# Is it ok to ink a FP before putting it up for sale



## jskeen (May 18, 2008)

I've just gotten into this whole sub addiction of fountain pens, and to be honest, I just can't resist playing with my new toys.  But I would still like to sell them too, so I'm wondering, is it ok to ink a pen before you list it for sale?  Is a pen offered for sale assumed to have never been inked unless otherwise stated?  I'm assuming a pen should not be airmailed with a cartridge installed, so how to clean them up?  Should I order new sections for anything I have inked and plan to sell?    I'm sure as the addiction deepens I will have enough personal pens to use the nibs I have been playing with so far, but is that really necessary?  

What say the fountain pen snobs among us?


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## PenWorks (May 19, 2008)

There is no one good answer. Some buyers won't even look at a pen that has been inked. Others will want to dip them and try them out before they buy. and still others want me to test the pen before I ship it out to make sure it writes well. Given most of our price points, It should be perfectly acceptable to a client that the pen has been dipped. After testing a good water rinse should be fine. If you are really paranoid, you can disassemble and clean. Never ship a pen that is loaded.


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## Texatdurango (May 19, 2008)

> _Originally posted by jskeen_
> 
> I've just gotten into this whole sub addiction of fountain pens, and to be honest, I just can't resist playing with my new toys.  But I would still like to sell them too, so I'm wondering, is it ok to ink a pen before you list it for sale?  Is a pen offered for sale assumed to have never been inked unless otherwise stated?  I'm assuming a pen should not be airmailed with a cartridge installed, so how to clean them up?  Should I order new sections for anything I have inked and plan to sell?    I'm sure as the addiction deepens I will have enough personal pens to use the nibs I have been playing with so far, but is that really necessary?
> 
> What say the fountain pen snobs among us?


Now that the questions have been answered, perhaps a point of order is appropriate......

A. This is not a sub addiction, its more like a cult!
B You said snobs, which implies more than one when actually there is only one snob amongst us and that is Lee, more commonly known as Firefyter-emt.  The rest of us, other than the two gurus, Lou and Tony, are mere trainees!


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## Firefyter-emt (May 19, 2008)

Yes, I am a snob all the way and urge others to join me!

For your question, yes... it is very bad pen karma to ink the pen unless someone who just bought it, requested you to do so.  I do recomend that you have a bottle of ink (something in a flashy bottle, Visonti, Montblanc, Caran d'Ache, ect)  Then have a bottle of 90% water to 10% ammonia to flush the nib and feeder out after it has been dip tested.

I would, however, suggest that you have a spare section with maybe one of Anthony's 18k nibs and even some of Lou's nibs pre-loaded in a section so you can upsell a better nib.  This would be ok to swap into the pen for the buyer to try out.  Now if you want to use the pen for yourself, you could have your own section and nib to install into your "test pens" though.

PS, FP's are not the "sub addiction", they are the addiction.  If you have not been drawn to the wet side, you have not yet arrived! [}]


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## Texatdurango (May 19, 2008)

> _Originally posted by Firefyter-emt_
> 
> ...PS, FP's are not the "sub addiction", they are the addiction.  If you have not been drawn to the wet side, you have not yet arrived! [}]


After a little thought, Lee is CORRECT, the "Sub Addiction" is collecting all the different colors of ink!  And the fun part is to use a pen with orange ink one day then another the next day with purple ink or if you're really frisky, switch pens every few hours!


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## LEAP (May 19, 2008)

You guys are starting to scare me!


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## penhead (May 19, 2008)

Must resist...the force of Darth Scripter is to strong......help.....[:I][)]



> _Originally posted by Firefyter-emt_
> 
> Yes, I am a snob all the way and urge others to join me!
> 
> ........................If you have not been drawn to the wet side, you have not yet arrived! [}]


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## leehljp (May 19, 2008)

Snobs, snobs, snobs, snobs! There, I said it!  [}] Can't I count my computer in this?  I can't write decent enough script or cursive to show off a pen. If I were to show a sample of my writing with a fountain pen, NO ONE would buy one! I shoulda been a doctor. [)]

My Japanese kanji is better looking than my cursive. But my computer does even better!


