Kung Te Cheng...or Equivalents

[truthpil]

Well, today was the closest I ever want to get to an ink-apocalypse. I have been busy the past few days and just left the Dollar 717 filled with KTC on the desk. When I went to write with it this morning, the nib was expectedly bone dry so I cranked the piston a little to get the ink flowing. Nothing happened so I just kept slowly turning the piston nob....then, all of the sudden, a stream of KTC shot out of the feed and covered everything in a one-meter path!! So just like that, in a split second the floor, desk, and all kinds of stuff on that side of the desk got sprayed with the most indelible of fountain pen inks! Several wet paper towels later, the damage has mostly been undone, but that part of the desk is notably darker and there are still some nice splatter marks all over the papers that were on the desk at the time.

 

Lesson learned, never, ever let KTC dry out in a feed...ever.

[IndigoBOB]

OMG! I totally feel for you. That's such a panic moment .

[amberleadavis]

EEEKKKKKKK

[elippman]

I have nightmares about such things happening. Ought to have the Boston Safety Pen coming in today. I know it can be a mess if you open one of those the wrong way, too. Ever since I've gotten into this ink (one of the few "bulletproof" inks I've messed with) and have heard stories of its legendary staying power, I've had visions of incidents just like this dancing through my head. By the way, the dollar pens are coming in today as well. Too much at the same time! And when I should be getting other things done.

[inkstainedruth]

Well, today was the closest I ever want to get to an ink-apocalypse. I have been busy the past few days and just left the Dollar 717 filled with KTC on the desk. When I went to write with it this morning, the nib was expectedly bone dry so I cranked the piston a little to get the ink flowing. Nothing happened so I just kept slowly turning the piston nob....then, all of the sudden, a stream of KTC shot out of the feed and covered everything in a one-meter path!! So just like that, in a split second the floor, desk, and all kinds of stuff on that side of the desk got sprayed with the most indelible of fountain pen inks! Several wet paper towels later, the damage has mostly been undone, but that part of the desk is notably darker and there are still some nice splatter marks all over the papers that were on the desk at the time.

 

Lesson learned, never, ever let KTC dry out in a feed...ever.

 

I've had a couple of occasions where the piston knob on the KTC-dedicated Konrad got stuck, and I ended up unscrewing the entire back end of the pen, instead of just moving the piston! Hoping that won't happen if I put that ink in the new Boston Safety....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[elippman]

First impressions with a Boston Safety Pen loaded with KTC:

 

1) The pen is potentially quite messy. The mechanism that pushes the nib up and pulls it down tends to stick and then move in sudden jerks, which means that you can get ink flying up whether your pushing the nib out or retracting it. I would recommend doing both with the cap on as much as possible so it catches any possible splatter. I had a small bit of desk mess, but I was prepared for mess and my fingers are still a dull purple at the moment.

 

2) It does hold a bit of ink, but the prospect of "bathing the nib in ink" seems unlikely unless you're storing the pen upside down. This is because, again as far as I could tell while loading it, any ink up to or above the actual nib while it's housed in the barrel (while right-side up) will bubble out the first time you open it. To this end, even though I've retracted the nib for its bath, I've still had a couple hard starts--something that, ostensibly, shouldn't happen.

 

3) The look is OK, and is maybe getting better the longer I let it sit (upside down), but at first I had quite a bit of railroading and the blah purple look.

 

I will keep using it for a while to make sure I know what I'm doing while using it and am not just complaining about something I'm using incorrectly, but first impressions could have been stronger. At this point, it'll have to be used in "safe" situations. I don't think I'll be taking it to any meetings.

[inkstainedruth]

Yeah, I just filled my Boston Safety this afternoon, and there's a bit of a learning curve in getting the nib to retract into the pen, isn't there?

On the less good paper, KTC looks more purple and a bit chalky. The last time I used the ink, I was getting a much darker color with more indigo overtones (and even some sheen on Tomoe River paper), but I haven't had much chance to really use the pen yet.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[IndigoBOB]

Yes, I've found KTC on cheaper paper to be the same way.

[jmccarty3]

So far (2 weeks), still no problems with KtC in my Pilot Prera. Doesn't shade or sheen, but has a nice color and writes very smoothly. No stains.

