Recommendations for use

Using a fountain pen may seem, to those who are used to it, a natural thing, but for those who approach this writing instrument for the first time some indications to make up for the lack of experience may be useful, and to avoid those mistakes that can lead to improper, uncomfortable and unsatisfactory use. For this reason we collected in this page all references to articles containing tips for using a fountain pen, divided into the different aspects that this use may have.

Writing tips

Different writing positions

Contrary to what happens with an ordinary ballpoint pen (or rollerball pen), the fountain pen should not be used keeping the nib vertical to the surface of the sheet; to write it is enough that the lower part of the nib tip crawls on it. This allows the possibility to adopt the most different writing positions, having a wide range of inclination angles of the nib with respect to the sheet, and generally the vertical position is the least indicated.

The possibility to use different angles makes it possible to adopt a much more natural hand position, one of the most comfortable (recommended for beginners) is the one where you let the body of the pen rest in the recess between thumb and forefinger, using the middle finger as an additional support point for the section. In this way, the thumb and forefinger should only be used to support it and for any small movements of the stroke, and not to hold it straight or press.

A properly working fountain pen does not require any pressure to write, the simple weight of the pen must be sufficient to start writing once the nib rests on the sheet. If your pen does not write without pressure, something is wrong.

In this section we will discuss how to try to correct the most common writing defects, which are within the reach of an ordinary user, and do not require more complicated technical interventions that are covered in the "repair portal".

Writing Defects

Loading tips

Filling a pen with ink is one of the most common operations, and in the history of the fountain pen there have been numerous filling systems that have distinguished epochs and brands. For this reason this operation may not be immediately understandable for some pens.

In this first section are inserted the articles on how to fill your pen with the most common filling systems, if you are interested in their history and operation, you can refer to the page mentioned, here we will consider only how to use them. A list of instructions for the main filling systems is as follows:

In addition to the canonical use of filling systems, some other articles always related to the loading of pens, but in a more geeky perspective are the following:

Finally, this last list contains articles on measures relating to the "capacity" of ink filling systems or bottles: