My Dia Hates Montblanc Permanent Grey

[Anabasis]

I bought a Kaweco Dia, medium nib, about a week ago and I love it - the design is understated and sophisticated, it feels great in the hand, etc, etc. I initially inked it up with Lamy black, which is my go-to ink and works well in every pen I own, and it was a nice pairing. The flow was on the wet side, but not overly so; good.

 

I took a trip to my local Montblanc boutique in the King of Prussia Mall and picked up a bottle of the 90th anniversary Permanent Grey, an ink I was excited to try and which I thought would be a nice companion, thematically, with the Dia's classic looks. However, the two would not play nice together. The pen was plagued with hard starts and often the flow would cease altogether. Permanent Grey must have a high surface tension, as it sticks to the sides of the converter in a way that the Lamy does not, and I assume that a bubble of air was forming at the bottom of the converter and keeping the feed from working properly. When I cleaned the grey out and refilled it with black, it went back to working like a charm!

 

It's a bummer that my vision could not be realized, but some inks just do not like some pens. I love the shade of Permanent Grey and will try it in my piston fillers - my Pelikan m200 or Lamy 2000. As for the Dia, I still envision it writing with a nice grey and will seek out an alternative. I figure the tale may be of interest to others here.

 

 

[jmccarty3]

Check out the thread "In Praise of Dish Soap" in the Inky Thoughts forum. You will find several hints for reducing the surface tension of your Montblanc ink.

[Anabasis]

Update: I loaded the ink into my Pelikan m200 a few days ago and there have been no problems.