Thread: How do you carry a fountain pen?

Jockeys, thanks for both your explanation and your clarification. I will keep both in mind once I get my pen back.

~Rich

I carried a variety of fountain pens for many years and during the rotation some would just have the ink dry up in the nib. You could soak it in cold water for a month of Sundays and nothing would happen. I would soak it in warm water and blow it out with my mouth. it worked every time. As far as the leaking pen goes it needs to be serviced. Sometimes if a tiny amount of ink dries in the nib the pen will still work but it can upset the feed and cause leaks also.

I attended a school (a long time ago) where it was forbidden to use a ballpoint for any exams, prep, homework etc. I tried most of the good pens Parker, Shaeffer etc., but nothing seemed to write as well as a cheap pen made by Platignum in the UK. Times change,on starting at university my daughter was told only printed work was acceptable for marking. I'm interested to know why anyone would carry a fountain pen these days. Most if not all paperwork in my job is created with a keyboard and printer. Any handwriting seems to be on NCR multipart forms. Even Doctors (Physicians US?) generate prescriptions by computer these days.
I do use a fountain pen to write my Christmas cards and the very occasional personal letter.

I had a similar issue with a Diplomat / MB149 in the past. Many Montblancs have an issue with ink "sweating" in the cap, transfer this to the end of the pen when the cap is posted, then onto your hand and shirt pocket.

How is the inkflow in you pen - do you find it too wet, or does it blot? I agree that if it leaks like that, the problem may be with the nib or feed. Taking it to a dealer may be a good idea. You may also want to send it to a nibmeister like Richard Binder to check out and adjust if needed.

My parker has never developed this problem for some reason, dunno why... It's completely leak free and I've never done anything but changing the cartridges...

I had this problem with the current Waterman I am using. The problem with mine was that the ink reservoir was faulty and did not fit precisely into the receiver or whatever it is called, causing the ink to leak. Waterman provided me with a new reservoir and the pen has worked fine for years.

Originally Posted by welshwizard

I attended a school (a long time ago) where it was forbidden to use a ballpoint for any exams, prep, homework etc. I tried most of the good pens Parker, Shaeffer etc., but nothing seemed to write as well as a cheap pen made by Platignum in the UK. Times change,on starting at university my daughter was told only printed work was acceptable for marking. I'm interested to know why anyone would carry a fountain pen these days. Most if not all paperwork in my job is created with a keyboard and printer. Any handwriting seems to be on NCR multipart forms. Even Doctors (Physicians US?) generate prescriptions by computer these days.
I do use a fountain pen to write my Christmas cards and the very occasional personal letter.

Ha ha, yes, indeed, why would anyone carry a fountain pen these days? In fact, why would anyone shave with a straight razor?

The fountain pen was passed to me by my father. I've never felt the need to use one since school. But there's something inherently enjoyable in signing off a contract at work, or indeed anything requiring signatures, with an ink pen.

One thing that has been an unexpected pleasure is that fountain pens seem to make me take a little more time and care in the writing. With a ballpoint you can scrawl very quickly, but with a fountain pen it seems (to me at least) that you need to take a little more care. Apart from a better looking outcome (the appearance of the writing), the enjoyment I've found from this is very much like the enjoyment I get from shaving with a straight in that it forces me to take more care and time over the shave (compared to a cartridge razor).

Cartridge razor = disposable ballpoint
Straight razor = fountain pen

Originally Posted by majurey

Ha ha, yes, indeed, why would anyone carry a fountain pen these days? In fact, why would anyone shave with a straight razor?

I suppose the difference is that you can shave very well indeed every day with a straight razor but a fountain pen is limited to an office environment for most practical purposes.I'd guess mostly for just adding a signature to various printed documents. Nearly all of my written communication at work is via various forms of electronic data exchange. Even out of work, Open University assignments are mostly e-mailed Word documents these days, nothing on paper.
I don't like the reliance on modern technology, but to earn a living, I have no choice but to use it. However, I can choose what I shave with.

Originally Posted by majurey

One thing that has been an unexpected pleasure is that fountain pens seem to make me take a little more time and care in the writing. With a ballpoint you can scrawl very quickly, but with a fountain pen it seems (to me at least) that you need to take a little more care. Apart from a better looking outcome (the appearance of the writing), the enjoyment I've found from this is very much like the enjoyment I get from shaving with a straight in that it forces me to take more care and time over the shave (compared to a cartridge razor).

Cartridge razor = disposable ballpoint
Straight razor = fountain pen

That is primarily why I use a fountain pen. My penmanship is so poor that a fountain pen with it's increased friction on the writing surface forces me to slow down and make my writing more legible. Aside from that I just like using old fashioned stuff. There is pride and art in the workmanship of the stuff and there is pride and art in using it.

Originally Posted by welshwizard

I suppose the difference is that you can shave very well indeed every day with a straight razor but a fountain pen is limited to an office environment for most practical purposes.I'd guess mostly for just adding a signature to various printed documents. Nearly all of my written communication at work is via various forms of electronic data exchange. Even out of work, Open University assignments are mostly e-mailed Word documents these days, nothing on paper.
I don't like the reliance on modern technology, but to earn a living, I have no choice but to use it. However, I can choose what I shave with.

Ahh, another Open University Alumni! I remember well the distance learning software I had to use for joining online tutorials etc. This was years before GoToMeeting was invented. TMAs were just starting to be submitted via the internet when I was doing my degree. In those environments, pens were about as useful as a fish with a bike.

But outside of that, real life dictates I have to use a pen to sign off with. Legally, our contracts and agreements and licenses are worth zip with a digital signature or a scanned signature. It has to be real, and it has to be ink. Or it's not worth the paper its printed on.

It is a strange dichotomy. So many situations (e.g. with the bank) will accept documents via fax, but not via an email attachment. There should be no difference, but