The fountain pen is a much older type of pen than most that are still in use. It is descended from the dip pen, which is itself descended from even older types, such as the stereotypical quill pen, which was made from a bird’s feather, or the reed pen. The dip pen had a metal nib with capillary channels that was mounted on a holder. The dip pen had to be continually “dipped” into ink to recharge its ink supply. Dip pens are still in use today, to a much lesser degree, as are fountain pens. Unlike dip pens, fountain pens carry a reservoir of ink, which means that they don’t have to be continually dipped into a supply of ink to recharge them (although some dip pens do have tiny reservoirs that can be clipped on).

Fountain pen reservoirs come in two main types. The easiest to use, and probably the one that most people are familiar with, is the cartridge pen. There are different types of cartridge, but many manufacturers do, these days, use fairly standard types, making it much easier to get an ink cartridge that fits. In a cartridge pen, a small, sealed plastic reservoir of ink is inserted. This is then pierced when the pen is fastened, and the ink flows to the nib.

Another, much less common type of fountain pen is in fact an older model, although it has been updated. These have a reusable cartridge that is refilled, using such as a syringe action, from a bottle of ink. This type does have the disadvantage that it requires an open bottle of ink to be around when it is being refilled, and an open bottle of ink could be spilt.

Fountain pens in general are no longer as popular as they once were, having being mostly superseded by other pen types, but they do still have their uses. They are also today often considered to be a luxury item, and a modern fountain pen is quite likely to be expensively made. Fountain pens do have advantages over other pen types, in particular ballpoints, in that very little pressure is required on the nib to get the ink to flow. This is particularly important to those who have problems with their hands, such as sufferers of arthritis or repetitive strain injury; using a fountain pen is much less stressful on the hand.

Older pen types, such as the dip pen, have not totally been superseded by more modern ones, but they are much less common and rather more niche in use than they once were, as are many fountain pens that aren’t luxury items. These pens are most commonly used in various arts, such as by illustrators and cartoonists and in calligraphy. Special calligraphy fountain pen sets can be purchased which come with a range of nibs of different thicknesses, allowing different widths of stroke to be created.

Cartridge pens rarely come in colours other than the standard black and blue, but ink bottles can come in many different colours and types, sometimes including glitter inks, although there may be a problem with the nibs clogging when such inks are used. Fortunately, fountain pens are generally easy to unclog – they simply need placing in water or held under a tap.

I do use fountain pens (and I also have a few, old, nib pens), but mostly for activities related to drawing.

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