I'm preempting the ink test project today because I have a very pleasant story to tell.
But first, I have to eat my words about not wanting to become a pen collector. After yesterday's experience, I realize I did not factor in second hand or consignment stores as a possible temptation.
So, I was out and about yesterday on errands, one of which got delayed after I had already left the house, so I had some time to kill. I decided to pop into the consignment store to look for a little glass container to mix inks in. I found something almost right away and put them on the counter. Then on a whim, I asked the owner if she happened to have any fountain pens.
She showed me a glass full of pens and told me just yesterday someone had come in and bought five pens out of her collection. I chose two of them. I could NOT believe how pretty they were, though very grimy and of uncertain workability. There was a fair bit of corrosion on the nib of one and the piston ink filler button was gummy. When I opened the other one, I could not believe my eyes. I had never seen such a nib. I was enchanted.
I paid five dollars each for them.
When I got home, the saga began. I didn't want to do anything foolish, so I watched several videos about cleaning vintage pens. Turns out it's pretty simple. Soaking them in tepid water with a couple of drops of dishwashing soap. I soaked and rinsed, soaked and rinsed MANY times during the evening. The pen with the piston filler I thought was a lost cause, but after a few hours of work, I actually got it to move a little bit! After more soaking and some scary moments of pulling pretty hard on it, the thing came loose! I could then soak and flush the residue of old black ink from the inside of the pen.
I found out you can clean a corroded nib with toothpaste, so that was the next step. Then I filled the pen with water and let it soak overnight.
Here it is :
I think it is absolutely gorgeous.
But would it fill with ink? Would it write nicely? Oy!
Well, here you go:
I will use this pen in the next ink test page!
The other pen has a lever filling mechanism and as far as I can tell, there's no way to get to it. Besides, I imagine the ink bladder inside is probably beyond saving. BUT I wasn't too worried because I could still use it as a dip pen, because my friends, it has a glass nib! I have never seen one like it.
Now, unfortunately, it has a small chip in it. But it is still usable. I just have to hold it at a certain angle to get a thinner line. It's unpredictable, but still usable.
I had the dickens of a time getting a good photo of this pen. It's very pretty in person. Quite dramatic.
I hope to use this pen in the test pages in some way too. Only thing is, I don't know what to name this pen. I tried searching for one on line, but came up empty handed. I'll keep trying, but in the meantime, it needs a name. I suppose we could call it 'Chip', but it seems rude to name it after its one and only flaw.
I'll spend some time thinking about that today.
I'm sure happy I had time on my hands yesterday.
As our teachers of blessed memory say:
"Every delay is for the best."
It was certainly true yesterday!
