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How-to: Set, or change, personal info that others can see about me
A Smug Dill posted a blog entry in Sus Minervam docet
It helps to explore this yourself, revisiting once in a while if need be, and keep in mind where each of those personal info fields are entered. Don't leave it until the urge to change something specific to come upon you, and only then bother to ask the question! Invest the time surveying upfront, instead of waste it later waiting for an answer from nobody in particular. Most of the fields shown above are self-evident as to what they are. I think the only ones that could do with explanation are: Security and Privacy: There is only one setting under there, and that is a toggle for whether your online status (including ‘last active’ date or time) is visible to others Content View Behavior: That has nothing to do with what others can see about you, but only where you would like to start reading when accessing content Enable status updates: This toggle enables/disables the public feed on your profile page; if you disable it, then nobody (including you) can post publicly visible ‘status updates’ or any other message against your profile, but if you enable it, then anyone — friend, foe, or complete stranger — can post something there whenever, without waiting for you to initiate and then only reply to what you wrote Notification Settings have nothing to do with what others can see about you, and so is out of scope for this article, and I'm not going to delve into those right now. (You can look here, here, and here to wrap your head around how notifications work with respect to followed content.) N.B. There is a possibility that some of the above settings and data fields may not be available to Bronze members and/or Silver members, but I have no way of testing that or scoping it out. — • — Another way of getting to the Edit Profile dialog, and the way to change your profile photo (or ‘avatar’), is here: — • — Freeform, custom member titles that one enters for oneself are long gone, and have not been a thing since FPN came back from a long hiatus and platform upgrade late in 2020. -
New to the forum and relatively new to fountain pen collecting. I have a particular interest in the more vintage pens and have just purchased a Waterman 55. A lot of threads and websites mention safe inks to use in these older lever filler pens, but I'd just like confirmation on safe inks for this particular hard rubber material pen. My current ink of choice is Aurora Black, which I believe is fine to use, but would I be better off to use Waterman or Sheaffer for example? Additionally, I will only be using black ink for this pen.
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I recently pulled a couple of my Edison bulb-fillers out of storage. One had traces of ink dried in it, as I must have neglected to flush it before putting it away. The other looked clean. Both of them had the rubber bulbs partially melted. The conventional wisdom says rubber bulbs and sacs (as in lever-fillers, touchdown-fillers, etc.) should last for many years, perhaps decades. I've been having a lot of failures with them, and I've heard about friends having problems with them too. I've had restored vintage pens that failed too, much sooner than I would have expected. My first impulse was to blame today's rubber sacs. I've heard about bad batches of rubber sacs getting out, and I was left wondering whether today's "good" batches are as good as they were in the Good Old Days. However... I also am a fan of Noodler's ink, and I was beginning to wonder if the bulletproof/eternal inks are degrading the rubber and reducing its life span. I sent the Edison Morgan back to Brian Gray for repair, and he had some interesting comments about the situation. His observations: Inks that he recommends include: Waterman, Sailor, Aurora and Diamine. As luck would have it, I currently have no ink from any of those companies! (I've had Waterman and Diamine in the past, though. I didn't ask about Herbin, perhaps I should?) He also pointed out this article from Richard Binder: http://www.richardspens.com/?care=inks I found this most pertinent: "Some other Noodler’s inks, whose identities I have not yet pinned down, will reduce latex sacs to goo." I haven't pinned them down either, but I've gradually come to believe it. So... Where does this leave me? Do I give up all my favorite "boutique" inks and permanent inks and switch everything out for old-fashioned weak-and-washable colors? Or do I get rid of all my pens with rubber sacs and bulbs? OK, let's calm down. I'm not getting rid of all my vintage pens, that's for sure. However, I don't write with them all that much on a daily basis anyhow. I'm using mostly modern pens these days. So... I doubt I'll be buying any more modern pens that use rubber sacs or bulbs. There are plenty of other ways to fill a pen. Now I just need to pick out a rubber-friendly ink or two for those vintage pens, I guess. It's an excuse to buy more ink!
