Do you let others use your FP's?

[danielnotnow]

My girlfriend has been eying my pen collection with increasing ardor has it continues to grow. But I have been loath to share because I have always heard that a pen's nib shapes itself to the user's style and shouldn't be used by different writers. Lately she has been asking for corroborating documentation for this position. And I am beginning to wonder if this is a real issue or not. I would really like to share my collection and hobby with her. Any opinions?

 

d.

[HDoug]

There are various opinions on this in various threads here. But I think there is a greater chance of someone bending or damaging a nib. If the other person is familiar with fountain pens, then I usually let them try it out. But I'm against "sharing" prized fountain pens on a regular basis. It might be better, easier, and generally nicer, to buy your girlfriend her own fountain pen.

 

Doug

 

P.S. I'm also the kind of guy that won't let anyone drive my car either.

[john.reiss]

Daniel -

Welcome to FPN. Tonight in class someone asked to borrow my Sheaffer Statesman and they looked at me like I was from another planet. So no, normally I do not let others use mine fountain pens. Now my wife on the other hand, she can use whatever she wants to because I won't tell her she's not allowed.

 

I did show her how to write with them though and even bought her a cheap Esterbrook to use. She hasn't caught the bug yet. But she will soon.......

 

Cheers,

John

[Latro21]

nibs will smooth out a sort of wear from a long life of use, but just letting someone else use them will not affect anything greatly, IMO. if it did, you would be going through nibs like toilet paper.

 

also, in order for the wearing of a nib to shape itself to match the writers style of writing, the user would have to hold the pen the same exact way, every single time he wrote with it, and always at the same angle. if you look at a well used vintage nib, you will see that the nibs do wear with time and use, which makes sense since friction occurs while the nib moves around on the paper, and sheets of paper themselves are coated with a micro abrasive to facilitate writing [i believe this was on modern marvels on the history channel, regarding the abrasive on paper-i *think* it was on a diamond episode, and they said it was extremely fine industrial diamond powder, but i could easily be mistaken on that part].

 

however, if a worn nib suited itself ONLY to original owner, vintage pens that write smoothly would be extremely difficult to find. so far, i havent found that to be the case on the 3 i have, and i am a lefty to boot. some nibs will have a more pronounced 'sweet spot' that will feel scratchier if you dont have the nib oriented for best alignment of said sweet spot.

 

 

one last thing, for anyone who brings up the fact that a new nib is likely to smooth out after a bit of writing with it: i believe this is due to no more than tiny burrs left on the nib from manufacture being ''ground'' off of the nib from the act of putting nib to paper. if a nibs material itself were to wear away at such a fast rate, again, like i said above, you would run through them like toilet paper.

[DavidM1]

I don't know how much a nib normally shapes itself to its user's hand but the risk of damage is real. I learnt this painfully after a colleague used my Lamy 2000 with all the force of someone using a ballpoint they didn't expect to work. The next time I wrote with it the line was broader and less clear and some circles closed up with ink. Compared to earlier writing with the same pen there was a definite difference.

 

I can't imagine a light touch and careful use threatens a nib but there are some tense, clumsy folk out there who should only use their own pens.

Edited March 22, 2007 by DavidM1

[krz]

If I knew the borrower used fountain pens I could lend a pen for a short time.

 

There's too much to explain to a casual non-fountain pen user. I have a sad little Eversharp ringtop I merely handed to a friend who wanted to "look" at it. It didn't dawn on him that there were pens in this world with twist off caps, and it happened so fast I couldn't avert the disaster. He tugged the cap so hard it broke the threads free on the barrel. (I think I can fix it. )

 

The other thing the uninitiated will do is sling a fountain pen around like it was a ballpoint, and ink will fly!

 

So I save them from all this if I just say no.

 

But if the person has a real interest in fountain pens and I have the time, I don't mind explaining.

