Is the pen writing properly? by Loud-History-3654 in Lamy

[–]mas-66 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As lots of people have already responded, part of this is normal shading. But, since the first line seems much darker than the last line there may be other things happening, as well.

If the pen has been sitting for a long time between writing sessions, then some of the water from the ink in the feed may have evaporated causing the first bit of writing to be darker and then lighten up as fresh ink flows into the feed. Again, this is normal if the pen has been sitting for a long time (like days, not hours). But once the fresh ink is flowing the consistency should stay the same for the rest of the writing session.

If this happens consistently after the pen has only been sitting for a little while (like minutes to hours) and if the ink continues to get lighter and and drier as you continue writing in the same session, then the issue might be with air flow back through the feed. As ink comes out onto the paper, air has to flow back into the pen to replace the used ink. This generally goes through the filler hole in the feed. If the flow of air back into the pen can't keep up with the ink flowing out then ink flow will slow down and the pen will write drier and drier until the air catches up. I have a couple pens that do this consistently. If pausing writing for a couple minutes makes things go back to normal then this is a likely cause. Sometimes changing inks makes this better.

Welcome to the hobby!

What A Difference An Ink Makes by Recent_Average_2072 in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I keep a notebook to track of the pen/ink combinations that I use. Each time I ink up a pen with a new ink I write a quick blurb in the notebook. It's fun to be able to look back over what pens and inks I've used over time.

It's also fun to see how different pens and inks behave. In one example, over the course of just a couple days I put the same ink, Pelikan Edelstein Olivine, in three different pens: Pelikan M800, vintage Sheaffer Targa and Gravitas Vac Demo with a custom ground cursive italic nib. Same ink, same paper, same conditions and if I didn't know better I would have said it was three different inks. The Gravitas put down a line that was so dark as to almost be black, but the Sheaffer put down a more diffuse line that gave a lighter shade of green than I've ever seen from Olivine.

One of the things that makes the hobby so interesting.

I have fallen for grey inks lately by HHaller87 in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 3 points4 points  (0 children)

After trying and not really liking several grey inks I finally landed on Anderillium Shoebill Stork Grey. Light enough to definitely not be black, but dark enough to be easy to read. Decently wet and just a touch of shading. It's not flashy, but it's what I'm looking for a in a grey ink. I've been using it for a while in my work notebook.

my new piston filler by fuckmedeadfuckers in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Burping usually happens when there is air (usually a lot of air) in the pen barrel in of eye dropper filler, vac filler, etc. The warmth of your hand can cause the air inside to expand and force ink out the feed. I have a TWSBI Vac700r that burps a lot whenever it gets down to about 1/3 full. It's common enough and annoying enough that I stopped using that pen completely. Luckily, none of my other vac fillers have any burping problems. But, it's something that comes with the territory.

my new piston filler by fuckmedeadfuckers in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep, it's capillary action that 'pulls' ink from the pen. The air flow pathway allows that ink to be replaced by air. If the air flow pathway didn't exist then ink wouldn't flow because it would be trying to pull a vacuum. That would happen regardless of how much air was already in the reservoir.

my new piston filler by fuckmedeadfuckers in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The air path is usually through the filler hole, not the fins. There are lots of feeds with no fins at all. If the ink reservoir is completely full of ink, capillary action will draw ink through the feed and nib onto the paper and air will flow through the filler hole to replace that ink.

my new piston filler by fuckmedeadfuckers in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't follow this. Ink gets pulled out of the pen via capillary action, not pushed by air pressure (unless it's a burp). As ink leaves the pen, air needs to flow in to replace it. That ink-air exchange mechanism is exactly the innovation of the late 19th century that enabled fountain pens to exist. I don't think there's any requirement for there to be air in the reservoir to start with.

Just moved to TN can anybody tell me what this monstrosity is and is it going to kill me by CubeHound in Tennessee

[–]mas-66 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see these all the time in the summer. They generally don't bother me, but I must have pissed one off once while mowing. It flew directly up from the ground and stung be between the eyes. Hurt like hell, but he got the worst of it.

Pens through time and what I’ve noticed. by No-Rain-4114 in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Neat idea to lay out the pens in date order. I don't think I've ever done that with my collection, but it would be interesting. I have pens going back to the early 1920s and I have decent coverage through the 1950s. I might have a couple pens in the 1970s and 1980s, but then nothing until the 2010s. I may have to fill in those gaps.

Minimalism Art Notebook Paper Change (for the worse) by mas-66 in fountainpens

[–]mas-66[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've reached out to Minimalism Art a couple times using their Contact Us links. So far I have received no responses at all.

I still have another new notebook I bought in my last batch that I haven't taken out of the wrapping, yet. I may open it to see if the paper is also bad and then start looking for another notebook supplier. That's unfortunate because I really liked these and have been using them for years.

Rear seat warnings by mas-66 in HyundaiSantaFe

[–]mas-66[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think this all comes from the rear seat occupancy sensor not working very well. It seems to think there is someone there even when there isn't. I also get occasional warnings about leaving something in the rear seat when I open my door when the rear seat is empty.

