J Herbin 1670 Rouge Hematite: So This Is How You Do It

[senzen]

Got said ink some time ago and I've always struggled to get it to flow after a day... Tried different pens, nothing... It was so bad I realized I wasn't even using the ink and I started looking for alternatives (blood red, although I'd like to get Diamine's Poppy Red too). Then I decided to clean the pen with a bit of dishwasher liquid, letting it soak for a night, and give it a final go by trying to write every day, even if it's a single line... Lo and behold, it hasn't skipped for a whole week...

 

This is probably obvious, but I thought I'd write this for those of us with less patience... There's still a lot of gunk but it hasn't even skipped once, I'm amazed. Still just might get that Poppy Red for another pen though.

[corniche]

Hello 88,

 

If you use a lot red or black inks; invest in an ultrasonic cleaner, (around $40 on flea-bay), it will be worth its weight in gold. Use it after every two or three refills and you'll never have a problem. (If you use saturated inks, use it every time or every other time you refill the pen).

 

Bulb syringes are okay, but they're not anywhere near an ultrasonic's capabilities.

 

All the best,

 

Sean

 

 

PS: Don't get me started on red or black ink.

Edited July 31, 2013 by S. P. Colfer

[senzen]

Ultrasonic huh? Thank you, will look into it... I only use this red, and one black (Quink) but if it keeps me going crazy over this ink... Worth it!

[corniche]

Hello again 88,

 

You're welcome; you may also want to try a different black. While Quink is actually a very safe and stable ink- their black is the ONE exception- it does have a spotted history of clogging in some pens. Use Aurora if you can get it; if not, try J. Herbin's Perle Noire or Waterman black.

 

All the best,

 

Sean

Edited July 31, 2013 by S. P. Colfer

[nomadhacker]

The new formulation of Rouge Hematite shouldn't be as prone to clogging anyway. They cut back significantly the amount of gold particles inside. I just got a bottle and was disappointed that the famous sheen has gone from slap-you-in-the-face-hello to nearly unnoticeable in a medium wetness pen. But the stated reason for the change is to prevent clogging issues. Sigh.

[mhosea]

Ultrasonic huh? Thank you, will look into it... I only use this red, and one black (Quink) but if it keeps me going crazy over this ink... Worth it!

 

 

I believe all the restoration experts use both bulb syringe and ultrasonic. They have complementary strengths. In certain types of feeds where the water will preferentially flow through a relatively large breather hole if forced through with the bulb syringe, the ultrasonic is an extremely helpful alternative. In most cases, however, for regular maintenance it is more of a luxury item. I often follow up a flushing with a bulb syringe with a trip to the ultrasonic before rotating my pens out of use for a while. Sometimes a little ink seeps out from the edges of the feed, usually atop the nib where it seeped into at the time of filling. Often enough, 5 minutes passes with no indication that the ultrasonic has made any difference (because there was no ink left to remove).

 

FYI, for completeness I should mention this. Dishwashing soap is a surfactant. If you left any residue of it in the feed, the ink would start picking it up. This alone would make the ink wetter and to flow more freely. It may also lead to increased feathering, unfortunately.

Edited July 31, 2013 by mhosea

[corniche]

 

I believe all the restoration experts use both bulb syringe and ultrasonic. They have complementary strengths. In certain types of feeds where the water will preferentially flow through a relatively large breather hole if forced through with the bulb syringe, the ultrasonic is an extremely helpful alternative. In most cases, however, for regular maintenance it is more of a luxury item. I often follow up a flushing with a bulb syringe with a trip to the ultrasonic before rotating my pens out of use for a while. Sometimes a little ink seeps out from the edges of the feed, usually atop the nib where it seeped into at the time of filling. Often enough, 5 minutes passes with no indication that the ultrasonic has made any difference (because there was no ink left to remove).

 

FYI, for completeness I should mention this. Dishwashing soap is a surfactant. If you left any residue of it in the feed, the ink would start picking it up. This alone would make the ink wetter and to flow more freely. It may also lead to increased feathering, unfortunately.

 

Bulb syringes are good for cleaning out the channel; however, if you really want to get the fins clean, short of taking the pen apart and scrubbing it, (which usually isn't an option with most pens), nothing beats an overnight soak in a 10% ammonia solution, followed by a couple of cycles in a $40 ultrasonic cleaner - this is particularly true for a pen that is already exhibiting performance problems as is the case for the OP.

 

All the best,

 

Sean

[mhosea]

For the OP, here are a couple of articles on pen maintenance.

 

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/care/care.htm

http://www.nibs.com/PenMaintenance.htm

[senzen]

 

I believe all the restoration experts use both bulb syringe and ultrasonic. They have complementary strengths. In certain types of feeds where the water will preferentially flow through a relatively large breather hole if forced through with the bulb syringe, the ultrasonic is an extremely helpful alternative. In most cases, however, for regular maintenance it is more of a luxury item. I often follow up a flushing with a bulb syringe with a trip to the ultrasonic before rotating my pens out of use for a while. Sometimes a little ink seeps out from the edges of the feed, usually atop the nib where it seeped into at the time of filling. Often enough, 5 minutes passes with no indication that the ultrasonic has made any difference (because there was no ink left to remove).

 

FYI, for completeness I should mention this. Dishwashing soap is a surfactant. If you left any residue of it in the feed, the ink would start picking it up. This alone would make the ink wetter and to flow more freely. It may also lead to increased feathering, unfortunately.

 

Thanks, as if on cue Ajisai started acting up on another Lamy Vista... But instead of pressing the nib or doing some other stupid thing I let go, breathed deep, emptied and repeated the all nighter routine with a drop of dishwashing liquid: The next morning I did pump clean water into it with the converter about... 30 times... Flowing great again.

[senzen]

Hello again 88,

 

You're welcome; you may also want to try a different black. While Quink is actually a very safe and stable ink- their black is the ONE exception- it does have a spotted history of clogging in some pens. Use Aurora if you can get it; if not, try J. Herbin's Perle Noire or Waterman black.

 

All the best,

 

Sean

 

Yeah, that Quink is back from the day when it was all I knew existed... Don't know if I'll go to a full black or something like that Iroshizuku burnt bamboo or whatever it's called...

[senzen]

The new formulation of Rouge Hematite shouldn't be as prone to clogging anyway. They cut back significantly the amount of gold particles inside. I just got a bottle and was disappointed that the famous sheen has gone from slap-you-in-the-face-hello to nearly unnoticeable in a medium wetness pen. But the stated reason for the change is to prevent clogging issues. Sigh.

 

I must have the really old formulation with no sheen and lotsa gunk! The nib is starting to look like my avatar after only three days... No skipping though.

[senzen]

 

For the OP, here are a couple of articles on pen maintenance.

 

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/care/care.htm

http://www.nibs.com/PenMaintenance.htm

 

Thank you!