A Post In Favor Of Posting

[Precise]

For many years, I've not posted my pens. Today I'm changing.

 

I've run a lot of tests and my script is smoother when I post. The added length increases the inertia of the pen and damps out tremors.

 

I'm writing better posting both small and large pens. I even write better when I post my MB 149 and Sailor King of Pen.

 

I'm reminded that I began playing my flutes better after I added brass weights at each end to damp out tremors and maintain a steadier embouchure.

 

Alan

Edited September 21, 2018 by Precise

[praxim]

It is quite possible that my posted writing would be smoother than unposted, because I would have to slow down. The difference is speed. I prefer fast, against which a posted pen continues to feel clumsy. It depends what one wants.

[minddance]

No posting for me, even for small pens like Sailor Progear 14k and Pelikan m200.

 

Kaweco sport is another matter: it is assembling.

[TSherbs]

I agree, Alan. The same goes for me. A deeper, wider balast steadies the ship.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I have no speed difference posted nor un-posted........in fact I have no speed difference with semi-flex or harder nibbed pens.

 

My opinion....in I was taken out in the back alley and reasoned with by non-posters, I shouldn't be dogmatic, but way back in the day of B&W TV, 'as far as I saw, in my memories....(pre-selfie) everyone posted. (I'd seen no PFM pens (came out in '59) that would have been Larger enough not to post.) Standard and medium-large pens only....back when the P-51 was considered a 'big' pen.

Standard sized pens are as the non-posters say...too small. Well, not when posted. They are then longer than an un-posted Large pen.

 

Top of the Line pen Engineers stood around letting the coffee in the cups grow mold, as they slapped ivory slap sticks, looking for perfect balance. In the opposition had it, they had to have it too, to sell....even in the brand loyal days of One Man, One Pen..........pens were supposed to last 7-10 years, Parker couldn't have folks listening to Sheaffer folks and actually putting a Sheaffer in their hands............or when an Esterbrook/Wearever user went up in class reputed perfect balance had them looking for it even in the cheaper models of the then Big Two. Perfect balance helped decide which pen would be bought by 'brand' noodies.

There is or was no real logic between Ford and Chevie fans........we had the family Snorkel so I knew it was the King of Pens.

(Oddly I bought the P-75 in it was silver in stead of the Snorkel ....but it too has perfect balance. Took 40 years before I had another fountain pen in my hands. 45 years before I finally got that Snorkel I'd wanted since childhood.)

 

There are Large pens I find find too heavy posted, they lose what little nimbleness they had. One must then let it rest in the pit of the web of the thumb....which does lighten the nib weight on the paper. when so back balanced.

The great balanced thin Sheaffer Snorkel shocked me. I thought it medium-long like the P-51 but it is a Large pen, the same length as the Safari....which I didn't post. (gave it away to hook someone into fountain pens)

 

The way I hold a fountain pen...forefinger up....I find Large pens a tad small. If not posted. More for only note taking, instead of long use. Some of my Large pens are thin so they can be posted and have a good balance. These are metal ....Pelikan Celebry x2, 381. The second version of the P-45 is a Large pen....the first one with the fatter rounded end, I think was medium-large....but I don't have a first model P-45 so can't say for sure. I think some of the good balance of the 'newer' P-45 has to do with the way the body thins, so end-weight is saved, when posted.

I find the P-45 a tad too light and 'bouncy' un-posted.

 

Width of a pen seems to have more to do with balance and if a large pen can be posted comfortably that I'd thought.

I do prefer the medium-large '50-70 146 over the latter ones, but the Large 146 is a light and nimble for a 'Large' pen. The thinner nimble Snorkel does have it beaten in 'balance'.

 

I'd have to go back to tripod for my 1000 to be comfortable un-posted, in in forefinger up it's still a slight tad ....short un-posted. And posted...It's not quite as clunky as I thought...but is not nimble. I'd have to get use to having it sit deeper in the web of my thumb. I won it for E200 in a live auction a month or so ago, so I'm not use to it yet.

