Fountain pen ink?

[Emer]

Sorry bartenders if this should go elsewhere! Couldn't really find a place where it should land...

I've inherited a gorgeous fountain pen set. It's one pen with 7 different nibs. It's an Osmiroid (and I suppose it's techinically a calligraphy set). It has a refillable ink well and it says to use "any good quality ink--BUT NEVER INDIA INK" (in all big letters too). My question may be "duh" inducing, but: if an ink is not labeled as India ink, then is it safe to assume that it's not? Or is there something in inks that I need to watch for that would set it off as India ink? How can you tell "good quality" ink for poor quality?

Thank you!

 

[John in Covina]

An inkling on inks.

India Ink and drawing inks usually contain stuff to make it dry and waterproof like shellac, which is fine using dip pens but will plug up in an unrepairable way any fountian pen feed section.

Fountain pen ink may be labled fountain pen ink and most pen manufacturers either make or carry their own brand. Some people will only use their pen's manufacturer inks such as Parker Quink in their Parker pens, Sheaffer in Sheaffer, Pelikan in Pelikan and so on. Today most modern inks are well made and of quality if it is a brand name.

Some brands of ink that are well noted that are stand alone brands are Noodler's and Private Reserve. Private Reserve is also noted as being compatable with itself so you can mix their colors and come up with your own personal color. The even have a mixing kit for this purpose.

Another thing is that some pens may for what ever reason NOT like to write well with a brand or brand's specific color and you may find that the same pen loves another ink and writes extremely well with it.

Private Reserve has a purple called Tanzanite that seems to help many pens that are dry writers and prone to skipping.

If you go to the various pen shop websties, thety will usually have an ink section that you can peruse at your leisure. There are extensive dicussions on inks in the various pen forums.

If you want to right checks with the pens look for Noodlers Eternal or Bulletproof inks as they can't be washed out and changed like most ordinary fountain pen inks.

If you do a search in this section for ink I believe you'll find some more threads on ink here.

 

[John in Covina]

Using Your Fountain Pens:

Do not press hard with a fountain pen, you may damaged the nib or misalign the feed. Even flex nibs can be damaged by pressing too hard. Noticeable damage is when a nib bends and does not return to its original position. Even without bending and putting a kink in the nib, it can result in ink flow problems and misaligned tines will become scratchy. Fountain pens should take a very light touch unlike regular ball point pens. Ballpoint ink is like a paste and must be pressed onto the paper and if your writing style stems from ballpoints try to adjust to a lighter pressure. By design the ink should flow just by touching the nib sweet spot to the paper. So in a well adjusted fountain pen, just resting the nib on the paper will create the flow and the writer need only control the pen without tight gripping or pressing hard as with the ballpoint pens. Fountain pens are favored as the least tiring and best pen for long term writing or note taking. Pen manufacturers suggest not loaning your pen to others as the nib adjusts to your hand writing and style. Please note that both gel pens and rollerball pens have a good flow and require less pressure to write, also.

While many have been able to use vintage inks, some precautions are taken such as not using inks that particles have fallen out of the fluid. There are ways to reconstitute old inks and tweak new inks using demineralized water is a start. Manufacturers suggest that fresh ink should be used and you may wish to consider replacing inks where the bottle has been opened for over a year. Dispose of ink that is contaminated or if anything has grown in it! NEVER use India ink or drawing ink, these are not formulated for ordinary fountain pens, they contain shellac type drying agents and will clog the pen. These types of clogs may be impossible to clear and permanently damage the pen. It is recommended to never use regular fountain pen ink for check writing; these inks are washable and can easily be altered. For check writing use an ink like Noodler’s Eternal or Bulletproof types as they have been shown to be nearly impossible to alter.

Flush your pen with cold water thoroughly when not in use for a period of a few weeks or more and always flush before storing. Flush when changing colors or brands of ink or about every few months of use. The simplest flush is to flush by filling with cold water as you would fill with ink. Flush until the water comes out clear. If a pen has a remainder of ink and is unused for a period of time the ink will dry in the feed and even in the reservoir and become difficult to clear. Damage can occur to the seals of a filling system such as in Piston fillers and converters. Continued>

Never use warm or hot water to flush your pen as this can cause the feed to change shape and change the flow. (Knowledgeable nibmeisters utilized heat sometimes to adjust the alignment of feed to nib to adjust flow, but if you don’t know the mechanics of it best to leave that to the master. A good cleaning type of flushing can be done using one third household (non-sudsing) ammonia or regular Formula 409 combined with two thirds cold water. This is useful with new fountain pens prior to their first filling with ink. Here flushing can remove any traces of manufacturing oils, grease or releasing agents that can interfere with the normal ink flow.