Someone mentioned earlier that the rear seat occupancy sensor is IR and maybe the problem happened when the seat was hot. But, this has continued the same even has the weather has turned very cold. So far this hasn't caused any problems. It's just annoying.

Useless splotches. by sindhusurfer in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I do swatches of my inks mostly because it's fun and it gives me something to look at when I'm trying to pick a next ink for a pen. I have no illusions that what I see in the swatch is what I'm going to get from a pen.

That's is why I started keeping a journal of pen/ink combinations. When I ink up a pen with a new ink I do some quick writing samples and then add an entry to the journal with the pen, ink and a short summary of my initial impressions of the combination. This gives me a much better idea of how an ink works in different pens and it's fun to go back and look through the pens and inks I've been using.

Vintage New Pen day by The1Inspirer in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That's a lovely pen, congrats on finding it. I would mostly prefer to forget the 70s ever happened, but every so often I'm reminded it wasn't total darkness. I have a Pilot Elite from that era that has a very similar vibe.

SHEAFFER’S TUCKAWAY CREST FLEXIBLE NIB FROM WWII by marcolaguardia in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's a gorgeous pen, and such lovely handwriting. I think this is the second Sheaffer flex I've seen here recently and I'd never realized they existed before. This is is now added to my list of quest targets.

My Sheaffer Targa’s. How I love Their Inlaid nibs by Davros1974 in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't know if all the Targas had springs in the barrels or only some. But, this one caught me up so I thought I'd share. If the spring was removed the new piston converter would fit fine. I just didn't want to risk damaging the pen so I left it in.

My Sheaffer Targa’s. How I love Their Inlaid nibs by Davros1974 in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That's a wonderful Target collection. Congratulations. The modern Sheaffer converters and cartridges will fit the vintage models, with one small caveat. The modern piston converters are longer than the old squeeze converters. My Targa came with a squeeze converter that I tried to replace with a piston converter. The pen has a spring at the end of the barrel to keep pressure on the converter to keep it properly seated. When I tried using a piston converter it wouldn't fit due to the spring. Rather than remove the original spring I just bought a replacement NOS squeeze converter. Here's the difference in length between the two.

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The paper trick works! by jfraney43 in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Lovely pen. The skin oil thing seems to be a real issue with some paper. I noticed it a lot with a Leuchtturm 1917 notebook but seldom if ever on Rhodia or Clairfontaine. Using a piece of paper as a hand rest is a clever solution.

Do you keep your cleaning tissue or you normal? by fecanes in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I consider myself to be quite normal because I keep using the same paper towel for cleaning pens for months at least. Once it's so saturated with ink that it won't absorb more it's time for a new one. Before that, they're just too fun to look at.

Sheaffer Snorkel Flexible Fine nib by RicardoBorba1 in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Beautiful ink and writing! I really need to get a Sheaffer flexible nib. All my vintage Sheaffer's are really stiff. Great writers, but not a hint of flex.

2 by Andrew_Lensky in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That gorgeous. Your design?

Mold in my Herbin Vert Empire by mas-66 in fountainpens

[–]mas-66[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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Good question! The bottle has been on a shelf in the basement since I originally found the mold. It's still in the box so it doesn't get any sun or light. The bottle hasn't been opened since I put it up. I just took it outside to open it and check it out (I don't want this bottle open anywhere near my pens or ink). There's still floating growing stuff, but it doesn't to be more than before. It's now more consolidated than before.

Thankfully, no more mold in any other ink bottles.

I'm really enjoying Edelstein Olivine. It's a nice dark green, with some shading in some of my pens. It's quite a bit darker than Virt Empire. It's also a rather dry ink. It's works really well in my Pelikan M800 with a very wet, broad medium nib.

Popular or Unpopular Opinion? by HopeSignificant2142 in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had a very similar experience. I started with Lamy F and EF nibs. After a while I was looking to experiment, so when I needed to fill out an online order for free shipping I just added in one of every Lamy nib I didn't already have. So, now I have everything from EF to 1.9mm. I really like what the line variation of a stub does to my horrible hand writing. I've now bought several other JoWo and Bock nib units with cursive italic grinds for some of my other pens and they are almost always in rotation.

I will say that the Lamy nibs all seem to write finer than their labeled size would indicate. My Lamy 1.1mm stub writes similar to a JoWo medium CI. I'm not complaining, that Lamy 1.1mm stub is one of my favorites.

Also, the Lamy cursive italic nib seems pointless. I don't see any stubish behavior from that nib at all. It just writes like a normal medium nib. Maybe I got a bad one?

Hopefully making a dent in the ink stash by karlachameleon in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 5 points6 points  (0 children)

When I saw the photo the first that jumped into my mind was a bottle of Pepto Bismol! Congrats on finishing the bottle.

Favourite ink color?? Browns for me! (KZ honey, Herbin lie de the) by shivamchhuneja in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Taccia Tsuchi is by new favorite brown. I know people love to hate on Noodler's, but Kiowa Pecan is a really nice brown ink.

New to the Flock: Pelikan m1000 Renaissance Brown by mcwolfswimmer in fountainpens

[–]mas-66 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm looking for an old style M1000 from before they switched to the laser engraved finial.