I have always loved the sturdiness and reliability of Lamy Safari fountain pens. I can totally ignore an ink-loaded Lamy for months and when I pick it up again, it writes immediately without any argument. The converters are easy to fill — and easy to empty if I wish to refill with a different ink before it’s empty. And, unlike some have found, the grip seems to fit my hand well.
Several weeks ago, I found Nina Johansson’s Instagram post about Daniel Novotny’s “Lamy Fude Mod” tutorial, turning a regular EF steel nib into a bent fude nib for sketching. A week or so later, a dear friend Kate gifted me with her old Lamy Safari pen she had found buried under a pile of stuff — she had never liked the Lamy and we both thought she had gotten rid of hers long ago, but there it was, hiding (I told her they tend to hide if they think your plans for them aren’t pure! 😜).
So I borrowed Bill’s small vise and turned this pen into a fude. And it works beautifully!
I also found Daniel’s tutorial on adjusting the Lamy feed to allow the pen to flow “wetter”, more like an antique fountain pen. My Lamy Joy with it’s flat calligraphy nib often skips, probably because the ink flow doesn’t keep up with the nib. So I would love to make this simple adjustment to the Joy . . . but the feed is in so tight I can’t pull it out, even with the help of a rubber cloth. I don’t want to use a tool such as pliers in case of possibly damaging the feed beyond use, so I’m stuck.
UPDATE: Apparently the original link’s site is no longer available. I first learned of this Lamy fude conversion from Nina Johansson’s Instagram page, https://www.instagram.com/p/BkIOAqoh1Y2/?hl=en — her Instagram identity is “nina_sketching”.
I saw the tutorial a while back and completely forgot to dig out my husband's small vice. I'll put a reminder on my phone to give this a try on the weekend :)
ReplyDeleteIt took me MUCH longer to get up the courage to try it but it’s really quite easy!
DeleteVery cool...do you have other fudes? If so, how does the new one compare?
ReplyDeleteMy first fude pen was a Hero M.86 that Kate gave me. The nib was wonderful but the pen clumsy, hard to balance in my hand. This is the nib she used to make her Noodler’s Creaper “Frankenpen” — I tried that but I’ve never liked the Noodler’s pens’ filling mechanism.
DeleteNext I tried a Sailor Fude de Mannen; it feels awkward in my hand and when I try to make the widest line, the feed actually makes an unwanted underline. Tipping it up for the finest line seemed awkward as well.
Larry Marshall suggested a Duke 209 pen — I love how this one performs! But it’s a metal barrel which seems to slip through my fingers. That’s one reason I prefer Lamy Safari pens over their higher-priced pens; the plastic is easier to maintain my grip.
This Lamy fude conversion is easy to hold and performs as well as the Duke. When I want the finest of lines, tipping my hand up feels very natural and I can smoothly transition to a wide line without awkwardness.
Is that post still available for the mod tutorial? I try to access the link or web search, but nothing pulls up. defunct website?
ReplyDeleteApparently the link is no longer available. I learned of the conversion from Nina Johansson’s Instagram post:
Deletehttps://www.instagram.com/p/BkIOAqoh1Y2/?hl=en
On Instagram, look for nina_sketching. I’m sorry it isn’t a live link here in replies; I’ll try to add it to the post.
Delete