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Xun posted:So, I just found my dad's fountain pen on the floor of my car and uh, he's been out of country for a couple months. It looks like it still has ink in it and I'm wondering if it's broken forever from sitting around in a car with nearly a full reservoir of ink or if it'll be okay if I let it soak in water for a while? It'll probably be fine. I have a dad pen, and it spent 20-odd years with ink in it. It more or less works, except it doesn't feed properly. A few months is probably nothing, but if you're worried a little bit of ammonia or soap in the water (and flush that a few times) should be fine.
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Jun 20, 2013 21:44
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| # ? May 9, 2024 23:01 |
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Yeah, you'll be fine, my stepdad gave me a pen set that had a minimum of 10 years dried ink in it, took a couple of days soaking in water + ammonia and it was fine after a lot of rinsing. Edit: IF it happens to be a bladder fill, be very, VERY careful, do NOT operate the lever until it's soaked a LOT first. If the bladder is dried out you can crack it.
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Jun 20, 2013 22:08
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Guess what came today 
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Jun 20, 2013 22:18
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poo poo, my Carene's had an accident and now it's writing like a firehose. Used to be a fine nib.
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Jun 20, 2013 22:21
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Someone at my school liked my Lamy Safari so much they had to take it home with them. Assholes. Gives me an excuse to order some extra ink when I get a new one, since shipping costs a bunch no matter what!
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Jun 20, 2013 23:10
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Tochiazuma posted:Someone at my school liked my Lamy Safari so much they had to take it home with them. Keep an eye on craigslist, fucker might try to sell it once the dumbfuck realizes it's a fountain pen.
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Jun 21, 2013 00:20
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So is a "Parker Sonnet Stainless Steel GT" a good pen? I've recently purchased one and know nothing about fountain pens. I'd never seen this thread until now. I also ordered some parker ink. After reviewing this thread I will get something nicer!
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Jun 21, 2013 01:07
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Tank71 posted:So is a "Parker Sonnet Stainless Steel GT" a good pen? I've recently purchased one and know nothing about fountain pens. I'd never seen this thread until now. I also ordered some parker ink. After reviewing this thread I will get something nicer! The Parker GT is actually a good moderately priced pen from what I've seen. Parker Quink (which, I assume is what you ordered) is a nice ink with nothing terribly special about it. It was originally designed for the Vac 51and reformulated over the years (super Quink). I actually have a pen inked in it right now and it works nicely, there's just no real shading or depth to it.
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Jun 21, 2013 08:15
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  If only it fixed my handwriting. I love this pen. I'm torn on getting some kind of reservoir for the HoD ink I have in an eyedropper bottle because it belongs in this pen but I don't want to waste the Tsuki-Yo I have in there now because it's a gorgeous ink too.It's marked as a fine nib, but I'm not sure what precisely constitutes a fine nib as far as Carenes go. I'll see if I can't dig up the scratch paper I wrote on to find out how bad the nib was hosed. It was feathering on cheap printer paper and wet as hell. Used the otoscope to check the alignment after each press on one tine or the other.
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Jun 21, 2013 09:45
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QuiteEasilyDone posted:Guess what came today I have yet to have my defective replacement repaired. I've tried contacting the Canadian rep a few times to no avail, but it's been hard to muster up the energy to follow up since my Vac 700 and Micarta 2 are amazing.
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Jun 21, 2013 13:11
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protip: don't wave away a fly with a fountain pen in your hand 
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Jun 21, 2013 16:27
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Inksplosion or unintended projectile implement?teethgrinder posted:How do you like it? I love it, but it seems to dribble a bit of ink down onto the nib but its quite earnestly the best pen I've ever possessed. It's smooth, but dry. And can keep up no matter what. Initially it was a bit of a hard starter because I'm used to the Al-Start triangular grip... but have quickly overcome this. I've yet to run out of ink, though I'm very much in the habit of refilling every morning so keep that in mind.
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Jun 21, 2013 17:21
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Inksplosion. I made blue splatters all the way across my desk, on my monitor, and finally up the wall. 
