Help Needed With Kwz Iron Gall Orange

[evyxmsj]

Hello,

 

I'm looking for a little help with an iron gall ink (KWZ IG Orange). It's my first IG ink, and I don't know if I am just unlucky, the ink isn't for me, or if I am doing something wrong!

I've tried it in two pens now, ones I'd consider pretty wet writers. However, I'm finding that they run dry after a day or so. It's very difficult to get them going again. (TWSBI Vac 700 M and TWSBI 580 w/ Jowo ground M stub FWIW).

I think there is a drying out problem in the feed channel or at the feed / nib interface. I think this because the feed is pretty primed when I look closely, it's just not then getting down to the paper. One of them actually seems to dry between the tines, but the tines gap is a little on the big side for that pen. Both write excellently with other inks, though I've had problems with really dry inks like D Autumn Oak (in all my any pens!). The cap seems to seal fine from what I can tell.

I've got a Lamy Safari that I'll try next as a nice 'standard test', but I'm not feeling confident. I've been sticking to pens I can completely disassemble.

Any thoughts? Is this normal for IG?

[Uncial]

Some Iron gals can be very dry. I don't let them sit in pens. I fill a tiny bit for what I need and expel whatever is left back in the bottle and then clean.

[almoore]

IG inks can be a bit temperamental, it might be worth buying a few Wing Sung 3008's for ink experimentation or the Wing Sung 698 which does disassemble.

 

If you want a good dark orange that is not IG, Cult Pens Deep Dark Orange (by Diamine) is a nice gingerbread colour.

 

In the meantime I have a brand new bottle of the KWZ IG Orange (about a year old but unopened) that you're welcome to if you want to try a different bottle - just PM me.

 

Al

[JakobS]

What ink did you have in these pens before you used the IG orange?

 

KWZ IG inks are universally pretty wet, especially compared to more traditional IG inks such as Diamine Registrars, ERRSI etc.

 

If the previous ink was not completely flushed or had dried out on the feed, and was not completely removed, it could potentially react with the more acidic IG ink and form precipitates that are clogging the feed and slowing/stopping the flow of the ink.

 

KWZ's IG oranges and brown inks are not the most concentrated when it comes to their IG content, so I wouldn't expect them to have as significant iron precipitates as you can find with Diamine Registrars,. But, if exposed to enough oxygen they could precipitate out on their own. Though a day or two would be rather fast for this to happen, and I can't say I have ever seen this happen with the eight or nine KWZ IG inks I have used...

Edited April 9, 2019 by JakobS

[evyxmsj]

Thanks all!

 

@JakobS, I hadn't thought about that one. I clean fairly well, but maybe not enough! I've completely disassembled the VAC, cleaned with a toothbrush, pen flush and water, and have tried again. A lot of black particulate came out of the nib and feed... I'll see how it goes this time.

 

@almoore, thanks for the offer! I'll see how this experiment goes first. Maybe a sample would help if it doesn't go well.

Edited April 10, 2019 by evyxmsj

[evyxmsj]

Just to feed back: I had significant improvement with the Lamy and ultra cleaned TWSBI, so I think that resolves it. I did find the colour starts to 'settle' in the middle of the full IG Orange ink 'range', and the flow started to dry up. But this was over a week or two, so suspect that is normal for IG.

[amberleadavis]

Glad you got it solved.