"Breaking-in Fountain Pens" - Truth or Fiction?

KCat wrote:
Most of my pens are second-hand. And possible third or forth. On only
*one* pen did I see wear that indicated the users habits. A Sheaffer
snorkel which was made in the 60s. I think 40 years is sufficient for such
wear. :P But none of the other second hand pens I've bought show any such
wear at all. Fortunately, that snorkel was used by someone used an angle
that I use when writing. I do not see how it's possible for people to buy
so many vintage pens that have been used by who knows how many other people
and yet have no problems with them at all.

so there! :P sorry - this was a bit tangential.

Not sure how this was tangential, since I thought it addressed the root
of the "breaking a pen in" idea.

Aside from that, I've got a Vacumatic that has a noticeable flat spot on
the nib, indicating the angle the original owner use the pen. Nice,
angled area -- it obviously didn't leave the factory like that.

I've toyed with the idea of grinding the tip down to closer-to-round.
As it is, that flat makes for a medium/broad nib, so there's room to try
to make it into a fine (finer) nib. I'm just not sure I want to risk
grinding away too much...

Pat

--
Return address works as is.

It is probably fortunate but my "rebuttal" has not appeared on the group on
my server.

Here's the short and sweet version. I'm guessing based on the character of
the this "worn" area being shinier, flatter, and a very smooth sweet spot on
the pen vs. the things I've seen wrong with other pens. And the fact that
I've got a loupe and know how to use it. :-)

otherwise... new sig line/disclaimer
--
I am not a Lupus/Fountain Pen Expert. I am not a Medical Doctor. I do not
make my living in medicine or in fountain pen repair. All opinions herein
are based solely on my experience and observations. Take them with a grain
of salt (unless you have high blood pressure...g)

On 22 May 2004 07:27:48 -0700, (morten) wrote:


So, taking a cue from Nancy Handy, what sport do the Flames play and which
state and/or entity do they represent?

Thanks for the interest. The Flames, of Calgary Alberta, are in the
National Hockey League. This team, coming from the second smallest
market in the league, with one of the lowest payrolls and against all
odds has defeated a string of much more highly ranked teams to make it
all the way to the finals of North American hockey, the Stanley Cup.
Flames passion is spreading all across Canada, because this is the
last Canadian team left in the playoffs of Canada's national sport,
and because the Flames are truly a Cinderella story.

Calgary and Tampa Bay, I can hear the ratings drop all over the US of
A.

On 22 May 2004 11:09:50 -0700, (JimL) wrote:


---------SNIP---------

Probably. But it IS an easy and polite way to smilingly refuse
someone's request to borrow my pen.

One colleague at work also likes fp's, and he caught on to using my
excuse, while asking me privately, "That's not really true, is it?
But we won't tell anyone."
I carry a Canadian steel tip manifold accountant polar bear killer to
lend.

"morten" wrote in message
m...

So, taking a cue from Nancy Handy, what sport do the Flames play and
which
state and/or entity do they represent?

Thanks for the interest. The Flames, of Calgary Alberta, are in the
National Hockey League. This team, coming from the second smallest
market in the league, with one of the lowest payrolls and against all
odds has defeated a string of much more highly ranked teams to make it
all the way to the finals of North American hockey, the Stanley Cup.
Flames passion is spreading all across Canada, because this is the
last Canadian team left in the playoffs of Canada's national sport,
and because the Flames are truly a Cinderella story.

Hey, thanks for the explanation; I'm glad to learn something new.

Hope they get their Prince Charming...er...you know what I mean .


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~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

Fountain pen nibs are tipped with a hard substance (be it iridium or
something else) just so that they will NOT wear down in any normal
writing task! Writing paper cannot do anything to the tip of a nib.

LL wrote:
Fountain pen nibs are tipped with a hard substance (be it iridium or
something else) just so that they will NOT wear down in any normal
writing task! Writing paper cannot do anything to the tip of a nib.

Anything can be worn down. Water cuts rock -- look at the Grand Canyon
for an example. Why is there a continuing demand for industrial diamond
dust? It cuts everything, but is worn down, the corners rounded off, in
the process and has to be replaced.

