Almost invariably my pens remain in my work area, either in a decorative Japanese bowl or in a lovely wooden pen rest on my desk (thank you, James). I also have a wooden pencil box which contains the Lamy broad stub I use for addressing envelopes and my dip pens. At the moment I have seven pens inked, far more than sense would dictate. A pen new to me will arrive and I want to see how it writes, or I take a notion for one ink or another, so the inked pens multiply.

As I don’t go anywhere very much these days I never have a pen clipped to my pocket. I have a handsome pen wrap which lies unused in a drawer. My husband happens to be away from home quite a lot. He has a pen wrap decorated with Japanese dragons which holds six pens comfortably. As he writes a lot they are changed quite often. We share our pens. There’s no ‘mine and thine’ in our fountain pens.

You’ll doubtless be aware of the debate as to whether pens should be stored nib up or nib down. I’m of the nib down school and it has never caused a problem for me. I would guess – though I’ve never tried it – that pens stored with the nib up might be hard starters, with the ink flowing back away from the nib and feed.

With so many pens inked there may be one that is neglected and will have developed a dry nib when called upon. I know which these are and try to ensure they are not neglected. Most, I am pleased to say, remain ready to write despite being left unused for a long time. Japanese pens are very good in this regard, I find. In distant former days I might sport a chatelaine chain with my trusty fountain pen ready to write. I have never worn a watch chain with a ringtop attached but the idea does appeal. Both these uses of pens were attractive to busy people, probably of a more wealthy station of life than I would have been likely to find myself. In the early days of the twentieth century I would have been likely to be scratching away with my eyedropper filler in some clerical or secretarial capacity rather than bossing underlings or domestic servants around.

Pens and inks together are another aspect of how I use them. Transparent pens (which are emphatically not demonstrators) don’t like certain inks, especially red. To avoid stained barrels and sections I’m careful about which inks I use. Then we are advised that mixing any other ink with even the least fraction of Noodler’s Baystate Blue will lead to an unimaginably dreadful outcome so I keep that ink in one pen alone. Beyond those few careful restrictions all inks go in all pens. I’ve found that very few pens misbehave and if one should shorten the life of a sac I can always fit another. The final thing I will say about how I use my pens is with unfailing delight.

Many thanks to those of you who replied to my last blog post. On consideration I think I’ll keep the ultrasonic cleaner I have. My main use for it – and that very seldom – is with the antioxidant. I occasionally get an accommodation clip in a poor state which can be improved with that mixture. So far as cleaning is concerned I think I can do better with cotton buds and small brushes.

Your comments were invaluable, not only for me but also for other readers as is made clear by one of the responses. I have always thought that the comments were at least as useful as the blog posts themselves, an example being Raymond Wiker’s comment on the post about the Cross pen, a brand about which I know very little. Indeed, I am no expert on any one brand though I have some knowledge of Mabie Todd. I am very fortunate that there are many among my readers who generously share their great knowledge and expertise here.

They promised me Swans and Blackbirds
There were none
But you might like these pens I fixed.

https://www.goodwriterssales.com/

Writing about my tools the other day led me to think about my ultrasonic cleaner. I bought it about ten years ago, a mid-range model made by JPL. From the very first it was unimpressive. In fact most of the time it didn’t seem to make any difference. I could do better with cotton buds and brushes. It has two practical uses: it sits in my work area filled with water and I flush sections in it – obviously a bowl of water would work equally well! And secondly I use it with an anti-oxidant solution but that would work just as well shaken up in a jar.

The only other ultrasonic cleaners I’m familiar with are the big ones for cleaning carburettors and they are very different. Greasy, clogged carburettors come out of them gleaming.

Those of you who use ultrasonic cleaners, do they do a good job? Are they indispensable in your work routine? Should I get a different one or should I forget about ultrasonic cleaners?

When I first got an old pen working I was pretty pleased with myself and considered that pen restoration was a straightforward business that wouldn’t require much in the way of tools. Brightening one up could probably be done with whatever I already had in the house. I’m not often wrong but when I’m wrong I get it really wrong! I now have an entire room devoted to the repair and restoration of writing instruments.

All those years ago I didn’t (or thought I didn’t) even need section pliers. My hands were stronger then and I thought such mechanical aids were for wimps. It was a Swan SF130 that made me reconsider. No amount of heating and persuading would divorce that section from its beloved barrel. I gave in and ordered section pliers which did the job with consummate ease.

Over the years I tried every polish recommended on the pen discussion boards. Several sit yet sad and neglected on a shelf. When serious restoration work requires it I use the three-part Novus polish. Otherwise a Sunshine cloth does a fine job without unnecessarily abrading the material.

Pliers love to proliferate. I have several sizes of needle-nose pliers, the clever parallel pliers and various other less easy to label types. Medicine and dentistry provide tools useful for fountain pen repair: small, slender forceps assist work in the interior of the cap or barrel. Dental scrapers are good for removing sacs that seem welded to the interior of the barrel. The sorts of headlights that surgeons use help to illuminate the work. Scalpels have a thousand uses.

When I began I thought that a pocket knife was just about all that I would need. I was very wrong, of course, but my trusty old pocket knife is still used to scrape the remains of the sac off every sac-filler’s section. I have a shelf in a cupboard filled with polishing cloths, cotton buds, pipe-cleaners and all the other necessaries for ensuring pens are clean inside and out. The business of abrasion is covered by Micromesh, steel wool and when something more aggressive is needed, needle files.

