What Pen did you clean out today?

[MarcoA63]

I flushed my 1930/40 vintage Helios Silga in red  'laminated', is this how you call it?, transparent barrel as I need to swap the current, warranted, nib with an original one.

 

[inkstainedruth]

A couple of days ago it was the Dark Dusk SE Safari which I'd thought I'd lost someplace several months ago, but then found when I'd dropped the cap of another pen.  

Not sure what the ink was but it was brown.  Trying to decide what ink to put in it now (the complication being that the replacement Dark Dusk Safari is currently also in rotation.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth.

[Penguincollector]

    I rinsed out my lapis “Wahlterman” ring top with a firm fine nib today. I keep looking for a Wahl nib for it, but nibs seem hard to come by these days.

[benjjr]

Hi,

 

First post and I accept newby status.

 

I cleaned out an "epenco" pen (eagle pen company?) today and can't find any images or information about it.

 

The pen was purchased from an antique store in a plastic bag of "broken" fountain pens.  It must have tasted good because the cap has teeth marks and indentations.  (I'm thinking Chocolate Swirl Ice Cream.)

 

This nib looks ok and it has about 10 sides (not round).  The filler is revealed after a black cap on the opposing end from the nib is un screwed.  

 

I am hoping someone can assist me in learning about the pen.  Is there a forum that I could search? 

 

Thanks for any help or replies.

 

A picture is attached- I hope.

 

 

Regards,

 

Ben

[Lou Erickson]

Started cleaning a Sheaffer's with the Touchdown filler.  Pumps water easily, going to get all the Asa-gao out so I can put it away clean.

 

[Misfit]

I’ve cleaned out two of my Opus 88 Picnic pens, the green and blue ones. The brown and purple ones still have ink in them. I really like these pens, so I suspect they will get ink in them again soon. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

17 minutes ago, Misfit said:

Opus 88

Just looked them up, pretty pens and affordable.

How is the nib, nail, semi-nail or regular flex, like a Pelikan 200?

How does it fill? Some sort of piston?

 

[Mercian]

On 9/16/2025 at 3:00 AM, benjjr said:

I am hoping someone can assist me in learning about the pen.  Is there a forum that I could search? 

 

Hi @benjjr, and 

 

I have sent you a PM with (I hope) the information that you asked for.

 

Slàinte,
M.

[Misfit]

12 hours ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

Just looked them up, pretty pens and affordable.

How is the nib, nail, semi-nail or regular flex, like a Pelikan 200?

How does it fill? Some sort of piston?

 

I think I would call it semi-nail. The nib has a small amount of flex. These are eyedropper or syringe fill pens. The section is removed, and then you fill it. It has a valve at the end that screws  out or in. 
 

Other Opus 88 owners should chime in with their thoughts on the pens. I do know some have o-rings that can be easy to lose. They usually are in the section, then the nib is screwed in. So when the nib unit is removed for cleaning, sometimes the o-ring comes with it. That almost happened with my Opus 88 Mini. 

[PPPR]

They've been piling up. Today it's:

Parker 75

Parker 45

Parker Flighter

Senator PF

MB 149

Esterbrook J

Yong Sheng 3009 w/ 1.9 mm italic nib

Pilot Plumix

Woodex ED

Airmail ED

Guider Desk Pen

Pelikan M200

[inkstainedruth]

Wow. You're certainly going to be busy today, aren't you.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Penguincollector]

  Late last night I cleaned out the blue Hongdian M2 and the Osmiroid B4. I think the Pilot Prera will be up for cleaning today- the con-40 is out of ink, just waiting for the feed to clear out. The T-1 is also out of ink in the converter.

[MarcoA63]

I cleaned a Waterman #12 PSF as I finished the ink in it contained 🙂

[RedPie]

I cleaned my Duke 510. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

Heidelberg use to be the fountain pen capitol of the world. Kaweco, Osmia, Faber-Castel, Lamy, Mercedes, Herlitz, and a few more. I'll have to ask Thomas/Kaweco on the com, when I see him at the Pelikan Hub; taking place at his Fountain pen museum across from the oldest ruined castle in Heidelberg. This time I'm taking my handy, that I'll know how to use for close-ups, by the time I get there.  

 

Herlitz, an old, dead Heidelberg company. I have gone by its old building a half a dozen times. (3-4 times a year for Osmia's building.)  Its luxury brand was Luxor. The nib is Herlitz&Luxor marked, even if steel .900 silver overlay, blind cap, semi-flex F steel nib. No comb feed, so will be fast. Ink window is part of a Fishbone body. 

