Hello, I have an old Lamy Safari that I love writing with. Now it leaves blue ink all over my hands. It leaks above the nib. Is there something I can clean or a simple adjustment with household tools? Someone I can send it to? Get another one?

Thank you.

I've had two Safaris, and they both leaked just above the nib. In both cases, the leak was caused be a small crack in the very end of the plastic section, probably due to the heavy handed writing style I am trying to correct. This allowed ink to leak out into the cap, which would then get all over the section, and voila! ...blue (or green or grey or ...) fingers. A small amount of plastic solvent, carefully applied to the crack fixed the problem. Don't know if this is the same type of problem that you have, but this worked for me. And I still like the Safari I have; this is the "take it anywhere" pen.

Chris

I have found the same problem with my Safari fountain pens all along; leaking at the nib when just sitting in my pocket. Even though I had sent one or the other pen off to Lamy to look at, each was found to have nothing wrong with it. It wasn't until I bought a Vista that I discovered what I believe to be the source of the problem. I found that even though I expell several drops of ink after filling the pen from a bottle, the collector remains saturated with ink. It appears that just a little body heat (i.e., the pen sitting in the pocket) or setting it on its side will release this ink into the cap.

To resolve the problem, after filling I expel a couple drop to clear the feed then hold a tissue around the nib (with the nib facing down) for a few seconds to empty the collector, which can be clearly seen with the Vista pen. Since adding this step I have not had a problem with the ink leaking from the nib.

Now, having written this one curious point does come to mind. I also have a pair of Lamy Studio pens which have, I believe, the same feed and nib assembly as the Safari, but I have not experienced the same leaking from them even when I neglect to blot the nib. Also, this does not preclude the possibility that there is a small crack in the pen body itself. If the above does not take care of the problem, it might be a good idea to send the pen off and let Lamy - or at least Bob at Filofax, Lamy's U.S. distributor - check the pen over.