5 Most Common Fountain Pen Mistakes!
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- čas přidán 2. 07. 2024
- If you're thinking about getting your first fountain pen or if you got one as a gift for the holidays, here are some common mistakes we see and hear about all the time in-store! Don't feel too bad if you're guilty of these though because most of us here only know about these from learning the hard way and just because you've done one or two of these does NOT mean your fountain pen is ruined. Hope this video helps you as you enter the super fun world of fountain pens and ink :) Thanks for watching!
00:11 Intro
01:04 Writing with the nib inverted
04:19 Writing with too much pressure
07:41 Using the wrong kind of ink
10:30 Dropping the pen
12:03 Letting your pen dry out
14:08 Summary
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I used a fountain pen in school back in the 1970s and early 80s, but I never did after school. Until last year, I started journalling and decided I wanted a cheap fountain pen to write with. My big mistake? Watching CZcams reviews about fountain pens, which is why I now have 25 of them, in less than 12 months! Seriously though, I love them all; none of them are particularly expensive and it brings joy to my journalling and drawing.
Oh gosh, same experience for me! Why now did we suddenly become obsessed? Influence, for sure! If you learn more, see more, you want more, if you’re a curious person. I’ve spent way too much and how many pens does one need? But like you, I love using each one and wouldn’t want to have to eliminate any of them!
Was born and raise in UK. I grew up using fountain pens in grammar to university. Until we move to Amercia. And I was told to use ball Point pens . For work . But for personal use . I still use fountain pens .
Great video. Another mistake your pen won't recover from is is mistaking a screw cap for a snap cap and yanking it off resulting in ruined threads. Always ask first or assume it's a screw cap as your default.
Yes. I thought #1 was going to be how to open the pen - pull cap versus screw cap. Most (non retractable) ballpoints or gel pens have pull caps. Whenever someone asks to 'see' one of my pens, I always tell them how to open it - if it wasn't the nib in use that attracted their attention. It would hurt my heart if someone tried to pull on the cap of one of my screw cap pens. 😱
@@MarshaLove0723 And pens with screw caps are generally more expensive, like Platinum 3776, Pilot Custom and CH series, Sailor 1911 and PG series, etc. So, unless I know you well, and you're willing to sit through a lecture on FP101, you can watch me demonstrate. Buy yourself a Preppy or a Jinhao Shark pen.
There's a local shop that had Opus 88 tester pens out. Since they're not a pen shop, they neglected to check on the ink levels. Sprung nibs on EVERY.SINGLE.PEN! They removed the tester pens after I pointed it out to them.
One of the things I worry about on the very rare occasion I'm working with someone and they need a pen. I make sure to let them know how to open it, and cover some basics, because I'm trying to encourage more fountain pen appreciation. Got at least three more people into the club so far. :)
That's a great tip!!
@@MarshaLove0723 I've had pens broken when people, even members of my pen club, turn the cap on a pull-style pen, damaging the collar or worse. Why don't penmakers standardize this feature? It would make it so much safer, easier, less terrifying for us if they would make a simple design change.
I bought a stainless steel Lamy 2000, and the very first day I used it at work, I accidentally dropped it. It landed nib-first onto the carpet and was stuck in the carpet upright. I almost cried until I recovered it to find it was totally fine, thanks to the hooded nib design. I stopped leaving my pens un-capped after that.
Omg what a rollercoaster ride of a story! Phew, glad to hear your pen is ok! Thanks for sharing your story :)
Omg I did this with my salor fude de mannen pen!!! I had just loaded it had it uncapped and accidentally yeeted it across the room. Landed nib end into the hardwood floor. Ink splashed out and the nib moved out out of place from the feed. I almost cried but it still works till this day! It’s not an expensive pen but it my favorite urban sketching pen
@@PayneWaterStudio oof, sorry that happened! I use the Fude De Mannen for art too, it’s such a versatile tool.
I'm a couple of weeks into my fountain pen journey and something I've never noticed I do while writing is rotate my pen. I don’t know if this is because I'm left handed or if I've spent my life until now with non fountain pens. I'm so glad your channel was recommended to me, I love it!
I picked up this habit with non-mechanical pencils as it keeps the tip sharper longer.
I do the same and I’m right handed. My fountain pen journey started 3 years ago, so I’m still learning more about them and it is enjoyable
LOL I’ve written with fountain pens since 2nd grade of elementary school (it’s still mandatory to write with them in the German school system) and I definitely test out if a fountain pen writes with the nib backwards (the Pelikan L pen I had in elementary school wrote beautifully like this, for example) and I deliberately put shimmering and sheening inks in F and EF pens. 😂 Lamy Safari EF does fine with shimmer inks from Diamine, for example. If anything clogs anyway, I just clean out the nib thoroughly. Oh, and the aforementioned Pelikan pen has suffered three nib casualties during 12 years of German school system. It just happens that it will fall headfirst on the linoleum floor and GET STUCK IN IT if you use it at school. I went to the shop where I had bought the pen and had the nib replaced for a few euros - problem solved! 😂 (Granted, I’d be a lot more bothered if this happened to one of my more expensive pens now.)
