New to fountain pens

[DL1]

After doing a little reading, I finally purchased some fountain pens which I received today. One is a Pelikan Pelikano with a fine nib, and the other is a Lamy Vista with an extra fine nib.

 

To get the Pelikano to write, its own weight is enough to get the ink flowing without skipping. The Vista on the other hand, I actually have to press down a little bit. Is this normal?

 

-DL1

 

Edit: I'm using Noodler's black ink.

 

Edit 2: Another question: When I filled my pen, the boxed area in the picture looked like it filled with ink too. Did I miss fill it?

 

http://www.dacali.com/vista.jpg

Edited February 2, 2006 by DL1

[Michael Wright]

It's perfectly normal for the boxed area to fill with ink. What you see are a set of fins on the upstream side of the feed, which hold a lot of ink in a kind of reservoir to even out the flow of ink from the cartridge or converter. You can actually see the pen working, here.

 

As for pressure needed to get the ink to flow, it's a question of how much. If you need to press down as hard as you would with a ballpoint, that's too much; but not all pens, especially light ones, will write with the pressure of only their own weight. Does it feel like you're having to press harder than is comfortable?

 

Best

 

Michael

[Goodwhiskers]

Welcome, DL1 !

 

It should not be necessary to press your Lamy Vista's point against the page in order to make the ink start flowing.

 

The only diagnostic question I can think of (and pardon me if you've already done this) is, did you create an air bubble in the pen's ink supply after you filled the pen and before you wiped the outside? I call this the "starter bubble" (not a professionally used term, just my coinage), and it enables smooth operation from filling to emptiness. Every new, full, fountain pen cartridge has this bubble.

 

I have some Lamys from the Safari family, including an extra fine, and a Pelikan Pelikano. My Pelikano lets air flow in and ink flow out more generously (a "wetter writer," in FPN jargon) than any of my Lamys. That's probably why you didn't notice much of a starter bubble in your Pelikano. It never hurts to make a starter bubble, and it's a good habit because many pens (like your Lamy) really need one.

 

After you fill the pen (and it's OK to fill the grip section, professionally called the "section" for short), make the piston push three drops of ink back into the bottle (four when you've really tried to fill the pen as full as possible) and then return the piston to the top of the supply, pulling in air (*short, faint, bubbly sucking noise*). That does two things: it starts air flowing into the supply so that ink can flow out, and it primes the system with a big enough starter bubble.

 

Wishing you enjoyment,

Edited February 2, 2006 by Goodwhiskers

[DL1]

Thanks for the information. Much appreciated!

 

At times I do need to press harder than I'd like to. It writes fine with a little bit of pressure about half the time. It usually skips a stroke or two here and there. It's a bit more scratchy moving sideways then just pulling or pushing.

 

Goodwiskers, I'll be sure to give that a try!

 

I took some pictures of the nib, but I don't know what I'm really looking at.

 

http://www.dacali.com/vista1.jpghttp://www.dacali.com/vista2.jpg

 

Thanks again!

 

-DL1

 

Edit: Changed forwards and backwards to pulling and pushing.

Edited February 2, 2006 by DL1

[Claes]

Hi DL1 & welcome!

 

Is it a light effect/reflections?

If not, I'd say that the left picture simply

shows a misaligned nib (i.e. a very plausible

reason why it is not starting).

 

I'll find a suitable link for you to look at...

Here's a good one:

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref_info/nib_primer.htm

 

 

Have fun!

Claes in Lund, Sweden

 

http://www.algonet.se/~claesg

Edited February 2, 2006 by Claes

[JeffTL]

I'm no expert, but I'd have to second what Claes said; the nib looks like the tines are misaligned.

[DL1]

If it is misaligned, what can be done about it?

[saintsimon]

If it is misaligned, what can be done about it?

If the Lamy is new, send it back to the seller for an exchange of the pen. If that should not be possible, Lamy spare steel nibs are cheap and easy to replace, even for newbies.

[JimStrutton]

If it is misaligned, what can be done about it?

If it was me I would contact the person/company you bought it from and look to getting an exchange. OK it can be fixed, but with a new pen, then I would expect a swap for a good one!

 

Best of luck and welcome,

 

Jim

[DL1]

Thanks again! I'll be sure to give the company a call soon then.

 

-DL1

[southpaw]

Hello DL,

 

I agree with the diagnosis of misaligned nib and that it should be sent back. If you have any trouble with the company you purchased it from or would rather deal with Lamy directly, they should replace it for you at no cost.

 

Lamy's contact for this is:

 

Bob Nurin

203-563-2200

Lamy Pens

372 Danbury Road

Wilton, CT 06897

 

HTH and keep us posted,

southpaw

[DL1]

I found out that the return policy is within 2 weeks so I decided to play around with it some to make sure it isn't just me.

 

I rinsed the pen out with water and let it dry over night. I filled the converter with Noodler's black again and created a "starter bubble" before I started writing with it.

 

After writing about 10 pages with it, it's starting to feel much better now. I only have to put a litte pressure on the pen at times. Sometimes I think it writes near perfectly and others it skips and scratches.

 

-DL1

[DL1]

Just an update. I received my pen back from Swisher Pens (Great customer service!) last week, and it's much much better now! Thanks for the advice everyone! I just need more money now for a larger variety of inks!

 

-DL1