct white gold oblique bold nib.

Damn that is a fine looking pen. Could you do a writing sample of that OB Bold nib against something like a medium or broad?

should work...........just on the safe side make sure there is some sort of o ring to screw down on or use silicone grease to make a seal. some people do this without grease or an o ring, crank down the barrel tightening down on the section and crack it

i do not own a lamy demonstrator roller and am not sure if there is a vent hole in the barrel?

if so once again just plug with some silicone and you should be fine

do you have an eye dropper or syringe to use to fill with with?

eye droppers are great and hold a TON of ink.

be careful filling demonstrators with exotic colors, even reds.............they will stain the plastic depending on the manufacturer

[CPTBadAss]

i do not own a lamy demonstrator roller and am not sure if there is a vent hole in the barrel?

For the Lamy Safari eye dropper, you can do it two ways.

1) Swap in the rollerball barrel which doesn't have the ink window

2) Put epoxy on the ink window of the original fountain pen barrel

[longweight]

I love writing with my fountain pen, I mix up the ink every refill and I rotate around 12 Mont Blanc inks.

[noisyturtle]

[tp4tissue]

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brush pens are neat..

but I've found that they don't produce consistent edges.

[longweight]

I really wish that I had 1/10th that skill, I write like a child.

[tp4tissue]

I really wish that I had 1/10th that skill, I write like a child.

this part i do not understand.. you buy all the gear.. do you not use them?  like those kids with expensive guitars who just shows it off, but never practice?

[terrpn]

I really wish that I had 1/10th that skill, I write like a child.

........but you do write

[longweight]

I really wish that I had 1/10th that skill, I write like a child.

this part i do not understand.. you buy all the gear.. do you not use them?  like those kids with expensive guitars who just shows it off, but never practice?

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I use them all the time!

[Zeroblade]

Wow, the "hello Geekhack" in the first picture almost looks like it was typed out! Fountain pens have such cool line variation.
Very neat handwriting, too!

I think as a kid, I tried to play with my dad's fountain pen, but it just ended up scratching the paper without any ink coming out/ then started leaking.
Never touched a fountain pen since.

Hahaha, I've got another which can flex up to about 3mm wide or so! I don't use it much though since it's an eyedropper-fill pen from around 1910, and it sometimes leaks a bit. I have some friends whose pens are just as flexible for so.

Before I seriously got into fountain pens, I also tried them as a kid - just ended up flicking the ink around like the kid I was LOL

Holy smokes Zeroblade... that super flex nib is super flexible

I collect fountain pens too... this is my favorite: )

Pelikan M640 Polar Lights edition with a 18ct white gold oblique bold nib.

The Polar Lights is really pretty! Though my favorite of Pelikan's Nature series is still the Niagra Falls.



Speaking of Pelikan, I've had the good fortune to be able to play around with the special edition M800 in Tortoiseshell, with a rare triple-broad (BBB) nib, ground to a cursive italic. A friend of mine wanted me to tune it up and smoothen the nib even more. So in the meantime, I'll be enjoying it 'til he gets it back! (I wish he never does)

[terrpn]

howz this cpt[badass]?

just a sampling of what i got.........

most of my better stuff is boxed and put away

[CPTBadAss]

That pen display...wow. I really like that Esterbrook display. And the M800 is lovely.

[IonutZ]

CPTBadAss here's a sample of my Fine nibs, I don't have any broad nibs :\

[CPTBadAss]

That's a lovely collection IonutZ. I tried a Meisterstuck 149 a couple weeks ago and I enjoyed it. Not sure if I'd be wiling to pay that price but I liked writing with it . And I actually didn't like that Noodler's rollerball pen. I had two bad experiences with them and I think I'm over them.

[IonutZ]

That's a lovely collection IonutZ. I tried a Meisterstuck 149 a couple weeks ago and I enjoyed it. Not sure if I'd be wiling to pay that price but I liked writing with it . And I actually didn't like that Noodler's rollerball pen. I had two bad experiences with them and I think I'm over them.

