Ink for Fountain Pens

The ink used for fountain pens is the highest quality of ink that can be obtained for one's writing needs. They are usually available in a range of colors starting from the common blue, black, and red to green, pink and violet among others. Fountain pen ink is usually water-based with dyes and has a mix of other chemicals that are required for its proper function. Dyes are added to the basic ink to create specific colors. The blend of chemicals is usually decided upon by the manufacturer so that the ink has an appropriate amount of surface tension, flow and drying time. However, some companies use common inks and it is only the bottles which separate one manufacturer from the other.

Indian or drafting inks should be avoided to prevent damage to the pen. Good quality ink is extremely essential for maintaining the quality of the nib. Good quality ink usually prevents the nib from corroding as it ensures smooth writing. The chemical mix in inks usually creates the appropriate surface tension or viscosity which controls the nibs functioning.

Fountain pen ink usually flows smoothly without leaving any gaps, light spots or dark spots. Most of the good ink manufacturing companies produce quick drying and fade resistant ink that are also water resistant. The only problem is that the ink usually dries up even when not in use from the ink bottles as they have a quick drying agent in them. Antibacterial additions are usually included in most inks so that the ink does not muck up the interiors of the pen. Fountain pen inks are usually nominally priced.

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Discover How To Find The Best Fountain Pen On The Planet!

The Fountain Pen

A fountain pen is a pen that has a reservoir of water-based ink. Like something forbidden, has the thought of owning a fountain pen left you feeling like you were out of your league? Captivated by the art of writing, the type of pencil or pen you use makes a tremendous impact on your penmanship. Are you intrigued by the classic elegance of artistic, well engineered fountain pens that can seduce, as well as intimidate you at the same time?

Today the fountain pen is not used as much anymore with the creation of the Bic pen and the pens that come with ink in them and when they run out, you simply throw them away and use another. It was not until the early 1920s that fountain pen improvements not only gained in popularity but also in reliability.

The first mention of fountain pen can be traced to the Egyptians. If you take good care of your fountain pen, it will last you a lifetime.

There are two techniques that allowed fountain pens to be self-sufficient: The lever filler and the button filler. If travelling by plane, it is a general rule to follow with fountain pens to fill or empty them completely and keep them stored in vertical position with the point upward.

When not using the pen, keep it stored vertically with point upward to prevent ink from settling in and clogging the feed. When ink doesn?t flow properly, the gap between the tines should be checked and cleaned with a razor blade. Pen cases are available in the shape of an easel, upright-standing frames, cheroot box-like cases with transparent glass tops, cups and many more.

Pen cases are made of wood, leather, metal and glass with detailed attention to aesthetics. Fountain Pen innovators created filling systems that gave optimum performance in their reservoir designs. International cartridges of all makes can be used in some fountain pens, while others accept only cartridges of their own brand.

The progression of writing apparatuses has taken a profound leap of success since the quill pen. The eyedropper filler ink pens have the maximum capacity to hold ink, with the least capacity attributed to the piston refills pens.

Perfect Gift: Wood Fountain Pens

Whenever there rises the need for a gift, many of us start thinking of the best present. However, our usual actions are limited to "by something in a corner shop" or "do something yourself". If you want to really stand out from the crowd and make a memorable gift that will last for years never losing in price, how about a unique wood fountain pen?

The decent majority of experienced pen collectors, passionate amateur lovers of fine writing instruments and all other "in-the-know" can easily draw a solid distinguishing line between professionally manufactured, mass-produces, mechanically engraved and encrusted writing instruments, and hand-crafted wood fountain pens. The latter items are pure gems in the eyes of connoisseurs treasuring the delicate uniqueness of each of the crafted pens.

When you buy a pen from a world-renowned manufacturer like Mont Blanc or Parker, you can't really expect to get a unique piece of art. With wood fountain pens crafted by skilled amateurs it is a whole lot different story.

