Could Lubing A Piston Improve Ink Flow?

[rube1]

Hi

Received this week a piston tool from Marco of Penboard (very pleasant dealing and transaction BTW).

Unscrewed and mildly lubed my 149's piston which was quite stiff. Rinsed out the barrel with water. After reconstructing and re-inking there seems to be a significant increase in ink flow. Is there some logic to this or is it just a fluke?

Edited April 14, 2015 by rube1

[Chrissy]

It's possible that the ink does flow better in the piston tube because it has been lubricated. I'm not sure about the chemistry involved where ink drag may exist in a tube that has no lubrication.

 

I bought a similar tool and lubricated my 146, when the piston rod fell out of the cone. However, it took me ages to get the piston rod in exactly the right position to put it back together accurately again so that the cone screwed all of the way down to the ring. It's not something I would want to do on a monthly basis.

[fountainbel]

The barrel wall surface tension will reduce somewhat after greasing the piston, so there could be a ink flow increase.

Francis

[rube1]

It's possible that the ink does flow better in the piston tube because it has been lubricated. I'm not sure about the chemistry involved where ink drag may exist in a tube that has no lubrication.

 

I bought a similar tool and lubricated my 146, when the piston rod fell out of the cone. However, it took me ages to get the piston rod in exactly the right position to put it back together accurately again so that the cone screwed all of the way down to the ring. It's not something I would want to do on a monthly basis.

Was sure I was going to regret this home surgery... Will have to sweat it out before trying this on one of the WEs...

[rube1]

The barrel wall surface tension will reduce somewhat after greasing the piston, so there could be a ink flow increase.

Francis

Thanks for your input!

[Ron Z]

It might reduce the surface tension on the barrel wall, but I doubt that it increases the flow in the feed. Silicone in the ink could in fact have the opposite effect as silicone is hydrophobic. That is one reason why some folks don't like using silicone grease for lubricating pistons (I'm not one of them).

 

More likely the increased flow is related to flushing the remains of dried ink out of the feed when you filled the pen after lubricating the piston, and a complete wetting of the surface of the feed.

[meiers]

My initial response would have been a definite "no" but I will defer to Francis who has repaired more pens than I.