Getting A Dry Pen Off To A Good Start

[FountainPenCowgirl]

Good Sunday! I'm feeling the need for a bit of advice on my latest purchase, a Monteverde Jeweleria Carbon Fiber. Gorgeous pen, perfect fit to my small hands, but a bit dry on first run. I cleaned it out before using. Tried a couple of samples after that, one I can't remember (tough week on other fronts) and Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses. Still pretty dry, especially compared to my experiences with other medium nibs. This is my first Montverde.

 

I'm thinking that one of my Iroshizuku inks might be a good option for getting it going, or one of the new Diamine samples that came in the same order. The former seem to be more lubricated(?). (Still working on my terminology; they seem to glide well, regardless of the pen, especially my beloved Asa-Gao.) but my Diamines seem to just work, whatever the situation.

 

What's a good next step for a dry-writing pen?

 

Yes, I could just go fill 'er up and see what happens; but this felt like a good chance to build my knowledge by consulting my new, more experienced friends.

Edited September 29, 2013 by FountainPenCowgirl

[jar]

Try some Private Reserve and Waterman inks.

[ac12]

I use Waterman ink in my dry pens.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Congratulations on your new pen.

 

From my experience with new pens, they seem to need a bit of a break-in period as the parts settle down under the pressure of writing and being in contact with ink. Not a huge amount, but just enough for me to be patient with new arrivals.

 

My first fill is often Waterman Florida Blue (now Serenity), which is one ink that I use as a 'standard' to profile a pen's characteristics.

 

I check the nib alignment on the feed and the tine alignment to see if any wiggling [of those parts] needs to be done. While a loupe is useful for gross adjustments, I prefer to make fine adjustments to the nib according to feel during use.

 

I draw long sweeping lines & page-size spirals & figure-eights to see if the flow is even in all directions of travel, if there is feed starvation, and to put a lot of ink thru the pen in a very short time. I also change the attitude of the pen from nearly vertical to as low as possible to feel where the sweet spot resides.

 

I'll run a few fill cycles even though the reservoir is nearly full - essentially flushing the reservoir, collector, feed & nib with fresh ink.

 

The new arrival often becomes my casual carry for a few days, (the bonding period), and just might tag along to the office for extensive doodling on various papers.

 

Around the third day I'll change inks to the quite dry MB Midnight Blue to see how the pen runs with a dry ink, which concludes my welcoming and profiling regimen.

 

Only after all of that will I go about matching that pen to other inks, which is a never-ending process as new inks join the party.

 

Bye,

S1

Edited September 29, 2013 by Sandy1

[FountainPenCowgirl]

So grateful for this early, generous feedback! I appreciate the advice, not only for potential ink directions, but for taking a more committed approach to breaking in this little jewel. It's been a bit of a different experience (not that I have that much...) from previous "new pen" processes (I've lucked out with most just working out of the box.).

 

Thanks so much for providing some guidance on how to proceed from here!

[copierguy1961]

Hi FPCG, I had the exact same problem with my Jewleria. Brian Goulet even sent me another nib with the same results. I tried everything to modify the nib but nothing made it much better. My solution was buying a Goulet nib and now I love the pen. I have put Goulet nibs in a few pens and it has always markedly improved the pen. Hood luck and " write on". Sorry I stole that Brian.

[sandy101]

I found Pelikan's 4001 inks worked well in a dry pen, whilst J Herbin's didn't. Waterman's works well too.

[FountainPenCowgirl]

After trying different inks, I ended up replacing the medium nib with a broad. Line's a *little* bold, but it ended up being the change needed to make it a valued addition to my collection.

 

An interesting side note (well, to me...):

 

The PR Tanzanite that I used after the nib switch is a totally different color. Very bright, true purple.

 

Always something new to learn in this process.