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Leaving Fountain Pens Inked


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After starting 4 weeks ago I somehow have 11 pens now.

I am practicing cursive daily so I am able to use each one

Every day.

How many folks leave a number of pens inked all the time?

Thanks

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I have 12 pens inked right now, but think I will clean some of those out. Some of those are not getting as much use as they had been getting.

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I generally have between 6 and 15 pens inked at any given time -- but when it gets towards the higher end of the range I have trouble keeping on top of using them on a regular basis. So then I go through a phase of "No inking up a new pen until at least two others get flushed" to get the "in rotation" stash down to a more manageable level.

The problem is that I have all these ink samples and bottles that I want to try.... And I'll admit that sometimes it's just as easy to refill a pen with distilled water and write with the diluted ink (it was amazing how many times I did this with Noodler's Ottoman Azure in a pen before I started to actually see a dent in the dilution rate...).

When I first started this little, um hobby, I figured I'd end up with maybe fifty pens, tops -- and couldn't see myself paying more than about $50-60 US for any one pen. Both thresholds have been left behind in the dust, although it wasn't until this spring that I broke the $200 price point. OTOH, I passed *that* line so fast I left skid marks :blush: with a couple of Pelikan M405s from Rolf Thiel at Missing Pens. I actually got a phone call from PayPal for possible suspicious activity on my account....

"Yes -- I DID in fact spend that much money on something on eBay. And yes -- I DO know the payment is being made to someone overseas...."

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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I keep 3-4 inked at any one time for some variety in ink and nibs.

PAKMAN

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I keep all my pens inked virtually all the time. That's nineteen pens. If I don't use a particular pen for a week I blame the ink or the nib and change it. Occasionally I'll let a few pens lie fallow after cleaning. That never lasts very long. My Platinum Carbon Desk Pen has been inked with Platinum Carbon Black continuously since March 2016. I use it every day for something. I cleaned it once. I think I cleaned it.

I love the smell of fountain pen ink in the morning.

 

 

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I've got about 20 pens inked, as long as the notorious evaporators are well stored they all work well.

"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt."

 

B. Russell

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I suffer from choice anxiety. I don't like to have more than 4 inked, but usually I have 6 (three cheapies to take out and 3 home pens").

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currently with 3 pens, all inked.

 

I’ve had an addiction breakdown last month on fp’s so Im expecting more than 10 pens to arrive (coming from USA, China, etcetera).

 

And I intent to ink up a good portion of these pens..

More about it when they arrive!

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The number is eight right now, and that is the fewest in several months. Usually 10 or so. I was just mentioning in a letter to a pen pal I might go to six in the near future.

Brad

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind" - Rudyard Kipling
"None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try." - Mark Twain

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I have 16 pens inked right now. Day before these were 21. But since flushed five as they ran out of ink. All the inked pens are vintage. Conklin Endura, Waterman 52 BHCR, Pelikan 400 and 140, Bayard, Swan, P75s flat tasssied, P51s,P61s and P65s.

Khan M. Ilyas

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6 minimum, though I've had 12ish at times, with each getting used at least every other day.

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I keep 4 to 5 inked - each for no more than a couple weeks. I keep a spreadsheet of pen and ink usage (total nerd here) to make sure they all get rotated around and used.

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Too many.

 

Some feeds seem to dry out over the week-end - and others can take months.

 

A dip in a glass of water usually solves that problem.

 

I'm trying to reduce down to 4 or 5 - one black and blue for work, and then violet and turquoise for me, and then another with a fun blue.

 

There's so many shades of blue - from pedestrian Royal Blue, vibrant Royal Blue and gauche Velvet Blue and I haven't even mentioned the ocean an dsky blues out there.

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I try to keep the number below 5 and usually succeed. I like to use a pen for a few weeks before I rotate. I have many vintage pens and want to get used to the way a pen writes, which takes some time. Vintage nibs have way more individual character than the modern (past 1960s) ones. I usually have at least one vintage and one modern inked, a sturdy one for the office and to be carried in my shirt pocket and a precious one which wouldn't leave home.

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I usually have at least one vintage and one modern inked, a sturdy one for the office and to be carried in my shirt pocket and a precious one which wouldn't leave home.

 

My practice is similar. I used to keep eight or nine pens inked but found it stressful to ensure that I was using each one enough, and my journals had juxtapositions of color that reflected not changes of mood, artistic intent, or any meaningful color keying but just the fact that I felt I needed to give each pen its turn.

 

Now I typically have two pens inked, or three if the third serves a specific purpose such as markup or illustration, and I rotate inks by season.

 

A vintage pen always stays inked longer than a modern one--typically something like a month for a vintage pen, a week for a modern one.

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At the moment I have too many inked because I've been testing some new pens without having used up the ink in the old. In the long run I intend to have one or two inked up at the office, one or two with blue ink at home, a black (and maybe a red) at home, and a flex pen with a fancy ink for the occasional letter. Maybe one or two more if I find a reason for it.

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I had 17 inked but as i use up the ink in one, i clean it and put it away. I may not reink any of them until they are all empty.

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Typically, I have 3-5 pens inked. If one is to be unused for more than three or four day, it means I don't need it. That pen gets cleaned and put away. This is rarely an issue, I have many pens in my collection, that are in constant rotation of use.

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

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Hi fellow Missourian. I also have had too many pens inked. Why is that a problem? They will all need cleaning out.

 

I havent gone autumn ink crazy this year, but Im also behind in my pen pal letters.

 

I don't keep one pen inked all the time, but I know which one it would be if I did.

 

Glad to have you here among us. There is plenty here to help you along the way. And many very nice people who become mentors.

 

Edited to put in all the missing apostrophes.

Edited by Misfit
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