Dear Inky - Inky T O D - Topic O' Day

[ErrantSmudge]

Dear Inky,

 

Having returned from a pen show with 18 new bottles of ink, and having bought four more online since them, I have over 20 new inks in my collection! And that's not counting the new samples I acquired.

 

Now that seems like an embarrassment of riches, but it's really caused a new dilemma: option paralysis. Every time I go to fill a pen, I can't choose what ink I want to use! It's a nightmare, I tell you!

 

Is there anything I can do? Anything??

 

Inkily yours,

Terminally Indecisive

Edited March 12, 2017 by ErrantSmudge

[Noihvo]

Dear Inky,

 

Having returned from a pen show with 18 new bottles of ink, and having bought four more online since them, I have over 20 new inks in my collection! And that's not counting the new samples I acquired.

 

Now that seems like an embarrassment of riches, but it's really caused a new dilemma: option paralysis. Every time I go to fill a pen, I can't choose what ink I want to use! It's a nightmare, I tell you!

 

Is there anything I can do? Anything??

 

Inkily yours,

Terminally Indecisive

 

[dcwaites]

If necessary, buy more pens

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-Kaigelu-kangaroo-316-Fountain-Pens-Medium-Nib-Without-Box-/332019003536?hash=item4d4ddff090:g:S14AAOSw5cNYF1R3

[Runnin_Ute]

Alphabetical perhaps?

[amberleadavis]

Dear Terminal,

 

This is an ideal time to create a system and do some tests. At the beginning of each week, pick out 5 pens and five colors. For each index card, write the name of the ink at the top and draw a little doodle, then write down which pen you are using and date the card. Now, write a response to a CRV or create CRV and mail that off. Next, in an ink journal, write the name of the pen at the top of the page, describe your experience with that pen. Skip several pages and repeat this experience with the next pen until all five pens are done. You are leaving the blank pages so that you can decide what inks work best for each pen.

 

Don't forget to show and tell.

 

Sincerely, Decided.

[HollyDav]

Dear Inky,

 

I am new to the fountain pen hobby, I got caught up in it this past January. I have accumulated a few pens and some bags of colorful sample inks. I also purchased a bottle of Heart of Darkness because as a girl needs a little black dress, figured I would need a good basic black ink.

 

The HOD works in my pens except the one that came with the bottle of ink. The pen is called Charley, it is an "eye-dropper." When I first wrote with it I really liked Charley a lot. Then it started doing the pen version of coughing up a hairball. It drops blobs of ink. Not just spots, but blobs. Enough to ruin journal entries and cause me to have to start a letter over again. I have tried practicing with it. I don't think it is an issue with ink, because it doesn't cause problems in other pens.

 

I hate to through Charley away, because he's really kinda cute but just can't be trusted. Any ideas on what is causing this?

 

Sincerely yours,

 

Can't Trust Charley

[Arkanabar]

Oddly enough, your problem is Charles' Law. You put the pen point down, and warm the air in it up to your hand temperature, which makes that air expand, which pushes the ink out the point. The usual remedy is to ensure that either you keep it at least half-full of ink, or make sure that it warms point-up, so that the warming air is what is pushed out the point (say, by holding it with your fist wrapped around the ink supply for two minutes before you begin writing) instead of the ink. You have the option of keeping the pen in a breast pocket to avoid this, as this naturally keeps the pen warmed while point up, provided you can find enough tops with sufficiently deep pockets.

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for the wonderful explanation Arkanbar!

Sorry Charley - bad behaviors mean you gotta go.

Eyedroppers aren't for everyone and they are really not suited to high altitudes, deserts or specific barometric pressures. Essentially, they don't work in Las Vegas and I can tell you that from experience.

So, regretfully, I suggest that you give up the cute but bad boy.

You can give the Charley to someone that you dislike; PIF it to someone who lives in an eyedropper friendly place; or follow Arkanbar's advice (but that's more maintenance).

 

The great news is that you have a wonderful black ink.

Your fellow victim of the eyedropper blobs, Inky.

