My Glass Dip Pen And Non-Writability

[NewPenMan]

I have a very nice glass pen bought for me by my spouse. the dipping, ink-holding, nib end is about 1/2" long total, and when it writes it produces a line you'd say would be Western Medium..perhaps broad with a wee bit of line variation, depending on tilt.

 

I often can not get more than a word or two out of this pen after dipping. If I get silly and dip to the hilt, I first get a puddle, then some words, then it rapidly peters out.

 

My question: is this the way it is for this pen? I've tried Quink, and the little bottle of ink that came with the pen; same result.

 

Compare the glass dip pen which SBRE Brown uses in some of his ink comparisons, that thing seems like the Camel of ink pens..just keeps going on 1 dip; even more remarkable because Stephen's "hand" is so large...he really lays down the ink when he writes on his videos. The nib/feed area of his glass pen looks to be about 3/4" - 1", so yes, a larger ink capacity, but I suspect it's more than that..as my pen peters out, it looks like there's still ink in the spiral grooves...

 

puzzling. thank you for any tips on this.

Edited April 1, 2015 by NewPenMan

[domnortheast]

I think the viscosity of the ink you are using is key, although I've not used a glass dip pen before, Try either an ink designed for dip pens or add some Gum Arabic to a quantity of fountain pen ink to increase its viscosity. Needless to say, keep the ink containing Gum Arabic away from your fountain pens.

 

I have a couple of dip pens I use as desk pens and use slightly thickened Diamine inks with them, they work very well, the flow being much more even and avoiding the initial blot you talk of.

[Lou Erickson]

What kind of glass pen is it?

 

I have a Rohrer & Klingner glass pen which holds more than a word's worth on a dip. Most of a smallish page, if I remember right. As you write, the ink seems to drain down the fluted edges and off the tip. Rotating the pen a little between words seems to help. When you run out of ink it's pretty close to dry.

 

I have used it with several FP inks, and haven't had to do anything terrible like add gum arabic to them, at least with mine.

[inkstainedruth]

Someone gave me one of the J Herbin glass pen sets a couple of years ago (someone had given it to her and she had never used it). I tried it with one of the inks it came with, and couldn't get the thing to write at ALL. I don't know if the ink is FP friendly or not (it doesn't actually say anywhere on the bottles, and IIRC, Herbin makes some inks that aren't safe to use in fountain pens. There's a blue and a purple, and that's about all I know

I gather there's some sort of trick to using a glass pen. I seem to recall reading an old thread about having to do something to the nib because glass is slippery, but dang if I can find it anyplace....

I'm fine with FPs, of course, and in the past used Speedball calligraphy dip pens and a bamboo pen (also a crow quill nib) with no issues. But that glass pen had me stumped, and it's now on a shelf someplace....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[lionheartlee]

Ive seen a few videos of ink reviews where they use a glass dipping pen, and it seems like an interesting way to write. Just havent had the pleasure of picking one up yet.

[kbrede]

A shot in the dark here. Clean with soap and water and rinse well?

 

Kent

[LindaM]

If your pen is made by Authentic Models then it'll look nice on a shelf, and that's about all it's good for. Rohrer and Klingnor's pens write very well. I've had both, and sold the Authentic Models to get rid of them. J Herbin's pens are reputedly between those two in quality, but I can't speak from first hand knowledge there.

[ac12]

Try cleaning the glass pen with rubbing alcohol.

I do that with some of my dip pens, and the ink sticks to the nib better.

[Paddler]

You prepare a glass pen just like you would a steel dip nib. First, wash it clean of any oil from your fingers or just air pollution. Then lick it. Write out any saliva that may have stayed in the flutes and then dip it in ink. Touch the point to the inkwell edge and then write. If the ink adheres to the nib properly, you won't have to rotate the nib while writing; it will creep around and over the flutes to the point. You only have to lick a nib once after you have cleaned it.

 

I have several glass pens. They all write at least a line of text per dip. Some write differing line widths, depending on which side of the point touches the paper.

[LeonW]

Great advice, thanks.

[Morbus Curiositas]

I have a very nice glass pen bought for me by my spouse. the dipping, ink-holding, nib end is about 1/2" long total, and when it writes it produces a line you'd say would be Western Medium..perhaps broad with a wee bit of line variation, depending on tilt.

 

I often can not get more than a word or two out of this pen after dipping. If I get silly and dip to the hilt, I first get a puddle, then some words, then it rapidly peters out.

 

My question: is this the way it is for this pen? I've tried Quink, and the little bottle of ink that came with the pen; same result.

