Writing instruments

Thanks for the tip Freddy and Cincinnatus, I do tend to have a bit of a heavy hand. Any cleaning, maintenance tips etc.? I had lunch today with two gents from Ireland and India respectively who used fountains with ink pots in school. Picked their brains a bit but they mentioned that cleaning could be a hassle.

What say ye?

Kevin,
That ink is not designed for fountain pens and should not be used. Cartridges or bottled ink for fountain pens are your choices. Cleaning is not a hassle.
You can run the nib under the faucet to get rid of most ink. Also purchase an ear syringe bulb to use for flushing the feed as needed or when changing ink colors.

Goulet pens has a series of "Fountain Pens 101" videos that are great. The one for pen cleaning and maintenance is HERE

This one talks about flushing with the EAR SYRINGE

These were extraordinarily help to us when we started out.

Good luck, have fun and don't be intimidated. I remember using cartridges only and being afraid to switch to converters and bottled inks. Now we use nothing but bottled inks.

Phil

This Conklin arrived at my mailbox this afternoon.  I believe it dates from the 1910's-1920's somewhere.  The nib may need a bit of working on (see closeup photo of the nib).  Other than that, it seems to be in excellent condition.  It is a small ring top so has no clip.

Stunning pen Freddy. I like your crescent also but this one in sterling is beautiful.

Phil

Phil, it's not sterling but it may be gold plated; I am not sure.

Freddy,
Rikwill just introduced a Conklin Crescent in stirling http://rikwill.com/pens/sterling-crescent/
and your pen looked like that in my minds' eye. I went back to look at your posted pics. On my monitor it still looks silver to me
A stunning pen nonetheless.

Thanks for the tip Freddy and Cincinnatus, I do tend to have a bit of a heavy hand. Any cleaning, maintenance tips etc.? I had lunch today with two gents from Ireland and India respectively who used fountains with ink pots in school. Picked their brains a bit but they mentioned that cleaning could be a hassle.

What say ye?

If you consider cleaning and keeping your DEs, SEs and straights up to snuff a hassle then you will feel the same about fountain pens.  Overall, maintenance of fountain pens is no more difficult than it is for our razors.  If you are keeping the same ink in a pen then a good flush after every two or three fills will be fine.  If you change the color of your ink then a good cleaning is imperative before inserting a new cartridge.  I can't wait for you to get your pen so do let us know.  By the way, not all fountain pens use cartridges.  Some use cartridges, some fill from a bottle of ink, and some do both.  However, that's for another day.

Stunning pen Freddy. I like your crescent also but this one in sterling is beautiful.

Phil

Phil, it's not sterling but it may be gold plated; I am not sure.

Freddy,
Rikwill just introduced a Conklin Crescent in stirling http://rikwill.com/pens/sterling-crescent/
and your pen looked like that in my minds' eye. I went back to look at your posted pics. On my monitor it still looks silver to me
A stunning pen nonetheless.

Phil, I didn't even know about these modern pens.  However, mine is an original Conklin, made in Toledo, Ohio, not Italy, and is at least 90 years old.  It is definitely gold in color even if it is not pure gold (which I doubt).  I shall have to take a close look at these modern pens.  Thank you for the heads up.

I actually enjoy cleaning my razors in a way- take care of your tools and they will take care of you!

I suspected as much and thanks again for the info Freddy!

PhilNH5, thanks for the information as well as the link to the videos. I will definitely view as I tend to be a visual learner if given the option.

I am consistently amazed at the wealth of knowledge at our fingertips in today's world and the helpful qualities of the community specifically.

Thanks gentlemen!

Thanks, Charlie. As for the Diamine Ancient Copper ink, I had been wanting to try it for a while so finally just went for it. The bad photograph and poor paper don't do the color of the ink justice.

That looks like pretty ink, and the pen is a beauty! Diamine Ancient Coppe is a relatively new ink? I looked in Greg Clark's Fountain Pen Ink Sampler and didn't find it.

Thanks, Charlie. As for the Diamine Ancient Copper ink, I had been wanting to try it for a while so finally just went for it.  The bad photograph and poor paper don't do the color of the ink justice.

That looks like pretty ink, and the pen is a beauty!  Diamine Ancient Coppe is a relatively new ink?  I looked in Greg Clark's Fountain Pen Ink Sampler and didn't find it.

Tbone, I'm not sure when they introduced it but it has been around a while and is not, to my knowledge, a special edition.  I just saw an on-line review from 2012.  

Thanks for the compliment on the pen.

It looks like this is finally becoming a reality.  What do you think SharpSpine?

I just made myself a dip pen.

I took a nib and stuck it in a stick.

Then I wrote my first letter with it.

The pen worked fine. Does anyone else here use a dip pen?

It looks like this is finally becoming a reality.  What do you think SharpSpine?

That's very cool. You got me looking at the TWSBI ink bottles too - great idea.