[ErrantSmudge]

Dear Can't Trust Charley,

 

I'm not a newcomer to fountain pens - I've been using them for over 15 years. And when the Charley pen arrived with my big bottle of Heart of Darkness, I promptly put the pen in a coffee cup on my desk and let it sit. It's never been inked. (I really ought to give it away as a PIF).

 

Eyedropper pens are an interesting novelty, but there's so many things about them - messy filling, dealing with silicon grease, burping - that they're really not (in my opinion) a good choice for an everyday writer. They only thing they do well is hold lots and lots of ink. I'm not surprised the fountain pen industry quickly moved away from eyedroppers to more practical filling mechanisms.

 

As a newcomer to fountain pens, you might play around with the Charley a bit for fun, but for your journalling and other important writings, look for something a little less high-maintenance.

 

Yours,

Errant Smudge

Edited March 17, 2017 by ErrantSmudge

[mhguda]

Dear Can't Trust Charley and Dear ErrantSmudge

 

I live in a climate where eyedropper filled pens do not pose a problem, and if they are designed, as some are, with care to prevent blurping, problem-free functioning is virtually assured. Therefore, in the years since I joined FPN, I have gravitated to almost exclusive use of eyedropper-filled pens. Mostly because the simplicity of this system appeals to me a lot.

I therefore suggest, if you want to throw out your Charlie pen, or you have no one you want to give it to, to ask on the Indian subforum if anyone is interested in this special edition-pen. And in fact, if you must, you can send me one: somehow I never got around to getting one but I do like the idea behind the pen.

 

An eyedropper-lover

Islander.

[Arkanabar]

Dear Holly,

 

Charley is not without his uses. I currently have inked a Noodler's Nikita, the predecessor to the Charley. It has a purely decorative blind cap that matches the barrel and section, but is otherwise very similar. I keep it for my Lenten penitential pen, and for inks I do not trust (Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin, Chesterfield Archival Vault, other "strong" IG inks, and untested mixes which might form solid precipitates). These pens have very simple "Christmas Tree" feeds, and they're easy to pull apart and clean thoroughly, say, with a toothbrush. Those simple feeds also make the pens more prone to burping.

 

Eyedroppers are most popular in India, and high end eyedroppers may have longer sections (e.g., the ASA Athlete) and extra-large high capacity feeds (sometimes retrofitted from Sheaffer NoNonsense pens) to reduce burping. Charley, of course, has neither. Of course, there are also eyedropper enthusiasts worldwide, who happily convert such pens as the Pilot Plumix and Parallel, the Noodler's Ahab, and the Platinum Preppy into eyedroppers with the use of silicone grease and o-rings.

 

Charles' Law has the potential to similarly affect other pens that use the barrel to hold a lot of ink, such as vac-fillers, bulk fillers, and really large piston fillers. But you rarely hear about it, and I suspect that it's because such pens nearly always have high-capacity feeds, and smaller ink chambers than all but the smallest of eyedroppers. For example, the "Nikita" holds 2ml of ink with room to spare, which is nearly double what all but the most dedicated user is likely to get into a Pelikan M400 or M600, and easily comparable to the capacity of the TWSBI Vac 700, Pilot Custom 823, and Conid Bulkfiller. And eyedroppers range up to the hilarious Guider Zimbo and Super Zimbo, which (like an ED-converted Ahab) both hold 6ml of ink. Eyedroppers are thus also suited to really, really long writing sessions -- if you're going to have your pen in your hand for hours, you don't have to worry nearly as much about burping if you keep it up to hand temperature.

 

Having said all that in praise of eyedroppers, I regard their proper use-cases to be very limited. And since I so dislike heavy pens, and I'm actually getting fond of my Nikita, I'm going to empty the Nikita and fill my Jinhao Bulow X750 with my Lenten penitential ink, and use it as my Lenten penitential pen.

[Sandy1]

Dear Holly,

 

Charley is not without his uses.

...

I'm actually getting fond of my Nikita, I'm going to empty the Nikita and fill my Jinhao Bulow X750 with my Lenten penitential ink, and use it as my Lenten penitential pen.

 

Hi,

 

Curiosity piqued...

 

What is your 'Lenten penitential ink'?

