The Cult Pens Guide to Fountain Pens

The Anatomy of a Fountain Pen

• The barrel is the main body of the pen. In some pens, the ink is stored directly inside the barrel, but in most pens these days, it’s in a cartridge of converter inside.
• The cap is used to cover the nib, protecting it and stopping the ink from drying up when you’re not writing or drawing. Some fountain pens have screw-on caps, and some are push-fit. It’s very much a matter of taste - some people like the extra security of a screw cap, some prefer the convenience and speed of a pull-cap. In most pens, there’s actually an inner cap that does the real sealing, fitting more closely over the nib than the whole cap could. It’s fixed inside the cap, and can’t usually be seen.
• Most fountain pens have a pocket clip. The main function is probably pretty obvious from the name. Most fountain pens are best carried tip-up, so using the pocket clip can be good to help keep it that way. Some pocket clips just bend a little to fit over cloth, while some have little spring mechanisms so they can open further without damage.
• Some pens have a decorative end to the cap, which is called the finial. It’s the same name as the decorative bit at the top of some roofs, especially churches and other fancy buildings.
• The nib is the bit that touches the paper, transferring ink from the feed. There’s a slit in the nib to carry the ink. The slit usually ends at a ‘breather hole’, though it doesn’t usually serve much ‘breathing’ functionality, and some pens don’t have one at all. The end of the nib that touches the paper is the tip, usually with a blob of tipping material. It’s the stuff that’s usually called ‘iridium’, though it isn’t usually actual iridium.
• The feed has the job of moving ink from where it’s stored (usually a cartridge or converter) to the nib, but without moving too much. It’s a tricky balance for a simple bit of plastic, and many decades were spent working out how to make feeds that could do it well.
• Some pens have a blind cap, which is a smaller cap at the end of the barrel, which either operates the filling system directly, or is removed to access it. Most pens now don’t have one, but piston-filled or vacuum-filled pens usually do.
• The section is the part that wraps around the feed, and is usually where you hold the pen. We usually call it the ‘grip section’, because that makes it clearer what part we’re talking about to people who don’t know these specific fountain pen terms.
• Some pens have some sort of ink window, which lets you see how much ink is left without having to take the pen apart.
• The filling system can vary a lot - most modern fountain pens use a cartridge or converter, but there are still plenty of piston-filled and vacuum-filled pens around, and a few other types. See our article about filling systems for more.

What to Look For in a New Fountain Pen

This depends very much on how new you are to fountain pens. If you’re an experienced fountain pen user, you probably have a pretty good idea of what you’re looking for, but if you’re new to them, you might have no idea if you’ll even like using one.

Completely New to Fountain Pens

If this is going to be your first fountain pen, you probably don’t know very well what you might like. There’s a lot of variety, and things can get expensive. We’d recommend starting at the cheap end, and making sure it’s something you really like first.

If you’re unsure, we’d suggest starting with a Pilot V-Pen or a Platinum Preppy. The V-Pen is disposable, which does remove one of the big advantages of fountain pens, but there’s a lot of ink in one, and they write very nicely, so they make a great way to try out writing with a fountain pen, to see if it’s for you. The Platinum Preppy manages to be a refillable fountain pen for not much more money.

If you’re reasonably sure you’re going to like fountain pens, or you just want to spend a little more on something that will last longer (and you may never feel the need to upgrade from), you can always skip straight to the next section:

Fairly New to Fountain Pens

You just want a solid and reliable fountain pen. But you don’t want to spend too much - maybe money is tight, or you just don’t want to spend all that much on a pen (you know, like a normal person!). At this point, we’re getting to pens that could reasonably last a lifetime, and you may very well be happy to stick with it as your ‘forever pen’.

The most commonly recommended pen at this sort of level is the Lamy Safari, and we wouldn’t argue with that. They’re made from tough ABS plastic, they’re reliable, and the nibs can be replaced fairly cheaply. You can use Lamy cartridges, or add a converter to use bottled ink. A really solid pen.

At this point, you might not be sure what nib size you prefer, and your taste may change as you use the pen - those replaceable nibs could save you having to replace the pen to try a different nib.

You could also consider the Kaweco Sport or Perkeo, with the Sport being a more pocketable pen. Similar to the Safari, these are great, very reliable, and nicely stylish. Replacement nibs are available, but only in a small range of colours, so check if that’s something you might want to do later.

Looking to Upgrade

If you’ve already been using a fountain pen for a while, and you’re looking for an upgrade, there’s a limit to how much advice we can give - hopefully you know why you’re looking to upgrade, and that can be your guide. Are you finding a pull-cap can sometimes get knocked off, so you’d rather have a screw-cap? Do you find a converter doesn’t hold enough ink so you’re looking for a piston- or vacuum-filler pen? Do you just want something that looks a bit more impressive in meetings?

