Why are some pens slow starters? What exactly is happening that causes some pens to need a bit of a "shake" to get the ink flowing after they've been idle for a while? And is there anything to help fix this problem?

I have a couple of pens that are ALWAYS ready to write. My Waterman Phileas has been the most reliable pen that I've ever owned. Conversely, my Namiki VP has been somewhat frustrating because it always seems to take a bit of gentle shaking to get itself going. (My other VP seemed to be more reliable, as I recall.)

I'm going to try the dilute soap rinse tonight on the VP to see if that'll help...

TMann

The VP is a very smooth writer, but some of the nib units are shipped with the tines too close together.
If you have a nib flossing kit, use it on your nib. If you don't, take a piece of photo film (an old 35mm slide is perfect) and carefully insert it between the tines. Do it slowly a couple of times. problem solved.
Some negatives may leave a bit of emulsion in the nib: if you use a negative, rinse it first in hot water and remove the emulsion (gelatine) with your fingers before using it on the nib.

I thought the deal about bad starters was due to the so-called baby bottom effect... My Esprit usually starts bad, but then never misses a stroke
Could someone elaborate more on this subject?

The baby bottom effect will cause skippind and sometimes bad starting. The VP nibs I have seen (maybe 30 of them) never showed any baby bottom effect (maybe I was just lucky), they did show unsufficient clearance between the tines. A slight adjustment and these nibs are superlative.

Thanks, Tryphon. I'll give it a good rinse and also floss the tines to see if that helps.

As far as the "baby bottom" problem, I don't think that is the case with my VP. A "baby bottom" nib doesn't start immediately, but needs a slight bit of pressure to get the ink flowing. This is caused by the nib being shaped improperly so the ink doesn't contact the paper without some pressure.

In the case of my VP's, there's no flow at all when the pen is first used. It's only after a minute of holding it upright, and sometimes shaking it a bit, that it will start to write. Once it's going though, it works great without any skipping or hesitation.

I'll have to work on it a bit and see what happens.

TMann

Wow! That worked out great. I flushed and flossed the nib on my VP yesterday, and then left it sitting upright on my desk. A day later, I pulled it out and it wrote instantly on the first downstroke.

Thanks, Tryphon. That was a great tip.

TMann

Great tip Giovanni. Thanks

Now how do I get my film out of my digital camera ?.

Gary,

Hammer and chisel is best. Use at least a 4lb lump hammer, you don't want to mess about. It can sometimes help to use an angle grinder with a cutting disk to get a slot cut to start the chisel in.

Regards,

Jim

Best advice ever. Full Stop.
:ph34r:

I can't read this post? Why? There appear to be 8 replies and I can see anything? I've slipped into another dimension.

Now I can. Wierd.