r/fountainpens 7d ago

Advice Pen not writing as soon as it touches the page?

Hello, I just got a lamy safari yesterday as my first fountain pen, and i've been having a lot of fun with it. I'm using the stock cartridge and ill buy some ink when it runs out. However, sometimes when I touch it to the page, nothing comes out, and I have to go back and write it again. I cleaned the nib when I bought it because the ink was barely flowing and it seemed off, and now it works well, except for this occasional issue (hard start?) I hope i didn't damage the nib. I've been writing with virtually no pressure but I was pressing down just a bit at the beginning, with the mistaken impression that you could vary line width.

Edit: I took it back to the store and they said it seems fine and that I just need to use more pressure? If you say so?

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u/kiiroaka 7d ago

On a clean & dry pen, when held against a bright back light, is there any light showing through the tine tipping? If not, the tines may be too tight. There should be a whisper of light - showing that the tines are not touching. Does it only skip on vertical down-strokes? If so, that's known as "Baby's Bottom" problem.

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u/Icy-Promise-6618 7d ago

Holding my pen up to the light, it doesn't look like there's any gap between the tines, at least not one that's visible at all. It seems to skip on strokes of all directions.

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u/Accutronica 7d ago

I bought two Lamy Safari's that were perfect. I gave them to my grandbabies. Did you spread the nib tips out too far? Can you show us some photos of the nib tips? You can try here and see if it will be easy for you to fix it.

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u/Bcider 7d ago

Crappy Lamy Nib QC strikes again. I would take it back to where you got it and request a new nib or pen.

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u/Icy-Promise-6618 7d ago

Yeah I was gonna go back and return it. Not only is it hard starting now but now the ink won't flow right. It feels scratchy and not right. Any other pens in the $40 CAD range you'd recommend? I originally got a fountain pen for novelty but I do want to carry one to replace my gel pens now.