A dip pen shares many of the characteristics of a quill pen, of course – functionally it’s identical, and a non-functioning one would fail in a similar way, spraying ink all over your manuscript: not good! As a result, I can see how you’d want to test it in a more-thorough and more realistic manner than you would a biro.

A fountain pen… less so. But I can still see how somebody with an interest in pens and ink, like you, would pay more attention to such things. And perhaps you just have a more-refined taste in these things, than I, and would pay attention to the subtle lift and fall of thinner and thicker lines produced as the pen is moved, for example. Me? I’m more of a utilitarian pen-user.