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I mostly write with fountain pens, primarily pre-1980s, but find myself rather confused by much of this article. Presumably there are terminology differences i
by cge 2y ago
I mostly write with fountain pens, primarily pre-1980s, but find myself rather confused by much of this article. Presumably there are terminology differences involved, but I have no idea what he is referring to by 'socket', why it needs to be washed weekly, or why he would add one to a pen. I can't find anything online, and the various uses of the word in the article don't really fit any part of a fountain pen that I do know about. I don't understand how a nib would be curved to fit a smaller hand: the 1930s Waterman reference he makes might be a reference to the Lady Patricia, but that's a smaller-bodied version of the at-the-time quite large Patrician; I don't think the nib, or even the size, is particularly different than Watermans before it. I'm also not sure I'd agree about modern pen mechanisms being more complex: while the article is inconsistent about when the shop was opened (77 years ago, but also late 1950s), that would have put the shop during his grandfather's time right around an era of pens like the Sheaffer Snorkel (filled through an extending snorkel by a pneumatic mechanism to avoid the nib, itself with an unusual cylindrical design, needing to be immersed in ink) that are particularly complex compared to modern fountain pens, which mostly seem to use typical, stiff nib and feed designs, and cartridges or converters rather than elaborate filling mechanisms.
I certainly don't 'wash off' a pen with water once a week when I'm using it, and I'm not even sure what that would mean. Unless there's a problem with ink flow, there should not be 'excess ink'. Is he saying the pen should be flushed once a week? That seems quite excessive. It's just very odd that he seems quite insistent about the necessity of something that I've never heard of.
- LennyHenrysNuts 2y agoI came here to say this. I have no idea what a socket might be. I flush my pens monthly or if I intend to put it away for a while.
- jlund-molfese 2y agoI think he must be talking about the ink bladder (and replacing, rather than adding), there's nothing else that makes sense. Although, depending on the properties of your ink, it shouldn't be necessary to rinse the bladder every week anyway.
- ImPostingOnHN 2y agoYou can pull out nibs and ink reservoirs. My guess is the socket is the connection between the two. Perhaps you would add a larger one to fit a different nib.
- mangamadaiyan 2y agoPulling out the nib is only possible with a friction-fit nib and feed. Most modern pens (with a few exceptions) do not have friction-fit nibs. "Ink reservoirs" can't always be pulled out either. A cartridge converter can definitely be taken out. "Reservoir" typically refers to a rubber or silicone bladder. These are usually fixed in place by an adhesive, and need some effort to remove.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- mangamadaiyan 2y agoApparently "socket" is an archaic term for "nib unit". Even so, I would be very chary of unscrewing a nib unit and washing it every week. I get the feeling that the article was written by someone who is completely unfamiliar with fountain pens, and who did not bother to do their homework. For all I know, the author misheard "sac" as "socket". The recommendations of washing the pen once a week also sound completely off.
- robertlagrant 2y ago> I get the feeling that the article was written by someone who is completely unfamiliar with fountain pens, and who did not bother to do their homework. The author's articles[0] are mostly posh listicles, so it wouldn't surprise me. [0] https://www.vogue.in/author/debabratee-dhar https://www.vogue.in/author/debabratee-dhar
- jerlam 2y agoThe only reasons I can think of to wash the nib unit on a regular basis would be: 1. The cap is not sealing correctly against the pen, letting the ink dry in the nib and feed 2. The ink is not water soluble, so if it does dry it cannot be fixed with a water flush But these two problems were mostly solved 70 years ago.