Ordering
There is no shopping cart, which turns out to suit a pen that doesn't exist until you ask for it. Write or call, and I'll reply with the final cost and a delivery time. Delivery is usually fairly short.
Tell me three things
The model you want, the wood you want it turned from, and the nib. That's enough for me to quote you.
Custom inlay work and banding are better discussed on the phone than by email; there is usually something worth talking through before I start cutting.
- Nibs
- Medium as standard. Fine and extra fine on request.
- Rollerballs
- Most models are also made as rollerballs, which flow more smoothly than a ballpoint and suit left-handed writers.
- Ink
- Your pen arrives with a long cartridge, sold at any office supply store.
- Returns
- Any pen can come back for a full refund or an exchange, in new condition.
Living with a fountain pen
Keep it capped
Don't leave the pen uncapped for any length of time while it isn't in use, or the nib will dry out.
Lay it down
If the pen lives on your desk rather than in a shirt pocket or a purse, I've found it stores better horizontally than standing on end.
Two cartridges, one barrel
I use my own pen daily and prefer the short cartridge, because a spare fits in the barrel behind it. When the ink runs out, usually within a fortnight, the next one is already in your hand. Short cartridges have become hard to find lately, so I make do with the long type, which lasts twice as long but leaves no room for a spare. That is the kind supplied with your pen.
A note for lefties
Fountain pens are genuinely difficult for left-handed writers, because the ink needs the nib drawn across the paper rather than pushed. Every style is also made as a rollerball, so this need not rule you out.
Ready when you are.
I'm still a practicing surgeon, so the pens are made in the hours around it. That means each one gets the time it needs, and that a reply may take a day or two.