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Jun 21, 2013 17:49
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QuiteEasilyDone posted:I love it, but it seems to dribble a bit of ink down onto the nib but its quite earnestly the best pen I've ever possessed. It's smooth, but dry. And can keep up no matter what. Initially it was a bit of a hard starter because I'm used to the Al-Start triangular grip... but have quickly overcome this. I've yet to run out of ink, though I'm very much in the habit of refilling every morning so keep that in mind.
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Jun 21, 2013 18:08
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Everything Burrito posted:Inksplosion. I made blue splatters all the way across my desk, on my monitor, and finally up the wall. The one thing I hate about fountain pens...Pen spinning is a dangerous thing
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Jun 21, 2013 18:37
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teethgrinder posted:You should take the pen back or send it in or something. It's not supposed to dribble ink down the nib. My replacement does too, and will actually collect enough to drop a giant blob onto the page. I think it's something with my batch of HoD. It seems to want to run down the tines on my other pen as well. Edit: However, cleaning the tines with an orange peel seems to have made it CLEAN! QuiteEasilyDone fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Jun 21, 2013 |
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Jun 21, 2013 18:44
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QuiteEasilyDone posted:I think it's something with my batch of HoD. It seems to want to run down the tines on my other pen as well. Maybe it's because you're filling it so often, then the environment of the pen is changing? The heat from your hand could be warming the ink and making expand. I had a leak problem yesterday when I topped up my VP in a cold room, then brought it into a heated exam hall.
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Jun 21, 2013 20:03
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Jeez, thanks to this thread, I've felt so  now that I can walk into antique stores and actually feel knowledgeable about something (I still consider myself very much a beginner, though, since the creation of this thread  ). Now I always ask for fountain pens first thing, and it's amusing how none of these dealers know nothing on fountain pens. The downside is that they don't tend to sell very good ones, ones in good shape, or any at all because of it.I did come across one that looks fascinating. It's a McKinney custom fountain pen, and they look like these: http://www.mckinneypens-store.com/index.php/unique-custom-handmade-pens/item/05-pen-types/fountain/ One gorgeous looking brown one was for sale for $138, but the guy offered to mark it down to just $100. Is this something I should bother with? Should I haggle some more? Would this be a stupid impulse buy? I wish I could know more about the pen before leaving the store. Also, another one for sale was something like this one, but I'm not considering it.
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Jun 22, 2013 01:26
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Well, called my dad! Looks like I'm suddenly the owner of some sort of Parker pen. 
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Jun 22, 2013 01:51
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Yoshi Jjang posted:Jeez, thanks to this thread, I've felt so I wouldn't bother. With those custom pens like that you can't really ascertain the nib maker, what parts it will need if it explodes on you, or anything like that. There's too many great pens for $100 or less from reputable (and well-known) makers that something like that wouldn't even register for me. edit: The parker above me - if you can get a clearer picture of the nib, or post the nomenclature, it's pretty easy to find out the model and get a rough estimate of the year that parkers were made.
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Jun 22, 2013 02:42
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Two pens to share here that might be of interest. Both of these are Sheaffer Targa pens, probably from the 1970s. The bottom one is the better pen - it belonged to my Granfather, and came to me about 5 years ago from my dad. It's lovely. It's quite fat but not too heavy, and the nib is both lovely to look at and to use. It was serviced just before it came to me - it's got the oddest filling mechanism. The last half inch, 12mm on the tail of the pen unscrews and as you turn it, a hypodermic point extends from inside the nib. It's this that is dipped into the ink. Here's a pic I found on how to fill the pen. As you can see, it's not as obvious as it might be!  I love it, but it's of too much sentimental value to use every day, or carry around, so I bought the other Targa from eBay. It's nice, but a bit more scratchy, and less pleasurable to use. (It's also a cartridge pen, so a bit more straightforward.)  Nice pens. And the eBay one cost me less than my new TWSBI, too! 
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Jun 22, 2013 08:45
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Your Granddad's pen there definitely isn't a Targa. It's a Sheaffer PFM, or Pen For Men. It has the same sort of inlaid nib as the Targa, but is larger. Men don't use small pens, duh! It uses Sheaffers ingenious snorkel filling mechanism, designed so you don't get ink on your fingers when filling. Targas don't use the snorkel, they're too slim to hold all the parts needed. You have some gorgeous pens there, I love Targas and snorkel fillers.
