Inky T O D - How Long Do You Use A Pen Before Rotating It Out Of Use?

[Mikeambergris]

10 pens, all inked, all in use. I try to use each one every day. When one runs out, it gets a different ink.

 

I suppose I'm really rotating inks rather than pens. I love my pens, but I dream of inks. A change of pen can transform an ink from meh to wow! Ahhhh

[pmhudepo]

I often use a combination of pen and ink for several weeks, if not a month or two. I'll just refill the pen with the same ink and keep using it. When I take a pen out of rotation, I give it a very good flush -- water, soapy water or pen flush, more water until it's clear-- before storing the pen in a cupboard.

 

I usually have 2 to 10 pens inked: different nib sizes, different inks. Some very practical for notes at work, some good for headlines (e.g., day of week and date in my journal), some for writing practice. A pen can easily be out of rotation for more than a year, which I guess means that I have become a collector as well as a user of fountain pens.

 

Slowly some pens return to rotation more often, but I haven't been collecting / using them seriously for very long yet. My interest in fountain pens was re-kindled in 2008 when a friend bought a Waterman Charleston, and I ended up getting an Expert II. Perhaps in 6 more years, there will be a clearer distinction between pens that I collect and pens that I regularly use. Since my pens range from affordable to limited edition, and their ages go up to 90 years, and their nibs vary from flexible extra-fine to oblique triple broad and stub italic, and since I like to explore writing styles (Palmer, Chancery Italic) I wouldn't be surprised if for quite a long time there won't be any real overall favorites.

 

Incidentally, that Expert II is one of my favorites: it's often filled with Bad Belted Kingfisher and used to address envelopes, or taken with me on a trip (now with a Midori Traveler's Notebook in passport size).

 

Some favorites of the moment:

 

Montblanc Agatha Christie, F nib, with Iroshizuku Asa-gao

Pelikan M800, EF nib, with Iroshizuku Asa-gao

Montblanc 149, M nib, with a red ink to complement either of the above pens

Montblanc 244G, flexible EF nib, with MB Black

TWSBI 580, 1.1 stub, not sure about which ink just yet

Waterman Expert II, F nib, Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher

Waterman 52, flexible EF nib, Akkerman Bekakt Haags

Pilot Parallel Pen, 1.5 and 2.4 mm, Pilot mix-free black, red and blue inks

 

Those are the pens that I think I've used most often, and for the longest stretches, over the past years.

[The Good Captain]

A few inked and all in use. I don't really care actually - when the writing 'muse' takes me, then I just get to it.

Check up Mr Enderby.

[Buzz_130]

I keep two pen wraps of pens inked up and ready to go. When one runs empty, a new pen takes it place. I always keep two Parker "51"s handy, and the rest are all in rotation. I keep the more valuable and fragile pens at home, and the others make their way into work.

 

Buzz

[sharonspens]

New (brand new, or new to me) pens are filled immediately and may go through a couple of fills before I get bored and take it out of rotation. I don't have a system for bringing pens in and out, but typically once in, it stays for one fill then goes away.

 

The one exception is that I have a specific pen that I vowed to keep inked for a complete year, using a specific ink (Edison extended Pearl, Diamine imperial purple). I have enjoyed that experience so much that I think I will continue the practice with a different pen/ink once this year ends in August.

 

Sharon in Indiana

[wallylynn]

I don't write much. Only one pen inked at a time. It can take a month before I finish the fill.

[SirBagel_V]

As of now I only have two pens that I use daily, I white Lamy Safari and a Lamy vista that i use for writting a short story or poetry.

[amberleadavis]

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Inked_Today/slides/20140630_183545.jpg

[inkstainedruth]

It depends. Some pens are in almost constant rotation, and others (ones that I find don't write as well, or are too much of a PITA to clean) not so much. Then of course there's a whole lot that need repairs of one sort or another; once those are up and running I will see which ones I really like.

At roughly 70 pens I'm starting to have trouble keeping track. Yet I keep buying (or trying to buy) more.... Sigh. Lost three auctions on the Bay of Evil already today.

Some pens stay in rotation longer than I mean to have them, because it's easier to either refill them (or refill them with distilled water to make the current fill last longer) than to clean them. But then I suddenly find myself with more pens in rotation than I can really manage, so I have to either clean them or fill more if I want to try a new ink out.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[FayeV]

Wow. I admire all you guys' ability to keep track of pen rotation for so many pens.

 

My collection is small and the intention is to allow them all fair play time. I can't say yet how it is going since it can take me weeks/months for a pen to write dry. Right now I have 2 pens inked to carry around and 4 pens inked on the desk. I need to find reasons to write more (hence the journal, although I've taken a break from writing in it recently). Some pens are perpetual/current favorites which get re-inked and remain in rotation: the Olympio (always) with South Seas Blue and Vista 1.1 (currently) with Black Swain in Australian Roses. My latest new-to-me pen is an Esterbrook LJ which I am enjoying very much; this one may remain in rotation for a while too. Everything else that runs dry will probably get cleaned and put away so another pen can come out and play.

[pencils]

I've only got a small selection of pens, so rotation doesn't cross my mind.
I just pick up whichever suits my fancy at the time.
This does leave room for letting ink sit in a pen for extended periods of time, though, so if I haven't used a pen in a few days I flush it.

[rudyhou]

monthly for me. i ink a couple of pens each month, with different pens each month. but because i have so many pens, i don't get to use my pens more than a month in a year or two. as for inks, i tend to use the same ink for a few months. this way i get to see the difference in ink look as i write it with a different pen. so i don't get to use many ink colors within a year. maybe 4-5 colors the most. which is slow in my book, as i also have many inks in my collection.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I actually never rotate, so I choose an ink to go into a pen realising that it's probably a long term commitment, and I'm not going to be changing inks or storing the pen. Many of my pens have been inked continually with the same colour for five or more years. Since my collection is small enough that I can reasonably use most of my pens fairly frequently, I don't really need to rotate pens in and out.

 

Dillon

[Chi Town]

Some of my old favorites stick around a little longer than others or rather longer than they should! Because. I like the nibs or I like the pen in general......

[arran]

Most of the time , I have 2 pens inked up for 4 weeks.

For new pens , I ink them up right a way and use them quite intensively for 2 weeks , just to be sure that there are no flow or other issues.

[mallymal1]

I have one pen which is always inked, and that is a Lamy Safari, that lives in my pack, and goes most places with me.

 

Other pens may stay in my rotation for several fills, but will usually be flushed and retired, after one fill, to make way for another pen...and I do have favourite pens, that will make it into the rotation more often than others.

[Bookman]

I have eight pens, all inked all the time. I keep a pen in my rotation until it's time to leave its bloody carcass on the side of the road.