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Lamy Safari - converter and ink in hand. Now what?


jmkeuning

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So I am ready to put the converter in and fill it with my PR Lake Placid Blue. Is there anything I need to know? Or do I just do it? Do I flush all the old ink out first? Do I flush it and clean it every time I refill?

 

Anything else?

Fool: One who subverts convention or orthodoxy or varies from social conformity in order to reveal spiritual or moral truth.

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Simply fill :)

 

-Put converter into pen as you would a cartridge,

-Dip entire nib, including some of the the grip section (just to make sure at least the ENTIRE nib is submerged in ink)

-Twist down and up to suck the ink into the converter

-Wrap the nib in a lint-free tissue, paper towel, serviette, or cloth to get rid of the excess ink on nib

-Write!

 

 

As with old ink - if you already have a different ink in the converter, it is adviseable to flush the pen out with water, then flicking the water out before you use a new kind of ink.

 

If you're simply refilling with the same colour ink - it's a matter of preference. Some fountain pen users like to eliminate the old ink before refilling, whereas others (including me) just refill and wipe, not caring if the old ink in the converter goes back into the bottle (as it is the same colour anyway). You do not need to flush the pen after each refill at all! :D

 

Good luck with your Safari!

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What he said. :thumbup:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p202/Apollo3000/es-canary-islands-flag1s.gif Bendita mi tierra guanche.
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Sweet. Done.

 

Now, after rinsing with water, rinsing and rinsing and rinsing and rinsing, then shaking and shaking and shaking...

 

will the ink be watered down for a while or is it good to go? It seems like there will always be some water stuck in there. Any word on that?

Fool: One who subverts convention or orthodoxy or varies from social conformity in order to reveal spiritual or moral truth.

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After rinsing and shaking, I blot the face of the nib with a lint-free cloth to wick out more of the water. I usually wait about 15 minutes before refilling, but that's just me.

 

I also tend to flush out the converter with every refill, usually because I'm changing colors. But, I have one ink that creeps out onto my Safari nib and stays there (Noodler's Gulf Stream). By the time it's time to refill, the nib creep has formed a thin crust, and the flow is impeded. Particles of dried ink come loose when I flush, so I know I'm doing the right thing by flushing before refilling with that particular ink. So with some inks, I think flushing with refilling is mandatory (iron gall inks, red-based inks, and heavily-saturated inks are also mentioned for frequent flushing; to prevent corrosion and to prevent severe staining).

 

This is probably more information than you wanted. Enjoy your Safari!

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By the Lord Harry! Iron gall ink passing through a fountain pen?! I'm aghast at the potential for damage to the delicate mechanism!

 

{switching off Victorian emulator}

 

But seriously, you've put that sort of thing down a fountain pen? I had thought that was a king-sized item of avoidance, due to the powerful acidity.

 

On the flushing front, I would add that if you're a complete loony (in which category I wallow happily :drool: ), once you've run a dose of ink through a pen it's time to let another one out to play, so a full flush is the thing to do as it's going to sit aside for a while.

Ravensmarch Pens & Books
It's mainly pens, just now....

Oh, good heavens. He's got a blog now, too.

 

fpn_1465330536__hwabutton.jpg

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By the Lord Harry! Iron gall ink passing through a fountain pen?! I'm aghast at the potential for damage to the delicate mechanism!

 

{switching off Victorian emulator}

 

But seriously, you've put that sort of thing down a fountain pen? I had thought that was a king-sized item of avoidance, due to the powerful acidity.

 

This was exactly my point. If someone were going to use iron gall ink (such as Lamy Blue-Black, so I understand), I would advise frequent flushing, even if refilling with the same ink. I would use iron gall ink in my fountain pens, but it's not out of the question that someone else might choose to do so--especially when Lamy and other fountain pen ink companies (MontBlanc, Diamine) sell iron gall inks for use in fountain pens. Given that the OP's post is about a Lamy pen, I thought I'd mention it.

Edited by blueiris
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There are some of us who follow a slightly different path when refilling a converter-fill pen with a different color. When the pen runs dry, (optionally) flush with water and let everything dry, then take the converter out of the pen, fill just the converter with ink, and put it back in the pen. turn the knob to start a little ink down into the feed.

 

This way, there's no cleaning ink off the nib after dunking it in the ink-bottle. :)

 

-- Joel -- "I collect expensive and time-consuming hobbies."

 

INK (noun): A villainous compound of tannogallate of iron, gum-arabic and water,

chiefly used to facilitate the infection of idiocy and promote intellectual crime.

(from The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce)

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  • 1 year later...
By the Lord Harry! Iron gall ink passing through a fountain pen?! I'm aghast at the potential for damage to the delicate mechanism!

 

{switching off Victorian emulator}

 

But seriously, you've put that sort of thing down a fountain pen? I had thought that was a king-sized item of avoidance, due to the powerful acidity.

 

This was exactly my point. If someone were going to use iron gall ink (such as Lamy Blue-Black, so I understand), I would advise frequent flushing, even if refilling with the same ink. I would use iron gall ink in my fountain pens, but it's not out of the question that someone else might choose to do so--especially when Lamy and other fountain pen ink companies (MontBlanc, Diamine) sell iron gall inks for use in fountain pens. Given that the OP's post is about a Lamy pen, I thought I'd mention it.

Thanks for the info! I too just received my first fountain pen - a Lamy Al Star, and was going to ask the same question. BUT, I was planning on using Lamy Blue-Black next - could you tell me more about "why not to use it"?

Ken McDaniel

<")}}}>><(

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By the Lord Harry! Iron gall ink passing through a fountain pen?! I'm aghast at the potential for damage to the delicate mechanism!

