{"id":8530,"date":"2022-11-11T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-11T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/?p=8530"},"modified":"2022-11-11T09:22:37","modified_gmt":"2022-11-11T14:22:37","slug":"fp-myths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/fp-myths\/","title":{"rendered":"Fountain Pen Myths"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

I came across a post a while back where someone was concerned that their nib didn’t have a breather hole. I didn’t bother to comment that a breather hole isn’t necessary for your pen to function because multiple people already had. But, it got me thinking, what other fountain pen myths are there? These are the ones I could think of, with some help from Azizah of Gourmet Pens<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Nibs need breather holes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Breather holes can serve a purpose. From Richard Binder’s website<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

A hole, frequently made in a decorative shape such as a heart or a crescent, that pierces a nib at the end of the slit, ostensibly to improve air flow but also to relieve stresses that tend to crack nibs at the relatively highly stressed area around the base of the slit. Breather holes are sometimes dispensed with on firm nibs, which are stiff enough to resist the bending forces imposed during use.<\/p>\nPen Glossopedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So, breather holes are more important with soft and flexible nibs. Hard nibs don’t actually need one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nibs are tipped with iridium<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I first learned about this when Jim started working on nibs. He did a bunch of research to find nib tipping balls, and discovered that Heraeus is a primary supplier of tipping balls, and they are not<\/em> made of iridium. According to a blog post from Nibs.com<\/a>, even vintage nibs didn’t necessarily have iridium tipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can’t say if names made in-house \u2014 like Pilot, Platinum, etc. \u2014 are tipped with iridium, but it seems unlikely. If you’re interested in nib tipping, check out Yao SongYi’s series of posts on Fountain Pen Network. They share their plan<\/a>, then their results from round one<\/a> and round two<\/a> of testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music nibs have three tines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I covered this before, in my fourth Fountain Pen 101 post, on nibs<\/a>. I’m happy with what I wrote then, so I’m just going to copy that paragraph here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Music nibs were originally created to transcribe music. When held correctly, they allow for the thick horizontal strokes and thin vertical strokes. I learned something new in researching music nibs for this post. Up until today, I considered only music nibs with three tines to be \u201creal\u201d music nibs. However, thanks to this article<\/a> from Richard Binder, I now know that the true mark of a music nib is that all edges of the nib are completely smooth to reduce the pen\u2019s drag on paper. The extra tine on a music nib is really just to increase ink flow and allow for faster writing. GourmetPens has a nice post<\/a> comparing some more easily acquired pens with music nibs.<\/p>\nFountain Pen 101: Nibs<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Nibs adapt to your hand, so you shouldn’t let other write with them<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Over time, a nib will somewhat adapt to the way you hold your pen and write. However<\/em>, this takes time. Letting someone write with your pen to take a quick note or test out the way it writes won’t cause any problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides, that’s not the reason to be miserly with your pens. People, especially non-fountain pen people, can’t be trusted with your pens \u2014 I’m only half joking. We’ve all heard horror stories of pens getting damaged by careless people. So be careful with your pens!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should store fountain pens tip up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When inked, fountain pens can be stored anywhere between flat and vertical (with the tip up). You can’t store them tip down unless you want a cap full of ink. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on the environment in which you’re storing your pens \u2014 temperature, humidity level, etc. \u2014 and how much you use your pens, storing them tip-up may cause more hard-starting. If you have troubles with that, try storing your pens flat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can’t fly with fountain pens<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’ve taken at least one fountain pen on every trip I’ve been on since 2017, and have yet to have one leak. To be safe, however, I still pack them in ziplocs, just in case. Goulet Pens has a video on this topic<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re concerned, try one of these tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n