Diagnosis Help Needed

[teryg93]

I'm trying for the moment to focus my pen purchases so I don't break the bank. One of my interests has been in replacing a Place Vendome that disappeared with something I like as well or nearly as well. From the pens I've tried, I seem to like light slender pens. I have a few Vectors/Rialtos now that I'm comparing. Well, one actually can't be compared yet because it arrived leaking like crazy. I don't know if that's the pen or the cartridge. It seems to have been shipped with a full cartridge, which was sweet of the seller but which might not have been the best idea. I rinsed that one out and ordered a converter for it. I got that one because it was made in the UK.

 

The other two I'm using right now are a used blue Vector made in the US and a new metal Vector I bought new off Amazon, for comparison. No country listed on that one; I'm guessing China. The metal is definitely a fine nib. I think the blue is as well. Both are using converters--the metal is using the converter it came with; the blue is using an old converter I had lying around. Both are filled with the exact same ink, from the same bottle.

 

Here's the problem, which I first thought was the paper (which is another issue; I clearly need different paper but not sure what kind yet). When I wrote with the metal pen today, the ink created a wider line than it did on some paper I was using yesterday. The ink really sinks into the paper and spreads in an almost smearish way. So I thought, okay that's the paper, but let's try the blue pen anyway. The blue writes fine on the paper. Still sinks in enough to make the back side of the paper not usable, but doesn't smear or anything like that.

 

Does anyone know what the problem with the metal pen might be? Cheaper nib? If so, is the solution to look for older nibs on ebay and replace it? (I know; I could just buy another pen, but I do want to know what's wrong with this one.) If the problem is just that the entire new pen line is so much more cheaply made that it's not worth using, I'd like to know that as well.

 

Thanks,

Tery

 

[drop_m]

Probably the nib of you metal pen is wetter than the other and on an absorbent paper like the one you're using, the line results wider.

It's indeed a matter of tastes, but on cheap paper, a dry and fine nib is better. The things changes a bit on quality paper.

Before changing the nib - or the whole pen - try it on different paper! I suggest you Rhodia, Clairefontaine or Leuchtturm1917, for example.

Edited August 5, 2016 by drop_m

[Mike 59]

Hi, It's really a result of the certain ink you are using, plus the paper quality, and very slightly the nib width.

The paper will make a huge difference to the results that you get, for instance the common 70 or 80g photocopier paper will make many fountain pen inks write wider than you expect.

As noted in the post above, 'known' quality paper for (water based) fountain pen inks are Clairefontaine/Rhodia and similar, such as 'Black 'n Red' notebooks (from Oxford brands.)

Also certain diary paper can be very thin, and not suitable at all.

For inks, most fountain pen inks are well behaved in most situations, some are 'drier' than others, some have much more pigment in them, and tend to be more expensive too.

I would say a good standard, no trouble ink is the 'Waterman' brand, but there are hundreds available that are fine.

The Vector is a basic pen design that is usually reliable, the medium nib being by far the most common, 'fine' being fairly hard to find. The 1990s/2000s made pens did write very slightly wider than pens made recently, nearer medium/broad.

I own several Vectors from '93 to 2011 (UK & France made) and I would say the quality is very similar.

On 'decent' paper, a medium nib should write a line of around 0.4 to 0.5 mm wide.

 

Edited August 5, 2016 by Mike 59

[teryg93]

Thanks. I'll try better paper.

 

I thought I had ruled out both the paper and the ink as the source of the problem by using the same paper and the same ink in both pens, but maybe not.

[drop_m]

If, on the same paper and with the same ink, the metal pen writes wetter than the other, it's because of the nib itself, no doubt.

The point is: it's not necessarily a faulty nib, just not a nib which performs fine on absorbent - cheap, maybe - paper, because of his wetness.

Give it a chance on a different field!

Ps. We're saying it's a nib "problem" but to be clear it's a "problem" of how the feed and the nib of your pen are set each other, how mutch the tines of the nib are spread and others factors.

Edited August 5, 2016 by drop_m

[teryg93]

Thanks. I didn't realize that an individual nib on an individual pen would make a difference, but of course that makes sense. Makes it kind of fun, actually--each pen is its own completely different animal . Makes trying any pen for the first time kind of like a surprise present.

 

I love fountain pens! How did I ever wander away from them?

Edited August 5, 2016 by teryg93