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I have a bit of a hangup for permanent inks, and this is often at odds with my passion for vintage pens. Do you think I'm going to take apart a Parker Vacumatic, clean it, replace the diaphragm, admire the clarity of the barrel that has survived for 70 or 80 years, and then fill it with Heart of Darkness? No. That is not happening. I love HoD, but that goes into modern pens that I don't really give a darn about. Inks with no water resistance are uninteresting to me. Yes, I have a bottle of Waterman Serenity Blue. It's used for dip tests after I refurbish a pen, but there is no way I would write in my journal with it, the audience for my journal is my family, but a hundred years from now. Dr. Murphy would assert that it's basically impossible for a journal to survive a hundred years without being subjected to some spillage of liquid, and the likelihood of spillage is probably higher around me, considering the amount of coffee I consume daily. So... First, I'd like to know your opinions on the 2 inks that I do use: Platinum Blue Black (the regular ole' dye-based version, not the pigment-based version) and Platinum Forest Black (good old iron gall, which I assume was used a good bit on any older pen before I got to it). Is there any sound reasoning or scientific evidence that would tell us not to trust these two inks in my vintage pens? Next, I'm looking for a black. As stated, I have Heart of Darkness, but I just couldn't put that into an old Vac. I have a bottle of Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black that came included in an eBay auction, and I probably will never open it, not in all my life, because it's not permanent at all. What if the ancient Egyptians had used such junk to write on their papyrus? What if the ancient scribes had used impermanent ink to copy the Torah? Imagine all the culture we would have lost to the eons. My current options for black inks are: "GRAF VON FABER-CASTELL CARBON BLACK DE ATRAMENTIS ARCHIVE INK DE ATRAMENTIS DOCUMENT INK - BLACK" To be clear, I'm open to hearing about any permanent inks that will not kill the rubber internals or celluloid walls of old pens. When I say "permanent," I don't mean "eternal and unmoving," but it would be nice to know that if it falls into a river and I fish it out, that what is left when I dry the paper will still be legible. Your suggestions?
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last night when sorting my pens I came across one of those buys that never made it into the daily use set. It is a Parker Reflex from about 2000. the rubber got sticky and gave away. I dipped it in talcon powder, but I guess it is a proces that cannot be stopped. Anybody the same problem?
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I bought it on one of my ebay trawls (I think). I have no idea if it has a model number. It certainly feels nicer than the hard triangular section of the Safari and its clones. It is the nearest thing I have seen to a clone of a Lamy Nexx. I believe it came in a 0.5mm nib or a 0.38mm nib that is hooded.
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Was The Starwalker Rubber Ever Available As A Mechanical Pencil?
RipRapRob posted a topic in Montblanc
At my 50th birthday, my lovely Wife gifted me a Montblanc Starwalker Rubber Ballpoint similar to this: Now I've been looking for a mechanical pencil in the same design (I like the girth and the heavy weight), but without luck, so therefore these questions: Did Montblanc ever produce this model as a Mechanical Pencil?If so: Is the design similar to the ballpoint (no cap) or similar to the fineliner (removable cap)?Thank you. -
The Perfect Pencil has everything you need in order to write or sketch and now Graf Von Faber-Castell surprises with two brand new editions. This pocket pencils made of Californian Cedar wood feature a replaceable eraser under the cap and a platinum-plated extender with built-in sharpener. Now the brand launches two new editions: The Magnum edition incorporates a magnum size with an extra thick and soft 4B lead. While the Blue Guilloche features a brand new coloured pencil. For further information click here, or do not hesitate to contact us via info@iguanasell.com
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Hello FPN! I bought my first fountain pen a few months ago due to an intriguing review I saw on this forum. The pen is called the Gama Forever and is made from ebonite. I enjoy using this pen very much, and have had no functional issues with it. However, I find that that my fingers become sticky when using this pen even for a short while. To be more specific, the section of the pen seems to leave a rubbery residue on my thumb and index fingers. I have been using this pen for quite a while now, and this issue has not resolved itself. My fingers do not sweat very much, although they are not completely dry either. I would thus like to ask this forum if its members have encountered a similar situation before, and if there are any ways to resolve it. I really do enjoy using this pen otherwise, and thus look forward to your replies! Thanking You, Throtttl
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Because of all the questions around some inks possibly causing rubber sacs to fail prematurely, I have decided to conduct a series of methodical tests using my bulb-filler pens. Because these pens use rubber bulbs, but the bulbs are quite easy and inexpensive for me to replace as needed, they're ideal for testing inks that might possibly be "dangerous" to latex rubber. The methodology I've decided on is. . . Ink one pen each month, and use it continually with the chosen ink for three months. At the end of that time, check the bulb carefully for evidence of decay. Because I have three bulb-fillers, using all of them will give me one test result per month. (Obviously I expect to be doing this for A While.) I also decided to only flush them with distilled water, to rule out any possible contaminants in the tap water here. If anybody else would like to join in and report your results too, that would be OK. I'd only suggest following a similar regimen, if you can, so that our results can be compared on a somewhat even basis. The first pen in the series is my Edison Morgan, which I inked a month ago with Montblanc Midnight Blue. Because of its huge ink capacity, I've used less than half the fill, and it's still going strong. Today I tanked up the second pen, my Edison Glenmont, with that most iconic ink: Noodler's Black. Next will be the Gate City New Postal Jr., and I have a month to decide what ink to put in that. I also need to get another new bulb for it. I've already installed a fresh bulb, but it seems to be too small, and it doesn't displace enough air to fully fill the pen. So, I'll try a bigger one and see how that goes.
