Waterman Hemisphere Help Needed

[Poetman]

A friend of mine recently gave me a beautiful green marble, medium nib Waterman Hemisphere pen. I recently put some Noodlers' El Lawrence in the converter, expecting a pleasant writing experience, but I was sorely disappointed. The ink almost seems dry coming out of the pen, and it skips quite a bit. If, however, I use the pen as a dip pen, and dip the nib into the ink, it writes wet and without skipping. By comparison, my medium nib Phileas write wet and smooth. Could anyone offer any thoughts as to why this might be?

 

Thanks!

Edited September 23, 2014 by Poetman

[RMN]

Might be the converter. Especially if the complaints only appear after say half a page of writing this might be the culprit. This because there form airbubbles in the converter impeding inkflow.

 

I would advise to try the pen with a normal Waterman long cartridge. If there is no skipping then, you know your converter is the culprit. It's the reason I personally prefer cartridges above converters.

It helps that I am quite happy with the inks I can get in cartridges...

 

 

D.ick

[Mike 59]

A couple of ideas to try, if the history of the pen is unknown, it would be worth giving the nib/grip section a soak overnight in a glass of water to wash out any ink that may be there.

A clue is that it writes well when dipped in ink, but not when relying on the converter, seems to suggest that there may be an ink blockage in the feed higher up than the nib.

The 'Hemisphere' is one of the easier pens to take apart for cleaning, if needed.

Also is the converter a Waterman branded one?, as there are several other types that are a 'near fit' but are not the real thing, and don't fit properly.

It's worth trying several different brands of ink, as some will flow better than others.

The Waterman cartridges should work well, and of course it's fine to refill used cartridges with other inks, brands or colours.

Only real problem is cleaning out the used cartridges, I find a syringe with water, and time to dry out, is enough.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Mike 59

[Poetman]

Thanks, everyone. I have a Waterman cartridge and convertor I use with the pen. I tried to write on a nail file to smooth it, and I tried to open the nib slightly. This seems to have helped moderately; though, the pen is noisier know when I use it I think. It's strange because my 20 dollar medium nib Phileas with a waterman cartridge writes PERFECT! I've never bought another fountain pen because this one is so good! I've been wanting something else and was pleased to receive the Hemisphere but was surprised and disappointed to find it such a troublesome writer. I've soaked the nib/grip already. I even blew air through the feed to spray out excess ink, dust, or other impurities. Still not sure why it writes so unimpressively.

[Left FPN]

1. How old is the pen.

2. Have you tried Waterman ink.

3. Nail file ? Noisy pen ?

4. Why did your friend give it to you. Did it not function when he/she owned it. Or is it a new pen (see 5)

5. If it does not work well with cartridge or converter then it might be wise to ship it to NRW.

[RMN]

Yeah, I hope that nailfile was in fact a very high grit buffing stick, otherwise that would explain the noise.

Also Waterman might not accept it for warranty after such treatment...

 

D.ick

[Mike 59]

If it was mine, I would be looking for how level the 2 sides of the nib are, and also the tine gap.

The feed on the Hemisphere is a straightforward design, which pulls straight out of the section.

The nib only fits onto the feed in one place, so probably is not that.

A photo would be really helpful, this is my own for comparison.

 

Edited September 25, 2014 by Mike 59

[Poetman]

After sanding the nib on a file, and applying a bit of pressure to increase the feed, I'm getting MUCH better flow on the pen. It still doesn't start up right away if left uncapped, but a few scratches tend to do the trick. Thank you all for the feedback--much appreciated!!!

[ac12]

Fountain pen are supposed to be be capped when not used.

It left uncapped, the nib/feed will start to dry out, and you will get a "hard start."

Edited September 26, 2014 by ac12