Increasing Flow: Plastic Feed?

[usqview]

I am just now finally getting into this side of fountain pens after 4+ years of collecting and enjoying them. I have a handful of pens that need some fettling. I have been too scared in the past to jump in but I think I am now ready.

 

Pen: Stipula Duetto

Nib: .9mm Titanio

 

I really like this pen but the flow starts out fairly heavy, which I like, then after a line or two of quick writing with flexing the feed goes virtually dry and I have to wait a minute for it to recharge. Very frustrating.

 

I have taken the nib/feed unit out and then removed the feed and nib, cleaned well and put it back together. This seems to have helped speed up the recharging of the feed but still runs dry every few lines of writing.

 

I have read that ebonite feeds are great due to the fact that you can carve it like wood and reform it with heat. I have also read something about plastic feeds needing to be acid etched in order to deepen or widen the feed channels. Is this correct?

 

What options are there to rectify this flow issue?

 

Thanks FPN! I really value this site and the fine members here,

rj

Edited May 7, 2011 by usqview

[Verius]

Hey,

 

looks like you didn't get much feedback on this issue! I'm having the same problem now with my Bon Voyage! Eye dropper pen. It writes wonderfully for the first sentence or two, then dries up. With ink like Iroshizuku, the nib will continue to write, but the color lacks the vibrancy and robustness of the original smooth flow. This is a big deal when it comes to red inks, because the ink goes from a deep, attractive red to a thin, feeble pink. Hopefully this bump will get some more feedback in here!!

[Captain Ahab]

I'm new on the site, so I'm sure there are some more experienced folks who will jump in and add to what I have to say.

 

As I understand it, the smoothness of a plastic feed is necessary to maintain the capillary action that transports ink to the nib. If you start carving the feed, you ruin that smooth surface. The surface of ebonite has different properties, particularly after the surface becomes saturated with ink, which supports capillarity; thus, carving an ebonite feed will not ruin it.

 

So, although I do not know how to solve your problem, I would think that carving, filing, sanding or grinding a plastic feed would NOT be the way to go.

 

Have you tried a "lubricated" ink? I think that would be my first plan of action if I had a similar problem.

 

I look forward to learning more about this issue myself, and hope somebody who knows more will share their knowledge.

Edited June 8, 2012 by Captain Ahab

[Chi Town]

1304792018[/url]' post='1975169']

I am just now finally getting into this side of fountain pens after 4+ years of collecting and enjoying them. I have a handful of pens that need some fettling. I have been too scared in the past to jump in but I think I am now ready.

 

Pen: Stipula Duetto

Nib: .9mm Titanio

 

I really like this pen but the flow starts out fairly heavy, which I like, then after a line or two of quick writing with flexing the feed goes virtually dry and I have to wait a minute for it to recharge. Very frustrating.

 

I have taken the nib/feed unit out and then removed the feed and nib, cleaned well and put it back together. This seems to have helped speed up the recharging of the feed but still runs dry every few lines of writing.

 

I have read that ebonite feeds are great due to the fact that you can carve it like wood and reform it with heat. I have also read something about plastic feeds needing to be acid etched in order to deepen or widen the feed channels. Is this correct?

 

What options are there to rectify this flow issue?

 

Thanks FPN! I really value this site and the fine members here,

rj

[/quot

 

I would try giving a special clean with 10% clear ammonia and 90% water and do this multiple times...... Then I would also do this to my converter, just in case there are some oils from the manufacturing in it. Again, I would do it multiple times to the converter. Then rinse the heck out of it with water thru both systems and report back to us so that we can determine what the next step may be.

[SteveE]

I wouldn't try this with an expensive pen, but do a google search on "hacking a feed." There are videos showing this technique. This is a process sometimes used to enlarge the feed channels of (most often) plastic feeds. Many modern pens look good but write poorly due to various design/execution flaws in their plastic feeds. I have, on occasion, "hacked" feeds of lesser pens - especially pens for which I could easily buy replacement feeds if I ruin the existing ones.

 

I purchased an assortment of re-cycled dental picks (from AmericanScience and Surplus - no affiliation here) that work well to cut away material from the inner walls of the slits of plastic feeds. This allows more ink to flow out and more air to flow back, often resolving the "feed starvation" issue. Sometimes, though, after cutting up the feed, the pen writes too wet. In these cases you will need to then learn how to adjust your nib to reduce flow. This is much more difficult than increasing flow, but it can be done.

 

If you are not comfortable pulling nibs and feeds out of sections, or if the thought of trashing the feed makes your hands shake, this may not be for you. YMMV - no promises that it works, either.

[OcalaFlGuy]

I would take it as a clue that a quick cursory search here doesn't show any systemic

flow issues much less any consensus that feed surgery is needed for this model pen.

 

I see the pen is also discontinued and is in the neighborhood of $100.

 

IF you were to need a replacement part, (such as a hacked to death feed) I presume it'd have to come on that slow boat from Italy.

 

For those reasons, a DIY at home feedectomy isn't something I'd be at all froggy to jump into.

 

From your description I'd lean towards cleaning out the converter with a surfactant/detergent (my choice would be Dawn dish detergent) that would aid in ink flow out of the converter.

 

You don't mention what ink you are using and I am one usually loathe to chase inks to find one that helps a pen do what it should do with ANY commercial fountain pen but there ARE some inks that are known to be particularly systemically cloggy.

 

I would investigate those 2 much safer avenues first.

 

Even done correctly a feedectomy can't be undone. If it came down to that, I'd send it to a professional well versed in the surgery. It wouldn't be any more expensive than the time and effort to procure a replacement feed from Stipula I'd think.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[torstar]

go to the youtube videos for fountain pen feed work for instruction

 

a few threads are helpful on here as well

 

don't work on something you can't afford to have to throw away...

[Quetzal]

You might want to check the curvatures, and the relative positions, of the nib and the feed. The attached diagrams show how a nib, placed too far back, results in a curvature mismatch which allows a gap to develop between the nib and the feed. In a pen of mine, that situation caused a break in the inkflow at the gap when I wrote too quickly.

[Quetzal]

Perhaps I should label things to make it clearer.

[ColdDeadHand]

Have any of you ever just given up on a crappy plastic feed and replaced it with good ole' ebonite (from Goulet or FPR, for example)?
Ebonite has a lot more flexibility in terms of being able to adapt to different nibs, as well as tolerance for "hacking".

I've read that after you hack a plastic nib, you should acid etch it again so the ink does not clog or scab over in the places with freshly-exposed plastic.

 

I've never tried either, just curious here, but I wouldn't be surprised if one of these days I swap plastic for ebonite on a modern pen.