-An important rule I go by is never use sumi ink in a fountain pen, no matter how many people say they use it as an alternative art supply.
-Sumi ink and fountain pens are generally a bad combination. Traditional sumi inks are designed for brushes and dip pens, not fountain pen feed systems. Many contain binders, shellac-like ingredients, or particulate matter that can permanently clog feeds and collectors. Once dried inside a fountain pen, cleaning can become extremely difficult or impossible.
-Dip pens are more suitable for Sumi & Fountain pen inks.
-I never use shimmer inks in my more higher quality pens, as I don't wznt to risk particle clogging
-Expensive fountain pens are not automatically better art tools. This is something many newer users discover. A $20 pen with a reliable feed and comfortable grip can sometimes outperform a much more expensive pen for sketching, line variation, or mixed-media work.
-Rough watercolour papers can increase nib wear and may produce scratchier feedback, feathering, or inconsistent ink flow. If you're concerned about preserving a fountain pen nib, smoother papers are generally safer.

I will keep it brief, so here is a few pointers:
- try to go to a pen show to trying out fountain pens, inks, and paraphernalia; bring a notebook to write on, ink swatches, thoughts and contact info of vendors and pen friends
- find a local pen club and join a pen meet to have fun with their pens, and nerd out
- use SM to inquire about your curiosities and questions; the online FP community is somewhat friendly, and easily share with you

Pilot makes some great pens; I recently got the Procyon and it’s a very satisfying writer and it’s available on Amazon or Jet Pens for about $60. Pilot pens are very reliable. A lot of people are offering you advice; I hope you can find a pen group near you. But when I first got started four years ago, I got a lot of inexpensive pens to see what felt best in my hand since I didn’t have pen groups near me to test things out. And I watched a lot of videos…

I use Fountain Pens for work, theres actually a lot of issues with them for taking notes on the go (smudging, leaks, etc). All of those made me learn important lessons when keeping them on me, but here's the most important thing I've learned; always keep a normal pen with you so you can still write on regular office paper other people are using.
Love my fountain pens, they made me teach myself cursive. The fancier the writing instrument, the more you want your handwriting to match. I also started journaling help destress because of them as well.

Fountain pens costing up to $300 use steel nibs, and in this case it's more a matter of preference and design. A $20 pen can have a better nib than a $100 pen, and vice versa. It's more likely that the design and the material of the body are taking up the biggest piece of the price. The bigger price difference is then between steel and gold nibs, because gold nibs can be more flexible, making them more exciting to write with, but not really beginner-friendly. The best way to find out what you like is to go to a stationery shop and try out different pens and brands to see what nib characteristics you prefer. One tip from me: many people hype extra fine nibs, but in my experience it's more of a personal preference, and many people feel pressured to buy a really fine nib even if they would prefer a broader M nib. My favourite desk pen is the Lamy 2000 and my favourite pen for on the go is the Kaweco Liliput Brass. Please buy proper fountain pen ink and don't use generic ink out of a bucket, as this can ruin your pen. There are some videos out there that tell you otherwise, but I have seen many great pens get destroyed that way.

Try the different nib sizes on the Kakuno to get a feel for the differences in how they write. Some imks are wetter than others and have better flow through. Paper is also a factor. My top 2, Pilot Kakuno as a starter, and Waterman Carene as my grail pen. Theres a lot inbetween so just have fun😊

I used a fountain pen as a schoolboy. I would recommend always transporting one in a case as leaks can be disastrous. My mother's laundry basket can testify to that.😅

I enjoyed your video, and agree a beautiful fountain pen brings joy and makes you want to write more which is a good thing.  For a next fountain pen, consider the TWSBI ECO, or Kaweco Sport.  They are both fairly affordable, $35 to $40, but are some of the most popular fountain pens in the community.  Some of my favourite fountain pens are Montblanc classique, Yard O Led Viceroy Grand, but they are grail pens.  Some popular intermediate fountain pens are Pilot Custom 74, Lamy 2000, Pelikan M200...All the very best in your fountain pen hobby, welcome to the fountain pen world.   🙂🖋

Fountain pens are fun! It's nice to be able to find lots of uses for them and ways you can personalize with inks and pen combinations. You don't have to spend a ton. I personally enjoy using samples for inks to see what I like before committing to a whole bottle. Spending a few dollars to learn feels more comfortable to me. I do find that I prefer the fountain pens now. Enjoy your new pen. I found a local pen meetup by searching for them. They meet at a local library and it has been so fun getting to know them and they have been willing to share so much information and ink. They let me try their pens! It helped me learn a lot

I have quite a few pens I no longer want.  There’s nothing wrong with them, my tastes just changed over the years.   Let me know if you want some.

You’re in for a treat. It’s a lovely hobby. Inspiring pens and beautiful inks are in your future. Remember that money means nothing. More expensive is not more better - do not burn money. It can be a relatively inexpensive hobby.

Some pro tips:
- paper matters as much or more as the pen and ink but the good ones aren’t obscure or expensive (tomoe river paper is a fav of mine and available at b&n)
- bottled ink is just more fun than cartridges and the options are near infinite
- fountain pens reward writing slower and being intentional

Recommendations:
- the usual starter pens are legitimately good, inexpensive, and reliable: lamy safari, pilot metropolitan, twsbi eco, and a few others
- inks are a whole new world: get ones with shimmer (like glitter but smaller), sheen (changes color at different light angles), smell (can be pleasant for long writing sessions), and colors galore.
- after you decide if you like it, look at a flex pen (good ones can be had for under $60). It’ll give you that calligraphy kind of look in your line variation without needing much more than pressing a little more on downstrokes.

