Never Let People Who Don't Use Fountain Pens, Use Your Fountain Pen

[georges zaslavsky]

A fountain pen is like a mechanical watch, you never let someone use or touch it

Edited November 8, 2017 by georges zaslavsky

[marcelo]

I found out that helm10101, who created this topic, seems to be gone since January 31, 2016 - the day of his last reply here.

Edited November 8, 2017 by marcelo

[jthole]

Many people (around here) learned to write with a fountain pen in school. So I don't hesitate lending them one of my sturdy daily writers, after reminding them that it's a fountain pen, so they don't need to press it on the paper.

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

I've always been the only one in my class or course to use a fountain pen so I don't trust my peers to know anything about fountain pens.

I've already have bad experiences with borrowed stationery products other than fountain pens, I don't want to try my luck further.

Call me selfish or paranoid but I always bring a rollerball, a ballpoint, or a gel pen, whatever I grab from my house pen case, as my extra portable pen to lend to people. Do you need a pen in class? Absolutely. Here, take this ballpoint. Do you want to try mine? Sorry, I need it to write something very long starting right now.

Often, I don't even give people the opportunity to ask me if they can borrow my fountain pens. Yesterday, for instance, I wrote down my e-mail address for a person with one of my fountain pens, then I immediately put it back in my pen case, fished out my Pilot Supergrip and offered it to the person to write down their reminder.

[oregano]

I lent my old style Pelikan brown tortoise pen to someone who I thought had used fountain pens. She used the pen to write a total of about three words, and in that time pressed so hard that the original characteristics of the nib were ruined. Now I rarely use the pen, and it used to one of my favorites. Moral of the story: you can guess what it is...

[pajaro]

I get it. In the 1980s I twice let someone borrow a fountain pen. Neither pen ever worked again. About all you can do is to try to develop a new favorite pen thing. With a different pen. It is kind of a bummer when I think of how I acquired those pens. NOS from an old stationer. From my art supplies dealer who had a few pens for sale. Some of my pens I have had a very long time remind me of people.

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

Some of my pens I have had a very long time remind me of people.

This is also why I don't risk my fountain pens. Since they are refillable they live way longer than any other rollerball, ballpoint or gel pen I've ever owned. I don't want to risk ruining the memories I have built up with any of my fountain pens.

[Chrissy]

I have been fortunate enough to borrow FP's sent to me by FP users and forum members, and I find myself concerned about the length of time I dare to keep them. I'm every bit as careful with them as I am with my own pens.

[wspohn]

Not my place to tell anyone else what to do with their belongings - everyone has to make their own decisions. It seems that many have allowed others to try their pens and have ended up posting here that they wish they hadn't.

 

My pens are never touched by anyone but another FP user who knows what they are doing. I've never had a nib damaged by any of them.

 

You decide what is the wisest course. And for the people that give up their pens because they don't like to say no - time to grow a spine and say what you mean, or carry cheap pens you let others ruin.

[sidthecat]

I let a dear friend, who I call the brother I never had, write with my hybrid ringtop with the delicate Leroy Fairchild dip nib. He MASHED down on it like it was a ballpoint. I think I screamed.

“Wow! That’s really soft,” he said as I wrestled it away from him.

I haven’t been so horrified since my beloved husband redlined my RX7 by blasting it up an onramp in first gear. I screamed then, too.

I think the lesson is to keep your best things away from your loved ones.

[Inksomnia]

I had actually quite funny incident with my TWSBI 580 and professor. He picked up my fountain pen to write something. It took him good 5 minutes to figure out how to open twist cap. He tried everything to push piston knob, even tried to push cap finial... And finally he tried to twist cap. After that, he really gently writed with it, nib upside down. And then he just handled the pen for me to cap it. Thanked for pen. Next time he came to check my work, he had his own trusty freebie ballpoint in his pocket

 

But generally, if someone wants to try fountain pen, I give them my Parker Urban to try. That has so stiff nib, that it can handle the pressure.

[Qoan]

I always have one or two Preppies on my pockets in case anyone asks me for a pen. Half of the people will try to write with the nib upside down and certainly many apply the same pressure as if they were using a ballpoint... so far they haven't achieved to ruin any and, even if they did, I can get a new one for between €2-3. I would never think of lending anything else to someone not used to fountain pens.

[mitto]

Only last week I was sitting with a lawyer friend and he asked for my pen that I just used in front of him to put my singatures on some legal documents that he had prepared as my attorney. I gave him my pen - a old style Pelikan M600 - and almost a horror since I saw him preparing to pull the cap instead of unscrewing it. I said to him 'NOOO' loudly and he stopped. And then he, without any explanation on my part, unscrewed the cap, gazed on the OB nib, screwed the cap back in and handed the pen back to me.

 

Disaster averted.

Edited November 12, 2017 by mitto

[mana]

Heh... I went to the LAMY store here in Helsinki and showed the salespersons manning the shop my vintage LAMY 99. The other one unscrewed it properly and wrote some gently with it, the other one (both ladies in their early twenties) wrote some more, commented how smooth it was and then proceeded to cram the cap in with enough force I heard the sound of the threads snapping over each other. I think at this point I uttered something out loud and she caught the expression on my face, halted and gave the pen back to me. Some very slight damage to the threads but frankly, I have to do a better job at explaining how things work before handing out my pens. Assumption being the mother of all f'ups etc...

Edited November 12, 2017 by mana

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

I said to him 'NOOO' loudly and he stopped. And then he, without any explanation on my part, unscrewed the cap, gazed on the OB nib, screwed the cap back in and handed the pen back to me.

 

Disaster averted.

Phew. Someone up there loves you and your Pelikan.

[Aminah]

You should never share your pen... its yours.

Learn one of the two: To say no or to carry a ballpoint with you.

[Aminah]

You should never share your pen... its yours.

Learn one of the two: To say no or to carry a ballpoint with you.

I'll "just say no". Newbie here, thanks for this advice.

[Prof7]

Good advice. It's important to be prepared in advance, like when you're going into a meeting where you know signatures will be needed or there will be forms to fill out. Also, it can be tough to say no to your boss or important client who forgot his/her pen.

[mitto]

Phew. Someone up there loves LOVES YOU and your Pelikan.

 

Yes, that lawyer guy really loves my pens. :)

Edited November 13, 2017 by mitto

[ReadyFireAim]

It took him good 5 minutes to figure out how to open twist cap. He tried everything to push piston knob, even tried to push cap finial... And finally he tried to twist cap. After that, he really gently writed with it, nib upside down. And then he just handled the pen for me to cap it.

 

I was only away from my desk for seconds when I returned to witness the same thing.

 

It was an inexpensive Nimosine so I just amused myself by watching.

In my case, he never did get the cap off & was becoming quite annoyed.

 

After noticing that I was standing behind him, he handed me the pen & expectantly waited for me to show him the trick to opening it.

I told him it was a setup and I had glued the cap on to frustrate pen thieves & would he please not tell anyone in the office.

By the end of the day, I'm sure he had told everyone.

 

I could probably leave the pen on my desk over the weekend and it would be there on Monday even though people see me writing with it all the time.