Hi, fresh meat here. Seems like a nice place you guys have.

My question is this: My very first fountain pen is a brand new Pelikan Future. I noticed that on the nib there is ink smeared all over the top part. It's not shiny and clean like I see in the pictures. Being new, I thought this might be normal. I tried wiping it off, but it just reappears. Anyway, I bought several Pilot Varsity's and noticed that they don't have ink on the top part of the nib like the Pelikan. Is there something wrong with my Pelikan, or is this just part of owing a fountain pen?

It's normal, but fairly fixable. When you wipe the top of the nib, be careful not to get the wiping material to near the slit or the hole at the top of the slit. The wiping material will "wick" up the ink and continue to spread it around the top of the nib. What works well for me is to use an absorbent tissue or paper towel, fold it so you have a sharp point of wiping material and just touch the ink spots with it. It will draw up most of it, if it's still wet. If it's dried on, you may need to wipe it with a small amount of pressure, but not much - again staying away from the slit and hole. If you're going to do this, especially with a nice nib (e.g. gold) I'd recommend using something other than a coarse paper towel. I don't know, but I imagine steel nibs would be a little more scratch-resistant, but still worth using care. I only use paper towels for wicking up the ink, not rubbing or polishing.

Welcome. I'm a relative newbie as well and you couldn't ask for a better place to learn about (and buy) fountain pens.........and more fountain pens.........and ink.

Cheers, Dean

Hello and welcome to FPN!

As to the nib creep you're seeing, it varies from pen to pen, sometimes from nib to nib, and some inks tend to do it more than others. What ink are you using? Noodlers waterproof inks are known to creep - doesn't bother me, I just wipe the nib clean with a tissue every now and then. I wouldn't be overly concerned about it as long as it's just a thin coating. Now, if ink is running off the top of the nib or there's an awful lot of it, then something's probably amiss.

Keep us posted and hope to see your around!

dcamnc,

Hi there and welcome to the Nuthouse.

You didn't mention what kind (brand) of ink you're using but there are some brands that just seem to do this. I've read here that Noodler's are often culprits. We call it "nib creep" where ink just seems to seep from the slit to the top of the nib. I've seen it in my Pelikan M250 with (interestingly enough) Noodler's Black. I now have Private Reserve Spearmint Green loaded in the pen and the problem largely went away.

AFAICT it isn't really an indication that anything is wrong with your pen. Caboose's post is dead on for how to clean the nib up when it bothers you. You may find after time the "creep" doesn't bug as much. Indeed, I've come to look at it as the mark of a working tool.

Hope this helps


Kevin
Beaker606

Thank you guys so much for all the great info! I've tried to be careful when cleaning the nib, and have gotten it all off, but it just comes right back. I am using my only bottle of ink, Pelikan's Brilliant Black. This ink also dosen't leave quite as nice of line as the Pilot Varsity ink, but I like the finer line of the Pelikan better. Thanks again, and I'll see you all around!



P.S. I've gotten my girlfriend hooked on fountain pens (Pilot Varsity), so I'll probably be getting her a "upgrade" soon.