Look at it! Behold the butyl overmold on the comically oversized cap! See the screen printed lines like a 90s basketball sneaker! Feel the forced ergonomics of the weird section! Examine the submarine portholes of an ink view window!
…It actually writes okay though. Rotring made good nibs.
Today's ugly pen is tomorrow's highly sought after quirky collector's item. You never can tell.
This is why I never get rid of pens, knives, game consoles, trading cards, motorcycles... That's what I tell the other half, anyway.
I do wish I could find my old Atari XEGS. The 7800 still works, though the RF Converter is junk. I could mod it, but I'm happy enough with an emulator not to head down that particular rabbit hole.
I got interested in fountain pens a year ago and bought a couple of new fancy ones and about 10 Chinese fake fancy ones from the thrift store. The problem I'm having is that every time I go to use it, the ink has dried in the fountain and it doesn't work. Then I have to spend several days trying to soak it and get the ink to come loose. Is there a secret besides just using it regularly? I don't write very often, which is why I thought it would be neat to have a nice pen for when I do.
So, at first blush that seems odd. Fountain pens can be finicky, no two ways about that, but even with sort of infrequent use they shouldn't be that bad. Still, maybe we can figure something out.
How long are you going in between uses?
What make and model are the fancy ones?
Do the fancy ones work better than the cheap ones?
What ink are you using?
When you clean them, are you using anything to actively cycle water through them?
How are you storing them between uses?
Hey, thanks!
About a month in-between uses
I can't remember and it doesn't say on the pens. I guess they're not super fancy, but like $30 per pen. ~~I think the one my wife got me is a Cross pen.~~ Edit: the one she got me is called Woodsworth & Black.
No, they all work about the same
Windsor & Newton drawing ink in the reusable cartridges, and some disposable capsules in a few of them. Just random cartridges from Amazon. The disposables I have now are branded as Gullor.
Just the suction from the reusable ink cartridges, and just hot water for cleaning. Is there something better?
With the caps on, tip down in a coffee mug
That could result in some hard starting, but it shouldn't be the end of the world.
Lots of good stuff in that price range, but some not so great either. Wordsworth and Black is a bit overpriced for what they are, but shouldn't be actively bad, and usually with stuff like that the biggest issue is durability of the finishes and QC over a manufacturing run. If an individual pen writes well, then it's a good pen.
Okay, not surprising, really, but was worth asking.
Now HERE is where we might be onto something. Did you use their inks officially labeled as "drawing inks"? If so, have you used them in every pen that's having issues? Shellac based drawing inks are NOT for fountain pens, and I'm a little surprised they still work at all if they have month-old dried drawing ink in the feeds (that's the grooved plastic bit that goes under the nib and up through the section or "grip"). I don't actually see where Winsor Newton sells fountain pen safe ink, so this is at least a clue. For the cartridges, I'm guessing they're fine though you could always try a better known brand that is known to be well behaved. Generally, if the company is old AF, sells pens in addition to ink, and the colors are boring, then it's safe: Waterman, Pilot, Pelikan, Lamy, etc. It's rare to find anything but fountain pen ink in fountain pen compatible carts, but make sure they do say it's FP ink.
That generally SHOULD work plenty well enough to keep pens in good working order, even without being hot, though if something is really gunked up, a little windex can help, and for modern pens a lot of people like a cheap ultrasonic cleaner. If there's shellac in there, it's gonna be a more specialized process to save your two nice ones, and a slightly sad garbage day for the cheapos. Shellac softens in very hot water, so maybe that's how you've managed to get any cleaning done.
Tip down can be good to get your initial flow going, but over a long storage period it can occasionally cause a few problems, as there's more ink closer to the air in the cap (and many caps are intentionally not airtight anyway). Tip up would have some of it very slowly draining back into the cartridge or converter (that's the name for the reusable cartridges), so it might not write immediately after being stored for a month, but it'd be less likely to completely clog. It's splitting hairs a bit on most modern pens though, and I think the real reason it used to be discouraged more aggressively is because leaky vintage pens could leave several drops in the cap, especially if you had a low-pressure front come through.
TL;DR: The low hanging fruit to be investigated first is that drawing ink.
