What You Need to Know About a Fountain Pen Nib

If you love all things stylish and timeless, then you have probably already considered buying a fountain pen. But you should know all of the little details that make a fountain pen glamorous; firstly, they are not terribly easy to use and require some practice. Not everyone has the luxury of time to use them. The old pens were even worse and required being dipped in an ink well. If you buy one with a fountain pen nib, you will not have to worry about that.

These pens comes with little plastic capsules which you must attach to the nib inside the pen. You puncture the capsule on the nib so the ink can slowly drain into the nib. Once the capsule runs dry, you unscrew the pen, take it out, throw it away, and use a new one. Another option you have is to use a syringe or eyedropper to refill and empty capsule will more ink from an ink well.

You must be careful with the nibs, though, because they can be much more difficult to use than a ballpoint pen. For example, you should always leave your pen standing with the nib facing down. Never lay it down flat.

These pens really require the use of gravity in order for you to write. If you lay it down flat, especially when the ink is running low, the ink could dry up and clog the nib, making it unusable. In addition, if you lay it down flat, the ink can surge back up toward the capsule and you will then have to wait about twenty minutes with the pen in its correct position for ink to flow back down again.

They are known to be messy instruments. You can throw a ballpoint pen in any bag or backpack and it will be fine. You must be very careful with these, though. Even the most conscientious get their fingers covered in ink on a regular basis.

If you write hard, pressing the tip of a pen roughly onto the paper, these pens are not for you. They require far lighter hands, because the nibs can be easily broken. The nib is very finely split in two so there is a place for the ink to run down to the paper. Pressing to hard will for the split apart, even to the point of the pen never working again unless you buy a new nib.

These pens do write beautifully, though, once you get the hang of them. You have to hold it a certain way at a certain angle, but with a little practice, you will hate writing with anything else. They do lovely calligraphy--something which other pens could never dream of doing.