I guess it's an advantage that it's butter smooth, when sitting deeper than 'normal' will glide easier.

 

How can one have such a 'new' pen and not use it.............easy I have now only 17 inked in my pen cups...it must wait until I get my pen cups emptier.

[PaulS]

my interest is mostly with older f.ps., and I've seen too many barrels showing that heavily indented ring where the years of posting have left their mark. I've heard it said though that if a pen drops then a posted pen will drop rear end first if the cap is posted - though I'm loathe to drop a pen just to see if gravity agrees with that.

[JollyCynic]

It is quite possible that my posted writing would be smoother than unposted, because I would have to slow down. The difference is speed. I prefer fast, against which a posted pen continues to feel clumsy. It depends what one wants.

 

I've noticed a considerable speed increase when I post my Lamy Safari, which I attribute to the pen being better balanced posted. (It might be an inertia thing or other, as suggested in the thread.) If not for its very fast note-taking ability when posted, I wouldn't bother keeping the pen around, really. As a part time student, it fills a niche that needs filling.

 

In response to the general thread topic, I only post when posting improves the pen's balance. Posted pens don't often feel like a natural extension of my hand. But that's just me.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

A difference in smoothness or writing speed had never occurred to me in the perennial "post or don't post" debate. Although one of the few situations where I don't post is if I just need to sign something and immediately cap the pen again.

 

Other than that, I post the cap because it seems like the most obvious and logical thing to do with it while writing. Holding it in my non-writing hand, putting it on the desk, or clipping it to something else all seem artificial.

 

If posting the cap throws a pen off balance, then I probably don't want that pen. If the cap actually won't stay on when posted, I don't want that pen. And if there is a concern about the posted cap scratching a pretty finish, then the prettiness is more trouble than it's worth.

 

But smoothness, I'm not sure about that. With the pens I use most often, I'm so used to having the caps posted, that it probably would throw me off to use them the other way. That may just be a matter of how I've trained myself, though. If I accustomed myself to it, I don't know if my writing would be less smooth unposted. And on the other side, I really doubt that writing unposted would be any faster, for me, and with the pens that I use.

 

Points to ponder, certainly. But the fact is that I'm comfortable writing posted, and see no reason to change.

[sirgilbert357]

I had a pen where posting the cap actually made the nib feel smoother. Like the feedback I was getting from the paper was dampened out or something. It was weird, but very noticeable. As a rule though, I never post the caps. It makes the pen feel back heavy and clumsy, and I'd rather not have the "wear ring" on the end of the pen from posting. To each their own!

[Bo Bo Olson]

A decade ago, when vintage pens were chased by 'noobie's in they were much cheaper than new ones ...even the new cheaper lower level pens....per-Chinese on the market. There was many, many threads of polishing one's old pen, and or polishing away a mar. (wear ring)

I did have pens that needed polishing in they were a bit ratty looking, just as many were mar'less as had slight mars.

(Well one don't expect the world when one is a member in good standing of the Pen of the Week in the Mail Club. )

 

Tightening down a cap when posting a pen with a palm slap is to be avoided.

 

Today I may be the only one on the com, who talks of polishing a used pen. We used as was advised by all back then, a light chrome polish, Semi-Chrome, done only with bare fingers, so as to control the polishing. Two or three times lightly, and not extra heavy on the pressure.

Since then the Nova with it's three levels of polish seems to be the way to go.

 

I being lazy, only polished the pen to get a well maintained look, not NOS level of 'much work'.

 

After polishing if a pen is waxed there is No More Mars.

 

I post all the time and have no mars........even on pens I've not waxed. A number of my 'new' vintage Pelikan's I just never got around to polishing, not needed nor waxing.

Renaissance wax or a good Carnauba car Wax, with no petroleum additives are the best. If you buy the car wax...you can wax your car , or bike; motor or otherwise., there will be a decade or two's pen wax left in the bottom of the can.

