The Besoeker rev 29 or whatever
I was chatting an ancient friend today. We used fountains in school with ink stands at our desks. I still with my fountain pen. I think it is elegant for signing letters and cards. Does anyone else here use one?
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I do not use them now, but a few of us at school brought & used them. It was a chess club thing. We wanted to be different & using a fountain pen was.
Perfect timing. I use fountain pens every day. Just refilled my Waterman today. Was looking for some ink to buy in the last couple days. I want different colors because I color code my notes. I’ve been looking into what inks mix to see if I can buy the CMYK versions of them to mix. I’ve been reading a lot on fountain pen websites for advice on mixing colors.
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We had to use fountain pens at school too, Besoeker. They also had to have Italic nibs.
Must admit I don’t use them nowadays though, as there are many quite good substitutes.
I don’t miss the damn things, We had to use them when I was at school, The then new fangled Biros were not allowed at all.
As soon as I left school my writing became shithouse because I couldn’t control the Biro properly
I use pencil most of the time these days but at least you never have to buy a pen - I end up with dozens of giveway pens.
As an aside I still have my school fountain pen but it is nibless I also have one pen you dip in the ink from those days (I did an exam using it because I dropped my fountain pen and damaged the nib - useless things). carrying a bottle of Quink is another thing I don’t miss.
Curious. You’ve kept something for over 60 years that you don’t miss. That’s quite a commitment.
I’m a hoarder, I don’t throw things away. I’ve still got my school slide rule, I didn’t like that either I preferred my log tables
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I love my fountain pens - would not use anything else for writing letters/cards - anything important etc., Biros are for scribbling notes but, for some reason, I always use pencils for writing poetry and stories - don’t know why.
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I have a fountain pen but rarely use it. I used to make feather quills years ago to dip in ink, because I wanted to write the beautiful calligraphy that my great uncle did in all his handwritten letters. I couldn’t read much of what he wrote, mind you but they were a work of art.
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I have a fountain pen somewhere, haven’t used it for years. We had to use them at school - I remember my father buying me an Osmiroid fountain pen when I passed my 11+, all ready for the new grammar school. I was so proud of it!
These days I have a lovely Waterman rollerball pen which writes beautifully. I always use this for greetings cards or for anything important. Otherwise I use pencils, as I love the feel of a pencil gliding over the paper - and, of course, I can rub it out if necessary 
I use a selected few from my collection for important writing, but I also use a ballpoint for mundane writing such as shopping lists etc. However, I am finding it increasingly difficult to locate and buy my manuscript sepia from the high street and my recent purchase has been on-line.
Colours? Hard to go past Sharpie.
I use a Parker fountain pen which my son bought for my birthday some years ago. Before that I used a fountain pen when I was at school and then a biro until I had my Parker, which I always use nowadays for writing cards, letters etc. Like others have said, I use a pencil for other writing and for crosswords (easy to erase when I make a mistake).
Yes, I use a pencil too - - it’s a mechanical pencil for a 0.5 mm HB lead.
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I still have my school fountain pen - a Schaefer with a hooded nib (leaks like a sieve now though 
) and a special edition gold plated Schaefer I treated myself to one Christmas about 25 years ago that I’ve only used a few times (one cartridge + one “bag” of ink) to get the nib to suit my handwriting style.
I love colors. I’ve been reading these articles about how to make the color wheel from fountain pen ink.
Here’s one using Noodler inks. They also talk about J. Herbin inks as well. I love the J. Herbin Pervenche which is a turquoise that can be used as the cyan in these color wheels.
Here’s another one using Diamine inks.
At the online retailer I’m thinking of buying, the Diamine inks are half the price of the Noodler’s, but the Noodler’s have 3 times as much ink. Sounds like a no-brainer decision, but I’m not sure if I would use that much ink. 3 oz (88.72 ml is a lot of ink). The good thing is that fountain pen ink lasts for decades. I have a bottle that I’ve been using for around 15 years.
Getting back to pens, here’s one of my pens. Lamy Safari. I have the color in the middle, lime green. Not my favorite writer but it’s dependable and doesn’t wear out. I read they were one of the best pens for the price. I bought it despite not liking the look of it. I’m still looking for my Holy Grail pen, for me that’s a smooth writer at a low price.
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Yes I still use a fountain pen ; for letters and pen & ink artwork.
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I’d never considered mixing colours for my fountain pen but what a great idea. 
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I have a bottle of Mont Blanc black ink sitting on my desk right now. This is the one:
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I use a fountain for this kind of thing: Blue of course.
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