You’re lucky! One of my noob mistakes when I got back to fountain pens was using a Diamine shimmer ink on my EF Lamy Safari. Clogged in less than a page 😅 I got a M nib after that!
@@eleanor.shadow I don't like and can't write with Lamy M nibs, so that isn't an option for me. And if there is clogging, I first try applying a little bit of water to the nib and if that doesn't help, I just rinse the feed.
Simmering inks from Ferris Wheel Press and Wearingeul don't clog at all on my EF or F nibs. Diamine, J. Herbin, De Atramentis and Private Reserve don't work at all.
This was SO helpful, especially the pressure one. I had NO clue not to push down. Thank you!
I'm from a place and a generation where fountain pen use was compulsory from the first year of elementary school, so I've always enjoyed them, and only used ballpens or even rollerballs, which I find a poor second choice, when absolutely necessary. Unfortunately fountain pens are no longer commonplace. I wish more people would discover their wonderful qualities. Thanks for making a good beginners video.
Love all of your videos. Please make videos related to modern flex nibs that you have and invite a calligrapher that can help demonstrate how to use it. It would be helpful to know up to what extent of pressure we should put to have the best calligraphy experience without damaging the nib. Looking forward to more videos about fountain pens. More power to your channel.
Guilty of drying out my pen! Now I know I need to write more often and rotate and not ink too many at one time! Also learn on which nib is best för my shimmer and sheen inks! Thank you! 😊
BS, just buy decent quality japanese pens or any pen with screw cap, any decent pen last years .
Great job Daisy! This one will be so helpful !
so many fantastic tips, it looks wonderful ☺☺
Great video. Very informative. I’m new to fountain pens and this helped a lot
I bought a Sailor 1911 Realo and tried fully disassembling it. Didn't realize it's not meant to be disassembled. Damaged the section threads and put a micro crack in the very end of the barrel. Absolutely mortifying. Fortunately it still writes fine and doesn't leak - it's my daily writer!
Thank you for the information!
I used an ink that when dried turned plasticy (Super5) learned if when you uncap your ink bottle and there’s thick build up on the threads of the bottle it’s indicative that the ink will build up like this in the feed when not in use. I had to disassemble a lamy safaris feed to scrub the clogged ink in the feed tunnel, not fun!
Thank you !
I love your videos. Thank you for all the effort you put into them. Although it has been a year since I fell in love with fountain pens and started a collection, it is always useful to go back to the basics once in a while.
Honestly, who hasn't had a drop? I've done it twice and both times were because something went wrong in my environment while I was writing. Capping always is a good practice, but won't help you if a cat jumps on your face or something. My first drop a billion years ago, the pen was toast and I just wouldn't admit that to myself. I tried so hard to fix it. My more recent one, it didn't fall far and I was able to adjust the tines. It's not QUITE what it was though, and I have considered a replacement anyway.
I've been in fountain pens for almost a year. I learned from your video that I don't have to put so much pressure on the nib when writing. Unfortunately, I just learned the hard way about putting shimmer ink in a fine nib. Very helpful video. Thank you.
Shimmering inks can work even in EF but not all brands, for me only Ferris Wheel Press and Wearingeul work flawlessly on F and EF nibs.
@@manuelsalazar3938those are some excellent ink brands
Very solid video for novices (and older users of FPens too 🥴…) Thank you Daisy
As you mentioned, some of us have already learned all of what you presented but I enjoyed the video nonetheless. One thing you could have mentioned about leaving the pen uncapped, besides the possibility of it rolling, is that it leads to the pen drying out, leading to annoying fiddling to get it started again.
You pretty much captured my wife with Tip #2: She once slightly sprung the nib of a demonstrator pen in our favorite stationery shop. It was repairable but I went through great pains afterward to teach her to apply no pressure when writing. I still cringe, though, every time she reaches for the Pilot Custom 912 I gave her a couple Christmases ago.
I love your shop, even if I am only able to visit online. Your selection of Sailor inks has me pretty much mesmerized at this point. Thanks for being there and thanks for the CZcams channel.
Good to know about shimmer inks! I loaned a friend a beautifully balanced chef knife, and told her not to drop it and what do you think the first thing she did yep! I cringed, and it honestly has not cut the same. I hate to be stingy, but don’t loan out things that you don’t want ruined!
i stopped lending FINE ball pens to people on the street after this one person wrote/pressed on a rough wall made of stone blocks. 50/c staples pens r ok.
Lending fountain pens to unknown? never happens.