 

One need not wax all that often...once a year does well enough for me...if that. Just hit the pen with a flannel rag every once in a while. If the flannel rag don't give back a shine; then it's time to wax the pen.

Edited September 21, 2018 by Bo Bo Olson

[PaulS]

I seem to remember that Renaissance Wax came in for some criticism insofar as it apparently leaves a permanent residue on the pen - so if this worries you perhaps it's not one to try - though it gives a marvellous shine. I use it on leather sometimes.

 

Too many older pens, and in particular celluloid examples, seem have acquired this barrel indentation from posting - I don't write, so never post, and the damage has originated with previous owners, so I'm guiltless - just possible it doesn't happen so much with BHR.

For those for whom posting is an issue I suppose we should lament the passing of the 1920 - 30s habit of threading the blind end of the barrel such that posting is achieved by screwing the cap on, and not thrusting with pressure.

It may just be that posting by means of simple pressure - with celluloid for example - creates the barrel indentation because celluloid expands as it's pushed - thus you have a greater clamping pressure from the cap lip area, and therefore a higher risk of a permanent disfigurement of the barrel end.

 

I have thirty odd areo 51s, none of which show a posting ring on the barrel - perhaps metal caps are immune from this problem.

Edited September 21, 2018 by PaulS

[inkstainedruth]

I've heard it said though that if a pen drops then a posted pen will drop rear end first if the cap is posted - though I'm loathe to drop a pen just to see if gravity agrees with that.

 

Well I've had a Morrison ring top unscrew from the threads when I had it on the lanyard. And luckily it didn't go nib down (it was capped every time, so I can't say whether it would have been the same result if posted).

But me? I'm a poster. The only pens that I don't post are ones where I *can't* -- due in a couple of cases to the barrel being tapered (like the Rotring ArtPen); or one of my Noodler's Konrads (which has some sort of obstruction in the cap which none of my other Noodler's pens have). And yes, that means I post the vintage ones too. They're my pens. And I'm not jamming the cap on the barrel hard enough to cause damage.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[BaronWulfraed]

Has rOtring changed the ArtPen cap that much? My ancient sketch set (F/EF/lead holder) have caps that will post and STICK, sort of a socket at the top end of the cap which takes the white tip of the "quill".

 

The only pens I tend NOT to post are the urushi Platinum, the Maki-e pens (wish I could justify a "real" Maki-e, vs Platinum's mass-produced silk-screens -- then again, only the $50 brush pens aren't still in the clear sleeve), and a Levenger/Stipula which is so much metal the cap can't grip when posted.

[JakobS]

I post all my pens, and all my pens can post....

 

I suppose all my pens are light enough that balance, feel in hand etc. are just not a significant factor in posting changing any of these factors, I can write fast, slow, nib turned this way, nib turned that way...

 

95% of my pens are vintage, and find you don't need to apply much of any pressure to secure the caps when posted...

 

it really isn't thought about at all when I use fountain pens to write...

Edited September 21, 2018 by JakobS

[Cordovian]

I post all of my pens when writing...except this one because it will not post.

 

[chromantic]

Add me to the "don't post" column, mainly because I prefer light pens. I find posting usually makes a pen back-heavy and unbalanced.

[pajaro]

Humbug. I do it my way, because it feels right. I do not want to know what anyone else does.

[praxim]

Humbug. I do it my way, because it feels right. I do not want to know what anyone else does.

 

If we applied that principle more broadly to pens and inks, this would be a very quiet forum.

 

There is a poll somewhere on posting. What this thread really means is that one vote changed, and a whole heap of others did not.

[Precise]

My switch to posting sparked a curiosity about adding even more weight to the pen. This Bexley Prometheus barrel weighs 18.5g. The cap weighs 9g. And the Delrin weight that I just made today weighs 20g (see last photo).

 

I tried writing unposted, posted with cap, and posted with the 20g weight. The differences are surprisingly subtle.

 

 

 

[mitto]

I always write with my pens posted.