What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[Gloucesterman]

9 hours ago, JonSzanto said:

 

I edited out a bunch of stuff, right? But the entire rant is pretty meaningless if one doesn't know precisely which online vendor you are referring to. Is that series of question marks a 'correction' done by FPN or was that your way of obfuscating (I think the former). 

 

I would be helpful to know which vendor is, charitably put, overzealous in their post sale communication.

I did not know if it was acceptable to include the vendor's name. 

My original post included the name and then I went back and ?????ed it.

If I included the name would an admin have redacted it or contacted me to change/delete it?

In the absence of an answer, I will send the name to anyone who DMs me directly.

Wish this response helps.

P.S. The "?????" s were inserted by me.

[Beechwood]

1 hour ago, Gloucesterman said:

I did not know if it was acceptable to include the vendor's name. 

My original post included the name and then I went back and ?????ed it.

If I included the name would an admin have redacted it or contacted me to change/delete it?

In the absence of an answer, I will send the name to anyone who DMs me directly.

Wish this response helps.

P.S. The "?????" s were inserted by me.

 

 

My understanding is that naming and shaming is against the rules and your post will be deleted, there is more than one reason why this is justified.

 

Naming and praising, no problem.

[JonSzanto]

@Gloucesterman I did not mean to be accusatory; I was curious. It makes perfectly good sense on a forum where people do purchases from retailers to report on experiences so that others have some background knowledge, but I also know the history of this site and the various rules and ways that posts get changed (I'm thinking of the nanny filter that autocorrects words deemed improper into other words). I'll take you up on your DM offer later, if only to confirm if the vendor is one that I've dealt with. The funny part is my interaction was annoying, but I like the people and I know they were only trying to be on top of things in a competitive market.

@Beechwood This was my assumption. I disagree with the policy but am aware (now) that it exists and have no intention of violating.

[inkstainedruth]

I'll admit that while I understand the "no naming and shaming bad vendors" policy (apparently someone threatened to sue FPN) I'm not entirely sure I agree with it.  Because if someone has had a problem with a vendor?  I would want to KNOW before sending money to that vendor.  Especially after having a couple of problems with sellers on eBay in the past.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ParramattaPaul]

1 hour ago, inkstainedruth said:

I'll admit that while I understand the "no naming and shaming bad vendors" policy (apparently someone threatened to sue FPN) I'm not entirely sure I agree with it.  Because if someone has had a problem with a vendor?  I would want to KNOW before sending money to that vendor.  Especially after having a couple of problems with sellers on eBay in the past.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Stating the obvious, but one might suggest that a 'no naming and shaming' policy is a proverbial double edged sword.  On the one hand, it ensures that pettiness and personal 'mountains out of mole hill' grudges aren't given un deserved distribution. On the other hand, it prevents those of us who buy vintage pens from being warned about - ahem - 'less than ethical' sellers.

[Beechwood]

The reason that I support the no naming and shaming principle is that it is even handed. A complainer only has one perspective with the vendor being unaware that their reputation is being trashed, possibly without justification.

 

For example, someone who I have met, sent a pen for repair, the repairer tried their best but could not fix the pen to their usual standard and returned the pen and refunded the postage that had been incurred. The pen owner was very critical of the repairer in failing to complete  the job and lambasted his skills on another pen forum, all without the pen repairer having any idea what was being said, at least until I told him.

 

It turned out and   I heard this from another pen repairer,  that the pen owner who was  an experienced pen user and did some repairs himself had previously sent the pen to other pen repairers who had all declined the work at the price that the owner wanted to pay which was  capped at the value of the pen.

 

If FPN turns into a dispute resolution service between two parties then my view would change but until then I think that we are better off with a No Naming and Shaming rule than without.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Beechwood]

Another example. I used to sell leather writing sets, typically from the 1950s, a zippered leather pouch that held a writing pad, pockets for stamps, a pen holder and envelopes.

 

 

I sold one to an Italian buyer who complained a week later after delivery  that when he opened the zipper that the leather pockets had fallen apart. He threatened to come on to FPN and expose me for selling sub standard goods.

 

The set was perfect when it left me, otherwise I would not have sold it. I gave him all his money back.

 

He later sent a note that his mother had left my unopened parcel on their window sill for a week in the hot Italian sun, the factory glue holding the leather had melted but he had been quite prepared to shame me on here for selling poor quality goods.

[JonSzanto]

@Beechwood I can almost certainly guarantee that if I were to spend some time expounding on the counter-reasons that this is a poor policy, my post would be summarily removed... because the discussion of these items is virtually as forbidden as the item itself. 

 

I have been a member for 15 years. A year or more ago, a comment I made barely brushed a forbidden area and I was banned until I "agreed" that I was a terrible person and clicked on such to remove the bright red banner preventing my access. I only ageed to that so I could access FPN to express my condolences on the passing of Amberlea, one of the true lights of FPN and a wonderful spirit, now gone. Had I not been aware of that sad news, the scarlet badge would still be floating in my browser window.

 

It's best to just think of the site as the fountain pen world's equivalent of "The Truman Story".

[Beechwood]

@JonSzanto 

 

Jon, I can understand your position and I am certain that many others will agree that you are a valuable and well liked member of the pen community.

 

We should perhaps park the subject at that point.

[ParramattaPaul]

1 hour ago, Beechwood said:

we are better off with a No Naming and Shaming rule than without.