 

I've not decided what ink to load into it tomorrow.   Yes I did.

I have Fuyu-syogun, a gray ink. If I don't like it, I'll empty it and go for ES Moonstone or MB Cool/ the old Oyster, which is a grand shading gray. 

Shades pretty good, got to let the ink settle a bit, sometimes the ink runs drier than other times. It has been ages since it was used, so will take a few sentences to run as it will. 

I like it when it's wetter, then the dark and light are deeper. Could be it is better than Diamine Silver Fox, which is a very good gray.This ink in a wet semi-flex nib is good, in semi-flex allows for some wetter partial or full stoked. I will some day use one of my many springy Regular Flex nibs, in M, to see if it holds its promise.

 

It is one of the few pens I have that one has to let out three drops of ink so it can flow. I have other older Pelikans, MBs, and Osmias that will write when full.

 

 Shades a bit better on Rhoda, than Triomph, and Kyome 70g is for the first time a much rougher paper than Oxford Optic 90g. The more I scribble the better the pen flows and the better the ink shades.

I WILL WAIT FOR ONE PEN TO EMPTY, BEFORE TRYING THIS INK IN A SPRINGY REGLUAR FLEX M. It's too easy to have 20 pens inked.

12 pens inked, and I was going to wait for another pen to empty before filling this one. Wanting to stay close to 10 or less.

 

I just got it back from repair and ran some four fillings of water through it with just a slight tad on the first two and look for it on the third filling. Clean on the 4th. 

The other pictures of the pen didn't show up well. The nib didn't show up at all, but half the pen did. 

This is the exact same chasing pattern but in 14k gold.

[Kaweco]

On 9/22/2025 at 11:01 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

Heidelberg use to be the fountain pen capitol of the world. Kaweco, Osmia, Faber-Castel, Lamy, Mercedes, Herlitz, and a few more. 

 

No. I didn`t hear and read this. Yes, there had been numerous trade marks and factories in the city and surround. KAWECO was the greatest FP maker on the European continent in the middle of the 20th of the last century. Osmia made gorgeous pens and Lamy had a world`s best seller with the Safari during the last decades.

But "pen capitol of the world"???

KAWECO/ Heidelberg went to bankrupt in 1929, the trade mark, the patents and the machines were easily bought out by the "Badische Federhalterfabrik" in Wiesloch The factory building was sold to "Luxor". Both had been small trade marks at this time, existing since 1925.

I am pretty sure that the FPmakers in the USA had the advantage.

Waterman patented the feed and the safety pen, 20 years before KAWECO took over the patent. Parker was easily able to buy out Osmia in 1927 and Luxor in 1969.

Herlitz was a traditional producer of stationary articles in Berlin! They adopted pen making in the 70th

And sorry for the deviation: I did not clean out any pen today.

Kind Regards

Thomas

[Bo Bo Olson]

Hi Thomas, see you at the Hub.

 

Considering the amount of known factories in the city Heidelberg and surroundings. I'd still say Heidelberg was the capitol.  

Back in the '30's-70's Wearever was the biggest factory in the world; making more pens than Parker, Shaffer, Waterman, and Estrabrook together. ...but one factory don't make a Capitol. 

 

Always happy for you to add the proper toppings.

The below, Wiesloch, is some 15 minutes from Heidelberg.

 

I did get an Osmia Frankenstein; (the third from right it is a piston pen,) with a US made Morton nib. I'll not bring it to the hub, in I'll be sending off a batch to be repaired.

If you want, I can bump that pen into the last repair lot and show you the US made Morton nib. A Weak Kneed Wet Noodle!

 

6 hours ago, Kaweco said:

I tried to cut this section, and it wouldn't.

[Penguincollector]

 Today I have cleaned out my MB 34 EF and my Pilot Prera iro-ai with the CM nib. 

[RedPie]

Cleaned out my Jinhao 250, it was inked with Kon-Peki iroshizuku and it was easy peasy. 

[MarcoA63]

I cleaned a facetted Omas 361 that has been giving me ink feed issues since day one. Not wanting to take it apart I flushed out all the remaining ink and made a solution of water and rapido-eze. I filled it and it is now resting nib down on a piece of kitchen roll hoping that the flow cleans whatever is in the feed. 🤞🏻