How Do You Wipe Off A Pen Nib After Filling?

[Renfield]

My kids are growing, so after a school year I took an old school shirt, and cut it into squares.

 

As they have been washed numerous times they are absorbent.

 

And use that until it is covered, then get another square.

 

So far one shirt has lasted a few years.

 

I do like a clean nib, although can live with a little nib creep

 

Ren

[pmhudepo]

  On 11/18/2013 at 10:47 AM, beak said:

I'm going to disagree with the statement that you don't need to wipe the nib after filling, simply because I have found that if I don't do so some ink can end up in the cap. This ink may subsequently appear on the section, and so on the fingers.

 

Good point. Although I am a proud daily user of fine tools (1), I don't feel the need to maintain the image of the ink-stained fountain pen user. No need to re-inforce the idea that fountain pens are messy and should be avoided. Clean fingers and neat, fluent writing without skips or blobs have my preference.

 

For this reason, I do indeed wipe the nib after filling and I try to avoid tossing pens around too much, especially when riding my bicycle to work.

 

This also means that very fragile pens tend to stay at home.

 

 

1) You know: Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, Excel, Visual Basic, etc. All in a day's work :-)

Edited November 20, 2013 by pmhudepo

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I just happened to fill a few pens yesterday, so I took a few pictures.

 

After you drip the three drops out of the pen when filling, the feed looks like this

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3778/10961880156_5e265431c3_b.jpg

 

Here is the ink on the nib. I didn't wipe any off. I was lucky today and didn't get any big droplets.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3803/10961881406_605b552203_b.jpg

 

After you return the piston to the normal position, the feed is now clear so ink can't splash anywhere.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3668/10961978094_22c9e5ecee_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2833/10961808055_38444fe83f_b.jpg

 

Oftentimes, ink collects in the globe logo on the nib. If this happens, take a damp cloth and dab it away. This ink can fly around. Basically, just take off any huge droplets that can fly away. In my case, I didn't need to wipe the nib at all this time since there were no big droplets.

 

Of course, if you want a really clean nib, use cartridges

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7457/10961808995_b03a269c2a_b.jpg

My hands were clean after I filled these pens like they usually are. I haven't gotten any inky fingers filling a pen for many years.

Dillon

[PAKMAN]

I put down an inky bath cloth under the bottle and pen when I fill my pens. After the pen if full I close the bottle then use the cloth to wipe the section, then soak up the excess ink in the feed and give the nib a quick wipe from the back of the nib to the tip. If you wipe side to side you will continually pull more ink out of the slit across the nib surface.

[Moshe ben David]

  On 11/18/2013 at 8:34 AM, Dillo said:

Hi,

 

You don't need to wipe the nib. The only thing you really need to wipe is the rim of the grip. The object is not to get ink on your fingers. The truth is that no matter how much you wipe your nib, it's always going to get there somehow. If your pen is jostled, ink may splash onto the nib. In the same way, sometimes ink flows down the engravings. Also, the next time you fill your pen, the nib is going to be submerged again, and you will have ink once again.

 

Wiping your nib is quite a waste of ink in my view since much of ink that is absorbed could be used toward writing. Much of it will be reconstituted when you fill your pen again, so it isn't lost.

 

It only gets better if you use a safety pen because the nib is often submerged in ink when the pen is stored.

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8128/10199452115_53e6e770f6_b.jpg

 

Dillon

 

 

Nice picture. When I first started using pipettes we didn't bother with a valved bulb like this one. The number of times I sucked up acetone, benzene, or toluene....! Until a TA forced the idea of the bulbs... Took too much of the challenge out of it!

[85AKbN]

  On 11/18/2013 at 8:34 AM, Dillo said:

Hi,

 

You don't need to wipe the nib. The only thing you really need to wipe is the rim of the grip. The object is not to get ink on your fingers. The truth is that no matter how much you wipe your nib, it's always going to get there somehow. If your pen is jostled, ink may splash onto the nib. In the same way, sometimes ink flows down the engravings. Also, the next time you fill your pen, the nib is going to be submerged again, and you will have ink once again.

