fountain pen

by Tony Thomas I have really big hands.  As a result, I need a really big pen to write comfortably for long periods of time.  I am always searching for capable daily writers that can serve my needs.  My Edison Collier and Noodler's Ahab have served this purpose well but I wanted to add another pen to the rotation.  I looked through my growing pen collection to see what pens would be good candidates with a bit of modification.   I finally decided to use my hand made  Ranga Duofold ebonite pen from India as a starting point.  At $35 shipped, it is an unbelievable value.  The big drawbacks are the simple ebonite feed and scratchy Wality nib that ship with it.  While you can order this pen with a Jowo or Schmidt nib, a modern feed and a converter, they add quite a bit to the price.   This pen is really big: About 14.6 cm (5.75") long when capped, 13 cm long when uncapped, a 12mm section width and 14mm wide body width.  It is very comfo...

by Tony Thomas Although this blog is called "The Frugal Fountain Pen", a little frugal extravagance is in order from time to time.   All of the pens in my collection cost $50 or less (often much less) except for this one:  The beautiful Edison Pen Company Persimmon Swirl fountain pen.   Although Edison is renown for their "bespoke" or custom pens, they also make some production line pens that are crafted on a CNC lathe rather than by hand at a significant savings.  That said, they are up to the same impeccable quality standards as Edison custom line. Why did I spring for such an expensive ($150) pen? I have large hands and the Collier is a huge pen! The production line Edisons are still within the reach of people with limited means (moi). Edisons are sold with affordable steel nibs and removable nib units. The pen uses a commonly available #6 nib that can be used in the provided nib unit. Then pen can use a converter, a cartridge or as an eyedropper. It is a true wo...