I doubt if many posters on this board will ever wear down an "iridium"
nib significantly, simply because most of us use multiple pens, and
distribute the wear. But pens that were used daily for 20, 30, or 40
years -- you can often see the wear on those nibs.

Pat
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Return address works as is.

On Sun, 23 May 2004 17:38:58 GMT, "KCat" wrote:

Here's the short and sweet version. I'm guessing based on the character of
the this "worn" area being shinier, flatter, and a very smooth sweet spot on
the pen vs. the things I've seen wrong with other pens. And the fact that
I've got a loupe and know how to use it. :-)

Bingo! Alas, also a rather large spot, making this into a broad (or
bigger) nib. Still with great flow, just hard to write legibly with
because of the effective nib size.

Pat

Email address works as is.

On Mon, 24 May 2004 21:11:43 -0500, Patrick Lamb
wrote:

LL wrote:
Fountain pen nibs are tipped with a hard substance (be it iridium or
something else) just so that they will NOT wear down in any normal
writing task! Writing paper cannot do anything to the tip of a nib.

Anything can be worn down. Water cuts rock -- look at the Grand Canyon
for an example. Why is there a continuing demand for industrial diamond
dust? It cuts everything, but is worn down, the corners rounded off, in
the process and has to be replaced.

I doubt if many posters on this board will ever wear down an "iridium"
nib significantly, simply because most of us use multiple pens, and
distribute the wear. But pens that were used daily for 20, 30, or 40
years -- you can often see the wear on those nibs.
I just bought an English Parker from the late fifties and it had a
jagged spot on one tine. About sixty seconds of scribbling on number
2400 polishing cloth took it right out. They can be worn away
especially if rough paper is used.

"LL" wrote in message
om...
Fountain pen nibs are tipped with a hard substance (be it iridium or
something else) just so that they will NOT wear down in any normal
writing task! Writing paper cannot do anything to the tip of a nib.

It's funny - I was basically supporting this argument above and got dinged
for "assuming" vs. "knowing" that my 1959 Snorkel was worn vs. poorly made.

But...if there is no wear of tipping (long term) - why the need for repair
persons who retip nibs? I know they aren't retipping just due to abuse.

And if tipping can not be worn (long term), why does it come away so quickly
with a little use of very high grade lapping film. I've smoothed numerous
nibs now and in most cases it took little more than 5 or 10 minutes of
careful, slow work with this film. Yes, it is designed to be abrasive but
not in the same way as sand paper.

Lots of folks talk about smoothing or "burnishing' their nibs with the glass
of their ink bottles. I've not tried this but again, if it's true, it tells
me that tipping material isn't quite as durable as some would like to think.

the thing is - I believe that in most cases (there is some really crummy,
cheap tipping out there) it takes *many years* to effect these sorts of
changes and that people should not buy a pen that is scratchy hoping that in
a few weeks or months it will be smooth. None of my nibs show any wear in
the years I've been using them.

We can go 'round and 'round on this because their are data for both "sides"
and a lot of anecdotal evidence that can not really be verified. I can't
swear that the previous owner of my snorkel wrote with that pen for more
than 10 minutes a day. or that they didn't deliberately create a sweet spot
back 1960 using sandpaper and a swath of leather. It just seems unlikely.
OTOH, I've seen a lot of new nibs that were poorly tipped and it *seems*
clear to me that there is a significant difference under magnification of a
smooth flat spot vs. a pit or a bad tipping job.

i don't believe I've ever read the opinion of the nib gurus... I would love
it if they would actually contribute to the discussion because they are the
ones that see damaged, old nibs that need work and could at least
anecdotally support one side or the other. It would still be subjective -
but based on a greater data pool than I will ever see.
--
I am not a Lupus/Fountain Pen Expert. I am not a Medical Doctor. I do not
make my living in medicine or in fountain pen repair. All opinions herein
are based solely on my experience and observations. Take them with a grain
of salt (unless you have high blood pressure...g)