Pelikan Nibs?

[djm1121]

I see the feed section is made of plastic? How would this compare with the ebonite feed of e.g. Scribo. My Scribo Flex leaves puddles behind (bear in mind, not my choice to use in a meeting of any sorts), which I enjoy very much when using it. I know it does this with Aurora Black and also Jacques Herbin Bleu de minuit inks. Are Pelikan Nibs just as juicy with the Plastic Feed vs the Ebonite Feed?

 

Thanks,

Dave

[Bo Bo Olson]

Ebonite due to the roughness it is sawn, holds ink on the feed longer and better than plastic....and the '98-now gold nibs are fat.....and the plasticc can keep up with the inks.

To get ebonite you have to go '50-65 vintage.....more on that later.

 

Pelikan has made a dry ink for decades and a wetter nib to match it.

Wateman made narrow nibs because they made what was then considered a wet nib.

 

I'm not putting you down....noobies turn up looking for juicy, wide sopping wet lines....without the papers to support that.

There is much more to it than wetter than a ball point.

Holding the fountain pen behind the big index knuckle at 45 degrees right after the knuckle, or a 40 degrees at the start of the web of the thumb, will smooth out your writing if you are holding your fountain pen like a ball point....the ink will not need to be a lake of ink but a manageable little puddle.

 

Juicy.........vintage Semi-flex will be 'juicier' , due to ease of tine spread....how ever I don't think you are not ready for them.....you have to develop a light Hand so you can Demand line variation.....instead of being maxed all the time....been there did that, want to buy a T-shirt?

 

I don't know what the wettest Noodler inks are.**....and Japanese wet inks are too expensive. By the way since Noodlers came in some Noodlers's fans call the once wet Waterman inks....dry.

 

**First I'm not into that and second they are expensive imported inks here in Germany. Do try Apache Sunset....a great vivid shading ink.

 

Juicy....supersaturated vivid (boring) inks are what noobies think they want....a couple such inks are fine. But there is a wider aspect to inks.

 

In a bit you may get into two toned shading inks.......You do need both a dryer two toned ink and a mono-tone supersaturated ink.

 

You do need good to better paper. I recommend buying a ream of '90g/24 pound or + or a 100 sheet box of good paper with every three inks you buy.

The better the dance-floor the better your nib will dance with your ink.

[djm1121]

Thank you for sharing your observations and knowledge. It is good to know that the plastic feed on the Pelikan matched with the larger nib is a good match re: ink flow. I thought it rather peculiar that using my Scribo Flex on Rhodia vs Tomoe River Paper that Tomoe held up well, whereas the Rhodia exhibited some feathering. I was using Herbin Bleu de minuit Ink.

[Bo Bo Olson]

14 minutes ago, djm1121 said:

I was using Herbin Bleu de minuit Ink.

I haven't that ink....I do have other Herbin inks, Pelikan, MB, R&K that I use more than DA.

On Clairefontaine Triomphe and Rhoda 90g (don't have the 80g) I've had not feathering.....nor a woolly line, that I'm against enough I got a Big Honking magnifying glass 1 1/2"/7cm thick I go OCD with.

 

Are you talking about stricky little lines leading away from the main line...feathering....or bumpy woolly lines?

More detail in the following post.

[Bo Bo Olson]

This is a paste of another post.....that is @.....I do have better, but it popped up first.

 

At first I called a bumpy, lumpy line feathering. ....later a woolly line. Feathering has streaky small lines of narrow ink diverging from the main line.

 

And it is not just a nib problem, but if as in this case many different inks are used on good to better paper, it can well be a nib problem....like on the post 97 Pelikan 400/600/800/1000. The 200 still has a clean line, like the rest of the '82-97 or '50-65 era nibs.

 

 

IMO, a lumpy, woolly line is first stage of feathering....the last stage is real feather threads running off at angles into the paper, like with Ink Jet  paper.

..............others might have another term, I don't know, for a non smooth; lumpy, bumpy non paper caused line.

 

There are inks that show that behavior, and others that have a clean line on the same paper, with @ the same nib width and flex.

 

Does it have to do with how wet a nib is?....semi-flex is a wetter nib.That I believe is more an ink problem than a paper problem.

Pelikan like Lamy ink is a dry ink.....so the 2000 could be a wetter writing nib to match up to the dry ink......like Waterman made a narrow nib for a wet ink.

 

But even so, I'd not compared a dryer writing regular flex with a wetter semi-flex...having noticed the difference nearly a decade ago. & have no need to cheat. Nor do I even want too, I'm looking for a clean line. With good paper I can get a clean line with semi-flex...or regular flex....or even a nail.

 

I've used good to better papers over the years for testing..........minimum is Oxford Optic90g/Red&Black notebooks paper, or Clairefontaine Velote 90g. Both are equal to each other.

 

50-100% cotton swallows shading and increases feathering.

 

I find 25% cotton on the whole to be good paper for shading and don't feather/woolly line much.

 

In feathering/woolly is often an ink problems, that the wrong paper can make worse....a good paper can cut it down ''''some''''. IMO, even a great paper won't turn a feathering BEF into a Mag F. I would think a great paper would turn BEF into NEF not more.(More detail on my system of woolly lines later.)

 

I really got to read up on dilution of an ink........want to save that Pelikan Aventurine, perhaps I can turn my few Diamine/Akkermann inks into users with dilution.

 

Howsoever I'm OCD/AR on feathering.

 

BEF....bare eyed feathering/lumpy line....seen while sitting....like some of the  Diamine inks. (Yes with over 200 inks there must be some that can pass the BEF test.) Yet....I have seen very many ink tests on the Com, (Including Diamine or Akkermann) where they do not show (tell or perhaps know) in the form that it feathers or has a woolly line ; and it is obvious in the pictures of the ink in it's test, that the line is uneven...lumpy...bumpy line., that is a woolly line. It is not a clean line.

 

Outside noticing the differences of nib and paper....I was not and am not into false judging of an ink (by maker), pen nor paper. I want a clean line, as clean as possible.

 

NEF....near eye feathering/lumpy or woolly line....seen while looking at it near my eye. Looks just about OK while sitting. There are many like that. When one takes a close look, it shows feathering/woolly line. No clean smooth line.

 

With a Big Honking Magnifying glass.1 1/2 inch by 3 x 4 inches or 2.7 by 7 1/2 x 10cm. (No you can't use your 10X loupe...everything has a woolly line under that.)

 

Mag F...what I'd consider a descent ink....if I like the tone, I will buy it again. Feathering/woolly line can be seen under magnification only.

 

NoMAG F.......great ink ...buy more...buy stock in the company. No feathering/woolly line at all, even when looking through the big, thick magnifying glass.

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Try a different Herbin ink......I really like the light brown  Lie d'Thee shading ink.

 

[djm1121]

This sample is on Rhodia Note Pad Paper.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I don't know if I've ever seen such bad feathering.

 

First try flushing with a bit of soapy water.

 

See if you have an old negative around someplace and run it from the breathing hole down out the slit. (Do not use a Honking Thick razor blade!!!   Could be gunk in the channel and out to the just under the tip.

 

Get a rubber baby bulb. Get two one for normal quick cleaning of the Pelikan body; but one so it fits over the nib section end.....and squirt the hell out of that nib. Be using them forever as is....quickest way to clean a Pelikan piston pen....for normal use. I have two bulbs, one cut to fit.