Fountain Pen Horror Stories?

[sharonspens]

I am sure I could tell other stories, but these two immediately come to mind:

 

1. Like a previous poster, I managed to toss the nib and section of a pen in a crumpled piece of paper towel. My desk at work has been a mess all semester (I just clear small spots off when I need to use it). Anyway, one day I picked up the body of my Monteverde Intima, and realized the nib/section was missing. I remembered cleaning it, and leaving it in a shot glass to dry. However, I had cleaned another pen in that shot glass in the interim. After moving most things around on my desk, I had to admit that I had tossed the nib/section out in the trash some time in late October. AARRGGGHHHH. Fortunately, Clare at Monteverde/Yafa assured me that I was not the first one to do this, and for $26 or so (including shipping) I could have another nib. You bet I've been crazy careful ever since.

 

2. Last summer I decided to entertain/distract my five year old niece by showing her the 5 or so FPs I had on me. She was fascinated by the colors of the pens and various inks, and the way each handled as she drew pictures with them. She was very gentle, too, until the vintage Christmas Waterman slipped out of her hands and hit the concrete floor of the restaurant. The nib bent just slightly, and since then has tended to twist, catch, and splatter ink on a regular basis. I didn't say a word; if I had let on that she had done real damage her mother would have blown a gasket and my niece would have been too afraid to ever touch such a pen again. I'm just glad she didn't drop one of the more expensive pens I was showing her or I might have blown a gasket myself! i had the nib tweaked about a month ago; it seems to be working now, but I'll know for sure soon. It is the pen I use to do Christmas cards.

 

Sharon in Indiana

[pen2paper]

quote 'sharonspens'

...

2. Last summer I decided to entertain/distract my five year old niece by showing her the 5 or so FPs I had on me. She was fascinated by the colors of the pens and various inks, and the way each handled as she drew pictures with them. She was very gentle, too, until the vintage Christmas Waterman slipped out of her hands and hit the concrete floor of the restaurant. The nib bent just slightly, and since then has tended to twist, catch, and splatter ink on a regular basis. I didn't say a word; if I had let on that she had done real damage her mother would have blown a gasket and my niece would have been too afraid to ever touch such a pen again.

...

 

Sharon, as the daughter of a mother who had no filter for level of 1=Minor > 100=Tragedy.. I can state, your restraint was a genuine gift to this child.

I was blessed, early on, with an (adopted) "auntie" who, upon finding me disolved into tears at breakage.. would warmly laugh, and say "Minor Dear.. M I N O R", then scoup me up with a hug.. also a dearest mother-figure friend, who similarly found me at her dishwasher, with Every glass in shards.. after the door (spring) slammed shut.. "Oh Honey, don't you know that's why I use jelly jars, I break them all the time".. they were Not all jelly jars.. but the value of human love over "things" was clearly evident in each example. Every "time" similar loving patience is due, I reflect, and honor these precious ones.. it's truly a gift that keeps giving.

[Mille]

I had just discovered fountain pens. I bought a yellow Lamy Safari and a bottle of Noodler's BP Black to go with it. I left it for a moment on my end table. My son, 18 months old at the time, found it and I turned around to see him sucking on the nib; his face covered in black, bullet-proof, beach-proof ink. The pen was fine and he didn't get any ink on the carpet or furniture, but the call to the pediatrician was not fun. Me (Pen+Ink Noob): "Well it's this special ink that doesn't wash off with water or bleach" Doctor: <long pause> You have a fountain pen?

 

It, however, washes off everything else with ease. (Unless your boy in Pinocchio.)

Edited December 7, 2010 by Mille

[marmite]

Left my first Lamy 2000 in a hotel meeting room at a conference. Once I realised, I found a colleague who was using the room after me, and asked him if he had seen my pen. 'Yes, I handed it to a member of staff'. With relief, I went to the front desk. No, they hadn't seen it. It ended with them (apparently) interviewing every member of staff on duty at the time, and turning out lockers, to no avail. Eventually I suggested (gently at first) that they should probably reimburse me for the pen - to which they offered me a $100 voucher for a future visit at their hotel, which would expire less than a year later.

 

Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur, i'm talking about YOU. Disgraceful.

[physicsgirl]

Hmmm, wow, sad stories. I've done nothing to horrible. Dropped my first FP ever at least 7-8 times on the floor. Probably twice nib first. It's a cheap Chinese pen but seems to be built to survive nuclear holocaust. Just the other day I dropped a piece of the c/c converter for that pen down the sink drain ...

