4 replies to this topic

[Tennpen]

I have several Pelikans in my collection. Most were purchased new, and inlcude an M605, M405, (2) M400's, and a bunch of M200's. Last year I bought my first vintage pens, a 400NN, and a 140. Both of them write very well, and to my eyes, appear to be in very good working condition. Compared to all of my new Pelikans though, neither vintage pen retains ink very well. Every new model can be filled, and left for lengthy periods, and lose little, if any ink. Both vintage pens lose ink quickly in comparison. It is not lost from writing, but apparently through evaporation.

Is this common with vintage pens in general, with Pelikan vintage pens, or do I just happen to have a couple of ink vaporizers?

[david i]

I have several Pelikans in my collection. Most were purchased new, and inlcude an M605, M405, (2) M400's, and a bunch of M200's. Last year I bought my first vintage pens, a 400NN, and a 140. Both of them write very well, and to my eyes, appear to be in very good working condition. Compared to all of my new Pelikans though, neither vintage pen retains ink very well. Every new model can be filled, and left for lengthy periods, and lose little, if any ink. Both vintage pens lose ink quickly in comparison. It is not lost from writing, but apparently through evaporation.

Is this common with vintage pens in general, with Pelikan vintage pens, or do I just happen to have a couple of ink vaporizers?

Hi,

Welcome. Hey, do invite your pen friends who seek an alternate playground to join here as well. The more people posting, the more likely the Board will survive and not be reduced to "orphan" status

While we probably have a bit of tilt to the "collecting old pens" side of things, collecting and managing new pens certainly are worthwhile topics too.

I'm pretty sure I cannot give a hard answer to your question. Various old and new pens have different structural material and different degrees of sealing. But, I admit I have a tough time believing that ink transports through old pens walls more than do new pens. I could imaging some water evaporation, but that would concentrate the remaining ink, which might (though might not) be noticeable in terms of saturation, flow, etc. Clearly the pigments/dyes are not moving into/through walls of pen, as there would be ink on hands and staining of walls. I wonder if some of your vintage pens are tuned to wetter ink flow resulting in more rapid consumption of ink.

I'm open to different views. This might be the first time I've heard this question/observation. Just goes to show there always are new things to consider

-david

[Sherbie]

1345340273[/url]' post='16992']

1345329285[/url]' post='16987']
I have several Pelikans in my collection. Most were purchased new, and inlcude an M605, M405, (2) M400's, and a bunch of M200's. Last year I bought my first vintage pens, a 400NN, and a 140. Both of them write very well, and to my eyes, appear to be in very good working condition. Compared to all of my new Pelikans though, neither vintage pen retains ink very well. Every new model can be filled, and left for lengthy periods, and lose little, if any ink. Both vintage pens lose ink quickly in comparison. It is not lost from writing, but apparently through evaporation.

Is this common with vintage pens in general, with Pelikan vintage pens, or do I just happen to have a couple of ink vaporizers?

Hi,

Welcome. Hey, do invite your pen friends who seek an alternate playground to join here as well. The more people posting, the more likely the Board will survive and not be reduced to "orphan" status

While we probably have a bit of tilt to the "collecting old pens" side of things, collecting and managing new pens certainly are worthwhile topics too.

I'm pretty sure I cannot give a hard answer to your question. Various old and new pens have different structural material and different degrees of sealing. But, I admit I have a tough time believing that ink transports through old pens walls more than do new pens. I could imaging some water evaporation, but that would concentrate the remaining ink, which might (though might not) be noticeable in terms of saturation, flow, etc. Clearly the pigments/dyes are not moving into/through walls of pen, as there would be ink on hands and staining of walls. I wonder if some of your vintage pens are tuned to wetter ink flow resulting in more rapid consumption of ink.

I'm open to different views. This might be the first time I've heard this question/observation. Just goes to show there always are new things to consider

-david

Hi and welcome, I,ve never noticed this before with any of my vintage pens, and I use these every day.
Cheers, Paul

[Will]

If anything, the vintage 400s hold more ink--the piston moves farther up the barrel, and there is less space in between the piston head and the mechanism in the blinde cap. boboolsen on FPN used to say this. Now that I have both I can say he's right. My vintage 400 holds a good amount more ink (maybe over 2 ml--the m400 holds 1.8 according to Nibs.com). Maybe something is wrong with the seal..it may need a restoration. In terms of ink "escaping" (vaporizing), I don't know how that would happen with a pen that doesn't have one of those holes in the cap i.e the Parker Vacumatic (which I have experienced this phenomenon with). Maybe the ink condensates inside the inner cap? Possibly the humidity where you are affects your pen more than others.


Will

[Rocco P]

Maybe the inner cap has shrunk somewhat?