You can communicate directly with the craftsman ? talk face-to-face, discussing the chores and every aspect of final design. You can order the material, the type of wood, the nib, discuss texture and size, choose the filling mechanism (piston of converter), participate in designing the gift box, etc. That is, your input is significant at every stage of crafting the wood pen. And you are in control of every step, from developing the idea into the final piece of art to presenting it to someone you care for. With the help of a skilled craftsman who "feels" the wood and truly treasures the art of writing, you can materialize just about every idea, turn your vision of a dream fountain pen into reality!

If you choose a wood fountain pen as a gift to someone loved, a friend or a colleague, you may be 100% sure that your present will be like no one else's. It is just impossible to carve two identical pens from wood -- at least the texture pattern will bi different on each piece.

Yet another great thing about personalized wood fountain pens is that people tend to care more for such fine writing instruments because of the uniqueness the latter possess. Every such pen intensifies the emotional ties, accentuates the personal attitude, signify the strong friendship or respect, and lets everyone stand out from the crowd.

With the help of World Wide Web, it is easy to find an experienced craftsman to do the job. Of course you should plan your order well in advance ? a wood fountain pen can't be made in a hurry, it is a living material that needs special conditions to be prepared for crafting process. So if you think of presenting someone with a memorable gift, I suggest that you consider ordering a wood fountain pen.

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Get more information on wood fountain pens and ordering options.

Kelly Wright is collecting vintage and fountain pens since 2003. She writes articles about collecting, identifying, and maintaining fine writing instruments, helping newbie collectors to avoid annoying mistakes. Visit her pen blog for reviews of popular fountain pen models.

Top 5 Reasons To Buy A Fountain Pen

The manufacturers of fountain pens apparently have not seen such increase in sales since the year Lewis Waterman made the 3 key inventions that allowed the mass-production of quality writing instruments. While ballpoint and rollerball pens were reported to kill the market of fountain pens, and hi-tech presented by email and cell-phones was to eliminate writing as activity, something unpredicted happened - and changed the world of writing instruments. I believe this can be explained by several factors.

First, writing made a man, as many of us were taught at school. No technology can replace the art of writing and diminish the value of habit. Spell-checkers in Word make us rely on automatic scripts which, as we all know, cannot guess our thoughts. You never can trust a spell-checker to make your article grammatically correct, and human reviewing is always necessary, be it a term paper, an agreement, or some internal company policy. Typing involves making more errors than writing with a pen, that's for sure.

Second, email servers for conveying information, and not empathy. Writing involves much of emotional component, changing the style, pressure on the paper, and handwriting. A hand-written letter tells the reader a lot about the writer, while typed email is a pure text lacking soul.

Finally, fountain pens are a tradition - and this is something we badly need in the unstable world. We all lack connections with the past. Gadgets we use lack the spirit, lack humanity, and are considered as devices only. You can't really express your personality, your attitude towards assets and values with an iPod, which is just about in everyone's pocket. So fountain pens have seen the second birth, so to say. Enthusiasts started the wave, collectors supported it, and then ordinary white-collars joined the craze.

So why do you need a fountain pens?

Here's a short list of reasons that might urge you to have a look at reviews of different brands.

1. Fountain pens are easier to writer with than rollerbals and ballpoints. Thanks to construction and special mechanism, fountain pens do not need additional pressure on part of a writer. The ink literally flows onto the paper itself.

2. If gold is best investment of money, then fountain pens are sure to hold the spot among five most reliable investments. While cars are too huge to keep and normally drop in prices quickly, fountain pens are often made in limited quantities. If you ever got a slight interest in Mont Blanc Limited Editions, then you might know that these fountain pens become rare too fast, and their price tag literally sky rockets. If you buy a pen for $300, a couple of years later you can sell it for $500. Every broker will tell you that this ain't that bad :-)

3. Fountain pens reflect personality thanks to all kinds of models, manufacturers, filling mechanisms, etc. The world of fountain pens probably is way more diverse than the world of computer games.

