New Member With Edson

[SimonTemplar]

I've just brought my Edson out to use it for the first time. I've owned it for several years, and bought an XF nib/section for it. I inked it last night, with Noodler's Blue-Black, one of my favorites. I went with just a partial converter fill, and brought it to the office with me today.

 

I am thoroughly disappointed, so far, in this pen. The XF writes like a medium nib, even on better quality paper. Whilst I might be able to tolerate that, it bleeds ink all round the nib/section area. I detest blue stains on my fingers, so this is making me very unhappy. I have a $50 TWSBI that writes and handles better than this.

 

Does anyone here have any suggestions on what, if anything, could be done to improve this pen's performance?

[Left FPN]

Did you buy the nib new and from a distributor. If so my (your) FIRST port of call would (should) be them.

[SimonTemplar]

It was not from a distributor, and it was years ago, unfortunately.

[Left FPN]

It was not from a distributor, and it was years ago, unfortunately.

I think Waterman Service will still check it out for you. Unfortunately there is little joe public can do with the Edson nib section to correct problems.

[RMN]

That may have been your favourite ink, but I would advise you to first try a simple Waterman cartridge in it.

 

Make sure it is properly seated. Write with that for a day or so. See if you get the same problems.

 

Doing that you are testing 2 things: ink problems and converter failure (either a faulty converter, or a not properly seated converter. What type converter do you have? Waterman has had several versions the last few years, the ones with an all black nipple part are known to give some problems sometimes).

 

If you still get the nib-creep, as that is what you are describing, the problem is in the pen, and Waterman customer service should be your friend, then.

 

If the pen behaves well, try the converter with a well behaved ink, like Waterman blue-black, or Parker Quink blue-black.

 

 

By the way: the term bleeding is used when the ink goes through the paper and shows on the other side of the paper. Feathering is when you see little streaks of ink radiating form the line you wrote.

 

 

 

D.ick

[SimonTemplar]

In this case, I was using "bleed" just to refer to ink leaking around the nib and section - I'm familiar with the terms as applied to ink on paper.

 

I'll clean it and re-try with a Waterman cartridge.

[SimonTemplar]

After cleaning and drying overnight, I'm now using this with a plain blue Waterman cartridge installed. It's behaving as it should - a somewhat finer line, and no signs of ink where it should not be.

 

There's nothing wrong with Waterman blue, but I would like to use other inks at some point. I have a second converter I can try, but first I'd like to hear any ideas of what might have gone pear-shaped with the first try. Perhaps a defective or improperly seated converter?

[MCN]

I think your experiment demonstrates what was the problem was in the first case: choice of ink, at least in terms of its compatibility with this particular pen.

[SimonTemplar]

However, I changed two variables - ink and converter to cartridge, which still begs the question. At some point I'll try the second converter with that same ink.

[RMN]

Seems like a good idea.

 

Other option:

If you have access to a syringe, you could flush the empty Waterman cartridge, and refill with your favourite ink.

 

 

 

D.ick

[SimonTemplar]

I've now tried three separate converters, and three inks, two of which were Waterman. I've also tried one Waterman cartridge, which was by far the best option of the four. I didn't see any ink on the section whilst using the cartridge, but every converter produced more or less the same problem.

 

I've ordered some Waterman mysterious blue cartridges, so I'm holding off on any further tests until those arrive.