A New Idea For Stocking A Vintage Pen For A While.... Probably A Silly Idea?

April 29, 2016

Hello,

I have about 50 vintage foutain pens which I use in turn for sketching.

I regularly flush them and refill them even if I know that I wont be using them in the next three months (a rotation on 50 pens is long). My reason for filling them with ink is I dont want the bag to dry.

Now, of course when I get to them after three month the ink is gone, and I suddenly wonder - my apologies if this is an old and very stupid idea - if the ink evaporates due to the pen not being perfecty air and water tight why dont we wrap each pen in that plastic wrap it all film we use for our kids sandwitches (in europe at least) the result is watertight (I've seen a sandwitch fall in the water and survive) and ok for contact with food so non acid.

Any idea, comments and flames will be most welcome, as well as advices.

I am not a collector but a user, and I feel guilty for not being knoledgeable enough to take care of my lovelies.

cheers and thanks

April 30, 2016

This was Waterman's advice to stop their pens drying out when unused for a (short) while:

http://i.imgur.com/NlrWazC.jpg

For longer term storage I flush sacs with water and leave them empty. It's mainly pens with cork seals (e.g. plunger fillers and Waterman type safeties) that need to be kept moist.

April 30, 2016

Leave the pens empty after you rinse them out.

Best approach I am aware of and I see quite a few pens.

April 30, 2016

thanks for the info guys, I'm a newbie and the idea of an empty sac makes me think of a sac being damaged by drying, not intuitive ! I'm going to do as you say thanks a bunch

April 30, 2016

The advice given above has worked well for me; I have good luck storing them dry as well. Generally, the water used to flush the pen evaporates quickly leaves little residue. You should know that I live in a VERY dry climate (which presents other issues for the collection).

Please consider using silicone sacs as you replace the latex ones. Silicone is much less likely to dry and crack, and, best yet, does not cause discoloration by "outgassing." David Nishimura is a great source, but PLEASE follow his advice about checking the sacs for pinholes before installation. Once tested and in, you'll find they last longer.

Welcome to our hobby and many happy hours bringing pens back to life!

April 30, 2016

Many thanks Luke for the address!

do you recommend tap water or filtered (with a brita filter or equivalent, the type for making "good" tea) to flush the pens with?

I once used filtered water in a water-brush pen (a transparent one) after a few weeks I found out an algua was growing in the water in the body of the brush --- scary!

but a pen dosent let the sun through and will be stored safely.

I'm probably being paranoid asking this question - I might become a collector one day (joking :-D)

April 30, 2016

I have to confess I'm perhaps already more than a pen user: I take such pride in telling people that my favourite sketching pen was made in 1918 :-D most people just dont believe me and I have to tell them about the history of dip nib pens and why the fountain pen was so flexible at first

April 30, 2016

Many thanks Luke for the address!

do you recommend tap water or filtered (with a brita filter or equivalent, the type for making "good" tea) to flush the pens with?
I once used filtered water in a water-brush pen (a transparent one) after a few weeks I found out an algua was growing in the water in the body of the brush --- scary!
but a pen dosent let the sun through and will be stored safely.
I'm probably being paranoid asking this question - I might become a collector one day (joking :-D)

I live in a hard water area, and my main concern about using tap water in my valuable pens is that they might end up like the inside of my kettle - i.e. coated in limescale. A Brita filter won't help with that. The filter mostly removes chemicals like chlorine.

I like to keep a bottle of deionised water handy for pen purposes. You could also use distilled water, though I don't think it has much advantage over deionised for my uses, and deionised is cheaper and easier to obtain (it's also used in car batteries and steam irons).