[jay-w]

Like Bock they are on a lot of pens. I think a couple of mine have them. I haven't had any problems.

 

[proton007]

Like Bock they are on a lot of pens. I think a couple of mine have them. I haven't had any problems.

Thanks for the info. Its going to be used on a custom pen I'm placing order for. The nib smoothness etc I can tune but the feed quality is also important. Seems they're quite well received.
Bock seems to provide nibs for quite a few manufacturers. Funnily I don't own any of those brands, except a single modern Pelikan.

 

[GL1TCH3D]

I received my Cross YOTS Pen and am enjoying the feel a lot.
The only other fountain pen I've owned is the Ferrari Sheaffer Pen so not a great point of reference.
But I like the weight and flow of it (Got the fine nib)

Spoiler

 

[brhfl]

My mother had this giant… satchel, let's say… of cheap, promotional ballpoints and 0.5mm mps… that she was going through for the sake of finding what wrote, what didn't, and ditching/keeping accordingly. So I was going through with her, having some laughs at the various silly ways companies promote their goods… then these little suckers turn up…

…a sterling, Tiffany branded Cross set she received ~50 years ago? If only it was an FP/MP set, it'd be perfect, but I'm sure I can find an acceptable BP refill, and in the meantime… love the MP… would you fine folks polish them up? Part of the charm of sterling, to me, has always been the patina… and this is ~50 years of patina! It may be heresy, but I love it…

 

[Silent One]

 

[miceblue]

Rawr...it's only been 2 weeks and 2 days since I got my fountain pen and it's already almost out of ink. Dooh. >.>

Anyway, is it normal to have the ink get into the grip part of the Lamy Vista? I used to have a different kind of pen that used a liquid ink and it too got into the grip. I'm not a fan of the way it looks, so I was wondering if it's possible to clean it out somehow.

Something like this:



Speaking of replacement ink, I got myself a converter. Is there a recommended brand of ink to get? I've been pretty happy with the stock ink in the Vista except for it runs pretty fast when writing in my composition notebook (I have to write extra large because the ink flows too quickly and it writes more like a medium size than extra fine).

 

[Planar_head]

The grip area houses the feed, which controls the flow of ink to the nib. In a demonstrator, such as you have, there is no way around it; you will see ink in the grip section.
 
As for ink usage, I run a full converter down in about a week and a half, though that's very heavy usage.

 

[Silent One]

I use twin Pilots frequently switching between the two. Each nearly runs out at week 4, just in time for their monthly flush.

 

[proton007]

Handwriting practice, a full con-50 converter empties in about 3 pages when written on both sides.

 

[Silent One]

When I step on it and crank out the letters, I'm dipping a few times a month per Pilot. But I also have a light touch/stroke and think I may be using a bit less ink compared to someone really laying it down. 

 

[Tangster]

I can run my Lamy converter down in 1-2 days with a 0.5mm stub nib and 3 days with the EF just in everyday note taking. During revision time it won't last the day.

 

[brim71]

  My mother had this giant… satchel, let's say… of cheap, promotional ballpoints and 0.5mm mps… that she was going through for the sake of finding what wrote, what didn't, and ditching/keeping accordingly. So I was going through with her, having some laughs at the various silly ways companies promote their goods… then these little suckers turn up…

…a sterling, Tiffany branded Cross set she received ~50 years ago? If only it was an FP/MP set, it'd be perfect, but I'm sure I can find an acceptable BP refill, and in the meantime… love the MP… would you fine folks polish them up? Part of the charm of sterling, to me, has always been the patina… and this is ~50 years of patina! It may be heresy, but I love it…

Love the patina, leave it dark!
 
There are people that say that polishing the tarnish/patina out of the silver will actually reduce the value of the pen/pencil.  This is up for debate, as more than likely a bad or spotty polish would slightly reduce the overall look and maybe the value, but in the end it's up to you.  Do whatever you feel will give you the most enjoyment out of it!

 

[treal512]

I've strayed away from fountain pens because of bleeding and getting ink on my hands (I'll admit, I was using a cheap Hero) and have recently used a few different cheap pens I'd like to report on. I really liked the Uni Jetstream 0.7mm at first, but after having 2 of them sputter out on me like clockwork last semester before even reaching the end 1/3 of ink, I gave up on them. They write really nicely at first, with no bleeding and easy writing, but then they start feeding inconsistently and writing poorly. Very sad.
 
Next pen that I've started using recently is the Pilot G-Tec-C4. I actually hated this pen at first, but now that I've given up on the 0.7mm Jetstream, I've come to like this pen. It feels a bit scratchy and flexy at first, but after easing up on my writing pressure, I've started to really enjoy this extremely nimble 0.4mm pen. It writes and flicks letters effortlessly. I'll be ordering some nicer college rule paper (TOPS notebook paper) soon to hopefully increase my writing enjoyment.
 
And my most very recent pen experience has interestingly enough been provided by a friend who randomly gifted me because I was complaining about the 0.7mm Jetstream. He gave me a 1.0mm Jetstream and while it writes a lot more boldly, it reminds me of a cheap Bic. That's not necessarily a bad thing. The Bic Cristal used to be my long time go-to pen before I started venturing out more, but I'll keep my praise to a minimum (for now) because this pen's sibling has been very, very bad. Terrible, even.
 
Edit: Maybe for my next post I will post pictures, etc. because I am still on the hunt. So does anyone have any cheap pen recommendations? My main criteria is smooth feeding and no bleeding.

 

[linuxid10t]

  I've strayed away from fountain pens because of bleeding and getting ink on my hands (I'll admit, I was using a cheap Hero) and have recently used a few different cheap pens I'd like to report on. I really liked the Uni Jetstream 0.7mm at first, but after having 2 of them sputter out on me like clockwork last semester before even reaching the end 1/3 of ink, I gave up on them. They write really nicely at first, with no bleeding and easy writing, but then they start feeding inconsistently and writing poorly. Very sad.
 
Next pen that I've started using recently is the Pilot G-Tec-C4. I actually hated this pen at first, but now that I've given up on the 0.7mm Jetstream, I've come to like this pen. It feels a bit scratchy and flexy at first, but after easing up on my writing pressure, I've started to really enjoy this extremely nimble 0.4mm pen. It writes and flicks letters effortlessly. I'll be ordering some nicer college rule paper (TOPS notebook paper) soon to hopefully increase my writing enjoyment.
 
And my most very recent pen experience has interestingly enough been provided by a friend who randomly gifted me because I was complaining about the 0.7mm Jetstream. He gave me a 1.0mm Jetstream and while it writes a lot more boldly, it reminds me of a cheap Bic. That's not necessarily a bad thing. The Bic Cristal used to be my long time go-to pen before I started venturing out more, but I'll keep my praise to a minimum (for now) because this pen's sibling has been very, very bad. Terrible, even.
 
Edit: Maybe for my next post I will post pictures, etc. because I am still on the hunt. So does anyone have any cheap pen recommendations? My main criteria is smooth feeding and no bleeding.

Your ink makes a huge difference with bleedthrough with a fountain pen.  A bottle of bleedthrough resistant ink such as R&K Salix or Noodler's X-Feather could be what you need. (or better paper)

 

[treal512]

  Your ink makes a huge difference with bleedthrough with a fountain pen.  A bottle of bleedthrough resistant ink such as R&K Salix or Noodler's X-Feather could be what you need. (or better paper)

 
Thanks, I didn't think about trying another ink. I guess the ink can almost be every bit as important as the pen in this hobby.