Full Version: Desk pen question.
I understand that fountain pens should be stored with the nib upward to prevent ink from flowing out. When a friend gave me an Esterbrook desk pen set Saturday night I noticed the pen was a lever filler and is stored nib down in the holder. How is it that the pen can be stored nib down and not leak?
The short answer is that they do... but the longer answer is probably what you're looking for.
First off I have never yet come across an 113, 114, 116 or similar sets without finding a lot of dried ink in the plastic pen insert cup. Sometimes, if a pen was really used for a long time with multiple colored inks, it will be like cleaning out successive geologic ages of ink with the first fill flushing red, second purple, third blue then black or some other combination. What keeps a fountain pen from just emptying their bladders into the base is a combination of the air pressure inside the cup insert and the air pressure inside the ink sac itself. A pen will be disposed to drip until the air pressure in the sac and the air pressure in the cup have equalized. Then the lower pressure air in the sac holds the ink up and the air pressure in the cup pushes up against the ink in the nib.
It sounds like this would be a messy affair but in actuality it does not take very much of a vacuum to hold the ink in place so just the amount of ink that runs out into the fins in the feed is generally enough to insure that none actually drips out but sometimes a pen will leak just a drop into the cup anyway.
Hope this helps...
Adam
First off I have never yet come across an 113, 114, 116 or similar sets without finding a lot of dried ink in the plastic pen insert cup. Sometimes, if a pen was really used for a long time with multiple colored inks, it will be like cleaning out successive geologic ages of ink with the first fill flushing red, second purple, third blue then black or some other combination. What keeps a fountain pen from just emptying their bladders into the base is a combination of the air pressure inside the cup insert and the air pressure inside the ink sac itself. A pen will be disposed to drip until the air pressure in the sac and the air pressure in the cup have equalized. Then the lower pressure air in the sac holds the ink up and the air pressure in the cup pushes up against the ink in the nib.
It sounds like this would be a messy affair but in actuality it does not take very much of a vacuum to hold the ink in place so just the amount of ink that runs out into the fins in the feed is generally enough to insure that none actually drips out but sometimes a pen will leak just a drop into the cup anyway.
Hope this helps...
Adam
QUOTE (gmkeyworth @ Aug 21 2008, 02:24 PM) 
I understand that fountain pens should be stored with the nib upward to prevent ink from flowing out. When a friend gave me an Esterbrook desk pen set Saturday night I noticed the pen was a lever filler and is stored nib down in the holder. How is it that the pen can be stored nib down and not leak?
It will leak if it happens to touch the sides of the socket anywhere which will make the ink flow but, barring that, if you had a regular pen upsidedown in your pocket all of the ink isn't going to automatically pour out is it? The ink still needs a reason to flow. Desksets have historically had a problem with drying out more than leaking while they are sitting there. Sockets with some air proof sealing are necessary to insure that the pen will flow when you actually do go to use it, though some pens manage flow without this feature.
Roger W.
Roger W.
Thanks for the information about how desk pens work. I like understanding the technology of fountain pens, and your explanations were informative. I haven't begun to clean or restore the set yet. I expected to find ink in the cup because the nib is inky. You've made me curious to see what colors I swab out when I clean it.
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