Fountain pen frenzy thread

[anatess2]

4 hours ago, mirkwood said:

Bic clic stic, purple, medium

If this is the only thing our tax money can afford to buy our cops.... please please please take my tax cut.

[mirkwood]

9 hours ago, anatess2 said:

If this is the only thing our tax money can afford to buy our cops.... please please please take my tax cut.

One new notebook, nothing yet written, let's see what today brings...

 

[anatess2]

1 minute ago, mirkwood said:

One new notebook, nothing yet written, let's see what today brings...

 

I was talking about the bic. 

 

[Grunt]

I have a Levenger L-Tech 3.0 Stealth that I like because it fits well in my uniform and has a screw top.  The problem is it NEVER writes.  I have to scribble for 5 minutes or wet the nib repeatedly to get ink to come out. Even then it leaves "blank" spots when writing.   Is there a fix for this?  Should I look for a larger nib or something?

[zil]

1 hour ago, Grunt said:

I have a Levenger L-Tech 3.0 Stealth that I like because it fits well in my uniform and has a screw top.  The problem is it NEVER writes.  I have to scribble for 5 minutes or wet the nib repeatedly to get ink to come out. Even then it leaves "blank" spots when writing.   Is there a fix for this?  Should I look for a larger nib or something?

It's not likely the nib.  There are two probabilities:

1) The cap doesn't have an inner cap.  Look inside the cap of your Lamy (if you still have it, or Metropolitan).  There's a plastic insert.  This pushes down against the feed, seals out air, and reduces the amount of air around the nib.  Thus, it prevents the pen from drying out due to evaporation.  If this is missing, you're out of luck.  Also, some caps, despite that thing, leak air - blow into the cap - does air come out somewhere?  If yes, you're out of luck (unless you can seal it - harder than it sounds).  NOTE: one thing I haven't tried, but other people say they've had luck with is stuffing a little scrap of sponge down into the cap and keeping it moist.  This will only work if the nib leaves enough room for it - otherwise, if the nib is touching it, the ink will all get pulled from the pen into the sponge.

2) You're storing the pen nib up and the ink is draining out of the feed back into the cartridge / converter.  (For some pens, this doesn't seem to be a problem, for others, it is.  I can only assume feed design and the seals around the cap and cartridge / converter are the variables.)  Anywho, if this is a problem, your options are:

• Don't store it nib up (probably defeats your current use)
• Use a converter and twist the piston up to "prime the feed" (get ink up into it - you can see the ink pushing into the feed - do it slowly, when you see ink coming up the filler hole, twist the piston back again).  Of course, this requires unscrewing the pen.  But, you can keep the piston screwed toward the nib as far as possible without dripping ink, and that forces the ink to stay in contact with the feeder tube, so that it can't drain out of the feed.  Depending on how much you use it, it might be enough to do it once a day - first use, last use, whatever.

If none of that works, I'm guessing there's some other problem - like the nib is too tight / dry (but then it would never write well, even after the ink started flowing), or there are oils or something blocking the feed (but again, then it shouldn't ever write; solution to this is cleaning with a water (10 parts), ammonia (1 part), Dawn (2-3 drops) solution).

Anywho, try those out, if you wish, we can try more troubleshooting.

[zil]

Oh, another thing is that some inks dry out faster / worse than others.  Switching inks may help.  What ink are you using?

[Grunt]

1 hour ago, zil said:

Oh, another thing is that some inks dry out faster / worse than others.  Switching inks may help.  What ink are you using?

I have a standard ink cartridge in there.  I haven't started using a converter yet.

[zil]

Standard ink cartridge from where?  It came with the pen?  You purchased it?  If the latter, what brand, what ink?  If the former, there's no telling.  If the cap is sealed, then it's either the ink is junk (not really that probable) or you need a cartridge so you can use the piston to keep the ink in contact with the feed even when it's vertical.

[Grunt]

It came with the pen.  No idea what kind.  I have a converter for it.  Maybe I'll junk the cartridge and put the converter I have in it tomorrow.  See if that makes a difference.

[anatess2]

Saw the movie Light Between Oceans.  The best part is the fountain pen. 

 

[mirkwood]

[anatess2]

14 minutes ago, mirkwood said:

WAIT JUST A MINUTE.... ARE MY EYES DECEIVING ME???

 

IS THAT AN ITOYA BLADE FOUNTAIN PEN????

 

[zil]

17 minutes ago, mirkwood said:

Erm, we need a writing sample now.

[anatess2]

I can't wait @zil!  I ordered 12 Jinhao 992 transparent fountain pens (almost like demonstrators but more colorful).  I got 2 sets of 6 different colors.  I ordered them to gift to my cousins for my upcoming visit. 

