Blue Pumpkin Lost Its Blue

[jabberwock11]

I recently purchased some new nibs, among them was the Hiro 40 (one of the two nibs commonly referred to as the blue pumpkin). I had been wanting to try this nib for a while, so I was pretty happy to see its blue pumpkiny goodness and decided to use it right away. I cleaned the nib via my usual potato/toothpaste combo (a few potato stabs followed by a toothpaste scrub) and went to work. The nib performed well with various inks...until I used it with some Yasutomo Sumi ink.

I noticed that after the initial dip into my sumi ink that the nib was a little gunky, so I swirled it in some water/glass cleaner combo and was about to redip when I noticed that the blue was gone from the tip half of the nib. I wasn't sure if the blue was just a pretty surface that was meant to disappear with use so I redipped and did some writing. Well, the nib acted as if it were an unprepared nib (spotty ink on the nib and poor performance on the page) and repeated dips seemed to not only prove just as disastrous, but also seemed to remove more blue from my nib. The nib also seems to perform just as poorly with other inks now.

I have used this sumi ink with other nibs and had no issues. I normally use a combo of water and glass cleaner as a quick clean option while writing and have never had it negatively affect a nib. I am at a loss here. Is my new Hiro 40 dead, or just in need of a second toothpasting? Is the blue meant to come off or did something in my routine kill my nib? Is there hope or should I just play some Smashing Pumpkins while ritually sacrificing my Hiro 40 to Cthulhu? How much wood COULD a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Any assistance or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Goudy]

All my Leonardt Steno and Brause Blue Pumpkin nibs look like that after I've started using them. I assumed the blue was the factory coating that is meant to come off (steel is grey, not blue).

 

You may have got some oil on the nib that is repelling the ink. Try washing in detergent and rinsing.

[Fabienne]

Also, are you slightly sprung at the very tip of the nib? The photo could be interpreted that way. Look at it with a loupe to be sure.

[jabberwock11]

Yeah, when I was looking at the picture I noticed that the right tine looked a bit off. It was not noticeable until the macro mode picked it up. It does appear to be a bit off through a loupe as well, so I'll have to fix that.

 

A quick cleansing restored the nib, but it does not seem to have the same longevity as it did upon first use. I imagine that the slightly bent tine may have something to do with that. I'll work with it and see how it goes.

 

Thanks for the reassurance, I figured that cleaning it again would probably work, I was mostly just concerned about the color loss as I had never seen any pictures of a blueless blue pumpkin (even after scouring the internet for an answer). As long as it writes well I am happy. I have an order in for a couple more Hiro 40s as well as the Brause 361 (the other blue pumpkin), so I will be able to compare and make certain that this is a common occurrence (which I am pretty sure it is).

[Randal6393]

Hi, Jabberwock,

 

Glad you are getting a feel for the Blue Pumpkins. I like them, not a bad nib at all. Would suggest, though, that you might want to try a Brause Rose nib (order 3 at least) -- a bear to start but excellent performance once "tried and true". They seem to hold up well when using Yasutomo ink.

 

There are some excellent pointed pen videos on YouTube, I am fond of OpenInkStand's videos. Have picked up some great pointers there.

 

Best of luck to you,