Frankenpen Catalogue

[httpmom]

In the experiment from the OP the nib has now been 'in ink' for a little over two whole days with no obvious signs of corrosion or anything else untoward. Inks used so far are restricted to PR Electric Blue, R&K Salix, and Diamine Syrah.

Is the R&K Salix an iron gall ink? I have some and I don't know. I do LOVe the color. I've used it in my dip pens but not any FP's.

 

I ordered two x450 pens from Goulet the day this thread first posted. I already have the nibs. Can't wait to try this!

Edited October 17, 2015 by httpmom

[Noihvo]

Is the R&K Salix an iron gall ink? I have some and I don't know. I do LOVe the color. I've used it in my dip pens but not any FP's.

 

I ordered two x450 pens from Goulet the day this thread first posted. I already have the nibs. Can't wait to try this!

Salix is iron gall, as is the same brand's Scabiosa ink. If i recall correctly, Rohrer & Klingner is very open to the use of dip pens with their fountain pen friendly line of inks, as they are called Shreibtinte ("writing inks"), though they do also have lines of dip pen only products.

Edited October 17, 2015 by Noihvo

[vorpal]

>>... use gold plated dip nibs. Are stainless ones available?

 

The Comic G's come in titanium. They come in a box of 10 for about $22 on Amazon. However, I have been using the same regular Comic G nib in my Ahab for about 8 months with de Atramentis Archive Black without any sign of corrosion. I don't bother flushing out the pen after use. I store it tip-up, though. I'll take some pix tomorrow.

[Biber]

>>... use gold plated dip nibs. Are stainless ones available?

 

The Comic G's come in titanium. They come in a box of 10 for about $22 on Amazon. However, I have been using the same regular Comic G nib in my Ahab for about 8 months with de Atramentis Archive Black without any sign of corrosion. I don't bother flushing out the pen after use. I store it tip-up, though. I'll take some pix tomorrow.

 

Didn't know they were titanium. Sounds like they're a fantastic option.

[vorpal]

I've found the titanium nibs to be a touch more flexible than the chrome ones. The upside is that they are terrific for writing wide and juicy lines. The downside is, if you write small like I do, the extra flex tends to blob up the letters. I prefer the stiffer chrome nibs for writing, but the titanium ones are lovely for sketching.

Edited October 18, 2015 by vorpal

[richila]

I got some of the titanium nibs and love playing with the flex, but I can't get the ink flow right. Any suggestions? I am using the Jinhao X450.

[squirrelman]

I did this to a Jinhao X750 also but haven't bee as pleased with the results. My nib is extremely scratchy and just doesn't write that well. I should play around with it and maybe try a different nib from the box probably, but I just haven't felt the motivation to yet.

[Cryptos]

Scratchy nibs obviously have nothing to do with the Frankenpen concept. Perhaps just a bad nib? If people are unfamiliar with pointed dip nibs then they will seem very scratchy of course. Not suggesting that this is the case here, just pointing it out for others who want to have a go. The nib on EoC's pen feels very smooth when the ink flow is right, but it has been in there for a month now and does get used quite a bit, so it may be worn.

[vorpal]

Scratchy nibs obviously have nothing to do with the Frankenpen concept. Perhaps just a bad nib? If people are unfamiliar with pointed dip nibs then they will seem very scratchy of course. Not suggesting that this is the case here, just pointing it out for others who want to have a go. The nib on EoC's pen feels very smooth when the ink flow is right, but it has been in there for a month now and does get used quite a bit, so it may be worn.

 

​Well, I have to agree with the Squirrelman. I took a Saibi-Togi nib out of a Sailor pen and put it into a Laban Celebration, because I liked the body better than the Sailor's, but the nib was unbearably scratchy. I put it back in the Sailor and the nib was fine. I went back and forth a few times...it was a repeatable problem. I can't figure out why, either.

​

Edited November 16, 2015 by vorpal

[Cryptos]

Troubleshooting

 

1. Is the nib scratchy if you drag it across the page without any ink in the pen?
2. Same ink in both pens during trials?
3. Same paper used in both trials?

 

The point here is that if your variables are the same then the feel of the nib on the page should be the same. What kind of body you have the nib in should make little difference unless... there is a problem with ink flow. Lubrication of the nib is definitely a contender here, but that depends on your answer to No.1, because if the dry nib is not scratchy... stumped.

[squirrelman]

I probably need to play with the feed some also. I had it aligned and fit in nicely but the ink wasn't flowing all that well ever, which i'm sure didn't help.

[vorpal]

Troubleshooting

 

1. Is the nib scratchy if you drag it across the page without any ink in the pen?
2. Same ink in both pens during trials?
3. Same paper used in both trials?

 

The point here is that if your variables are the same then the feel of the nib on the page should be the same. What kind of body you have the nib in should make little difference unles... there is a problem with ink flow. Lubrication of the nib is definitely a contender here, but that depends on your answer to No.1, because if the dry nib is not scratchy... stumped.

1. No.

2. Yes.

3. Yes.

 

I'm stumped too. The only thing I could think of is that there was a slight different of pressure on the neck of the feed, causing the super-fine nib to have an adverse reaction.

Edited November 16, 2015 by vorpal

[Cryptos]

That's certainly a good point. If the outer curvature of the feed and the inner curvature of the nib are not a close match then there may well be some distortion of the nib going on that unaligns the tines a touch.

[vorpal]

That's certainly a good point. If the outer curvature of the feed and the inner curvature of the nib are not a close match then there may well be some distortion of the nib going on that unaligns the tines a touch.

I used the original feed.

[Cryptos]

The outer curvature of nib+feed not the same as the hole in the section perhaps?

[vorpal]

The outer curvature of nib+feed not the same as the hole in the section perhaps?

 

That would be my guess. I am stuck with the body until I find something that doesn't exhibit that odd behavior.

[Orpilorp]

I recently bought a Reform 1745 which came with an Esterbrook 9048 nib/section. Fits perfectly.

[Cryptos]

Esterbrook nib units fit Reform 1745? Good to know!

[jabberwock11]

Ooooh, the Reform 1745 is pretty inexpensive and Esterbrook has some nice flex nibs. I am going to have to look into this further. (Why do I suddenly hear organ music and an evil muwahahahaha followed by thunder claps and flashes of lightening? Clearly this frankenpen thread has messed with my mind...)

[Random_idiot]

to avoids or at least delay corrosion, use gold plated dip nibs. Are stainless ones available?

You can get zebra g nibs with titanium coating Just fyi