How Many Pens Always Inked?

[Charles Skinner]

I write in my journal every day. If you, --- too,--- write every day, and have more than a few pens, and more than a few different inks, please tell how you manage your pens. For example, I like to use the same pen and ink on both pages when the book is opened. For example, same pen and ink on page 41 and 42. I usually end up with three or four inked pens on my desk. At times, I wish I could just have only one pen, the pen I am using, inked, --- and empty and clean it after completing the "second page." ---- This is not really a problem, but I have often wondered how people who write a lot and change pens and inks often deal with this situation. Does this make any sense at all to any of you? If not, please excuse me for taking your reading time. C. S.

[Manalto]

Charles, others have asked similar questions about pen rotation, knowing which ink is in which pen, etc. and the responses blow my mind. One time I was going to give a facetious answer about my Excel spreadsheet with multiple columns listing pen, ink brand, ink color, date of fill, country of origin of pen, country of origin of ink, capacity, and so forth, only to learn that it was no joke - people have elaborate record-keeping systems to keep track. The disarray of my non-system would horrify them, I have no doubt.

 

To answer your question: many more than I want. It's so much easier to fill a pen than it is to flush (and why do that when there's still ink in it?), clean, dry and store it. A common situation is that no pens are filled with an ink I'd like to use, so I fill one. I can't be specific about the average number of pens in use because it changes so frequently, but the range is more than five and fewer than twenty. When the number of inked pens climbs into the teens, I get antsy, pour myself a cup of strong coffee and clean out a few. Three are always inked: a magnificent Sheaffer desk pen with a broad gold nib has Waterman 'South Seas' (AKA that silly new name), a standard green Pelikan 800 with Aurora 'Black' and a dove gray Parker 51 with Private Reserve 'Tanzanite.' The ranks swell and occasionally shrink around this skeleton crew.

 

PS - If your question applies only to journaling, please forgive my ramble!

Edited August 2, 2015 by Manalto

[Paddler]

I try to journal or edit something every day.

 

I have lots of pens and inks. Most of the pens live in a cigar box. Once in a great while, I get one of those out and ink it, just for the novelty of it. Otherwise, I keep 5 fountain pens inked.

 

One lives in my shirt pocket with a homemade notebook.

 

One is a medium-nibbed desk pen that is a superb writer. It writes the story drafts for my journals (usually in green).

 

One is an extra fine Snorkel desk pen filled with blue black. It is used for editing the green stuff.

 

One is a medium italic filled with something bulletproof. This one sometimes writes the last draft into a journal book. Otherwise, it writes checks.

 

The last one backs up the medium desk pen, usually with a purple ink or something equally contrasting. This one gets changed out on a whim, as there are so many others sitting on the bench waiting to get in the game.

 

Final journal entries are usually made with dip pens and either India or bulletproof inks.

[Charles Skinner]

But, are you fearful that having so many pens inked at one time, some will not be used enough to keep them from clogging?

 

C. S.

[Manalto]

But, are you fearful that having so many pens inked at one time, some will not be used enough to keep them from clogging?

 

C. S.

 

Sí, señor, hence my "teen panic." I am, however, moving toward a more organized way of life with glacial velocity.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Manalto

[Charles Rice]

I try to have only 2 or three inked at any one time, but right now I'm at seven. I do not keep track of the color in each and I like to use different colors on the same page. For letters though, I usually switch colors or pens only when I go to the next sheet.

[Runnin_Ute]

As we speak I have 14 inked. I try to use all of them at least a few days a week. This is borderline to many.

 

I just filled both my Esterbrooks, my Konrad, a Jinhao 599, my Al Star, a Parker 45 earlier today

 

The J got Blackstone Daintree Green, the LJ 54th Massachusetts, Konrad - Akkerman Voorhout Violet, the 599 got a refill of Noodler's Apache Sunset, Al Star a refill of Blackstone Barrier Reef Blue, the P45 got KWZI Azure of Sky

 

If I recall correctly, the J had a different green ink (green cashmere), the LJ had blue cashmere which is a really dry ink, the Konrad had Diamine Steel Blue if I recall correctly and the P45 had Diamine Classic Red.

 

I could probably cut back to around 8 fairly easily. But then I would have to figure out a rotation schedule.

[carlos.q]

Too many...

[Joe in Seattle]

7

[amarjit]

2 with blue and black, will change to 3 with addition of violet

[Paddler]

But, are you fearful that having so many pens inked at one time, some will not be used enough to keep them from clogging?

 

C. S.

 

It shouldn't be a problem. Unless you are using some strange, thick ink, one filling and complete dry-up won't completely clog a pen. I have bought many pens in the wild (80 or thereabouts) and nearly all of them were completely dry and crusted with ink. Only one was clogged; it was in a box with a completely dry bottle of black Speedball India ink.