4. If you care about you health, a fountain pen can help you. Yes! Doctors say that muscles involved in holding a fountain pen release tension on heart. Besides, people with some diseases like arthritis have difficulties in writing with ballpoints, but fountain pens help to alleviate the pain.

5. Collecting fountain pens is a great hobby, many people find it to be a great fun. There are online communities with thousands of members enjoying communication and sharing experience, posting reviews, solving repair troubles. Every year Pen Shows take place in cities all over the world, like those in Chicago and London. These are spectacular events where every fountain pen lover can look at and feel almost any pen displayed, and receive most accurate information about all aspects of collecting fountain pens.

So owning a fountain pens is something you might really enjoy for the rest of your life, and your children and grandchildren will have s chance to inherit the asset that never looses in price - your fountain pens.

Head over to reviews of fountain pens to choose the manufacturer and model that appeals to you heart. Or simply browse the educating articles to learn more about the pleasure related to owning fountain pens!
Alberta Glamerheim is a collector of fountain pens who writes about pen manufacturers, types of pens, shares her experience, gives advice on repair and maintenance of fountain pens, and unveils the truth behind ground-breaking innovations which make people literate writers.
A section on wood fountain pens will definitely make thrill those of you who chase the uniqueness in every aspect of life.

Fountain Pen Collecting for Beginners

Fountain pen collecting is a hobby enjoyed by people all over the world. This hobby began almost as soon the first fountain pen was made. Once people started writing with this fine writing instruments, people immediately saw the beauty that these fine pens possessed and fountain pen collecting began.

Why do people love to collection fountain pens? First, as more and more people have white collar jobs getting to writing with a fine writing instrument makes writing at work special. The feel that people get when you write with a fine fountain pen changes the writing experience. Writing with a fountain pen makes people feel like an artist.

For me, I love their aesthetic beauty. The craftsmanship of a handmade fountain pen, the beautiful cases and beautiful tips are masterpieces to me.

Beginners Tips

The first thing that beginner pen collectors have to understand is that scarcity creates value. When people begin collecting ballpoint pens or fountain pens, too often they just look at the aesthetics of the pen. While aesthetics are important, scarcity drives value.

The second thing to understand about fountain pen collecting is that typical older, vintage fountain pens are worth more than newer pens. People love holding a part of history. Vintage fountain pens can tell an unbelievable history lesson. What was going on in the world when that pen was being used? Who wrote with that fountain pen?

The third thing that you need to understand is the most stores do not sell vintage pens. In order to buy vintage pens you need to buy from collectors, online stores, or online auctions. However, if you are buying a new fountain pen, just look for good prices. You can find great prices at online stores and at the Popular Pens store linked below.

Find a great selection of fountain pens for sale at Popular Pens. Popular Pens has low prices on Mont Blanc Fountain Pens, Cross Fountain Pens, and many more popular brands like Dunhill.

Tips to Unclog a Sheaffer Fountain Pen

Each Sheaffer fountain pen, as almost any fine writing instrument using ink, can get clogged. The ink flow can be stopped by two main factors: improper care and bad ink.

Cases of improper fountain pen care include, for example, keeping the writing instrument in the wrong position. When not used for some time (over several hours), a pen should be put in uphold position, the nib up. Otherwise the inks may get stuck in the residue and over the time clog the filling mechanism. A fountain pen can be damaged by using bad ink for filling and writing. No pen-o-phil in the world will ever recommend waterproof or Indian ink for fountain pens! It is like one of the commandments for any pen lover. Unless you want to make serious damage to your precious pen, never use waterproof or Indian inks in it.

There are special inks aimed just at using in fountain pens. Sheaffer itself produces nice ink of many colors, and what could be better of using original Sheaffer ink in Sheaffer fountain pens? It gives you an absolute guarantee that no damage to the pen will ever occur. Of course there are superb inks made by Mont Blanc and Waterman, or you may find Noodler's to be what you really like most of all inks. I personally use Noodler's in my Sheaffer Agio Limited Edition.