 

Compare the glass dip pen which SBRE Brown uses in some of his ink comparisons, that thing seems like the Camel of ink pens..just keeps going on 1 dip; even more remarkable because Stephen's "hand" is so large...he really lays down the ink when he writes on his videos. The nib/feed area of his glass pen looks to be about 3/4" - 1", so yes, a larger ink capacity, but I suspect it's more than that..as my pen peters out, it looks like there's still ink in the spiral grooves...

 

puzzling. thank you for any tips on this.

No that is not my experience..

 

Dr J of De Atramentis gave me the 2 down here

 

http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a617/Morbus_Curiositas/MBI%20Jan%202015/DA%20glass%20Pens%20FPN_zpsnjbh0dbo.jpg

 

The blackone wiht the Bird on it is a fine the yellow one is agood medium...

 

Very smooth and I can write a whole sentence or more with it (Normal setence not the ones likein Dostojewski's books )

[RudyR]

My Rohrer & Klingner glass pen writes more than one sentence, my J Herbin glass pen also wrote more than one sentence but was problematic in its ink flow. The J Herbin looked just like the one on the right in Morbus's picture. If you have one of those then chances are it's not very good as I had to go through a shops' entire stock to find one that did write decently.

[inkstainedruth]

For those who have used them, another question -- would you think they do better with a wet or dry ink, or not with a fountain pen ink at all (and use india ink inkstead)?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Paddler]

I don't use India ink with my glass pens. The few times I tried it, the flutes eventually clogged and there were flow problems, necessitating a complete clean-up and restart. Cleaning those tiny flutes to the very bottom is not a joy.

 

Haven't noticed wet / dry performance differences, mainly because I haven't studied that distinction. If a certain pen doesn't perform well with an ink, I switch to another pen.

[RudyR]

For those who have used them, another question -- would you think they do better with a wet or dry ink, or not with a fountain pen ink at all (and use india ink inkstead)?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Hummm, sounds like a good excuse to do some ink science . . . . and writing.

[Blue_Moon]

It depends on the quality of the dip pen. I use Ernst dip pens - http://www.glasspens.com/pens.html

The website says you can get anywhere from a third of a page to a full page (81/2 x 11) with one dip. Mine averages somewhere around 3/4 of a page. They are a bit pricey, but the least expensive is the transparent, which is around $60.00. One great thing is that they have a lifetime guarantee.

 

This thread caught my attention because I was commenting on them earlier today.

 

No affiliation, Just a satisfied cust...blah blah blah.

Edited April 14, 2015 by Blue_Moon

[byggyns]

For those who have used them, another question -- would you think they do better with a wet or dry ink, or not with a fountain pen ink at all (and use india ink inkstead)?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

I haven't used glass pens, but with my steel dip pens I do notice a difference. A more lubricated ink will flow off the nib much more quickly. I used Noodler's Polar Brown from a sample once & it is the only time I have had an ink bleed completely through the paper on a Rhodia pad. The ink just drained right off the nib when it hit paper. The inks that are typically wetter in my FPs will also flow more heavily off the steel nib of my dip pens. I use the dip pen with FP ink mainly for testing ink samples. When I want to do anything serious with my dip pens or feather quills, I stick to India inks or acrylic inks.

[Uncial]

There is a kind of 'knack' to it, or at least there is with the one I use. Mine has a flat (ish) bottom so the angle you hold it at is crucial. If I hold it up too high all the ink will run off in one fell swoop and produce a massively broad line (can be great for testing an ink), too low and ink can drip off the curves and create an unsightly splodge. As you write you need to do a bit of pen twirling to get the ink spread right. I wouldn't say they are the most practical things in the world and I find a normal dip pen a heck of a lot easier to use, but I use it for ink testing and it's perfect for that and very easy to clean.

[Crewel]

I've recently received several glass pens, 2 bargains from an antique show and a couple more through Amazon. The bargain ones do not write, and I have yet to fiddle with them to get them to write. I think it will simply be a matter of scratching the grooves so they reach the tip of the pen.

 

Like most have noted, the ones that do write, I would get a relatively wet thick line with the beginning several words of a sentence and the flow will dry out towards the end. This is typical. However, I think the flow will be more consistent if one writes longer during a session. Similar to steel dip pens, I think that over time in the same session, some of the residual ink in the channels will have dried to an extent so as to provide a layer of material for subsequent ink to adhere to.

 

If you want more consistent flow, then you may have to write with the glass pen longer. May be worth a try. On the other hand, a short line or two will be very inconsistent as others have noted.

[SignalboxCat]

I use Baystate Blue and iron gall inks with both R&K and Herbin glass pens, both types of ink work well with both brands of glass pen.

 

'Cat