Thank you sir! The Montblanc is definitely a nice piece, that was my graduation present from my parents. And since I'm a classical pianist, I thought the Chopin special edition was a nice touch haha. Yea I stopped using that rollerball... those things are really finicky on the type of ink you put in them.

Speaking of Pelikan, I've had the good fortune to be able to play around with the special edition M800 in Tortoiseshell, with a rare triple-broad (BBB) nib, ground to a cursive italic. A friend of mine wanted me to tune it up and smoothen the nib even more. So in the meantime, I'll be enjoying it 'til he gets it back! (I wish he never does)

Haha that was gonna be my next purchase I really like the M800 Tortoise shell... although... have you seen the Kyokko & Gekko limited edition?!!??!?!?




These things are to die for. $2k

[CPTBadAss]

I've been drooling over those Pelikan Raden pens since I discovered what Raden was....WHY WOULD YOU LINK IT AGAIN

That rollerball's wick feed keeps clogging on me....even when I use Noodler's inks. And that's a cool story about your MB .

[Altis]

I don't even know why I hang out here with the money you all tempt me to spend. I mean, the keyboards are bad enough, but now this?

Well, I look forward to my first fountain pen (Pilot Metropolitan) and some sample inks. Thanks a lot! 

PS The Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Guri (chestnut brown) looks like it will be very nice on off-white paper.

[terrpn]

tryin to ruin you of course and make ya like the rest of us

[CPTBadAss]

I don't even know why I hang out here with the money you all tempt me to spend. I mean, the keyboards are bad enough, but now this?

Well, I look forward to my first fountain pen (Pilot Metropolitan) and some sample inks. Thanks a lot! 

PS The Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Guri (chestnut brown) looks like it will be very nice on off-white paper.

You messed up your order. Where's the nice paper?!

And GH has led me to fountain pens and audiophile gear as well as keyboards .

[Altis]

I don't even know why I hang out here with the money you all tempt me to spend. I mean, the keyboards are bad enough, but now this?

Well, I look forward to my first fountain pen (Pilot Metropolitan) and some sample inks. Thanks a lot! 

PS The Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Guri (chestnut brown) looks like it will be very nice on off-white paper.

You messed up your order. Where's the nice paper?!

And GH has led me to fountain pens and audiophile gear as well as keyboards .

Fortunately, I already have ample audio stuff (home recording studio).

The thing is, with fountain pens, 8 keyboards, etc... people are going to start expecting me to produce some content soon

Same with the recording stuff... 4 guitars, production studio, etc, and nothing gets made because I'm tied down with work these days.

[Puddsy]

[osi]

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Yes

[terrpn]

yes.................. you win the prize

[CPTBadAss]

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I made some progress in learning how to write with my music nib! The F's look so good :D.

[BlueBär]

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I made some progress in learning how to write with my music nib! The F's look so good :D.

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There is an f in vabbects?

[CPTBadAss]

There is an f in vabbects?

This isn't my Sütterlinschrift practice ok?? Palmer cursive.

Affects.

[BlueBär]

This isn't my Sütterlinschrift practice ok?? Palmer cursive.

Affects.

I'm just joking, looking good!
That ink is quite nice! I'm such a boring person, I use black ink

[IonutZ]

^hahaha what he said.


Vabbects

[Frenir]

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Needs more hidden Illuminati symbols.

[BlueBär]

Needs more hidden Illuminati symbols.

You must be joking:

[Puddsy]

[Frenir]

Needs more hidden Illuminati symbols.

You must be joking:

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Snap, truly hidden symbolism. I'm in awe.

[terrpn]

nice...........

[Puddsy]

head of the illuminati should know how to triangle, c'mon guys...

[Melvang]

head of the illuminati should know how to triangle, c'mon guys...

Or at least ambigram