 

Agreed, and that was the 'between the lines' point of my comment above.

[JonSzanto]

18 minutes ago, Beechwood said:

@JonSzanto 

Jon, I can understand your position and I am certain that many others will agree that you are a valuable and well liked member of the pen community.

 

We should perhaps park the subject at that point.

 

I concur. Reasonable people can see this differently, and I am ok with acknowledging our differences. Thank you for the civil discussion, which I, too, will place in park.

[AmandaW]

2 hours ago, JonSzanto said:

 

I concur. Reasonable people can see this differently, and I am ok with acknowledging our differences. Thank you for the civil discussion, which I, too, will place in park.

Thankyou for coming back. (I took a break myself and, similarly, returned after a friend here told me about the thread for Amberlea.) 

 

[JonSzanto]

15 minutes ago, AmandaW said:

Thank you for coming back. (I took a break myself and, similarly, returned after a friend here told me about the thread for Amberlea.)

 

💘💘💘

 

I'll actually have a post about an impulsive acquisition later this evening!

[ParramattaPaul]

Totally unrelated question:

I have a newly acquried medium, screw-in nib that want as a replacement for the broad nib currently fitted to a pen.  The problem is the current nib, also a screw-in, is 'frozen' and will not unscrew from the section.  Any suggestions?

[JonSzanto]

32 minutes ago, ParramattaPaul said:

Totally unrelated question:

I have a newly acquried medium, screw-in nib that want as a replacement for the broad nib currently fitted to a pen.  The problem is the current nib, also a screw-in, is 'frozen' and will not unscrew from the section.  Any suggestions?

 

My first pass would be to soak the pen in a glass of water (just up past the lip of the section) for a reasonable amount of time, and see if loosening any dried ink this way helps. Next, I would try an ultrasonic cleaner and re-try. If those don't work, I would apply gentle heat to the section, gradually getting it warmed up and then try unscrewing. After that... I'd have to have it in hand to make a judgment call.

[Misfit]

@ParramattaPaul do you have any pen gripping material? Sometimes that helps. I agree with the soaking. Someone, possibly Amberlea, told me dried ink can act like glue. 

[ParramattaPaul]

54 minutes ago, JonSzanto said:

 

My first pass would be to soak the pen in a glass of water (just up past the lip of the section) for a reasonable amount of time, and see if loosening any dried ink this way helps. Next, I would try an ultrasonic cleaner and re-try. If those don't work, I would apply gentle heat to the section, gradually getting it warmed up and then try unscrewing. After that... I'd have to have it in hand to make a judgment call.

Thank you Jon.

[ParramattaPaul]

19 minutes ago, Misfit said:

@ParramattaPaul do you have any pen gripping material? Sometimes that helps. I agree with the soaking. Someone, possibly Amberlea, told me dried ink can act like glue. 

Thank you Misfit.

[JonSzanto]

Right.

 

To keep balance in the universe after my diversion into forum etiquette, here is a mini-story about impulse, at least in the sense of meeting the moment. My largest mini-collection consists of Moore pens from, primarily, their middle period. Interesting celluloids and excellent nibs. I had been on the lookout for a number of years for one particular pen and while I had some of the same in smaller sizes and different colorways, this one had eluded me... as in never seen.

 

A couple weeks ago it popped up in my eBay search, and the next click was the impulse. Not a purchase, but rather putting a sniper bid in the hopes I would last out other bidders. These pens used to go for a little more than a pittance, but not anymore. However, gods and goddesses were smiling, and I won the auction. How much did I want this pen?

 

The pen did not have the correct nib. Or from the same maker. Or even in good condition. No, I'd have to replace the nib, and fortunately had the right one in my inventory. I will now present photos after I've done restoration, installed sac, and placed a proper Moore 14k nib in writing position. The models never had names and many shared the same numerology; this is listed simply as a 94-a, but it is the contrasting cap top, along with dual bands (the cap band not in usual end-of-cap placement).

 

 

If you'll permit me, here is a composite of two of the auction photos showing the nib. I certainly recognized the maker, but it took a lot of looking to ascertain that it wasn't cracked, etc. Still, a bit of an ugly bird that was worth a chance:

 

 

I removed the Chilton nib carefully and as I did other work, I occasionally glanced at it. I had a hunch it would clean up and it looked in good order... and then I remembered a pen.

 

Years ago, at the LA Pen Show, I purchased a small, somewhat quiet black pen from Paul Erano. This was a pre-WWII Goldfink, made for a chain of jewelry stores in Berlin. It was subtle, the only real adornment being a hexagonal cap top, known as a "cardinal cap". But it had lost it's original nib and had a crude steel nib in place. As I looked at the Chilton, it dawned on me that it might fit. Indeed, it was so very close that I only had to do the smallest amount of fine sanding on the inside of the section. When I had a new sac in place and could test the pen, I couldn't believe what a wonderful writer this ugly duckling turned out to be.

 

So now I have two pens I'm very happy with: a near-the-end-of-collection Moore that presents well and writes as smooth as silk, and a final glow-up to a pen from a valued mentor, whom I will think of every time I reach for that cardinal's cap. Apologies for my length.

 

[InkyProf]

@JonSzanto That Moore is stunning. What an unusual design… and a great story about the Goldfink. For someone like me who’s newer to this, it’s also a great reminder never to give up on finding a replacement part that you’re tempted to think might elude you forever. Thanks for sharing!