Jump to content

Waterman 52 Needs To Be Dipped Past Nib To Be Inked?


hailsham

Recommended Posts

Hello,

 

I just got my first flex pen: a Waterman 52 1/2V. I love writing with the flexible nib but I am having usage/maintenance issues (which is perhaps compounded by the 52 1/2V's small size!)

 

I have some questions that I would appreciate any help or thoughts on.

 

1) I have to dip my pen past the nib for and onto the body of the pen itself to suck the ink up properly. I will not be able to suck up any ink if I only dip the tip of the nib in. Is this normal? Can it be fixed?

 

2) Is there any way to see or know how full the pen is? I'm thinking about weighing it on a foodscale and I'm wondering if there's a different way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 7
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • siamackz

    3

  • praxim

    2

  • hailsham

    2

  • inkstainedruth

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

For point one, I immerse the entire nib inside - that should suffice. You dont need to immerse the section.

 

For point two, if your purpose practical or academic - for you want to know how much ink because you are not sure if its loading the expected amount or do you want to know precisely how many ml becae you want to know. The reason I ask is because the latter requires some specific equipment I believe - and the experts here will tell you about it.

 

Enjoy!

My Vintage Montblanc Website--> link

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With adequate scales measuring to tenths of a gram, weighing is a perfectly good method of determining total fill and current contents. Make a few dry measurements for your baseline.

 

eta: you have to dip the pen so ink meets the section else you will suck mostly air, not that those wonderful little pens hold much at the best of times.

Edited by praxim

X

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From what I know, the only accurate way to tell capacity is by measuring uptake. So, I would use one of those little ink sample vials that have ml measurements at the side. I would pour some ink in, measure the ink volume in the vial, then load the pen up with ink, measure again, and the difference in ink remaining in the vial is your accurate ml.

Edited by siamackz

My Vintage Montblanc Website--> link

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Specific gravities of ink and water are all but indistinguishable, so accurate weight works perfectly well to measure uptake, and to see how much is left.

X

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Specific gravities of ink and water are all but indistinguishable, so accurate weight works perfectly well to measure uptake, and to see how much is left.

I would imagine that to be true. For me, a sensitive and accurate enough weighing scale would be harder to come by than the vial and so the latter would just be easier for me. But, I agree with your point.

My Vintage Montblanc Website--> link

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't have any Waterman pens, but yes, generally you do have to make sure that the nib and feed are immersed -- and that generally means a little bit of the section as well. Even with modern pens.

I hesitated to use an ink sample I had been wanting to try because the pen I wanted to put it in -- a Pilot Decimo -- has a very long skinny nib, and I wasn't sure whether there would be enough of the sample to complete immerse the nib (there's a breather hole at the very end of the nib and feed where it attaches to the section of the nib assembly). Eventually I was able to fill the pen from the sample vial, by holding the vial at a very shallow angle, but it was a bit awkward.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't have any Waterman pens, but yes, generally you do have to make sure that the nib and feed are immersed -- and that generally means a little bit of the section as well. Even with modern pens.

I hesitated to use an ink sample I had been wanting to try because the pen I wanted to put it in -- a Pilot Decimo -- has a very long skinny nib, and I wasn't sure whether there would be enough of the sample to complete immerse the nib (there's a breather hole at the very end of the nib and feed where it attaches to the section of the nib assembly). Eventually I was able to fill the pen from the sample vial, by holding the vial at a very shallow angle, but it was a bit awkward.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

For point one, I immerse the entire nib inside - that should suffice. You dont need to immerse the section.

 

For point two, if your purpose practical or academic - for you want to know how much ink because you are not sure if its loading the expected amount or do you want to know precisely how many ml becae you want to know. The reason I ask is because the latter requires some specific equipment I believe - and the experts here will tell you about it.

 

Enjoy!

 

Hmmm, ok, I think I have it - I definitely do need to dip the entire nib in.

 

It's just hard to tell how much ink has gone in because the 52 1/2V is so small. I guess I'll have to weigh it.

 

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...