[ryanobjc]

I guess I don’t quite get it. The inks are the least good thing about fountain pens - the ink drys slow and often doesn’t well on cheap paper.

I personally love fountain pens. The style, the tech, the aesthetic, everything. So this to me seems like a step back - and the writing end breaks every 20-30 fills!

[mrob]

How well a fountain pen writes on cheap paper depends very much on the ink. Several years ago, when I first became interested in fountain pens, I exchanged ink samples with other enthusiasts, and tried many different inks. I had the best results with Noodler's Black, which avoided feathering or bleed-through even on cheap paper. I got through a 3oz jar of it, and I'm currently using a 3oz jar of Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin, which I don't like as much. Next jar will be the normal Noodler's Black again.

Nib size also makes a difference; this was with an extra fine nib on a Lamy Safari.

[slowmovintarget]

I'm currently working my way through a bottle of Noodler's Dark Matter. Really well behaved ink, though I'll likely trade-up to Noodler's X-Feather (anti-feather black) or plain black.

I have samples of Noodler's 54th Massachusetts and Lexington Gray that I'm looking forward to trying.

[hjrigirk]

The advantage of fountain ink is that it flows with minimum pressure, you barely need to touch the paper. This is noticable if you write for hours, but few do these days.

[filleduchaos]

Don't use cheap paper then?

(half-sarcastic)

[ryanobjc]

Actually no I don’t!

Good paper doesn’t even have to be too expensive either. Maybe more than a college ruled notebook. But I don’t take copious notes so something aesthetically nice to use is a big plus for me.