Edited February 28, 2018 by jmccarty3

[truthpil]

First impressions with a Boston Safety Pen loaded with KTC:

 

1) The pen is potentially quite messy. The mechanism that pushes the nib up and pulls it down tends to stick and then move in sudden jerks, which means that you can get ink flying up whether your pushing the nib out or retracting it. I would recommend doing both with the cap on as much as possible so it catches any possible splatter. I had a small bit of desk mess, but I was prepared for mess and my fingers are still a dull purple at the moment.

 

2) It does hold a bit of ink, but the prospect of "bathing the nib in ink" seems unlikely unless you're storing the pen upside down. This is because, again as far as I could tell while loading it, any ink up to or above the actual nib while it's housed in the barrel (while right-side up) will bubble out the first time you open it. To this end, even though I've retracted the nib for its bath, I've still had a couple hard starts--something that, ostensibly, shouldn't happen.

 

3) The look is OK, and is maybe getting better the longer I let it sit (upside down), but at first I had quite a bit of railroading and the blah purple look.

 

I will keep using it for a while to make sure I know what I'm doing while using it and am not just complaining about something I'm using incorrectly, but first impressions could have been stronger. At this point, it'll have to be used in "safe" situations. I don't think I'll be taking it to any meetings.

I hope the Boston Safety pen doesn't turn out to be another Noodler's pen that requires tinkering to work best. I'm following your posts closely because the only reason I would invest in this pen is to use it for KTC and similarly troublesome Noodler's inks.

[wallylynn]

I sorry to say it might. I had tines that were too tight, and droplets of ink out the back.

 

I spread the tines by heat setting the feed, flexing the nib and tiny amount. And put more silicone grease on the orings. So far that seems to be enough.

[elippman]

I've always been intrigued by the pilot prera. I've had a metropolitan and a plumix (and currently have the plumix nib in the metropolitan). The prera seems to have a nicer body, but is the nib any different from the metropolitan (iridium) or plumix (stub)?? Whatever the case, I can vouch for the effectiveness of the Pilot feed. It plumix/metro combo wrote smoothly and consistently, but dryly, and therefore blah purple.

 

Re: the BSP, I've been experimenting with it a bit. I did get the desired writing effect, to an extent, but retracting the nib, filling the barrel most of the way up (to "bathe" the nib), then capping it and letting it sit for a while. However, the problem with that approach persists--the ink that surrounds the nib and feed is pushed out the first time you bring out the nib, which means you have to do it while holding a cloth around it and therefore waste a good bit of ink. Still, under those one-and-done circumstances, it writes pretty well. Given that my EF Himalaya is still writing great guns regardless of having sat on my desk for the last several days and with much less fuss, I don't know that the BSP is worth the hassle.

 

I haven't inked up the new Dollar pens yet (came with a Piano pen taped to the box!). I was a little disconcerted by what seemed to be a slight angle on the qalam nib. I'm left-handed, so it looks like that angle will be working against me.

[IndigoBOB]

The Prera uses the same nib. It's a nice step up from the Metro and Plumix in that it has a larger section size that I find more comfortable. Of course I can only use it posted. It really is a pocket pen.

 

One thing I don't like about the Prera is that it is slightly backweighted when posted. It's not bad, but it's there.

 

Overall, I still think it's a very good pen if you get it for a descent price. It's $56 at most locations, but much less at Jetpens and sometimes on amazon. You're basically paying for a Metro nib with a resin body that to me does have a kind of cheap feeling, but from my experience is still quite robust with high tolerances. It's a well made pen I feel is over priced and I wish they made a larger sized pen at that price range with those more "adult" sizes and qualities.

 

I really like the Pilot feeds and converters that have a wide opening. I've had success with the flow of Pilot Pens that actually surprised me when testing with inks that instead run dry in my other pens.

[truthpil]

I've always been intrigued by the pilot prera. I've had a metropolitan and a plumix (and currently have the plumix nib in the metropolitan). The prera seems to have a nicer body, but is the nib any different from the metropolitan (iridium) or plumix (stub)?? Whatever the case, I can vouch for the effectiveness of the Pilot feed. It plumix/metro combo wrote smoothly and consistently, but dryly, and therefore blah purple.