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Jun 22, 2013 09:53
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Vitamins posted:Your Granddad's pen there definitely isn't a Targa. It's a Sheaffer PFM, or Pen For Men. It has the same sort of inlaid nib as the Targa, but is larger. Men don't use small pens, duh! That's really good information - thanks a lot! Related news - the replacement nib unit for my Vanishing Point will be with me tomorrow. I'll post some pics then.
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Jun 22, 2013 14:01
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Everything Burrito posted:Inksplosion. I made blue splatters all the way across my desk, on my monitor, and finally up the wall. Lamy 2000 superiority
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Jun 22, 2013 17:40
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Pelikan superiority  Also, congrats to Teach for getting an old PFM! I'm envious right now 
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Jun 23, 2013 10:06
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I CANNOT EJACULATE WITHOUT SEEING NATIVE AMERICANS BRUTALISED!
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blowfish posted:Pelikan superiority Speaking of Pelikans, I'm currently saving for a Pilot Elabo, but part of me wants to double down and get a Pelikan M400. I'm just on the fence about spending $300 on a writing instrument when there's so many Lamys and Pilots I could get for $200 or less. Basically, tell me why I should choose a Pelikan.
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Jun 23, 2013 23:16
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It's a piston filler with a good nib, but personally if you don't really care about the filling system as long as it works (plus filling pens is fun so who cares about reservoir size right??) go for any pen you like and get the nib done at a nibmeister. My Japanese EF writes smoother than my Lamy 1.1 italic and the 845 Custom in M that I tried because the guy who did the nib work worked for Sailor for over 20 years. If you like the style, go for it, but remember to check out nibs.com and look at all the crazy offerings in your price range. For $300 I'd rather have a $200 pen with a $100 nib job than a $300 pen that's a good writer out of the box. Pen size, weight, and nib material (10k or 14k for a soft feedback or steel for a nail) are the largest factors for a pen you like. That said, I'm fairly certain my next pen will be either a metal Falcon or a Custom 74 with a SF nib:  
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Jun 23, 2013 23:44
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Xovaan posted:It's a piston filler with a good nib, but personally if you don't really care about the filling system as long as it works (plus filling pens is fun so who cares about reservoir size right??) go for any pen you like and get the nib done at a nibmeister. My Japanese EF writes smoother than my Lamy 1.1 italic and the 845 Custom in M that I tried because the guy who did the nib work worked for Sailor for over 20 years. Filling pens is fun, but some days I do worry about running out with the Safari. With the Lami 2k I can go for 2 days of 4 hour study sessions and ONLY THEN run out
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Jun 24, 2013 02:17
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Even with an EF nib my Safari uses its ink supply quite fast. I can only write a few pages max before I see a noticeable loss of ink.
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Jun 24, 2013 02:24
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Xovaan posted:It's a piston filler with a good nib, but personally if you don't really care about the filling system as long as it works (plus filling pens is fun so who cares about reservoir size right??) go for any pen you like and get the nib done at a nibmeister. My Japanese EF writes smoother than my Lamy 1.1 italic and the 845 Custom in M that I tried because the guy who did the nib work worked for Sailor for over 20 years. If you love Pilot Blue, you should check out Sailor Jentle Sky High. It's the same general shade, but a little less purple and somehow more vibrant overall Also Metal Falcons look cool as heck.
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Jun 24, 2013 02:56
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Xovaan posted:That said, I'm fairly certain my next pen will be either a metal Falcon or a Custom 74 with a SF nib: I just picked up a resin Namiki Falcon. You know, the one that does not fit the larger-capacity CON-70 converter. Why that and not the metal one? Because it's half the price. To be fair, the CON-50 is not a terrible converter, but loads of people seem to hate it. I don't really mind it since it's easier to use than the CON-20. I've got to say, the 14k SF nib writes super smooth, smoother than any fine nib has any right to be. If you've tried the VP fine nibs, you'll know what I mean. Except this nib actually gives you nice line variation without wrecking the nib. I have some iroshizuku yu-yake in it for now just to mess around with it, but I'm thinking it's going to get the Sailor Nano-black treatment and take over from my pelikan m205 as the workhorse pen. What I'm trying to say is this: if you're on the fence about the Pilot falcon, get it now!
