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Showing results for tags 'flow'.
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I've read several posts here, and in most cases the solution is sending the pen back to TWSBI. This 580 AL I have is about a year old, and I've used it almost continuously, but now the flow problems are starting to annoy me. Firstly, when I fill the pen, the flow is too wet..the ink almost drips. Then, the flow gradually starts to reduce...until it's writing close to dry. Yes, if I turn the knob the flow increases again, but then after a page or so it's back to dry. I've made sure the feed channels are wide and clear, the nib has adequate gap between the tines, and the pen is clean. Looks like there just isn't enough air going into the pen, the vacuum at the back is too strong and preventing the ink from flowing out. Has anyone found a solution to this problem before I decide to do get this pen repaired?
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good morning everyone, i have a nakaya portable (cigar) with a broad stub nib (customized by john mottishaw). beside the yama-budo ink from pilot i also use the kiwaguro nano carbon black. but i have a few problems with it: as it is a thicker ink, it tends to stick in the back part of the converter and i therefore have to give it a shake before writing or even push the filling mechanism in order to get the ink to the feed. do some of you have the same problem? do you have a solution for this? i also have a problem with the filling, especially with the ink bottle. as instructed i turn it upside down and back to get the ink into the mold, but i have to do this multiple times as the mold hardly gets filled enough in order to cover the whole nib (and a small part of the grip section). therefore not enough ink is sucked into the converter. do you use seringes to avoid this problem? thank you in advance for your answers. cheers, nils
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This one has often been puzzled by those who seek to increase the wetness of a given nib. If a nib lays down a consistent and even line, what then is the purpose behind this desire for more flow? More understandable is the reduction of an overly wet nib to one that is usable. One initial thought was to make the nib to page interface smoother, but beyond there is only so much ink that can fit between these two surfaces. It’s all a bit of a mystery, so could someone please explain the reasoning behind personal flow preferences please?
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Hello, I seem to have come across something strange, (atleast it seems strange to me). I have about 8 or 9 Parker 45s including various flighters with various sized nibs the vast major being 14k. I have noticed that on all of the 14k nibs save for one that the slit does not go all the way up into the breather hole. I find this odd unless I'm missing something. Is this some kind of error? All of the nibs are marked "Parker 14k MADE IN USA" I know I saw in another post that someone encountered the same problem and cut the slit all the way to the breather hole. Any ideas as to the reason for this? There has to be some explaination right? The pictures below show the 14k nib with the slit up to the breather and 2 nibs that are almost to the breather hole. I apologize for the the picture quality. On a side note all of the steel nibs have the slit all the way into the breather hole. Will this effect the pens performance? I have also included a screenshot of the P 45 nibs from http://www.fivestarpens.com/parker_nibs.html which shows a variation between not fully slit and fully slit. http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah48/Davide_Borrelli/e44c6bca-6ba9-4bc4-9dbc-517b82e961bc_zpsgoa3ug7b.jpg http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah48/Davide_Borrelli/5b9030df-9067-49c8-98af-ea1ff807e711_zpsyr8ywkxh.jpg http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah48/Davide_Borrelli/06607f4f-c51a-4c27-ac49-129e4076ea5b_zpsxz7eh4hx.jpg http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah48/Davide_Borrelli/Screen%20Shot%202015-11-02%20at%2012.28.50%20PM_zpsex8tnqei.png