So, from the review, it says Jinhao's are a hit or miss on production - you basically get what you pay for - but that those that are hits write really good and those that have some experience can usually fix the ones that are a miss to make them good.  So, I figured I can use this opportunity to learn how to fix pens... I wanna be like @LiterateParakeet!

Anyway, I had the stuff shipped to my mom so she can put it in her luggage.  I'm a backpack traveler so I offload gifts to my mother who likes to check-in giant suitcases.  I won't see them for 2 weeks!  Ugh!  I can't wait.

Edited March 13, 2018 by anatess2

[anatess2]

10 minutes ago, zil said:

Erm, we need a writing sample now.

How in the world did you manage to convince him to ditch his ballpoint?

And we need to do something about that Memo pad.  There's gotta be an equivalent Rhodia or something.

[zil]

12 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

I can't wait @zil!  I ordered 12 Jinhao 992 transparent fountain pens (almost like demonstrators but more colorful).  I got 2 sets of 6 different colors.  I ordered them to gift to my cousins for my upcoming visit. 

So, from the review, it says Jinhao's are a hit or miss on production - you basically get what you pay for - but that those that are hits write really good and those that have some experience can usually fix the ones that are a miss to make them good.  So, I figured I can use this opportunity to learn how to fix pens... I wanna be like @LiterateParakeet!

Anyway, I had the stuff shipped to my mom so she can put it in her luggage.  I'm a backpack traveler so I offload gifts to my mother who likes to check-in giant suitcases.  I won't see them for 2 weeks!  Ugh!  I can't wait.

Whatever you do, don't unscrew the nib unit (not the section, just the nib and its housing).  Also, I wouldn't pull out the nib and feed.  I got one of these, to see what the hype is, and the nib/feed housing is made of the thinnest, softest, wimpiest plastic known to man - the top lip of it crumbled.  This may mean that you see ink in places that you can't clean out without tearing it apart, but get over it, or mentally prepare for the pen to break on the second or third or whateverth cleaning.

Other than that, they are kinda neat.

[zil]

14 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

So, I figured I can use this opportunity to learn how to fix pens

Learning to smooth nibs is good - these are pretty smooth, but not super smooth.  You could get micromesh and play around.

[zil]

11 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

How in the world did you manage to convince him to ditch his ballpoint?

I didn't.  His ballpoint is a weapon - don't think he's giving that up soon.

12 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

And we need to do something about that Memo pad.  There's gotta be an equivalent Rhodia or something.

Actually, I tripped over that at WalMart - $0.37 each.  That exact notebook is good with fine nibs.  Paper made in India (or Brazil) is often quite good with fountain pens.  I tested that one with several pens and inks (but all fine / EF nibs).  That pen works well in this notebook.  (I assumed that size notebook was important for other reasons, along with the spiral binding - the only known FP-friendly notebooks in that size that I know of are Maruman Mnemosyne, and they're a lot more expensive - didn't figure it would be nice to get a cop hooked on expensive paper.)

The problem is, what's at WalMart comes and goes, and it's a crap shoot whether you'll find that specific notebook there next week.  I should probably go back and buy out WalMart and dump them on @mirkwood - but I tend to avoid WalMart except about once / quarter.

[anatess2]

4 minutes ago, zil said:

Learning to smooth nibs is good - these are pretty smooth, but not super smooth.  You could get micromesh and play around.

I haven't yet encountered a pen that doesn't write properly.  I don't know if I'd be able to detect what is wrong with the nib to know how to fix it.  I don't even know what a smooth nib is versus not smooth.  But I'm not worried!  I got you!  From a lot of the Jinhao reviews they're saying they get at least 1 pen that needs adjustment in the pack of 6.  I'm gonna be peppering you with questions pretty soon!  

 

[zil]

10 minutes ago, zil said:

Whatever you do, don't unscrew the nib unit (not the section, just the nib and its housing).  Also, I wouldn't pull out the nib and feed.  I got one of these, to see what the hype is, and the nib/feed housing is made of the thinnest, softest, wimpiest plastic known to man - the top lip of it crumbled.  This may mean that you see ink in places that you can't clean out without tearing it apart, but get over it, or mentally prepare for the pen to break on the second or third or whateverth cleaning.

Other than that, they are kinda neat.

The clear piece (housing) above is what I'm talking about.  It's not in its correct orientation to the section - the black o-ring on the clear piece should be facing away from the other end of the section (the end into which the nib and feed go).  The nib and feed go into that clear thing, and then the whole unit screws into the section.  The lip of the housing above the o-ring is the part that broke on me.

