Can Ink Be The Only Factor Causing Hard Starting?

[fasthall]

I bought Pilot Custom 74 SFM, and it's pretty smooth and wet.

However, I encountered some hard starting issue.

I don't remember having this issue when using Pilot black ink.

But with Diamine mediterranean blue and oxblood it hard starts very often.

It doesn't have baby bottom, so I guess it's the ink?

http://i.imgur.com/CKe5IL7.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/9vDJgkK.jpg

[bardiir]

I've found that with my new Pendleton nib hard starting is more an issue with me pressing down too hard on the start. If i write more lightly it's not skipping anymore.

[napalm]

Ink is the first suspect. Try to replace that Mediterranean blue with Iroshizuku Dayflower or the less expensive Pilot Blue. They are quite problem free, if the problem is solved, then just keep using them, if not then you would need to look at pen / paper.

[Ron Z]

In the view presented in the second picture, the right tine is lower than the left. On occasion that can cause starting problems. A gentle bump up with a thumb nail can get the tines back in alignment. I would do this even if I weren't having flow issues. But ink can also be a problem. We've found for instance that a pen that writes just fine with any other ink is balky with black Parker Quink. Not blue or any other color, just black.

 

But you should do a good flush before concluding that is the cause. A couple cap fulls of ammonia along with a couple drops of Dawn dish detergent in a juice glass of water provides a good flushing solution. Maybe fill, soak for a little bit, flush. Flush with clear water several times then shake out the excess water and see what happens.

[RMN]

Some inks and pens don't go together. You could probanly make the pen and the ink go together by changing the flow, but then you would probably have a gusger with other inks.

 

I would say: try it with Waterman blue or blue-black. If that works fine the pen is fine and it is the ink.

 

 

 

Edit: the above advice by Ron is always good when you have problems with a new pen. I did omit this advice because you said you have already tried several inks in this pen without problems.

 

I did notice the slight difference in reflection on the tines (not certain if it is just the reflection or the tines themselves), but because you said there was no baby bottom I assumed you would have checked with a loupe. and have noticed uneven tines.

 

 

D.ick

Edited August 1, 2014 by RMN

[bardiir]

Some inks and pens don't go together. You could probanly make the pen and the ink go together by changing the flow, but then you would probably have a gusger with other inks.

 

Before any modification on the pen I would first try to add some surfactant like a little dish soap to the ink. Very small amounts of soap do lower the surface tension of the ink and allow it to flow more freely.

 

A generous drop of soap in a ink bottle will make the ink run out of the pen without any stopping basically rendering the ink useless because it will not stay anywhere. So this is a powerful modification to the ink, be careful with this. Dip toothpicks into soap and then stir the ink between tries, better add too little than too much, it's not reversible like adding water/letting water evaporate

[Ernst Bitterman]

I quiver to differ with Ron, but-- the tipping might not be disaligned. The angle of the shot isn't the angle of contact, so the grind might had the tipping/paper interface just right. Examine it at an angle before pursuing the advice, thus:

http://dirck.delint.ca/beta/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/drawtipeye.jpg

 

A flushing is certainly in order. It may also just be an ink/pen disagreement; I find several of my otherwise trustworthy pens have nothing at all to say when filled with Diamine Prussian Blue. I can't say I've had a problem with Oxblood, but I've only had a couple of cartridges of it to play with.

[MusterMark]

I haven't tried either of those inks but have had difficulty with Diamine Red Dragon, another highly saturated red ink, in some pens. In my experience, saturated inks can be a bit finicky. They don't always play well in all pens, much to my chagrin. This might not be the answer you're looking for, but if it were me I would stick with the inks you know work well in that pen.

[Ron Z]

Take a look at the top and bottom edge Ernst, not straight on. Top edge in particular. While the ball may not be spherical, the point where the two balls meet on either side of the slit should line up. Not the case on occasion, and it's possible that the bottom edge does line up properly, but it's difficult to know for certain with the shadows in the lighting, Based on experience I would hazard a guess that it isn't given the misalignment at the top of the ball. I've had many cases where it a small alignment problem has caused hard starting, and correcting it has taken care of the problem. It's worth checking....

[fasthall]

Thank you for all the replies!

I think the tines are fine, it seems a bit misalignment but it's the camera and loupe effet, I have difficulty taking a good shot.

I will try a flushing and change the ink!

[dspeers58]

I have had starting troubles with Diamine Sargasso sea, Akkerman Shocking Blue, J Herbin Hermatite, Diamine Oxblood and a few others. As someone mentioned, try Pilot blue or black, (perhaps from a cartridge), or Waterman Serenity blue etc and see if the problem continues. But clear the pen out before you do...

[Icywolfe]

Is there any ink crusted under the nib inbetween the space between the feed? The picture makes me seem blind but it looks like the left side might be a bit higher than the right. But that shouldn't make a difference that much.

[andreasn]

i had some issues with my parker im, hard starting among others. sometimes it would take a very long time, probably over 5 minutes, to get it started. it was a pain. I asked here on fpn if it was the ink or something else, and they said to change ink. so i changed from the black parker quink, thati used then, to mb mystery black and i have had no issues since. so yes it can be the ink.

[TheDarkFaery]

Sometimes if the paper is really smooth it will also cause hard starts. Or if there is some oils from your hand that got rubbed onto the paper as you write.

[fasthall]

I found it more prone to hard start with Rhodia than copy paper! Rhoda is to smooth I guess.

[fasthall]

I've tried Pelikan black and violet, but the issue is still. These are all the inks I currently have.

The only ink it feels comfortable with its Pilot black. I guess 74 is really picky...

[yotiao]

I found it more prone to hard start with Rhodia than copy paper! Rhoda is to smooth I guess.

I have hard start problem with very smooth paper (clairefontaine and rhodia), it was really annoying now I just use 80 - 100gsm copier paper, problem solved and cheaper also.