How quickly can a NIB dry up and what do you do to get the ink flowing again?
Question about NIB drying
- Thread starter Lamar
- Start date
What kind of pen and ink are you using? Hard starting can be because of a pen or the ink, some pens are more prone to it. If it does not write after making a line or 2, I suggest emptying the pen and giving it a good flush. Maybe try another ink.
- Thread starter
- #3
It's a Sheaffer italic that I got from Syngent. The ink appears to be Sheaffer brand also. If I wet the tip with my tongue and hold it on the paper it will start to flow in a couple of seconds. I also have a cheapo pen that is much more stubborn. The Cross I got from Syngent flows on it's own after a couple seconds contact on paper, even when not used in a few days.
If you mean, how long can you leave a pen uncapped before it dries up and you have trouble writing with it, that can happen pretty quickly if you're using it for the kind of note taking where minutes go by before you actually need to write something down. Depends on the pen, but I think that a lot of people who use them in meetings or classes will make a habit of capping the pen every time they stop writing. Wetting the nib usually gets it started again. Some people have been known to lick them, but I won't do that myself.
- Thread starter
- #5
Yeah. I licked mine and now have a bad taste n my mouth. I do cap the pens.
Another thing you can do, if your pen is a converter pen, is to slightly twist the converter ( to push the piston down ) until you just see a tiny amount of ink appear on the feed. Then twist the converter back to fully open & write away! I find I have to do this with one of my pens if I leave it open without writing for more than 1-2 minutes or if I go a day or so without using it ( even with it capped ).
Cap fit has a lot to do with drying while capped. There should be an inner cap that seals against the section pretty well.
During use, it's usually the ink, you may want to try something different.
During use, it's usually the ink, you may want to try something different.
The ink in that one i cant remember if its still the Sheaffer or i flushed the cart with something else Lamar, but all three of my sheaffers do this i usually just squeeze the cart a bit to push a little ink through the feed, but not enough to let a droplet go, or i snap my wrist forcing ink through it, think of trying to get ketchup from the bottle for a visual but be carefull doing that that you dont hit the nib of anything, and ink droplets will come out
Sorry for not getting back to you on this, I totally missed you post, my bad
Sorry for not getting back to you on this, I totally missed you post, my bad
- Thread starter
- #10
Whatever it was it seems to have resolved by itself. Perhaps the cap wasn't on well (unlikely), but I think it may have had an obstruction. I can let it sit for 24 hours and pop the top off and go to writing right away now. I've been using my Sheaffer for writing out my shopping lists.
That's how it's supposed to be, glad it cleared up.
I have a pen that can sit 24 days and fire up on the first tiny stroke.
I have this happen to an eye-droppered preppy that I use for note taking loaded with HOD. If I'm at home ill keep a damp tissue handy and just give it a wipe and it will start right up, if I leave it longer I'll dab the nib in a bit of water and it will start up too.
My Lamy pens (Lamy inks) will not write at first if left on the table open for more than a few minutes.
They can sit in the cup nib-up for 2 weeks and write first time every time (my red and green, see rare use), but open on the desk, 5 minutes is enough to lock 'em up.
Sometimes I'll bump the piston, but when I do, I don't bother to reopen it. I'll just run the piston down with the ink, and when it gets halfway down the window, I'll refill next time I remember.
They can sit in the cup nib-up for 2 weeks and write first time every time (my red and green, see rare use), but open on the desk, 5 minutes is enough to lock 'em up.
Sometimes I'll bump the piston, but when I do, I don't bother to reopen it. I'll just run the piston down with the ink, and when it gets halfway down the window, I'll refill next time I remember.
If not a piston-filler or piston-filled cartridge, I usually run it under warm water for a few seconds at a time until it gets started; sometimes I'll touch the nib to paper or a paper towel to encourage the capillary action. Sometimes it requires several tries at this and allowing it to sit nib-down, especially if it's a new pen and my first time inking it.
If your ink is too dry for your pen and you don't want to flush/refill, you could always use the dish soap trick. I made the mistake of putting Montblanc blue-black into an already-dry-writing pen and it did the trick for me. You don't need much-- I believe I used the end of a thumbtack, just barely dipped it in a drop of dish soap, and then dipped it quickly in my cart. Voila. First time I ever tried that trick (first time I ever needed to) but it worked a treat.
If your ink is too dry for your pen and you don't want to flush/refill, you could always use the dish soap trick. I made the mistake of putting Montblanc blue-black into an already-dry-writing pen and it did the trick for me. You don't need much-- I believe I used the end of a thumbtack, just barely dipped it in a drop of dish soap, and then dipped it quickly in my cart. Voila. First time I ever tried that trick (first time I ever needed to) but it worked a treat.
Ink is an acquired taste.
