Let's start a conversation on pen reliablity.

[fountainpenkid]

This is a topic I've been exploring practically since day one of my involvement in this hobby. What I've found is that even pens specifically engineered to consistently write at first touch and never leak (the Parker "51", for example) can and will leave ink on your hands from time to time even after no apparent mistreatment. The spectrum of reliability seems to be highly variable, even when excluding differences in physical treatment of the pen. My question is, what patterns or outcomes in pen reliability can be identified and subsequently verified by others' experiences? Some more general patterns are already widely observed and agreed upon--thin barreled pens with a large in-barrel ink chamber tend to burp or leak when the ink is low because of the heat-expansion of air inside, pens with low surface area feeds tend to leak more from bumping around and burp more when low on ink...etc--but it seems more specific discussions rarely come up. I have observed the performance of my Nizolli Aurora 88 vary hugely from winter to summer, for instance. In the summer, it rarely leaves any ink on the end of the hood even after heavy pocket use and prolonged exposure to body heat, but in the winter, it burps and leaks even with the lightest use, making it unusable as anything but a desk pen. Has anyone else observed this? Any ideas as to why it happens? (I am thinking the hard rubber expands and fits more snugly with the inside of the hood, thus providing more surface area, but it could also have to do with the properties of the materials themselves changing, the ink evaporating...etc.)

Thanks,

[naimitsu]

This would be an interesting conversation... but for the most part, I've noticed that it is actually the ink that is a more significant factor of how well a pen works, though the overall construction of the pen also affects how you need to treat your pens.

I get nib creap more often with Pilot Iroshizuku inks, and definitely more noticable with the oranges.
Noodler's, Private Reserve, and Organics Studio have been the most consistent offender of hard starts.
J. Herbin regular line inks seem looser than some others, so it tends to be overly wet out of medium to wet writers.

However, there are two specific pen company offenders that are at my house.

My Monteverde Napa has a stupid construction snaffu on the cap behind the clip. It does not have a blind cap and there is a 1mmx7mm hole that the clip slots in to be retained by a screw on the interior of the cap. This dries out the nib horribly because it's basically like not capping the darn thing! Their nib and feed quality is questionable. Half the time they're fine, the other half there is something wrong with either the feed or nib or both. We've had to separate the factory tines on a 1.1mm stub on their Invincia. The Impressa with the same nib was a fantastic writer. The nib was crap on both Napas I've had (I had sent it in for repair for a broken barrel and I got a new pen in return) and required a lot of work.
Strangely enough, they also own the modern Conklin company and the Stylograph I got with a 1.1mm stub is a superb wet writer. This is the one that had issues with the J. Herbin inks since I didn't like the result of a loose ink through a wet nib.

The other offender is the Franklin-Christoph 02 Intrinsic. On their website, it states that the pen can be used as an eyedropper, but even after following the steps suggested to seal the threads, it still leaked from between the screw-in nib unit and section (sorry if the terms are wrong... I'm very bad at remembering what things are called). If that wasn't bad enough, the cap doesn't seem to seal well enough and dries out the nib. We need to take a closer look at the thread pitch and the components of the cap to see if there's anything we can do to tighten the seal. On the other hand, my 27 Collegia is a fantastically wet and consistent writer. It was the pen I used to check out an ink brand as it is also something of a princess nib. If the ink writes dry, it turns the pen into a skippy monster. If the ink is too loose, it puts too much ink on the paper to create letter shaped pools.

Every Pilot I've tried works flawlessly right out of the box, and my Vanishing Point is another one I use to check how well an ink writes. It squeaks unpleasantly when the ink writes too dry, but I've been noticing a fair amount of nib creap with it, though I wonder if it is the Diamine Autumn Oak I have in the converter. The Metropolitans I've written with are good from the get-go. Even the Preppy is a good, wet writer with no flaws. The set of Parallels I have are fun and require almost no effort to turn into an eyedroper. The only time I have had issues with it is when I'm trying to write with the 6mm nib and failing miserably at keeping the whole width down! These are the best for troublesom inks IMO, though not very good for daily writing if you can't deal with the 1.5mm nib, which is the smallest one of the four.

Montblanc is known for having inconsistent nib finishing quality, since it is done by hand. The Brahms I have wrote flawlessly from the start, though the guy at Paradise Pens had me write with it as soon as we opened the box to make sure that it writes without issue. The construction feels solid and the piston mechanism is both easy to turn and securely tight when filled. My only complaint is how easily their celluloid picks up wear. It resides in its own soft interior bag and I can see nano-scratches that weren't there when I purchased it. It's not obvious, but when you write with it everyday and have it in hand with a light shining on it, it is noticable.