Along with the things you’d like to change with your current pen, it might be worth thinking about what things you like, and don’t want to lose. Maybe that quick pull-off cap is actually really good for you, and you want to avoid screw-caps, or you like to keep spare ink handy in the form of a cartridge, so you need to make sure you’re getting a pen that can use cartridges.

Different Types of Fountain Pens

There are lots of different fountain pens, with all sorts of different features and designs, and most of them don’t fit nearly into one ‘type’, but there are a few types of fountain pens that are worth looking at. Some pens will fit into more than one, and plenty more won’t fit into any.

Traditional Luxury Fountain Pens

The ultimate classic here is probably the Montblanc 149, and their similar designs - there’s probably no other fountain pen so iconic, and its design has almost defined what a ‘traditional luxury fountain pen’ looks like.

If Montblanc isn’t your thing, there are quite similar-styled pens from Sailor (the 1911) or Platinum (The #3776 Century).

For something a little more whimsical, but still a traditional classic, the Pelikan Souverän is unbeatable - an all-time classic, but the (optional) striped barrel and pelican-beak clip make it a little more fun. A classically-tailored suit, yes, but with some colourful socks and tie.

Or maybe, if that touch of whimsy isn’t very you, but you still want something a little different, Graf von Faber-Castell would be more your style. Beautifully designed, with the ‘trumpet’ cap and flat ends adding a twist, with precious metals and woods making them a little different, but still traditional.

Pocket Fountain Pens

Unless you have unusually small pockets, or unusually large fountain pens, almost any fountain pen could be a pocket fountain pen. But some pens are more ‘pocket’ than others. Oddly enough, one feature that’s quite often lacking from pocket fountain pens, is a pocket clip. The term is usually used for pens made to drop into your pocket, not to sit clipped at the top of it.

The Kaweco Sport is perhaps the best-known pocket fountain pen - small in the pocket, big in the hand. They disappear into their own cap when closed, so they’re nice and small when you’re not using them, but become full-sized pens when in use.

Want to go even smaller? Kaweco still have you covered, with the Liliput - a tiny, tiny pen, but still very usable. If you don’t find small pens comfortable to use, though, the Liliput stays pretty small in use.

Beginners’ Fountain Pens

Hopefully we covered what you need to know about this type of pen further up, but almost any fountain pen at a reasonably low price could be seen as a ‘beginners’ fountain pen’. How far up the price range you want to go as a beginner is very much up to you, and what you can spare.

Metal Fountain Pens

We do like a bit of metal, but music aside, it can be a good material for really durable pens, too. We love Kaweco’s Liliput pens and AL-Sport range, and the real classic finish for a Parker is the brushed steel ‘Flighter’ finish.

Designer Fountain Pens

All pens are, to some extent, designed. They don’t grow naturally. Well, ok, there are quills made from feathers, but that’s a bit of a niche type of pen these days. We may be rather obviously biased here, but we really do think buying from a pen shop is preferable to wrestling a seagull for its feathers. But, you know, you do you.

But if all pens are designed, what makes a ‘designer fountain pen’ different? It’s hard to say, mostly being one of these things you know when you see, but the term is most often used with very German designs, especially anything with some Bauhaus inspiration going on. Think Lamy 2000, or, indeed, most of Lamy’s product range. Diplomat’s dirigible-inspired Aero. That sort of thing.

Disposable Fountain Pens

In general, we’re not the biggest fans of disposable pens - it’s better all round if you can refill your pens - for the environment as well as your pocket. But sometimes pens just need to be cheap, and they only need to last so long. And with fountain pens, you might just want to try out the idea of using a fountain pen, without having to spend too much on what might be a mistake (but could be your new favourite way to write or draw!)

And disposable fountain pens do fill that gap very nicely. Plenty of fountain pen enthusiasts keep a few disposables around, to loan out, or to keep handy where they might need them. Or to take with them when they know there’s a chance of loss or damage.

It’s worth mentioning, too, that a disposable fountain pen like the Pilot V-Pen holds a lot more ink than the vast majority of other fountain pens, so they can last longer than you might think.

Nib Sizes

Different fountain pens have different choices of nibs available. Some have no options at all, they just have a nib. Many have a choice of Fine, Medium or Broad. And some have all sorts of other choices. In general, if you're new to fountain pens and don't know what to choose, Medium is a good choice. If you usually like pens that write quite broad lines, or have large handwriting, consider a Broad nib. And we might be stating the obvious here, but if you usually prefer pens with finer lines, or have small handwriting, consider a Fine nib.

There's no set standard for what 'fine', 'medium' and 'broad' actually mean, so different brands can vary. One brand's fine nib could be another's medium. In general, Japanese nibs tend to be finer than Western nibs. But that can be complicated with things like Japanese pens designed for the Western market, or using German nibs - and sometimes even Japanese pens using German nibs, but those nibs are made finer for the Japanese market.

