Do you use a fountain pen?

[ClockworkCupcake]

A little bit of progress on the Waterman.

I got the section unscrewed from the connector with some firm yet gentle pressure - basically I gripped the section in one hand and the converter in the other, and gently yet firmly twisted to see which would give first.

Then I ran the connector and converter under the hot tap and they easily separated with just a light twist.



The replacement converter was not in Saturday's mail, Robbo, but it will probably arrive tomorrow I'm sure.

Edit: I think that I have laid that out incorrectly in the photo - the gasket probably goes between the section and the connector doesn't it.

Edit2: Also, a 2nd ball bearing fell out. I do hope that they are part of the converter because I can't for the life of me see where else they would go.

Edited by ClockworkCupcake on Sunday 9th July 22:00

[Robbo 27]

I would remove the feed and the nib now that you have the pen in pieces.

Yes the washer goes between the nib section and the connector that ball bearing was inside the converter. I would hold on to that.

[londonbabe]

Robbo 27 said:

If you have an ebay account I would sell them on sunday evening after 7pm.

If you would like assistance in describing the pens we would be pleased to help, and I would suggest that you sell them with good pics and at no reserve.

People do buy opened inks, I suggest that you sell them as one lot.

Thanks for the offer of advice regarding the pens my late wife left me.
It's taken me a while to cross-reference these with the notes she had left, and take photos, but here we are:

Pelikan M205 with upgraded F gold nib, ivory white with silver trim


Twsbi 580 Diamond, EF nib, rose gold and black


Lamy Al-star ruby red edition LE 2012, M nib,
Lamy Al-star ocean blue, 1.1 italic nib
Lamy Safari bright pink, EF nib
Lamy Safari coral
Lamy Vista demonstrator, F nib
Lamy Vista demonstrator (with uv invisible ink and uv light)


Cacharel 2013, brown white marbled resin


Jinhao X530
Noodler's Ahab Flex pen, purple /silver grey
Noodler's Ahab Flex pen yellow /orange
Pen Ultimo burgundy gold
Monteverde USA green translucent thing


Edison Collier Persimmon Swirl


Kwaeco Sport white, M nib
Kwaeco Sport silver, M nib, with pencil


Faber Castell basic carbon B nib


Pilot Prera yellow


Campo Marzio USB green purple yellow. The end pulls off to reveal a USB stick.


Platinum gold pen


Pilot Petit 1, F nib, mini disposable x4


Rex blue pen - no clip
Desiderata bubinga. no clip
Marksman
Parker 25 Flighter. Stainless steel and blue
2x Tiny ballpoints with jewels on the top. Don't know the logo, but they are cute.


Herbin demonstrator x2
Dollar demonstrator
Dollar 717 gunmetal
Pilot Preppie blue


Manuscript calligraphy pen set


Venetian glass dip pens


(There is also a very nice Waterman and a 90th Anniversary Montblanc but I am keeping those)

What's worth Ebaying individually and what should I sell in a job-lot / just take to the charity shop?

[ClockworkCupcake]

Some absolutely lovely pens there.

Many have monetary value so it would be a shame to just give them to a charity shop where they will be shoved on a shelf and then sold for £1. You would be better to sell on eBay and donate the profits to charity if that is your preference.

Edit: The Twsbi 580 Diamond and Cacharel 2013 look particularly cool.

Edited by ClockworkCupcake on Tuesday 11th July 09:35

[Sway]

Indeed. I'd suggest pretty much all of them have some value - I was amazed at how collectable people consider the Lamy pens in different colours!

Those venetian glass dip pens look ink-redible...

[Robbo 27]

There are a number of choices for you when it comes to sale.

To sell on ebay will take forever and be a pain if you try and sell individually, I would suggest a couple of lots according to pen type, group the Lamys together, then all the boxed pens, then everything else.

Most pen dealers will be looking for vintage pens so your collection wouldnt fit well. There are a couple of people who have B and M shops and who carry similar stock, it may be worth an approach

1 The Writing Desk in Bury St Edmonds

https://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/

2. Andys Pens in Haverford West

http://www.andys-pens.co.uk/

3. Possibly FG Thomas in Sheffield

F.G. Thomas  
Stationery store in Sheffield, England
Address: 25 Surrey St, Sheffield S1 2LG
Phone: [phone]

Speak to Gary.

Some of them will want to cherry pick, I would be ready with a firm no.

I would be happy to give you advice on how to split up the collection if you decide not to sell as a single lot.

[ClockworkCupcake]

I'd certainly be interested in the Twsbi 580 Diamond and Cacharel 2013. I don't know much about either pen, I just think they look interesting.

