Ever Give Up On A Pen You Tried Hard To Like?

May 18, 2017

Smoothness can be fixed.
First step is to use a loupe to check alignment of the tines.
If alignment is OK, then check the tipping profile and polish as necessary.

Oh and the pen has to be a medium to wet writer. The ink acts as a lubricant for the nib.

Alignment looks ok. What is "tipping profile"? And how do I know whether the pen is a medium to wet writer? Although I've written with fountain pens for years, I really don't know that much about them.

May 18, 2017

Tipping profile, to me, is how the tipping on the nib is shaped.

Many of my older pens do not have a nice round ball shaped tipping. Some look like a small rectangle, some a wedge, some like cylinder on its side, some seem to be a thin coating over the nib. In all of these, there could be sharp corners to scratch the paper.

The interesting thing is I can buy inexpensive nibs from China that are better than somewhat expensive vintage nibs.

A wet writing pen will put down a lot of ink. If you look at the paper as you write, you will see the ink in a small pool as you write. This can be problematic, as that much ink on the paper can take a while to dry or get absorbed into the paper.

A medium writing pen is, well medium in putting ink onto the paper.

A dry writing pen, puts down very little ink. The advantage of a dry pen is that the ink dries FAST, cuz there is so little of it put down. But the con is that with little ink, there is little lubrication of the nib on the paper, so it may feel scratchy.

Don't worry about not knowing much. I've been using a fountain pen since 5th grade, and many decades later and only when I started getting into fountain pens as a hobby did I learn what I should and should not do.

Polishing the nib is a tricky job. The reason is, you are removing material from the nib. And once removed, it cannot be put back.

I use an extremely fine nail buffing stick, and carefully and slowly round off the edges of the nib, where it would contact the paper. I do a couple strokes then check and test, then repeat. Slow and careful beats fast and making a mistake. Or if in doubt, take the pen to a pen show, and have a nib meister work on the nib for you.

BTW, where are you? If you are in Northern California, there will be a few nib meisters at the San Francisco Pen Show at the end of August.

Edited May 18, 2017 by ac12

May 18, 2017

It pains me to admit that the vast majority of pens I've ever bought have ended up getting sold.

I am a lot more discerning now but I can still remember two pens in particular that gave me the most disappointment.

The first was the Omas Ogiva MOMA, a lovely looking classic with neat silver rings that really appealed to me, so I bought a used one and eagerly awaited its arrival. I had been expecting a bigger pen, and although the length was fine, the girth was a little too narrow for me to hold comfortably without pinching. I tried really hard to like it, but the nib was an absolute nail and so the pen had to go.

The second pen was a Danitrio Takumi in kuro-keshi. I still love many things about it; light yet large, extremely comfortable and elegantly simple. But I couldn't get on with the soft nib and the urushi lacquer was a grease / fingerprint magnet. So with regret it was sold too.

I know nothing is perfect, but I'd still rather have 2 pens I enjoy using and have stood the test of time, than a collection of 20 'nearly' pens that end up in a drawer.

May 19, 2017

Tipping profile, to me, is how the tipping on the nib is shaped.
Many of my older pens do not have a nice round ball shaped tipping. Some look like a small rectangle, some a wedge, some like cylinder on its side, some seem to be a thin coating over the nib. In all of these, there could be sharp corners to scratch the paper.
The interesting thing is I can buy inexpensive nibs from China that are better than somewhat expensive vintage nibs.

A wet writing pen will put down a lot of ink. If you look at the paper as you write, you will see the ink in a small pool as you write. This can be problematic, as that much ink on the paper can take a while to dry or get absorbed into the paper.
A medium writing pen is, well medium in putting ink onto the paper.
A dry writing pen, puts down very little ink. The advantage of a dry pen is that the ink dries FAST, cuz there is so little of it put down. But the con is that with little ink, there is little lubrication of the nib on the paper, so it may feel scratchy.
Don't worry about not knowing much. I've been using a fountain pen since 5th grade, and many decades later and only when I started getting into fountain pens as a hobby did I learn what I should and should not do.

Polishing the nib is a tricky job. The reason is, you are removing material from the nib. And once removed, it cannot be put back.
I use an extremely fine nail buffing stick, and carefully and slowly round off the edges of the nib, where it would contact the paper. I do a couple strokes then check and test, then repeat. Slow and careful beats fast and making a mistake. Or if in doubt, take the pen to a pen show, and have a nib meister work on the nib for you.

BTW, where are you? If you are in Northern California, there will be a few nib meisters at the San Francisco Pen Show at the end of August.

Well, I'm in Oklahoma, and I've never heard of a pen show near me. But then I hadn't even heard of pen shows until recently.

May 19, 2017

I really love the Parker 51. It seemed to me that the Parker 21 should be very satisfying to use, as well, and they come in such nice colors. However, my first Parker 21 exhibited fissures in the section, leaving ink stains on my fingers. The fissures were detected by wrapping the pen section in a damp paper, then matching the ink stains to the point of leakage on the section.

Such was the case in Parker 21 #2, and #3, and #4 , as well. I cleaned them, and put them away. I have not seen them in years.