Flow dries up, EXCEPT with Noodler's Black

July 28, 2005

Hi, all.

I'm still struggling with the De La Rue pen I first mentioned here.

The pen is a mid-1930s lever filler with a flexible nib.

It works reliably with Noodler's black ink. But the Noodler's black ink flows so richly from this pen that: (1) it never completely dries on good paper, OR (2) it feathers horribly on cheap paper. So I'm looking for another ink for this pen that might be faster-drying.

With all the other inks I've tried, the flow slows within a page of writing to an extremely dry nib -- essentially unusable. All these inks show the same problem: Waterman blue-black, Quink blue-black, Montblanc blue-black, Pelikan 4001 black. Montblanc and Pelikan seem the worst, Waterman and Quink a bit better.

If I dilute Noodler's Black to 1:3 (water:ink), it fails too.

I've tried flushing with soap and ammonia solutions.

Since the flow is strong and consistent with the Noodler's black, are there any problems that can be ruled out?

Is there anything I can try that might identify the problem?

Should I send the pen to an expert?

Is it normal for a pen of this vintage to be so finicky?

Any thoughts?

Thanks. --Arnav

July 29, 2005

Hi Arnav,

That sounds like a weird problem. Both of the Onotos in my little accumulation, are very wet writers, with any ink fed to them.

The funny part is that I find Noodler's Black to be a relatively dry ink, compared to some of the others. And Waterman Blue Black is actually an ink that I use to get any pen working properly. It seems to possess healing qualitites for the feed, somehow.

Personally, I would probably check if there isn't somehow a leak somewhere in the little sac, causing, amongst others, not enough ink to be drawn in under certain circumstances. So it just fills the nib/feed, which would allow you very likely about a page of writing.

Does the pen, with the nib immersed in ink, always blow bubbles when you pull the lever, even whn doing it for the 4th or 5th time?

Does the pen occasionally just blob ink on the paper?

Both tend to be indications of one or more very tiny holes in the sac, which needs replacing in that case.

Just check that please, and let us know what your findings are.

Warm regards, Wim

July 29, 2005

Wim, thanks very much for your help!

Both of the Onotos in my little accumulation, are very wet writers, with any ink fed to them.

The funny part is that I find Noodler's Black to be a relatively dry ink, compared to some of the others.

I've also found the Noodler's Black to be a reltively dry ink. In this De La Rue, it flows very richly.

Does the pen, with the nib immersed in ink, always blow bubbles when you pull the lever, even whn doing it for the 4th or 5th time?

I didn't think of checking this. On the second lever press, there are just a few bubbles, and no more after that.

Does the pen occasionally just blob ink on the paper?

No. I've had the pen since late March, and it hasn't ever blobbed.

To relieve my frustration, I'll tell more about the pen. It has a nifty narrow (< 0.5 mm), rather flexible stub nib. The nib's cross stroke is extremely narrow, so much so that you might mistake its writing for that of an italic. But somehow -- due to the flex, I think -- the nib writes smoothly and effortlessly, and requires hardly any of the deliberation that similar rigid nibs would require. Visually, it's a plain, conservative, smallish, black celluloid pen with a small #2 nib. But I find the nib's writing qualities breathtaking.

Thanks again. --Arnav