Fountain Pen Questions

[vipereaper30]

I just picked up my first pen that didn't come free from the box at work. Was going to go ballpoint or rollerball but thought to myself, why go this far and not make the leap to a fountain pen?

So I went with a Montblanc that I thought looked and felt really great. But I'm already wondering about a couple of things.

1. Where do I store it both on my person and when not in use?

2. Do I need one of those leather cases for protection?

3. Can I just lay it on any surface like marble, wood desk, etc? Or should I baby it like my watches, leather tray only kind of thing?

4. How often do you clean your pen? My salesperson suggested every few months to rinse out with water.

5. She also said you need to open/close the refill valve thingy 2 or 3 times to ensure it's full. Seems like overkill, no?

Thanks everyone!

[alllexandru]

Congrats, nice MB
I have 2 FP from MB and 1 RB from them.

To answer your questions


1. Where do I store it both on my person and when not in use?

Usually I keep them in a leather pouch, while with me and in use I put the one I use on the suit pocket inside / outside

2. Do I need one of those leather cases for protection?
Preferably, buy one with two or three just in case you add more :)

3. Can I just lay it on any surface like marble, wood desk, etc? Or should I baby it like my watches, leather tray only kind of thing?

It is up to you but it will scratch, wood desk is fine, hard surface not

4. How often do you clean your pen? My salesperson suggested every few months to rinse out with water.

Once in couple of months same as your SP told you, no worry but just do not forget to stay inked without write for long periods of time

5. She also said you need to open/close the refill valve thingy 2 or 3 times to ensure it's full. Seems like overkill, no?

Yes, it will take you 20 seconds of your life, not something big :))))
2 time is more then enough


Enjoy your MB

[vipereaper30]

Thank you gents!

alllexandru, appreciate your responses and a follow up regarding this.

Originally Posted by alllexandru

Once in couple of months same as your SP told you, no worry but just do not forget to stay inked without write for long periods of time

Does this mean if I don't use it for a couple of weeks or so to make sure it is completely full with ink during that time?

[alllexandru]

Originally Posted by vipereaper30

Does this mean if I don't use it for a couple of weeks or so to make sure it is completely full with ink during that time?

I’m talking months, if you don’t use it for long period of time (months) get the ink out, wash and keep it dry (no ink)

Get a leather pouch

Very important stay out of the metallic inks and use quality inks ( plenty to find beside MB )

[vipereaper30]

Originally Posted by alllexandru

Get a leather pouch

Very important stay out of the metallic inks and use quality inks ( plenty to find beside MB )

Appreciate the assistance and apologies for the dumb questions!

Picked up a cool MB leather case and some of their blue ink so now I think I'm ready to do this.

[1William]

Congratulations. Beautiful pen from a great manufacture.

[jar]

A couple weeks without use should be fine but so far I've seldom been able to go that long.

[Cool Breeze]

Congrats on the lovely pen!

1. Check pockets in either a shirt or jacket are fine. You can use a pen sleeve in these locations as well but that might be over kill. I usually store pens in my right breast pocket. I used to store them in my left shirt chest pocket or jacket breast pocket but I had a situation where I was retrieving my metro card and when I pulled it out, the pen came with it. Awful.

2. Any pen sleeve will do the trick

3. I usually baby my new pens. I don't like them on hard surfaces. Wood is softer so I view that as fine.

4. Every few months unless I am changing inks.

5. If you want an extremely full pen, that is the way to do it. More precisely - put pen in ink bottle and fill, release some ink back into ink bottle, then do it again. I don't see the need to do either. These pens hold enough ink for me.

Enjoy!

[vipereaper30]

Originally Posted by Cool Breeze

Congrats on the lovely pen!

Thank you, and appreciate the advice!

I haven't been able to use the pen yet as I'm waiting on ink still. Ordered from a place in the Netherlands and I think my order got lost or something.

Would love to hear some ink recommendations too, something really special.

[vipereaper30]

Picked up some Montblanc midnight blue ink and testing it out tonight. Sometimes it doesn't seem to flow well off the nib. Not sure if that's my writing style or just a new pen thing.

[Phlippe]

nibs need to break in, if this is your first fountain pen wow, you have good tastes!!! When pens get clogged occasionally you can run some cold water over the nib and it will clear the dried ink. Fountain pens are just like mechanical watches you can never have enough. Congratulations!

[jar]

Also try to learn how to write using your arm rather than your wrist. When wrist writing you tend to turn the nib slightly so that the full surface is not on the paper. That is a big cause of skips.

[Cool Breeze]

sometimes new production pens get a little clogged in the production process with dust and what not. I recommend flushing the pen with warm water a few times, let it dry, and then re-ink it. Some people flush it with a couple drops of dish detergent in a large cup of water but that is your decision. If you use soap, please make sure that you not only flush it a couple times with the soapy water, but you also rinse it thoroughly with clean water.

[jar]

Originally Posted by Cool Breeze

sometimes new production pens get a little clogged in the production process with dust and what not. I recommend flushing the pen with warm water a few times, let it dry, and then re-ink it. Some people flush it with a couple drops of dish detergent in a large cup of water but that is your decision. If you use soap, please make sure that you not only flush it a couple times with the soapy water, but you also rinse it thoroughly with clean water.

And make sure you are using detergent not soap.

[Bisquitlips]

Congratulations on a fine acquisition. Especially the first one!

I would recommend visiting some of the Fountain Pen forums and ask questions and read. Good people can be found there and lots of knowledge and photos, etc.

Fountain Pen Network and FP Geeks are two that come to mind. Introduce yourself on both forums if you wish and then dive in. Loads of fun!