[Col]

QUOTE (DavidM1 @ Mar 22 2007, 03:24 AM)

I don't know how much a nib normally shapes itself to its user's hand but the risk of damage is real.  I learnt this painfully after a colleague used my Lamy 2000 with all the force of someone using a ballpoint they didn't expect to work.  The next time I wrote with it the line was broader and less clear and some circles closed up with ink.  Compared to earlier writing with the same pen there was a definite difference.

Tines forced apart, presumably. Sounds like he was more used to a flint-on-cave-wall scenario, never mind a ballpoint.

[OldGriz]

Let me chime in here with my opinion on whether a pen shapes itself to the writer. And please remember this is only my opinion.

 

I do not believe that a fountain pen's nib shapes itself to the writer... Basically, I believe that the writer eventually finds the sweet spot of the nib and therefore actually adjusts himself to the pen.

Point in case... how many of us use vintage pens. For me it is all I use. I have pens dating back to about 1915. I write with all of them. IF these pens had formed themselves to the writer, than I would not be able to comfortable write with them...

I primarily own and use Parker 51s and Vacumatics for my everyday pens. We are talking about 45-73 yr old pens. In every case, I have been able to write with these pens (after cleaning and any restoration) immediately. Had the nibs of these pens fitted themselves to the particular way the original owner used them, I should have had a problem.

Iridium is an extremely hard material. It is used because of it's amazing wear resistance. I am not saying that over the course of many years that the pen will not develop a sweet spot according to how the original owner held it. BUT, unless the original owner had some weird quirky style of holding the pen, there should be no reason that anyone else should not be able to write comfortably with the pens.

 

So to answer the original question. YES, I will lend a pen to someone if asked. HOWEVER, unless I know the person to be a FP user, it will generally be a less expensive pen that I carry specifically for that purpose.

[sleek_lover]

I agree with everything said so far and add the following..

• Remember that the "iridium" is a very tough alloy...and was lacking on many older pens.
• I have certain pens that are very VERY tough...a ca. 1960s Sheaffer cart filler with a steel Triumph nib. That sucker is so tough I can bear down enough to get legible copies on a 7-part NCR carbonless form. I have lent it to a 9 year old to teach him about fountain pens (I was there of instruction and oversight...) and he could not hurt the beast at all. Those (and some value pens that are easily replaced...or a couple of Esties with easily replaced nibs...) I will allow to be used SPARINGLY...
• Older pens did develop a sweet spot...but I always related that to the quality of the paper "back then" and their constant use. I seriously doubt a modern FP will get such use. NOT AT THE RATE WE BUY THE DAMN THINGS

As to your collegue...do you perchance work for GEICO??? Or their ad agency?? Or the production company that does the non-CGI/CGA ads for GEICO??? Does your collegue have....never mind...

 

Bill

 

 

 

[DavidM1]

QUOTE

Tines forced apart, presumably. Sounds like he was more used to a flint-on-cave-wall scenario, never mind a ballpoint.

 

LOL. Yup. She just dug in with the pen at 90 degrees to the paper. Admittedly, it gave her writing quite a bit of flair.

[jd50ae]

NO

[OldGriz]

QUOTE (paircon01 @ Mar 22 2007, 07:34 AM)

I agree with everything said so far and add the following..

• 
  [*]Remember that the "iridium" is a very tough alloy...and was lacking on many older pens.

I have to disagree with the above quoted statement...

 

Every quality pen that I own, including those dating from the early 20th Century have iridium tipped nibs. The statement that they were lacking from many older pens is false. YES, some of the cheaper second and third tier pen manufacturers did not use tipped nibs, but the greater majority of pen manufacturers did... the tipping material was not as large as it is today. In fact Richard Binder wrote an article for Stylus magazine on that very topic.

 

 

[FrankB]

I have a whole hand full of cheapo ball points that I carry to lend people. If asked, "May I borrow your pen?" I say, "No, not this one. But I have a pen you can borrow."

