My new DaniTrio Densho Raw Ebonite pen arrived today (flexi fine nib, matte finish), and it's everything I hoped it would be. 9 Having learned here that it's important to soak that feed (edited 6/1/2006 to correct my ignorant use of the wrong word) in ink at the first filling, I had no trouble at all with getting great results immediately.

I have already pestered winedoc with a lot of questions, so I'd like to ask the group about the following:

1. When I got the pen, there was a little silicon grease visible on the pen body just where you turn it to open up the safety shut-off. I wiped away the excess on the outside of the pen, but is it necessary to apply silicon grease there again from time to time? How about on the nib threads?

2. My office is only semi-airconditioned. In the summer it gets up into the low 90s in here. No direct sun, it's just very warm in the afternoon. As long as the heat is in reason, I can handle it and the computers can handle it, but do I need to keep the DaniTrio in a cooler area of the house? Any likely harm from temperatures up to 95 F or so? (when it goes over 95 at my desk, I turn off the computers and take myself to a cooler area of the house). Never had any trouble with other pens, but I've never owned a pen made of raw ebonite before and don't know what the stuff will tolerate. My guess is that extreme cold might be a bigger problem than extreme heat, but someone here will know for sure.

3. I loaded the pen initially with Levenger Cobalt (mainly because I want to get rid of the bottle of it that I have -- the ink is darker than I like these days). When I change ink colors, I assume that I just rinse out the old ink from body and from nib and feed (edited 6/1/2006, trying to get it right) by using cold tap water. Is that right? Will there be any problem if I get water on the raw ebonite?

Thanks for all the help I've received here!

Sorry did not see this post, and email sent.

generally, silicon grease is note needed unless parts gets "squeaky" and needs lube job. Prolong direct sunlight exposure is a no-no, but not a problem carrying it in your shirt pocket. To change ink, just rinse and dump until clear. Cold water not a problem.

Best,

Kevin

Hi Bill,

I see Kevin answered the questions, but I wanted to chime in. I have the same pen as you, and have changed ink color once (the thing holds a ton of ink). I did the fill and dump and then used a cheap eyedropper to flush the section.

I hope you enjoy the pen as much as I am enjoying mine.

french

Kevin, thanks for both answers (this one and the one in email). This is a great pen. If I'd had it years ago, I'd have bought fewer fountain pens!

Thanks, French -- it's hard to put the pen down, it's so nice!

Hi Bill,

The Densho was my second 'nice' fountain pen (a Lamy 2000 was my first 'nice' fountain pen). I think the Densho is a good bit nicer than the Lamy, but that is probably because I'm a nib person. In my opinion a nib doesn't have to be gold, but it should be visible, which DaniTrio does well. The Lamy was a great writer, but the semi-hooded nib just didn't do it for me.

Be careful, the Danis can be quite addictive. The Urushi and maki-e pens are absolutely gorgeous (while Kevin's pictures are excellent, they don't really do the pens justice). If you get a chance to go to a show that Kevin is attending, be sure to check out all the beautiful eyecandy he sells.

French

Well, I agree that they are. And at the same time, they're not the kind of thing I would collect, if I were a collector, which I'm not (not that I can afford them anyway). But I enjoy looking at the pictures and will definitely go ooh and aah over them should I ever be lucky enough to be at a show where they are available. Sort of like I enjoy looking at great art in a museum, but have no desire, and no means, to acquire any of it.

I received a question via PM related to Densho maintenance, and since it might be of interest to others, here is a (slightly redacted) copy of the question and my reply.



The advice to soak the nib (really, you're soaking the feed) appears in several places, and not everyone agrees with the idea. It seems to have worked for me.

The clearest reference is in the thread "Densho or Mikado, It's a Densho!"

Be sure to read the whole thread, but especially see the entry by Tytyvyllus dated May 23 in that thread. What I did -- and the experience of having to fool around with the exact amount of opening -- was almost exactly as he describes. Currently mine is cracked open between 3/32 and 1/8 of an inch (the expectation is that you crack the valve open between 1/32 and 1/16 of an inch). This gives me a lot of flow and a nice wet line, maybe a little too wet. Tomorrow I'm going to try closing it down a bit and see if it maintains flow. Apparently you have to keep adjusting for a while.

Apparently ebonite is porous, and the soaking helps get the capillary action started. Or it gets rid of crud left behind during manufacture. The theories vary. Ask an expert, get an opinion. Ask two experts, get three opinions.

I left the nib and feed soaking in the ink bottle for a good ten or fifteen minutes.

If all else fails, send the pen back to Kevin and ask for a feed replacement.

Good luck, and hang in there with your Densho. It's worth the trouble!

Best regards,
Bill Brandon

(Edited June 1, 2006 to correct the link to the thread and other mis-begotten misuses of the terms "nib" and "feed." I am no pen pro when it comes to nomenclature.)

Here is the correct link to the thread Bill was talking about.

My Densho is improved, but I think it might improve further with an ultrasonic cleaning. Once I pick one up.

I'll throw my $0.02 into the ring about flow issues. The original feed I had on my raw ebonite Densho behaved exactly as described. I tried flushing with dilute dish soap. water, changing to Aurora blue ink, the problem persisted . When all failed, Kevin asked me to send the pen back to him and he transformed from winedoc to pendoc. After he received the pen, he told me it had an 'unreliable' feed and switched the feed. Now the pen writes like a dream 9 , and has really turned me on to the DaniTrio brand.

My suggestion is try all the suggestions of others and if they don't work, contact Kevin. His customer service really is top notch.

French
(no affiliation with internetpens.net or winedoc, just a satisfied repeat customer)

Oops.

Thanks, chrisb!

no worries.

Nothing like plugging your own thread. :ph34r:

Hi Chris,

If the flow is still not good, please email me. There is only one ebonite feed maker who makes feed for many companies. They were under new management a while back. Unfortunately, their quality control is not that stringent. So, when a pen does not write well, we tend to blame the nibs. This also have frustrated the nib makers, as no one blames the feeds yet we blame the nibs. You will see more and more company go to ABS feeds if they don't shape up quickly.

Kev

Kevin, I apologize to the nib makers for my ignorant misuse of terms. I've attempted to correct my earlier misstatements in this thread, hope I got it right.

Maybe there's an opportunity here to go into the ebonite feed business ...

I hope you really enjoy that new DaniTrio. I had a few ink problems on my Densho, but its worked like a charm since that got cleared up.

Seriously, if you have the know how, you will give the current maker a run for their money. Other than this big maker, there are only a handful small individual makers that still do ebonite feeds.

Kev