Use your fountain pens! 😇
Between the Lines #6
Welcome to the first Between the Lines post-Rediscover Analog! To ease the transition or break the ice (somehow), I’ve decided to send out another fountain pen-related newsletter. In the next few weeks, I’ll try to post about the other analog hobbies (vinyl records and film cameras) again. So please stay subscribed or subscribe if you haven’t already 🙂↕️
Hey pen friends,
During the 30 Inks 30 days challenge, I discovered that several of my fountain pens weren't working properly as I rotated through multiple fountain pens instead of constantly cleaning the same one. Turns out neglect and impatience had caught up with me.
Four pens, four different problems 😭
My TWSBI Eco had a stuck piston – which isn't uncommon for TWSBI pens. But instead of taking a step back to check which direction the piston should turn, my impatience kicked in. I twisted it the wrong way, and now I can't put it back together. I still haven't found time to research how to fix it properly.
My Platinum converter wouldn't twist fully when I tried to clean it weeks ago. My solution? Force it until something gave way. But nothing happened. Luckily the pen itself is fine – I just had to buy a replacement converter.
The Conklin All-American looked fine on the outside, but the ink flow was completely off. I suspect dried ink blocked something inside from all those months of sitting unused.
Then there's the Kaweco Perkeo I gave to a close friend who just started with fountain pens. It was hard starting, and she knew something was wrong because her other pens didn't require pressure to write. Another victim of my neglect before I passed it along.
Fountain pens reward consistent use and punish neglect
These weren't the pens I used regularly. They were the ones pushed to the back of my pen case while I reached for the same favorites over and over. And it's not like I'm careless with my pens – I've never dropped one or twisted a nib. This also didn't happen because these are entry-level fountain pens. Fortunately, these weren't my most expensive pens. Fountain pens just aren't meant to sit idle for months. The ink dries, seals get stiff, and mechanisms that should move smoothly become stubborn.
Now I flush pens completely before storing them and try to use a different pen each day. When something feels stuck, I pause and check which direction it should turn instead of forcing it.
I have been rotating my fountain pens every day now and most of them are regularly used. However, I still haven't figured out what to do with the rest of my collection that I plan to store long-term (for certain reasons). They're empty now, but I should probably check on them regularly or do proper maintenance work before they end up like these four.
What about you? Did you have a similar experience with your stale fountain pens?
🖋️, Jestine
P.S. I have yet to reassemble my TWSBI but I’ll try to follow this guide from Goulet Pens
It took some discipline on my part, but I eventually limited the number of pens I have inked up at a time. I’m a crime fiction novelist and do all my first drafts in cursive longhand in. Leuchtturm 1917 A5 ruled hardcover notebook (one novel fills two of these; the paper is fountain pen friendly and the book lies flat when open).?I go through a lot of pens (one standard international converter gets me through a little more than a chapter), but I try not to have more than 10 pens inked up at a time: three in the same color for my current chapters (no real reason for this except to keep a couple of chapters in the same color ink), one “edit” pen filled with red ink (usually) for corrections, a TWSBI Vac700R filled with Iroshizuku Kon-Peki (for other longer writing tasks) and a TWSBI Diamond 580 with a 1.1 Stub for note taking. I also have my Pilot Custom 823 always inked up for other writing projects like short stories and pieces for periodicals and reviews. I find that the limited number of inked up pens keeps the rotation active and the constantly inked pens in frequent use. Like you, I learned the hard way by having to do some deep cleaning of neglected pens. Thanks for sharing; I definitely commiserated!
Yes, fountain pens like attention. If you ever do get that piston out be sure to give it a light coating of silicone grease. I bought a relatively inexpensive ultra-sonic cleaner. I use a bulb syringe to fill a pen’s nib and feed with water and then dump it in the cleaner (that has water with a little liquid jewelry cleaner in the water) and let it go for a long ride. The cleaner’s instructions state clearly that no ammonia should be used in the tank, so no pen flush should be used in the tank. But mine came with the option of buying a bottle of jewelry cleaning solution and it seems to do a good job on pen parts. I don’t use the cleaning tank often, but it’s good for crusty or clogged parts.