Cleaning - Reinking Snafu

[scabface]

sometimes, I like to do things the old fashion way. I ride a bike 26 miles to commute whenever possible, and I shave with a straight razor. I've often admired fountain pens and old quills, I took a calligraphy class in JR high. Visiting antique stores I've seen fountain pens, but I'm clueless if a pen would be any good or not. So I bought a 3 pack of Pilot Varsity's so I could see if it was something I'd like to pursue. After that I decided I'd take it to the next step, and being a do it yourself kind of guy I made a fountain pen from a kit from one of the woodturning stores. Someday I'll buy a few vintage pens, but I thought I'd get my feet wet with the new stuff first. I'm glad I did, because I may have ruined the pen I made. When the included cartridge went dry I grabbed some old inks that used to belong to my dad. I used a twist fill cartridge and filled it with Royal Mark re-inking fluid. Big surprise It didn't seem to work. After realizing it was stamp ink I tried thinning it out with rubbing alcohol. It didn't work, So I let it sit overnight. Today I cleaned out the old ink and soaked the nib and twist cartridge in hot water, then flushed it with rubbing alcohol, Then I grabed some 25 year (or older) Parker Quink with solv-x. The ink looked clean and consistent. The pen now kind of writes, but skips and easily runs dry, then stays dry for a while. I was going to grab denatured alcohol and do another cleaning, but then my brains kicked in and I did some internet searches. I see that I should not have used hot water, or alcohol if this were an older pen, but how would this affect a modern pen? How should I best proceed?
I'm glad I'm making these mistakes now instead of on a piece of history. Thanks for your help.

And because everyone likes pictures...

[yamaha_no_46]

To my best knowledge stamp ink has lots of oil in it. To make your feed and nib properly work, I would recommend to soak the nib unit in water with dish washing detergent which will help remove the oily residue. You can also use an ear bulb with the opening cut to fit the converter side of the nib section and flush it effectively. You may use warm water / detergent mix to the degree that will not harm your hand. I hope it will clean the nib unit to perfection.

Edited April 23, 2014 by yamaha_no_46

[Sasha Royale]

Please continue reading here, and continue research. You are DANGEROUS !

Use a 10% solution of ammonia and water to soak and rinse the nib of your pen. Then, rinse with clean water and dry on a paper towel..

Now, use only fountain pen ink !

 

Good luck !

[scabface]

I will try your suggestions.
Is this old ink any good?
Where can I buy ink locally?
Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, Michaels, Hobby Lobby?
If it's oily, can I use turpentine or naphtha to clean? - Proceeding with caution.

[scabface]

I soaked the pen overnight. Today I soaked it in soapy water and blew water through the nib with my mouth just using the soapy water that collected from dipping it. I kept flushing it this way until it no longer released particles. I filled it with the old Parker Quink and it works as good as new.

[egretsrus]

yahoo!!!!! i'm still trying to clear an Aurora 88 (long tines) of what is probably dried ink. have been soaking it on and off for two years

[makas]

Hello Scabface

 

First off it looks like you did a great job making the pen! It is a very nice looking pen but don't start using things to clean your pen before you know what it will do to your pen because what will damage one may not damage another. The 10% ammonia to water is the best thing to use. If you can't get it clean with that you could step it up by using Rapido-Eze it is a technical pen cleaner. You can get ink at any of the locations you listed but make sure it is for fountain pens and not just for dip pens or or technical pens if you do you will be back to dealing with something you shouldn't put in your pen.

 

Take care

 

Mark

[scabface]

Yeah, I don't think I'll be making that stamp pad ink mistake again. When I realized what I had done, I was glad I hadn't started off with an antique.

[Ernst Bitterman]

I managed to get... most... of the stamp pad out of a Vacumatic I was working on. It called for a LOT of cycles in an ultrasonic cleaner full of Rapido-Eze. I also found that the usual ammonia solution did Squat^diddly about getting the stuff out.

Edited April 28, 2014 by Ernst Bitterman

[pokermon]

I was just about to recommend what Ernst experienced. Lots of cycles in a USC with a solution.