 

This being St. Patrick's Day, should I revert to Lamy Green, and forgo Charlie & Nakita?

 

Bye,

S1

Edited March 17, 2017 by Sandy1

[Arkanabar]

The Lenten ink penance is to use only black ink from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, barring solemnities, when all Lenten penances are lifted.

 

In particular, during this period I only fill using my least favorite ink (Bad Black Moccasin, diluted 5:4 with distilled water to mitigate all its bad behaviors) and my least favorite pen which has a feed I can easily remove and scrub with a toothbrush (an indication of how much I mistrust BBM), which is now my Jinhao Bulow X750 with a medium nib.

 

eta: I also take up this penance during the penitential season of Advent.

Edited March 18, 2017 by Arkanabar

[Sandy1]

The Lenten ink penance is to use only black ink from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, barring solemnities, when all Lenten penances are lifted.

 

In particular, during this period I only fill using my least favorite ink (Bad Black Moccasin, diluted 5:4 with distilled water to mitigate all its bad behaviors) and my least favorite pen which has a feed I can easily remove and scrub with a toothbrush (an indication of how much I mistrust BBM), which is now my Jinhao Bulow X750 with a medium nib.

 

eta: I also take up this penance during the penitential season of Advent.

 

Hi,

 

Many thanks for sharing.

 

I'm using a rotring 600 with iron-gall ink. That's about as far as I go in terms of FP-related mortification.

 

Off-Topic: Somehow I recall a jaguar-centric 'cult' in Central/South America whose members engage in ritual whip fights so that the world keeps turning. (I tried to Google it, but no dice.)

 

Bye,

S1

[Mercian]

Off-Topic: Somehow I recall a jaguar-centric 'cult' in Central/South America whose members engage in ritual whip fights so that the world keeps turning. (I tried to Google it, but no dice.)

 

Bye,

S1

If you're after a Jaguar-centric cult that engages in penitential/self-mortificatory behaviour, you should seek out a club for owners of the XJ40....

[amberleadavis]

This one came in my PM.

 

Dear Inky -

 

I've been told to never let anyone else use my pen because it conforms to my writing. Moreover, I should never draw or doodle with my pen. Is this true? If so, should I only use one pen for printing and another for cursive?

 

Signed Not Printed

[amberleadavis]

Dear Signed and Not Printed,

 

This urban legend has been told to many of us. I don't know the origin, but I too was given this advice when I received my first gold nibbed fountain pen. Perhaps some of our other posters can tell us how long it takes to wear out a gold nib.

 

Let's just say that this was helpful advice that you can mostly ignore. You can't completely ignore it because when you loan out your pens, they don't always return. As for the rest of the advice, I don't think you can wear out your nib in your lifetime. I personally draw, doodle, print, write and enjoy my pens and ink. I still use Esterbrook pens (which didn't have gold nibs) and I have a third tier pen made in the 1920s that is wonderful to use. So, use your pens.

 

Signed, Printed and Doodled.

[dcwaites]

Dear Inky,

You can wear out a tipped nib, but it does take quite a lot of writing. It is said (actually somewhere here on the FPN) that H.P. Lovecraft would have to buy a new pen every several years, having worn out the previous pen.

 

I have a Parker 51 with a decided flat spot, where the previous owner had written the tip flat. If they had written at the rate of HPL, they, too, probably would have worn the nib out.

 

However, unless the person you lend your pen to is overly heavy-handed, it is unlikely that they could damage a nib, or put it out of alignment with just a little bit of writing.

 

I don't think, that with normal use, it is easier to deform a gold nib than a steel / stainless steel nib.

 

Given that the tipping is generally the same on a gold or steel nib, you are not going to wear out either type of nib more quickly than the other, nor are you going to be able to do so any time soon.

 

Yours inkily,

 

[amberleadavis]

DC - So, that's helpful. You have to write as much as HP Lovecraft to wear out a nib every few years. So, must of us today with all those free ballpoints hanging around, do you think anyone in today's FP use can wear out a nib?

[dcwaites]

If you could find a writer who

a ) wrote a lot using a pen and

b ) only used one FP,

then I think they might actually end up wearing out a pen.