Some papers are not good for use with a fountain pen. These are papers that are coated chemically and can cause skipping. They may clog the nib and the nib will need cleaning. Recycled paper can have these chemicals as part of their original content and are not advised. Rough papers may catch the nib of a fine point or italic and can cause feathering of the ink when writing. Fine papers often list a linen or cotton content and are often great for fountain pens, but experimentation with the papers available at stationary and office supply stores can be rewarding. Gold Fibre brand has been pretty good in the past.

Regular refilling is recommended, as a pen that is near empty may leak due to air pressure changes. A near empty ink bladder or reservoir that is mostly air can be heated by your hand and the pressure increase inside can force too much ink out creating a big blob or leak. Travel by aircraft can cause a similar leakage, so most say travel with either fully filled pens or completely empty. Or keep them inside a zip lock bag to protect from possible leaking.

BALKY FOUNTAIN PENS? FORMULA 409 TRICK!

Have you ever had a new fountain pen that just won't write well? You’ve filled it with your favorite ink and it skips or won't write at all. Well friend, the culprit may be releasing agents, grease or oils left over from manufacturing that is interfering with the delivery of ink. Stylofiles magazine gave this pointer, which they do on every fountain pen before testing it for their article. But use caution, you may damage a pen if the chemicals attack a part, so no long term soaking! Bare aluminum is most susceptible to chemical damage of the metals but even steel will corrode if left soaking in chemically laden water. Celluloid is fairly strong but damage is possible if left in soaking too long. Casein should neither be soaked nor have any chemicals applied to it, it’s very susceptible to damage. The caveat: Do NOT DAMAGE YOUR PENS! We are not responsible for any damages to pens!

VERSION ONE
Take regular Formula 409 and a small glass like a cordial or shot glass. Spray some 409 in the glass and mix with 3 to 4 parts of COLD water. Dip the nib and feed in the mixture then fill and flush the converter or filling system with the mixture for 1 or 2 minutes. Then replace the mixture with plain COLD water and flush for a minute replace water and flush repeat replacing and flushing again and again for a couple more minutes so no trace of the Formula 409 remains. Then fill with new, clean ink. The writing should be much improved if the oil or grease was the culprit. Be sure to empty the pen of all ink first then flush with plain water before using the cleaning mixture. Always use COLD water as warm or hot can damage the feed!

VERSION TWO
This is supposed to work on both new and older pens that are
presenting a skipping on no flow challenge. Stylus Magazine and some pen aficionados contend that both Formula 409 and Simple Green are too harsh to use on pens. Their alternate flusher and cleaner is a solution you can easily mix up. Mix 1 Tablespoon of Clear Household Ammonia to 2/3rds cup of Cold Water. Flush with this mixture and then flush thoroughly with PLAIN cold water to remove any residue as listed above for version one.

 

[John in Covina]

New Versus Vintage in Fountain Pens
Step into a fine pen shop and the array of fountain pens is like and explosion of color, precious metals and design worthy of any art museum. Yet, nearly all are designed to comfortably take your hand movements and turn them into a line of ink gliding smoothly across the page as a direct extension of you mind. A fountain pen can effortlessly help draw out your deepest thoughts and feelings, so you may connect with emotion and concepts with the ease of a magic wand. Today the selection of new pens is daunting, the number of manufacturers continues to climb and with them the number of designs to choose from. However, as delightful a torment that can be, there is the world of Vintage Pens, where history collides with your range of selection. In my personal collection I have some 50 vintage fountain pens of various makes, designs and diverse range of original values. I find I am drawn to the early versions of the Parker Duofold with models from the late 1920’s to the early 1930’s both the flat top and the streamlined models. Why? The larger senior models ooze masculinity and the smaller models of which there were many come with exquisite with matching Duofold marked nibs. Once cleaned up and with new ink sacks installed they write superbly even with 70 to 80 years of history in them. I have several old Waterman pens in black chased hard rubber that have very responsive nibs in the flexible range. Nice writers all and are a delight to write just as they were in the good old days. Those accomplished with flex nib writing use “whole arm movement” not simply writing from the wrist as we do in present day. Whole arm movement is what allowed those sweeping and fluid lines of writing to turn daily writing into what looks like a stock certificate in supreme elegance, often using the style called Spencerian or Copperplate.

