I'm looking at a Lamy Safari & Converter for under $30. what does everyone think of that pen? also, what size nib should i get? i'd like to have about a .7mm line (my daily writer Staples pens).
Another question i had is paper... my Pilot Varsity bleeds on some papers... I'm the kind of person that takes greater pleasure taking notes if taken with a fine pen so i intend to use it every day... but its my current notebook paper that bleeds... is there certain brands of notebook paper that are more FP friendly?
What would be a good ink to start out with? I'm a fan of bold smooth writing black inks. Further down the road, i'd like to add a really rich blue and a blood red. i'm assuming that if you clean the pen, colors can be interchanged at the time of a refill. The other issue with ink for me would be value... since i'm putting it in a $25 pen, the most expensive ink probably wouldnt do me much good.
Another question i had is paper... my Pilot Varsity bleeds on some papers... I'm the kind of person that takes greater pleasure taking notes if taken with a fine pen so i intend to use it every day... but its my current notebook paper that bleeds... is there certain brands of notebook paper that are more FP friendly?
What would be a good ink to start out with? I'm a fan of bold smooth writing black inks. Further down the road, i'd like to add a really rich blue and a blood red. i'm assuming that if you clean the pen, colors can be interchanged at the time of a refill. The other issue with ink for me would be value... since i'm putting it in a $25 pen, the most expensive ink probably wouldnt do me much good.
The notebook I use for my fountain pens is Ampad Gold Fiber notebooks. The paper is thicker than your usual binder paper, so there's less feathering. Quite cheap, and available at Officemax and Walmart.
The darkest black I've used is Private Reserve Velvet Black. Despite everybody saying Aurora black is the darkest black out there, I have never found that to be true for me personally...it's more of a light grayish black if anything. And I tried two bottles of it, thinking maybe my first bottle had been bad...same thing.
As for blues, it depends on what shade of blue you want. If you prefer a more purple-blue, Waterman Florida Blue would be your best bet. If you want a true, bright, vivid blue, go with Noodler's Blue. And if you want a true, dark blue, go with Private Reserve American Blue, or DC Supershow Blue.
__________________ "Don't be dissin'...till you be listenin'..."
How often is peace a place within your mind and your world? Learn to maintain a peaceful state of mind at all costs. If you do not, it will cost you in the quality of how you experience life. Be at peace with yourself. If you are not at peace with yourself, you are at peace with nothing.
My first FP... i like it so i'm considering going for the real thing now. any suggestions? honestly, i'm looking sub $50 category...
The Parker Vector (~$8), Reflex (~$8), and Frontier (~$20) are all great and very smooth. Just keep in mind the medium nibs on them are pretty wide. The Frontier might be somewhat hard to find though nowdays.
Lamy's Safaris (~$25) and Safari Al-Stars (~$30) are also very nice and smooth. The Al-Stars have aluminum bodies and are very rugged, although I personally don't care for the clip. It just looks cheap hanging out of the pocket...like a huge paper clip.
You can also look into vintage Parker 51s (~$50). Not the most exciting fountain pen to write with as the nib is hidden under a hood, and the nib feels like a nail (it's one of the very few fountain pens you can actually use on carbon copy forms without worrying about bending the nib). Very reliable and smooth writers though assuming you buy one that's been fixed up.
There's also a bunch of nice Chinese FPs from Duke and Hero that write well and cost around $50 or less. Go to www.hisnibs.com and take a look around.
__________________ "Don't be dissin'...till you be listenin'..."
How often is peace a place within your mind and your world? Learn to maintain a peaceful state of mind at all costs. If you do not, it will cost you in the quality of how you experience life. Be at peace with yourself. If you are not at peace with yourself, you are at peace with nothing.
The other issue with ink for me would be value... since i'm putting it in a $25 pen, the most expensive ink probably wouldnt do me much good.
That won't be an issue, it's not like there are high priced inks that you can only truely enjoy with an expensive pen. At least, not that I know of. This is a good place to check out colours. But remember that it will probably look different in person.
I think a medium nib will be closest to 0.7mm. But it often depends on manufactuer and I've never tried a Lamy.
It also depends on what ink and paper you use.
Vertigo-1
I got my Frontier new of ebay and there were a lot to choose from. Overhere they seem to be readily available.
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If you have a older pair of PX100 and find it dark you might wanna try my PX100 mod.
can anyone with a Lamy Safari do a writing sample and let me know what nib size you have? im thinking im going to order one
I have a medium nib and it seems to be on the thick side. I just ordered a fine one. It hasn't come in yet, but I would say their nibs run a size larger than normal.
Another question i had is paper... my Pilot Varsity bleeds on some papers...
I actually stopped using paper for notes quite awhile ago - I use the Levenger Note Cards (of course, leaving a Post-It note for someone can be the exception).
They never seem to bleed, but then again, I am still using MB inks. The Note Cards have become a great system of "ready reference" information and they're handier...
I actually stopped using paper for notes quite awhile ago - I use the Levenger Note Cards (of course, leaving a Post-It note for someone can be the exception).
They never seem to bleed, but then again, I am still using MB inks. The Note Cards have become a great system of "ready reference" information and they're handier...
Yes the Levenger note cards are very nice, but they can become expensive if you take a lot of notes.
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