Conklin (modern) slow starting problem...

[Chairman]

I have two modern Conklins--a Glider (bought used) and an Ohio (bought new)--that both have ink flow problems. Both steel nibs. When the pen is unused for a little while, the ink apparently retreats from the nib and the pen obviously refuses to write.

 

Anyone have similar problems? Anyone have a solution?

 

I sent the pens back to Conklin for repair, but they didn't seem to fix the problem. Could this be an inherent issue with the steel Conklin nibs?

 

Thanks!

[Glenn-SC]

I have two steel nibbed Conklins (a Glider received as a gift and a Nozac I bought myself) and HAD a Gold nibbed Nozac and all had the same problem.

 

I returned the gold nibbed Nozac to Conklin for service and it returned writing no better than when I sent it off. Since I bought it new I returned it for a refund.

 

The two steel nibbed pens have been flushed with mildly soapy water several times and that has slightly decreased the hard starting (slightly).

 

Since the Nozac was a gift and I really like the looks of the Glider I've kept them. But I rarely if ever use them.

 

I'm very interested if you figure out a solution.

[Scorpio]

I have a Mark Twain Signature with Medium Iridium Nib. so far I have used PR Tanzanite and Black Velvet with no problems, always starts good and wet. I am by no measure an expert but sometimes some inks just dont go well with some pens.

I have pens that will write ok with some inks and terrible with others. Again what works for me might not work for others. Hope your pen improves.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I can fix them, but alas, my free offer has expired, so now you would need to pay.

 

Dillon

[Sciopod]

Given that America is a notoriously litigious country I wish to make it quite clear at the start of this post that I take no responsibility for anyone being stupid enough to attempt to do what I did with my Conklin. Don't try this at home - send it off to someone who knows what they're doing.

 

I have a Mark Twain signature - an impulse buy whilst I was on a trip to the US (Conklin have no representation, as far as I'm aware, here in the UK). In common with many other owners of modern Conklin's (as I subsequently found out from various posts on this board), I quickly discovered that ink flow was hopeless. A pity, because I actually rather liked the pen in the rare moments when I could persuade it to write. For a long time it languished unused in my pen drawer. Sending it back to Conklin in the US seemed too much of a hassle, and in any case I'd seen from other posts that this wasn't necessarily a reliable way of sorting the problems out.

 

Fast forward to a couple of months ago. I think (know) I had consumed rather too much alcohol. I had seen various posts on FPN over the years suggesting repair "fixes" for Conklin ink flow problems. Notwithstanding the fact that I have no experience of repairing pens, no specialist equipment of any kind, and no knowledge, something made me think it would be a good idea to try these fixes myself. This is what I did:

 

1. I'd seen various posts suggesting that the feed channel was not cut correctly on some pens. I yanked out the nib and feed assembly (it just pulls out) and peered idiotically at the feed. No idea whether the channel had been cut properly or not, but decided it couldn't do any harm to widen and extend it. I'd seen various references to specialist feed channel cutting tools - needless to say I don't have anything like this so I attacked it with my pen knife. After about 15 minutes of sawing away (remarkably difficult to make an impression) disaster - the entire feed split down the middle. I got depressed for a while, but then realised that if I reassembled the two halves and stuffed them and the nib back into the pen section it all held together perfectly well. I figured this must have some impact on ink flow.

 

2. I'd also read that cleaning between / gently separating the tines improved ink flow. Again, there seemed to be various specialist things you were supposed to use for this which I didn't have. What I did have was some old 35mm film from the days when people took real pictures. I worked some of this between the tines for a while. Bits of film emulsiony type gunk came off, but I seemed to be able to clean this off.

 

3. When in doubt try flushing through with a bit of washing up liquid. I put a dollop of this into some water and flushed the pen. Lots of interesting bubbles appeared round the nib, but these seemed to pretty much go after about 30 mins of flushing with clean water.

 

4. Finally I'd read that red inks can cause problems, so instead of filling up with my normal PR Fiesta Red I filled up with PR Purple Haze.

 

The end result of all this expert work? I can't quite believe it but the pen writes absolutely brilliantly. Ink flow is perfect - starts up first time even when its been left for weeks, never dries up when writing, just excellent. There is a God out there who looks out for idiots like me!

[KendallJ]

I had Nozac c/c in white. Skipped like crazy. Had great flow once it started. Lots of things could be the issue. I ended up selling mine. I wasn't too impressed with Conklin quality control.

[Apollo]

Chairman, don't feel bad. I had a couple of Conklins that behaved just as you describe. Do a search on Conklin and you'll find several reports on faulty nibs, feeds and overall spotty QC. Personally, I love the way they look and feel in the hand, but I won't buy one until their quality control track record improves. You can either send the pen to a nibmeister for a workover or contact Conklin and have them replace the nib/feed.