[Ruth Feiertag]

I also keep several pens full of ink, somewhere between six and twelve, usually though eight to ten. I haven't had a problem with clogging, though sometimes they can take a while to clean, especially the piston fills or the ones with bladders.

 

I tend to use a different color for each journal entry (it helps me easily see the beginning and end of each one) and will write letters to friends in colours I know they like. When I'm writing a paper, I tend to stick with one colour throughout and edit in other colours. And some of my pens lend themselves to quick notes, some to serious thought, some to conversational letters or thank you notes. I firmly believe in having a choice of inks and pens available. One never knows when one will need to write down a brilliant idea that requires the right pen-ink combination. Be prepared.

 

Ruth

[ac12]

More pens that I should. And yes some of them do dry out from lack of use. But a quick dip in water will get the pen writing again.

 

I will change inks when I sit down to write, so if I wrote with Sheaffer turquoise, the next time might be Diamine Sherwood Green. And if I change inks in the middle of a page, I don't care. I will also sometimes change inks when I change subjects of what I am writing about. So a page could have several different inks on it.

[Manalto]

I like the (sometimes) randomness and several inks on a page. I'll bet it's beautiful.

[haruka337]

Six fountain pens:

Three for work, three for home. Though the work-horse pens are used daily while the inked pens at home don't receive much use , but I'm looking to amend that shortly!

[Biber]

3 - 4

[PaperQueen]

Does this answer the question?

 

http://i1255.photobucket.com/albums/hh628/paperqueen1/FPN%20photos/pens.jpg

 

In my own defense, this is a bit unusual. Have been working out complex database maps, using a variety of ink colors to identify key fields, relationships, and layout structures. Each is actively used, so (thankfully) no clogging concerns.

 

Among the happy crowd:

TWSBI Diamond 580

De Atramentis "Thomas Alva Edison" (love the color; is my primary pen/ink....for now)

2 TWSBI Eco

J. Herbin "Cacao du Bresil" and J. Herbin "Violette Pensee"

Lamy Vista

J. Herbin "Ink for Man" in Black Pearl (discontinued, but still LOVE it)

Lamy AL Star

Noodler's "Dragon's Napalm"

Pilot Prera

J. Herbin "Bleu Pervenche"

2 Pilot Metropolitans

J. Herbin "Rose Cyclaman" and J. Herbin "Vert Olive"

3 J. Herbin demonstrators

J. Herbin "Eclat du Sapphire," "Rouge Opera," and Caran d'Ache "Electric Orange"

 

The Pelikan M805 Demonstrator (engraved version) arrived today---it's taking everything in my power not to ink that yet. Need to get this crowd scene under control before I step off the next ledge.

[fireofspring]

I currently have maybe...11 pens inked? 5 of them I carry around in my bag, the rest are on my desk.

 

Organising and keeping track of inks is always a work in progress, but my current system is:

 

1. Matching pen and ink by colour most of the time. My blue Auroloide Aurora Optima, for example is always filled with blue ink; currently it's Kobe Island Blue.

 

2. I keep an unlined notebook as an analog ink log. One side is indexed by INKS, with one ink colour per double-page spread. I write the name of the ink on the top of the left-hand page, then I write a single line (brand, model, nib size) under it with the pen that is filled with that ink. Flipping the notebook over, and the other side is indexed by PENS, so I do the same, but under the name of each pen, I have a line (brand and ink name) written with that pen in the ink it's currently filled with.

 

Over time, these pages accumulate more and more lines, but the most current pen/ink or ink/pen combinations will always be the bottom-most. The PENS side of the notebook allows me to keep track of what's currently in each pen (or the last ink that was in the pen, if it's currently empty), while the INK side of the notebook can be used to cross-check that I don't have the same ink in multiple pens.

Edited August 5, 2015 by fireofspring

[pmhudepo]

One.

 

Before a recent trip, I cleaned out all my pens except for a sturdy Waterman Expert II, fine nib, with Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher. I took it with me, as well as a Midori Traveler's notebook in passport size.

 

But often, I have more pens inked. Right now, an M800 EF and 580 1.1 have been added, for use at work. Since I have a few busy weeks coming up, I'll probably not ink up any more pens for now. Maybe later one or two more pens, making for a total of 4 or 5 pens, which I think is my usual number.

[masterguns]

I started off the day with four pens inked, but decided to flush three of them out. They have all been in rotation for several weeks now (one for several months, actually), and I was getting itchy to change it up. The one pen I did not flush is my Kaweco AL Sport. This pen is inked with Noodlers Black and generally stays in my bag for those times I need a permanent black ink for official things. Before I go to bed tonight, I will ink up my M800. I decided to ink just this one pen for the time being, mostly to see how long I can go without inking another one up.

 

On average, though, I would say I have no more than five pens inked at any one time, all with different writing characteristics.