 

My wife has asked to try some of my pens, and I say yes to her. She is willing to be careful and write under my supvision. She is the only one who can borrow a pen from me.

[Freeloader]

QUOTE (FrankB @ Mar 22 2007, 01:33 PM)

I have a whole hand full of cheapo ball points that I carry to lend people.

This is how I handle it now too. When asked to borrow "my pen," I just cough up a Pilot G2 or something similar as if that's the one they were asking for. So far, no one has actually said that they want to borrow my fountain pen. However, if someone does, I'll just tell them to use the other pen. Even for people who don't actually hurt the pen, it's stressful experience to have your prize in someone else's hands.

 

However, for family, etc., I'll let them borrow it, but I admonish them to be careful and remind them that it costs more than they'd want to pay if they hurt it. That usually keeps them from being too adventurous.

[kissing]

I let some of my closer friends write with my fountain pens when they want to.

 

However, I make sure they know how much I value my pens, that they must write with it gently unlike with a ballpoint, and get really fussy when they post the cap ()

 

But then again, pretty much all of my everyday carry-around pens are inexpensive steel-nibbed writers. I wouldn't lend out any costly gold nibbed pens though!

[umenohana]

I won't let people-- even FP users, unless they're seasoned needlepoint users like Phthalo-- use my super needlepoint flex! Toooo delicate!! X_X

 

My Parker '51' is my loaner. I don't use it much at all.

 

-Hana

[Fafnir]

someone at work picked up my little debutante vacumatic last week and asked if they could use it - and tried to pull the cap off - I had to say, no! it screws off - I was nervous - this was one of my name engraved pens they were using ('Florence') and my heart was in my mouth.... then someone else used Florence's partner in crime (a blue vacumatic pencil, recently aquired - not such a qualm about that!). However, today I was in a meeting with the whole team and I noticed that the chap who had borrowed the vac pen was himself writing with a fountain pen . Tomorrow I'm going to ask him about it - looked like a cheapie he had dug up at home - but I was well chuffed - another convert

 

I did know that he had had a classical education and that dispelled my nerves somewhat - I'm sure he must have had to use a fountain pen at school. Most who haven't though, will defer from the fountain pen and walk across the office to find their ballpoint, I've found!

[marklavar]

QUOTE (danielnotnow @ Mar 21 2007, 05:16 PM)

My girlfriend has been eying my pen collection with increasing ardor has it continues to grow. But I have been loath to share because I have always heard that a pen's nib shapes itself to the user's style and shouldn't be used by different writers. Lately she has been asking for corroborating documentation for this position. And I am beginning to wonder if this is a real issue or not. I would really like to share my collection and hobby with her. Any opinions? d.

Personally, I let nobody even touch my pens. Not my wife, not my best friend, nor anybody else. I consider my pens to be my most intimate and personal possession, above all else. I would feel physically wounded if anyone used any of my pens - really.

[Samovar]

Depending on the pen, I will let one of my student use it once in a while. I will only let them write with my Pelikano or my Lamy Safari.

 

Today, I had my Vista clipped to my shirt and the girl who does the class presence sheet wrote with it. She took really good care of it since she knows how much I love my pen.

She looked at the 1.1 nib and feeder, the pen was inked with my new burple mix, she sign her name, handed me back the pen and smiled.

 

- Sir, you know that this pen is seriously cool!!!

-You like it?

-Makes writing cool, look...

 

I would not lend my Densho or my VP, but a Pelikano...

 

Samovar

[jirish1957]

You're in a delicate position- weighing your pens on one hand and your girlfriend on the other. Decisions, decisions... Having your girlfriend use them won't hurt or change the writing characteristics of your pens provided you take the time to show her how to use them properly ie don't press down hard, leave them uncapped for three days, etc. Snorkles and '51's are especially forgiving on this score. I like the idea of giving her her own pen. Jeff