Sheaffer came up with the Balance model in the 1930’s and it was the epitome of streamlining. Again an Icon of fountain pens and again one you will find in many collections today. At Wahl and later as Wahl Eversharp famous designers produced some extraordinary pens such as their Skyline model. Few can resist that one with a rakish look and the “clip over the cap” design adds a lot of intrigue to the pen. Wahl was another major company in the golden era. One thing is back then, they used materials that are rarely, if ever, seen today, such as celluloid and even casein, a milk based plastic. The designs were pretty fresh back then and there are colors that seem to be impossible to make today. Many pens of the Great Depression are often inexpensive but use color in a way it had not been used before. It was a different world back then, and pens were actually news worthy items when the innovation was right. Esterbrook is a venerable old brand that is sadly no longer with us. A victim of the 50’s and 60’s ball point pen revolution, Esterbrook is a true work horse pen with easily interchangeable nibs that would allow you to have a different writing style with each different nib. Esterbrook pens where ubiquitous, use by government, business schools and ordinary people that needed a relatively inexpensive pen that was a quality, working fountain pen. Each vintage pen I own has a history of someone that used it, selected it and maybe even had it fixed a time or two, because a fountain pen was considered a lifetime purchase. It may have written business correspondence, cherished love letters or maybe letter to home by a service man during a great conflict like WWII. Many pens are collectable, some don’t garner much value, but you can find that some really great writers have been stuck in a drawer, half forgotten. So ask relatives and friend if they have any old fountain pens tucked away some where. You may just find a really cool pen to be refurbished and revived to a lifetime of service in your hand.

 

[John in Covina]

Paper and Ink
Paper, pen and ink are an inseparable trio pair, the one not much good without the others, certainly. Paper comes in wide variety of qualities and it does make a difference as to how a pen may write. A problem common today is that you may have had a rollerball, ballpoint or gel pen suddenly display difficulties after writing on paper fresh out of the fax, copier or printer. That is because some of these printing systems use chemicals to print the sheet. These chemicals are deposited on the paper and until either dried they have a some what greasy consistency that gets on the ball portion of the pen and interferes with the flow of ink or gel. Once screwed up like that it is seldom possible to rid the pen of the problem. The same can happen with a fountain pen and it happens also when the paper has been coated. Often the coating interferes with the flow of ink until a pen is flushed out and modern cleaning chemistry is brought to bear on the problem. Recycled paper may get similar coatings second hand, as it were, so you should avoid or carefully test the paper for problems. But with truly fine paper, such as those with cotton or linen content tends to work well, so paper from companies like Crane is excellent choices. Strathmore is reported to be good. Fabriano is also, and are more often found as artist paper so a trip to the art supply store is in order even though the sizes tend to be odd for regular writing paper, but we can call that a charming eccentricity. From Italy’s Amalfi coast is Amalfi Amatruda exquisite writing paper. France has some wonderful paper such as G. Lalo and Clairefountaine. Moleskine books are pretty good but watch out for read thru with dark inks. A surprisingly good, inexpensive paper is in the cloth covered journals usually found in the bargain section at Borders books. They have a big J on the front and the covers are in a variety of colors, black, blue, red and tan, these are quite the bargain. Gold Fibre writing pads from Ampad tend to be good too. A good rule is “when you find good paper, stock up, if you can.” Also I suggest the small note cards such as those from Crane, including ‘Thank You’ cards, it makes jotting off a quick note easy and delightful so you may do it in a timely fashion. Better a short note than a long one never sent!

A pen without ink doesn’t do much but ink is a personal choice effecting not only what you write but how you write. Ink is the other half of that marvelous flow system that allows you to write with a fountain pen in what can only be called “a carefully controlled leak.” If you have a balky pen try different inks in it, you can sometimes find one it likes. Many pen manufacturers have their own brand of ink and there are a multitude of makers that are not connected to a pen company such as the lovely J. Herbin, Private Reserve and Noodler’s. The color spectrum of available inks continues to grow so finding that perfect color for your written expressions is easier than ever. Private Reserve even has a mixing kit so that creating a truly personal, custom color can be accomplished with a little experimentation. I like to match ink color to the season such as red and green at Christmas. It is a bit like “flavoring” the writing, as one might use seasoning when cooking. Remember that India inks and drawing inks contain varnish and drying agents that will cause damage to a fountain pen so avoid them and stick with only what says fountain pen ink on the label.

