Iron Gall Ink and Delta Serena Nib Mess

[bleunuitguy]

I bought a Delta Serena last week for a nice everyday carry pen and brought it home. I cleaned the pen and I loaded it with R & K Salix. The next morning, I noticed that ink flow was greatly reduced and I saw crystals on the nib. Uh oh. So I took the whole pen apart and noticed that there was considerable gunk on the underside of the nib and also on the feed. I cleaned with dilute vinegar, a good rinse with water, then a 10% ammonia pen cleaning solution. All was well. I thought that perhaps they might have dipped the pen at the store for someone to try out and I didn't know about it and it had dried, thus the mess. So I tried the Salix again and like before, the pen was a gunked up mess in the morning. I took it apart and cleaned it again, this time noticing that the ink had etched the grey nib coating. I know this is good ink as I use this same bottle in other pens just fine.

I've come to the conclusion that the nib coating on Delta nibs that give them that matte grey look is reactive to iron gall inks. I could be wrong, though, but the pen was cleaned thoroughly. Has anyone had this experience and what is your thoughts?

[Morbus Curiositas]

I bought a Delta Serena last week for a nice everyday carry pen and brought it home. I cleaned the pen and I loaded it with R & K Salix. The next morning, I noticed that ink flow was greatly reduced and I saw crystals on the nib. Uh oh. So I took the whole pen apart and noticed that there was considerable gunk on the underside of the nib and also on the feed. I cleaned with dilute vinegar, a good rinse with water, then a 10% ammonia pen cleaning solution. All was well. I thought that perhaps they might have dipped the pen at the store for someone to try out and I didn't know about it and it had dried, thus the mess. So I tried the Salix again and like before, the pen was a gunked up mess in the morning. I took it apart and cleaned it again, this time noticing that the ink had etched the grey nib coating. I know this is good ink as I use this same bottle in other pens just fine.



I've come to the conclusion that the nib coating on Delta nibs that give them that matte grey look is reactive to iron gall inks. I could be wrong, though, but the pen was cleaned thoroughly. Has anyone had this experience and what is your thoughts?

Hi Bluenuitguy,

So Sorry to hear about the problems wiht you Delta and Salix

I personally use De Atramentis Document ink now.

It has the ISO 12757-2 Standard which make it suitable for official stuff. registry, lawyers, doctors...

I haven been using it for a year now on official documents in my work as a nurse....

It is truly BOMB PROOF!. It is based on nano technology, no iron gall in it.

I clean my pen every 3 month and did not experience any problems...
It dries very quickly...

I will post an review of De Atramentis Blue and Dark Blue soon....

Following colours are available....

Blue
Dark Blue (blue black)
Black
Magenta
Turqoise

Green is in the making

Hope this was helpful and wish you the best of luck and a lot of joy with your Delta

Regards,

Peter
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a617/Morbus_Curiositas/DaDarkbluesamplerFPNsmallest_zps4eacbea0.jpg

[bleunuitguy]

Wow! I really like the color of this ink and I really like that it is a document ink. I've read your posts about DeAtramentis and it has increased my curiosity about the brand. Now I must try some of their inks. I have to figure out where to buy DA document ink in the U.S. Thanks!

[bleunuitguy]

I'm having a bit of a time finding an online store that carries the dark blue document ink. Any suggestions? Thanks

[AndyT]

The Writing desk (http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/showproduct.php?brand=De+Atramentis&range=Document+Ink&cat=ink) has it, but US distribution doesn't seem to be happening. Stephen has an Inkcyclopedia entry (http://fpgeeks.com/inkcyclopedia/inkcyclopedia-de-atramentis-document-blue/) on the blue version of this ink which might interest you, if you haven't seen it.

[bleunuitguy]

Thanks! I've purchased from The Writing Desk before. They are wonderful folks. Lol, I bought De Atramentis Robert Louis Stevenson with a clear TWSBI Vac 700 today, it seemed to be a beautiful color and it caught my eye. Impulse buy. ;) It should look nice in a demonstrator.

I believe I'll send off for the Dokument Tinte BlauSchwarz next month.