When pen flushing goes wrong

[KrazyIvan]

Horribly wrong. I was flushing my once inked Sheaffer Prelude, as in its first inking. I am very careful normally. This time the section slipped out of my hand and landed nib down on the bathroom floor. A few minutes later and some fiddling with needle nose pliers got it back in action. It actually writes smoother now but I lost a bit of line variation it had before. The nib slit looks a little askew but I am not messing with it anymore. It writes smooth and that's all I want for now. While I am familiar with nib alignment, and I grind my own nibs (to a certain extent) I have never had to repair a nib so severely bent before. I guess I am thankfull that the tines were not splayed.

[innerlight]

ouch... sorrie to read abt the drop and see the nib... dropping it nib down is always on my mind when I clean/flush fp to change inks.
Good save ! in getting it tweaked to be able to write!

[KrazyIvan]

ouch... sorrie to read abt the drop and see the nib... dropping it nib down is always on my mind when I clean/flush fp to change inks.
Good save ! in getting it tweaked to be able to write!

Thank you. It was always in the back of my mind too. It just never happened in so many years of flushing pens.

[Chrissy]

I think many pen users will feel your pain. It's a worry that I often have when I'm flushing out my pens. You did a great job in straightening your bent nib even though you were probably feeling rather frustrated about having to do the job at the time.

Maybe you might find someone who has a beat up or broken pen that has a good nib that you could swap in? I wish I could help, but I don't have such a nib. They can crop up from time to time on eBay though.

I wish you the best of luck with it.

[KrazyIvan]

I think many pen users will feel your pain. It's a worry that I often have when I'm flushing out my pens. You did a great job in straightening your bent nib even though you were probably feeling rather frustrated about having to do the job at the time.

Maybe you might find someone who has a beat up or broken pen that has a good nib that you could swap in? I wish I could help, but I don't have such a nib. They can crop up from time to time on eBay though.

I wish you the best of luck with it.

Thank you Chrissy, you gave me an idea. I went back to Vanness and bought the last EF Prelude nib unit they had in stock!

[Chrissy]

Thank you Chrissy, you gave me an idea. I went back to Vanness and bought the last EF Prelude nib unit they had in stock!

I'm so pleased that you got one.

[Farmboy]

You have exceptional discipline flushing after one fill.

[Flounder]

Ouch, I feel your pain Ivan. The fates do love a good joke, so of course a bent nib is the reward for your diligence :-P

I use these little plastic beakers for basic cleaning. They're nothing fancy, just from supermarket desserts, I think raspberry panna cotta. They're filled with enough water to cover the feed, the pen can sit in the low-traffic naughty corner overnight. I use the same beakers with a piece of paper towel at the bottom to draw the dregs of the ink out of the feed, pretty labour-light.

cleaningcup.jpg

Bathrooms and kitchens are pretty hostile places for pen cleaning, lots of hard surfaces :-(

[mulrich]

Same thing happened to me once. Now I hold the pens with an iron grip anytime they're being cleaned.

[KrazyIvan]

You have exceptional discipline flushing after one fill.

It's actually called IADD or Ink Attention Deficit Disorder. I rarely use the same ink twice in a row. I was going to switch from a brown ink to a blue ink.

[KrazyIvan]

Same thing happened to me once. Now I hold the pens with an iron grip anytime they're being cleaned.

I think I will be doing the same.

[KrazyIvan]

Ouch, I feel your pain Ivan. The fates do love a good joke, so of course a bent nib is the reward for your diligence :-P

I use these little plastic beakers for basic cleaning. They're nothing fancy, just from supermarket desserts, I think raspberry panna cotta. They're filled with enough water to cover the feed, the pen can sit in the low-traffic naughty corner overnight. I use the same beakers with a piece of paper towel at the bottom to draw the dregs of the ink out of the feed, pretty labour-light.

cleaningcup.jpg

Bathrooms and kitchens are pretty hostile places for pen cleaning, lots of hard surfaces :-(

I do the same. The problem is I was flushing with a bulb syringe. Sheaffers don't seat very well on the tip of a bulb syringe. 🙁

[chalkdust]

You have exceptional discipline flushing after one fill.

It's actually called IADD or Ink Attention Deficit Disorder. I rarely use the same ink twice in a row. I was going to switch from a brown ink to a blue ink.

I have the same disorder. I love to switch colors. I am glad this all (eventually) worked out for you. I have never touched a nib with needle nose pliers, so I also admire your skill.

[Farmboy]

You have exceptional discipline flushing after one fill.

It's actually called IADD or Ink Attention Deficit Disorder. I rarely use the same ink twice in a row. I was going to switch from a brown ink to a blue ink.

I'm glad I don't have this disorder. I have regular disorder, the kind where if I can find what I'm looking for in a reasonable amount of time I'm good.

If it helps, it is a little known fact that you can make any color you want by mixing the correct amounts of blue and black. Helps on cleaning for sure.

[Jerome Tarshis]

If it helps, it is a little known fact that you can make any color you want by mixing the correct amounts of blue and black. Helps on cleaning for sure.

Unfortunately, the correct amounts are a *very* little known fact.

[KrazyIvan]

You have exceptional discipline flushing after one fill.

It's actually called IADD or Ink Attention Deficit Disorder. I rarely use the same ink twice in a row. I was going to switch from a brown ink to a blue ink.

I have the same disorder. I love to switch colors. I am glad this all (eventually) worked out for you. I have never touched a nib with needle nose pliers, so I also admire your skill.

I need to add that the nib was protected by rubber shelf liner. You don't want to do that without some barrier between the pliers and nib. In a past life I was a dispensing optician. I really wished I had a set of frame adjustment pliers. The have rubber caps to protect metal frames.

[Deb]

You seem to have done quite well on your own. If you want to improve it further there are many experts out there.

[Hawk]

Ouch, I feel your pain Ivan. The fates do love a good joke, so of course a bent nib is the reward for your diligence :-P

I use these little plastic beakers for basic cleaning. They're nothing fancy, just from supermarket desserts, I think raspberry panna cotta. They're filled with enough water to cover the feed, the pen can sit in the low-traffic naughty corner overnight. I use the same beakers with a piece of paper towel at the bottom to draw the dregs of the ink out of the feed, pretty labour-light.

cleaningcup.jpg

Bathrooms and kitchens are pretty hostile places for pen cleaning, lots of hard surfaces :-(

I do the same. The problem is I was flushing with a bulb syringe. Sheaffers don't seat very well on the tip of a bulb syringe. 🙁

Ihave used a bulb syringe to flush out a Parker 61 capillary pen. Needless to say the pen became a projectile striking the sink. I am more careful now

[stub]

I do the same. The problem is I was flushing with a bulb syringe. Sheaffers don't seat very well on the tip of a bulb syringe. 🙁

I have no problem bulb syringing mine. I just put the cartridge piercing nipple thinging right into the bulb and squeeze away. You might have to wiggle it to get it in there right with that collar ... but another tip is: Cut a catridge in half. Put the cartridge between the bulb syringe and the pen.

Pro tip #2 The cartridge piercing nipple on a Sheaffer can sometimes fit right into the attachement on a blunt tip syringe.

Not so protip: just mate the syringe tip up with the hole in the cartridge piercing nipple that is the ink intake.

you can also bulb syringe the breather hole on the nib. Sort of.

Sheaffers are my bag so I kind spend a lot of time cleaning them. heh.

[VertOlive]

I use my ultrasonic cleaner with a rubber mat on the basket to protect the part being cleaned.