OK I think I am going to try a fountain pen or two or three this coming year. I have never done one so sorry for duplicate ???? What are good kits to make in a fountain pen??? No I am not looking to make my own kit at this time. I see alot of people seem to do this.
What is involved as far as ink and nibs???
What should I be aware of when dealing with customers???
What should I inform them on???
Do you use the nibs that come with the kit and if not what else do you use and why????
What type inks should I buy????
Any other tidbits you want to throw in that I forgot to ask would be appreciated. If there is an article or a thread with answers then please point me in the right direction.
Thanks.
If you are getting into fountain pens to follow the money, you have a lot of catching up to do. Except for the casual buyer who wants an inexpensive fountain pen because they're "neet", all of your customers who are willing to spend some money will be more knowledgable than you, and every one of them will have personal preferences. The only way to overcome this knowledge gap is to learn the language of foutain pens, make and use a fountain pen, learn everything there is to know about a fountain pen, and learn how to tune them. All of that information is available in the links that have been posted in previous messages on this forum
I was asked a similar question by another member of our pen turning club here in Spokane, WA. Following is taken from my e-mail answer to his question. Some of it has already been said by others.......
Regardless of what we say, the kit nibs are not all as bad as we claim they are. The biggest problem with kits is the ink in the ink in the cartridge, and that the only paper we have used them on is what we find in our ink jet printer. No nib will write well in this test.
I cannot make a blanket judgement about kit nibs because there is a lot of difference between the different kits. Consistency of quality has alwys been a problem. The El Grande kits are a consistently good writer, while the old Americana or Parker style were consistently poor (in my opinion), and the Barons and the like are consistently inconsistent.
I understand your not wanting to buy a $100 nib just so you can have a good fountain pen for writing. Here is what I would do -
Forget about a gold nib, or even the aftermarket steel nib. Make a kit fountain pen and put it on an equal basis for comparison before you spend a lot of money.
Make an El Grande, Churchill, or other pen in that class. They are basically the same pen and they will all write well. If it doesn't, you got the odd one.
Buy a Schmidt reservoir to replace the piece of plastic that comes with the kit. This is definitely worth the money. Don't use the cartridge that came with the kit because they contain the worst possible ink.
Buy a bottle of "Quink" at Office Depot. Everyone says to buy the expensive Private Reserve or Noodlers inks, but the Parker "Quink" writes quite well at a 1/4 the price and there is no postage.
While you are at Office Depot, buy one of those writing tablets that are some percentage of rag content that is 50% or greater.
Do some dry writing with the new pen on a piece of grocery bag paper. It is abrasive enough to polish the tip faster.
Put ink in the pen and use it long enough to break it in. Make sure you don't fall into the trap of pressing too hard like you were using a ball-point pen. I think you will know how it writes after about the 5th page.
THEN would be the time to order one of the aftermarket steel nibs. My guess is you wouldn't be able to tell the difference, unless it was a different line width.
For what it's worth, that's what I do. The ink and the paper are more important and can make a bigger difference than where the nib came from, what it is made out of, or how much you paid for it.
Again, for what it's worth...... I have made a lot of pens with the gold nibs because that is what the high-end buyers demanded, but the fountain pen I use every day is an El Grande with the kit nib. I use it because I can't tell the difference, and it can be replaced for the cost of the kit if I lose or misplace it somewhere. If it wears out, I can replace it for less than $10, but I don't see that happening anytime soon because it is now on its 5th bottle of Quink.
. 
