Good quality ink?

Thank you for the very specific advice; invaluable. I have already looked
and felt the fool 'blowing' through the nib (carefully and cleanly to
avoid transfer of ink to me or salive to the nib (*grin*)).

As noted, I'm having troubles with a waterman charleston and an edson
(fine and broad nibs respectively) and a new parker duofold (medium).

I will certainly give this a try.

Again, I appreciate your response.

Scott

On 2004-10-09 16:48:13 -0700, "sbsawler" said:

Many thanks for your suggestion; this has helped visualize the process, but
I still cannot fill the converter through the nib (in either the charleston
or the duofold).
I rinse nibs throughly in cold water each day (I use about a cartrige of
ink a day) so I can't imagine they're clogged. Also, the Duofold is just
two weeks old; it's suspicious that three different pens have the same
problem. I suspect it's me; the commonality linking the three.

You don't need to rinse so much, especially if the pen is in constant
use. Several days to a week or even more is fine - this will save you
some time. (If you're putting a pen away and not planning to use it for
weeks, rinse and dry more carefully.) Pens rinsed as much as yours have
been will certainly not be clogged. :-)

Did your pens fill OK with water? Is all of the metal and some of the
plastic submerged when you try to fill them? (That is, you have to get
the grip part of the pen (the "section", as it's properly known) dirty
a little bit, on its bottom edge, if you're doing it right.)

David

"sbsawler" wrote in message
lkaboutcollecting.com...
I rinse nibs throughly in cold water each day (I use about a cartrige of
ink a day) so I can't imagine they're clogged. Also, the Duofold is just
two weeks old; it's suspicious that three different pens have the same
problem. I suspect it's me; the commonality linking the three.

that sounds excessive. ink flowing through daily should preclude the need
to rinse for quite some time. I rinse a pen about once a month and that's
probably much more than necessary with most inks and pens. I think Frank
Dubiel (R.I.P.) would have told you that no pen should ever need rinsing
unless there is something wrong with the ink.

Too much rinsing can make a piston-filler tight against the inside of the
barrel and on such a filler can increase wear on the parts. And of course,
it will dilute your ink. Water can *reduce* flow of some inks because it
dilutes the "wetting agents" in the ink.

I've been using Waterman ink & like it. I'm starting to run low & will try
some Noodlers and/or PR.

Regarding rinsing or flushing pens, the only time I do this is when changing
the color or brand of ink.

George
"sbsawler" wrote in message
lkaboutcollecting.com...
Thank you for the very specific advice; invaluable. I have already looked
and felt the fool 'blowing' through the nib (carefully and cleanly to
avoid transfer of ink to me or salive to the nib (*grin*)).

As noted, I'm having troubles with a waterman charleston and an edson
(fine and broad nibs respectively) and a new parker duofold (medium).

I will certainly give this a try.

Again, I appreciate your response.

Scott

"
I rinse nibs throughly in cold water each day (I use about a cartrige of
ink a day) so I can't imagine they're clogged.

I doubt if it's necessary to wash a pen more than once a month or so.
Also, lukewarm water will dissolve out the gunk quicker than cold. The
experts say to avoid hot water though as it may damage the feed.

On the other hand I do very much think pens need to be washed
periodically. When I first began to use fountain pens I never thought
of rinsing them, and when I finally got up enough courage to do this,
suddenly my pens wrote unbelievably better. This was using the good
old Skrip of yore (not the Slovenian stuff). The only time I ever
felt the need to wash my pens daily was when I was playing around with
dip pens. I like to get the pen thoroughly dry after a rinse, shaking
& bleeding out the water on a paper towel, else the first page or so
of ink will be too watery. But it's just a habit.

By the way, I think your practice of blowing through the feed is not a
bad idea at all. I have got many a good old cartridge pen back in
working order by sucking water backwards through the feed (and then
quickly expectorating.).Ah, for my college days, and the fine old
taste of vintage Skrip....

I wonder if anybody has any ideas on a cheap, readily available
wetting agent for ink other than detergent?

I wonder if anybody has any ideas on a cheap, readily available
wetting agent for ink other than detergent?

Giovanni Abrate/Tryphon sell a small vial of such an agent...

http://tryphon.it/catalogo.htm

(usual disclaimers)
kcat

"sbsawler" wrote in message alkaboutcollecting.com...
I use waterman's blue-black ink as I was told it has small ink particles
and will give good even flow. Any suggestions for a better ink?

Also, the only way I can fill a converter is to remove the nib and dip the
converter into the ink well. It seems that other's may dip the whole nib
into the ink, but this never works for me. Suggestions?

Thanks


Perhaps your problem is that you're expecting to fill the convertor
with just one try; remember that there's some air in the feeder and
that air will be sucked into the convertor.

You have to repeat the process a couple of times to get rid of that
air, while keeping the nib, feeder and part of the gripping part into
the ink bottle. You'll have to use a tissue to clean the pen, but
that's part of the ritual (as well as inky fingers ñ_ñ)

I hope this helps, Juan

"Gregg Gibson" wrote in message
om...
"
I rinse nibs throughly in cold water each day (I use about a cartrige of
ink a day) so I can't imagine they're clogged.

I doubt if it's necessary to wash a pen more than once a month or so.
Also, lukewarm water will dissolve out the gunk quicker than cold. The
experts say to avoid hot water though as it may damage the feed.

On the other hand I do very much think pens need to be washed
periodically. When I first began to use fountain pens I never thought
of rinsing them, and when I finally got up enough courage to do this,
suddenly my pens wrote unbelievably better. This was using the good
old Skrip of yore (not the Slovenian stuff). The only time I ever
felt the need to wash my pens daily was when I was playing around with
dip pens. I like to get the pen thoroughly dry after a rinse, shaking
& bleeding out the water on a paper towel, else the first page or so
of ink will be too watery. But it's just a habit.

By the way, I think your practice of blowing through the feed is not a
bad idea at all. I have got many a good old cartridge pen back in
working order by sucking water backwards through the feed (and then
quickly expectorating.).Ah, for my college days, and the fine old
taste of vintage Skrip....

I wonder if anybody has any ideas on a cheap, readily available
wetting agent for ink other than detergent?

Wetting agent is used in photographic film processing. A drop or two is
added to the last rinse of the film, this encourages the water to "drop off"
the film when hung up to dry.

sbsawler wrote:
I use waterman's blue-black ink as I was told it has small ink particles
and will give good even flow. Any suggestions for a better ink?

Also, the only way I can fill a converter is to remove the nib and dip the
converter into the ink well. It seems that other's may dip the whole nib
into the ink, but this never works for me. Suggestions?

Thanks