Help A Flex Newb Out

[ateebtk]

Hi,

I recently bought my first flexible nibbed fountain pen here. My biggest problem right now is the fact that the nib dries out when the pen is left capped for 10+ minutes, and after a broad stroke. When this happens i usually pull the lever a little bit until i see ink underneath the nib and then put the lever back in the original position. It is filled with Quink solv-X blue ink @ the moment (only ink i have tried so far).

 

 

Am i doing something wrong? Any tips would be appreciated? Also can I put noodlers eel blue, noodlers bulletproof black in it or as they not safe?

 

Thanking in advance,

ATK

[stevlight]

I "think" Quink solv-X ink is a VERY dry ink--I think it came out for the Parker 51 and was the first FP ink that did not need blotting --to compete with ball point ink. Is this an old bottle of ink? I would be more worried about the Solv-X in the Quink then Noodlers inks BUT I would use Aurora Blue or Black. Waterman ink I think is the safest ink you could use.

 

I use Aurora black or Waterman black{with a little Aurora mixed in to make it darker} in my 52's and they work great--I have used Platinum Carbon Black also but flush VERY often--PCB does not flow as well as the Aurora or Waterman.

[ateebtk]

it is a old bold of quink ink ...i think almost 7 years old... is that bad? .... i guess im gona flush it out and put noodlers eel blue in it... i just love that color.

[Tsujigiri]

You can try flushing the pen with water that has a few drops of dishwashing detergent in it. Quick inks also help; I second the recommendation for Aurora black. It's one of the blackest blacks out there, but also one of the fastest. Nice avatar, btw, one of my favorite episodes from the series.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Noodlers is a high maintenance ink. I would not put it in an old vintage pen.

 

Go to Richard Binder's com, where he talks about high maintenance inks and low maintenance inks.

www.richardspens.com/

He uses Waterman Florida Blue as his low maintenance ink, on all the pens he repairs or tests. It is safe.

 

He mentions other safe inks.

He also mentions other inks not so safe.

 

If you wish to use that Noodler's ink, why not put it in a new pen, and not an old fragile great pen.

 

And second, why not find a shading ink for a nib that is designed to shade....you are wasting the nib.

There is a list of Shading inks I put up, that were suggested by the com members, many Noodler's inks are listed.

 

Again, I'd worry about ruining a fantastic vintage pen, that most folks here would love to have and Cherish.

[reprieve]

I would flush the pen thoroughly and try a different ink.

[reprieve]

Noodlers is a high maintenance ink. I would not put it in an old vintage pen.

 

Go to Richard Binder's com, where he talks about high maintenance inks and low maintenance inks.

www.richardspens.com/

He uses Waterman Florida Blue as his low maintenance ink, on all the pens he repairs or tests. It is safe.

 

He mentions other safe inks.

He also mentions other inks not so safe.

 

If you wish to use that Noodler's ink, why not put it in a new pen, and not an old fragile great pen.

 

And second, why not find a shading ink for a nib that is designed to shade....you are wasting the nib.

There is a list of Shading inks I put up, that were suggested by the com members, many Noodler's inks are listed.

 

Again, I'd worry about ruining a fantastic vintage pen, that most folks here would love to have and Cherish.

 

 

Why do you think Noodler's ink will damage a vintage pen? Unless you are talking about the Baystate line, I have never heard of a Noodler's ink damaging a "fragile" vintage pen (and I would argue that many vintage pens are not actually fragile but are quite durable). The eternal ink line may clog some pens (similar to the OP's Quink solv-X), but those inks will not cause permanent damage. The regular, non-Baystate, non-eternal, Noodler's inks are not any more "dangerous" than any other fountain pen ink.

 

I use Noodler's inks all the time--and, yes, I use them even in my vintage pens. I have never--not once--had a problem. In my experience, Noodler's inks flow quite nicely; many of their colors shade very well, and look wonderful coming out of a flex nib. As far as maintenance goes, I flush all of my pens regularly, regardless of the brand of ink used. Noodler's inks do require more time to flush clean than some other ink brands (i.e., Herbin or Waterman, which both flush clear very quickly). On the other hand, Montblanc inks (Violet, Racing Green, White Forest), Iroshizuku inks (Yama-budo, Momiji, Tsuki-yo, just to name a few colors), many of my Diamine inks (Majestic Blue, Monaco Red, Imperial Blue, Steel Blue, again, just to name a few colors), etc., etc., require just as much time to flush clear as Noodler's.

 

I did not intend to start yet another "will or will not Noodler's inks damage my pen?" argument, but I truly do not understand why Noodler's continually gets maligned. It's just another ink. Obviously, it is your choice not to use it, and I am fine with that. But I do think it is unwise and unfair to go around scaring people about "ruining [their first] fantastic vintage pen."

[79spitfire]

I would try Pelikan blue, it's my "go to" ink in vintage pens. I used it in my Waterman 32 with the flex nib for a nice smooth writing experience.

[psfred]

The feed in the pen is full of crud, it's not the ink unless it's incompatible with old dried out ink already present.

 

Soak the nib (only, not barrel!) in some ammoniated water for a bit and see if that helps, although a trip to the sonicator is really the cure for this problem.

 

That pen will have an original style Waterman's feed with a large slot from the back to very close to the front with two narrow channels cut deeper into the feed on either side. When these two channels get dirty for whatever reason, ink cannot flow down into the nib while air bubbles are traveling back up into the sac from the breather, and the pen goes dry. This can also happen as ink flows down when the pen has been standing nib up for a while. Shaking the pen will deliver ink for a while, until the ink shaken down is used up and an air bubble stops the flow again. You will also flick blots of ink, as this style of feed is the least resistant to shaking out ink of any I've used.

 

If the pen has not been recently worked on, it's time to clean the feed properly, and if it has, call the restorer for help!

 

A Waterman's flex nib should deliver very smooth, wet flow when flexed and write a near hairline when unflexed.

 

You are using proper techinque, eh? Remember you are really painting, not writing in the "usual" sloppy US school method. Hold the pen at a very low angle and press down ONLY when pulling it straight away from the feed -- any sideways motion will sooner or later wreck the nib.

 

Peter

[ateebtk]

thanks for all the suggestions people... im gona flush the quink back inthe bottle and flush with cold water then soak the nib... then ill decide b/w pelikan 4001 (dry ink) or noodlers eel blue (wettest ink i have).

 

thanks again... i wanna post a writing sample but my camera is poooop , cant focus when zoomed in.

 

ATK

[ateebtk]

UPDATE;

 

just flushed out the parker quink solv-x blue ink and when i was flushing with water i noticed dark blue percipitate... like a lot of it. When i crushed the solid , it was grainy blue ink.... i think this was the cause of the drying up of the ink... right now the nib is being soaked in some water.... pretty scary stuff .

[Bo Bo Olson]

Noodlers is a high maintenance ink. I would not put it in an old vintage pen.

 

Go to Richard Binder's com, where he talks about high maintenance inks and low maintenance inks.

www.richardspens.com/

He uses Waterman Florida Blue as his low maintenance ink, on all the pens he repairs or tests. It is safe.

 

He mentions other safe inks.

He also mentions other inks not so safe.

 

If you wish to use that Noodler's ink, why not put it in a new pen, and not an old fragile great pen.

 

And second, why not find a shading ink for a nib that is designed to shade....you are wasting the nib.

There is a list of Shading inks I put up, that were suggested by the com members, many Noodler's inks are listed.

 

Again, I'd worry about ruining a fantastic vintage pen, that most folks here would love to have and Cherish.

 

 

Why do you think Noodler's ink will damage a vintage pen? Unless you are talking about the Baystate line, I have never heard of a Noodler's ink damaging a "fragile" vintage pen (and I would argue that many vintage pens are not actually fragile but are quite durable). The eternal ink line may clog some pens (similar to the OP's Quink solv-X), but those inks will not cause permanent damage. The regular, non-Baystate, non-eternal, Noodler's inks are not any more "dangerous" than any other fountain pen ink.

 

I use Noodler's inks all the time--and, yes, I use them even in my vintage pens. I have never--not once--had a problem. In my experience, Noodler's inks flow quite nicely; many of their colors shade very well, and look wonderful coming out of a flex nib. As far as maintenance goes, I flush all of my pens regularly, regardless of the brand of ink used. Noodler's inks do require more time to flush clean than some other ink brands (i.e., Herbin or Waterman, which both flush clear very quickly). On the other hand, Montblanc inks (Violet, Racing Green, White Forest), Iroshizuku inks (Yama-budo, Momiji, Tsuki-yo, just to name a few colors), many of my Diamine inks (Majestic Blue, Monaco Red, Imperial Blue, Steel Blue, again, just to name a few colors), etc., etc., require just as much time to flush clear as Noodler's.