Of course I’ve dropped my fountain pen. Most recently a Sailor 18K gold nib. It came back from the nib meister a week or two ago and is writing beautifully again. I do cap my pens when not actively writing with them but accidents happen…
I am seasoned FP user, but I looove other peoples reactions when they see me using FP. I am in my thirties and still have used FP at school when we were learning cursive writing and most of my coworkers still remember those times and have never used FP since so it is like 20 - 50+ years of never seing that object in their life .. usually people handle them like a live grenade or get very cheerfull or sentimental, regardless people are usually a bit skittish to actually try and write something, which is interesting .. FP are always such a conversation starter :)
Didn’t know about the sparkle ink. May need to invest in a bigger ink as extra fine is my favourite.
You mean a bigger nib size.
I wrote with nibs inverted for a few weeks with my first fountain pen. When I first got it, it didn’t write ASAP.. probably the ink needed to go down first.. but then I hold it with ballpoint angle.. so it’s not writing down smoothly. Tried to invert it.. it worked fine. So I thought that’s how I should use it. Also the line variation… my EF nib is somewhat thicker than my 005 sakura pigma micron with normal way.. so I really thought the inverted is the correct way. Good thing I learned the right way after a few weeks.
You can use a fountain pen with the nib inverted if it works for you, it's true that it's intended to be used in the "correct position" but if the other way works for you go for it!!!
I've never dropped a pen nib first on the floor (yet..*touch wood*) but I do have a pen horror story:
A couple of years ago I gifted my mom a "birth year" vintage Parker Vacumatic. Wonderful pen. She wrote with it a cople of times, then, a fey days later while in a rush, absentmindedly screwed the cap back on...with barbarian strength.
An horrible cracking noise resonated around the house.
When I went back to uncap it with trembly hands, I witnessed the unspeakable damage done to the nib. I spent hours carefully trying to reshape it the best I could, but it never wrote the same way again.
The cap is also still rattly and the pen won't close up properly anymore.
It is now relegated to "interesting art deco item".
Oh no!! I can hear the sound now!
Yes, I have dropped a pen on the floor and the nib was totally bent up. Fortunately it was a really cheap $7.°° pen. I always cap my pens too.
Some people push too hard because they are used to write with a ballpoint. 😉
My first experience with a fountain pen, I thought the nib was supposed to be inverted. I think because I thought the ink came down in the nib, like more of a spoon. I didn’t know how the feed worked. Lolol.
Never spiked a nib into anything, but a few weeks ago I dropped a capped brand new Lamy Al-Star in Black-Purple that for that brief moment WASN'T in the Rickshaw, a short fall from my lap onto a concrete floor. There's a small rough spot on the corner of the closed end on the cap, near the clip, but otherwise no harm done. You can barely see it, but I know it's there, and you can feel it clearly enough. Closest thing I have to a "horror" story so far, and I've been using fountain pens exclusively for a few years now, and had my first one back in the early 80's (actually still have it, a Parker Vector in basic black).
so pleased to say I’ve never dropped a favourite nib: that would just kill me; also have very light touch so have never put any stress on the nib but have been stressed plenty often when I’ve given one of my beloved pens to a friend to try; have bought but don’t own any shimmer inks so that’s not been a problem either: guess I’ve just been lucky!:)
Within the last year I've kinda gone nuts with shimmer inks. One after another, but I have plenty of B and stubbies to feed them into.
bought some vintage parker 21 fountain pen. Left it on the table uncapped and it rolled down and dinged the nib. And you're right, it was pretty much gone. I tried to bend it back myself haha, but didn't help much. Eventually just bought another one on ebay. Was a pity, I liked how it wrote too. :(
Damaged fountain pen nibs can sometimes be fixed by experienced nib grinders/nibsmiths. You’ll find them at pen shows, via referrals from reputable shops that sell fountain pens, or fountain pen-oriented social media. If it’s a pen that you really liked, it’s worth checking out & getting an estimate. They can even tune it to write to your particular preferred style.
Thanks for the note! I think i only paid about $20 or so for the pen. So, probably the cost to fix the nib costs more than that so that's why I didn't bother. :) @@LarkBirdBee
Oh nooooo, an important lesson though in your fountain pen journey!!
Haven't dropped a nib on the floor but I knocked a Benu pen off of a desk once and the body broke clean in two 😭 was a special edition too!
😮I saw your comment and immediately put my TWSBI VAC700R Iris in my pen holder.
Oh no! did you try gluing it back together?
Nope but I should of! I think I just threw a hissy fit 😅@@NotesFromPastAmy
I knocked my Benu off my desk too! Just the cap, and it cracked the edge, and took a chunk out of it. I tried to glue it back in, but that didn’t work. So, I covered the hole, eek, with a bit of black duct tape - I can put the cap on the pen, but I can’t post it. Sooooo stupid!
oh no! Heartbreaking when your pride and joy gets chipped/broken! 😢 @@oliveslingscards9814
To anyone watching, this is a wonderful NYC retail shop you should do business with. They’re as helpful selling as tutorials.
