A Massive, General-Purpose Welcome to New Members (mostly of the FPN diaspora...)

[Jon Szanto]

Just a little bump here, to let any other newcomers know that they are welcome... to FPG Forums!

Is that Jack Benny,Warren Buffett or Alan Greenspan doing a jig?

The answer would be D: Jack Benny dancing a kołomyjka in 5/4.

[KrazyIvan]

Just a little bump here, to let any other newcomers know that they are welcome... to FPG Forums!

Is that Jack Benny,Warren Buffett or Alan Greenspan doing a jig?

The answer would be D: Jack Benny dancing a kołomyjka in 5/4.

Ha! I always thought it was Drew Carey.

[barrybilger]

I've been in to fountain pens for 20+ years but only serious for the last two. But I am brand new to blog/post/forum/things. Sorry. Too old. I've been poking around looking for what I thought would be a simple answer to a simple question but it would appear that I am the only person in the world with this particular problem. I have not one but several pens that just demand that I twist the piston or they simply stamp their feet and will not deliver ink. The latest is my TWSBI 580. I thought that if I decided to pay more than $27.50 for a pen that that problem would vanish. Nope. I have hacked my Picassos and my Jinhaos and others of that ilk with varying degrees of success but before I start to hack what I consider to be an expensive pen, (it's relative) I want to know what' I'm doing. What exactly is the problem for which twisting the piston repeatedly is the symptom? Reasonably, it would seem that it would be insufficient flow of ink. Yes, I write fast, but not, I wouldn't think, all that fast. I clean them. Same deal. I change inks. Same deal. I work on the nib. Same deal. Hacking seems to help some but I don't want to have a pen that piddles all over the paper and it's kind of hard to put that stuff back in there after you saw it out. Thank you for any direction/instruction/guidance/pity you can spare.

[Greg Minuskin]

Welcome all from the FPN!

You will find the folks here at the FP Geeks really fun, and informative too! No big egos either, and everyone is friendly. You don't get laughed at, or put on suspension for some little thing that happens, like posting on the wrong forum, like I did twice at the FPN.

Here, you are free to express your thoughts on all sorts of pens, and inks too!

If there is something I can do for you, please let me know!

Greg Minuskin
www.gregminuskin.com
greg@gregminuskin.com

[welch]

I've been in to fountain pens for 20+ years but only serious for the last two. But I am brand new to blog/post/forum/things. Sorry. Too old. I've been poking around looking for what I thought would be a simple answer to a simple question but it would appear that I am the only person in the world with this particular problem. I have not one but several pens that just demand that I twist the piston or they simply stamp their feet and will not deliver ink. The latest is my TWSBI 580. I thought that if I decided to pay more than $27.50 for a pen that that problem would vanish. Nope. I have hacked my Picassos and my Jinhaos and others of that ilk with varying degrees of success but before I start to hack what I consider to be an expensive pen, (it's relative) I want to know what' I'm doing. What exactly is the problem for which twisting the piston repeatedly is the symptom? Reasonably, it would seem that it would be insufficient flow of ink. Yes, I write fast, but not, I wouldn't think, all that fast. I clean them. Same deal. I change inks. Same deal. I work on the nib. Same deal. Hacking seems to help some but I don't want to have a pen that piddles all over the paper and it's kind of hard to put that stuff back in there after you saw it out. Thank you for any direction/instruction/guidance/pity you can spare.

(1) Obvious suggestion: try asking this question in the repair forum, where repair experts are more likely to see it.

(2) You have a problem with a non-obvious solution, which might be why no-one has tried to answer here. I'm just a humble FP user who wandered past. You say this happens with other pens? I've had a Pelikan run spotty when using a mid-50s "KM" nib. That was a medium "ball" nib, designed for people who rotate their wrist as they write. The KM should write nicely around a 180 degree arc where a normal nib stutters when I twist the nib so far that I'm writing on the right side of the right-hand tine. I got the KM because I have written so long with a ballpoint and a pencil that my hand has forgotten to raise itself from paper. Long ago, I was taught to write with my wrist rather than my fingers -- that was normal in the late '50s. The KM was supposed to roll, write from its side...but I find that it runs out of ink when I write quickly. I stop and the KM inks up. Happens when the KM is in a Pelikan 140 or in a modern M600; both pens keep up when they have a normal nib (current Pelikan 150 steel or 600 gold nib)

- If you pause, does ink return to the nib?

