7 replies to this topic

[ogwen]

Greg's post (here) on the feed clogged with gold reminded me of this repair. This is a Sheaffer Triumph disassembled for refurbishing of its plunger filling system. Now, I'd seen that lovely iridescent sheen on nibs before and always thought it very pretty (ooh, shiny, Capt'n!), but it never extended into the pen and devoured the insides like this one. The barrel was absolutely packed with this solidified ink. You can see what it did to the rod. I thought it was one of those fancy gold inks, but when I put the chunky golden barrel remnants in water (and from the color on my fingers), the ink was actually PURPLE! (and it took me days to remove all traces of it from my bench! lol)



I have no idea what the ink was and no way of knowing how long it sat in that pen, but it ate the rod alive.

-Jody

[matt]

I have a similar pen which came plugged with shiny red ink residue - even the combs on the feed were plugged. Took about 2 weeks of soaking the nib unit in Rapido-Eze with daily 1 hr trips to the UC to slowly turn the ink (paint?) to a gelatinous goo and then dissolve it.

[Greg Minuskin]

Greg's post (here) on the feed clogged with gold reminded me of this repair. This is a Sheaffer Triumph disassembled for refurbishing of its plunger filling system. Now, I'd seen that lovely iridescent sheen on nibs before and always thought it very pretty (ooh, shiny, Capt'n!), but it never extended into the pen and devoured the insides like this one. The barrel was absolutely packed with this solidified ink. You can see what it did to the rod. I thought it was one of those fancy gold inks, but when I put the chunky golden barrel remnants in water (and from the color on my fingers), the ink was actually PURPLE! (and it took me days to remove all traces of it from my bench! lol)



I have no idea what the ink was and no way of knowing how long it sat in that pen, but it ate the rod alive.

-Jody

Jody,

I have seen this before! I believe it is a colored Iron Gall ink, which is one of the most caustic inks out there. The ink is derived from Oak galls, which have a tannin in them that is quite the solvent on many things, unfortunately on steel and other metal parts, and sticks like a bugger to other parts that take weeks to loosen up.

Not sure if this applies to oak trees in the East, but the indigenous indians here on the California coast would soak the acorn meal from both our California black oak nuts and California live oak trees to leach out the chemicals before cooking and eating.

[BrianMcQueen]

I've seen such nasty green-gold remnants before from a pen that was filled with red Skrip. Vile stuff, that red Skrip can be...

[Hugh]

I've got a bottle of purple ink ( Noodlers actually.....) , didn't like it much, too slow to dry ...now I'll make sure I toss it !!. I've also got a bottle of red Skrip.....didn't like it much either. I thought Skrip was a" safe" formulation not noted for any problems, I wonder if it was a previous ink that laid the deposit down. There seem to be more problems with inks than a "novice" would expect, these days I stick to the basics with Watermans/ Quink being inks of choice.

Should we compile a list of inks/brands with (or without ) problems associated with them? Maybe a "recommended" list as a opposed to a "naughty" list, keeping ourselves "politically correct"

Regards
Hugh

[Greg Minuskin]

I've got a bottle of purple ink ( Noodlers actually.....) , didn't like it much, too slow to dry ...now I'll make sure I toss it !!. I've also got a bottle of red Skrip.....didn't like it much either. I thought Skrip was a" safe" formulation not noted for any problems, I wonder if it was a previous ink that laid the deposit down. There seem to be more problems with inks than a "novice" would expect, these days I stick to the basics with Watermans/ Quink being inks of choice.

Should we compile a list of inks/brands with (or without ) problems associated with them? Maybe a "recommended" list as a opposed to a "naughty" list, keeping ourselves "politically correct"

Regards
Hugh

I will stay out of this discussion; got in trouble for even having an opinion, on my own website, about certain inks.

[Hugh]

I will stay out of this discussion; got in trouble for even having an opinion, on my own website, about certain inks.

Well Greg, no need to invite (more) trouble!! With "strong" opinions in mind I suggested a recommended/problem free list as opposed to a "problem" list, all "politically" correct and free from legal threats and the associated "big stick" approach that sometimes come with a supposed "freedom of speech" that doesn't always exist when money is involved. That said, it might simply be a waste of time anyway due to the sheer diversity of both ink and opinion.

Regards
Hugh

[Frank(Federalist Pens)]

I've got a bottle of purple ink ( Noodlers actually.....) , didn't like it much, too slow to dry ...now I'll make sure I toss it !!. I've also got a bottle of red Skrip.....didn't like it much either. I thought Skrip was a" safe" formulation not noted for any problems, I wonder if it was a previous ink that laid the deposit down. There seem to be more problems with inks than a "novice" would expect, these days I stick to the basics with Watermans/ Quink being inks of choice.

Should we compile a list of inks/brands with (or without ) problems associated with them? Maybe a "recommended" list as a opposed to a "naughty" list, keeping ourselves "politically correct"

Regards
Hugh

Hugh,

I was going to suggest trying to "mix" this ink with a little black to try and quicken it's dry time!
I will mix inks frequently that I feel are not dark enough. I often find that this even quickens the drying time!

I have also used water to accomplsh this as well!
..... I should be ashamed sometimes, I know!! (LOL)

Regards,
Frank