Dry Nib - What's The Remedy?

[Rockape]

I recently bought a lovely Sheaffer over-size flat top lifetime pen in green pearl which is my daily writer. I have found that the ink flow is quite poor and the nib seems to get dry very easily. For example it dries out overnight so that it takes a while to get it going property each day. I'm currently using Noodlers ink and previously used Waterman but neither seemed to make much difference. Any thoughts?

[inkstainedruth]

My initial thought would be to use a wetter ink. Or that there wasn't sufficient flushing done between inks. You might try Sheaffer ink (particularly if you can track down vintage Skrip ink where you are at all), since that was probably what would have been used initially, or something that is unsaturated, such as J. Herbin inks (I like Eclat de Saphir in some of my Parker 61s with the capillary fillers).

It's very possible that the Noodler's ink is clogging things, but there are Noodler's inks and Noodler's inks (they aren't uniform and some are more or less benign than others) -- so which one(s) have you been using in the pen? The only vintage pens I would feel safe putting Noodler's in (especially since it's so saturated) would be a Parker 51 (which was originally designed for the super-noxious Superchrome ink). But even vintage Skrip isn't necessarily the best -- I have a Snorkel with a semi-flex stub nib that does very well with vintage Skrip Peacock; but some of my other Snorkels -- especially the one with the EF nib? Not so much....

And if the nib is drying out overnight, it could be that you haven't got a tight seal when capping the pen.

Those are my initial thoughts. Other people might have better suggestions for you -- but I would definitely see about flushing the pen very thoroughly and using different ink as a start.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[sansenri]

Dry overnight and dry while writing are often two different things.

The first one is often caused by a faulty cap which does not close well, so the ink tends to dry out on the nib and in the section and starting off next morning is difficult. If the nib turns dry while you write and gets worse as you go you have a flow issue which may be due to several things, tines too tight, poor flow in the feed, an obstruction in the filling system.

You should first try to identify in which conditions the nib gets dry, then try to address the possible cause.

[Rockape]

Thanks for the advice guys. I thought that it might be that the tines are too tight so have tried gently spreading them which has made some difference but still dries out overnight - which might be the cap issue. I'm currently using Noodlers Bad Belted Kingfisher.

[pajaro]

Why not just refill the pen every morning?

[TheDutchGuy]

There are many safe things to try before you start changing the nib. A good and repeated flushing. A wetter ink. If it's just that the cap doesn't fully seal: no big deal, it's an old pen, and if this is the issue then once it writes, it'll write like it should. For other safe tips and trick, see this page. But please please please leave that wonderful nib alone until you're sure that it needs to be tuned.

[Rockape]

Thanks again for the advice. I'd like to get to the bottom of this issue because I really love writing with the pen. It has wonderful smooth nib but just seems to be very dry. Attached a few photos to see if anyone can spot what might be wrong. Thanks again.

[TheDutchGuy]

It's difficult to judge from photos. The tips seem to be pressed together quite closely, which may reduce ink flow. The rest of the slit seems fine. However, bottom line: this is a wonderful vintage nib in a wonderful vintage pen. Don't change a thing unless you know what you're doing. Find a good nibmeister, accept the wait and the cost. It'll be worth it.

[bogiesan]

Audio CDs and DVDs often have a little white plastic anti-theft thingy stuck inside the case. If you cut that open you will find one or three small metal tags. These are perfect for cleaning debris from the slits on fountain pens. You cannot use one to open the slit, tho, too flexible.

[Rockape]

Hi. Just wanted to close this thread off by saying that with very carefully applied pressure to the nib I have fractionally opened up the slit to the nib. This is increased the ink flow making it a dream to write with and also does not dry overnight. Thanks again for the collective help.