Arnold fountain pen

Just received my auction win of 4 Arnold fountain pens. 

although i knew these inexpensive writing utensils were occupants of the third tier,

i still wanted the experience of writing with them. better yet, i wanted to interact with them. work on some designs and makes some notes. 

Quite frankly, i am a second or third tier sort of fellow, so i have taken GREAT enjoyment with using these categories of writers. 

if i am lucky the sum will become greater than the parts.

just received my 4 arnold fountain pens.

before charging up with ink, i went in for a close up.

one can see how a tip is formed by the simple bending of the end.

at this point of observation, i was beginning to doubt the pens ability to write. 

the pen's feed was also feeding this doubt. personally, i had never used such a feed before.

arnold fountain pen close up of feed

even under glass i couldn't see how the ink was going to migrate to the nib.

very curious, i immediately went to the diamine oxblood. i wanted to use an ink that was rich but not too opaque when thinned out.

the nib was dipped in for about 3 seconds and then looked at. 

here i can now see the thin channels carrying the ink.

arnold fountain pen close up of ink in the thin feed channels

it was time to give the pen a line or two.

maybe it was my low expectation, but i was quite pleased with how it wrote. there was no scratch to the pen to paper contact, a bit of feel but it wasn't a drag nor any roughness. 

arnold fountain pen after some lines. the ink on the top of the nib was from dipping in the well

i gave the pen a few more lines and was very pleased.

i do write fast, so the consistency of line was fluid and smooth.

these were all broad tip pens and i think that this will work to my advantage.

i can actually see some variation of line (i am an italic/stub fan).

arnold fountain pen wrote very smooth with no skipping. the broad nib allowed for some variation in line.

next i will fully ink up the pens and put them to use.

this broad nib was wet enough that i will not use on a field notes notebook 

but will be perfect on a rhodia or doane.

(most of the vintage pens i have can only be used on the weightier paper).