Sailor 1911 Large Realo - Dry Writing

[eranre]

Hey,

I'm rather new to the FP world, and this is my first post in this magnificent community.

I own a Montblanc Meistersturck classic, with a Fine nib that I've been using for the past year and a half.

I never loved it, but I felt that it was ok for the time being.

For the last few weeks I've made some research and found about the Sailor 1911 and their buttery nibs. As much as I had gotten myself reading more and more about this pen I felt that I must get one.

Finally after a few days of I bought a Realo version of the 1911 Large with a Medium nib from a Japanese seller through EBAY (He really had a very good price and a 100% happy customers).

Today, My pen arrived, and I immediately went with it to my desk and inked it full (with my Montblanc Mystery black ink).

I was disappointed. It was writing very very dry, making the ink look grayish and non saturated. On top of that it was even skipping a bit.

 

My question to you is - can it be the ink? (the seller has suggested that it might be the problem), May it be the nib that is not functioning well? (took a look at it and it looks very aligned, also the nib was not scratchy at all even without the ink - and I do have the Montblanc to compare)

 

Thank you very much for your help,

Eran

[Runnin_Ute]

Yes it might be the ink. No experience with either Sailor pens or MB inks. Do you have something like Waterman Serenity/Florida Blue? It is considered a well behaved fairly wet ink. Also did you flush the pen good before inking up? I will do that on all new pens to me-vintage or modern.

[ehemem]

In my experience, Japanese pens tend to be somewhat dryer writers than western pens, especially the fine nibs. And it also may be that the pen's feed needs to fully saturate for a day. I have a Sailor Realo with a fine nib inked up with Noodler's Black and it writes a fine line which is pretty black even on really poor paper.

 

Don't give up just yet...

 

ETA: Did you flush the pen out with water before filling it with ink?

Edited February 1, 2015 by ehemem

[flipper_gv]

Maybe the tines are too tight?

 

It was the case on my custom heritage 92. Had to work on the nib a bit, but now it's perfect. Better this way than the other way, it's much harder to get less flow than to get more.

Edited February 2, 2015 by flipper_gv

[EMPen]

I have a 1911 Realo in Medium as well. When I first got the pen I really disliked it. It was super smooth but it did feel very dry. After using the pen for about 6 weeks, with some light pressure, the nib has really broken in well.

 

Personally, I find that Iroshizuku Asa-gao works best in the pen. If you have some Iroshizuku available you should try some. The entire line seems to behave similarly.

 

Surprisingly, even after the initial break-in period I find that with Sailor Oku-Yama still writes fairly dryly. It's a shame, since I bought the ink specifically for this pen.

[LinnT]

Hello,

I have a couple of Pilot pens I bought from sellers who complained they were dry writers. I found after some experimentation that they were sensitive to the angle I held them. They liked to be held more vertically than my other pens. They are great writers now, as long as I watch my grip.

[marcomillions]

I'd take a look at some other inks. I have owned two 1911 Realos. (I gave the first to my best friend. Then I went out and bought another.) They were each the best pen I had and my favorite: smoothest writing, most reliable, best behaved--just a pleasure to use. Dry-writing? Not a bit of it. I also have a Platinum 3776, which, we know, has a much-vaunted, proprietary cap that keeps ink from drying out for longer the pen. And the system works. The Platinum (also a Fine nib) is most likeky to start without skipping after a long idle period than any of my pens . . . except the 1911, which beats even the 3776.

 

So, after giving your 1911 a good, thorough clean, as ehemem suggests, look around for a black ink whose color you like, and with a good reputation (not necessarily a reputation as a "wet" ink, just a reputation for being a well-behaved ink) and give it a try in your Sailor. I have had excellent results with a wide range of blacks and blue-blacks: Noodler's Borealis Black (which I think is a very wet ink), Visconti Black, J. Herbin Perle noire, Pelikan Edelstein Onyx. But my all-time favorite inks to use with this pen are the two Sailor "nano," or "pigment" inks, Kiwa-guro black and Sei-boku blue-black. Though you might think the tiny particles of carbon in the black ink (and tiny particles of I-don't-know-what in the blue-black) would make the ink more likely to clog your nib, the opposite is the case, as everyone reports. These particles apparently act as lubricant in the ink. The 1911, for its part, show off these magnificent inks to their best effect

 

Have fun.

