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Hi, I am relitivley new to fountain pens, owning only 3 at this point. Yesterday I purchased my first expensice vountain pen, the visconti homosapiens steel midi, and am having some issues with the ink flow. What happens is, I fill it and it writes beautifully, then it will suddenly stop. At this point, there seemes to be no ink left in the feed, yet there is definetly ink left in the piston filler as I turned the piston and watched the ink drop out. If I give the pen a bit of a flick, It will write again as I have flicked ink into the feed, but this only lasts about a paragraph. The same goes for thurning the piston, which saturates the feed enough to write maybe half a page. I did some reading on the site and fushed the pen with soapy water, then with non soapy water a number of times to remove the soap. I then flushed it with ink before inking it up again. This did not solve the problem. I also removed the nib and feed to see if there was a blockage, but the feed looked fine, albiet dry, and the hole that joins it to the resovoir of ink had no observable blockage, though it was very difficult so see far down it. Just out of curiosity, I turned the piston and watched as the vacated cylinder where the feed normally sits, filled up with ink. I really dont know what to do now, and thougth to post here where it seems there are many knowledgable, long time pen owners who may be able to help me. Any help that is offered will be much appreciated.

So platinum procyon is quite less used/ considered pen in our little FP households for obvious reasons (spend few dollar more and get a gold nib, wait for time and one might get gold nib for same price as new procyon) but I still feel its a very good steel nib pen for those who want to try it plus it has nice feed design, good nib, light for metal and understated design especially in dark blue (personal liking this one). Now the main aim is to see if these were present among other FPN users or not and Please by all means add Curidas in list cos from what I understand they are same feed design. Observations Pen runs on dry side of spectrum (no skips or sudden starvation or hard starts, just dry side or spectrum), has small platinum-ish feedback and nib does not show any issues while feed design works well for last bottle ink draining. All is fine until ink is wet or wetter side of spectrum, dry and less lubricated inks work OKish in most cases and will have some minor skips when fast writing when filled in convertor (well duh ink is not lubricated properly). Cartridge is problem from what I felt. If dry and less lubricated ink is in cartridge the pen will have significant rise in skipping so much so that it will be difficult to write 6 words without one and that is annoying. This problem is less in convertor as stated above. The fun thing is that a wet ink or balanced inks (say waterman serenity blue) will not show any issue in convertor and very less issue (noticed in sessions of over 6 pages) in cartridge. A wet ink or even inks on wetter side of balanced (say iroshizuku murasaki shikibu) will have no issues in either convertor or cartridge. So why does the cartridge show the issue while convertor shows it less no none in cases ?..... I am thinking that the ball inside (aggregator) can be an issue for this one. I looked at other platinum pen (preppy is only second platinum I have) and feed end seems almost same but size I cant be sure of (no way to measure but I assume same cos...well same thing...). This made me use some other way to see the issue as I knew ball is the issue cos in convertor things are fine, so I filled water in empty cartridge and put it inside preppy to see balls behavior, always in center over the feed entry.....when hands in same position.....now what would happen if saturation is changed in water (add salt and sugar was best I could think) now the ball seems to be in center and stays there for a while same observation pretty much only denser...now what would have happened if ink was dense and ball space..I think the ball might not have enough space to move properly so ink is having harder time reaching the feed section, combine with already dry type feed and the balance of ink might break which I suspect happens here. Now this is only issue in dry inks or less saturated inks...ironically I observed it first in Platinum's gifted aqua Emerald color..(color was not to my liking and performance was subpar in most case) which stated the series of weird tests and observations. Sadly procyon is metal and I cant see the insides to do proper testing and pen is actually too good to open (why bother when I know convertor works perfectly) What have others experience been, has anyone tried curidas or procyon with such inks and had issue in cartridge or convertor or any other issues with these guys. Share your experience and opinions and suggestions welcomed.

Hello everyone I think I have a problem with the black ink lamy .I was using it normally but it started to feel very dry and the nib something rough.So I decided to clean it (I regularly clean my pen since I changed from blue to black lamy and rinsed them very well with distilled water) and discovered that the feeder had some black viscous waste and took it off with a stick and water.So is it normal that the feeder has been soiled by the ink? or there is a problem with this ink. It is also worth mentioning that I am always using my pen but this time they spent two days without using it. I use a Lamy 2000 BB with nib modified to stub.

Hello membersFPN, this is my first post here. I have been having some issues with my first fountain pen, a Scrikss honor 38. It writes extremely wet for the first few lines but the more I write the dryer it seems to get and becomes nearly unusable because of skipping. It skips even when writing wet but it gets worse the dryer it gets. I noticed that when I suck up only ink into the converter, the pen just dumps ink on the page and writes very wet but writes a decent amount dryer if I suck a bit of air into the converter. I already got a replacement pen, a Pilot Metropolitan, but was wondering if these issues could be easily fixed or were the result of newbie mistakes or if it's just a bad pen. Here are some pictures:

