How wide can it get?

[chuancao]

I know that Mont Blanc makes nibs which run wide for their indicated size. Some mentioned that their fine write like medium. But I think it's more "the fine writes the SAME as a medium." Is that right? Please see the image below. Using Visconti black I had minor skipping issues, so last night I changed my ink to Aurora blue, an ink with great flow. However with the great flow comes the disadvantage (at least to me) of wider lines.

 

Please take a look below. With the Visconti black, my FINE 146 nib wrote not as wide as the Cross MEDIUM. However, with this Aurora, it writes just as wide as the Cross Medium if not wider!

 

I just want to make sure the F sticker on my pen is not a mistake. Any input or agreement would be appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[chuancao]

I know that Mont Blanc makes nibs which run wide for their indicated size. Some mentioned that their fine write like medium. But I think it's more "the fine writes the SAME as a medium." Is that right? Please see the image below. Using Visconti black I had minor skipping issues, so last night I changed my ink to Aurora blue, an ink with great flow. However with the great flow comes the disadvantage (at least to me) of wider lines.

 

Please take a look below. With the Visconti black, my FINE 146 nib wrote not as wide as the Cross MEDIUM. However, with this Aurora, it writes just as wide as the Cross Medium if not wider!

 

I just want to make sure the F sticker on my pen is not a mistake. Any input or agreement would be appreciated!

 

Thanks!

 

Anybody? Pretty please?

[niksch]

I know that Mont Blanc makes nibs which run wide for their indicated size. [snip] I just want to make sure the F sticker on my pen is not a mistake. Any input or agreement would be appreciated!

 

Yes, MB nibs tend to write wider than other manufacturer's nib widths. And I suspect your experiment with a better flowing ink is why your nib now writes wider that it did with that Visconti ink. Have you tried writing with MB ink? I only ask because that could be an interesting comparison with the Aurora Blue.

 

All MB nibs are individually hand ground, and are therefore all a little different. The B-nib 146 I have for sale in the marketplace is a little less wide than another B-nib 146 I use daily. So I doubt that you've got an M-nibbed pen with an F sticker.

 

Regards, Eric

[chuancao]

Thanks Eric!

 

No I don't own any MB inks. I've heard that for some they don't work too well in the MBs! Is that right? I also read that for others they are great. So for that reason alone, I haven't gone out to buy the MB ink.

 

Thanks again.

Edited February 21, 2008 by chuancao

[niksch]

Thanks Eric! No I don't own any MB inks. I've heard that for some they don't work too well in the MBs! Is that right? I also read that for others they are great. So for that reason alone, I haven't gone out to buy the MB ink. Thanks again.

 

I use MB inks almost exclusively in my pens and have had no troubles. I do flush them about every third filling, just to keep them "clean" or if I'm going to put them away for awhile. I use the method I explained in another of your posts...and I don't think the MB piston filler is fragile at all. I've used some Noodler's inks in my 146s or 149s, and they wrote too wetly for my taste. I know that MB formulates their own inks specifically for thier pens, but I also use the blue-black in my Parker 51s, Sheaffer Balances and various other vintage pens with no problems at all. I don't use other colors of ink (other than MB Racing Green) because in my work we are required to use either black or blue-black. I use MB Blue-Black on all of the documents I sign because that way I can tell the originals from copies.

 

Eric

[chuancao]

Thanks a lot. I am a bit confused as to why MB specifically creates inks for their FPs. Will Aurora ink really damage their pens? If so, I will give MB inks a try.

 

Just curious that's all.

 

Thanks again!

[Deirdre]

Thanks a lot. I am a bit confused as to why MB specifically creates inks for their FPs. Will Aurora ink really damage their pens?

No, but inks write wetter or drier depending on their characteristics.

 

Also, I wouldn't recommend bottled MB blue-black in non-MB pens. The MB pens are designed to handle the acidity, but most brands are not (it's an iron gall ink).

[Kalessin]

No, Aurora ink will not damage a Montblanc pen.

 

[niksch]

Also, I wouldn't recommend bottled MB blue-black in non-MB pens. The MB pens are designed to handle the acidity, but most brands are not (it's an iron gall ink).

 

I think we should be careful we we say most other brands are not capable of "handling" iron gall inks, when it is really the construct of a pen that may be affected versus an actual brand of pen that is affected. This is a contentious subject, so we should clarify what what iron gall ink is and what type of pens can and cannot handle iron gall ink. So let's review from a prominent source, Richard Binder's website:

 

iron gall ink (also ferrogallic ink or gallotannate ink) A permanent ink whose primary ingredients are oak galls (a source of gallotannic acid, C₇₆H₅₂O₄₆) and green copperas (hydrated ferrous sulfate, FeSO₄·7H₂O, also known as green vitriol). More technically known as iron gallotannate ink, it has a pale color in its liquid form; as it dries, it oxidizes (to ferric oxide, Fe₂O₃) and turns intensely black. The addition of indigo imparts a blue color that makes the ink easier to use; on drying, the ink assumes a blue-black color. Iron gall ink is acidic, and its corrosive effects can destroy fountain pens whose nibs or other working parts are made of metals that do not resist corrosion.

and:

 

Iron gall ink was invented more than 1500 years ago. It was used by innumerable nameless scribes to copy sacred manuscripts; by great secular writers and thinkers such as Voltaire, Shakespeare, and Leibniz; and by ordinary people. When fountain pens came into existence, iron gall ink made the leap to the new technology, and it is still in use today because it is perhaps the most permanent ink of all, even more tenacious than Noodler's "bulletproof" formula. But it has a couple of drawbacks. First, but of less serious consequence for most of us, is its reputation for destroying, over the course of centuries, the paper on which it is used. Of more concern to you, as a fountain pen user, is that it is rather acidic: it can corrode metal pen parts such as steel nibs and cartridge nipples, and plated trim rings — every part that comes in contact with it. Only gold alloys are safe from its ravages; if your pen features a gold nib and has no other metal parts that are continually exposed to the ink (such as a metal cartridge nipple), you can use iron gall inks such as Montblanc Blue-Black and Diamine Registrar's ink with impunity.

My point is not to impugn Deidre, but to make sure readers understand the term iron gall ink and it's use in fountain pens.

 

Regards, Eric

Edited February 21, 2008 by niksch

[chuancao]

Eric and others,

 

Thank you for your responses. Really appreciate your help and knowledge.

 

Just an update... while with Aurora ink the problem of skipping is mostly gone (unless if I write a very very fast long line across the page, it would sometimes have discontinuity). However, at times, it seems the nib surfase, ink and the paper surface do not cooperate. I say this because when it starts it might take a bit time. Not because the ink is dry but because as if the nib is too "slippery?" If that makes sense to you...

 

Thanks!

Edited February 21, 2008 by chuancao

[Deirdre]

My point is not to impugn Deidre, but to make sure readers understand the term iron gall ink and it's use in fountain pens.

Better way of putting it, Eric. I do note that other people have said it caused corrosion (recently on this board, even), thus my comment.

 

Chuancao, sounds like you're having a hard start problem with that ink and there's several possible reasons for that.