Dip Pen Ink Blobbing Issue

[TheFountainPenOfYouth]

I am having some blobbing issues with my dib pen nib. Whenever I write, especially in cursive, it blobs like crazy. Yesterday I've washed the nib with dish detergent and everything was fine but today when I went to write again, it blobbed ink as before. This happens with my quills as well. What am I doing wrong?

[Bluey]

Dry cleaning by scrubbing it(especially the tip) with toothpaste and an old toothbrush or some other brush. If there is blobbing then that sounds like there's still oil left.

Also, don't touch the nib around the tip with your fingers, in case you don't know.

 

What nib are you using?

Edited March 4, 2018 by Bluey

[TheFountainPenOfYouth]

Dry cleaning by scrubbing it(especially the tip) with toothpaste and an old toothbrush or some other brush.

 

 

What nib are you using?

 

Geo W Hughes #1152 I think . Gold plated.

 

It was the nib that came with this antique dip pen. It looked used already.

 

Thanks for the advice Bluey.

Edited March 4, 2018 by TheFountainPenOfYouth

[TheFountainPenOfYouth]

I cleaned up the nib with some toothpaste but the problem seemed to only get worse.

[dcwaites]

More importantly, what ink are you using?

Many modern fountain pen inks have too much surfactant (detergent) for dip pens. You need to use an older formulation ink like Sheaffer Skrip or Pelikan 4001 in a dip pen.

[AAAndrew]

Or an iron gall ink. you can also try the potato or flame techniques. If you do try the flame technique, then since it’s a used pen, wave it over a flame for a full second, keeping the flame centered over the main body of the pen, not the tip. Then wipe it down with a tissue or paper napkin.

 

Try changing ink first, then try further prepping.

 

Also, what paper are you using? Sometimes if the paper is highly sized (slick and smooth) the ink won’t absorb evenly and so it blobs on the surface. Dip pens put down a significantly greater flow of ink than a fountain pen. The right paper is important.

 

https://thesteelpen.com/2017/10/20/using-steel-pens-part-4-ink-and-paper/

[Bluey]

I cleaned up the nib with some toothpaste but the problem seemed to only get worse.

After removing all of the toothpaste I hope

[Inkling13]

B

 

Or an iron gall ink. you can also try the potato or flame techniques. If you do try the flame technique, then since it’s a used pen, wave it over a flame for a full second, keeping the flame centered over the main body of the pen, not the tip. Then wipe it down with a tissue or paper napkin.

Try changing ink first, then try further prepping.

Also, what paper are you using? Sometimes if the paper is highly sized (slick and smooth) the ink won’t absorb evenly and so it blobs on the surface. Dip pens put down a significantly greater flow of ink than a fountain pen. The right paper is important.

https://thesteelpen.com/2017/10/20/using-steel-pens-part-4-ink-and-paper/

Before you flame the nib, is it a gold nib, or a steel nib. Is it a steel "disposable" nib? I wouldn't be flaming a tipped gold nib...

[TheFountainPenOfYouth]

I am using Bortoletti ink from a dip pen set I got a while ago. The nib is gold plated.

 

I tested a few papers. One was like printer paper (fairly absorbent) and the other was lined paper (smoother and less absorbent). Both seem to blob.

 

 

I have some iron gall coming in the mail soon and more nibs from Pendemonium too.

 

 

The really weird thing is that after I first washed the nib with dish detergent for the very first time, it wrote fine! I could get a 2-4 lines out of it before dipping! The next day I wrote with it, it started blobbing and I could barely get 1 line out before needing to re-dip.

Edited March 4, 2018 by TheFountainPenOfYouth

[Inkling13]

I guess I meant, is the nib tipped? Is it a disposable nib (aka came in a box on 100s)?