Pelikan M805 Dry Nib

[pchand2]

I purchased a new Pelikan M805 last week with Broad nib and is the most expensive pen i have ever bought. When i received it, the pen wouldn't write. Once i managed to get the ink flow by priming the feed, it started writing with out any issues. There were few skips in the horizontal strokes some times. But every time i cap the pen, it would refuse to start again. And i also thought the nib wrote dry for a Broad nib.

 

Since the nib had this very Glassy feeling on Rhodia paper, i thought it could be over polishing. I am always reluctant to take any nib to micromesh because i always manage to get bad result.

 

I used a brass sheet to slightly increase the twine gap over 2 days very very slowly and now the pen writes wet and very nice. Horizontal strokes skips are gone. But i still have issues with the nib starting some times.

 

Is that a case of babies bottom? Can few pass on micromesh solve that problem?

 

Thanks,

 

Pradeesh

[dubhe]

As it is a brand new pen, I would try flushing the pen with a mild detergent to remove any grease from production. If you have some, a flush with J Herbin pen cleaning fluid would do the same job very well.

[pchand2]

Thanks, i will try flushing the pen. I have Diamine nib cleaning solution. Clearly the tines on the nib tip was too close, since i opened it up a bit, the pen write wet and consistent. A good flush now should help i guess.

 

-Pradeesh

[BillH]

I have found that some inks will dry in the nib when not used for awhile and will start reluctantly. If you have the nib flowing the way you want while you write with it and it is only fussy when starting, after you try flushing the nib you might put a different brand of ink in it and see if the same symptoms occur.

 

A friendly tip... do not try getting the nib started by tapping the point on the desk (I learned that in 1962) and don't give the pen a big shake like shaking down an old-fashioned thermometer. You're welcome

[pchand2]

Thanks guys. I flushed the pen and filled it with Edelstein tanzanite ink and the starting issue is gone. I think the flushing really helped. The ink i had before was Diamine Red Dragon, may be that ink was on the dryer side.

 

Now the pen writes great as i would expect a broad nib to write. It would have been better if the nib wrote great out of the box on a 300USD pen :-). But since i didn't had to do much, other than to open the nib tines a bit at the tip, i am still happy with the pen :-)

 

-Pradeesh

[invisuu]

I'm going to put the blame on the ink, but then again, I dislike Diamine inks with a passion. I'd never put them in my Pelikans.

[Chrissy]

Thanks guys. I flushed the pen and filled it with Edelstein tanzanite ink and the starting issue is gone. I think the flushing really helped. The ink i had before was Diamine Red Dragon, may be that ink was on the dryer side.

 

Now the pen writes great as i would expect a broad nib to write. It would have been better if the nib wrote great out of the box on a 300USD pen :-). But since i didn't had to do much, other than to open the nib tines a bit at the tip, i am still happy with the pen :-)

 

-Pradeesh

 

I tend to always flush new pens before I fill them with ink. They may have some grease inside from manufacture.

[Bluey]

^ very true

Every new pen should be flushed, first thing. It's good common practice so that a pen writes at it's best.

[Erik Dalton]

So glad you were able to get your pen writing the way you like. A Pelikan Broad nib should put down a pretty wet line of ink. It's a lot easier to increase ink flow, then it is to slow it down. Wise of you to proceed slowly and with caution.

If you like the Edelstein Tanzanite, you may also like the new Aurora Blue-Black ink. Similar in color, writes a little bit wetter, very well behaved ink, easy clean up.

[FPFan]

penhand2,

 

For future reference, I suggest you remember to ALWAYS flush every new pen you get. There are always some remains of oil, grease, or whatever left over from the manufacturing process, so it is a good habit to get into. (I confess, I have failed to do so from time to time.) Another issue I've had from time to time is getting pens that have DRY feeds. Often I will soak a pen, especially Pelikans, for at least a couple of hours or overnight to get the feed to be more receptive to "holding" and "moving" the in through the nib. [Now I have no idea what feeds are made out of and I think they very from manufacture to manufacture so I don't know if there is really anything to this procedure, but for me, it works. YMMV !

 

Also, I have found that in the case of baby's bottom, after making sure the tines are aligned appropriately, I will take a piece of brown paper bag from the grocery store (ie a gritter paper than say a lunch bag) and use it to "smooth" the tines till it starts to flow a little better. Remembering every step will can provide some improvement along the way.

 

Hope this helps for you in the future.

[pchand2]

Thanks for all your valuable suggestions and great support. I will check out the Aurora ink. I tend more to buy Diamine ink because, it works out a lot cheaper for me to buy and get shipped to Israel. Some of the other good inks like Pelikan or Aurora or pilot, the ink will cost me like 11-12 UK pounds + Shipping would be another 10UK Pounds minimum. Diamine 30ml bottles are like 2UK pounds and i can ship 5 to 6 bottles of those for 10 UK pounds to Israel. So i have more ink colors to play with (I change to a new ink for every new fill :-)). I actually like the saturation, and color choice of Diamine inks even though Pelikan, Pilot and Sailor inks i have flows better. But i have a broad nib which work great now, so Diamine ink is working well for me now.

