Montblanc Toffee - German v. Austrian

[FredRydr]

I posted an image in another thread incorporating my off-topic comment that the MB Toffee is feathering on a Rhodia pad.

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Pterodactylus's reply:


Interesting my Toffee Brown is not prone to feathering.

How old is your bottle?
Is it an older one which was produced in Germany or one of the newer ones produced in Austria?
Mine is a new one produced in Austria.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4170/33835656363_90a57bac78_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/TxWzPz)
Klingon Mek’leth (https://flic.kr/p/TxWzPz) by Ptero Pterodactylus (https://www.flickr.com/photos/117783735@N07/), auf Flickr

(Montblanc Toffee Brown)

So rather than continuing off-topic in Spideysgirl's thread, I'll post my reply here! :dirol: It's Austrian. Did Montblanc sell ink in the new-style 60ml bottles that was made in Germany?

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I regularly keep my Sheaffer Balance OS pen filled with MB Toffee, one of my favorite inks, and am currently drawing from batch No. 1312. I have yet to open the bottle of batch No. 1126. The nib is a big Sheaffer very flexible EF with a feed that easily keeps up the flow of ink. I noticed the feathering on this pad, something I hadn't seen before on Rhodia paper. Or it just wasn't worth mentioning before. I can't draw any conclusions (pun intended) comparing handwriting on Rhodia to painting ink on what appears to be watercolor paper.

I believe there was a discussion elsewhere about expiration dates on ink. I have no plan to toss these in the bin unless they are either empty or growing something.

[stub]

by odd coincidence I used a Sheaffer loaded with Toffee Brown (a personal favorite) on Rhodia today as well. I didn't have any problems at all. MBTB will feather on shitty paper but usually CF/Rhodia has no problems.

Is it possible your bottle got contaminated with some dish soap? Like you cleaned your pen but didn't rinse it well and then filled the pen?

That is odd.

Brown, red and orange dyes are a little dry and I think a lot of brown inks get more humectant and surficants in them to help mitigate that and the common crud problems but I have had pretty good success with MBTB over the years and I have been through 2 bottles of it.

[Pterodactylus]

Interesting, I also think the expiration dates are irrelevant, the ink most likely will last decades.

Not that it will help, but my batch number is 1523.

[FredRydr]

Is it possible your bottle got contaminated with some dish soap? Like you cleaned your pen but didn't rinse it well and then filled the pen?
Wow, you may have hit the nail on the head. I use this pen and ink so much that I find I have to flush it more often. Only just a couple days ago I flushed from my mix of 450ml distilled water, 50ml ammonia and a drop of Dawn dish soap. I may not have rinsed it well enough? I never thought feathering could be caused by this. I shall rinse again now. (Oh, this is when I love my Conid!)

[FredRydr]

Interesting, I also think the expiration dates are irrelevant, the ink most likely will last decades.

Not that it will help, but my batch number is 1523.
But has Montblanc sold German-made ink in the new-style 60ml bottles? I've assumed the new bottles came only from the new ink source in Austria. I have no German Toffee ink. The closest I have is Montblanc Bordeaux and Montblanc Sepia, but those Germans inks are in the old 50ml bottles.

[Chrissy]

Interesting, I also think the expiration dates are irrelevant, the ink most likely will last decades.

Not that it will help, but my batch number is 1523.
But has Montblanc sold German-made ink in the new-style 60ml bottles? I've assumed the new bottles came only from the new ink source in Austria. I have no German Toffee ink. The closest I have is Montblanc Bordeaux and Montblanc Sepia, but those Germans inks are in the old 50ml bottles.
No I don't believe that Montblanc have ever sold ink from Germany in the very latest new-style bottles. All of their ink is now made in Austria.

FWIW any slight remains of detergent or dish soap in a pen will make ink feather and bleed through more than it would in a really clean pen.

[KrazyIvan]

It's just a guess, but it looks like you are using a flex nib with the ink. I have seen where some sharp nibs can damage the surface of the paper allowing ink to spread, producing the feathering you see on the paper. Rhodia papar uses a layer of calcium carbonate to give it the ink resistance it is know for. A sharp nib breaks that layer of calcium carbonate, allowing the paper fibers underneath the layer to pull the ink via capillary action.

[Chrissy]

It's just a guess, but it looks like you are using a flex nib with the ink. I have seen where some sharp nibs can damage the surface of the paper allowing ink to spread, producing the feathering you see on the paper. Rhodia papar uses a layer of calcium carbonate to give it the ink resistance it is know for. A sharp nib breaks that layer of calcium carbonate, allowing the paper fibers underneath the layer to pull the ink via capillary action.
I didn't think of this. An excellent point. :)