Pen For Waterman Absolute Brown

[TGupta]

I am new to the fountain pen world. I am fond of brown inks and so I bought a Waterman Absolute Brown. But it is not going well with my Platinum Preppys. I have one fine and one medium nib. Both of them are having terrible flows with the Waterman brown ink. Can anyone suggest some other relatively inexpensive fountain pens that will go well with Waterman Absolute Brown??? Thank you in advance.

 

P.S.: Previously I had a Pelikan brown ink. But its performance was terrible in every pen. Later I came to know that it is one of the most dry inks available. Then I bought the Waterman. So I really want it to work. Thanks in advance once again.

[Joe in Seattle]

Modern - Levenger True Writer (outlet on EBay)

 

Any Pelikan vintage or modern

[tamiya]

How do you get the bottle ink into the pen?

 

I have many Preppys in both 0.5 & 0.3, they all get fed mostly exclusively on Pelikan & Waterman after the factory Platinum cartridge runs out - I both refill the cartridge & install aftermarket converter, doesnt make much difference either way. The German & French bottles are a little dryer but they still write fine, no squeaks or skips.

 

This past week I opened several more new Preppys; I usually give the nib a quick go-over before inking. Check tines are level, most were ok except 2 needed a gentle nudge with thumbnail. A quick floss of the slit with the 0.03" shim and that's it, pop cartridge on. I don't bother washing new Preppys as they're hard to dry & hasn't made any difference in past.

 

After filling I'd stand them nib down until they start writing. Have noticed 0.3s do start faster, like 3-5mins. Some 0.5s have taken longer, sometimes overnight :/

 

If using converter, I fill that manually before popping on pen. Filling thru the pen usually fills up the section full of ink which later on seems to give a higher chance of burping a mess... and doesn't seem to make that 0.5 start writing any faster either. They just seem to want some time standing nib down to sort themselves out.

 

Other my brand pens which write even dryer than Preppys, adding a touch of Kodak PhotoFlo to Pelikan 4001 can help but it also promotes more feathering depending on paper used. Have not yet needed to PhotoFlo any Preppy, after hard starting they write fine until the cart is empty whereas some pens squeak to a halt even with plenty of ink still inside.

 

Am advised there are perhaps wetter Browns I can buy; bought a Sailor jar last week but not yet tried. Was also looking for brown in Iroshizuku but none in stock then.

[sandy101]

Faber Castell Loom, or Faber Castell basic.

[sirgilbert357]

I'd say to take your pick of any commonly recommended starter pen: Pilot Metropolitan, Pilot 78g, Parker 45, TWSBI Eco, etc...

 

Just pick whatever suits you. I've had good luck with every Parker 45 I've owned. Had one TWSBI that wrote kind of dry, but it was easy to sort out with a little tinkering. My Pilot 78g has been flawless with Iroshizuku Asa-gao in it. Never had a Metropolitan, so can't say there, but would expect it to be on par with the 78g, honestly.

[TGupta]

How do you get the bottle ink into the pen?

 

 

I use a syringe with needle to ink up the Platinum cartridge. Actually being new to fountain pens, I can't adjust nibs and tines. Otherwise there was a chance I could have experimented with my pens and had better results.