Details you should consider when choosing a pen
Fountain pen is a very common product, but many people don't know what to consider when choosing a fountain pen.
Shopping points:
1. The tip of the pen. The most important and most expensive part of a pen is the nib, which is our first consideration. Generally distinguished from several aspects.
(1) Structure.
Commonly have dark tip, semi-bright tip, bright tip, and big bag tip.
For some special pen nibs, such as curved nibs and oblique nibs, which are suitable for special creation, it is not recommended to practice calligraphy. Now there is a more popular kind of sharpening tip. The most famous one is "Long Knife Research", which can indeed add a lot of color to writing. Many polished pens in China are also good, but some special sharpening costs are very high.
I strayed into the pit of sharpening before, but now I don’t use sharpening anymore. I suggest it for entertainment only. Why is this? Because I need a pen that feels comfortable, not a fine art pen.
(2) Material.
There are basically two types of pen nibs: gold nibs and steel nibs. Regardless of the type, the small bumps on the nib are all iridium, called iridium particles. In general, the gold tip feels softer, more resistant to corrosion and oxidation. Of course, there are also some that are not particularly high in gold and even the tip of the steel tip is surprisingly flexible. I guess such a pen should be a bright tip, and it is made very thin.
(3) Damping.
To put it bluntly, it is friction, which is a special process added to the pen nib for writing people with different needs and preferences. For example, Yongsheng 101 and Platinum 3776 have a sense of damping, and they are a bit harsh to write, while European and American pens are generally smoother. This is also caused by the different requirements for writing square characters and writing letters. Damping depends on personal preference. When I first came into contact with pens, I liked strong damping, and now I like smooth water guns.
(4) Thickness.
The common thickness classifications include EF, F, M, B from fine to coarse, and some superfine or super coarse ones are generally not used and are not recommended to buy. The same type of European and American pen nibs will be one size thicker than Japanese pens. Japanese M-tip ≈ European and American F-tip ≈0.5 gel pen. This thickness is also my most recommended model. It can be used for both daily use and practice.
2. Ink.
Common ways of inking are:
a. Squeeze inking. This kind of bladder generally has good ink storage, but it is easy to be stained or even corroded, and it is troublesome to replace, so it is gradually eliminated.
b. Push-pull/rotary ink applicator. This is the most common way of inking at present. It can be unplugged to fill the ink and then plugged in, avoiding the mess of inserting the pen into the ink bottle, and the travel ink sac can be replaced. However, due to structural problems, the ink storage volume is small, generally only a few tenths of a milliliter. If it happens to catch up with a large water gun, it will be a little troublesome.
c. The piston is inked. The more high-end inking method can actually be regarded as a large integrated rotary inking device with a large amount of ink.
There are also some special inking methods that are rarely seen, usually on some antique pens, so I won’t introduce them.
Shopping points:
1. The tip of the pen. The most important and most expensive part of a pen is the nib, which is our first consideration. Generally distinguished from several aspects.
(1) Structure.
Commonly have dark tip, semi-bright tip, bright tip, and big bag tip.
For some special pen nibs, such as curved nibs and oblique nibs, which are suitable for special creation, it is not recommended to practice calligraphy. Now there is a more popular kind of sharpening tip. The most famous one is "Long Knife Research", which can indeed add a lot of color to writing. Many polished pens in China are also good, but some special sharpening costs are very high.
I strayed into the pit of sharpening before, but now I don’t use sharpening anymore. I suggest it for entertainment only. Why is this? Because I need a pen that feels comfortable, not a fine art pen.
(2) Material.
There are basically two types of pen nibs: gold nibs and steel nibs. Regardless of the type, the small bumps on the nib are all iridium, called iridium particles. In general, the gold tip feels softer, more resistant to corrosion and oxidation. Of course, there are also some that are not particularly high in gold and even the tip of the steel tip is surprisingly flexible. I guess such a pen should be a bright tip, and it is made very thin.
(3) Damping.
To put it bluntly, it is friction, which is a special process added to the pen nib for writing people with different needs and preferences. For example, Yongsheng 101 and Platinum 3776 have a sense of damping, and they are a bit harsh to write, while European and American pens are generally smoother. This is also caused by the different requirements for writing square characters and writing letters. Damping depends on personal preference. When I first came into contact with pens, I liked strong damping, and now I like smooth water guns.
(4) Thickness.
The common thickness classifications include EF, F, M, B from fine to coarse, and some superfine or super coarse ones are generally not used and are not recommended to buy. The same type of European and American pen nibs will be one size thicker than Japanese pens. Japanese M-tip ≈ European and American F-tip ≈0.5 gel pen. This thickness is also my most recommended model. It can be used for both daily use and practice.
2. Ink.
Common ways of inking are:
a. Squeeze inking. This kind of bladder generally has good ink storage, but it is easy to be stained or even corroded, and it is troublesome to replace, so it is gradually eliminated.
b. Push-pull/rotary ink applicator. This is the most common way of inking at present. It can be unplugged to fill the ink and then plugged in, avoiding the mess of inserting the pen into the ink bottle, and the travel ink sac can be replaced. However, due to structural problems, the ink storage volume is small, generally only a few tenths of a milliliter. If it happens to catch up with a large water gun, it will be a little troublesome.
c. The piston is inked. The more high-end inking method can actually be regarded as a large integrated rotary inking device with a large amount of ink.
There are also some special inking methods that are rarely seen, usually on some antique pens, so I won’t introduce them.