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Some might say that anyone with more than ten fountain pens is a collector. If this is true then I might be that. I buy to use rather than to file away in a case or drawer, but in truth I only have ten or so inked at any one time. I've tried to do a purge and find that all I can manage is to offload what I have decided I will never repair or what I truly despise. On the other hand, having so many has been very useful in being able to narrow down what it is I really like and wondered if it is the same for others in the same boat as me. So, I thought I might outline what I like and enjoy through what ownership (of a rather silly amount of pens) has taught me, in the hope you might add your own musings. I feel I should add a disclaimer before I begin that these are 'my' musings and of course you may disagree very strongly with every last one of them! Jinhao: These taught me you can get very decent writers for very little money. For me they make great holiday pens. I like journal keeping while on holiday and won't be too upset if I mislay them, lose or break them. They also taught me that although I like a bit of weight to my pens, I don't like them to feel like they are made of lead or something you would have a gym workout with. Stipula: This taught me that just every once in a while a style over substance (or practical considerations) manufacturer can every now and again produce something truly great that can be missed by so many others based on past experience of other pens in their range. It also taught me that sometimes a pen can look awkward in a photograph (in terms of use, size, etc), but can be a really comfortable and pleasant pen in reality. Lamy: I now know that boring and ugly can sometimes be pleasant. Montblanc: I have been seduced by the wiles of near perfect balance and huge shiny nibs. It was also my first positive experience of feedback and how something like a nib can be distinctive in terms of 'feel'. Curiouser and curiouser! It also taught me that I love writing with fountain pens so much that I will occasionally spend a stupid amount of money on them. I try not to think about it too much. Waterman: I learnt the hard way that Western medium gold nibs that write like a felt tip are really not my thing. Sailor: Those that live in the land of the free, brave and whatever else seem to enjoy the level of feedback on Sailor's nibs. I find them unremarkable to look at and the nibs sail far too close to scratchy for my taste. The lesson was that feedback can sometimes be a very, very bad thing. Pilot: It is possible to come so, so close to absolute perfection - specifically for me in the 823. Balance, a nice glassy nib, perfect wetness of flow, great filling system, nice appearance. I keep twisting in between my fingers and thinking 'Damn, this is close to perfect'. Pelikan: Simplicity can be very, very beautiful. Visconti: Totally in your face and ridiculously over the top designs can also be beautiful and that springy, bouncy dreamtouch nibs can be a dream to use......when the quality control gets it right. Italix: Sometimes a pen everybody seems to love can turn out to be a Jinhao in disguise. I could go on, but I better leave some room for others to add their own thoughts. Overall though, looking at a whole lot of pens together it has taught me that it might be possible to spend just as much on ink, that experiencing a whole load of different pens from cheap to stupidly expensive is generally a good thing (but not for one's bank balance) and that using fountain pens somehow makes me have a truly deep appreciation for the art and miracle of writing.
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Hi. First post. Thanks in advance for any help.I'm having trouble with a new Kaweco Sport fountain pen with fine nib. I received it brand new this past weekend. It worked well at first and I enjoyed using it for a few days. I used it today for a few hours with no issues. However, it suddenly stopped writing well. (I was using the same paper, same conditions, etc. no changes. The pen hasn't been dropped or misused or anything. I'm the only one to have used it.) The flow, which until this point had been steady, is now very dry and often no ink comes out. This happens especially if I stop writing with the cap off, even just briefly, but it can happen in the middle of penning a word. At times the ink will flow as it used to, but most of the time it's scratchy, dry and sporadic (if flowing at all). Initially, I thought the pen was low on or out of ink, but the cartridge (Kaweco, came with pen; the first and only cartridge to go in the pen) was still 1/2 full. No trapped air or anything that I could see, but I swapped in another Kaweco cartridge just in case. But, still had the same problems. I can get it to start writing again by moistening the tip of the nib, but it doesn't last. In short, the pen worked well for 4 days or so, and then the performance suddenly tanked. I have other fountain pens (though this is my first Kaweco) but I've not experienced anything like this.Any thoughts and/or suggestions? Thanks very much.
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I have a Parker Sonet with a gold plated nib and absolutely love writing with it. If I am having a writing session sometimes the flow slows down and then stops and I have to lick the tip of the nib to get it flowing again. The tines look fine to me though I'm quite new to fountain pens so I don't have a trained eye....any suggestions?
