Hello All - I am a newbie to this forum but have been reading and learning from this great community for some months now. Also I have been a fountain pen user for a few years. The thing is I have use it mostly to sign documents and only recently begins to use it more by using it to write short notes and memos. My approach has been to use one pen till it stops functioning before I switch to another. Over the years I have been given pens and buying some on my own - so now I have about ten uninked pens (among them are MB Citrin; Ramses II; Chopin - in burgundy colour; Boheme; Hero; Pelikan; MonteGrappa and others) which I thought should be used (in a rotation schedule).

What I hope to do is to have at least two pens out each time. Now I have a MB Meisterstuck and a blue Parker Duofold in service.
I only uses black ink and I do plan to use any other colour.

My concern (I know it is probably down to personal perference) - is there an optimal period each set be put out to use?
If the period is short then I find myself cleaning the pens (full flushing) rather often - will this increase the wear on the pen - afterall is'nt it best to have ink inside the pen most of the time rather than subject it to the wet and dry cycle through each cycle.

Any thoughts would be helpful. I really want to use all my pens. Thank you all in advance.

I'd have to say that I have absolutely no strategy or plan whatsoever on pen rotation and usage. For me this is one of the fun and spontaneous aspects of FP usage. I ink up, oh, some 8 pens... a couple by my journal, a couple on the desk, a couple in the briefcase, etc. Then I use them until I just want to change.


It's kind of willy-nilly. I go look in one of my boxes, and "hey, I forgot I had that pen"... so I fill it, and then take one of my regulars and flush it clean with water, let it dry, and put it away until the next time when... "hey, I forgot I had that pen!"

Same here. Newly arrived pens almost always get inked and pressed into service. Aside from that, I may keep a pen in rotation for multiple fillings or put it away when it runs out of ink. No rules. If I miss writing with a pen, I put it back into rotation.

I fill all my pens (c/c, vac, etc.), and I just use one until it runs out, and move on to the next one. Currently with 6 pens, it takes me maybe 2 weeks to use them all.

It's not really a rotation, per se., but it works.

My concern (I know it is probably down to personal perference) - is there an optimal period each set be put out to use?
If the period is short then I find myself cleaning the pens (full flushing) rather often - will this increase the wear on the pen - afterall is'nt it best to have ink inside the pen most of the time rather than subject it to the wet and dry cycle through each cycle.

Any thoughts would be helpful. I really want to use all my pens. Thank you all in advance.


First of all, especially since you don't plan to change ink color, you don't need to thoroughly flush your pen every time you run out of ink. Secondly if you are worried about the wear and tear of doing so, I suggest you get a pen with no moving parts... ie a cartridge pen and use the converter to which is easy to replace if and when it wears out and third, your pens can sit empty but dirty for several months without any problem except possibly needing a little extra soaking before refilling. Proper cleaning is good but pens should be able to stand up to the wet and dry cycle for several years.

I usually keep seven pens inked all the time (red, green, blue in round point and italic, plus a beater). I keep them in the rotation until I get really familiar with them: line thickness, balance, sweet spot location, color, section thickness, ink capacity. So each pen is in use for several months before I flush it out and dry it for storage.

No need to flush a pen if you fill it every couple of weeks. You probably only need to flush if you let it stand without using it until the ink begins to thicken due to dehydration. This time will vary with relative humidity. If a pen has ink in it and begins to skip, flush it out.

Paddler