Now that you nice folks got me to get rid of my office depot special the foray fountain pen, I went and got the m200, it should be here by monday. I am so new to this, I dont even know if I should stil write on normal copy paper or notebook paper/stickies,or should I get nice paper to write with ?Also, what is the first thing I should do with my new pen,out of

Flush the pen out a couple of times. Most of the time this isn't necessary but its a good ritual to make a habit of. What to do after flushing the pen?

Load it with your favourite ink... and enjoy it!

Let me warn you that using a piston filler for the first time can be intimidating. No cartridges on this baby

Get a nice bottle of Parker Quink or if you want something more colorful, Waterman bottled inks are wonderful.

Remember, the piston turns counterclockwise and so does the cap. When tightening the piston (and drawing ink into the pen) always give it a little bit of extra torsion (gently) at the end to make sure the piston is firmly in place and same with the cap when capping the pen back up.

Also, when you first get it the piston might be slightly tight when you try to use it for the first time, but not to worry, one go at it and that thing should become as smooth as butter.

There's no need for special paper - post-its and cheap copy paper should be fine, although you might eventually enjoy scouting out nice paper.

The Pelikan should come with directions on how to use the filler, and you might want to read them. They have diagrams which should make the process very clear.

You can flush the pen out (fill it with water and then empty) or you can fill directly with ink - as Sofian said it's probably a good idea, but with a Pelikan it might not be 100% necessary (they have a well-deserved reputation for being problem free).

My experience with paper has been that it's not vitally important, but it does make a difference.

I have a really cheap recycled notebook at work. It takes ink okay but my F nib scratches it and the fibers sometimes clog the tip. Medium writes okay but the line is very thick. I am not sure if this counts as feathering or not, because it's not fuzzy, just wide.

A slightly higher grade, but still school supply, Norcom notebook writes very nicely with all my pens. Again. the line is not the absolute smallest it could be.

I wrote a letter on 24# stationery paper with a parchment finish last night. That was really nice. and the line laid down by my M nib was very crisp and narrower than on the standard paper. The same is true of 60# drawing paper.

I always flush a NIB pen with water and a very slight bit of liquid soap. I then immediately flush with clear water. The water should be room temperature or cooler.
This will remove any manufacturing oils from the feed/nib. Hot or sometimes even warm water can discolor some plastics and hard rubber, so there is no need to take the chance.

Some will advise using an ammonia/water mix and that is good for removing dried ink, but I find the mild soap solution better for an initial cleaning. Keep the solution away from any metal trim parts, just in case there might be a reaction and flush well with clear water.

Some will advise letting the nib/feed dry completely, I'm not of that school. I let it wick into a paper towel for a few minutes and ink it up. A little water in the feed will only lighten your ink a bit and won't hurt your pen at all.

Enjoy the M200, it's one of the most reliable pens around.

Thank you.. I ordered a bottle of a really nice blue color from "Noodlers Ink"

Are they good inks?

I noticed that my M200 nib wasn't screwed all the way in. Now this might be because I'm a lefty through the course of writing I slowly but surely unscrew the nib. Anyways, you may want to hand tighten the nib and feed before inking it.

Thanks..

So you're saying to rinse it right when I get it?

I probably will, just get a cup of soapy water, draw the water in and out (Correct)
Then do the same with clean/clear water, and let dry? How can you get into where the ink is to dry it?

I can only echo the others and say that it is a good idea to flush any new pen to be sure you get rid of any oil or debris left over from manufacturing. Don't overdo the soap thing. Plain water should be enough. If you must use soap, a single drop of dish washing liquid in a full cup of water should be more than enough.

For a new Pelikan with a replaceable nib, I unscrew the nib and flush it under a light drizzle of tap water. I flush the barrel with the nib removed. I then replace the nib to be sure it is seated correctly and not screwed in too tight. I then dip the pen in water and draw water into the barrel to flush it. The whole flushing process takes under five minutes, but I feel it is time well spent.

Part of the adventure of using a fountain pen is to find out what kind of paper and ink you (and the pen) like. Try the pen on the paper you already use and see how it reacts. From the kind of paper you mentioned, it sounds like you are already using FP friendly products.

A fountain pen takes more care than a BIC stick, but it is not overly complicated. Heck, I use them. Just remember to have fun!

You are not able to dry the inside of a pen, you'll just get out as much water as possible.

To let a pen dry I put a lightly crumpled paper towel or part in a deep cup, glass jar (deep so the pen can't fall out) and gently stick the pen nib down in the folds. The other thing to do is wrap the pen in a paper towel and do a shake down like we use to do with a thermometer. Read Richard Binder's info on Care of your pen, he has pictures. Look under Reference and then under Care of You Pens. I couldn't get a direct link.

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=main.htm

Enjoy!

You can dry the inside of the M200 by removing the nib unit and swabbing the barrel. There is, however, no real need to do this. I'm not a big fan of the "thermometer shake" method as I have visions of my pen flying across the room or crashing to the floor - not a pretty picture. Ink is only colored water, after all (with deference to the late Frank D.).

I just got my first three bottles of Noodler's, and I love them already. I did not get a blue (next time) but the black, green, and purple I got are all gorgeous and write very nicely.

I need to use blue for certain documents, but I would love to try out other colors..

My concern right now, I read that noodlers ink is actually really bad for our pens..

On a side note, what is the next step up from the M200? I am reading to make enough of a difference to go after the M800. I do enjoy a larger heavier pen and even though the M200 is neither of those things, I thought it would be good for my first dip(no pun intended) into the fountain pen world.

Buuuhahaha another Pelikan user to add to our Pelikans Anonymous group! Congrats enjoy that new 200!

I wouldn't say that Noodler's is 'bad'. I haven't been using FPs for long, but Noodler's is one of my most-used inks and I quite like them. Sure its more saturated than other inks, and Chartpak seems to have some sort of issue with waterproof inks of any kind(which yours may or may not be depending on what you got), but if you flush it out often enough between fills it should work fine with no disasters of any sort.

EDIT: Saw your other post that said you got the Navajo Turquoise, which isn't bulletproof by the way. I don't have it myself, but others seem to love it. You can read a review in the Ink Reviews section as well.

As to the potential issues with inks, while you're checking out the Reference Info section on Richard's site:
http://www.richardspens.com/

Go to Taking Care of your pens; and then to Inks: the good, the bad, and the ugly - a good basic primer on ink chemistry and the "whys" behind ink advice.

I have to say that, after the previous 'exchange', I am quite surprised at the advice regarding what to do with the M200 .... not what I'd have suggested at all .