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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
ASp
Being sinistral too, and having the habit of hooking my hand over the top of the page, I too have come across the smudging problem. My solution is too hook my hand even farther over, thereby giving me a run at two or three lines' worth before the bas of my hand comes into contact with the ink - thereby giving it a reasonable amount of time in which to dry. Not for everybody, though...
And I do crosswords with whatever implement comes to hand!
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
RE: this pen of Harry’s is the kind that has the little lever which draws the ink up into a rubber sac. I haven’t tried it to see if it works, since I’ve assumed it won’t and I don’t want to get it (and me) all messy trying.
This style of pen was still common when i was a child, and yes, the rubber ink bladder can dry out, and get small holes (try plain warm water.. and see if it leaks.--sometimes dried ink in the pen needs to be washed out too, and plain warm (baby bath temp) water is fine.
if it does, there are places that repair/replace the bladders (or it can be 'retro fitted' to hold cartidges.) --the pump lever will remain, but will no longer function.
you might find you also have to replace the nib(if you want to use the pen) , because as WOW pointed out above, nib of pens (like shoes) come to 'fit a hand'. many pens have easy to replace nibs and the best are gold (which quickly mold to fit you 'hand'.
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i tend to do crossword puzzles in ink.. occational they become messy as a result, but more often, i get most of the crosses done, and end up with one corner with several blank squares. (i manage to complete the sunday NYTimes puzzle about 1 week in 3)
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
I work in a hospital and we're required to write with black ink. They provide the cheapest pens available, you know, those clear plastic ones that crack around the point or explode. I tried taking decent pens of my own but they all disappeared. I complained so much about losing pens that my mom got me one that has a string on the cap to go around my neck. I felt such a fool walking around with the empty cap around my neck while I looked for the pen that I gave up. Recently some friends gave me a pack of click type pens in clear pastel colours which I velcro into my notebook. Between the velcro and the fact that my name is printed on them they have been finding their way home. I detest using a dull pencil so I bring my own mechanical pencils, cheap ones, from home. At home I use any pen that writes smoothly but I like to use gel pens as the colour emphasizes that I'm not at work, they also help me to slow down and think about my handwriting. Speaking of which, I still bless the high school teacher that told my parents that my handwriting was so bad because my hand couldn't keep up with my brain. After that when they complained I told them it was a sign of intelligence. 
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 15
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 15 |
I learned to write using a school pen and reams of blotting paper. The pen (hah!) had a wooden shaft and a replaceable metal nib - - awful. The ink was in a small bakelite inkwell recessed into the wooden desk. As ink monitor (?), it was my job to refill the inkwells every Monday morning. I had to mix a blue powder with water to produce the ink. Consequently, for the first half of the week, I had blue hands (woad).
Happy days
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 15
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 15 |
I learned to write using a school pen and reams of blotting paper. The pen (hah!) had a wooden shaft and a replaceable metal nib - - awful. The ink was in a small bakelite inkwell recessed into the wooden desk. As ink monitor, it was my job to refill the inkwells every Monday morning. I had to mix a blue powder with water to produce the ink. Consequently, for the first half of the week, I had blue hands (woad).
Happy days
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
ah, dav-- i moved last year, and got rid of 90% of my worldly goods (a 6 room house(with attic, basement and garage) was condenced down to an 8 X 8 X8 storage locker!) but- i still have a extensive collection of just the pens you are talking about.. a half dozen or so wooden shafts, and whole box (a gross!) of nibs--they take up so little room!
my elementary schools had oak desks fitted with ink wells, but they were no longer being used when i was in school, we use fountain, or more likely cartrige loaded pens. (i have a collection of these too.. another half dozen, plus my cross pen (gold nib and cartridge style)
i also moved the bottle of india ink (a pint bottle, more than half full) --yes, i am kind of person that buys india ink in pint bottles.
my children are the same, they have fancy pens, and fancy inks, (and use them) too.
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
We had the wooden pens, steel nibs and china ink wells let into the desk tops. The best fun was dipping little balls of blotting paper into the ink well and then flicking them across the room at a suitable target.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
Yes, with a ruler if the teacher's back was turned. Gave them ... velocity! 
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 475
addict
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addict
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 475 |
My primary school was terribly old-fashioned so we did have scripture every day. We didn't have ink wells though, cartridge pens (which we called fountain pens, ignorant of any other kind) were the thing. Once at secondary school everyone used bics, to deface all available surfaces and shave their heads, and, very occasionally, to do their schoolwork. Looking at the work on the wall, it was easy to tell who had been to our primary school, we all retained a similar italic style. All my siblings went to differerent secondary schools, and this is very apparent in our accents, however, our handwriting is strikingly similar.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
everyone used bics, to deface all available surfaces and shave their heads Two different sorts of bics, no?
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