- Maybe you twist your wrist, as I do? Do you find yourself leaning clockwise, on the right tine?

- What size nib? Chinese pens run narrow. I would be less suprised if a broad nib sometimes ran low on ink...a broader nib should lay down more ink. But a medium-to-fine nib? Hmmm. Maybe you are twisting off of the "sweet spot"? A fine nib will have a smaller sweet spot, so...

- Have you tried a Lamy Safari? It's inexpensive and as reliable as can be. Maybe a medium nib. Use it as a test against the TWSBI.

[kyocoin]

Just a little bump here, to let any other newcomers know that they are welcome... to FPG Forums!

Is that Jack Benny,Warren Buffett or Alan Greenspan doing a jig?


John

WoW, That dance is quite nice.


Kyo Nakamura

[GING GING]

Hola from the sunny, humid rainy dry and overwhelmingly hot state of florida. I am very happy to be apart of this amazing community. I know just enough about fountain pens to be dangerous. I have a nice handful of pens now and I hope to keep collecting them. I don't think you can have too many

[writingrav]

Hola from the sunny, humid rainy dry and overwhelmingly hot state of florida. I am very happy to be apart of this amazing community. I know just enough about fountain pens to be dangerous. I have a nice handful of pens now and I hope to keep collecting them. I don't think you can have too many

Welcome to the madness. Indulge and enjoy!

[GING GING]

Hola from the sunny, humid rainy dry and overwhelmingly hot state of florida. I am very happy to be apart of this amazing community. I know just enough about fountain pens to be dangerous. I have a nice handful of pens now and I hope to keep collecting them. I don't think you can have too many

I'm sorry I put this in the wrong place

[Alexcat7]

Just joined, thank you for the welcome, looking forward to being here
Alex in Scotland

[kpeon]

Thank you! Hope to learn some things and be able to restore some pens.. Right now I have a matador click with a broken nib.

[Anne]

Thank you! Hope to learn some things and be able to restore some pens.. Right now I have a matador click with a broken nib.

Welcome and good luck with your pens. You came to the right place to learn and I hope someone can help you with your Matador! If at the very least, maybe you can find a nibmeister to fix it.


Edit: You should do a search on this forum with the name of your pen. I found a few threads, specifically one by our member Jeph. In his thread, he has a picture of the nib that is removed from the pen. It seems to be threaded.
You will need his or someone elses expertise, because you will want to know how to properly remove it. I am not sure if it is held in with shellac or not. ????

[schweitzerp]

Hello newbies! Welcome to the coolest forum around :P

[Blue Note]

I'm very pleased to have found this forum. I find it to be very civil and friendly. Thank you, Jon, for the warm welcome. I will start contributing as I become familiar with the site. Cheers.

[Anne]

Hello and Welcome Blue Note! We have good people here - I hope you have fun!

[JRain]

I'm looking forward to diving in here! Thanks for having me!

[jar]

I'm looking forward to diving in here! Thanks for having me!

Welcome home.

[Anne]

Welcome JRain!

[sharmon202]

Welcome

[amro]

Good evening (f you're in this part of the world!).

I have had my account for some time but have been to shy too come forward. I thought it was about time to change this.

I hope you're all well. I have been using fountain pens since childhood and never realised that one could find others with the same interest. I love stationery and when I received the keys to the stationery cupboard - it was the greatest moment in my life!

Idn't have a collection as such - just a few cheapsih fountain pens. I did have a Montablanc 149 but lost it twice .. And t did nothing but leak.

I dn't really understand collecting different colours .. Maybe this will change. <smiley emoticon>

Thank you

Amro