Thread: How do you carry a fountain pen?

Won't bore you guys with details, but recently I was lucky enough to have a S.T. Dupont fountain pen and ballpoint set passed onto me. They are wonderfully understated (black Chinese lacquer, slim, gold trim).

But I'm having problems with the fountain pen. No matter how I carry it around (suit pen pocket, briefcase) the damn thing splatters ink inside the cap so that when I uncap it I have to clean off the ink before using it. It's not leaking as such, but I guess the knocking about when kept in jacket pen pocket or when I set my briefcase down etc. is causing a little splatter. It's very annoying.

I'm careful to ensure it's always kept nib-upwards when being carried, and even though I try to avoind bumping or sudden movements, the splattering still happens.

Some of you guys are very into your pens here, so I'm wondering if there's something I can do (or NOT do) that might solve the problem?

Cheers
M.

Bummer! There's no use in a pen that won't work properly or cannot be caried around no matter how careful you are. But I have no idea what might be the problem. I' for one, never had a problem with my pens and I tend to be a bit sloppy sometimes. Maybe someone will chime in and help you solve this problem.
In the meanwhile I just might sugest you have it checked by a specialized/oficial Dupont retailer? Maybe they can spot something wrong or send it to the factory. It does have a "forever and ever" garantee policy, right?

It sounds like it needs repairing. Nib up is the preferred method of carry, and if it's leaking ink like that, I think the nib is bad. Or, it could be the ink. What are you using?

I've had similar problems with 1) cheap pens (not a problem here), 2) VERY broad nibs, seems the larger ink-path might lead to some splatter, especially if handled at all roughly and usually in conjunction with 3) Very thin ink. I know some of the colors and companies I used were very thin. I think the old Visconti ink, made for super-fine nibs, was very thin, and would get messy in big Western nibs.

or, your nib needs attention from a pro.

Believe it or not, it is most likely not the shaking that makes it leak. In a word, it's heat. Heat from your body causes the air in the pen (there's always some, no matter how full the pen is) to warm up and expand. When this happens, the pressure in the pen rises. Not much, but enough to push some ink out.

Now, most well designed pens will have a breather hole in the nib that a. allows air into the pen as ink is flowing out and b. allows air out of the pen when there is a pressure imbalance. It would seem to me that your breather hole is not working, and in my own pens, I have observed two causes:

1. the hole is clogged with old ink. Solution: easy, flush the pen with warm water several times to clean it
2. your ink feed is adjusted badly, so that air cannot leave the pen without taking ink with it. Solution: not so easy, either adjust it yourself or send it to someone like Richard Binder who can adjust it for you.

I've had this happen with a Wality ED-fill, and my issue was a dirty and clogged breather hole, which resulted in the pen slowly weeping ink even when kept nib up, when it got warm.

Originally Posted by jockeys

1. the hole is clogged with old ink. Solution: easy, flush the pen with warm water several times to clean it

Jockey, I agree wholeheartedly with your explanation - except for your recommended solution - since the passageway on most fountain pens is VERY tiny, and since it is susceptible to temperature change, always use COLD water to flush out a pen - you eliminate the risk of cracking the ink feed, as well as have the added benefit of opening up the passageway through contraction of the (most likely) plastic.

Waterman won't even warranty a pen that has been rinsed in warm water for this reason - it completely ruins the pen. Rinse at your own risk...

Mark

Having read that Waterman don't like you to use warm water to rinse the pen makes me chuckle. I believe it, but it still makes me chuckle.

I used a Waterman from aged 11 to aged 23 all the way through my education.
The pen would regularly bung up with dry ink especially if left unattended over a long hot summer. You are supposed to flush the ink out and flush the pen with water if your not using it for a period. Try telling that to an eleven year old.
Anyway, I would flush the pen under running water and then I would fill a cup full of water and flush the pen using its filling mechanism. Then if I could not see the water coming out of the breath holes, I would carefully pull the nib and resevoire out from the pen holder and give it all a another good rinse and blow through the air holes with a mouth full of water. Bung it all back together and bingo, good for another year. If I'd broken it, my Dad would have killed me. But since just about every other kid in the school new how to do it, it wasn't difficult to learn.

When you pull it all out, you must not grab the tip of the pen or you will split the nib. You must grab the base.

Come to think of it, it may be best to send it to a specialist if washing and flushing doesn't work. Or just leave the pen in water over night.

Second thoughts, send it to a specialist. At least he should have spare parts if things go wrong.

Thanks guys. Wow, I had no idea about the intricacies of pens.

• it's not the ink as it happened with both the supplied Dupont cartridges as well as the bottle ink I've bought (Lamy).
• it's not broadness of nib, because it's only a Medium.
• it could well be the airhole.

Whatever the real reason, I'm going to take it to a Dupont dealer to fix, because there's no way I'm making the same mistake with my new pen as I did with my new razor when I was a noob. I just about ruined the edge on my Dovo from poor honing because I didn't know what I was doing.

As Dubya famously said once: "Fool me once, shame... um... shame on you. Fool me again... erm... you ain't gonna fool me again."

Originally Posted by Milton Man

Jockey, I agree wholeheartedly with your explanation - except for your recommended solution - since the passageway on most fountain pens is VERY tiny, and since it is susceptible to temperature change, always use COLD water to flush out a pen - you eliminate the risk of cracking the ink feed, as well as have the added benefit of opening up the passageway through contraction of the (most likely) plastic.

Waterman won't even warranty a pen that has been rinsed in warm water for this reason - it completely ruins the pen. Rinse at your own risk...

Mark

by warm I mean room temperature and not hot. I think of cold water as having ice in it, which would be equally at risk of damaging the pen. my mistake, I should have specified what I meant.

Originally Posted by Milton Man

Jockey, I agree wholeheartedly with your explanation - except for your recommended solution - since the passageway on most fountain pens is VERY tiny, and since it is susceptible to temperature change, always use COLD water to flush out a pen - you eliminate the risk of cracking the ink feed, as well as have the added benefit of opening up the passageway through contraction of the (most likely) plastic.

Waterman won't even warranty a pen that has been rinsed in warm water for this reason - it completely ruins the pen. Rinse at your own risk...

Mark

Greetings!

Are you certain that this information is accurate? I have a fair amount of experience with fountain pens (typically vintage) and when I ask about special care instructions they mention tap water and warm water interchangeably. As Jockeys correctly said, you don't want to use hot water, but warm is quite acceptable to use. If you look at John Mottishaw's website you will find his instructions for cleaning a gunked/poorly functioning pen also includes soaking in a mixture of 1 part ammonia to 2 parts water. This is generally reserved for fairly gunked up pens, but can be used as part of a normal cleaning ritual. I personally prefer a weaker ammonia to water ratio.

There are of course certain makes and models of pens you cannot do this with, just as there are certain pens that cannot go into ultrasonic cleaners such as ones made from BCHR. However, from my experience (save extreme water temp) pen feed systems are pretty resillient. My primary desk fountain pen is a 1925 Waterman Ideal with a flex fine nib...writing with that puppy is pure heaven and I flush it with warm water every time I clean it (going on 4 years now).

As for the warranty being voided for using warm water, it piqued my curiosity enough that I sent an email off to Waterman customer service and will hopefully have a response shortly. I will post it here when they do respond.

I also strongly agree with Jockeys about heat causing the ink to spatter inside the cap. I have seen that happen many times to my own pens. It could also be that the nib is slightly loose, causing just enough gapping to allow an additional avenue for ink to expand/escape.

Warmest regards!

Charles