welcome back to the gentleman's Gazette
in today's video we'll discuss how to
use a fountain pen and how to write with
it
so it brings you joy in the u.s. frame
in the fountain pen is not something
that you learn in school unlike in other
countries like a new Europe but a lot of
people find that they enjoy writing with
a fountain pen much more than with a
ballpoint pen or in the error kind of
pen because it's more deliberate and
intentional these days with technology
and innovation we don't even need to
write by hand anymore but we can just
send messages or emails
however a handwritten note can really
purvey that you really care about the
recipient and they feel much more valued
than if you sent them a digital
communication even though you can use a
ballpoint pen or a rollerball you're
missing a fountain pen gives you that
unique character to your handwriting
that can't be replicated by anyone else
why is that a fountain pen has a metal
nib with two tines and you can control
the thickness of the line by applying
more or less pressure forging an nib is
an art of its own and the higher end
ones are made out of eighteen karat or
even higher karat degree of gold for
example all of mobile or mastership pens
come with a solid gold nib and you can
learn whether it's worth it or not in
this video here in general prices for
fountain pens can range from very few
dollars to thousands of dollars to learn
more about inexpensive fountain pens and
mid-range fountain pens check out these
videos here so a fountain pen is more
expensive than a ballpoint pen or a
rollerball why would you want to invest
in one well the connoisseur appreciates
he personally edits to his penmanship
and it's just a very different writing
experience the look at the pen that may
underline your personality the way it
feels and writes are all attributes that
you don't find in other writing
instruments if you want to learn more
about the general Anatomy the fountain
pen please check out this guide here so
if you're ready to give riding with a
fountain pen a try how should you choose
one to begin with first of all look at
the side
a fountain-pen is a very personal
instrument and it's supposed to be
perfect for your hand if you have a big
hand get a bigger fountain pen if you
small a hand get a smaller one
when in doubt it should never be too
short and rather be a little longer but
you also want to pay attention to the
width because when you hold it an
independent is too wide may be
uncomfortable to write with it
frankly there's no clear-cut answer for
it you simply have to try different ones
and different widths and lengths to
figure out what feels comfortable in
your hand
the second thing to pay attention to is
the weight in general we often associate
weight with something luxurious that is
really full of craftsmanship now for
fountain pens that may be really nice if
you just want one - just sign something
but if you want to write into our
letters that are pages long you want
something that is not too heavy
otherwise your hand will tire out more
quickly again figuring out whether
something is too light or too heavy also
depends a bit on your personal
preference so I urge you to try
different fountain pens at a store or
something that is sent to you but always
get a selection so you can make sure you
find something that really works for you
and don't just settle for the first best
fountain pen you come along likewise
just because it's expensive and a
recognizable brand name doesn't mean
it's best for you and your hand and your
needs the third thing you look at is the
filling mechanism so dry with the
fountain pen you need ink and ink is
typically found little cartridge inside
the fountain pen they're basically small
disposable plastic tubes that hold the
ink and they're widely available yet
finding different colors can be a bit
more tricky some brands also design
their cartridges so you can only buy
proprietary ones which limits you in the
choices of ink and it's also more
expensive the longer you have to pump
and because of that many people switch
to a converter which is basically
another plastic tube with a little
mechanism so you can manually add ink to
it and therefore you open up the whole
range of inks on the market and it's
also much less expensive it's also less
harsh in the environment and overall the
more sensible choice more old-school way
to re-ink a fountain pen is a
piston mechanism typically you just turn
the Becket of the fountain pen which
pushes a piston back and forth it
creates a low-pressure environment which
sucks in the ink inside the fountain pen
when you do that always make sure
there's a little bit of air left inside
the piston otherwise the ink flow may
not be as smooth and nice as you want it
to be in my opinion it's much more
elegant and using cartridges or a
converter and it's my fountain pen
mechanism of choice like in the early
days of fountain pens you could also
find models with a lever and a second
inside or some push nut mechanisms but
none of them have stood the test of time
and today the piston the converter and
the cartridges are basically the options
you have next up you look at the
neighbor first of all the material can
be important and of course the
workmanship off the nib and how refined
it is generally the softer and more
flexible nib is the better
whilst elem are rather smooth and very
economical hiring friends to come with
gold or palladium nibs but they always
have an Iridium tipped point which Harz
it because that's where a neighbor
touches the paper of course gold and
palladium tips are also much more