With the above said, I am going to describe some steps that will help you to unclog a Sheaffer fountain pen.

Don't get nervous and stay away from panic. It's not Doomsday. Avoid excessive shaking or other physical measures - remember, that your writing instrument most probably cost well over $100. It is that kind of things that need special care - always.

If you just don't know what to do or feel totally uncomfortable at the idea of screwing things up, it is a good idea to bring the pen to a pen shop (if there's one in your area). For about $20, they will clean the pen out and return it back to you in perfect condition. Cleaning may take up to one day, so probably you won't get your pen back the day you bring it.

However, there's a good chance you can unclog Sheaffer's pen at home conditions. If you have any high soluble ink at hand, like Sheaffer Skrip, you may try to clean the pen with it. Such inks are reported to clean the clogged residues of ink.

But in most cases it is not enough, and you have to use some chemicals for proper cleaning. Usually it is a mixture of ammonia and water (1 part of ammonia, 10 parts of water). Use a converter, or a piston from your fountain pen to fill the nib section with the solution, drop it and leave it in the mixture overnight. Be sure to flush it with water after it's dried. Gently blow water through the nib section toward a nib to remove the softened ink residue. Try not to use more than 5 parts of ammonia because it can seriously damage the precious writing instrument. Normally ammonia:water as 5:10 is used in most serious cases with stubborn clogging which happens quite rarely.

By the way, the last method is exactly what pen shops use to unclog all fountain pens, not just those bearing Sheaffer's company logo.

Alberta Glamerheim is a pen collector writing articles about fountain pen care and collecting. More tips on unclogging a Sheaffer fountain pen can be found on her blog.

The History Of Fountain Pens Part One-The Evolution Of The Pen-From Stone To Feather

The first primitive type of paper were clay tablets that were engraved with the help of a straw, the forerunner of the pen, cut diagonally in such a way to leave a mark on the soft, wet surface of the clay that in a second phase would then be dried so that the lines previously engraved would become imprinted.

Overlooking this interesting part of our past, the true history of the pen begins with the invention of the paper made from papyrus thanks to the skilled Egyptian people. This introduction generated a significant change which was dictated from the intrinsic characteristics of the papyrus paper that demanded ink in order to leave legible marks, and lines. The Egyptian scribes learned to fabricate red and black ink by mixing soot and oxidized iron with water and glue. In order to write with this tenacious, yet elementary ink, the scribe would submerge the point of a reed that by capillary action was able to absorb a small quantity of ink, enough to allow several characters to be written. This action was then repeated numerous times until the scribe completed his work: a task that followed writing through history until the end of the 19th century.

The evolution of the pen was a direct result of the development of the accessories of writing: from utilizing papyrus to parchment, and finally to the paper that we are familiar with today. The first writing instrument with a point similar to a nib, made from a papyrus stem, was created during the antique Greek civilization. This pen with a nib was constructed by first drying a papyrus stem and then cutting it on one side in such a way that the point (a flute?s mouth) results split in two from one opening so that the pen obtained had a better result in respect to that of the reed used by the Egyptians, even though it?s correct use required much practice with the instrument.

With the introduction of parchment paper, the goose feather pen surpassed that of the reed (straw) given it?s strength and flexibility. From the 16th century, this kind of writing instrument was commonly used thanks also to the introduction of paper. The feather that became individualized as the most suitable for writing was the most external one of the right wing of the bird, that is then naturally turned to embrace the hand of who holds it. The process of making the goose feather pen that was introduced by the Dutch was composed of two phases: during the first phase, the feather was buried for a short time under a layer of fine and very warm sand in order to dry it?s inner and external membrane; and then, it was immersed in a boiling solution of alum or nitric acid to strengthen the feather for future use.

Simone, a staff writer of http:http://www.penemporium.com , The Stipula pens direct online shop