I never imagined for a moment that I would require electro-mechanical help to fix pens but my heat gun is constantly required and I have a handy little electric drill that drives a host of useful attachments. Lighting comes into that category. I have a powerful overhead light and a flexible angle lamp. Magnification helps my failing eyesight: an OptiVisor headset and loupes of various magnifying strengths.

Is that all? Of course it isn’t! The collection of tools. adhesives and consumables is beyond listing. Whenever I think I must be finished something else comes to mind. So I’m going to stop.

Tip o’ the pen to Lewis Carroll….

The time has come, the Walrus said
To talk of many things,
Of Blackbirds, Swans and semi-flex
Of plain pens and of bling
Of why there are so many inks
And whether nibs can sing.

https://www.goodwriterssales.com/

Many moons ago my husband and I used to mentally put together the ideal motorbike. If I was to do the same thing with vintage fountain pens it would be something like this:

Starting at the pointy end, I like exposed nibs for two reasons (1) Gold nibs are things of beauty and (2) with a hooded nib I have to check that I’m holding the pen properly every time I use it. There’s a fashion for flexible nibs these days but I don’t subscribe to it. Firm and fine is how I like my nibs though I do occasionally use a medium if it’s a good one and I like stubs, oblique or straight.

I like a section with a good “stop”. Again, this rules hooded nibs out because of their slippery hoods. The barrel (and section) should be comfortably thick. Very thin pens give me pain after a short while. I’m not talking about huge modern pens or even Swan sixes or eights. Swan pens bearing number two, three or four nibs are good

Filling systems are not so important that they become a deal breaker. The note-taker on my desk can be a piston filler. Otherwise I prefer a pen that holds less ink. That rules out eyedropper fillers too though I do admire the early ones. Sac fillers, Leverless, lever or button are ideal for me. There are some inks you’re not supposed to put in sac fillers but I’m in the fortunate position of having replacement sacs to hand – not that I’ve had to replace sacs often.

I prefer a pen with a clip to stop it rolling off the desk. I like threaded caps. I don’t care about colour. Nice patterns don’t make pens write better. You can be sure that the colourful pens I have were chosen because they’re great writers. Not that it matters much but I have a slight preference for black.

My Leverlesses, 0160 and 1060 are all black. My Parkers are almost all black button fillers, the exception being a Lapis Lazuli Duofold Junior and a mixed colour Frankenpen. And an English Duofold Junior that fills by the Aerometric system.

That’s a quick outline of my pen preferences. Other factors will come in too but that’s enough for a discussion. What are your preferences?

Buying small lots of pens is a lucky dip. The lot usually contains one or two pens that you want and the rest may or may not be useful. Several years ago I bought such a small collection and it contained this Cross Century. It’s an advertising pen with a Ford decal, making it probably unsaleable.

It lay in a drawer for years. It’s a cartridge/converter pen and I had neither converter nor Cross cartridges. Recently I came upon it and decided that it merited a small outlay on cartridges. They came a few days ago and I finally tried the pen.

I can’t say it was a disappointment because I never expected much of it. It’s a metal pen which I don’t care for but at least the section is plastic, giving a better grip. The nib is medium, again not my choice. Worse, it’s that blobby, indistinct medium that you get on so many modern pens. It’s like those making some modern nibs had one described to them but never actually saw one. Of course I could improve that with a little time and Micromesh if I chose.

Also, it’s a very slender pen and my hand begins to ache with it after an A5 page or so. On the plus side, the ink delivery is very good.

It’s unlikely to be one of my favoured pens, then. Later Cross pens are thicker, even the Century II which otherwise looks similar. I hear good things about modern Cross nibs too, made by one of the Japanese factories. I won’t be rushing out to get one, even so. If anyone would like this pen let me know. First come, first served. If I’m sending it to a UK address I won’t worry about the postage cost but for overseas I would be grateful for a little help.

The days when you could walk into a brick and mortar shop and see cases and cases of shining new fountain pens for you to choose among are gone forever. The last shop that carried fountain pens here where I now live was a newsagent which had a small case of Sheaffer pens. This was about the time that the reborn Balance came out, so when was that? Twenty years ago?

However, with the power of imagination we can go back to any period we choose and visit The Pen Shop of Our Dreams. Let’s say 1922 and a shop specialising in Swans. They’re promoting their latest pen, a small self-filler in black chased hard rubber. And here it is:

I cannot guess at the history of this pen but it seems completely unused. The hard rubber is as black as night and the chasing and imprint are crisp and sharp. The gold plating on the lever is immaculate. The papers are fresh and unmarked. It is almost as if I did visit that imaginary shop and buy this brand new, century-old pen!

What is your pen of choice, vintage or modern? For me it’s Swan, for several reasons: build quality, variety of nibs and the Leverless filling system. Celluloid Swans, especially of the 1930s, have an incomparable range of colours and patterns. They are very durable and restore to be the equal of any modern pen. That’s not to say that there are not many other admirable pens. The Onoto comes to mind with its excellent filling system and splendid nibs. In US pens the early Duofold heads the list with the Waterman close behind, especially the 52 and 94; great nibs and wonderful colours, both hard rubber and celluloid. The earlier flat-top Sheaffers are wonderful pens. In later Sheaffers I like the Triumph and inlaid nibs. Among German pens the Soennecken comes first though they are hard to find and expensive now.

What about you?