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Hey all. Enjoying my brand-new 580-AL (I'll throw in a photo for happy times), but I'm having an issue that doesn't seem to be unheard-of in the TWSBI universe. My Medium nib writes incredibly smoothly and reasonably wet--it allows for some lovely shading, as you'll see. But after a page or two I start to get skips, nothing crazy, but it requires a re-priming to get them to go away. (The lines also darken considerably after a re-prime.) I'm hesitant to squeeze the tines to get a wetter nib--partially for shading, but also because it writes a relatively fat M line as it stands and I don't want to make it any broader. It seems like either the pen doesn't exchange ink for air very well, or else the feed doesn't quite keep up with the nib. So has anyone actually fixed this issue? If not I'll keep working with it the way it is, but if there's a quick-fix and I missed it in the forums somewhere I'd love to know http://www.samanthawilding.net/penstuff/twsbi2.JPG http://www.samanthawilding.net/penstuff/twsbi1.JPG
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Hi all, First, let me tell you this is my first post on this forum and I really love the community and the amazing richness of information available here. Thank you all! After years of trying to find the perfect fountain pen + ink combination to be able to write on almost any paper including Moleskine with no feathering, bleed through or other issues, I bought many fountain pens, inks and notebooks and spent hundreds of hours experimenting. Recently I discovered iron gall inks and Diamine Regisrar's ink in particular,which I find to be an amazing ink for such situations. I can use a single fountain pen and write on any paper that comes my way during the day without feathering, bleedthrough or other concerns. However, I seem to be getting inconsistent results with it. When I fill the pen (a Pilot Vanishing Point binderized F or a Pelikan M215 EF stainless steel or a Pilot Urushi F) they write rather dry. After a couple of days (without flushing) the pens start to write very wet and much darker and saturated. The line thickness is double the size. This is the most illogical impossible yet happening miracle (curse) I am struggling with. In the worst case I would expect it to clog, not become wetter. I understand iron gall inks take a few days to reach a dark saturated color. This is not the issue. Examining the writing after a few days after the last inscription, I notice this variation too except now everything is much darker. (I can't really eliminate the possibility that the same sheet of paper could be more absorbent in different areas... but I noticed this phenomenon on several different brands of paper). I kindly ask you to help me understand what are my options, what is going on, if any of you has experienced this. Also, does anyone have any suggestion on how to ensure a pen on Diamine Registrar's that writes with a consistent ink flow all the time (on the same paper) without having to flush the pen daily. I want to be able to flush it once a week as part of the iron gall maintenance habit, and have 7 days of consistent line thickness, flow and everything else. It is inconsistent on the same notebook, so i'm not saying there are variations across paper types (which are more than expected). Thank you so much in advance for all your wonderful suggestions. PS since winter holidays are approaching, I wish you all Happy Holidays!
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Hello! I'm new on FPN, and mostly new to fountain pens. I've used cheap pens, but nothing more serious until now. I have just bought a new Waterman Hemisphere, but I immediately found it has some flow problems. Specifically, it is a hard starter, the first letter of a word is usually missing. Not exactly every word, but always the first word when I start writing. It can also skip in the middle of a line, though this is more uncommon. I have already googled a bit, and I have read this topic on FPN: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/259353-hemisphere-flow-issue/ I know enough to keep it capped when not using it, so I don't think it is because of ink drying. I have tried washing it, first with water, and then with water and a drop of dishwashing liquid (and then more water afterwards to remove dishwashing liquid), but it hasn't helped. I use a converter filled with Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite ink, could this ink be at fault? Finally, I live in Sweden and bought the pen online. I have absolutely no idea where to find someone to look at or fix my pen in Sweden, fountain pens seems to be unknown here. So I very much hope that this is not "baby's bottom", because if it is I don't know what to do about it. How do I diagnose the problem?
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Hi! I bought a LAMY Safari awhile ago and it seems to barely flow at all. When I write with it, hardly any ink comes out. So after doing some searching online to troubleshoot, I flushed it with water, then with a pen flush solution. Still didn't flow. I tried forcing ink out by twisting the converter. Still didn't flow. I hate this pen! The tines seem okay. I don't know what else to try. I know LAMYs can write smoothly because my first one has great flow and is a pleasure to use. It's just frustrating to get a dud and not know how to fix it.
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Hello, fellow Fountain Pen geeks! I've always wanted a good fountain pen, but have only hitherto owned disposable ones, until yesterday, when I purchased what I beleive to be a Parker Sonnet. It took a bit to get the ink flowing after I stuck an ink cartridge in there, but it's kind of . . . halting. Sometimes it writes, and sometimes it doesn't. Did I do something wrong, or is this normal for fountain pens, you know, to take a bit to start writing without interruption? I store it upright, I put the cartridge in correctly, and write as I should with it, it just stops from time to time and I have to wait a bit or shake some ink out through the tip again to get it working. Thanks in advance!
