Fountain pen ink in technical pens?

[inkyhands]

Greetings:

 

I am both a fountain pen user and a technical pen user. I use the technical pens for writing, not drawing. I would like to be able to use some of my fountain pen inks in the technical pens. i am a user of Noodler's black, and I also use a couple of the Levenger inks-Cardinal Red and Gemstone Green.

 

Is there anyone out there using fountain pen inks in technical pens? I don't really want to use standard technical pen ink, since I have found that it is harder to use. It tends to dry in the nib easily, and doesn't really give a good line. Not to mention that the colors are pretty bad as well.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Inkyhadnds

[born t]

I think it should be possible. It may flow too readily in a technical pen, though, and obviously won't stick on things like tracing paper; I think the need to write on tracing paper has driven the use of thicker, gummed Indian ink in technical pens.

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Dunno about technical pens, but I've used fountain pen ink in a poultry quill.

[ZeissIkon]

When I was in college and owned a Rapidograph, I used nothing but Quink in it. Worked fine, though I quickly found the square-cut tube end wasn't very comfortable for actual writing (if I'd known then how much nicer a rounded tip was, I'd have disassembled the thing and rounded over the tip on a whetstone -- though I don't actually know if the tube wall was thick enough for that).

[psfred]

The only issue I can think of would be serious feathering on poor quality paper. As noted, you may also have problems with tracing paper or other coated stock with ink beading up.

 

I've not tried, but my Inkographs work just fine (rounded rather than flat tips, rather larger than I would like).

 

Peter

[camoandconcrete]

I frequently use the Rapidograph technical pens from Koh-I-Noor or the Leroy pens from K+E and I would suggest you stick with technical drawing ink. These types of pens are very sensitive to the ink used in them because of the dozens of small tubes inside used to deliver the ink. Moreover, if you take a close look at the pens there is a very delicate needle used to regulate the flow to the tip, and these can be bent and ruined if they are not handled properly.

[inkyhands]

The only issue I can think of would be serious feathering on poor quality paper. As noted, you may also have problems with tracing paper or other coated stock with ink beading up.

 

I've not tried, but my Inkographs work just fine (rounded rather than flat tips, rather larger than I would like).

 

 

 

Peter:

 

I am assuming that Inkographs are different from the rapidographs that I have? As far as I can tell the pens that I have are just fountain pen bodies with regular technical pen points. Is there a way to round off the technical pen points? I don't use these as often as I would like due to the squared off nature of the points. They make it difficult to write. However, I love the very fine line I get. (When the ink is flowing.)

 

Inkyhands

[psfred]

Inkographs were made from the late 1800's up to the 1940s, and work exactly like technical pens (a weighted pin inside a tube). The only real difference is that the tube is somewhat thicker and the tip is rounded off so that they write smoothly. Hard rubber or celluloid bodies.

 

All the ones I have are large in diameter, too fat for me. I don't think you can round off a technical pen, though -- the wall of the tube it too thin. They are designed to produce a very precise line width when held vertically, not for regular writing, and don't work very well as a result unless held perpendicular to the paper. The better ones have sapphire tips, too, so they don't wear.

 

If the fine, regular line is what you want, look for a pen with an XF nib in good shape. The Asian pens usually have much finer nibs for a stated size than US or European pens. Vintage Sheaffers tend to have fine nibs, and a Snorkel with an XF nib in good shape (note that many are NOT as found in the wild) would suit you just fine. Parkers are OK too, but tend to have nibs with variable line thickness in different directions, which I find annoying. My favorite pen for fine writing is a Sheaffer Statesman with a rescued Accountant nib -- very fine, very smooth, and writes a dream. Second favorite is tied between a Parker "51" with an old style Hero 329 nib transplant and a Hero 100. Both nibs are quite stiff, but deliver a constant, fine, wet line.

 

Peter

[Peter Robins]

Is there anyone out there using fountain pen inks in technical pens? I don't really want to use standard technical pen ink, since I have found that it is harder to use. It tends to dry in the nib easily, and doesn't really give a good line. Not to mention that the colors are pretty bad as well.

Yes. I'm using fountain pen inks for years. I even use stamp pad ink or endorsing ink, like this, for example (and others too):

This is entirely water soluble, but I use waterproof inks too.

I should mention that my technical pens are Rotring Isograph only. But I think the others are not so different.

[JimBob]

Looking for cartridges tonight I came across the L-Tech pen. As a geologist, I have used Rapidographs forever - until micropoints came on the market to post data to maps. Now that I have run across this section, I may resurrect my box full of Rapidographs to see if I can round off the square end some on a 2 nib. It is a great idea.

 

L-Tech - http://www.levenger.com/PAGETEMPLATES/PRODUCT/Product.asp?Params=Category=8-275|Level=2-3|pageid=6480 and

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/103943-levenger-l-tech/

 

As the Schmidt Nibs can be ordered separately to fit, EEF to B nibs are available for very detailed work.

Edited August 7, 2010 by JimBob

[Federalist Pens]

Yes, I am using MB RG in a Koh-I-Noor Radiograph currently.

It seems to work great for everyday use!

I just got that pen about a month ago in a lot.

I should note that I also bought a new (NOS) point for this pen on ebay.

I am using a #3 point (0.8); the #0 point it came with was damaged.

(as someone here pointed out, the "needle" was bent)

I prefer med to bold nibs, so this point works great for me!

 

Frank

 

 

[rickap]

I've used fountain pen ink in Rapidographs. No problems at all.