Sadly, that would require my traveling to NYC, and for me, that will never happen again.
@@Dosbomber …I’ve never visited the shop, all orders placed online. But they’re still wonderful, each order arriving with small thank you note.
Thanks Ed!!
I accidentally left my tswbi mini uncapped at work and when someone came to pick it to move it in a safe place…. they didn’t recap the pen. When I saw my pen just uncapped for 24 hours I got so scared but it was okay after being wiped with a wet paper towel and forcing new ink into the feed.
Wow, 24 hours and a TWSBI still writes! Haha that is amazing
The problem I have with fountain pen is that I want to write with multiple beautiful inks and eventually dry some of them
I own many fountain pens, but didn’t know about the 45 degree angle. I assumed it was completely flat/shiny side up. Learned something important!
I think she meant 45 degree on the way you hold it when facing the paper. Not 45 degrees tilted. So, shiny up, is the proposed way by many experts. And usually if it's more that 45 when facing the paper it will write thinner and if it's less thicker according to my experience.
But every pen has it's sweet spot. I use my pilot metropolitan with the nib up to the sky (let's say it north) but i also tilt a little my Parker jotter so the shiny up side of the nib be on northwest and in parallel with the gap between my thumb and my index finger.
I unfortunately write like that famous image of the hands drawing each other so I always smear the ink as I'm writing left to right 😭
Nice commentary on trying fountain pens for the first time! Even seasoned fountain pen writers can discover new mistakes to make. I've used fountain pens since about 1969. About a year ago, recapping a pen, I managed to get the point stuck on the ledge in the cap that forms a good seal, and Bent The Nib!!! Happily, the maker had some mislabeled nibs from which they were happy to replace mine, and I have the skills to do the replacement. Still . . . . A word about "inverted" or reverse writing: I found my Pelikan m805 to be way too broad for much more than signatures; but reverse writing works wonderfully with it to accommodate my normal ledger-style writing. Not every nib and feed accommodates this, of course. Thanks for a fun video!
OMG! i did dropped my pilot metro and the nib's bent. so I can no longer use it anymore coz there's no separate nib for metro😢... so i gotta buy another one, back to Kaweco again, but the sport one like you. and it works so well! I always be extra careful since then... thank you for the clear explanation... 😊
The metro uses the same nib as the much cheaper kakuno. You can buy a kakuno and swap :)
I would add another one, which is not cleaning a brand new fountain pen. Many manufacturers test their nibs with ink as part of quality control, and I believe at least one manufacturer submerses their nibs in an oil-like dip to protect the nib until it is sold (can't remember who). So take the time to clean out your new pen before you ink it up!
Ah good one! thank you!!
Daisy, I just dropped my TWSBI Eco-T Mint the other day. I just fumbled it in my hands doing my morning pages. I'm so sad. I didn't see where you can even buy replacement nibs for the Eco.
You can use the TWSBI diamond mini nib but you'll have to pull it with some force!
Also, don't double-dip your growing pen indulgence by keeping your giant stash of accumulateds all inked at once 🙃
I'm very new to fountain pens (
It's ok if it's not bothering you and your ink is still flowing! TWSBIs are pretty forgiving and have generous sweet spots
So I won’t use a shimmer ink in an ef or f nib, sometimes not even a medium, but I honestly feel like the fees plays a larger part in weather or not they work or don’t flow. If the fins in the feed are very close together or small, even with a B nib, you’re going to have flow issues. Best pens I have for shimmers are Leonardo Momento Zero (great nib, fabulous open feed) and my Twsbi Eco
I write inverted intentionally. I don't have access to extra fine or ultra extra fine nibs and I prefer needlepoint point nibs and writing inverted is the only way to achieve that width.
I dropped my TWSBI mini - just full butterfingers dropped - nib down on the floor. It still works, but it is scratchier and a the lines are slightly broader than before 😭😭😭
With some 800-3000 grit wet/dry sandpaper you might be able to fix that scratch at least.
Oh no :(
TWSBI mini nibs are replaceable for what it's worth :)
I dropped my first fountain pen, a pilot metropolitan, before even inked it. 😂
It was closed so the nib didn't harmed, but the cap got a dent right on top. 😐
Phew, at least it was capped!!
I have dropped three pens off of my loft bed onto to tile floor. After the third time I made a rule to only write with ballpoint pens in bed XD
Hahah omg!! three times! I didn't think of that one--only write with your pen closer to the ground :)
When I was brand new to fountain pens, I thought the best way to clean them was with acetone or rubbing alcohol……. Yeah don’t do that. 😭
Luckily it was a pen that had a feed and nib that was easily replaceable!
Omg yes! That is a great tip! Thank you :)