 

Regards,

777

 

I did the converter dropping down the drain the other day; it was to my Hero calligraphy pen set. My face was probably priceless as I watched land just right to go straight down the drain.

 

I dropped my Pilot VP and of course the nib had to be out and it couldn't land on the retractor button. I straightened it back out most of the way, but it turned into some BB nib monstrosity that skipped (it was a very smooth M to start with), so I sent it off to a nibmeister and its all better now.

[FlyFast]

I recently completed a major move from Alaska back to the lower-48. I carried my pens with me in my vehicle, down the Alaska Highway. Upon arrival, the box with the pens was put on a shelf in a bedroom closet and I waited for the rest of my belongings to arrive. There were lots of movers, utility installers, etc. in the house over the course of the next several weeks and when they all left, the box with the pens was gone too. It included about 50, mostly mid-priced ($50-$500 each) pens, both vintage and modern. Insurance did not pay for the loss. Only four pens remained because I had pulled them out and was carrying them, at the time. The survivors are my beloved MB 22 with OM nib, MB 147, and two of my favorite Parkers. At least I didn't loose everything.

[ethernautrix]

FlyFast, FTW. And by "win," I mean, you have my condolences.

[pen2paper]

1st I chuckled lower 48 >> Marquette.. MI.. which is pretty near the top of the lower 48, for those of you unfamiliar with the region..

 

then I read the loss story.. what a bummer to know you'e just moved to a community that has service folks who help themselves to your personal items, right out of your own home.

honest.. we're not All like that here in MI : . (

[overwriter]

About two years ago I was going through security at Calgary International when a security "person" saw my Visconti Van Gogh in the tray. "It" picked it up and started pulling on the cap. I said, "It has a threaded cap." "It" just pulled harder and too my horror pulled the cap with the threaded portion of the body right off.

 

When I started to have a hissy fit about it I was told that "it" would call security and I would not be allowed on the flight.

 

I take a Safari on business trips now.

[Joshua J.]

Not quite a horror story, as it turns out alright. At the time it certainly felt horrible though.

 

After owning a Pelikan M640 (my first fountain pen) for about a week or two, I smacked the nib on a multi-tool that happened to be laying on the desk (lesson learned, set the pen down, or tear pages out of the notepad with your non-writing hand). There is no visible damage, but the pen didn't write the same (skipping, non-starting). A few days later I mustered up the courage to adjust the tines. Thankfully, the pen writes almost as good as new. The line is now a little thicker and it feels a tiny bit less smooth.

I consider this a disaster narrowly avoided.

 

 

 

- In a moment of rage I repeatedly smashed my M1000 very hard against the desk and completely and utterly destroyed the nib.

 

I threw away the nib.

 

 

Yes, I can be irrational at times.

 

Irrationality is what makes us human, for better and for worse.

 

The nib on a M1000 would have a lot of gold in it. I'm more sad that there's a small nugget in some dump out there that will never even make it to a computer component or fancy audio plug.

 

By the way.

How did the body hold up?

[lapis]

Don't know if it's a horror story, but it is a disapointing story...

I once bought a brand new 146. Bad writing, well documented. Sent it off to MB's headquarters here in Hambreg -- twice -- and each time it came back denoted as "repaired". But it wasn't.

So, i chucked it.

That otta teach me a thing or two abour life... and it did... I'll have absolutely nothing to do with their pens and customer service.

I do, however, esteem their inks.

 

Mike

[Readymade]

I once bought a brand new 146. Bad writing, well documented. Sent it off to MB's headquarters here in Hambreg -- twice -- and each time it came back denoted as "repaired". But it wasn't.

So, i chucked it.

 

You threw away a 146?!?

[Robinkeys]

Yesterday i dropped the 3M promotional pen , lovely writer, that my mom had given me filled with a Pilot rollergel refill,onto the gravel at the bottom of my driveway as i was walking outside to go sell wreaths for my Scout troop. Now it has nasty scratches on one side of it, and then i dropped the cap too.

[CoolFool]

I am embarrassed to write this. I only write it because while embarrassing, it establishes my credentials as a true pen lover. I'll try to make this short. I was at work recently, taking - ahem - a bathroom break. I stood up, flushed, and... splash! My (modern) Conklin Symetrik was headed toward the unspeakable terrors of an urban sewer system. I had only a fraction of a second to decide and then act. ...I told you I was a true pen lover, so you can imagine what my course of action was. Let it be known that although I have cleaned and washed that pen often and thoroughly, you will never, and I mean NEVER find teeth marks in that pen!

[Mafia Geek]

Mine is a work related story as well.

 

Had an office meeting (three people at the meeting including myself) in which I was using my Pilot VP black with gold coloured fine nib to take notes. After the meeting I got up to go to the washroom and for some STUPID reason which I cannot understand to this day, left my pen on the table. I get back to my desk and work for a little bit until I grab my pen to write some quick notes. Click the pen out and the tinnes are about 1mm appart, so much for a Japanese fine >

 

I guess while I was in the washroom my boss answered a phone call and grabbed my pen to jot down a number. I don't know how he didn't realize it was a fountain pen, but he must have written like he was trying to cut through the page with it. He noticed me trying to push the tinnes back together and asked if he'd done something to my good pen (so he did know it was a nicer than most pen). I answered that the tip was a little damaged. He asked if it was a fountain pen, I said yes and that it was a gold nib. He was on the phone with someone from another office and kind of jokingly told them that he'd wrecked my gold pen. I think it was more making fun of me that I had a gold pen. He offered to pay for a new one but I told him no because it could be fixed and was about $100 for a new nib unit. He was flabbergasted that I would have a pen worth so much, I didn't feel like telling him I had one worth more or that the $100 was just the inside part and that the pen as a whole was even more.

 

Now I NEVER leave fountain pens unattended at work and usually have a ballpoint with me at all times to loan to people (a cheap Parker Jotter that fits in my wallet). Also I really only use steel nib pens at work now (my boss has managed to borrow one of them since then and still comments on my "fancy pen" and seems to have no idea how to write with a fountain pen which seem really odd to me, but what do I know).

 

That's my story, hopefully it's my only one and I've learned my lesson about pens at work.

[Robinkeys]

Don't know if it's a horror story, but it is a disapointing story...

I once bought a brand new 146. Bad writing, well documented. Sent it off to MB's headquarters here in Hambreg -- twice -- and each time it came back denoted as "repaired". But it wasn't.

So, i chucked it.

That otta teach me a thing or two abour life... and it did... I'll have absolutely nothing to do with their pens and customer service.

I do, however, esteem their inks.

 

Mike

:o :o hyperventilating

Hyperventilating

[Colourfingers]

I purchased a vintage Burnham Chatsworth on eBay, must have cost me about £35. It duly arrived in Burgundy with the trim in fairly good condition. I knew from the description that it needed resacking etc. I'd never even attempted this before so I thought I'd open it up to have a look. As I unscrewed it the thread disintegrated in my hand totally ruining the pen. I'd tried for weeks to buy one and I've still got it all saved up in a sandwich bag awaiting the day I can look at those forlorn bits again.

[Bearcat]

I left a Pelikan 200 in a shirt when I did the laundy. Luckily only a couple of shirts got inked, but my nib was crushed.

 

Andy

 

I did the same thing with a Parker 45.....Put a shirt that was hanging on a door knob at the cottage into the dryer for a few minutes to take out some wrinkles. Did not note the Parker 45 filled with Baystate Blue in the pocket. Fifteen dollar pen destroys my favorite $75 shirt....Ink remained in the dryer and the next load of wet clothes also got some ink spotting....Luckily that was mostly underwear. Ask to see my boxers..... ;-)

[Silent Speaker]

I purchased a vintage Burnham Chatsworth on eBay, must have cost me about £35. It duly arrived in Burgundy with the trim in fairly good condition. I knew from the description that it needed resacking etc. I'd never even attempted this before so I thought I'd open it up to have a look. As I unscrewed it the thread disintegrated in my hand totally ruining the pen. I'd tried for weeks to buy one and I've still got it all saved up in a sandwich bag awaiting the day I can look at those forlorn bits again.

I wonder if its fragility is a factor of it having been made of casein?

 

I admit that's what's held me back from picking up a Burnham (though I really would like to get one) - but casein gets me nervous (and I doubt the climate in which I live would help things much - them being all water averse and all)

[mboschm]

The other day I dropped my lamy safari nib first. I replaced the italic nib with a medium one. In fact, that's not so much a horror story, because it has given me the excuse to buy a Pelikan italic nib pen.