My buddy @perloid recently did a Hacker Public Radio episode on some of the pens in his fountain pen collection:

http://hackerpublicradio.org/eps.php?id=1941

I thought it would be neat to get such an 'old school' piece of writing gear myself to use as a note taking pen. So, I ordered one of his suggestions, a Pilot Metro. I've been using it next to the computer since.

Then I remembered, as a teen, buying a box of things from a garage sale. A fountain pen was in among the items. I never did anything with it. But, I recalled it was still in a box of old/childhood things stored in the garage. Seems it a Parker '21' pen from the 50's. From what I can tell it was a pen popular with students.

The ink it is has long since dried up. But, I thought I'd see what happened if I put it in hot water. And look at that! A blue/black, 'purple-ish' ink started flowing. My wife and I had fun writing with "antique ink" for a wile. Since then I've continued to try and clean the pen. I've left it in new clear water now for 5 days. Today it is sucking up clear water and squirting it back out.

I think it is ready to try some actual ink! Good fun.