Awesome! Thanks a bunch for the information. It probably is the ink, since I've used it in all the pens. It is listed as India Ink. It's this stuff right here. I went with India Ink because that's what we were always told to use when I took drawing classes. Does that look like it is the problem? Can you recommend a specific ink for me?
Yeah, that stuff is no bueno for fountain pens. It's meant for dip pens.
So, the part of the problem with the W&N drawing inks is that all the retail art supply stores put them right in the same section as all of their fountain calligraphy pens, and there isn't enough information available standing there in the aisle (or even written on the box) that these inks are not suitable for use in the fountain pens they're inevitably sold right beside.
Fountain pen ink is formulated to be completely water soluble and is dye based and not pigment based, so they don't permanently dry within the feed mechanism and can't clog it with particulate matter. Dip pens have neither of these limitations, so dip pen ink can contain pigments (little particles of gumf floating in the ink as colorants) and can contain binders and hardening agents like gelatin and/or shellac. You don't want this stuff in your fountain pen.
On the bright side, you can get a cheap dip pen set (the Speedball nib holders and their myriad of nibs are widely available at craft stores) to use up your Windsor & Newton ink. I have a row of the stuff sitting on my shelf as well, for use with my glass dip pen.
Thanks for the information.
Oh yeah, that'll do it. India Ink can be death to fountain pens if left even overnight. Honestly, your pens might never work quite right again, but at a minimum soak and then flush them again with the hottest water you can physically touch to try to soften up the shellac and get it out. Some people completely disassemble and try flossing the combs of the feed, and some just give up.
For a nice deep black FP ink, Aurora is good, as are Pilot, Lamy, and Sailor. I'm enjoying J. Herbin Perle Noire myself right now. Pelikan and Waterman are little less dark, but should also work well in pretty much any pen.
Finally, if you want new pen recommendations, we're all here.
Ah darn. That sucks. This one pen was a gift and I guess I possibly destroyed it. I'll try to clean it again and see what happens. What about lacquer thinner? Can I soak it in that to get the ink out? Thanks for your help.
Don't use lacquer thinner. That will attack any plastic or rubber parts in the pen.
However, various alcohols can eventually dissolve shellac, including denatured (methyl) and Everclear (ethanol).
After soaking it in very hot water last night I got the bright idea to try to scrape it with a little wooden coffee stirrer. I broke the rubber gasket that goes around the post on the receiving end. So I think that tip is done. I bought a replacement tip last night for $10.
lacquer thinner
If nothing else works, you can try, but you start to run into what the harsher chemicals will do to the plastic of the feed. Without some materials science research (always plausible on Lemmy), this would be best done in an incremental escalation process, LOL. If there's sentimental value, you could always replace the section/nib unit and keep the barrel and cap, though that does effectively double the price of your pen. Or shoot, maybe write the company; I think Wordsworth & Black are sort of boutique rebranding operation, and they might be happy to keep a customer satisfied with a fairly small cost of goods on the spare parts.
Good luck! I dodged the bullet on India ink, but I have a dead Parker Vacumatic in my parts drawer that will speak to the fact we all make mistakes.
Okay, thanks again for all of the great information. I have it soaking in almost boiling water right now. I heated the water on the stove until just before boiling and the took it off the heat and dropped the nib in there. I couldn't even draw water through it using the converter. If that doesn't loosen it up, and I don't think it will, then I'll try lacquer thinner before looking to replace parts. Cheers
After soaking it in very hot water last night I got the bright idea to try to scrape it with a little wooden coffee stirrer. I broke the rubber gasket that goes around the post on the receiving end. So I think that tip is done. I bought a replacement tip last night for $10.
It sucks because it was finally flowing again too! I just wanted to scrape the dried up stuff off the receiving end, and I didn't realize there was a rubber gasket there. At least I was able to find a replacement that didn't cost as much as the entire pen itself.
Yeah, they're oddly complex little devices for what is effectively a straw with a thumb covering one end. Glad you're at least going to get the gift writing again.
And more importantly, keep it writing! I'm really glad I said something because I love these pens and I've been really disappointed that they never worked whenever I reached for one.
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