I've put the nib in the ink bottle, twist until it's empty, then redraw. After the pen is filled, I clean it down with some of those cotton pads that you can get bunch of for about a buck. No inky fingers so far.
Waterman Florida Blue is as Bong says: very well behaved and a perennial favorite. They don't feather much, dry quickly, have great flow characteristics and will behave in almost any pen (which can't be said for all inks). Waterman inks will run very easily, though. Mont Blanc Violet is a fantastic ink and in my opinion, the only Mont Blanc ink worth purchasing. It's a beautiful color and behaves well. Just like Bong said, the "Shoe" bottles are quite nice and are somewhat sought after. If I'm refilling with the same ink and haven't run out of it in the pen yet, I turn the pen with the nib facing up so the ink falls to the plunger, use the piston to squeeze the air out and push the ink up, and then refill like normal. Also, ink stained fingers are a sure sign of a fountain pen user. It's almost inevitable.
I too get ink on my fingers from time to time - good to hear it isn't just that I suck at using these pens. How long is it safe to leave ink in a pen? I have 5 pens now, and all have ink in them. Needless to say, it takes a little while to run through the ink - especially those Reforms with the piston system. Should I drain them after a certain amount of time if I haven't used all the ink? And can I just empty the ink back into the bottle, or should I just dump it? I may check out those MB inks - I really like the blue/black, so the others sound nice. I do kind of like the bottle for the MB.
That's what I did, but it still seemed to push some ink out.... I'll try again, I guess....I still don't use it a whole lot, in all honesty. I just don't write very much....
My local Paradise Pen has the Mont Blanc Violet, but not the Racing Green. They do have the Waterman Florida Blue. I had them put them on hold, and I'll go pick them up.
It's "safe" to leave good fountain pen ink in a pen for decades. At least it won't destroy anything that time won't destroy by itself (like a rubber sac). Performance degrades if dried ink collects in the ink channels in the feed, or between the nib and feed. A good soak and flush should take care of that though. I've got pens that have had ink in them for months. If they don't write well, I soak, flush and refill (or put away). Used to be a fanatic about keeping them cleaned out, but no more. The only real down side to leaving ink in a pen too long is that it will degrade a rubber sac in a vintage pen a bit more quickly if left so long that it mostly dries out. Don't ask me why I know this. :ashamed001
I hope you enjoy them. Those two inks are amongst my three favorites (the third being Noodler's Gruene Cactus).
Sorry, Haven't taken any pics, but with my photography skills it wouldn't do you any favors anyhow. Check out Fountain Pen Hospital's website for a simple picture, and there are probably others around. If you go to the FPH site, check out the Namiki custom amber demonstrators. That's what I'm jonesing for. I have the Pilot-label one in one of the other colors, but with this cool filling system the more transparent one would be great. DC is the best of the shows out there. Ohio is also excellent, and is a higher percentage of vintage if that's where your leanings tend. My collection is probably 70/30 modern, but that still gives me a lot more vintage pens than a lot of vintage-only collectors. Depending on what you consider 'vintage', I have a pretty significant collection of Sheaffer Targas. I also have a nice collection of from the Camel Pen Co of Orange NJ. Plus a slew of others. This weekend I have 6 pens with me. Only vintage is my favorite user-grade Parker 51. What do you like?
My version of the answer to this would be that if you don't plan on using a fountain pen for a while, flush it with cool water before you put it away. Dried ink in the feed and other passageways doesn't do anything for their performance. That said, I don't worry about it if I plan on using a pen soon. I do flush pens out every two to three fills in general so the soak is regular maintenance rather than an emergency operation. A pen will become clogged a lot quicker than a sac will degrade. (Exception - see below) What don't you like about the aerometric filling system? I find it works pretty well. More importantly, you *do* know that this particular line of Noodler's inks, which includes Baystate Blue, can be more damaging to pens than typical ink, right? There has been some discussion on this, and my conclusion is that I use these inks, but not in any pen that I'd be unhappy if was damaged. (I have no problem with Noodler's inks and use many of them, but the Baystate, Concord and Cranberry are different formulations from the others and the manufacturer acknowledges that they do not behave the same.)