 

Re: the BSP, I've been experimenting with it a bit. I did get the desired writing effect, to an extent, but retracting the nib, filling the barrel most of the way up (to "bathe" the nib), then capping it and letting it sit for a while. However, the problem with that approach persists--the ink that surrounds the nib and feed is pushed out the first time you bring out the nib, which means you have to do it while holding a cloth around it and therefore waste a good bit of ink. Still, under those one-and-done circumstances, it writes pretty well. Given that my EF Himalaya is still writing great guns regardless of having sat on my desk for the last several days and with much less fuss, I don't know that the BSP is worth the hassle.

 

I haven't inked up the new Dollar pens yet (came with a Piano pen taped to the box!). I was a little disconcerted by what seemed to be a slight angle on the qalam nib. I'm left-handed, so it looks like that angle will be working against me.

I tried the Prera with italic Plumix nib combination with KTC for a week and the color was too anemic purple for my taste. However, I'd found that combo to work well with other bulletproof inks that have been too wet in other pens.

 

About the Dollar pens (glad you got the free Piano pens too!), oblique nibs like those are actually supposed to be advantageous for lefties. For example,the calligraphy sets made my Manuscript for left-handed writers are all left footed obliques. You'll have to get used to the rotation but it might turn out to work really well for you.

[amberleadavis]

I finally got around to doing the scans.

 

[amberleadavis]

 

The Close ups - these were done with a HUGE dip pen (Special thanks to WebGeckos and LuMa).

 

[truthpil]

 

The Close ups - these were done with a HUGE dip pen (Special thanks to WebGeckos and LuMa).

 

 

Thanks Amber! There's that glorious deep indigo we will put up with all kinds of ridiculousness to enjoy.

Now if I could just find the right pen and paper combination to get the full indigo color without bleeding or feathering.

[IndigoBOB]

Yes! That is that beauty captured . #1 Favorite color ink.

 

I ordered a couple of 4.5z bottles of Noodler's (HoD and Lex Gray; 2nd fav is black ink) as well as a couple more FPR Fine nibs and some FPR feeds (standard and flex) for my Himalaya just to ensure I had the pens to create something as close to that as possible.

 

I simply love the ink because the color doesn't distract me from the words written because it has a formalness to it while simultaneously having a rich beautiful color.

 

There's no better paper than Tomoe River Paper to bring out the beauty of it all.

[truthpil]

Yes! That is that beauty captured . #1 Favorite color ink.

 

I ordered a couple of 4.5z bottles of Noodler's (HoD and Lex Gray; 2nd fav is black ink) as well as a couple more FPR Fine nibs and some FPR feeds (standard and flex) for my Himalaya just to ensure I had the pens to create something as close to that as possible.

 

I simply love the ink because the color doesn't distract me from the words written because it has a formalness to it while simultaneously having a rich beautiful color.

 

There's no better paper than Tomoe River Paper to bring out the beauty of it all.

I'm really looking forward to reading your comparison of the flex and standard FPR feeds in the Himalaya / KTC combination. As soon as the saffron Himalaya is in stock and on sale then I'll try both feeds with EF, F, and B nibs.

[IndigoBOB]

You and me both I ordered it last week and still haven't received it. It will probably be in the mailbox tomorrow or the next day.

 

If I get satisfying results I'll be very happy. If I get more than satisfying results I may plan to put an extra Himalaya in the Cart.

 

When it comes to tinkering pens I prefer this Himalaya over anything I've tried from Noodler's except, funny enough, the Charlie Pen. But I will say, I'm completely comfortable taking the Himalaya out as an EDC, where with the Charlie Pen I am not and prefer to keep it at home, which is why I'd like to get my Himalaya squared away where I'm as happy with it's performance with KTC as I am with my Charlie's performance right now.

 

One thing I'm also hoping for is to be able to to use the Himalaya as a pen that can lay day a very dark line of Scabiosa and KWZ GummiBerry. I've always been looking for that wet of a pen with a finer nib ever since I tried Scabiosa in my Eco Broad I'd use to prime the feed to it's full saturation to get that beautiful saturated Scabiosa.

_____________________________

But I'll also mention I did order some ink samples from Birmingham Pens because I wanted to try out Allegheny Observatory Celestial Blue, which looked kind of similar to Kung Te-Cheng.

 

https://www.birminghampens.com/products/birmingham-allegheny-observatory-celestial-blue-5ml-ink-sample

 

Birmingham inks are known to be on the grayer side where Noodler's are on the more vibrant side which I prefer. I personally haven't tried any yet.