expensive than more economical steel or
metal nibs on top of that a size of the
nib itself is also important the larger
the nib typically the nicer is to write
with it because of that the most
expensive fountain pens typically have
larger lips than less expensive fountain
pens again you need twice as much gold
for a nib for a big one it gets even
more expensive the one thing even more
important in the lip size is a tip of
the nib because that's what you write
with typically these days you find extra
fine fine medium broad and very broad
nibs they're often abbreviated as f EF m
b and b be 100 years ago frontline
manufacturers would offer 50 different
kinds of nips including extra extra fine
and extra broad they also had stop nibs
and oblique nibs that were slightly cut
and angled just to get a different look
just starting out or if you're a lefty I
suggest going with a fine it may be a
medium nip is the best way to start
gives you greater flexibility and makes
it easier to write with it
that being said of course you should
always try to nip in a different widths
so you understand how they feel
differently and how they look
differently in general if you're a big
hand and a big hand writing a slightly
broader nib may look more appealing on
the flip side if you like an elegant
look and you have a small hand writing
an extra fine tip may be the right one
for you in calligraphy stub or italic
nibs are very popular personally I like
really wide nibs for signatures because
they give it a unique look that is very
hard to fake
so for signatures are typically use an
oblique 3 B nib which is a triple width
and it's very wide I wouldn't want to
write letters with it though because
it's uncomfortable now medium sized nibs
are the most common standard sizes and I
like my handwriting to look a little
different so when I write longer letters
I typically go with something extra fine
that being said a big fan of flexible
nibs that allow me to create a very fine
thin line if I apply a less pressure and
a much wider line if I apply more
pressure oftentimes the Vintage fountain
pens have much more flexible nibs than
modern fountain pens so if you like the
variation in your stroke maybe you have
to look into vintage fountain pens first
so once you settle on a fountain pen
that works for you how should you write
with it well first of all you have to
use a high quality paper many regular
printer papers are not really suited for
fountain pen ink because as soon as you
write on them the ink bleeds and looks
very bad is that by a paper that is made
for fountain pens and when you write on
it it will look beautiful the same is
true for stationary if you want to write
greeting cards make sure it works with a
fountain pen a good paper doesn't
feather or run and it is often made out
of cop so before you buy a paper and
specifically if it's meant to be written
on with fountain pens or buy from a
source that supplies them and
vert I system as fountain pen paper the
broaden your nib the more ink will
transport onto the paper and the longer
it takes to dry so we write with a
fountain pen and you touch it with your
hand you may smudge it and it will look
terrible
to pretend that you have to either let
it dry or use an ink blotter if you want
to get ahead quickly and of course
always be aware that you can smudge ink
typically fountain pens come with a cap
and some people like to post the cap on
the back part of the fountain pen
because that creates a different balance
personally I have larger hands like
larger fountain pens and posting a cap
on top is not really necessary and it
creates a weird balance for me so I
typically don't do it with my fountain
pens that being said some fountain pens
especially smaller ones are designed to
have a cap posted in the back for the
perfect balance again this is something
you have to try out yourself and see
what kind of feel you like on vintage
from prints I've often seen a cap crack
probably because it was posted too often
and too aggressively so personally
that's another reason why I don't do it
the fountain pen I use for signatures is
actually in a stand on my desk and a cap
is mounted to the stand so I couldn't
even have the opportunity to post a cap
on it now when you write with a fountain
pen it's essential that you keep it at
the right angle and that you're not
flexible with your fingers so what
exactly does it mean if the tip of your
nib is facing down on the paper and the
slit is facing up it should have a net
angle of about 45 to 55 degrees once if
that angle write a few words to find
that sweet spot for you that feels
comfortable writing if you angle your
nib above 55 degrees or below 45 degrees
it won't write as nicely it won't be as
smooth and the ink won't be transported
as well onto the paper and it's just
weird it also sounds strange and
Scratchy you also want to avoid twisting
the pen because the tines should be in
touch with a paper at times otherwise
the ink won't flow and a really
important distinction to running with a
rollerball or ballpoint pen is that you
have to keep your hand rather rigid what
are we
well some people are finger writers and
they move their hand in their fingers as
they write with a round ballpoint pen
that is okay because it works in every
angle but with a fountain pen with a
straight nib that is not the case so
once you have the right angle with your
fingers you shouldn't really adjust your
wrist you just just stay rigid so you
just keep on writing yes there can be a
little bit of movement but you'll figure
out at what point in time it's too much
movement and the pen won't write anymore