There are a few others you might see, which are probably best ignored if you're new to this, but you might want to consider in future, or if it's not your first fountain pen:

• Extra-Fine and Extra-Broad nibs are fairly obvious - finer and broader than Fine and Broad nibs respectively.
• Italic nibs write broad strokes when pushing and pulling, but narrow side-to-side. A true italic nib isn't the easiest writing experience, as it has to be held quite level, and they're usually too broad for 'normal' writing, intended for calligraphy.
• Stub nibs are more often seen on pens intended for normal writing, which are a sort-of italic, but with much more rounded-off edges, giving some of the line variation, while being a lot more forgiving. Not the easiest nibs to write with, but still friendly enough to use if you like the idea of them. The definition isn't very set, and some nibs that are sold as 'stub' nibs are much closer to italics than others.
• Soft or Flex nibs can bend with a bit of extra pressure (but not too much!), giving a wider line. These can be great for more expressive writing or calligraphy, but are better for somewhat experienced fountain pen users, as too much pressure can damage them. Most of these still don't flex a lot, as that would make them more prone to damage.
• Architect nibs, or architect-grind nibs are the opposite of italic nibs - wider for side-to-side strokes, for a writing style usually used on architectural drawings. Not too long ago, they were such an unusual specialist nib type that we wouldn't have even mentioned them, but there are a few pens offering them now.

Nib Materials

While some other materials have been used, almost all fountain pens use either steel or gold nibs. You can’t always tell from the colour, as steel nibs can be plated with gold, and gold nibs are sometimes plated with rhodium or platinum.

Which should you look for? If it’s your first fountain pen, we’d probably recommend steel, as they tend to be stronger, and significantly cheaper. The practical difference isn’t necessarily much, but gold nibs do tend to be made with more care, so even if the material itself isn’t much better, gold nibs are often better quality anyway. We have a separate article on fountain pen nib materials if you want to know more.

Fountain Pen Inks

Any ink that’s sold as ‘fountain pen ink’ should work fine in any fountain pen. Some manufacturers will say you should use only their own ink, but there’s very rarely any need to follow that. But there are a lot of inks that are not fountain pen ink, and should not be used in a fountain pen. Drawing ink, calligraphy ink, printing ink, and other types, would just clog the feed of a fountain pen, and may do so in a way that’s impossible to clean out again.

As long as you stick to ink that’s made for fountain pens, though, anything should be fine - but we’ll talk a little more about safety further down.

Types of Ink

• Standard fountain pen ink - anything that doesn’t fit into another category, really. These are still available in a huge range of colours, so you’re just choosing what you like.
• ‘Boutique’ inks - often used to describe inks that don’t necessarily have any special features, but they’re more expensive, a bit more ‘fancy’. There may not be much that’s actually different about them, but some people do enjoy an ink from a high-end brand, in a pretty bottle, and with a bit of story behind it. There really isn’t any need for these, but a bottle of ink can last most of us a long time, so even ‘expensive’ ink doesn’t really work out all that expensive, unless you’re using a lot.
• Sheening inks are inks that have a different coloured sheen when they catch the light. It’s all don’t with some clever chemistry, and only some colour combinations can be achieved, and it doesn’t work on all paper. But to many people, the very unpredictability of it makes these inks more fun. Finding the right paper to show off the sheen, using a pen that puts down a lot of ink, with a broad nib.
• Shimmering inks - a few different terms have been used for these, but ‘shimmering’ seems to be the one that’s catching on. In general, fountain pen inks use dye, and can’t have any particles in them. But with the right ingredients, they can have a little bit of very finely-ground glitter added, giving your writing a bit of sparkle. Again, the effect can vary a lot depending on the pen and the paper, but glittery writing is well worth the experimenting to some people. And some people probably hate it and think it’s all very childish. Let’s not worry about those joyless people. Enjoy your sparkle.
• Pigmented inks - not usually suitable for fountain pens, but there are a few that work. Platinum’s Carbon Black is a good example. Very permanent, and flows well in a fountain pen - but do take a bit of extra care not to let it dry in your pen.
• Iron gall inks - an old style of ink that you don’t see much of these days, probably because they’re very prone to drying in pens, and can harm steel. More modern formulations, like those used by Platinum’s Classic inks, can be much safer, but do still need some extra care. But an ink that darkens as it dries, and gradually changes to black over time, is pretty cool. Diamine Registrar's Ink is made for traditional official documents like marriage licenses, and does need some extra care - we wouldn't recommend it for day to day use.

Ink Bottles

It’s the ink you’re buying, so why would the bottle it comes in matter? Well, to many people, it doesn’t. Any simple bottle is fine, as long as the neck is wide enough for their pen. But some people want their ink to be a bit more decorative on their desk, or want a bit more functionality from the bottle, to assist with filling.

