Priming Nibs, Changing Colours, and Filling From Bottles

[shookfoil]

I was reading through the review of Ottoman Rose, and came to the comment about the importance to cleaning and priming with Waterman blue-black before using this ink. I would like some clarification.

 

If I thoroughly clean the pen with water+detergent is the nib primed? Obviously, if I run "a couple of fills of Waterman blue-black" through the pen, I will have to clean it before having the Ottoman Rose look as it is supposed to - is the nib then primed?

 

If I am filling from a bottle of a similar colour ink, and I place the nib and section in the ink bottle, wind the converter down to expel air, and then fill the converter does this expel the ink in the feed into the bottle, and is it a problem?

 

If you were having trouble with a dry pen, would you consider Aurora black, or Waterman Florida Blue a better solution?

[sandeep108]

AFAIK, detergent is an absolute no no. Cold/room temperature water only.

 

Expelling the remaining ink ought not to create much of a problem since the colours are similar - and you are not too fussy.

 

The blues are usually wetter than the blacks, however there are always exceptions. I do not have any experience with either the Aurora or Waterman so maybe somebody else will help. But both should be good inks and the cause of the dryness may be elsewhere than the type / colour of the ink.

 

 

[Phthalo]

Good housekeeping with pens will always involve a little detergent or ammonia to help dissolve stubborn inks and manufacturing oils.

[Jinnayah]

I can't think of any reason you would have to use a different ink (much less a completely different color in a different brand) before using Ottoman Rose.

 

Usually a water rinse is enough to clean a pen. If it's stubborn, 10:1 water:ammonia solution helps.

 

If you fill from the Ottoman Rose bottle and squeeze a drop or three back out through the nib, your feed will be primed just fine. Ignore the advice about having to use Waterman blue-black first. I can't imagine where that would even come from.

[Ghost Plane]

Me either. Waterman is a very well behaved ink, but that's all the mystical properties it has.

[GBM]

I am more and more impressed with the Waterman encre noire which came with my Phileas kit... it is blacker than the Higgins Eternal I picked up the other day... and the combo of the med Phileas and the Waterman is velvety smooth.

 

Perhaps that suggestion came from a Waterman salesman ? LOL

[wimg]

Well, if you look up priming here on the board, and read up a bit more, you may start understanding why priming may be a good idea. Note that not all pens need it.

 

First of all, I always flush and rinse a new pen with a soapy solution (1-2 drops of dishwashing liquid in a glass of water, stirred, not shaken), to get rid of any dirt/grease/oils left behind from the manufacuring process. You can also use a very diluted ammonia solution for this. Note that with detergent, I really meant dishwashing liquid, of the non-perfumed no additives variety. English is not my first language, hence the choice of an inappropriate word, namely detegent.

 

Next, I'll prime a feed before using a difficult or more complex ink, and I use a simple ink with good flow characteristics to do this. IME, Waterman BB is one of the best inks to do this with. Essentially, you soak the feed with this ink by writing with it from new, and it will flow well regardless of the feed, unless the latter is faulty.

 

When using a more complex or more difficult ink, like Ottoman Rose, some of the PR inks, etc., in a new pen, you run the risk of skipping, bad ink flow, etc., to a degree that may put you off a pen completely. You avoid this with priming. And after priming you indeed rinse and flush the pen, normally with water, before filling with the new ink. Once primed, a feed stays primed.

 

I did an experiment once, with a new Stipula Etruria. I didn't do any of the above, and it took 4 fills of Ottoman Rose before the pen started writing normally, without skipping and bad starting. If you can live with this, fine. However, if you can't, I suggest you use the soapy water and priming treatment.

 

Warm regards, WIm

Edited January 16, 2008 by wimg

[FrankB]

I am just going to add some of my personal experience to Wim's contribution. I generally clean a new pen with luke warm water and a drop of dishwashing liquid. I then fill the pen with my ink of choice. If I find I have skipping issues, I will empty the pen and refill it with my priming ink, which is Waterman's "South Seas Blue." If the South Seas Blue doesn't get the pen going, I know I have an adjustment issue.

 

As Wim said, not all pens need the priming. But I feel comfortable knowing I have an option in case a pen need some extra help getting started.

[CharlieB]

I have sometimes stuck the nib and feed into a bottle of ink, propped it up to keep it from tipping over, and let it sit in the ink for an hour or two. This process seems to "prime" the feed pretty effectively, as the ink saturates all the nooks and crannies. I've never heard of anybody else doing this, but it works for me.

[Deirdre]

Sticking in a Stipula Netto works pretty well for me. Alas, I only have the one (it's filled with Noodler's Legal Lapis).

[Ernst Bitterman]

A little off topic:

 

English is not my first language,...

 

On my few visits to my father's homeland, I've been very shy about my halting and clumsy Nederlands, so I generally ask, "Praat U English?" The response is almost always a variation on, "Only a little, and inelegantly at that, but we will manage." I don't know much about the Dutch education system, but it's clearly very good at foreign languages.

 

edit-- My point being: not much to apologize for, Wim.

Edited February 21, 2008 by Ernst Bitterman