All 3 TWSBI nibs I have (EF, F, & 1.5mm) are all relatively dry writers and the construction the 580's I have and a friend's Mini are excellent, especially for the price point.

I personally do not like the way the Pelikan nibs feel in the 400NN and Northern Lights LE, but the Pelikano Junior was a good stiff writer. The construction of all three seem good to me, though I do tend to treat the 400NN gentler since it is an older pen

Platinums I'm in limbo with. The Plaisir was an OK writer. Nothing overly "Whoo-hoo" about it, though it is a pain in the arse to clean as the feed fins are visible and getting ink clean out is a long, arduous process... and then to get the water out, you have no choice but to let it air dry for days! The 3776 is a much nicer pen (which is kind of a duh, but I've heard of expensive pens writing like crap before), but the nib doesn't do anything for me. It simply writes an brings no pleasure to the endeavor.

I can't comment on my Sailor 1911 regarding the nib as it was purchased used and I think the nib was sprung when I received it... so that needs to go out for fixing. The Pro Gear on the other hand is a good, solid writer. Not something I would find myself reaching for, but that's OK. It's not my pen ;) Can't complain about the overall construction. Even with a chip in the cap, the 1911 seals just fine and aside from the nib itself, I haven't had an issue with it.

I have an Esterbrook SJ that writes fairly well, but the 2048 I have in it is stiffer than anticipated and the nib loves digging furrows into the paper, though that might be my fault as I'm not as well versed with the flex nibs as I am with the others.

The Waterman 52 1/2 is as finicky as a dip nib. Put any pressure on the up stroke and it splatters all over the place. It's an ok writer for me, but I've come to the conclusion that I'm not a vintage pen person.

And I can go on... but I think I may have overshared here!

[jar]

When I was young I got ink on my hands but I think it's been a long, long time since I've had that happen except when actually working on a pen. My experience it that almost all leaks are related to the user, not the pen.

[migo984]

When I was young I got ink on my hands but I think it's been a long, long time since I've had that happen except when actually working on a pen. My experience it that almost all leaks are related to the user, not the pen.

I do tend to agree with you Jar. The only times I've ever got ink on my hands, when actually using a pen, is when I failed to seat a convertor properly after filling, and when I forgot to properly clean the badly located threads on a section, again after filling. Both user error. And I have a very eclectic mix of pens - both by brand and age.

In terms of overall reliability, every brand/model will inevitably have some duds; every type of pen will have failures from time to time. Some are just poorly designed. It's the nature of the beast.

[tandaina]

I get ink on my hands all the time. Maybe I'm just messy, I also use a lot of eyedroppers, pistons, etc. ;)

I find that *any* pen can seep ink into the cap, any of them. So far the only pen I've never had get ink on my hands is my Vanishing Point. But there's no cap involved so that makes sense. Every other pen, from my Nakaya to my cheapest pen is capable of leaking. Some leak no matter what. Seriously, had pens that are in perfectly normal working order wick ink into the cap while sitting on a pen rest on my desk. How? Physics. The desk is below a window, the curtains were open, the sun heated up the pen and suddenly you've got ink in the cap.

These things just happen, that's why I keep a towel around. With proper maintenance and handling most of my pens *don't* leak. But they all have the potential. Except maybe the VP (it could leak all over the nib unit inside the pen, but your fingers would stay clean! So there's another plus for the Vanishing Point.)

Actually now that I think about it my 3776 have never, ever leaked either. This may be because of their slip and seal cap technology, or just dumb luck.

[VertOlive]

My 3 Mini TWSBIs all seem to leak a bit. I experience it as sort of endearing, like my English Bulldog's drooling...

[inklord]

When I was young I got ink on my hands but I think it's been a long, long time since I've had that happen except when actually working on a pen. My experience it that almost all leaks are related to the user, not the pen.
Absolutely! Except for a few instances with an apparently defective pen (cracked body, faulty piston seal etc.) all leaks I encountered were of the 'oh my gosh, should have anticipated that' kind. Most pens with internal reservoirs will leak if stored in a cool place, then taken out for a ride in a hot car, put on a sunny windowsill etc. Any leak can be sealed with proper means; and yes, air expands with heat, pressure drops etc. So: common sense can prevent most of these inky incidents.

Some effects I have learned to live with: like really tighten down on those Franklin-Christoph block threads (which I love!), and sometimes evaporation and subsequent condensation inside a really tight cap will lead to the first stroke with my Lamy 2000's being weak and watery if they've been through a lot of heating/cooling cycles.

