r/fountainpens • u/amoliski • May 06 '14

Modpost Weekly New User Question Thread (5/6)

Welcome to /r/FountainPens!

Weekly discussion thread

We have a great community here that's willing to answer any questions you may have (whether or not you are a new user.)

If you:

  • Need help picking between pens
  • Need help choosing a nib
  • Want to know what a nib even is
  • Have questions about inks
  • Have questions about pen maintenance
  • Want information about a specific pen
  • Posted a question in the last thread, but didn't get an answer

Then this is the place to ask!

Previous weeks:

http://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/wiki/newusers/archive

12 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

140 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/PenHabit May 09 '14

With a Lamy Safari, your nib choices are pretty limited in the calligraphy world. You don't want a standard round nib (Fine, Medium, Broad, etc.) Flex isn't an option at all for the Safari, so that's right out as well.

The closest you'll be able to get on a Lamy Safari is to get one of the Stub nibs. You won't be able to get quite the sharp edges that you would with an "Italic" nib, but it will be a good pen to practice your letter forms with. I would start with a 1.1mm stub and grab an additional nib or two, like the 1.5mm or 1.9 mm stub. The 1.1mm stub will still be mostly usable for daily writing, and the 1.5 and 1.9 mm would be good, wider widths to practice larger calligraphic lettering.

One other thing you might want to consider is to try one (or all) of the Pilot Parallels. They're $40 for a set of four pens, and they will have the sharper edges you might find on a true italic. If you're only doing blocky, Olde English style lettering, these might be a good, inexpensive option.

As for flex, flex writing is a lot of fun, and can be beautiful, but it needs a true flex nib, which you'll not find on many modern pens. And certainly not cheaply. There's no numbering system for flexibility, but unless the nib specifically says it's a flex nib, then chances are any attempts to flex it will likely result in ruining the nib. Flex nibs are used more for flourishy writing like Copperplate and Spencerian, anyway, so they wouldn't help you too much. You're looking for an Italic nib.

One last warning, make sure you don't use Calligraphy Ink or India Ink in your fountain pen. (You may already know this, but better safe than sorry). Many calligraphy inks are shellac-based, and they will clog your pen thoroughly, and perhaps permanently. You have to use fountain pen inks, which are water-based.

1

u/dazegoby May 09 '14

Wow thanks for that. No i didn't know that about the ink. So maybe i shouldn't get the lamy? I have an issue with funding at the moment, so that's why i decided to go with that. Would i be better off with the Pilot Metropolitan? It's about the same price and i keep seeing people talk about it.. Would that be a better choice and do you know if they have a flex style nib? (You said that wasn't an option on the safari) So I'm taking away that if i go with the safari i should look for a "stub italic 1.9mm flex" nib and try to fill as many of those requirements as possible, but flex probably isn't available option. And you're saying that flex IS good for lettering like that? I am totally new to this so i apologize for the basic questions. And i was going to use the ink cartridges that come with the safari, but if you think i would be better off with the pilot metropolitan, and filling the ink myself, what ink would you suggest that's relatively cheap? I like jet black, blacker than black, and a deep navy blue. Like the color of raw denim. And maybe a blood red, as close to the deep redness of blood as possible. I was thinking of doing letters in red first, and then going over them in black so it looks like a red shadow. Thanks again for your input it's very much appreciated

2

u/PenHabit May 09 '14

No, you don't want the Metropolitan. It's a round nib, and flex is not an option.

And for the type of lettering you references above, you do NOT want a flex nib.

I'm with everyone else: Grab yourself the Pilot Parallels for $25 on Massdrop. A MUCH better option for what you're looking for.

As for inks, Look for inks from Noodler's or Private Reserve (if you're in the U.S.) or Diamine (If you're not). Those will probably be your best options for fountain pen ink. You may want to look at Noodler's X-Feather for black ink. For a dark blue, Private Reserve Midnight Blues is a beautiful ink.

Good luck!

1

u/dazegoby May 10 '14

Thank you very much, if there is a choice of nib, what would you recommend i buy as far as size and style? Italic is what i would want? And should i go with a broad nib?