Edited March 13, 2018 by zil

[anatess2]

3 minutes ago, zil said:

I didn't.  His ballpoint is a weapon - don't think he's giving that up soon.

Actually, I tripped over that at WalMart - $0.37 each.  That exact notebook is good with fine nibs.  Paper made in India (or Brazil) is often quite good with fountain pens.  I tested that one with several pens and inks (but all fine / EF nibs).  That pen works well in this notebook.  (I assumed that size notebook was important for other reasons, along with the spiral binding - the only known FP-friendly notebooks in that size that I know of are Maruman Mnemosyne, and they're a lot more expensive - didn't figure it would be nice to get a cop hooked on expensive paper.)

The problem is, what's at WalMart comes and goes, and it's a crap shoot whether you'll find that specific notebook there next week.  I should probably go back and buy out WalMart and dump them on @mirkwood - but I tend to avoid WalMart except about once / quarter.

Interestingly, the Wal-mart close to me have Made in USA paper now!  I scrounged around for Brazilian ones but they're ALL Made in the USA - every single one of the College Ruled 3-hole-punched filler paper!  The quality is no different than the Made in China ones and they are prized the same.  I did find that the EF nib works just fine with those!

[zil]

2 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

Interestingly, the Wal-mart close to me have Made in USA paper now!  I scrounged around for Brazilian ones but they're ALL Made in the USA - every single one of the College Ruled 3-hole-punched filler paper!  The quality is no different than the Made in China ones and they are prized the same.  I did find that the EF nib works just fine with those!

Most of the time, you'll only see the good stuff during back-to-school sales.  Also, two notebooks in the same box, looking otherwise identical can be made in two different countries - so you have to look at each individual notebook.

Dollar stores also sometimes have India or Brazil paper.

Yes, EF tends to work well on all but the worst papers.

Top Flight "Wired" notebooks (which I can find at my grocery store) aren't bad.  The front cover is plastic, not cardboard.

I go for the expensive paper, but if you're looking for cheaper stuff, above are the ways to get it.

[anatess2]

4 minutes ago, zil said:

The clear piece (housing) above is what I'm talking about.  It's not in its correct orientation to the section - the black o-ring on the clear piece should be facing away from the other end of the section (the end into which the nib and feed go).  The nib and feed go into that clear thing, and then the whole unit screws into the section.  The lip of the housing above the o-ring is the part that broke on me.

Whoa.  The wrinkles on that clear plastic does look like it is super thin!  So, your suggestion is to just not disassemble the thing to clean - just do the nose-bulb thingee on the entire nib section to flush it?  I've gotten to be an expert on cleaning my Lamys and Franklin Covey.  I haven't ran out of ink on the Tradio yet (I don't use it very often) so I haven't disassembled that one yet.

I was reading on the Jinhao reviews that some folks "re-aligned" the nib on the ones that are not writing properly and that took care of the problem.  Not quite sure what that means.

OH!  I forgot to mention.  @LiterateParakeet would be happy to know that I also have the Lamy Safari Lilac Special Edition on the way!  I don't know why, but I'm still stuck on Lamy's.  I really love my Studio and Al-star.  Now I got the Safari to go with the lot!

[zil]

1 minute ago, anatess2 said:

So, your suggestion is to just not disassemble the thing to clean - just do the nose-bulb thingee on the entire nib section to flush it?

Correct.

1 minute ago, anatess2 said:

I was reading on the Jinhao reviews that some folks "re-aligned" the nib on the ones that are not writing properly and that took care of the problem.  Not quite sure what that means.

In the following post from this thread, I included a photo of a misaligned nib:

Hopefully that will clarify - if not, let me know.

[anatess2]

2 minutes ago, zil said:

Most of the time, you'll only see the good stuff during back-to-school sales.  Also, two notebooks in the same box, looking otherwise identical can be made in two different countries - so you have to look at each individual notebook.

Dollar stores also sometimes have India or Brazil paper.

Yes, EF tends to work well on all but the worst papers.

Top Flight "Wired" notebooks (which I can find at my grocery store) aren't bad.  The front cover is plastic, not cardboard.

I go for the expensive paper, but if you're looking for cheaper stuff, above are the ways to get it.

I got the Crane & Co for me.  The cheapo paper is for my sons' schoolwork.  I got them each their own Al-star so they'll leave mine alone.  They're call them their "missionary pens" - they plan to take care of them so that they can take the pens with them on their mission!  My youngest is only 14 and has a ways to go before then... so let's see if he can really hang on to his pen.  The 16 year old I'm fairly certain will still have his pen by then - he brings his pen like his phone and wallet... never goes anywhere without it.