Otherwise most brands have occasional 'bad ones' - a Pilot Stargazer once almost drove me nuts with its dry and scratchy nib, until I learned how to adjust that (thanks, SBRE Brown!); now that little rascal is one of my favorite writers, and consistently so.

I believe our obsession with the perfect pen without a fault, ever, is based on our unwillingness to take into consideration the physical limitations of this writing instrument, and handling it accordingly. After all, even pencils need to be sharpened now and then, or they will quit working!

[mhosea]

Yeah, I wish I could swing it so that the ink that gets on my hands is usually the pen's fault. Maybe I'm just not qualified to comment on this matter because I tinker so much.

Anyway, Parker 51's behave rather differently depending on their hood adjustment and whether or not the recommended filling procedure is used. Any pen that uses the barrel as an ink reservoir (including the 51 vacumatic) is going to have to deal with air being forced up through the feed from time to time, and that tends to be pushing ink in front of it. For "reliability" in the sense of not burping ink look for an insulated ink supply and a feed with lots of fin storage. But you still may want to take the precaution of looking at the feed from time to time when it is filled to see if it is saturated with ink. If it is, wick it out with a paper napkin or some such.

Whether it writes when the nib is first touched to the paper is almost always an adjustment issue. Recently I had to work very, very hard on a Waterman L'Etalon to understand and fix all of its start-up and flow issues. I can easily understand somebody just giving up and declaring it a lost cause, but the principles are such that the damned thing should work, and I wasn't willing to give up until it did. At first the initial strokes fell dry, but now it always writes on the first stroke. The principle issues it had in this regard had to do with the gap between the nib and feed being too large and inadequate air-ink interchange. Once those problems were solved, it performed perfectly.

[tamiya]

My 3 Mini TWSBIs all seem to leak a bit. I experience it as sort of endearing, like my English Bulldog's drooling...

They're just marking their territory!

Can't help either on dog's drooling :)

[catbert]

My longest-serving pen, a Parker 75, sometimes stains my middle finger with ink wicking between the section and the metal collar. I don’t regard this as a defect so much as a mark of familiarity - as if to say, ‘I’m back.’

My Parker 51 Special is unpleasant to use with drier inks, my LUS 53B is unfeasibly wet unless I give it drier inks, my Aurora 88 threatens to burp when it gets near empty, etc.

Pretty much all my pens are reliable in the sense that they usually write first time and don’t leak in normal use. The only time I get inky hands is if I take pens apart - which is not often.

I’m not sure I would want ‘reliable’ to mean they all write the same way or with the same results. It’s the little quirks that give them character.

[fountainpenkid]

Have any others experienced the phenomenon with hard rubber pens I mentioned in the first post?

[catbert]

The only (partially) hard rubber pen I have is a Nizzoli 88, which threatens to burp when near-empty in the expected way. I have not (yet) observed this effect in relation to changes in ambient air temperature. My guess would be it has something to do with greater temperature differential between the pen and your hand in winter.

[fountainpenkid]

The only (partially) hard rubber pen I have is a Nizzoli 88, which threatens to burp when near-empty in the expected way. I have not (yet) observed this effect in relation to changes in ambient air temperature. My guess would be it has something to do with greater temperature differential between the pen and your hand in winter.

I think not, as the temperature conditions the pen was being used in were about the same year round. What changed was the humidity. I'd still love to hear from others about this, however. I am not sure that I have observed the same seasonal performance differential among other pens with barrel reservoirs (Parker Vacumatics...etc.), which has been leading me to think the explanation lies in the material itself.

[catbert]

I guess I read this and assumed you were talking about changes in temperature. :)


I have observed the performance of my Nizolli Aurora 88 vary hugely from winter to summer, for instance. In the summer, it rarely leaves any ink on the end of the hood even after heavy pocket use and prolonged exposure to body heat, but in the winter, it burps and leaks even with the lightest use, making it unusable as anything but a desk pen. Has anyone else observed this? Any ideas as to why it happens? (I am thinking the hard rubber expands and fits more snugly with the inside of the hood, thus providing more surface area, but it could also have to do with the properties of the materials themselves changing, the ink evaporating...etc.)

Re humidity: High humidity influences my perception of temperature (hot feels hotter, cold feels colder). Reduced evaporation is a factor. If my pens are similarly affected by humidity, the effect has not been as noticeable as (say) paper curling up or ink taking longer to dry.

As you say, it would be interesting to hear what others have observed.