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I have a Youth fountain pen (I think it's a Chinese knock off of a Parker pen). Anyway, I use it because it has sentimental value, but lately, and by lately I mean in the past year or so, I've always sensed a strange smell when writing with it. I wouldn't describe it as a rubber smell, but similar to it. It's that intense that I can smell it while writing (so my head is at least 20cm away from the pen). I think that the ink is smelly as well, but I don't know if it's from the rubber ink container in the pen, or something else. Does anyone have any remedies for this or should I stop using this pen in public?
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Hi, I have an old Parker squeeze converter which at first sight seems to work well, holds a lot of ink and is not leaking. However when I squeeze it the rubber has some cracks in one part , the rubber is not yet cracked completely but sooner or later it will. I can still use it and it also feels flexible. I was thinking if there is any preventing work or something. Can I melt the rubber with the hot red point of a needle so the crack is no longer spreading ? Or can I glue it somehow? Thank you!
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Hi, Just seen this pen on an auction site, anyone know what it is?
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Hi, I've wanted for a long time to find a tool designed to safely open seized up fountain pens. Something similar to the rubber/handle device used to open jam jar lids? I end up breaking about 20% of pens trying to open them with fingers then leather wadded pliers, then god knows.. getting more and more reckless as my frustration builds! Hot water bath to soften the shellac seems to work only very rarely.. So if there is a tool out there for the job i'd really appreciate and advice on where to buy. Many thanks, Tom
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I was given some old Tryphon pen products and the instructions said that the scratch remover can be used to get rid of hard rubber oxydation. I tried it on a spot of hard rubber in a filligree overlay on a hard rubber pen. The problem? The only area that seems to go back to black is the center spot inside the filligree detail but not all the way to the edges. So, I have a spot of nice black surrounded by still oxydized hard leather. I tried Q-tips to get up to the edges but that didn't help. Suggestions?
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Is there anything that can be done to hard rubber to protect it from more wear than it has already experienced but won't harm the rubber over time? I just happened to think of this while having difficulty making out a couple areas of imprint on the butt of a hard rubber pen. I am very careful with my pens and it is not like I will be rubbing the area but would like to see if something can be done to protect it.
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Storing Vintage Pens With Rubber Sacs/diaphragms
dragos.mocanu posted a topic in Fountain & Dip Pens - First Stop
Hello, I tried looking around for a related topic, but couldn't find one that answered my question...If I store a vintage pen, after I clean it thoroughly of course, and it has a rubber sac (Eversharp Skyline, Esterbrook J etc) or a rubber diaphragm (Parker Vacumatic, "51" Vac), is there any danger that the rubber will ossify and crumble after a period of time spent in storage? Thank you. Cheers, Dragos -
Cleaning / Polishing Vintage Rubber Pens
perrins57 posted a topic in Fountain & Dip Pens - First Stop
Just to say I cleaned my Summit and Conway Stewart Vintage pens with Autoglym Rubber bumper (fender to you Yanks ) cleaner/restorer. They came up a treat (though slightly slippery to begin with, they're harder to grip with no muck and a polished surface) Nice shine, though not too shinny and they are a slightly deeper black colour now as well. Seems like a good choice. Oh and it smells better than rubber as well. What cleaner/restorers have others had success with? -
I'm gradually developing a strong distaste toward any pen with a rubber sac. I've just had too many problems with them. I'm beginning to understand why a "sac-less" design was such a big selling point back in the 1930s and 1940s. I've seen "new old stock" pens that came with rubber sacs 40+ years old and worked Just Fine. I've also, unfortunately, seen brand new rubber sacs that failed after a relatively short period of light usage. I've got a suspicion that some inks (i.e. some more than others) cause rubber to age and deteriorate. I've got a suspicion that some sacs available today are not the greatest quality, and perhaps it may vary from batch to batch. My latest mishap is a failing rubber bulb in my Edison Glenmont bulb-filler. It has't ruptured yet, but it has become limp and soft, and it has a small pimple-like swelling on the side of it. It clearly is in need of replacement. The pen is a few years old, and I don't think I've used it that hard. One of my friends -- who does quite a bit more writing than I do -- has gone through multiple sacs in his Sheaffer Snorkel over the last few years. I've had distressingly bad luck with my favorite pens lately. First I had two TWSBI Vac 700s which I loved in almost every way until they each suffered from (different) broken plastic parts. Now the Glenmont is letting me down. True, it's not a difficult or expensive fix, but... Are there not designs without this vulnerability? Has the rubber sac outlived its time?
