Hello,

I am eagerly awaiting my first celluloid pen, an Arco Milord. And I am curious to know what you all put in your celluloid pen... I am still debating whether to use any ink deemed less safe when I will receive mine.

In the event where you do use waterproof/waterproof inks can you elaborate if it had any effects on the pen so far?

Thank you.

Maybe inks are dangerous for celluloid pens but a more permanent danger comes from the elastic holders in those leather pan cases.
Those bands contain rubber that will migrate into celluloid, and almost as badly into acrylic.
They will also make dark permament marks on silver that can NOT be removed even by silver experts.
Be warned. I speak from my own experience

Solitaire

Thank you for the warning about rubber I would have never guess that one. Sorry that you discovered it from experience What were the pen(s) victim of it?

I was away for six months and I found that the Pelikans - with the celluloid striped wraparound barrels - had roughened at the place where the band had been touching. Two M 800s suffered worst I think because they were fatter than the M320. The acrylics also roughened but not so much.

The silver pens inclusing a Jensen, a Montegrappa, Sheaffer Legacy, Namiki Dragon had variying black stains. The smoothest barrels suffered more than the deep patterned ones.

The cases using the wide bands seem to be less dangerous - maybe the rubber is contained within the woven fabric.

Solitaire

Sorry to hear about that Solitaire

I don't have a proper pen case yet as my collection is still very small but I'll make sure there is no rubber when i get one!

P.S. I'm sure there are more than 7 users of celluloid pens

Thanks for your sympathy. It was rather sad. Even Asprey the faous London silverware company said they know about the damage rubber does to silver but that they had not found any way of treating it
Now I use soft cloth roll-ups that are sold to hold silverflatware. The pockets for knives or forks or spoons are just right for pens.
The trouble is that they are not easy to find.
The ones I'm using I bought in Switzerland (or maybe Austria) many years ago.

Good luck
Solitaire

I'm assuming it's a bad idea to use Noodler's Legal Lapis in a Parker Vacumatic. Guess I'll keep using Pelikan 4001

What about watered down Noodlers? Thats my favorite.

I assume that using a Bulletproof ink in a Vacumatic (or similar) would ruin its transparency if it had any left. Am I correct in assuming that?

I hope somebody will correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there two varieties of celluloid? If I have it right, there is cellulose nitrate and cellulose acetate.

That's what I understood too. The "original" celluloid is cellulose nitrate (which is supposed to smell of camphor) today's Aurora Optima in Auroloid are cellulose acetate.

If I read between the lines correctly let me say the question was for the most susceptible to ink stain (I have no idea which of the nitrate or acetate that would be though )

Now that you mention it, I think you're definitely on to something.

Wikipedia defines celluloid (as used in pens) as cellulose nitrate. However, celluloid is also used to make detachable collars (mostly seen on Victorian and Edwardian shirts). This celluloid is composed of "interlined acetate, a material made of white linen and a thin layer of acetate."

Cellulose acetate.
Cellulose acetate (sometimes called Rhodoid) followed closely after Bakelite. It can be made from pulps such as wood or cotton treated with acetic anhydride. Conway Stewart adopted it for their streamlined pens in 1932 as a response to the Sheaffer Lifetime Balance series. Made up in sheets for pens in the 1930s it looked remarkably like celluloid without being so flammable.

But its tendency to stain, and its poor dimensional stability did not favour its use in fountain pens. Neither did its tendency to absorb water from the air. Easy to melt for the manufacturing process, it will melt again at about 200 C. Acids and alkalis can both damage it and so will alcohol. On the other hand: it is glossy; it can easily be made transparent and is reasonably hard for a thermoplastic.

Its tendency to discolour, age and crack makes it best suited to mass-produced barrels for cheap ballpoints and other commercial items that have a short life. It is mostly made into pellets for the injection molding process. It is also used as a transparent sub-structure for fountain pen barrels that are clad in other materials. Pelikan make extensive use of it. It is also used for such items as film, buttons and combs.

Solitaire

Glad I stumbled into this topic. I am waiting for my first celluloid - Arco Milord in mail as well. Can anyone confirm if they do take stain from Noodler's since I am a huge fan of OMB. I am also planning to use Golden Brown.

Congratulation on your Arco Milord! When are you expecting yours?

Mine should arrive at the end of next week

Thanks JFT. Congrats to you too. Mine should be arriving by around the middle of next week.

Thank you to all that responded. More people prefer to use safer ink apparently! I am a bit surprised though I thought there would be some horror storyies...

Of those that do use bulletproof inks in your celluloid anything bad to say about it? Any light discoloration?

Thank you

Well, I'll just pass on what I heard from some of the vendors at pen shows, that they did not recommend Noodlers or even other highly saturated inks for the transparent celluloids as in Vacumatics. Watermans, Skrip, and Quink are what was recommended, as less likely to stain permanently.

I suppose if you can't see through it now, it might not make a difference.