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I was thinking to share my happiness with you This summer I bought a Parker 75 and a Parker 65 for a really low price. The seller stated that the pens are broken but I was optimistic. After an inspection they were in a really bad shape, the P65 had a destroyed section and the P75 was not writing at all only when applying a large amount of pressure, the clip was missing, the chrome clutch ring was rotten off, the clutch missing too, it had different tassies (flat at the cap, dished at barrel). It looked like this: I'm not a purist so i started to improvise to make it look reasonable and to make it write without the original parts. I was able to find a clutch spring in an old noname fountainpen which worked well in my case. Because the P65 was hopeless without a new section I took off the clip with the end jewel and mounted it on the P75. After these modifications I was pleased with the pens looks. But it was not functional yet. After reading here that also a piece of 35mm film can be used to spread the tines I tried it. After a few tries and adjustments the nib was functional again smooth and wet, the only thing was that it seemed that it had a much thicker line than an "F" nib. But it is perfect for me. Even like this I'm really happy that I can use it. And this is how it looks with the P65 clip: I know that it is really beaten up and almost every part comes from a different country (cap -USA, barrel+nib -France, clip+convertor -England, clutch spring -China) but it works What do you think about the clip?
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You can really cut an Ahab feed in two ways: 1. Chip away some of the fin wall to make the channel wider, or: 2. Cut the fins that do not open into the center channel so that they do reach the center channel. I have a supply of feeds to experiment on coming soon. I'm curious if folks have more success with approach #1, #2, or combining both ways. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this already well-hashed topic. I've read loads of posts including SamCapote's detailed Opening Up Fin Vents, but SamCapote seems to focus only on #1, which is more difficult to do than #2, so I dared to open the subject yet again, focusing on those specific points. I am aware of the need to clean the feeds, etc., before use. Again, thanks for sharing your experience with me. These feeds are not expensive, but I would like to ruin as few as possible (and yes, I have ruined a few). Ben
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Warning: Rant. Pen Unusable Out Of Box
FloatingFountain posted a topic in Fountain & Dip Pens - First Stop
Just a rant... skip if you want to. Yesterday I acquired a Sailor Professional Gear Medium as my second "big pen," alongside a Parker Duofold Fine. It was the replacement for my attention-w***** Sonnet. ("If you don't use me for 16 hours, I'll punish you by drying out.") As I'm very happy with my Sailor Sapporo since day one, I expected epic goodness of its bigger brother/sister. Uh... no. I did what I would normally do: open the box, flush the pen (soapy luke-warm water, then clear water, thoroughly), and then I inked it. No dice. It wouldn't write. *ZILCH.* "Hm. Maybe I clogged it with iron gall ink sediment..." Flush, clean, dip the pen and write: still nothing. When pressing harder, the pen would suddenly start to write, but it was somewhat scratchy. So, I cleaned it out again, and decided to take my 20x loupe to it. Diagnosis: - Right tine misaligned, a fraction of a millimeter downward. - No slit: tines were completely clamped shut. Remedy: - Align tines. - Separate tines like SBRE Brown shows in some of his video's on how to make a pen wetter. Result of the next dip test: - Pen would write, but it showed baby bottom behavior: hard starting and skipping as soon as pressure diminished. So, lastly, I wrote a few number 8 and infinity signs on 12K micromesh paper, flossed the nib using a brass sheet, cleaned the nib thoroughly, and tried another dip test. AAAH, normal writing! Finally! I then refilled the pen, and did a normal writing test. It now writes as well and as smooth as my Sapporo (and Duofold). If I post the pen and then keep it between my thumb and index finger at the very end, I can drop the nib onto the paper, and drag the pen across. It will write under its own weight, as (IMHO) a good fountain pen should be able to do. To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed that a company, famous for making 'the smoothest nibs ever created' sends out a pen that doesn't even put ink onto the paper right after unboxing. That's ridiculous. This is a pen costing almost €300 (at least in the Netherlands), and I shouldn't have to fix the nib myself. (This was fixing, not tuning, IMHO.) It's fortunate that I restored a number of vintage pens and tinkered with a bunch of cheap Chinese pens (all are sold/traded by now), so that I do have the basic knowledge and experience to do small nib adjustments. I'm sure that any 'normal' customer would have sent this pen back within 5 minutes after unoboxing. /End Rant -
So I've had a problem with one Lamy Vista for some time, tried all the useful advice I could find here on FPN, to no avail, but finally managed, maybe this will help others, the vista is a transparent safari. The problem: the pen would write for a paragraph or two, and then stop dead in its tracks. I tried the usual soaking overnight in water, soaking overnight with a drop of dish soap, dismantling the pen... Nothing would work. In desperation I tried fiddling with the nib, bending it in the process, I even bought another converter... Nothing. The solution: the feed is made of two parts, there's a top section that comes off easily, and lo and behold, there was gunk made up of fibers and dried ink inside. Cleaned this and it's been three days with no problems - except for the battered nib but that's my fault. Please excuse the photo, it's the best my phone can do.