Now that I have had a chance to try some other aerometric fill pens, I realize I don't have a problem with aerometric fill pens, just that particular one. That pen was literally a dollar, so they were trying to cut expenses apparently. It does not have the metal sleeve and button that the other aerometric fillers have had, it is just the bladder that you squeeze. Also, after the first pump, I squeeze again and the ink bubbled out through the feed, making a big mess. The others I have filled since then are actually pretty nice. When I first ordered the Baystate Concord Grape I didn't realize it was harder on pens. I do now, so I will only use it in pens I don't care about, but I do really like the ink. I just need to find someone who is looking to sell a handful of half full bottles or something so that I can stock up on a variety. Bong has been awesome in getting me interested in this hobby. He has sent me several sample vials of inks and papers to try, and he actually sent me 10 pens to take for a test drive to see what I like and don't like. Thank you Bong!
Yeah, Bong has been feeding my addiction as well. Of the 5 pens I have, 4 are from him! I bought a Reform from a guy on FPN, but then I bought another off of Bong, as well as a Pilot and a Hero, and he threw in a disposable fountain pen. I got my inks from my local Paradise Pen store. I have been happy with them so far. I got two Mont Blanc inks - the blue/black and the violet. I also got a bottle of Waterman Florida Blue. They had 3 bottles of Noodlers, and I bought one of them - standard green. I like all of those, but right now I think the Waterman Florida Blue is my favorite - I nice deep royal blue, with almost a purple tint to it. The MB violet is nice as well. I have only tried the Noodlers standard green in my Pilot, which has a very fine nib. It works okay in it, but with as fine a nib as this pen has, I prefer much darker inks, so I need to try the green in one of my others. Right now, my favorite pen is probably the Hero 100, loaded with the Waterman Florida Blue. I also have a bottle of Private Reserve fast dry midnight blues, but I haven't tried it yet. I have heard it feathers pretty badly.
I was at the Boston Pen Show on Sunday past. What a splendiferous time I had. A number of very knowledgeable and interesting people. Some big names in the fountain pen world were present. Notably, Richard and Barbara Binder and Nathan Tardiff. Tardiff is quite a quirky and interesting fellow. Ended up snagging some goodies - a couple pens (one with a Binderized nib), some sealing wax, and a free bottle of ink.
Good call on the Florida Blue and the MB violet - they are great inks. The Florida Blue is my go to ink for everyday writing in my Hero 100, while the MB violet is loaded into one of my Reforms that I use for journal writing. Wonderful colors. I picked up a 3-pack of the Pilot Varsity disposable FPs at my local Staples, and I use them for working in the lab. They write great, although the nib is a little broader than I would like, and I don't mind if something happens to them in the lab, even though Bong steered me to a tutorial on how you can actually refill them!
This is what I have at work (MB 149, a Waterman with red ink, a Starwalker MB and a Wality, from India). I also carry with me a Pilot Vanishing Point and a MB roller....
Does the 149 seem out of proportion--nib flatness-to-barrel diameter. It seems like the 146, being a smaller diameter than the 149 would make the MB nib look really wide.
Glad you like those inks. They are both lovely colors, as you must have noticed. Their behavior is also fabulous. As I've said before, those are two of my favorite inks.
I've got an old Platignum Regal (yes I have spelt it correctly). Its old, plastic and not worth anything. The nib was going separate ways. So what I did was I took a nail clippers to the nib and used an emery board to file it down a little and now it works perfectly. Its my favourite pen to write with and I use it everyday in work. It now has a slight italic effect when you write. On occasion it decides to let all its ink out in one go but since using it regularly this no longer happens. I really don't recommend my nib repair except if your pen is worthless and is destined for the bin. My good result is a sheer fluke.
great gatsby. i should keep up with this topic considering i started it can someone explain to me why the conklin crescent filler pens go for so much? also, who can shoot me a good site to buy bladders? :freezing
Not sure on the conklin's Dave, I picked one up in a lot sale of pens for a good price. Very nice pens,but yes they are usually a bit on the high side. There are a few other crescent fillers, (Stipula for example) but they are usually spendy and too. For pen sacs here are some options. Pensacs.com pentrace.com pendemonium.com http://www.tryphon.it/catalogo.htm (this site is run by Giovanni's wife) Don't forget to get pen shellac to glue the sac on and talc(optional)
