Sbrebrown Ink Tends To Form Crust And Residue.

[NewPenMan]

I got myself the *large* bottle of SBREBrown last January. I like this ink..writes and shades very nicely.

 

However, I notice that it forms crusts all around the feed, the feed fins, under the nib, on top of the nib, in the nib breather hole.

 

In short, anywhere liquid SBREBrown ink comes into contact with air, crusts are sure to follow. Is this something peculiar to Brown inks in general? Do the pigments which make browns also have the tendency to crust up?

 

I have no other ink which does this, but I also have no other brown ink. Just curious. I'm going to use this great ink to the last, and it would be helpful..comforting to know that this is just how brown inks behave.

 

Thank you!

[langere]

Not that I know of...

 

Erick

[bass1193]

This is common in inks that contain orange dyes (among some others), and brown is technically a dark orange. What you are experiencing is the dyes in the ink crystallizing at the nib, which draws more ink into the feed, which crystallizes, which draws more ink.... You see where this leads. I find this process fascinating. I've intentionally left inked pens sitting to see what would happen, and had the entire space between cap and nib filled with crystallized material. So cool!

 

It can be disturbing if you don't expect it, but it is something that happens when you have a non-airtight cap seal. I say enjoy the phenomenon! I sure do

[ParkerDuofold]

Hi NPM, et al,

 

"Nib crud," as those crusts are often referred to, are usually harmless and dissolve in a plain water soak... I just had this exact situation with a Lamy Al-Star that had been loaded with Sheaffer red.

 

Nib crud is more prevalent with certain colors... particularly reds, oranges, ochres, golds and reddish browns.

 

As long as the ink doesn't have stuff floating in it... or an off smell... or changes color, gets murky, etc.,... it's okay to use.

 

Be well... enjoy life... and you're SBREBrown ink.

 

 

- Anthony

[NewPenMan]

thanks for the confirmation of this phenomenon, bas1193

 

I think the cap of the pen in question is airtight: it's an Acrylic ASA Nauka with no vent-hole in the cap. I snug the cap when I'm finished writing.

 

The crusting only is a pain in that I need to use a brass shim nearly every time I write with this pen - with a stub nib - else those crusts appear to block ink flow.

 

appreciating the crusting is an interesting perspective..I'll try doing that!

[bass1193]

No cap is airtight, even the nearly-so ones of certain Platinum pens (slip'n seal) and that's certainly not a dig on ASA Pens. Most pens seal just fine, but these red dyes have a propensity to crystallize. It's just the chemistry of the situation.

 

I would recommend a dip in water rather than a shim. The resultant deposits of these inks drying out should be strongly soluble in water. Especially the ink Dr. Brown had made. Just dip and wipe and you should be good to go! If it was dried out Platinum Sepia, that would be different because that is a pigment, rather than dye, based ink.

[NewPenMan]

OK..Next time I use this pen - after having not used it - I'll swish it around in some warm water, then dab it dry with a tissue.

[bass1193]

In my experience, even just a quick run under the tap (cold even!) is enough to knock/dissolve all the crystals/residue loose. This stuff is highly water-soluble.

[NewPenMan]

OK..in just the space of reading a few others' posts on the SBREBrown crusting issue, the pen became hard to write with.

 

I got some warm water from the kitchen and swished the pen around - turned the water a color similar to that of brewed tea.

 

Wiped with a kleenex and the pen wrote straight away...still a sort of gold, but seems to be returning to the SBREBrown color I love, as the water dissipates.

[bass1193]

For example, I have a dry-writing Cross Century. I keep it inked with Sailor Rikyu-cha. This is a deepish green ink with strong red undertones. This pen and ink combo has never resulted in nib creep, but if I leave the pen for even a day inked, it won't write correctly. So, I slip it through the water running from the tap a couple times, wipe it off, and the pen writes perfectly.

 

So you see, even ochre-ish inks, like Anthony indicated earlier, can be troublesome.