 

Wiping your nib is quite a waste of ink in my view since much of ink that is absorbed could be used toward writing. Much of it will be reconstituted when you fill your pen again, so it isn't lost.

 

It only gets better if you use a safety pen because the nib is often submerged in ink when the pen is stored.

 

Dillon

 

Good point.

[bizhe]

  On 11/18/2013 at 10:39 AM, Sejdr said:

...so I am a bit anal.

I wipe the sides and the top ...

Ok, nevermind

[rcksil]

I don't wipe the nib but where my fingers go I do wipe as much as I can. I never find all that ink but my finger tips do . Anyway since I am new to fountain pens I learn something every day with the help of my son.

 

Rick

[Tanzanite]

I wipe the nib clean and do not like inkspots. I have also experienced some discoloration on gold nibs if ink is left to dry. I also do not want people who are prejudiced to the using of fountain pens to see a nib with ink on it. Far to many people believe that fp are difficult to use, messy and drips ink on the paper.

[Warnick]

I use a microfiber cloth:

 

[risingsun]

My pen wipe: an old T-shirt... I hope to auction it off someday to pay for my pen hobby!

[kitsrock]

  On 11/24/2013 at 4:03 AM, risingsun said:

My pen wipe: an old T-shirt... I hope to auction it off someday to pay for my pen hobby!

 

that looks kinda cool, actually!

[Biology]

In case this has not been said already, After filling take your "ink rag" and wipe your shaft, nib and all else pf excess ink left after filling, DONE.REPEAT DONE. Ink left in the channel of the tines and in the aeration hole on the top of the nib and around the tip and around the edges and around the feeder is a VERY important part of the physics of capillary action; the force that makes fountain pens work. More ink in these areas equals wetter pen, less, a more dry pen. if you have a "clean" pen you have a useless dead pen. Ink is the business I suggest you indulge it.

[Tanzanite]

  On 11/24/2013 at 6:27 AM, Biology said:

Ink left in the channel of the tines and in the aeration hole on the top of the nib and around the tip and around the edges and around the feeder is a VERY important part of the physics of capillary action; the force that makes fountain pens work. More ink in these areas equals wetter pen, less, a more dry pen. if you have a "clean" pen you have a useless dead pen. Ink is the business I suggest you indulge it.

Hmm... this would mean that pens that have cartridges are useless and dead?

[novarider]

I use a paper towel to absorb all the ink that is in the fins of the feed. I do this so ink doesn't end up in the cap when the pens are jostled around in my bag. I do not suck up all of the ink just the extra that pools between the fins and the little "puddles" around the base of the nib. Doing so does not effect how wet my nibs are it makes them consistent.

 

If I left the ink it would become more wet and it would feel like it "dries out" when that extra ink is used up. That's my thought process anyway.

[tomkeb]

I don't have to wipe ink off the nib since I refill used cartridges with a syringe.

[arispsalas]

  On 11/24/2013 at 4:03 AM, risingsun said:

My pen wipe: an old T-shirt... I hope to auction it off someday to pay for my pen hobby!

Such a piece of artwork! I also use my old shirts.

[Ant_222]

  On 11/20/2013 at 2:29 PM, Dillo said:

Of course, if you want a really clean nib, use cartridges

Why not do the same with the converter—fill it separately and snap into the pen?

 

I have had the best result with the following procedure:

1. use a wet paper/cloth/tissue,
2. point the pen upwards to hold the ink down through gravitation,
3. wipe the nib several times from tip to base.

Edited September 4, 2018 by Ant_222

[MrsHobie]

  On 11/23/2013 at 11:30 PM, Warnick said:

I use a microfiber cloth:

 

I use a cotton cloth, it quite looks like this one (Huummmm ... maybe mine is more colorful, I'm not even sure you can recognise what color it was before being used to clean my nibs ) :lticaptd:. But ink keeps coming on the nib when using it, I don't mind.

[Karmachanic]

  On 11/24/2013 at 9:48 AM, Tanzanite said:

Hmm... this would mean that pens that have cartridges are useless and dead?

 

Pretty much!