I really shouldn't be thinking of more pens though.

[8Ace]

Robbo 27 said:

8Ace said:

Thanks Robbo, that's very kind of you.

Like your new purchases too. I've been trawling eBay for a couple of weeks but there aren't many bargains - peopel seem quite clued to FPs on there

The worst time to look is Sunday evening, there are some bargains on friday afternoon.

Let me know if you need the cartridge, you can always refill it with a syringe, the one that I have is the longer version at 73mm.

Just finished the Duofold, used simichrome and then waxed, looks superb, even if I do say so myself. the plastic on these 50s Duofolds is a little soft which makes then prone to microscratches but very easy to polish up.

Had some luck on eBay last week - managed to get a parker 61 flighter, with the gold arrow intact on the section, for £14. Tempted to swap the section with my black and gold P61 as the gold arrow looks ace with the gold cap.

This means the flighter doesn't have an arrow, and I'm not that sentimanetal about it so I'm thinking if using it as a test for copper plating. Think a copper plated pen could look cool.

Aslso got a P88 Rialto for £13 - matching the P88 ball pen I got when I finshed my A levels. It's nice to have a set.

[Sway]

Quick question for the mechanically minded pen aficionados:

Using my duofold international daily at work, a converter (the mainly metal screw one) full of montblanc ink lasts me a couple of weeks.

Over the last couple of fills, I've noticed that when I undo the barrel, the metal threads on the section have some ink on them. I thought this was just a little residue that took the couple of weeks to accumulate.

However, filled yesterday, and just opened the barrel - and the threads are covered in ink. It essentially looks like as soon as I fill it, this leakage happens, then doesn't carry on.

Any ideas?

Converter seems seated fully. No ink on the converter body. No leaks from the section or nib...

[Robbo 27]

Sway said:

Quick question for the mechanically minded pen aficionados:

Using my duofold international daily at work, a converter (the mainly metal screw one) full of montblanc ink lasts me a couple of weeks.

Over the last couple of fills, I've noticed that when I undo the barrel, the metal threads on the section have some ink on them. I thought this was just a little residue that took the couple of weeks to accumulate.

However, filled yesterday, and just opened the barrel - and the threads are covered in ink. It essentially looks like as soon as I fill it, this leakage happens, then doesn't carry on.

Any ideas?

Converter seems seated fully. No ink on the converter body. No leaks from the section or nib...

Couple of things to test.

Take a paper tissue and screw it into a long pointy shaped thing and push it into the barrel as far as you can, prod it down with something if you can. I suspect that when you pull it out it will be covered in ink. If it is really wet, give the tissue is really wet give it a wash and dry out.

Another possibility is that ink has leaked past the nipple on the converter, perhaps because it got very hot one day or that it had a jolt, possibly dropped.

Also the plastic on the nipple can become worn, it may be best practice to leave it in place all of the time, perhaps you do this already.

It is also possible that the converter is leaking at the end (where you turn) or isnt even genuine Parker, I have recently bought a Parker, indistinguishable from the real thing and had what looked like a genuine Parker converter, all fake.

Solution there is to buy a Parker converter, or try a cartridge and see if the problem goes away.

How do you carry the pen? Try and carry it nib uppermost if you can.

I think you can have some comfort that there is nothing wrong with the pen, perhaps just the recent weather or how you are using it.

[Sway]

Cheers Robbo.

Definitely genuine Parker - from an ex employee direct from the factory!

Pen is usually clipped to my notebook, so frankly it's held in all orientations!

Converter also hasn't been removed since initial installation.

I'll give everything a good clean (including removal and refitting of the converter) and see how it behaves. As you say, perhaps it's just a function of the weather over the last month or two.

[Robbo 27]

Sway said:

Cheers Robbo.

Definitely genuine Parker - from an ex employee direct from the factory!

Pen is usually clipped to my notebook, so frankly it's held in all orientations!

Converter also hasn't been removed since initial installation.

I'll give everything a good clean (including removal and refitting of the converter) and see how it behaves. As you say, perhaps it's just a function of the weather over the last month or two.

I am sure its fine, at worst its just a part of the maintenance that needs to be done.

How are the other Parkers behaving - I think you had a Parker 100 too.

[Sway]

I picked up quite a few from my source!

Better half has been using the Ellipse quite a bit, with edelstein ink and Parker converter. She loves it.

Daughter has two, constantly in use at school and her handwriting has improved loads, English teacher actually commented that he's noticed she spends more time thinking about what to write rather than just scribbling anything down!

Son is practicing, he's not allowed pens at school, but does his homework (he's ten) using a Parker Frontier - he's getting there slowly!

