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Sporadic Ink Flow

Hello,

I have an Esterbrook that was just serviced with a new sac and a replacement broad nib. The nib was, I believe, unused to this point.

I filled it with Diamine graphite, and the ink flow was sporadic. Sometimes it was fine, while at others it simply would not flow at all, even with a quick rinse of the nib. The nib appears to be in fine shape.

Any thoughts? I have not experienced this before.

djm
 
Interesting. Others with more experience than I will chime in, but what is your previous experience with the graphite? I have an Estie with a fine nib, and I'm finding that I need really wet inks to have the most success. I have another Estie with a medium stub that writes well with anything.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
I don't know enough about nibs to be helpful, but I'm currently using the ink in a Pelikan with no problems.
 

nemo

Lunatic Fringe
Staff member
Try another ink, sometimes there are combinations that have trouble. Also, isn't that pigment in a suspension instead of a solution?
 
Thanks for the suggestion regarding trying another ink. I loaded it up with a Mont Blanc blue, and everything appears to be just fine. The Diamine graphite has worked fine for me in other pens, but then that is a different combination.
 
Nope, I'm a right-handed person. I am noticing that it seems to work a bit better if I rotate the nib ever so slightly counter-clockwise.
 
The sweet spot for ink flow depends on how you write. The center of the nib doesn't necessarily point towards the top of the paper. When I first started I assumed that it had to be so. Rotate until your pen strokes are 'pulling' rather than 'pushing' the nib, if that makes sense,
 
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