as a general rule your arm and your
shoulder will do more of the work then
your wrist honestly it sounds more
difficult than it is if you just try it
a few times you'll get the hang of it
pretty quickly well at least you have to
learn how to apply the right amount of
pressure onto your nib as a tip of the
neighbor touches the paper just apply a
gentle pressure and you'll feel how the
ink flows out please don't press hard
read because it may damage your nib as
well as the paper also it means that
you'll get a lot more ink out of the
neighbor and just not a good look you'll
likely smudge it now what about lefties
can they write with a fountain pen back
in the old days people who were lefties
had to actually learn how to write with
their right hand because it was the
proper way to do it in this day and age
children learn how to write with our
left hand just requires a different
positioning for their hand so they don't
smudge the writing because it goes from
left to right personally I'm
right-handed so I can't speak from
experience but I know that lefties have
found a way to hold it in a proper way
so you don't smudge your writing if you
are a lefty I suggest you get a fine
Romanian nib because it allows for
greater angle variation then of course
you have to practice and I suggest you
google for a video for a lefty who shows
you how to do it because my left hand
writing would not be a good example so
long as you know how you choose the
right film pin for your hand and how you
write with it what else do you need to
keep in mind well I think that you
should always keep the cap on top of the
nib where you don't write with a
fountain pen why all of you don't it
dries out and you'll have a hard time
actually starting to write the next time
around also your name
get damaged so unlike with a ballpoint
pen you always want to put the cap and
cover your nib on top of that a fountain
pen needs a bit more maintenance which
means it has to be cleaned regularly
while some people suggest to clean your
fountain pen every two months I
personally do it once every couple of
years ultimately it depends on how often
and frequently you use it and if it
looks sturdy and it doesn't write
properly it's time for a clean to clean
I suggest you hold your fountain pen
under running water you can also put it
in a glass of water let it soak and you
can exchange the water until you don't
see any more ink color how much faster
when you clean your fountain pen is to
use an ultrasonic cleanser but that may
be too costly if you just have one
fountain pen ideally you take all the
parts apart
wash them individually and let them dry
gently on a cloth towel for example so
you make sure there's no water in the
ink reservoir otherwise when you write
and there's a higher water content your
ink won't look as strong and it's also
more likely to bleed also avoid exposing
your pen with the ink to extremely cold
temperatures because it may freeze or
you shouldn't just let it sit in the
attic where it gets really hot because
the ink can also dry in and then
cleaning it may take much longer time
that being said there are certain things
that have a certain stabilizer added
that is supposed to keep them from
drying in but that goes only so far if
you expose the ink to extreme
temperatures it will dry out if you live
in an extremely cold environment you can
also try Noodlers polar ink which is
freeze resistant personally I like the
inks from one blown because they have
nice colors and it doesn't dry and even
if I don't use the fountain pen for a
while so already ideal conditions for
ink storage
I'd say I'd rather have the cool room
temperature darkest spot and one hotly
debated item is if you should lend your
fountain pen to someone else or not some
people argue that giving your fountain
printer someone else means the whole
dynamic of your fountain pen that took
several weeks to get there will
disappear because someone else holds the
fountain pen slightly different and
you do others think that it doesn't
matter if someone else takes a quick
note with it
at the end of the day it's something for
you to decide and you can see and feel
how long it takes to write in your
fountain pen until it feels like it is
your fountain pen now with that being
said if you want to learn about the most
common fountain pen mistakes especially
beginners make check out this video here
I'm sure you will thank me for it in
today's video I'm wearing a white dress
shirt paired with a Prince of Wales
check coat in a light brown and dark
brown with an orange reddish / check
comparing it with a matter silk bow tie
in red with elements of blue and yellow
and my pocket square is it will silk
blend that likewise picks up the color
of red yellow and blue you can find both
of them in our Fort Belvedere shop here
my pants are black cotton chinos from
Ralph Lauren and pairing it with a pair
of hole cut Oxford's in a chestnut
medium brown and a belt in brown that
matches that color and I chose a gold
buckle from our bail system that works
well with my rings for my socks I chose
a pair of ripped mortal tiara socks in
blue which are a prototype that I'm
testing right now it picks up the color
from the pocket square and a bowtie
thus tying it all together if you're
interested in a bail system or you can
exchange every buckle with every belt
please check it out here the final mint
I'm using personally is a mole mole my
starstruck all the other pens you've
seen are from different videos and we
have quite a few of them on our Channel
so if you're interested check them out
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