Pen-Fi (FPs, RBs, BPs, etc...) [56k Warning]

In that case ebay is your best friend! And I would recommend vintage everyday over modern at lower price points as long as, as has been said, it has been restored. I picked up a fully restored Parker 51 Vacumatic made in 1944 from a reputable seller on ebay a few weeks ago, an absolutely wonderful pen and having been restored it will unlikely need another restoration in my lifetime.

The advantage with the vintage pens are numerous, firstly the quality of nib is far superior to most modern nibs, secondly it feels great to write with a bit of history and thirdly the chances of finding a really nice flex nib are much higher!

This seller in the UK is well known on the forums, has a youtube channel showing his restorations and has some beautiful pens ready to write with, here is a link to one that is a beauty and in your budget!


http://www.ebay.ca/itm/SWAN-MABIE-TODD-SEL-FILLER-No-3260-FOUNTAIN-PEN-FULL-WORKING-ORDER-/170902044063?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PensPencils_WritingEquipment_SM&hash=item27ca8e3d9f#ht_2259wt_1413

 

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I neglected to mention that I'm not entirely trustful of internet purchases/online shopping; a few bad experiences made me swear off buying stuff online a long while back; it's a huge shame though, since that pen looks AMAZING.
 
How's the flex on it? I'll have to admit that I'm not yet very familiar with some of the more obscure fountain pen manufacturers and their in-house feel (sort of like a headphone manufacturer's house sound, I guess?).

 

I have a Lamy studio i believe, a Nakaya Urushi style portable and a Sailor pen.  The Urushi is beautiful, but the cost was very high.  The Sailor, on the other hand was less than half as much and also writes very well.  If i had to do it again i would get the Sailor and skip the others, i use it the most.  The Lamy is okay but doesn't compare to the other two.
This is the Sailor.
 
 

This is the Nakaya, not a great pict, just had it saved from earlier.

 

What ink is on that Sailor in the pic?

 

Some blue ink creep. Think it is just a cartridge, that pic was right after I got it a year and a half ago. I have also used noodlers ink with it. I bindged on ink at one point to see what I would like.

 

So, small update:

I got to try out a few fountain pens last Sunday (mostly from Lamy and Sheaffer), and I've grown a bit attached to the Safari and the Prelude (the aquamarine Safari looks much nicer in person than it does in pictures). They're both quite a bit below my $150 budget, but after careful consideration, and finding out that most FPs have rather temperamental nibs (came across a horror story online wherein someone broke the nib of a Falcon *shudder*), I decided to go for something more entry-level in nature, just to accustom myself to fountain pens before moving on to something fancier.
 
Apart from the Safari and Prelude, what other FPs under $50 are worth trying out? Rather than something soft-nibbed, I think I should go for something sturdier, just in case. I'm not all that heavy-handed, but better safe than sorry. Also, I'd prefer it if it were something from Parker, Sheaffer, Lamy, Pelikan, etc. They're the only retailers nearby, and I'd really prefer to try a pen out before buying it. 
 
Sorry for the sudden change of heart, and thanks again!
 
P.S.
It's a bit of a shame, though: I think the Namiki Falcon is really sexy
 
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Also, if it's not too much trouble, I'd prefer it if it were something that came with a cartridge converter; I'll probably be taking it to class a lot, and it'd be a bit cumbersome (and dangerous, methinks) to carry around a bottle of ink all the time.
 
Cheers!

 

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Which model is the Sailor pen?

 

http://www.nibs.com/SailorProGearColors.html

Here is the link.

 

Found out a fellow physics major of mine is a bit of a pen afficionado as well. I got to try a Lamy 2000 yesterday...my god that was gorgeous and smooth. The plastic safari writes nearly as nice though, albeit lighter

 

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Thanks. I was looking at those, but didn't want to spend that much. Yet.
 
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Your story really sounds familiar. You should just get the Lamy.

 

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Familiar... in that you went through it yourself? Haha, yeah, I'm planning on picking up a Lamy some time this week (whenever I next get to drop by the bookstore). I could wait until the holidays to hold out for a Falcon, but I'm already going for a PS Vita. The Falcon isn't so pricey that I can't eventually save up for it, anyway
 
Wish me luck! Also: I hope my pen obsession doesn't become as bad as my obsession with headphones; that'd be a huge pain in the rear (and my wallet, ha-ha).

 

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Yeah, i got the Lamy studio first and then just jumped in.  The only way you would really break a nib is if you dropped it on hard ground or did what i did.....had it in some cargo shorts big pocket and the cap came unscrewed and nib caught on some material and got disfigured.  Cost me around $80. to have it fixed, lesson learned.   Writing won't break it though.
 
The Lamy is pretty good, just a different feel.  Stiff in comparison and not as ? detailed ? or accurate i guess.  But whatever it's all good.  You think the Sailor is expensive though, the Nakaya Urushi portable was much more and just a dumb compulsive buy, even if it is beautiful, I just pushed my budget too far for that to have as a writing tool.

 

You said that the Lamy doesn't compare to the Sailor. Do you mean that in the context of how it writes? That's really all that matters to me at this point. I don't want to spend extra money on looks, finish, limited edition status, or a fancy filling mechanism.

 

Yes, in terms of how it writes and feels. Very different, not stiff. It doesn't look so special just feels good and writes well. Also not as "proper" feeling as Nakaya". Although Nakaya has its place, Sailor is perfect everyday pen and very sturdy.

 

From what I can tell (and from trying out a few 100-dollar and under pens from Sheaffer and Parker against the Lamy Safari), the pricier pens are somewhat less scratchy, and are, more often than not, more flexible than the Lamy. The build quality on the Safari is excellent for plastic, and when I get one, I probably won't ever worry about damaging it beyond repair (the nib's just as durable as the body, in my opinion). The Sheaffers I tried out, most notably the Prelude and the 300, had nibs that were a bit too stiff for me, and produced consistent lines with little width variation. I wanted to try out the Winter collection, but they didn't have any in stock.
 
The only Parker I got to try was the Sonnet; it was beautiful, even more so than in photos. Also, the way it wrote did its appearance justice. I'm still new to FPs and the like, but this seemed to be the best pen I've tried by far. The Safari is somewhat stiffer in comparison, and the ink flow less constant (which I think is actually a good thing; it gives a pen character ). It took a while for the ink to start flowing from a dry start, though.
 
Note that I'm still lacking in experience, so my impressions may not be all that accurate. Also, I spent maybe only 5 minutes per pen, so... yeah