Pilot Vanishing Point is too wet

[SpencerianDream]

Hello, 

 

I’ve owned a Pilot Vanishing Point for a number of years, and it’s a pen I want to love….. the capless mechanism is very practical, the pen has a nice weight for quick notes… the nib feels amazing to me. Probably the most pleasant writing sensation of any pen I own. 
 

But I don’t love the look of the ink on paper. It’s an extra fine and it thinks it wants to be an agricultural irrigation system at some point. Very wet writer. 
 

Some inks are worse than others. I’ve recently tried to find inks that are more dry, and this has helped somewhat, but if it were just a little drier at the nib that would be great. Is there anything I can do to tweak it? 
 

 

[Claes]

What inks have you used so far?

 

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

 

[SpencerianDream]

Ooh… at least 15, I’d say. Currently it’s inked up with Iroshizuku Kon-Peki, which in a Wing Sung F and a Conway Stewart (marked F but really more of a B )is a light sky-blue. In the VP it’s a darker medium blue due to the wetness of the line. 

I think the best performer so far has been Diamine Midnight or Oxblood. Midnight was boring and Oxblood was maybe too vivid for work, in this pen. For a long time I used Pilot Blue which always made me feel like the pen was outrunning my hand due to the slipperiness of the nib. 
 

I know some people like a “juicy” nib and I guess it wouldn’t be as big a deal, except that my writing tends to be on the small side, and to have small loops, and if the nib is too wet, e’s, d’s, k’s etc end up as blobs sometimes. 

 

[Claes]

I am not certain that the ink is to blame... (at least not yet).

Look at the nib with a magnifying  glass -- is the slit in the nib

wide or narrow?

[Mercian]

If I were you, as a first step I would try running an (inexpensive) ink that is reputed to be something of a 'dry-writer' through it, and see whether that helps to tame the gush.

I would suggest Pelikan 4001 Königsblau/'Royal Blue', because it is a very 'safe' ink that is easy to clean out of the pen if you find that you don't like it.

[Mark from Yorkshire]

Also what paper are you using some printer papers, and also recycled refill pads do not play well with fountain pens, neither do some budget refill pads

[SpencerianDream]

Paper, it’s too wet on both Clairefontaine and 52gsm Tomoe River. I don’t recall it being great a few years ago when I used to write on printer paper. On that paper of course the problem was ugly feathering. 
 

I ordered a couple days ago a half dozen different A5 notebooks from different manufacturers, to see if one of them really resonates with it. 
 

I have some Pelikan 4001 blue-black which I kind of hate in terms of color but I’ll flush the Kon-Peki and try it to see if it makes a difference. 
 

I should also mention, the nib is an extra fine. Due to wetness it’s way fatter than my Pilot 743 EF, maybe a little more fine than a Parker 51 medium I have. 

[Merrick]

Kon-Peki is a wetter ink for sure. I second the suggestion of Pelikan 4001. 
 

I will say I have an F VP and it’s a very controlled writer so it may be that the nib itself needs tweaking. 

[SpencerianDream]

Ok, I tried 4001 Blue-black in this pen. It’s as lackluster (to me) as I remember (sorry I know many love this ink!) but to my amazement it does realistically tame the hose. Only now the pen hard-starts, heh. That being said I’d say actually the flow is now perfect. So now I guess I need to find an ink that’s almost but not quite as dry as 4001 B-B, and is saturated enough that it doesn’t look washed out with an EF nib. 
 

It’s embarrassing to me that I had to post this public chronicle to figure this out but it’s easier to diagnose collectively, sometimes. 

[inkstainedruth]

Yup, collective wisdom is a useful thing.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[mistercrisp42]

"It’s embarrassing to me that I had to post this public chronicle to figure this out but it’s easier to diagnose collectively, sometimes. "

 

I have learned to appreciate the collective wisdom of forums like this, and so I enjoy posting questions when I am stumped.  Sometimes I have just overlooked a simple fact or way of solving the problem, so posting always seems to come up with the possibilities that I overlooked.  And in forums like this with a nice collegial feel to them, we don't get flamed for asking what seems to be a "simple" question.  And here's the best part - how good does everyone feel when they can be the ones who know the information that can solve someone else's problem!  That's the best feeling ever.  So please keep asking...

[Mark from Yorkshire]

On 10/18/2024 at 4:36 AM, mistercrisp42 said:

"It’s embarrassing to me that I had to post this public chronicle to figure this out but it’s easier to diagnose collectively, sometimes. "

 

I have learned to appreciate the collective wisdom of forums like this, and so I enjoy posting questions when I am stumped.  Sometimes I have just overlooked a simple fact or way of solving the problem, so posting always seems to come up with the possibilities that I overlooked.  And in forums like this with a nice collegial feel to them, we don't get flamed for asking what seems to be a "simple" question.  And here's the best part - how good does everyone feel when they can be the ones who know the information that can solve someone else's problem!  That's the best feeling ever.  So please keep asking...

I second that sentiment 

[davisgt]

I've always found Waterman inks to be very well-behaved in a pen. I really love the look of what was once called Florida Blue, but is now called Serenity Blue. I also like the look of the Harmonious Green. (God. What a stupid name.)

[inkstainedruth]

As opposed to "Mysterious Blue" which is actually pretty apt.  I was at a pen club meeting a few years ago and people wanted to know what GREEN ink it was!  And of course I was going, "NOT green -- it's Waterman Mysterious Blue -- I KNOW what's in this pen...."  (Normally, of course, it's a blue-black, but for some reason it was showing up as green on some paper.... )

Had to refill the Red Shadow Wave Vac this AM (it LOVES WMB) and then had to double check my shopping list for OPS to make sure I had WMB on the list because I'm now getting low on it (actually had to have the bottle at an angle to make sure I was inserting the nib and feed in the ink sufficiently...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth