Writing Pressure

[Spidy]

I've been using my Mont Blancs for a couple of weeks now and find I can easily interchange between the 147 and 149. I do find however that it takes me a little bit of time to relax into the 149.

 

I tend to choke my pens when I write and I've also noticed I tend to put a lot of pressure on the nibs (or ballpoint or roller-balls, whichever I'm using). I tend to write quickly, and messily, and find myself forcing myself to slow down and relax the grip. This does improve my hand writing, but I still have a long way to go.

 

My concern however is what I've read about novices damaging their nibs because of too much pressure. How real a threat is this to your nibs? Has anyone actually experienced any damage due to their writing style (or lack thereof)?

 

To try to explain the amount of pressure, I don't actually see any bleed through on the Paper Blanks paper I'm using, so I guess it can't be that excessive.

[Chris]

I'm sure others will be better at explaining this than I am, but to me the amount of presure needed should be like using a camel hair watercolour brush

 

In effect, the nib should guide the ink line around the paper rather than push the ink into the fibres of the page. Of course, this ideal is rare, but it is a delight when you achieve it. With such a pen, there is hardly any real contact between the nib and the paper; the nib glides across the page on a film of ink. Beautiful.

 

But usually a little more effort is required but never as much as would be needed to write with a pencil, for example.

 

Heavy pressure can damage the nib by spreading the tines beyond the limit from which they can spring back. It can also induce stress into other components like the feed or section, but these days good pens tend to be more forgiving of what once would have been heavy pressure as nibs are less flexible.

 

Simply, if you use the same amount of pressure as you do for a ballpoint, it is quite possibly too much.

Ease up and let your fingers relax.

 

Chris

[jar]

First, bleed through is mostly a function of the ink and paper, not pressure.

 

Choking a pen will simply end up hurting you, not the pen.

 

Too much pressure will do several things. It will often cause the tines to get misaligned, one higher than the other. It also moves the tines away from the feed which will effect ink flow. Continued over flexing will eventually literally bend the tines.

 

Lighten up.

[Keyser]

Hey,

while i'm not (yet ) a MB user, maybe I can help you with my novice experience:

first off, fountain pens require less pressure than mechanical pencils or regular ball-point pens. The reason is that the mechanism of these two relays on friction between the ball / lead and paper.

On the other hand, in fountain pens, you relay more of the ink flowing from the nib for writing, and less on friction (yeah, I know that friction is what gets the ink flowing in the first place, but my point still stands). Meaning that in order to write well, you simply place the tip on the nib on the paper, and start going. The ink usually takes care of the rest.

 

if you have a cheap disposable fountain pen, I suggest you use that for a bit of practice, to avoid damage to your MB. Soon enough, you'll get the idea. I had a similar problem, and was directed by the seller to use less pressure while writing. As this helps keeping your nib out of harm's way, it also gives you a more relaxed writing experience. Only trouble is, that once you get accustomed to writing with fountain pens, going back to regular ones is a pain - because only then you realize how writing with them is uncomfortable (I got a fountain pen for almost a year, and the only 'pens' I use are multi-colored ones for sketching graphs and such)

[Spidy]

Thanks for the reply guys. Obviously I'm using too much pressure.

 

Keyser, I'm not sure how you managed to use less pressure, I guess practice makes perfect. You did however answer another question for me.

 

When I got the 147, I thought I noticed the tines not lining up correctly. I didn't worry about it because the pen writes fine. I now know why they are out of alignment. Obviously the previous owner(s) had the same problem. :embarrassed_smile:

[Chris]

Try writing on a balloon. If it pops, you're pressing too hard :roflmho:

 

Sorry, but I've just been looking at some stuff on cut-throat razors and how barbers once practiced shaving on balloons to avoid slitting thoats by pressing too hard

 

 

But really, you should not be pressing down at all and if your fingers get cramped or stiff, even after pages of writing, you need to loosen up, ease off and relax. But it is something that comes from experience. If you are really worried, perhaps buy a cheap but funtional pen and get the knack with that first (Lamy Safari etc seems to be popular).

 

Chris

[Spidy]

Try writing on a balloon. If it pops, you're pressing too hard :roflmho:

 

Sorry, but I've just been looking at some stuff on cut-throat razors and how barbers once practiced shaving on balloons to avoid slitting thoats by pressing too hard

 

 

But really, you should not be pressing down at all and if your fingers get cramped or stiff, even after pages of writing, you need to loosen up, ease off and relax. But it is something that comes from experience. If you are really worried, perhaps buy a cheap but funtional pen and get the knack with that first (Lamy Safari etc seems to be popular).

 

Chris

 

Thanks Chris, I'll give that a go.

[Keyser]

Thanks for the reply guys. Obviously I'm using too much pressure.

 

Keyser, I'm not sure how you managed to use less pressure, I guess practice makes perfect. You did however answer another question for me.

 

It simply practice. At first you feel weird, and do apply pressure to the nib, but as you go along, you learn to relax your fingers. that's why I recommended you get some cheap ones to try.

[Spidy]

Thanks for the reply guys. Obviously I'm using too much pressure.

 

Keyser, I'm not sure how you managed to use less pressure, I guess practice makes perfect. You did however answer another question for me.

 

It simply practice. At first you feel weird, and do apply pressure to the nib, but as you go along, you learn to relax your fingers. that's why I recommended you get some cheap ones to try.

 

I already have a cheap Parker and a used Mont Blanc 147 Traveller I can practice with. Thanks.

[Keyser]

just remember to 'pause and think' while you write, about the pressure. Yeah, I know it's hard to suddenly stop your thoughts (which are concentrated at what you're writing, of course) but it's the only way. Just small pauses to realize how much pressure you apply, make adjustments and continue. rinse and repeat

Edited March 29, 2012 by Keyser

[Spidy]

rinse and repeat

:)