Hello all! I want to tell you all about an issue with the Black (specifically) Monteverde Tool, and pass along a few tips. First, to be fair, I want to say Monteverde USA quickly shipped a replacement when I described the problem to them. Excellent customer service! Now, the problem. A couple of weeks after I got it, the pen's matte black paint began to disintigrate. When it got too bad to ignore, I found I could easily scrape it off with a fingernail. I've attached a picture. Clue: The clip side's paint remained as hard as ever. Clue: It's a tool. I keep it clipped to the inside of my T-shirt collar. This is when I contacted Monteverde and they sent the new pen. The service rep said "This occurred on part of a shipment." OK. Still, before taking the new pen out of its box (except briefly to admire), I decided to try wearing the old pen the other way 'round (clipped to a lanyard around my neck). Clue: After two days against my skin, the clip-side paint was soft too, except under the clip. Conclusion: The matte black paint can soften after prolonged skin contact! (For the record, the glossy black parts seem entirely unaffected.) Possible factor: I'm a type II diabetic and I try to limit my carbohydrate intake, so my sweat probably contains more acetone than is normal. (A little is normal, I gather, if you're burning fat.) If the acetone really is to blame, your mileage will almost certainly vary. It's worth wondering if the softening factor applied by brief skin contact is volatile enough to disperse over time. Maybe the paint, once softened, will harden again if not damaged first. I wouldn't count on it. I've asked the service rep if the new pen's paint is a different type that won't soften. It certainly seems the same. I'll tell you all what she says when she replies. But even then, I'm probably going to handle the new pen with kid (or rubber) gloves. Fortunately I still have my ratty old pen, which is, after all, a tool, and doesn't look bad stripped down to bare metal: Someday maybe I'll strip out the white paint and antique the engraving. Quick Tips: (Seen elsewhere on FPN) Slide the cap under the clip to avoid losing it. Yes it marks the paint (on mine at least), but the mark is hidden. Don't overtighten the cap. If you're too strong, it's possible to turn the section, distorting the interference grooves that hold its angle. The screwdriver can hit the inside of the stylus dome if it's not secure. I worry it'll cause wear, so if the pen rattles, I immediately open the back and secure the screwdriver (push it in till it clicks). I will probably cut a couple of strategic grooves on the screwdriver, to give my thumbnail purchase to pull it out. My fingers are too big. Fill your Tool with Noodler's Blackerase Watererase ink. Then it'll mark plastics and metal (all those I've tried, more or less adequately). Try the back of the nib (low angle) to mark soft things. Someone mentioned you can't use the pen and straightedge/ruler at the same time. Yes you can. Pull out the pen section. It works well enough for making a mark. Cool: take out the screwdriver and shine your Noodler's UV light into the hole. The level lights up like a Green Lantern. (This works almost as well if you leave the back cap on and just shine UV into the level's slot. If you insist on being prosaic.)Thanks for reading! [mwb: Sorry for all the small edits. I like to refine, but I'm new here and I thought I might lose work if I didn't save a draft quickly.]

I have a certain sensitivity to some cosmetics with the blue color. Using a blue toothpaste, for example, gets my face all red and somewhat flaky. Few weeks ago I got a bottle of Diamine Sargasso Blue and I noticed the same symptoms! I write for long times, several pages, 10 to 15 pages, twice per week (well, it looks a lot to me!). I'll go to the dermatologist this week. But may I ask in advance: has any of you had a similar experience? If it is really a sensitivity to some component that would be a little sad, since I like this ink pretty much, even though it bleeds a lot in my cheap papers! Good thing I like black better.

I'm thinking about buying a Faber-Castell Ambition (black), but I'm a bit skeptical. Please help if you own one. There seem to be some unclear issues: 1. Does the resin body crack when screwed too tight? This seems to only be a problem with the black version, as the others have metal threads. 2. Does the the cap stop clicking in place? I read a review that said after 2 months the cap wouldn't click to the body 3. Is the grip section uncomfortable? It looks like it is. Also, how would it compare to a TWSBI 580/ Classic? Help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

So Recently I just bought a Monteverde Invincia Stealth (about 5 days ago) And I've been having some really annoying problems with flow and skipping. The pen just downright does not want to start up unless I shake or tap it, or twist the piston to push more ink through. When it does get started up, after a few sentences it starts to skip. Then goes back to being completely dry, until I once again tap/twist/shake. Just rinse and repeat, that's my problem. I've flushed the pen several times with distilled water and once with a tiny bit of dish soap. I've also tried several different inks, J-herbin, Noodlers, Monteverde, Lamy. still the exact same problem, So I believe the issue lies with the pen itself. I've sent in an email to Yafa to claim warranty. I'm thinking is it just worth it to take it to a local fountain pen repair shop to see if they can fix the problem. or should I pay the $20 or so postage to send the pen in for warranty and wait another month for it to get back? Is this a problem that's easily fixable (ie. Local repair shop) or should I play it safe if it is a more major problem (Send it in for Warranty). Or option 3- Can I myself do anything about it? (not very keen on doing any DIY, rather leave it to the pros)

So i got a bottle of baystate blue.... also got a preppy for obvious reasons... Went well for about 3 days. Wrote great, flowed great, looked great on paper. Then last night, all of a sudden the flow just stopped. .. I noticed the finsin the feed had filled more over the three days, as well as the threads on the barrel even though i iaed silicone grease and an o-ring to convert it to an ED (but not leaking).... I tried wiping the nib (which was covered in the ink,) wiping it with a wet napkin, flossing the tines (best i could without trying to remove tye nib from the feed.... nothing. Tried dropping it nib down into a cup of water and niticed some flow coming out of the nib, so i dried it a bit, but still nothing. Finally, i opened tge barrel and put in 5 or so drops of water. Now after letting it sit, it does write but having bad start issues and will still stop, skip, and all other sorts of annoying things. My question is, what did i do wrong?? Ive heard of people leaving theirs for weeks and picking them up and writing fine!!! :-( im sad because i like the cokor but wont put it in another pen. PLEASE HELP!!!