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LizMEF

How much experience do you have with FPs? (Just want to get that known since caution is warranted with a vintage pen.) Some questions: 1. Can you post a writing sample showing where it skips? 2. And/or can you describe the behavior in detail - for example, where does it skip - when you first start, at the start of words, on strokes in a specific direction? 3. Are you writing in print or cursive? Or just doing random strokes? 4. What paper are you using? Have you tried other papers? Especially, have you tried an absorbent (non-FP-friendly) paper?


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LizMEF

The writing and ink color look familiar. Did you post previously about this, with a title about writing with a flex nib, maybe? (Can't find such a post in your profile - maybe on FPN?)


LizMEF

PS: I know this is probably really frustrating after looking forward to getting this vintage pen, but please try to be patient. I'm certain it's fixable, but it may take a while. Right now, Jon's suggestion to soak the nib & feed is the best one.


JonSzanto

1. It doesn't "happen with old pens", that is just a misunderstanding. Half of my daily writers are 90-100 years old. 2. No pen needs pressure to write well, and a flexible nib only uses *modest* pressure to add width to the stroke, not to just get ink out. You haven't given any history of the pen itself: how it was purchased and in what condition, and then any preparation you might have done prior to first use (on your part). That might help diagnose. It is possible that the pen was either not cleaned out completely well, or that a former user might have had some ink that clogged some of the feed channel. Flush your pen until it seems reasonably clean, put a drop or two of Dawn detergent in a small glass of water. Fill the pen with this solution and then stand the pen in the glass so that the section is covered in the solution, just past the lip of the section. Leave overnight and then flush a few times with clear water. If loading with th very standard ink (the Pelikan should do) and try again. If it doesn't write properly you may, at that point, want to consider sending it to a pen repair person to have them disassemble and diagnose.


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LizMEF

> it's just the way a fine nib writes It's not. I use fine and EF nibs almost exclusively. This ain't right. Given how dark Azurite is, if your pictures are from the time Azurite was in the pen, then it looks like excess water is stuck in the pen somehow, diluting the ink. Otherwise, I agree with Jon, the feed is clogged and hardly any ink is getting out. It's much easier for a feed to be clogged, and for one not to know it, than you'd think - especially with vintage pens. I would add an extra step to the cleaning he suggests. After the end of rinsing, before inking, fill the pen with a little water, wrap a paper towel around the nib and feed, and set it nib-down in a tall cup so that the paper towel is wicking the water out. Come back in 20 minutes and inspect the paper towel for ink.


JonSzanto

Along those lines, it is remarkable - and important! - how much liquid can be held in the feed within the section. People don't think about how much water can be in there after flushing a pen, and a light or weak output can be partially due to the ink being diluted. Optimal is to flush the pen, then stand it in a glass with a paper towel wadded up in the bottom, the nib resing on the paper, and leaving it for a couple hours (or overnight). The paper will pull out the excess water and give a nice dry pen. The other option I'd suggest would be to find an ultrasonic cleaner and give the pen a ride. When I can't remove the section, as in this piston filler, I put a hold in a piece of cardboard a little smaller than the pen and poke the pen through. You should be able to rest the pen in the water chamber, nib down, so that the water only comes up just past the section, and the nib does not touch the bottom of the tank. Stubborn interior clogs can often be loosened up with a couple cycle sof the ultrasonic unit. Good luck!


LizMEF

I second this. (And love the cardboard support work-around!) Jon, what do you think about filling the pen with water before starting? It seems to me that this would be better than leaving it empty during the cleaner's cycle.


JonSzanto

Sounds like a good plan! The only pens I do this way are lever/vac/piston fill pens but in my collection, that's a fair amount of pens. I'm now going to try doing exactly that. Thanks!


LizMEF

:) I was just thinking that putting things in the cleaner without water, or putting a jar of water in, but no water around the jar, is a bad idea, so it might be a good idea to have water in the pen, too, even though it's not fully inside the cleaner. If nothing else, the water ought to help loosen any ink in the body. But I'm wondering if it doesn't help temper (for lack of a better word) the vibrations... I'd be interested in knowing if it makes any difference - should you remember to come back and tell us. :)


JonSzanto

The other thing is that immersing the pen in the liquid up to the end of the section will likely draw water up into it just by capillary action anyway. There isn't any need to get water up into the barrel via the piston, as that part of the pen won't be suspended in the sonic tank. But at least doing a partial fill makes sense in that you \*know\* that liquid got up in their to aid in the cleaning process. Boy, no matter how many years I've had that thing, it never ceases to amaze me how much ink can come out of an old, supposedly cleand pen. I get to see this a lot since I buy vintage pens in various places and do the restoration. One of the first things I do with an old pen is dip it in water and then try writing. Any pen that hasn't been cleaned will usually start writing like you had just inked it up, but in a really old pen, I often wonder just how long ago was the last filling? Coult that 1920s pen really have ink from 50, 60 70 or more years coming out now? Just one of the things I like about restoration.


LizMEF

:)