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How Do You Put Your Pen Down?


sirgilbert357

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A weird question, maybe, but I'd like to hear how you place your pen at rest. I almost always look for a soft surface - a notepad, napkin, a book, back in my shirt pocket, or just something softer than the material of the pen itself. My desk at work, for example, is a very hard textured "fake wood" and scratches my metal watch clasps as I work. I'm certain it would, over time, damage the finish of my pens -- especially the gold plating of the cap bands, etc.

 

Does anyone else give thought to this, or am I weird?

Edited by sirgilbert357
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I hadn't thought about desk surfaces harming pens. My desk is a bamboo, I assume, laminate. It has a smooth, non-glare finish. I doubt it could abrade one of my pens. My one concern is not placing a pen near an edge were it can be knocked or fall off.

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Nope! You're not weird about your pens. You're kind to your pens.

 

I try to lay my pens on surfaces that won't scratch or otherwise damage them. I keep them in zippered cases or in individual sleeves. I recently purchased a leather pocket protector so I can carry several in my cargo pocket without contact with my other pocket contents. It's been two weeks and that pocket protector is working rather well. It's heavy and thick enough to withstand my pocket contents and its suede interior is soft on my pens.

 

When writing with my pens, whenever I have to stop writing or put my pen down, I cap it to protect the nib. If I fear it might roll off my table, I clip the capped pen to my notebook page or journal page. If I can't do any of these things, I just hold them in my hand.

 

I love my pens and even though they aren't expensive (save for one or two!), I take care of them as best I can.

Edited by taimdala
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On a regular basis my pens if not in use go into my shirt pocket, if I am planning on continuing to use them. If keeping them inked, but not planning on using them they go into either a cup (at night, over night) designated for that purpose. If they are going to be not used for a while, they go into a pen holder on my desk. If longer, they are cleaned out and stored in a storage or display case.

 

If Bicycling, the pens go into a leather case and then go into a handlebar bag.

 

If traveling, the pens go into a leather case and into a messenger bag, or rucksack, except for a Kaweco Alsport, which I will pt into the slots some bags have for pens. I also may add some low cost pens to the pen slots in a bag I am using as I don't like to carry ink, except for long travel and then I will also pack a traveling ink pot along with a couple compatable pens in a leather holder and place them in a rucksack I will carry. For very long trips to someplace I will have little control over I take low value pens and a couple of boxes of cartridges appropriate for the pens I am taking. That way if something is lost, stolen or breaks it doesn't ruin the trip.

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'If traveling, the pens go into a leather case and into a messenger bag, or rucksack, except for a Kaweco Alsport, which I will pt into the slots some bags have for pens. I also may add some low cost pens to the pen slots in a bag I am using as I don't like to carry ink, except for long travel and then I will also pack a traveling ink pot along with a couple compatable pens in a leather holder and place them in a rucksack I will carry. For very long trips to someplace I will have little control over I take low value pens and a couple of boxes of cartridges appropriate for the pens I am taking. That way if something is lost, stolen or breaks it doesn't ruin the trip.'

 

I use hard, purpose-made pen cases from 'Idream365' for travel. The case goes into my carry-on ruck. I use a similar case for my work bag as well. I'm not a fan of pocket carry, since I've seen things I thought were secure end up on the floor when bending over to pick up something or tie a shoe.

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Glad I'm not the only one.

 

I use my pen in spurts and will make notes and edits sporadically. So I really do worry about the wear of putting a pen down over and over on something hard and abrasive.

 

I need to get something to rest my pen on for the office. I have some scrap wood and leather. I could probably make something fun and unique.

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How Do You Put Your Pen Down?

 

Fortunately I haven't had to do that to any...

 

Suspect I'd pull the nib/feed, gut it for the converter, and bury the rest... :yikes:

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Depends on the pen. Most of them I set down in the gutter of the notebook I am writing in, or on the case they are carried in. Some, like my Kaweco Sports, are beaters and I'll put them down on any flat surface.

 

fpn_1580071879__20200127_094813.jpg

Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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I put them down so that they will not roll or be bumped off the desk.

 

I almost always cap them in case they do, and if that were to occur I would be about as concerned with damage to vintage celluloid or hard rubber anyway.

 

One way of achieving safety is to slip it back into the two-pen Visconti case which carries my "immediate" pens rather than the Lamy hard flip box which in which rest the other two or three inked ones. However, I have no qualms about putting them on the wooden desk provided condition 1 is met. I prefer not to put them in the centre of a journal in case I move the journal so that the pen slides off. There is quite a lot of stuff on my desk.

X

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If they're inked up, I generally am using them either by where I sit in the living room, or if I'm traveling -- in which case I stick them, nib up, in an outside pocket on my purse. Or, if I'm in another room I try to lay them down so that they're propped up on something and not completely flat. The only exceptions are when I'm about to flush them (in which case they lie flat on the bathroom vanity until I get them soaking) or when I'm either getting up in the morning to do my journal entry, or putting them away at the end of the night -- in those instances, they go nib up into a metal canister that used to have hot chocolate mix, on the top shelf of the small bookcase next to my bed.

Empty/clean pens get put onto the desk or the bookcase on the other side, until they get put back into zipper cases, except for pens that need repairs (the next time -- which I'm hoping is BEFORE the end of the year); those go into a separate 7 pen crocheted sleeve roll made for me in a sort of secret Santa exchange thing for Valentine's Day on FPN a few years ago. That way, when I DO get to a show, I have those pens separated out from the ones I"m using at the time (a very nice 12 pen Girologio zipper case I picked up from the Toys in the Attic table at a show a couple of years ago.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for formatting

Edited by 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'm another middle of the journal/diary/planner person most of the time, since my planner is almost always open on the desk somewhere. I always try to place my nicer pens down on something soft if I can, but I will place them on the table if I have to. For my regular desk (as opposed to wherever I happen to be sitting) I use a little box with some cheap felt in it to keep them protected and from rolling away.

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Foam dartboard on the wall. Finish writing, give 'er a throw.

 

I keep nibmeisters in business. Just doing my part.

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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One alternative I suggest is get a desk pen for work. They are actually quite affordable, especially given the condition they typically are in, which is very good to excellent.

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Fortunately I haven't had to do that to any...

 

Suspect I'd pull the nib/feed, gut it for the converter, and bury the rest... :yikes:

I have heard of immolation for celluloid pens. A funeral pyre seems fitting.

X

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Perfectly reasonable.

 

I have a large PU-leather desk blotter, so the 2-3 pens I use during the day lay flat on that. Cheaper pens not in direct use stay in a walnut pen block nib up and everything else goes into felt-lined drawers or soft leather pen cases.

 

-k

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I don't ever lay a pen, no matter the cost, down on a hard surface. So no, not strange.

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