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Jun 24, 2013 12:34
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I've enjoyed my Pelikan 205 a lot but I find myself using my Parker Jotter more at work. The Jotter occasionally requires a little space to get the ball moving and the ink flowing. I continue to use it because that click is just oh so satisfying and it's held up pretty well. I'm looking for a replacement on the ballpoint. Can anyone recommend something a few steps up from the Jotter?
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Jun 24, 2013 13:46
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JP Money posted:Even with an EF nib my Safari uses its ink supply quite fast. I can only write a few pages max before I see a noticeable loss of ink. That seems crazy to me since I get at least 7 pages of notes out of my Safari with a 1.5 italic nib. Which is okay, but compared to the pens I have that have integrated filling systems it's not much. Hell I'm not even sure how many pages I can get out of my TWSBIs (haven't really come close to making a dent in the Vac's ink reservoir yet despite writing 6 full pages with it. Actually there is a dent now that I check, I had managed to get a completely full fill with it, could only see the smallest of bubbles if you tilted the pen, and now it has like 2 mm of space between the ink and one end. Edit: Just remembered that I also used it for the pen pal letter I wrote and that was like 5 pages itself.
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Jun 24, 2013 15:25
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kim jong-illin posted:Thanks for the advice! Will grab some ammonia and see if that fixes it. A 1:4 dilution of ammonia washed out a surprising amount of sediment and black ink from my Lamy Safari and it's now back to normal, albeit somewhat scratchier than before. Curious how Noodler's Bulletproof black did that to my pen and not other people's. How does ammonia work over (eg.) alcohol and other sediments? Also waiting on my Lamy 2000 to arrive, which has been stuck at customs for 4 days now. It's got some Noodler's Walnut Brown ink with it, which should be a nice change from my usual black.
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Jun 24, 2013 18:12
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Thelonious Monk posted:I just picked up a resin Namiki Falcon. You know, the one that does not fit the larger-capacity CON-70 converter. Why that and not the metal one? Because it's half the price. To be fair, the CON-50 is not a terrible converter, but loads of people seem to hate it. I don't really mind it since it's easier to use than the CON-20. 
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Jun 24, 2013 18:20
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I'm not saying that I only get 4 or 5 pages or something. I'm just saying that it seems to run out very quick and often after I write 2 or 3 pages I start to notice how much ink has been used up. I don't mind refilling it as it's quick and very easy it's just kind of annoying that it holds so little. If you look at the converter the red handle takes up way too much room and it doesn't even make it to the end of the pen body. They could easily have it hold 50% more ink by shortening the handle and extending the actual reservoir. I guess it's a good excuse to keep fresh ink in your pen though which is probably good.
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Jun 24, 2013 18:25
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JP Money posted:I'm not saying that I only get 4 or 5 pages or something. I'm just saying that it seems to run out very quick and often after I write 2 or 3 pages I start to notice how much ink has been used up. They probably can't shorten the handle since that's what the plunger screws up into. They could make the whole thing longer, but I think they use the converter for several Lamy pens, and they'd have to produce a few converter models to cover the different sized pens. This is just a one-size-fits-all thing.
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Jun 24, 2013 19:17
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Bahama.Llama posted:I'm looking for a replacement on the ballpoint. Can anyone recommend something a few steps up from the Jotter?
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Jun 24, 2013 19:32
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If you like the Pilot G2, all it takes is a sharp knife and $15. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/10/pilot-g2-mont-blanc-ink-refill-cheap-amazing-pen/ I spent a few years using this trick, and apart from the refills clogging like fiends after awhile, was pretty happy with the results.
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Jun 24, 2013 19:50
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| # ? May 9, 2024 23:01 |
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Well the thing to keep in mind about the safari is that the ink window covers about the top third of the pens actual reservoir, you will have all the ink between the bottom of the window and the feed, plus all the ink in the feed. which might consititute 3/4s of total ink capacity
QuiteEasilyDone fucked around with this message at 01:45 on Jun 25, 2013 |
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Jun 24, 2013 21:36
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