Lamy AL-Star dries out - a behavioral solution

[Amontillado]

My latest quest for a shirt pocket pen landed on a Lamy AL-Star.

 

It was scratchy, but a few figure-8's on mylar abrasive cured that. It makes a little sound on the paper. Otherwise, it's smooth. No complaints there, post-polish.

 

Within a day or two it started running dry. I should mention I use a Lamy converter. I also don't know if this would solve the problem for anyone else, but it might be worth a try.

 

Removing the pen barrel revealed the ink was migrating away from the feed as I carried it nib-up. Surface tension was maintaining an air gap between the ink and the feed. This was with the converter about 1/2 full of Cult Pens Deep Dark Blue, which I believe they call Michael.

 

Thwacking the pen on the side worked, but not reliably. Sometimes it would take several thwacks. My theory is the converter can wiggle laterally, cushioning my thumps.

 

Then I discovered something interesting. If I uncap the pen, holding it vertically and nib down, the click from unsnapping the cap transfers enough energy to the ink to break surface tension. Thumping the pen on the end of the cap while it was oriented nib down worked much better than a thump on the side, too. So far, I haven't had the pen run dry after uncapping it nib down.

 

Very happy with my AL-Star, and needing to adapt a little to the pen is just part of the experience. Pens have personality.

[AmandaW]

Lamy Al-Star (and Safari and Lx) do dry out. The ink seems to evaporate through the ink window, with a converter being slightly faster than a cartridge. I say that because the ink in the back can dry to powder, yet there's still a word or few of working ink left in the nib and feed.

 

Partially dried ink gets stickier and doesn't flow well either. A drop or two of distilled water will fix that.

 

My behavioural solution is to use them only in the cooler times of the year. At the start of our long, hot, dry summer my Lamys are cleaned and stored empty - it's time for TWSBIs, Platinums and Jinhao 992s (etc...) to come out to play.

[Astronymus]

I noticed they seem to dry out less, or start writing easier, when stored horizontally.

[amberleadavis]

Don't forget that Lamy converters are prone to surface tension.

 

[Astronymus]

That's why I put the little glas balls of empty standard cartridges into my converters as agitators. Just be careful not to lose them when cleaning. 😉

[Black Spot]

On 3/17/2023 at 10:02 PM, Astronymus said:

That's why I put the little glas balls of empty standard cartridges into my converters as agitators. Just be careful not to lose them when cleaning. 😉

 

now that is a good tip.