 

{switching off Victorian emulator}

 

But seriously, you've put that sort of thing down a fountain pen? I had thought that was a king-sized item of avoidance, due to the powerful acidity.

 

This was exactly my point. If someone were going to use iron gall ink (such as Lamy Blue-Black, so I understand), I would advise frequent flushing, even if refilling with the same ink. I would use iron gall ink in my fountain pens, but it's not out of the question that someone else might choose to do so--especially when Lamy and other fountain pen ink companies (MontBlanc, Diamine) sell iron gall inks for use in fountain pens. Given that the OP's post is about a Lamy pen, I thought I'd mention it.

Thanks for the info! I too just received my first fountain pen - a Lamy Al Star, and was going to ask the same question. BUT, I was planning on using Lamy Blue-Black next - could you tell me more about "why not to use it"?

This is the story as I understand it, feel free to correct me if you think I'm wrong. Traditional blue black inks have two components: a regular blue ink and a special component that turns black when exposed to the oxygen in the air. This part that turns black is acidic. Some modern blue black inks (such as Lamy and blue-black) have some of this black component, as it is waterproof and gives proper blue black shading and look on the page. This makes the ink acidic, and thus a threat to your pen. I personally think that it's not acidic enough to pose any serious problem, as long as you cleaned out your pen in a reasonable fashion, but care should be exercised regardless.

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  • 7 months later...

Thanks a lot for your detailed instructions; I'm a complete newbie and this really helped me! I previously tried to fit the converter into the ink-holder that was included with the Lamy Safari, and knew I was doing something wrong. :-)

 

Simply fill :)

 

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In the time since I left my previous message, I've taken an education in the difference between IRON-GALL inks, which have their place (which is on the end of a dip pen, really) and the iron-gall(ish) inks ink a fountain pen preparation. I'm now a giant fan of Lamy blue-black, which is very similar to a vintage Waterman ink I've had a chance to try-- I wouldn't leave it in the pen indefinitely, but it's not going to do serious mischief.

Ravensmarch Pens & Books
It's mainly pens, just now....

Oh, good heavens. He's got a blog now, too.

 

fpn_1465330536__hwabutton.jpg

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I've been using Lamy Blue/Black in my 1950's era Conway Stewart 58 (with 14k Duro nib) for a few weeks now, and am glad of the experience. At first, the pen wrote kind of dry, with skipping and occasional dropouts. But after about a week, the pen now flows evenly, and draws as nice a line as you could ask.

 

I'm wondering, did the ink somehow clean out old clogs in the feed? What could have caused this rather dramatic improvement in flow?

The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it, and become blind to the arguments against it.

 

~ Bernard Shaw.

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A quick note on the procedure of inserting a cartridge in Safari.

 

The Lamy converter has two small protruding bits that are supposed to keep the converter body from rotating when filling. These should go into the shallow grooves on the section that are positioned 90 degrees away from the ink window, not into the wider ones that form part of the ink window. Despite knowing this, I managed to fit my converter the wrong way and can see those knobs when checking the ink level. Got a little carried away... :headsmack:

 

If you fit it the wrong way, nothing bad will happen. Thus you may notice this only weeks later. Well, I just have to reseat the converter when changing ink next time.

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Granted, I'm a newbie to the world of fountain pens and inks (and also dip pens--I use both about equally), but if I were feeling wild and wanted to experiment with the "forbidden inks" (e.g. india, iron gall, pefumed, etc.), I'd totally GO FOR IT! I'd just find myself a cheap or fountain pen that I won't be overly upset about "killing" if it comes to that... Yay for experimentation! :bunny01:

1. Sleep

2. Good Grades

3. Social Life

 

Welcome to college: pick two

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After rinsing and shaking, I blot the face of the nib with a lint-free cloth to wick out more of the water. I usually wait about 15 minutes before refilling, but that's just me.

 

I also tend to flush out the converter with every refill, usually because I'm changing colors. But, I have one ink that creeps out onto my Safari nib and stays there (Noodler's Gulf Stream). By the time it's time to refill, the nib creep has formed a thin crust, and the flow is impeded. Particles of dried ink come loose when I flush, so I know I'm doing the right thing by flushing before refilling with that particular ink. So with some inks, I think flushing with refilling is mandatory (iron gall inks, red-based inks, and heavily-saturated inks are also mentioned for frequent flushing; to prevent corrosion and to prevent severe staining).

 

This is probably more information than you wanted. Enjoy your Safari!

 

whoa, thats a long time to wait, i usally fill about 2 minutes after setting it down on something absorbant.

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Granted, I'm a newbie to the world of fountain pens and inks (and also dip pens--I use both about equally), but if I were feeling wild and wanted to experiment with the "forbidden inks" (e.g. india, iron gall, pefumed, etc.), I'd totally GO FOR IT! I'd just find myself a cheap or fountain pen that I won't be overly upset about "killing" if it comes to that... Yay for experimentation! :bunny01:

 

There's a difference between forbidden and "forbidden" inks. India ink is forbidden, note the abscence of quotation marks. It will clog the pen very badly and possibly beyond repair. Short of a mythbusters episode ("we've all heard this myth that india ink clogs the pen"), don't use it. (The myth would be at least plausible, most likely confirmed in that imaginary episode).

 

Then perfumed and iron gall inks are more or less safe for fountain pen use, at least if rinsing the pen afterwards and not letting the pen stay inked for several weeks.

 

We're straying off topic here, but felt a compelling need to denounce experiments with india ink in a Safari. It may be cheap, but I like it a lot.

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I'm not totally up to speed on Lake Placid Blue but as saturated as most PR inks are, a drop or two of water isn't going to make any color difference

in them.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

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