Sonnet Drying Out Problem

[pajaro]

This seems to have been an ongoing problem for a long time. I've had one Sonnet over the years - nice pen to look at, but prone to drying out and a problematic starter when it wasn't dry. Couldn't get rid of it fast enough.

 

I really do fail to see why some people have such a fascination with what appears to be a poorly designed and engineered pen.

 

The feel of the pen, the looks of it, the investment you might have already made by the time you realize there is a problem with the Sonnet. Those things keep some people involved with Sonnet. There is also the variety of nibs available and the ease of changing nibs.

[gvl]

I read your thread and was quite surprised about your experience. I too have a number of Sonnets and have never experienced the problem that you are having. Mine range from 1993 to 2014.

 

Like you, I have / have had quite a few Sonnets and all those manufactured up until about 2007 have worked fine. Personally I think they are great pens and am somewhat mystified by the dry nibs experienced by others.

[ardene]

This seems to have been an ongoing problem for a long time. I've had one Sonnet over the years - nice pen to look at, but prone to drying out and a problematic starter when it wasn't dry. Couldn't get rid of it fast enough.

 

I really do fail to see why some people have such a fascination with what appears to be a poorly designed and engineered pen.

 

I had decided I would not get one just in case I got this problem. I was given (a steel nibbed) one as a Christmas gift. It was made in the second quarter of 2018 according to the date mark. After some initial frustration with skipping in the verticals I persevered writing with it and now it works like a charm. It lays a wet thick line on the paper. The most I have left it unused is a week or so, but it has never dried out on me.

 

I read your thread and was quite surprised about your experience. I too have a number of Sonnets and have never experienced the problem that you are having. Mine range from 1993 to 2014.

 

 

 

Like you, I have / have had quite a few Sonnets and all those manufactured up until about 2007 have worked fine. Personally I think they are great pens and am somewhat mystified by the dry nibs experienced by others.

 

Since my experience with my single Sonnet is the same, it's never dried out, I wonder if something more arcane is at play here: namely the usual ranges in air humidity where various people who have experienced drying out live. The pen has spent most of the time I have it in the south of the UK where the humidity ranges from 50 to 100% and now I use it without trouble in Greece in a city with sea on three sides where humidity is about a low 35% from 12.00 το 18.00 and reaches well above ninety and often 100% from midnight until about 06.00.

[PeterR-C]

Thanks for all comments above. Hari317, I tried the wax technique but I think I'm melting the wrong kind of candle or something - the wax became quite solid on hardening and the whole lump of it came away so there was no seal remaining. So - I tried the epoxy technique. I used some long wooden pins designed for kebabs, about 3 mm (1/8 inch) wide. I did all 4 pens and went off for 10 days holiday. Two of them worked perfectly when I tried them just now, and with an LED I can see that the epoxy has spread across the inner end of the cap. In the other two, I didn't use enough epoxy so I'll give them another go. The main thing is to make sure not to get any epoxy on the sides of the cap while inserting the pin.

 

Anyway thanks forall the comments. I have a number of other early sonnets and they are all fine in this respect. Luck of the draw, I guess.

[pajaro]

 

I had decided I would not get one just in case I got this problem. I was given (a steel nibbed) one as a Christmas gift. It was made in the second quarter of 2018 according to the date mark. After some initial frustration with skipping in the verticals I persevered writing with it and now it works like a charm. It lays a wet thick line on the paper. The most I have left it unused is a week or so, but it has never dried out on me.

 

 

 

 

Since my experience with my single Sonnet is the same, it's never dried out, I wonder if something more arcane is at play here: namely the usual ranges in air humidity where various people who have experienced drying out live. The pen has spent most of the time I have it in the south of the UK where the humidity ranges from 50 to 100% and now I use it without trouble in Greece in a city with sea on three sides where humidity is about a low 35% from 12.00 το 18.00 and reaches well above ninety and often 100% from midnight until about 06.00.

 

If you have a Sonnet of recent manufacture, it probably won't have the drying out issue. All of mine are older, mainly from the 1990s, so they dry out. A few that I put epoxy into don't dry out. One did dry out after a month idle.

[PeterR-C]

A belated response - Pajaro, you are dead right. I have a number of recent sonnets and none has this issue.

 

And the really good news - all four sonnets are now cured, using Ron Z's epoxy technique. Three of them worked according to plan, while in one I put too much epoxy and the nib impacted on it when I put the cap on. No damage done, I'm glad to say. I did what I could to scrape some epoxy out but to no avail. Fortunately this was the matte black, and cheap replacement caps are available. I bought one, which when I looked had no cracks to the inner cap. I have been able to use it straight off, and the thing works beautifully.

 

Really good news. I have a couple of other eary sonnets which do not have this problem. Luck of the draw, I guess.

 

Thanks all

 

Peter

[ardene]

If you have a Sonnet of recent manufacture, it probably won't have the drying out issue. All of mine are older, mainly from the 1990s, so they dry out. A few that I put epoxy into don't dry out. One did dry out after a month idle.

Another belated response. Yes, the Sonnet was made in the second quarter of 2018 (date code E.II).