 

I did not intend to start yet another "will or will not Noodler's inks damage my pen?" argument, but I truly do not understand why Noodler's continually gets maligned. It's just another ink. Obviously, it is your choice not to use it, and I am fine with that. But I do think it is unwise and unfair to go around scaring people about "ruining [their first] fantastic vintage pen."

 

Have or have you not read what Mr. Binder has to say about High Maintenance Inks?

 

Have you read of problems he has to correct because of High Maintenance ink?

 

I was giving advice as I read it from some one who knows much more than I do.

 

I am glad you have enough vintage pens to spare.

 

I don't. I was giving advice to some one with a great vintage pen; who has no Low Maintenance ink. Who has only three inks; who was asking is it safe.

 

No!!! They are High Maintenance inks.

 

That you have lots of experience with inks and your vintage pens, is good.

You have a much more experience and inks than I do.

 

How ever, I'll believe Mr. Binder that High Maintenance inks cause problems. Problems he has to cure.

 

I gave him a link to Richard Binder's com, so he could read for himself.

 

Most of my pens are piston fillers from the '50s, and I fear the Elephant Graveyard for them. I use Low Maintenance Inks in them.

 

When I was noobie with old pens, I was sent to Mr. Binder's com, and learned much, pen filling systems, nibs and read that small article about high and low maintenance inks.

 

I am glad you are lucky...some are not, or Mr. Binder would not have written about high and low maintenance inks.

Edited July 10, 2010 by Bo Bo Olson

[reprieve]

To answer your question, yes, I have read Binder's ink articles. Also, I agree with you: his website is a vast and extremely useful resource. My point was this, and Binder himself makes it much clearer than I did:

 

Let it be clearly understood that the designation of a given ink as high maintenance (by me or by anyone else) should not be construed as a warning to avoid said ink. With proper care, including more frequent flushing, use in opaque pens only, adjustment of nibs for richer flow, etc., these inks are eminently usable, so long as you use them in pens that like them and give them the attention to maintenance that they need. -- From R. Binder's "Inks: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"

 

Practice proper fountain pen maintenance (flush your pens regularly, regardless of the brand of ink you decide to use), and you shouldn't have a problem.

[ateebtk]

UPDATE:

 

just want to let everyone know that after flushing w/ h20 , and drying, i filled it with pelikan 4001 royal blue and it is writing fine. The nib doesnt dry out , and the color is a little bit darker than the quink solv-x blue (which was washed out).

 

Also, the nib seems to write a wetter line than before.

 

As far as the whole noodlers ink debate ... im gona try the noodlers eel blue next... but as one of the posters mentioned ill make sure i flush the pen regularly and not leave it in for months.

 

Again thans for the answers, suggestions fpn,

ATK

[Jeroboam]

I've never had any problems using the old Solv-x Quink in my 52's, not that I use it very often. However, I did have a terrible experience with Penman Sapphire in one of my 52's. It did look awfully good, but overnight it had clogged up the feed something chronic, I clean the feeds regularly as well. I know Penman had a reputation for clogging, but in over ten years of using it I'd never witnessed a single problem in any of my other pens. I now only use J Herbin inks in my vintage pens. This seems to be working out jolly well so far.

 

Pip-pip!

[Lord Nincompoop]

I "think" Quink solv-X ink is a VERY dry ink--I think it came out for the Parker 51 and was the first FP ink that did not need blotting --to compete with ball point ink. Is this an old bottle of ink? I would be more worried about the Solv-X in the Quink then Noodlers inks BUT I would use Aurora Blue or Black. Waterman ink I think is the safest ink you could use.

 

I use Aurora black or Waterman black{with a little Aurora mixed in to make it darker} in my 52's and they work great--I have used Platinum Carbon Black also but flush VERY often--PCB does not flow as well as the Aurora or Waterman.

 

No. Solv-X is simply an old version of Quink - the Parker 51 ink is Superchrome, which also happens to be extremely corrosive.

[riff raff]

People be hatin' on the Noodler's... :ltcapd:

[Garageboy]

High Maintenance means just that. If you can put it with it, go ahead.