[Erik Dalton]

Wow, I didn't realize you had such difficulties getting inks. Hope it works out for you with the Diamine.

[Bo Bo Olson]

At that price I'd look at getting German inks directly from Germany. German Post is still cheap.....lots and lots cheaper than US.

I don't know the normal British Post costs. ...but even so that sounds expensive unless you are ordering inks by the pound.

Diamine sells ink direct also...........and am sure it's lots cheaper than 10 pounds a package.....and they use to toss in a few different free cartridges to show you more of their product.

 

I don't care for the Diamine or Akkermann inks I've tried, in they either feather or have a woolly line.....and I'm into a crisp clear line.

One respected poster who loves Diamine....disagrees with me......but it could be we 'sit' differently there for look at the ink differently.

 

((((((((((Of course I'm a bit OCD on that. I have a grading 'system'

BEF - Bare Eye Feathering (woolly line) seen when sitting.

NEF - Near Eye Feathering/woolly line, seen when the paper is held close to my eye.

I have a Big Honking magnifying glass 1.25" X3X4". (No! A 10X loupe is going a step too far.)

MagF....feathering/woolly line seen under magnification.....a good ink, something one can and should buy again.

NoMagF.....no feathering or woolly line . Stockpile this ink, buy it on the black market.........smuggle it in your self. Buy the company. ))))))))))

 

 

Same could well be with Aurora.....bound to be someone there who speaks English. I only have Aurora Blue. I don't use Black ink....still having 1/2 a bottle of Pelikan 4001 black I bought as my second bottle of ink once I got back into fountain pens. For decades Aurora was a touch better than second place Pelikan 4001....................now neither can match the various Black Holes of Noodler................but they are not supersaturated.....if you worry about that like I do. I have always intended to have Aurora Black, just to say I have it.

I don't chase BB inks....having only 7-8, and Aurora Blue Black could be bought if it fell into my hands with out me chasing it.

Edited July 24, 2017 by Bo Bo Olson

[Chrissy]

Thanks for all your valuable suggestions and great support. I will check out the Aurora ink. I tend more to buy Diamine ink because, it works out a lot cheaper for me to buy and get shipped to Israel. Some of the other good inks like Pelikan or Aurora or pilot, the ink will cost me like 11-12 UK pounds + Shipping would be another 10UK Pounds minimum. Diamine 30ml bottles are like 2UK pounds and i can ship 5 to 6 bottles of those for 10 UK pounds to Israel. So i have more ink colors to play with (I change to a new ink for every new fill :-)). I actually like the saturation, and color choice of Diamine inks even though Pelikan, Pilot and Sailor inks i have flows better. But i have a broad nib which work great now, so Diamine ink is working well for me now.

 

That's interesting to hear. Good for Diamine! I assume that some of the difference is because the other inks are in glass bottles and the Diamine 30ml bottles are plastic.

[pchand2]

Hi Olson, What would a good german online store to get inks from? I usually use https://www.cultpens.com. US based online retailers like Goulet and Anderson charges 15USD per ink bottle to ship to US at a minimum. Larger bottles cost like 22USD just for shipping. Same with books. At cultpens, for 10 pounds they ship pretty much everything to Israel. Also when i buy expensive pens like Pelikan M805 they ship it via DHL International express for 10 pounds which cost 50USD in other sites. And Cultpens looks like have deal with Diamine, it is very cheap compared to other inks. E.g. Diamine 80ml bottle without VAT is 4.6UKP. other inks for 60ml to 80ml bottle range from 12UKP to 30UKP depends on the brand. That is the main reason i buy diamine inks via cultpens.com. Also so far i am happy with diamine inks. I have single bottles of sailor gentle ink, Faber Castell, Mont Blanc, Pelikan Edelstein, Pilot..Compared to them Diamine is still a fine ink. I exclusively use Rhodia A5 wirebound dot pad and Medium/Broad nibs, so most of the inks work well for me, i guess. :-)

[invisuu]

I don't care for the Diamine or Akkermann inks I've tried, in they either feather or have a woolly line.....and I'm into a crisp clear line.

Wolly line...thank you Bo Bo, that's exactly what I hate about Diamine and Rohrer & Klingner inks for example, I just never knew what to call the phenomena. I am also really, really picky about my inks. After trying about 150 inks, I found no more than 5 that I like, and most of them failed not because of their color, but performance. Montblanc is still the best in general (irish green, toffee brown, corn poppy red), but Pelikan can produce a nice ink too (i.e. Smoky quartz and tanzanite). What I dislike about most Pelikan inks they have a red sheening edge, kind of hard to notice, but enough for me to dislike a ink (i.e. Topaz).