[bass1193]

OK..in just the space of reading a few others' posts on the SBREBrown crusting issue, the pen became hard to write with.

 

I got some warm water from the kitchen and swished the pen around - turned the water a color similar to that of brewed tea.

 

Wiped with a kleenex and the pen wrote straight away...still a sort of gold, but seems to be returning to the SBREBrown color I love, as the water dissipates.

Yes that sounds like my experience. The feed absorbs some water, which dilutes the ink. The blotting/wiping helps draw some of that out.

 

But was it capped in that time? If so I think your nib might need some tuning.

[NewPenMan]

tuning? This same pen was previously inked with Noodler's Blue (not the..other blue, just reg'lar blue)

 

and it never hard-started or crusted..always wrote straight away, no issues. and a wet writer at that.

 

I may have had the pen uncapped whilst emailing...

[bass1193]

I was going to recommend tuning yours to write wetter, but it seems yours does already. Some pens just don't do well with red-based inks, and it looks like yours in question may be one. Honestly, I'll be pulling the Cross Century I mentioned off Rikyu-cha duty because I tire of the wetting-and-wiping ceremony to get it writing.

 

One of the pleasures of this hobby is finding out which pens like which inks!

[NewPenMan]

Yes, indeed..this Nauka seems ideal for SBREBrown. It's one of 2 pens with a stub nib and which write wet enough to let this ink really show how great it is.

 

I'm so glad I posted a question about this..the crusting was worrying that my pen would eventually seal over...no longer a worry!

[bass1193]

Yes, indeed..this Nauka seems ideal for SBREBrown. It's one of 2 pens with a stub nib and which write wet enough to let this ink really show how great it is.

 

I'm so glad I posted a question about this..the crusting was worrying that my pen would eventually seal over...no longer a worry!

Indeed, no worry there at all! Precipitates of dye-based inks should be soluble in water, assuming they're a result of evaporation rather than chemical reaction.

 

But, if you love this ink and pen combination, keep experimenting! You never know what is possible.

[NewPenMan]

interesting..most of my ink/pen pairings have been successful and uneventful.

 

I bought a Conklin Duragraph with a bottle of Autumn Oak and I could swear that the pen does better with that ink than with other inks (which I tried).

 

I think that experimentation is important here..

[XYZZY]

Y'all are almost making me feel like I'm missing out. I'm curious to see the crystals. I've had sbrebrown inked up in a Nemosine Singularity with 0.6mm stub for close to a month. I don't write with it every day, but do write with it 3-4 days/week. As much as I'm not a fan of the color brown, I love this one with the hue and awesome shading. The ink is slightly on the dry side, but I put it in this pen because the nib was too wet with the other inks I tried in it. I've got some nib creep, but even left in place for a couple of days the bits on the nib are still wet...no crust or crystals.

[ErrantSmudge]

I just use a damp Kleenex to wipe off the nib crud. Compared to dipping, it doesn't leave the pen writing watery.

[GardenWeasel]

Great information! Mine built a crusty buildup, giving me quite a scare. Hadnt used it since...and now I look forward to using it again! Im quite fond of the color.

[inkstainedruth]

I had a similar issue a couple of years ago with Diamine Ochre, and others have reported it for other orange and orange/brown inks. Just the nature of that family of dyes, apparently, but not anything actually bad for your pen. I did like the suggestion about a damp tissue rather than dipping the nib. But unless you have really soft water (or have a water filter on your system) I wouldn't recommend running the nib under the tap -- i.e., if you have mineral deposits around your tap, you have hard water (like I do) and those deposits are going to do WAY more damage to your feed than the dyes in the ink. Better to get a bottle of distilled water (where I live it's not much more per gallon than a jug of spring water -- as in around 89¢ US for a gallon in my local grocery store), and pour a little into something that is going to be for pen flushing use only (some people use shot glasses -- I use a straight sided glass votive candle holder which cost me a buck, because it's heavier and more stable (and therefore less likely to tip over).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth