MB 149, using highly saturated inks.

[pensplash]

Greetings to All, Recently after reading Richard Binder's blogs recently I began to wonder. If my NOS, Mb149 should have a regular diet of Sailor Jentle Yama Dori or another favorite, Noodler's Dromgoole's Texas Blue Steel ink.
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This is a grail pen for me, took me fifty years to give myself permission to buy one and it seems to work great with these inks. I want it to last. I'm enjoying the wet, stock med. round ball so far.

Do others stay away from the rich saturated stuff in MBs? (I won't put any of the metallics in the pen.) I tried some nice safe Quink in it but it lacked spirit or something.

I will be sure not to let ink dry up in it.

Any thoughts appreciated greatly.

Dana

[jar]

Enjoy the inks you like. Clean it out every once in awhile but that's about it.

[mhosea]

Do others stay away from the rich saturated stuff in MBs?

Not really. Well, at least not for any safety reason. I like it when they clean out relatively quickly, so I favor inks that do in piston fillers. But I'll still use one that doesn't now and again. As an aside, why not Montblanc inks? Lavender Purple, Toffee Brown, Corn Poppy Red, Irish Green are all great inks that compete with anything in their respective color vicinity. That said, I've even used a couple of J. Herbin 1670 inks in my Montblancs, but not Rouge Hematite, which brings me to the ONLY thing I generally worry about: I strongly advise assessing an ink's potential for staining in something less valuable, like the converter of a cartridge converter pen. I wouldn't put Noodler's King Philip Requiem in one of my Montblancs! But that's a testament to that particular ink's staining ability, nothing that generalizes to other rich, saturated inks. As for clogs, I never worry. I bought a special wrench for MB 146's and 149's, so I can remove the piston and re-lubricate it whenever I feel like it, which is quite rarely, but that's beside the point. The point is that if I needed clear some kind of tenacious clog (which is nothing I've ever seen, BTW), I could simply remove the piston and then flush a 149 with a bulb syringe same as a cartridge converter pen.

[Chrissy]

If my pen has an ink window, then I try to ensure I don't fill it with an ink that will stain it so that I can no longer see ink through it.

Also, I happen to like most Montblanc inks, so I never have a problem using those in my Montblanc pens.

[Bisquitlips]

I have 4 149s and use a variety of inks in them depending on what I am writing in.

My Midori and Tomoe River paper journals seem to need a very fast drying ink. So far in my experimentations I have found that Noodler's Navajo Turquoise is the best and fastest drying. I also use Delta Blue (kinda hard to find), a myriad of MB inks as well as others. I have had no issues whatsoever and have even had a time or two where I wasn't paying attention and let the ink dry up in the pen.... but again I had no problem cleaning the 149, refilling, and enjoying.

I personally would not worry about what kind of ink to use. Just get some, experiment, and enjoy! That is one of the best things about FPs.

Regards!

Richard

[pensplash]

I have 4 149s and use a variety of inks in them depending on what I am writing in.

My Midori and Tomoe River paper journals seem to need a very fast drying ink. So far in my experimentations I have found that Noodler's Navajo Turquoise is the best and fastest drying. I also use Delta Blue (kinda hard to find), a myriad of MB inks as well as others. I have had no issues whatsoever and have even had a time or two where I wasn't paying attention and let the ink dry up in the pen.... but again I had no problem cleaning the 149, refilling, and enjoying.

I personally would not worry about what kind of ink to use. Just get some, experiment, and enjoy! That is one of the best things about FPs.

Regards!

Richard

Thanks Richard and to everyone who answered here.
Note to Richard, Amazon lists Delta Blue ink for $15 and free shipping.

I smear lots of Yama Dori around on TR notebooks using a wet MB 149 Med. nib. I do like it but the ink resistant TR paper makes it slow to dry even in a wood heated house.

Dana

[Barry Gabay]

Generally, I dilute saturated inks by about 1/3 with tap water when using them in piston-fillers, including 149s. I have done this for years with several Private Reserve inks and Noodlers Bernanke Blue in the past year. I don't dilute Kon Peki when filling a piston filler. All of these inks work perfectly in OMAS, Pelikan, and Montblanc fountain pens. No damage whatsoever.