 

Montblancs' Lavender Purple is also on my dislike list as of late, because it dries into a completely different shade than what it starts out with, even though it generally performs well.

 

Now the real question: why are the inks that I like so easy to rehydrate even after weeks of being dry on the page? I guess I'll never find my perfect ink. But I will keep trying!

[Bo Bo Olson]

"""What I dislike about most Pelikan inks they have a red sheening edge, kind of hard to notice, but enough for me to dislike a ink (i.e. Topaz).""""

...hadn't noticed that....what paper are you using?

I only have some 65 inks.

 

I have MB Lavender....only inked it once.

I've not noticed R&K being so woolly lined. Next time I ink up, I'll look. Took a look at old paper/ink samples. But it could well be the paper.

 

I had a sampling of Gmund papers....and it took quite a while because of $price shock to decide which were the best. I picked the second best in I liked the feel of the 170g...the other was 'same' only 120g and it was the winner.

 

My heavy paper is not, or not always the cure all I'd hoped.

 

Eventually I started discarding for buying, certain of the papers because of feathering or woolly line. I'd bought some 14 Green inks one year...now have 17.

DA Moss Green needs another look...a bright spring moss, because I did it with a EF nail. That is fair to no ink.

 

I'd been it seems a bit too single minded, looking for shading most.

One paper did show MB Irish with a cleaner line than R&G Verdura and Pelikan 4001 brilliant green....others show a similar slight ...very slight woolly line under a Big Honking Magnifying glass....which is still very good ink.

 

I even found a couple of papers that showed Aventurine not having the feathering or woolly line I'd condemned the ink with....on that particular paper Jade, has more woolly line than Aventurine.

On another Gmund sample sheet both are equally bad with the woolly line. On the whole Aventurine didn't test as good as I'd hoped. I'm not really rich enough to buy a paper just for it....I'd have to do more testing with that sheet...to see if there is 4 or 5 inks that dance on it.

 

On another paper all the inks are feathery/woolly lined in the paper is cotton...at least 50% from other experience. Written on top was a 'good feel'....on the other side....a big BUT.

 

Having looked before more at the shading than a combination of woolly line...I'd now have to move MB Irish to ahead of R&K Verdura reversing the results.....to MB wining by a nose and Pelikan Brilliant green, 'often' having a slightly woolly line similar to either depending on the paper....moves up from being being beaten by a neck...to close to a draw with Verdura.

 

So I've always said the paper is more important than the ink......

xxxxxxxxxxx

I buy at my B&M....or one can order directly from De Atramentis.

 

Ralf Thiel sold his ink selling business, and I don't have anything on the new guy, but have heard he does well. Perhaps you can start a thread on that.

I had good results from another company...but after 3 years they stop sending reminders.

 

express....is not something I'd use for just ink...sounds more expensive than a slower mail.

Edited July 24, 2017 by Bo Bo Olson

[invisuu]

Absolutely, paper makes all the difference. I personally like to use pretty much exclusively Rhodia 90g ivory premium paper. I dislike Tomoe River because it makes EVERY ink woolly. I have some paper brought here from Germany that is 120g and that one is also great, albeit notebooks are very heavy due to the density.

 

 

I find sharp lines with very "strong" colours, such as tanzanite or smoky quartz from Pelikan, on Rhodia 90g ivory premium paper, are what rings my bell.

 

Take a look here : https://www.flickr.com/photos/dowdyism/9060475248

 

zoom in on the picture, you will see Topaz shows a red sheening edge pretty much everywhere. I dislike that a lot.

 

I have tried only a handful of inks from R&K, but for example Altgold-grün I remember having a very wolly line. I liked Scabiosa a whole bunch, but the smell due to iron gall is too much and I find it repulsive.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Just got to get some Rhoda...Topaz shaded so very well on it.

Printing does make shading easier.

I got it nicely magnified, but all I saw was great shading, no red sheen.

 

Some folks want sheen...which is rather new to the last 4 or so years. I've a glitter ink, but haven't chased sheen yet. Don't think I'm going to chase glitter much...but have been impressed by Diamine's glitter ink.... Yep, do have something nice to say about Diamine afterall.

 

Alt Gold-gruen....I went and checked 8 of those Gmund papers, one very good clean line, one poor and 6 what I'd say was only slightly woolly...but if one was irritated and looking for it one would see it, if one was not really looking hard...would be slight...not quite woolly, more towards an occasional bump.

 

There is no perfect width&flex of nib, no perfect paper, no perfect ink, but sometimes we do find the grail, an ink that is perfect on a certain paper with just the right nib width and flex.

[invisuu]

If you want sheen, then Tomoe River paper is your best friend. My Yama Budo on Tomoe River looks more gold than magenta...unfortunately, I don't like sheen.