New Parker Latitude Feels "rough" On The Paper

[dadkind]

Hello All,

A couple of years back, I bought my wife a Parker Latitude as a birthday gift. We filled it with some Quink but never really used it.

 

I, myself, have used a Parker 61 as my daily writer for a couple of years and recently thought about getting the Latitude up and running.

 

I cleaned it out and filled it with some Quink. But I've noticed some things that I'd like some feedback/input on.

 

1. When writing, the nib on the paper feels "rough." B comparison, my 61 is silky smooth. So, will this new pen get "smoother" the longer it's used?

2. The nib dries out overnight. If I shake the pen, there is a rattle heard in the pen (kind of like a shake paint ca) which I assume is supposed to get the ink "moving". After a few minutes of shaking and touching the nib to the paper for a few seconds (and repeat), eventually, the ink starts flowing and the rough writng resumes.

Is this normal? (Again comparing with my 61), the 61 starts writing as soon as I remove the cap.

 

Anyway, your thoughts are appreciated.

 

 

[The Blue Knight]

Get in contact with parker's warranty service through there website. If this is a manufacturing fault in the pen they should repair it free of charge. If they don't have any parts as it's an older model they will probably give you an Urban or a Sonnet to replace it as these two are the most similarly priced current pens. However if it was your fault you may have to pay the bill for the repair.

[usk15]

Did you flush the pen, soak it overnight? Maybe there's some ink residue still left from years ago fill up. Do you use cartridge or converter? Some pictures or even a video should give us more clues.

[richardandtracy]

I have a Latitude and a number of P61's.

First off, the P61 is a pen that was top of Parker's range at the time. The Latitude was never in that position. As a result, it's highly unlikely that you will find that the Latitude ever feels as nice as the P61.

 

However, that said, there are a few things that can be done to improve the situation.

Parker have a habit of leaving manufacturing oils in the section and it doesn't sound as if you've used it enough to wash them out yet. Thus, if you flush it through with diluted washing-up liquid and then a bit of clean water it should get rid of the slightly hydrophobic oils. Fill the pen & try it to see if it now works properly - and do this after every one of the following suggestions. As each is suggested you are being more radical & 'brutal' to the pen, so if you don't need to do the action, don't! After that check if the tines are misaligned with a magnifying glass. If so, bend them so they are in alignment - that should reduce any scratchiness. If it writes a bit dry (which can feel like roughness), try increasing the flow by spreading the tines with a brass shim or similar. As a final attempt to make it smooth, write a figures of 8 on 8000 grade micromesh for about 30 secs, then work up to finer grades to polish the point.

 

Anyway, I wish you well. I must say, that having used a P61 as my main pen for 25 years, it is so good that every other pen I use leaves me with a vague feeling of disappointment.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[ac12]

Pretty hard to compete with the 61.

No the pen will NOT "break ink" over time. The tip material is very hard and it takes years of writing to wear it down.

 

What is the nib/tip size of the 2 pens?

A XF (Xtra Fine) tip will always feel rougher to write with than a Medium tip pen.

 

The pen should NOT rattle when shaken. This is very odd.

 

You said that the pen dries out over night. None of my pens do that.

It could be that the pen is not clean and having drained back (tip up) into the cartridge overnight, the ink is having trouble getting thru the "stuff" in the pen.

 

I would force flush the pen to clean any old ink and manufacturing oils out.

I would get a bulb syringe (infant dept at Target) and use it to force water (1 cup water + a drop of dish washing detergent) thru the pen. These are a couple good tutorials from Goulet Pens on cleaning pens and then using a bulb syringe.

http://www.gouletpens.com/Articles.asp?ID=422

http://www.gouletpens.com/Articles.asp?ID=437

 

The other option is to switch to a more "wet" ink. I use Waterman as my wet ink on pens that don't flow my Cross ink very well.

 

Flossing the nib with a piece of brass sheet (0.002 inch thick) is a good idea, but for me that seems to be more effective on pens that have been used quite a bit. What happens is paper dust gets into the slit in the nib, and clogs it up so the ink does not flow. Flossing the nib clears the slit of this paper dust.

 

To align the tip of the nib you need a magnifier (8x or more), to see if and when the tip is in alignment. It is pretty difficult to align w/o a magnifier.

 

If you feel aventurous watch these

Edited September 19, 2013 by ac12

[icardoth]

Are you using a converter or a cartridge? The "rattle" may be produced by the converter's ball inside it.

 

And, by the way, my Latitudes are not great writers. I have two, and both of them suffer the "baby bottom" problem.

[dadkind]

Thanks for all the tips.

1. The pen was rough when I first bought it a few years ago.

2. The pen came with a M nib and I replaced it with a F

3. It has a converter (which may explain the rattle?)

4. I seem to recall that both the M and the new F nib had the drying out problem.

 

Regardless, it sounds like a flush is needed at the least.

 

One last note: now that I've been playing with it daily for the last few days, the drying out problem has (almost entirely) gone away. Here, too, a flush may help.

 

Thanks again!

[ac12]

The F nib will feel rougher than the M nib.

This is because there is a smaller patch of metal in contact with the paper, so any roughness on the surface of the paper is transmitted to the pen. The wider M nib has more metal that will skim over the roughness. For an extreeeem comparison, get a needle and try to draw it across the paper like you would a pen. The sharp needle will fall into any small depressions on the paper that the F or M nibs won't.

 

Saying that, I found that for me, when I write with my F nib pens, I have to be selective about what paper I write onto. I like a smooth gliding feel to the pen, so the paper surface has to be SMOOTH. Even better if it is both HARD and SMOOTH. So I do NOT like to write on standard copy paper, it is too rough for my F tip pens. There are several threads on finding good inexpensive writing paper. But just to elimnate paper as a factor, go to Office Depot or Staples, and get a "Black and Red" brand notebook. And make sure the one you get is "made in Germany." That is a very good middle cost paper. If you have a stationary store nearby, get a Clairefontain or Rhodia notebook. The paper in those are superb, but the prices are also high. Fine for occasional writing, but expensive for a LOT of writing.