Search the Community

Hi everyone! I have been interested in vintage pens for a while, and finally bought my first one at the DC show yesterday. I got a Swan Le Merle Blanc pen that looked like it was in great condition, and the seller was really informative. I ran home and inked up the pen, excited about my new purchase. However, this morning, when I was journaling with it, it ran dry after a little more than a page (which made me think that only the feed got saturated, even though I had searched for tips on fully filling a vintage lever-filler before inking it yesterday). I tried filling it again, and the same thing happened. So now I'm worried that either I'm doing something wrong or there's something wrong with the pen. When I filled the pen, I opened the lever, submerged it in the ink, closed the lever, and let it sit for 10 seconds. I didn't hear any sloshing liquid that would indicated a low fill, but now I think that just meant that it didn't fill at all. In terms of something being wrong with the pen, the seller (who had a large stock of well-restored pens) told me that this was an unused vintage pen with a new sack. Is there something else I can try to do differently? Does it sound like its definitely something wrong with the pen? If it is a problem with the pen, how and where would I go to try to get it fixed? I don't think I'm comfortable doing repair work on my own, but I also am not trying to spend a lot of money, since I was trying to stick to a budget and bought this pen thinking it was already restored and in good condition. I'm really disappointed that this happened, especially with my first vintage purchase. Also I've read a lot of different advice on what inks are or aren't safe for vintage pens. It sounds like my iroshizuku inks (which are my lowest maintenance inks) might not be the best choice. Would Aurora or Montblanc inks be safer? Are there any other tips people need to know when they get their first vintage pens? Thank you in advance for the advice. I really hope I can get this worked out soon, since I was so excited to finally get a vintage pen.