Fountain Pen newb questions

[Sean]

I've owned a few cheapies in my time, crap you buy at Barnes and Noble or Borders for ~ $10 but I've never had a nice one.

Always loved how they wrote and the anachronistic charm of them. A few months ago this came up in a conversation and this morning I opened a beautiful example of one given to me by girl.

I'm looking for any advice on use, care, inks, maintenance, etc. It came with very basic instructions but am looking for advice from frequent users or aficionados.

If it helps any it's a Waterman Phileas, blue marbled in color. It came with both a few ink capsules and a vacuum/syringe-type filler and a bottle of Waterman ink.

I'm gonna use the capsules till they go and then start using the syringe-type and bottled ink.

On a more specific note, I store the pen nib up but when I open the cap there is ink kind of splattered on the back of the nib which seems wrong to me. Should it be there or is there something wrong?

Any help would be appreciated.

A link to a good newbie primer would also be nice. I checked out fountainpennetwork.com forums and couldn;t find a sort of newbie primer there. And, to be honest, I'm trying to avoid another forum to put time into, lol.

Thanks in advance!

In case anyone is curious:

http://www.penwa.com/waterman/images/19702.jpg

[Rufus]

Perhaps the best source of reference material is Richard Binder Fountain Pens. Other good sources are The Vintage Pens Website and nibs.com (Classic Fountain pens). You should also check out the Fountain Pen Network, the B&B of fountain pen lovers. I won't go into your questions, as these sites will give you all the information you need, and there is a lot of it. Becareful though as you may develop FPAD after visiting these sites.

[Sean]

Thank you! Richards Pens has several articles very much like what I was hoping to find! Though I'm still curious about the ink on the nib when I open it... is it normal? I worry that it's leaking somehow.

[firebox]

Waterman pens are great. Just keep them excercised. Don't let it dry out. A little ink on the back of the nib should not be a problem. I don't use the cartridges and favor the bottled ink. Good luck and enjoy the fine writing instrument.

[Izzy]

Welcome to the wonderful world of fountain pens.

Thats a great pen you have there.

Check out www.thefountainpennetwork.com for more info.

I usually flush my pens through with warm water before I re-fill them, or if they are not being used for a while a thorough flush out, allow to air dry thoroughly before storing.

I wouldnt worry about a few ink spots on the nib, thats part of the charm of fountain pens, I rarely use anything else these days (I have 10) apart from my Mont Blanc Meisterstuck ballpen.

You will really enjoy the fountain pen, thing is it just becomes another addiction :lol:

Regards

[Grim Reaper]

I find that even if the ink does dry out everything can be remedied with lots of water. The pens are plastic and metals that don't rust. I used to fill mine with water and flush it until clear and then clean it up with a paper towel. They come back to new rather quickly.

[BarryR]

+1 on most of the above advice. FPs are great and I don't understand why anyone who writes more than a few lines a day would use anything else. If you like writing with a fountain pen, I'd consider adding at least one or two more to your collection when it's time for a present. While the Phileas is a decent pen and a good value at it's price, IMHO there are many pens that write much better in the $50-$100 range including many Pelikans, a vintage Parker 51, Namiki Vanishing Point, and several Lamy's (no personal experience on the Lamy's). As pointed out above, you can get lots of good advise at fountainpennetwork.com (http://www.fountainpennetwork.com). It's like the B&B or SMF of Fountain Pens and, in fact, it is from there that I learned of these forums and of wetshaving, so there's lots of cross-pollination.

[Samovar]

+1
I'm also a member of Fountain pen network.
I would also suggest Richard Binder, I've done business with him and he is a real gentleman.

From my experience so far, cleaning a pen once in a while is the way to go.

The ink on the nib is call "nib creep", depending on the mix between pen and ink, this can happen.

If I may open a door for you, ink can become an addiction, I have 16 bottles of ink and could buy a bottle a day.
Once you start matching certain ink with certain pen, you know you are in trouble.

Welcome to pen collecting

[bman40]

I have a home-made cigar box stoage case at my office with 10 pens. 5 + are inked at one time, all different colours. Most are pens I made myself (celluloid and ebonite) and I confess to trying to match colours to pens.

* I just received my order of FPN inks and I am head over heels for Dumas Tulipe Noire! It looks like claret wine on the page...the Galileo Brown I am less sure of yet...I need to give it some time....I think it woudl look best with a stub nib, for more shading.

Barry

[RayG]

Nib creep, as you are describing, is common to certain types of ink. Noodler's inks are notorious, because of the lubrication used. I am assuming that you are using the Waterman ink cartridges that came with the pen. Waterman inks are among the most well-behaved inks available. Perhaps you did not flush the pen with water prior to use, and the nib creep may be due to some manufacturer's oils. In any case, don't worry about it, and just remember to flush the pen a few times with tap water once you have finished that cartridge. Enjoy!