A lefty asking for advice

[Mugszy27]

Hi Everyone,

this is my first post on this forum and I'm looking for some advice. My main three fountain pens are a blue Parker 51, a Namiki retracting and a very nice Graf Von Faber-Castell. The two main inks I am currently using is Noodlers Nile Black and Noodlers Bay State Blue.

I'm left handed - the Parker always works great with any ink. The Faber-Castell and Namiki seemed to work well in the past. However, now for some reason I will be in the middle of writing and the ink will stop flowing. I can't tell if paper fibers are gettting in the way or the ink is just drying between the filler and the end of the nib.

I would really like to use the Faber-Castell as my daily. The Parker is nice, but more of a special collectors item.

Any advice on how to get the Faber-Castell working well?

Thanks, E

[seoulseeker]

I can't really see what this problem would have to do with you being lefty - when I opened this thread I expected more of a "ink won't dry fast enough, so I am walking away with inky hands" problem.

That said, a few things could be going on here. Fountain pens are finicky, and may take a little bit of tinkering to get right. Firstly, you can't leave them uncapped for more than 30 seconds, generally, without writing, or they will dry up. I assume however, that this isn't the problem, as your other pens are behaving fine.

The second possibility then, is, as you mention there could be paper fibers caught in the tip if the nib - this does happen occasionally. I would suggest that you either give your nib an ultrasonic bath (search "fountain pen ultrasonic cleaner" in google) or, if you can't be bothered to track down the cleaner, just flush the pen thoroughly with water (assuming it is a catridge converter pen, just run ink through the converter and the nib section until the water runs clear). As a general rule, you should clean your pens like this after every 3-5 fillings of ink.

Third possibility is that you have been writing on receipts or other wax-covered paper. It would cause similar problems as paper-fibers, and I would recommend the same solution - just thoroughly clean your pen. This kind of paper is not fountain-pen friendly.

If none of these work, then you are starting to look at more complicated problems that may be best handles by a nibmeister. My best guess would be that the tines are too close together, and that if you were to very gently pull the tines away from each other, it would increase the inkflow and solve the problem. If you do not have experience with this, it is best to have the pen fixed by a nibmeister - it should run you no more that $30, and save you from likely destroying your nib.

It is also possible, however, that you have the exact opposite problem from what I described above. Sometimes, a pens tines are too far apart, and the ink will tend to retreat up the nib at random times and cease to write. This is caused by writing with too much pressure - a fountain pen should be used without applying any pressure to the page. Any real pressure on a non-flex nib like Faber-Castell produces, and you are at risk to damage the nib by inadvertently widening the tines over time. If this is the problem, a few hard shakes of the pen should get it writing again (and diagnose the problem). If this is indeed the problem, I would not attempt to fix it yourself. Closing a nibs tines is much more difficult than opening them - send it to a nibmeister!

Best of luck ~

Edit:

As an afterthought, noodlers ink is one of those inks that either a pen likes, or a pen *really* hates. I have a pen that works quite well with all other inks, but as soon as I feed it noodlers, it throws up violently and misbehaves. Noodlers ink is like that... so I don't use it anymore. It may be worth your tome to try running your pen with a different brand of ink (montblanc, parker, visconti, waterman) and see if the problem clears itself up.

Edit Edit:

Second afterthought - sometimes with cartridge/converter pens, the pen writes more consistently with the converter. Additionally, sometimes there are air bubbles in the converter that could cause the problem that you are describing. To solve this, be very careful with filling your converter to avoid air bubbles. After filling, don't keep your converter all the way withdrawn, but put it back a few small twists so as to dispel a tiny bit of ink. Clean up that ink, then get writing... converters can be pretty picky, and will often function better like this.

Sorry for so many different suggestions - a fountain pen not writing is really a can of worms all in its own... it will take some diagnosing. Hope you can pinpoint the exact problem.

[Uwe W.]

I'll second the comments on the specific ink being used. I have nothing against Noodler's - I've never actually tried the brand yet - but I have read countless threads and discussions regarding the product and many of them note that they can plug up a feed over time, especially Bay State Blue. The fact you're experiencing the same problem with two out of three pens would have me looking for a common denominator; it's less likely that you would experience nib issues with two quality pens all of a sudden around the same time.

So, do you clean your pens on a regular basis? If not, giving them a good cleaning would be the easiest and least invasive way to start troubleshooting the problem you're experiencing.

[Mugszy27]

Thanks for the comments - I have cleaned the pens a few times. I didn't know about the potential Noodlers problems. What is another good ink brand?

- E

[seoulseeker]

I use Pelikan, Montblanc, and Waterman, and Faber-Castell inks exclusively (Faber-Castell inks tend to run a bit drier), but other major pen brands like Parker, Visconti, Omas, etc, are all acceptable. Noodlers is the odd one out here.

[Uwe W.]

At the moment I mostly use Montblanc and De Atramentis, and on occasion Herbin. I've not experienced any problems with any of those brands. There are some Noodler's inks that I'd like to try, but I rely on what I can buy locally since shipping inks is prohibitively expensive in my opinion.

[Mugszy27]

Great! Thanks for the input. Unfortunately, the closest pen store closed so I have to find a new local supplier.