Tips and Tricks: Volume 3 - Fountain Pens

Some of the many options available.

     Here in Germany, one of the most economical writing utensils is actually relatively old: the fountain pen!  If you go to any store which sells stationary, in addition to the standard ballpoint pens, highlighters, and all the other various other markers and things, there will be a display of fountain pens, both ballpoint and calligraphy style.  I tried one out on a whim, and would have loved to have someone explain it to me, so here goes!

All the various bits and pieces.

     Shown on the right are the pieces which come with any fountain pen.  I bought mine for about one Euro, which is why it is clear plastic, but there are better/fancier ones if you are willing to pay more.  Look here for some places to find the.  Depending on the particular pen that you buy, it may or may not come with ink, but if it doesn't, get it at Woolworth or another discounter, as many places sell the exact same supplies for very different prices ("Connor" pens and ink are the cheapest ones I've seen here).

The balancing skill it took to take this picture...

     The first step is to insert the ink tube into the tip of the pen, which will push the small plastic bead which keeps the ink tube sealed into the body of the tube, allowing ink to flow.

It helps if you tilt the ink.  And use a new tube.

     Next, wet the tip of the pen by putting it into the opened ink tube.  This speeds up the process of getting the pen started by allowing ink into the thin gap in the nib that physically holds the ink which is about to be written with.

I can totally do the artsy photo thing.

     Hopefully, the pen should be ready to write.  If it is not, then, with the ink tube reinserted into the tip, squeeze on the body of the ink tube, which will force ink through the nib.

Just in case you forgot how to put a pen together.

     And that's it for setting up the pen!  One final little trick that I've done as my pen is able to do so, is to put a second ink tube into the back of the pen as a spare.  On that note, if your pen puts out a drastically decreased amount of ink, change the ink tube then, even if it seems like there should still be some left.  The plastic ball in the tube can make the ink level look a little bit deceiving.

Note the erased line!

     Also, don't forget to pick up a pack of these pens shown on the left.  The white end erases the ink that you buy for fountain pens, and the blue end allows you to write over the erased area (take that terrible 5th grade erasable pens!).  These are extraordinarily useful, particularly for note-taking, and can be found in packs of 2-4 for about 1 Euro (don't spend any more on them, because they are all exactly the same).  Happy Sunday!

Proverb of the Day:

Currywurst ketchup makes leftovers taste better.  Its like Tabasco!

*The background music is from a personal music project in progress.