Couple of offline PH mates have also benefited - I'm aware of one who's in the army who is breaching all the rules regarding use of black ballpoint ink only!

[Robbo 27]

Sway said:

I picked up quite a few from my source!

Better half has been using the Ellipse quite a bit, with edelstein ink and Parker converter. She loves it.

Daughter has two, constantly in use at school and her handwriting has improved loads, English teacher actually commented that he's noticed she spends more time thinking about what to write rather than just scribbling anything down!

Son is practicing, he's not allowed pens at school, but does his homework (he's ten) using a Parker Frontier - he's getting there slowly!

Couple of offline PH mates have also benefited - I'm aware of one who's in the army who is breaching all the rules regarding use of black ballpoint ink only!

Thats good to hear, especially if the schoolwork has improved, not just the handwriting but something else behind it. SThere has been research done on this as to the links behind the use of the pen, whether it is just pride in your work or wanting your work to be recognised, perhaps even just wanting dad to be proud.

On another thread I have been learning about Pen Licences given at schools when a certain level of has been attained so that the child may be allowed to use a fountain pen, the licence is given when that child can demonstrate that they are:

Using a correct pencil grip
Writing on the line
Joining letters correctly
Starting each letter in the correct place
Keeping letters the same size
Forming letters with the correct shape
Leaving appropriate gaps between words
Ensuring that ascending and descending strokes are the right length
Writing clearly enough for other people to read their work

Teachers will usually assess children’s work over a number of weeks to decide whether they’re ready for a pen licence, rather than basing their decision on a one-off handwriting test.


I think its great, the child gets something out of the use of a pen that may stay with them all their working life.

[Sway]

Yep, daughter earned her pen licence in year 4 - unfortunately that only meant she could use a berol fibre tip for the remaining two years of primary school.

Son is at the same school, however the head has changed (and not for the better) who has removed many of these little extras which enhance the education experience/attainment. Teachers have even stopped correcting spelling and grammar mistakes! Needless to say, we now review homework before submission and do that remedial work where necessary to maintain the standards he'll be held to in later life. Reliance on MS autocorrect is not the answer!

In daughter's secondary school, they really don't seem to care how work is created/submitted. She likes it though, so is firmly rooted in fountain pen use.

[E24man]

I have to say that my nine year old daughter has bought into the technicality and beauty of writing with a fountain pen; she has just completed Year 4 at school in which use of a fountain pen was mandatory and frequently assessed but she has owned a special little fountain pen for a few years now so took to it easily and with great enthusiasm.

[RizzoTheRat]

londonbabe said:

[Kwaeco Sport white, M nib
Kwaeco Sport silver, M nib, with pencil

Loving the industrial look of that, reminds me of a metal centre punch.

[Robbo 27]

Thats a really big lead at 5.6mm in there for just a little pencil.

All these pens and pencils have been kept beautifully, they all have a certain style to them too, despite the many different manufacturers.

[C&C]

The postman has arrived carrying the latest purchase from that auction site....
For info it finished at £53 including £4 postage.
Very pleased with the condition - no evidence I can see of cracks etc.

As ever I've got a question as to how to go about tidying it up.

Basically it's a hard rubber pen (my first one), and the section and feed also appear to be hard rubber (I absolutely love the colour of the feed).
I understand that hard rubber has a tendency to discolour if soaked in water for any length of time.

I want to clean up the nib/feed, so what's the best approach?
Quick 5 minutes in the ultrasound, dry and then repeat, or what - look to take it all apart and clean the nib separately from the feed?

Pen itself is a Conway Stewart manufactured one for another company.
It has the CS logo on the fill lever and is fitted with a CS nib - 14 Carat, that seems to be a semi flex.

The inscription on the barrel reads:

The Universal Pen
The Scholastic Trading Co. Bristol
No. 479M
Made in England

and round the barrel just above the fill lever:

Pat. No. 235447

Looking at a couple of Conway Stewart sites, it seems to be from the early 1930s.

I've given it a very brief wipe with the micromesh, but will do a proper job after I've got it apart, cleaned up, and a new sac fitted (unsurprisingly the current one feels perished).

Pics after a brief wipe down (as usual, click the photo for a larger version):

CS_Scolastic_Rubber_1 by conradsphotos, on Flickr


CS_Scolastic_Rubber_2 by conradsphotos, on Flickr


CS_Scolastic_Rubber_3 by conradsphotos, on Flickr

Edited by C&C on Thursday 13th July 15:09

[ClockworkCupcake]

That's a beautiful looking pen.

The heart on the nib, and the clip, both remind me a little of the Mabie Todd "Swan" that I posted about earlier.