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I'm not loving the flow on my AL Sport. I love everything about the pen, but the way it lays down the ink. It' doesn't seem to lack in smoothness, but it seems to dry up while I write sometimes. I'd like a wetter more consistent line (I love the thickness of the stroke, so I don't desire a wider nib.) Thanks for your time! Sample image of flow issue, sorry for the lousy focus: https://db.tt/f8va3xAX
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I am a new to fountain pen and am waiting on a Pilot Metropolitan to arrive. I went ahead and bought cartrdges, and a converter. If I wanted to delve into bottled inks, what would you recommend? I've read that certain inks require more and more frequent maintenance for your pen. Not that that's bad, but maybe not the first choice for a beginner. I both write and sketch, so that might be a factor. Any suggestions on brands of bottled inks and colors for a beginner to try?
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I have two Lamy extra fines, both filled with Noodler's Massachuset's 54th, yet they write drastically differently. One is significantly lighter and somewhat broader than the other. Any suggestions on next steps? Thanks!
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So Recently I just bought a Monteverde Invincia Stealth (about 5 days ago) And I've been having some really annoying problems with flow and skipping. The pen just downright does not want to start up unless I shake or tap it, or twist the piston to push more ink through. When it does get started up, after a few sentences it starts to skip. Then goes back to being completely dry, until I once again tap/twist/shake. Just rinse and repeat, that's my problem. I've flushed the pen several times with distilled water and once with a tiny bit of dish soap. I've also tried several different inks, J-herbin, Noodlers, Monteverde, Lamy. still the exact same problem, So I believe the issue lies with the pen itself. I've sent in an email to Yafa to claim warranty. I'm thinking is it just worth it to take it to a local fountain pen repair shop to see if they can fix the problem. or should I pay the $20 or so postage to send the pen in for warranty and wait another month for it to get back? Is this a problem that's easily fixable (ie. Local repair shop) or should I play it safe if it is a more major problem (Send it in for Warranty). Or option 3- Can I myself do anything about it? (not very keen on doing any DIY, rather leave it to the pros)
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I just purchased a 1973 PILOT Myu 701 (Nib-F) however I'm unable to get the ink to flow for more than a few characters at a time. I found that if I cap the pen and store it nib down for 10 minutes I'm able to write about 5 characters before it dries up again. The eBay listing said the pen was in working order so maybe it has to do with being shipped from Japan? The ink does appear to flow fairly well, but I'm not expert. I've ordered new ink which I should receive early next week to try out. I'm new to vintage fountain pens so I'm hoping there is just some cleaning I need to do and it's user error on my part. I have tried cleaning it with water, however I have not been able to get any water to come out the nib of the pen even if I use an ear cleaner bulb syringe. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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Gday everyone, Long time lurker first time poster I'd like to jump straight into it and go ahead and say that I've been having problems (or should i say A problem) with my Noodlers Bulletproof black. It's an absolutely wonderful ink in pretty much every way, except one. My 'Online German: Event' Pen doesn't seem to agree with the Noodlers ink. (I have a Noodlers Flex pen inked up in Noodlers black which works perfectly fine) I've inked it up through a converter and for about, I would say the first page and a half of writing, it writes fine. It flows well with no skipping etc. However once that 1-2 page thresh-hold has been passed the problems occur: The flow becomes weaker and the nib starts to dry outMinor skipping occurs (some shaking and tapping remedies this)Flow becomes near non-existent Every second stroke skips (No amount of shaking or tapping or wetting the nib remedies this)I've went back and talked to the boutique owner and he says that he's not surprised that an American ink, especially the 'Bulletproof' line, works poorly with a European pen. At first I thought that maybe there was a problem with the nib/feed. However after purchasing some J-Herbin and Mont-Blanc inks I'm starting to think he may be right. MY PEN WRITES PERFECTLY!! It's a very wet writer and has never skipped or been prone to dry or anything of the sort. I decided to brave the Noodlers in my Online German again, but alas, the same exact problem. I've recently read a post somewhere that the Noodlers 'Bulletproof' line is not a very well lubricated ink and is prone to flowing problems. Anyway tell me what you guys think of my situation and if you've had any similar problems with any of the Noodlers inks.