 

Marc

[JLS1]

You've received some good advice above, especially about trying other inks. (FWIW, I find Sailor inks pretty dry too) The only advice that I'd add is that giving a new pen a good flushing can resolve problems with ink flow. Sometimes, residual chemicals in the feed from the manufacturing process can affect the flow.

[Opus105]

+1 on flushing with mildly soapy water. I no longer have my Realo, but I recall it responded well to a flush.

[Jeff_H]

Clean, clean, clean the pen first. Warm water, not hot and just a drop of dish soap in 5-6 cups of water. I use one of those clear 6 cup measuring cups. Fill it up and draw water through the nib into the converter and then flush the water back out into the sink... not back into your soapy water. It wouldn't hurt to do it 10 or more times. Then you can let the nib and the converter in the soapy water for a while. An hour or so up to overnight if you think they need it. Then rinse very thoroughly with cool water and allow the parts to air dry.

 

Often this is more than enough to get ink flowing very well in a pen.

Edited March 8, 2015 by Jeff_H

[coinlvr]

I had the similar experiences but after washing the nib and pen thoroughly and soaking it made the trick.

[sakayume]

If you have Sailor Doyou, Shigure or even Jentle Black, they might be worth a try with the pen. I've found those three Sailor inks very wet and lubricated (there are probably other Sailor inks with similar characteristics, these are just the three I've tried), and they make a dry writing pen much more pleasant to write with.

[Calabria]

I wouldn't wash a piston filler with soapy water.

 

If the pen is absolutely brand new (Sailors come in a plastic sleeve), you shouldn't need to wash it out. If not, a bit of cold water may remove ink residue if the pen was previously used/dipped.

 

I used to buy M Sailors (have since changed to F). In my experience, the nibs take a few weeks or a month to break in. They're 21K, so actually quite soft. It's a pleasurable experience to see a pen slowly become acquainted with your writing.

 

I use Aurora inks in mine, they flow quite well & put down a dark line. Later, you can use whatever inks - Sailors are very forgiving. Enjoy!

[Padawan]

I would suggest if technical health of a pen is in doubt to try it

1) with an ink of the same brand if available (Sailor with Sailor, Platinum with Patinum, Pilot with Pilot, etc) to eliminate any possible incompatibility.

2) if the same brand ink is not available to try it with an ink with proven good behavior like Waterman Serenity Blue for instance.

 

If it does not help then think about technical issues (sediments, uneven tines, bendings, gaps, feeder, faulty tip shape etc.).

Edited January 29, 2016 by Padawan

[VivienR]

My 1911L is C/C with a H-MF nib, it wrote out of the box wonderfully. In fact the pen skyrocketed to be my best writer. I wouldn't say it a dry one, although my Sapporo has a F nib, well, that's very fine compare to others and that one is bit picky about inks, but so far worked with everything.

So maybe some change of ink? Well, for that reason I wouldn't choose a piston filler. Cleaning an ink out of that is much painful than cleaning from a C/C.

[ItsMeDave]

I've got a brand new Sailor Pro Gear Realo inked with Sailor Jentle Tokiwa-Matsu that writes very wet. This is a brand new pen, with a brand new ink, so I'm not certain which is most responsible for the wetness.

 

I'm having dryness issues with a new Pelikan M800, I've tried three different inks, all write fine in other pens, but are dry in the M800. One of the three inks, PR Ebony Green, is basically unusable in the pen - hard-starts after a 5-10 second pause. Currently it's inked with iroshizuku syo-ro, it's dry, but at least zero hard-starts.

 

I'm new to fountain pens and am quite surprised by the differences that the inks make in the flow of the pen.

 

Cheers.

 

David

Edited February 7, 2016 by ItsMeDave

[Aysedasi]

My Realo had the same issues but I opened the tines very slightly with some brass shim and it's been fine ever since. Stunningly smooth nib and it reacts well to any ink I put in it.

Edited January 21, 2018 by Aysedasi

[minddance]

The dryness might be caused by the nib grind. Is your nib silky smooth or has many restricting edges so sharp that it might scratch?

[Driften]

I have only used Pilot Iroshizuku inks in my 1911 Realo with a Zoom nib and it nice and wet. It might be dry if I used it with my MB inks that don't seem to be as wet as Iroshizuku inks.I do enjoy MB inks in my pens with wet nibs.