5 Most Common Fountain Pen Mistakes!

If you're thinking about getting your first fountain pen or if you got one as a gift for the holidays, here are some common mistakes we see and hear about all the time in-store! Don't feel too bad if you're guilty of these though because most of us here only know about these from learning the hard way and just because you've done one or two of these does NOT mean your fountain pen is ruined. Hope this video helps you as you enter the super fun world of fountain pens and ink :) Thanks for watching!

00:11 Intro
01:04 Writing with the nib inverted
04:19 Writing with too much pressure
07:41 Using the wrong kind of ink
10:30 Dropping the pen
12:03 Letting your pen dry out
14:08 Summary

[yuklimka]

Great video. Another mistake your pen won't recover from is is mistaking a screw cap for a snap cap and yanking it off resulting in ruined threads. Always ask first or assume it's a screw cap as your default.

[moonembracethesun]

Was born and raise in UK. I grew up using fountain pens in grammar to university. Until we move to Amercia. And I was told to use ball Point pens . For work . But for personal use . I still use fountain pens .

[ladyamalthea]

I'm a couple of weeks into my fountain pen journey and something I've never noticed I do while writing is rotate my pen. I don’t know if this is because I'm left handed or if I've spent my life until now with non fountain pens. I'm so glad your channel was recommended to me, I love it!

[LewisLittle]

I used a fountain pen in school back in the 1970s and early 80s, but I never did after school. Until last year, I started journalling and decided I wanted a cheap fountain pen to write with. My big mistake? Watching Youtube reviews about fountain pens, which is why I now have 25 of them, in less than 12 months! Seriously though, I love them all; none of them are particularly expensive and it brings joy to my journalling and drawing.

[krystal]

This was SO helpful, especially the pressure one. I had NO clue not to push down. Thank you!

[Alexis-sncf]

I bought a stainless steel Lamy 2000, and the very first day I used it at work, I accidentally dropped it. It landed nib-first onto the carpet and was stuck in the carpet upright. I almost cried until I recovered it to find it was totally fine, thanks to the hooded nib design. I stopped leaving my pens un-capped after that.

[jessplansandwrites]

LOL I’ve written with fountain pens since 2nd grade of elementary school (it’s still mandatory to write with them in the German school system) and I definitely test out if a fountain pen writes with the nib backwards (the Pelikan L pen I had in elementary school wrote beautifully like this, for example) and I deliberately put shimmering and sheening inks in F and EF pens. 😂 Lamy Safari EF does fine with shimmer inks from Diamine, for example. If anything clogs anyway, I just clean out the nib thoroughly. Oh, and the aforementioned Pelikan pen has suffered three nib casualties during 12 years of German school system. It just happens that it will fall headfirst on the linoleum floor and GET STUCK IN IT if you use it at school. I went to the shop where I had bought the pen and had the nib replaced for a few euros — problem solved! 😂 (Granted, I’d be a lot more bothered if this happened to one of my more expensive pens now.)

[laurameszaros]

I'm from a place and a generation where fountain pen use was compulsory from the first year of elementary school, so I've always enjoyed them, and only used ballpens or even rollerballs, which I find a poor second choice, when absolutely necessary. Unfortunately fountain pens are no longer commonplace. I wish more people would discover their wonderful qualities. Thanks for making a good beginners video.

[joenellrebustillo]

Love all of your videos. Please make videos related to modern flex nibs that you have and invite a calligrapher that can help demonstrate how to use it. It would be helpful to know up to what extent of pressure we should put to have the best calligraphy experience without damaging the nib. Looking forward to more videos about fountain pens. More power to your channel.

[michaelfourie]

I love your videos. Thank you for all the effort you put into them. Although it has been a year since I fell in love with fountain pens and started a collection, it is always useful to go back to the basics once in a while.

[joistevens]

Good to know about shimmer inks! I loaned a friend a beautifully balanced chef knife, and told her not to drop it and what do you think the first thing she did yep! I cringed, and it honestly has not cut the same. I hate to be stingy, but don’t loan out things that you don’t want ruined!

[afriendinsweden]

Guilty of drying out my pen! Now I know I need to write more often and rotate and not ink too many at one time! Also learn on which nib is best för my shimmer and sheen inks! Thank you! 😊

[karendavidson]

I've been in fountain pens for almost a year. I learned from your video that I don't have to put so much pressure on the nib when writing. Unfortunately, I just learned the hard way about putting shimmer ink in a fine nib. Very helpful video. Thank you.

[stephanieh]

Great video. Very informative. I’m new to fountain pens and this helped a lot

[PayneWaterStudio]

I used an ink that when dried turned plasticy (Super5) learned if when you uncap your ink bottle and there’s thick build up on the threads of the bottle it’s indicative that the ink will build up like this in the feed when not in use. I had to disassemble a lamy safaris feed to scrub the clogged ink in the feed tunnel, not fun!

[ChantelleArts]

so many fantastic tips, it looks wonderful ☺☺

[jankafka]

As you mentioned, some of us have already learned all of what you presented but I enjoyed the video nonetheless. One thing you could have mentioned about leaving the pen uncapped, besides the possibility of it rolling, is that it leads to the pen drying out, leading to annoying fiddling to get it started again.

You pretty much captured my wife with Tip #2: She once slightly sprung the nib of a demonstrator pen in our favorite stationery shop. It was repairable but I went through great pains afterward to teach her to apply no pressure when writing. I still cringe, though, every time she reaches for the Pilot Custom 912 I gave her a couple Christmases ago.

I love your shop, even if I am only able to visit online. Your selection of Sailor inks has me pretty much mesmerized at this point. Thanks for being there and thanks for the YouTube channel.

[MachineYearning]

I bought a Sailor 1911 Realo and tried fully disassembling it. Didn't realize it's not meant to be disassembled. Damaged the section threads and put a micro crack in the very end of the barrel. Absolutely mortifying. Fortunately it still writes fine and doesn't leak - it's my daily writer!

[strshooter]

Very solid video for novices (and older users of FPens too 🥴…) Thank you Daisy

[HandmadebyLorelei]

Great job Daisy! This one will be so helpful !