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So i got a bottle of baystate blue.... also got a preppy for obvious reasons... Went well for about 3 days. Wrote great, flowed great, looked great on paper. Then last night, all of a sudden the flow just stopped. .. I noticed the finsin the feed had filled more over the three days, as well as the threads on the barrel even though i iaed silicone grease and an o-ring to convert it to an ED (but not leaking).... I tried wiping the nib (which was covered in the ink,) wiping it with a wet napkin, flossing the tines (best i could without trying to remove tye nib from the feed.... nothing. Tried dropping it nib down into a cup of water and niticed some flow coming out of the nib, so i dried it a bit, but still nothing. Finally, i opened tge barrel and put in 5 or so drops of water. Now after letting it sit, it does write but having bad start issues and will still stop, skip, and all other sorts of annoying things. My question is, what did i do wrong?? Ive heard of people leaving theirs for weeks and picking them up and writing fine!!! :-( im sad because i like the cokor but wont put it in another pen. PLEASE HELP!!!
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Hello! I've purchased a Noodler's Konrad a while ago, and although it's a great writer (smooth and well balanced in my hand), I find it to be extremely wet. I've tried maximizing the distance between the tip of the feed and the tip of the nib, with no palpable results. I must mention that I've only user Pelikan Blue Black with this pen, which is a rather dry ink. Also, I'm not interested in flex writing with this pen; I enjoy the slight line variation that I get with normal writing, but it is quite enough for me. What else could I do? I haven't modified the feed itself in any way (cutting new channels etc). Thank you. Cheers.
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Jinhao X450 Ink Not Flowing Into The Feed
Ein Verfasser posted a topic in China, Korea and Others (Far East, Asia)
I have a Jinhao X450 (marbled finish) that I got a while ago when I bought a couple of Chinese pens (one is my knock-about Hero 110 that's quite good). I avoid Chinese pens unless I need something that I can use when working in the lab or that can be knocked-about, be lost (or stolen). Given that, I don't usually pay more than $10 for them, and don't care much if they don't work. But I have taken a liking to the very sturdy brass and enamel construction and the excellent M nib that I have gotten used to (though I greatly prefer F and EF nibs and usually avoid M or bigger because it is impractical to write calculations with them, and the fact that I simply really like EF nibs). Unfortunately, after writing two paragraphs, a vacuum forms inside the converter and no ink at all flows into the feed/nib section. I end up having to turn the piston in and out to manually draw air in every ten minutes. I took every single piece of the pen apart and soaked it in household bleach (it was fine, but please don't anyone soak their Montblanc in bleach! I DO NOT recommend trying this on any pen you spend more than $10 on! ). Cleaned every single channel and section with a little nylon brush. Everything was free of any contaminant or manufacturing residue. Put everything back together perfectly. Tested pen. . . And the same thing happened. I can hear a slow bubbling sound as the air tries to get into the reservoir. It is obvious that the feed system is not allowing for any air to enter. The system consists of a partially hollow feed with a little capillary feed that slips inside of it, it is this narrow little capillary feed that plugs into the tiny hole in the section and connects to the converter's reservoir. I don't think the design facilitates for any air to enter to stop a vacuum forming. Does anyone else's X450 do this? Is there any way to fix it? I would really like to find a way to solve the problem, as I have taken a liking to the pen. Thanks in advance for any advice.