If your ink bottle is going to be sitting there on your desk all the time, it might as well look good. This is often one of the differences with ‘boutique’ ink - a pretty bottle design that just looks nicer. Obviously there’s a lot of variation for different tastes here, with some elaborately-shaped bottles, and others with more simple but striking styles.

Other bottles have extra features to make filling your pen easier, especially as the ink runs low. Filling most pens requires dipping the nib into ink deep enough to submerge the entire nib - if the bottle is wide and flat-bottomed, that can become impossible as you get low on ink. Lamy have bottles with a deeper section in the middle, so the last of the ink sits in a smaller space, just big enough for the nib to fit, with the extra space used to hold a roll of absorbent paper, with plastic backing, perfect for wiping excess ink off the nib after filling. Some Montblanc inks are available in their ‘shoe’ bottle, with a divider part-way along it, so you can tip the ink into the end under the lid when it’s running low. Waterman bottles have angled sides, so when the ink runs low, you can stand the bottle diagonally to reach the last of the ink.

Safety of Fountain Pen Ink

We said above that anything sold as ‘fountain pen ink’ should be safe. That’s true, but ‘should be’ allows a bit of wiggle-room. And here’s the wiggle. Some are safer than others. At the safer end you’ll find most of the ‘standard’ inks. Any plain old simple fountain pen ink will be pretty safe, and will let you get away with being a bit more careless than you should. Leave the ink to dry up in your pen? No worries, just rinse it with tap water and you’ll be fine.

Some ‘boutique’ inks can have stronger dyes in them, making them a bit more potentially troublesome if you let them dry. Permanent inks, especially those with finely-ground pigment, could be even more trouble. Sheening and shimmering inks can also be troublesome if allowed to dry.

There aren’t any hard-and-fast rules here - the majority of the time, even if you use a risky ink, and leave it to dry up completely, you’ll get away with it. A good flush out with water, and you’ll be good to go again. But the riskier the ink, the higher the chance that it will clog up your pen more permanently.

In our experience, though, even the riskiest of fountain pen inks pretty much always clear out ok in the end, just needing a bit more effort. We’ve left iron gall inks and pigmented inks in pens until they’re dried completely, and rinsing and soaking has pretty much always got them going again.

So really - don’t worry about it too much, but if a pen is too expensive to replace, or has sentimental value to you, the safest thing is to stick with standard inks.

Filling a Fountain Pen

The very short versions:

• For cartridges, put the new cartridge in (removing the old one if there was already one in there, of course), and give it a push. It should click into place, piercing the cartridge. It might take a couple of minutes for ink to make its way through the feed.
• For most converters, wind the piston down towards the nib, dip the entire nib into the ink, up to the grip section, and wind it back up to suck ink into the converter. Wipe off the excess ink, and write.

If that’s not enough detail, see our article about filling fountain pens.

Paper for Fountain Pens

Most paper works just fine, so just try it and see if it works. If you’re looking for a notebook that will definitely work well, you can’t go far wrong with Rhodia. But even a lot of cheap notepads work very nicely.

Tips for Writing with a Fountain Pen

The main differences from using a ballpoint or rollerball pen are:

• You don’t need much pressure, and too much can damage the nib.
• You have to keep the nib the right way up, while ball-tipped pens will write fine with any rotation.
• While most fountain pens will work anywhere from a very low angle, all the way to being upright, they’ll usually write better held at a somewhat lower angle than most ballpoints are happy with. It’s usually a more comfortable way to hold them anyway.

Tips for Storing Fountain Pens

Always with the cap on - otherwise the ink would dry out inside. They’re usually best kept either nib-up or horizontally. And if it’s likely to be a while before you use it again, it’s best to empty the ink out and rinse it with water before you put it away. Even capped, many fountain pens will dry out eventually, and it’s not good to let ink dry inside them, as it can clog the feed.

As long as it’s a reasonably safe fountain pen ink, though, if that’s happened, a rinse out with water will probably fix it all up.

How to Clean a Fountain Pen

The short version here is that you just fill and empty it with plain tap water a few times. To be thorough, you should keep going until the water is coming out clear, but that might not be very practical - a tiny amount of ink will still look like a lot, and it can take a bit of doing.

If you have a converter, you can use that to push ink in and out. If not, you might be stuck with just running the nib and grip section under the tap, which won’t be very thorough, but will probably be just fine.

And do you actually need to clean your pen? That’s up to you - they’re generally find just using them, changing ink when you want to, and not worrying about it. But regular cleaning and flushing out certainly isn’t a bad thing, and is a very good idea if you’re not intending to use the pen for a while.

Need more details? We have a whole article on how to clean a fountain pen.