Picking pens for the newbie.
Often people that have bought their pens by the gross at the office supply place will have sticker shock when it comes to purchasing a fountain pen. If you are used to spending under a dollar for a disposable ball point a fountain pen, even at the student level will be a value challenge. A starter pen for those that are toe-dipping into the experience is a “disposable” fountain pen made by PILOT a fine Japanese firm. Google “Pilot Varsity” and you should find some sources for this relatively inexpensive pen that you can use to get used to the feel of a fountain pen and not cry if you lose it either. These are quite nice to get your foot in the door. After that, you can look at some of the Student level pens that are well made and are great starters too. Lamy, a German manufacturer makes 2 pens of similar design call the Safari and the Safari Allstar. These can be found in the 25-35 dollar range and offer fine, medium and broad choices for nibs in most stores plus some other nibs thru the big online outlets. If you can find a Pelikan M75 or the Pelikan GO! Pens these are pretty nice but scarce in the USA. Rotring made a pen called the Core which is very modern but a fine writer and can still be found on the EBay type sites. A step up is the Pilot Knight at about $45 it is a classic fountain pen and every one I have tried is as smooth as glass. All of these have steel nibs and are truly serviceable writers. In vintage you can look for a refurbished Esterbrook. Fountain pens climb rapidly in price and the student level goes to over $100. All of the big makers from Parker, Waterman, Sheaffer, to smaller newer makers like Laban and Taccia have models in this range. At about the $125 level you will begin to find pens that are coming with gold nibs and are the next step up. Here your selection really opens up with a wide variety of makers and designs. As you approach the $200 level you are in the “Real Pen” level, where they will have all of the bells and whistles of filling systems and materials as a standard, but top notch quality pen. As the price climbs from here the difference tends to be size and then more precious materials being used. As a word of experience, if you are blessed to have a local pen shop of noteworthy brands offered, you should support them with some purchases. Here is where you can test drive some of the pens you fancy or see that marvelous array of colors the modern ink manufacturers have come up with. A good shop may have a pen repair man to take your vintage finds to for refurbishing. Here you may meet like minded people and learn of local clubs to help you in this wonderful hobby.

In conclusion, fountain pen fans feel that all the history and development of the fountain pen makes it the right tool to use while writing letters and post cards, whether aboard the Orient Express, journaling your trip across Africa or just sending that thoughtful “Thank You” note to a friend. And, while many might not get to go to these foreign and exotic places, using fountain pens in similar tasks brings the exotic to where ever you are and banishes the mundane from your daily writing tasks. With Email and the like many are afraid that handwriting skills will vanish soon and with it some of the close connections that come from a handwritten note. What ever your choice to correspond with, be it fountain pen, dip pen, ballpoint pen, gel or rollerball, know that a hand written note or letter is so often cherished by the receiver. Carpe Diem! Today is your chance to write to somebody and give them something they will cherish.

 

[John in Covina]

A World of Support
Online I have usually had good luck with Ebay for vintage pens and some close-outs of NOS new old stock. Online stores I find that World Lux and Swisher often have very good pricing, while Joon and the Fountain Pen Hospital can have great sales. I found a replacement nib for a Stipula pen at Art Brown so they are good for hard to find parts in modern pens. A Google session will turn up other sources and sites like Pentrace for research info and reviews. The Pen Club of America is the big nation club and you will hopefully find numerous regional groups. The local club has an online site in Yahoo Groups under “SCPCC” that any one may join and post questions. If you get a recent copy of the magazines or search online you will find that there are National Level Pen Shows in nearly every region of the US with similar shows in Europe. These are worth visiting if you have an interest in fountain pens whether modern or vintage.

Magazines:
• Stylus
• Pen World International
• Stylophiles is on-line only now.
Some Web addresses or look up:
• Sante Fe Pens
• The Ink Flow
• Pentiques.com
• Main Street Pens
• A Pen Lovers Paradise
• Vintagepens.com
• Scottsdalepens.com
• pensplus.biz
• Swisher Pens
• pen-site.com
• pentrace.com
• Joon
• The Fountain Pen Hospital
• Art Brown
• Fahrney’s
• Bertram’s Inkwell
Look for local pen shops, scour the used book stores for pen books and learn about vintage pens from those books so you can find that Parker Duofold in Mandarin Yellow that Uncle So-and-so had and recognize its worth.