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## mick (May 19, 2008)

I keep an inked FP on my table at shows(one of LOu's pretty steel nibs)I let prospective customers try it out after explaining that it is a stiffer nib with little flex. It seems that most people familar with FPs understand this. BTW in my limited experience these nib  write very well. I plan to change it out when it begins to show any sign of wear or fails to write well. I had three different people buy FPs this weekend, two JR Statesman and One Baron. All said it was the demo pen that made the sale.

Not to hijack the thread but this brings up a question I posed to Connie just this weekend. I was changing colors in my personal FP. I disassembled and cleaned everything. Reinstalled the nib and adjusted it. I loaded the convertor and got ink on my fingers. (nice Tanzanite color from Lou)
Now the question. Why is it you can clean a FP nib and feed with cool water prefectly well but you can't scrub the ink off your fingers with anything? I've still got a purple spot on my index finger........lol


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## wdcav1952 (May 19, 2008)

Mike,

Go to this link and scroll down to Ink Nix.  It works great.

http://www.tryphon.it/catalogo.htm


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## Firefyter-emt (May 19, 2008)

Phil... you know you have it bad when you start to push your pens over the $100 range for ones that you buy to use yourself! (And that is cheap for most pens!)

I just got my 1946 Cedar Blue with 16k gold filled cap Parker 51 from Ron Zorn today.  What a sweet pen, but it is taking a little bit to get used to not seeing the nib! This is one of the older vacumatic's with the blue diamond clip. This is my second vacumatic style pen and I love the way these fill. The end cap unscrews to reveal the plunger to fill the body itself. There is no sac inside the pen, but a the filler has a sac to create the suction to fill the pen.  Pretty cool design.






To date, this pen has twice as much invested into it than any other pen in my collection.  [8)]


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## RussFairfield (May 19, 2008)

A pen that has been used is a used pen.


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## LEAP (May 19, 2008)

Lee, the only thing I collect is small portraits of deceased politicians. Even those are readily parted with when the right tool or piece of fishing gear comes along. I have way to many expensive hobbies already to add pen collecting to the list. The boss would start listing my other stuff on ebay if I add another obsession. Come to think of it I do have a full set of rock climbing gear that has not been used in 10 years that I'd be willing to trade for a metal lathe!


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## Malainse (May 20, 2008)

> _Originally posted by Firefyter-emt_
> 
> Yes, I am a snob all the way and urge others to join me!
> 
> ...



A true snob would know that it is a "Feed", not feeder....[)]


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## Firefyter-emt (May 20, 2008)

Yea, I will give you that one.  The proper name is a feed, not feeder.  "nib and feed" just does not sound right when you say it though.


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## jeffj13 (May 21, 2008)

> _Originally posted by RussFairfield_
> 
> A pen that has been used is a used pen.



QFT


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## Jarheaded (Jun 4, 2008)

I stopped inking my pens when someone grabbed one and tapped it a bit too hard. It made another customer walk away cursing about the ink on his arm and mumbling something about a lawsuit. I wouldn't have cared too much, but it cost me at least one customer. I will have to keep some of that Ink Nix around from now on. Looking back now, it was sort of funny.[}]


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## RussFairfield (Jun 4, 2008)

QFT??


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## VisExp (Jun 5, 2008)

> _Originally posted by RussFairfield_
> 
> QFT??



Russ, check out the website acronymfinder.com  I often use to "translate" 

http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?Acronym=qft&string=exact

I think in this case QFT = quite freaking true


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## ctwxlvr (Jun 5, 2008)

We keep one FP inked, as a demo and we have named it our used and abused pen, it is a testament to the durability of the (shock) stock nibs, it has been used by a lot of people from 5 year olds to a 90 year old school teacher that thought they did not make fountain pens any more and was impressed at the quality of the pen and ink.


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## Blind_Squirrel (Jun 5, 2008)

> _Originally posted by RussFairfield_
> 
> QFT??



QFT = Quoted For Truth.  In case the person edits their post.


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