Enjoy!

I have been using fountain pens since childhood. Whenever I write with them, they give me the freedom to write for long periods without stress, fatigue, or any kind of pressure. The best part is that I can use a variety of inks of my choice with them as well. My favorite fountain pen is the Jinhao X159. Once you get used to fountain pens, writing with them becomes a completely different and enjoyable experience.

Been writing with fountain pens pretty much daily since about 2001, so 25 years now. I accumulated a bunch of pens but ended up getting rid of the ones I didn't use enough or just didn't like as much. My absolute favorite pen is German (Lamy 2000) but the others I use most often are all Japanese, like the Sailor Pro Gear, Platinum 3776, and Pilot 92, 823, and 912. They're all boring, black pens that don't really look like much, but they're all a joy to write with and I wouldn't want anything else at this point

A few things that might help or might sound a little overwhelming:

Your new pen comes with what is called a cartridge converter. It means you can buy bottled ink, which means you can essentially pick from any color you'd like. I'm sorry, ink is its own black hole to get sucked into.

You can buy a blunt tipped syringe from places like JetPens and with it you can refill cartridges from your ink bottles. I've been doing so basically since my first bottle.

It seems like you're having fun! That is always rule zero. Glad to have you with us

We all pretty much started just like this!

Oh how wonderfully unfortunate of you to fall into this hobby!

One of the things you can do is start looking up stationary and art stores and see if they have any or know of any pen clubs. One of my godsends was being able to go to them with pens or inks I didn't like and just trade with others! I walked in with a bunch of sample bottles of a black ink that I didn't like, gave them all away, and then was given a few others that I enjoyed trying out for myself!

I'd say to keep using that nice golden pen you have until you know what you want your fountain pen to be for. I use mine at work, so a glamorous luxury pen wasn't what I needed, but there were other pens that had retractable click or twist mechanisms. Perfect for my use case, and I got to use the pretty green & brown inks I had gotten for myself.

Don't be afraid to peruse Facebook marketplace or eBay for used pens. A lot of very nice older ones can be gotten for cheap and will work wonderfully after an overnight soak, thorough clean, and some wiggling of the nib. I managed to snatch an "inoperable" pen that can run $300 for only $50 because I took the time and effort to clean it up!

Doodlebud is a great channel with a lot of helpful and informative videos.

Mountain of Ink is a great site with tons of ink swatches that you can see to see if that blue ink really is that blue when writing or just some crafty retailer lighting.

Hehe, welcome to the hobby. I found that writing with a fountain pen is something very personal, kind of like smelling a perfume. You either love it, or you don't. So, buy the cheap fountain pens and find out what you like and what you don't like in terms of nib sizes, ink flow, fountain pen weight, materials and girth, and, after that, you'll know exactly what to ask of your grail pen, which will likely be a gold nib. As with almost everything else, the way there is more fun and interesting than the actual destination. Have fun!

You really don't need to spend much to enjoy a fountain pen because the Kakuno is an excellent pen. I wouldn't presume to compare it to something expensive like a Custom 74, but as an everyday pen, it is fantastic. I've tried a bunch of pens now, and my pencil case contains 3 Kakunos and one Prera (a Kakuno in a fancy body).

You could also look around for a Platinum Preppy ($3-$5) or a Platinum Prefonte, which is just a Preppy in a nicer body, but still under $10.

Unfortnately neither the Preppy or Kakuno is that they don't come with converters. You have to buy them sepierately and it costs as much as or more than the pen. You can buy cartridges or refill your current cartridge with a syringe. The new pen you bought, which I assume is a Hongdian, comes with a cartridge, and you would be surprised how much that saves you right there in the cheap end pens.

Word of warning: So many of us go over the top and start buying a pen every week. The pens you have are fine. Write with them for a year, and go to shops to test other pens, but don't buy anything new for at least 6 months, 12 if you can. (Maybe another Preppy or Kakuno, but that is not going to break your bank)

What a banger of a first pen! You can always ask us for advice and one day you will more than likely spend a ton of money. When I first started I thought spending over 100 on a pen was ridiculous. Been collecting for 6 years now and just drop 3k on one 😂. Also Goulet pens here on YouTube will teach you all you need to know

Oh boy here we go! welcome to the sickness. If you aim to improve your cursive writing the fountain pen is a game changer. I always had terrible penmanship growing up using bic pens in school. I decided to work on my cursive a year ago and thought a nice pen would help. I bought several types of pens from roller balls to gel pens to ballpoints and fountain pen in the form of a TWSBI Vac700 fountain pen. i instantly noticed a difference and within 2 weeks my cursive looked great, now a year later it's amazing! Spencerian Cursive which was taught in elementary school was designed around fountain and quill pens so it stands to reason that it would be more intuitive with a fountain pen. Unfortunately it's also the reason most of use struggled with it in school when using cheap drugstore pens. I think you are going to find that the fountain pen will really help you improve in less time than you think!