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Thread: Pen or paper issue?

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    Default Pen or paper issue?

    Hi Guys,

    i recently bought my first fountain pen in 20 years. I settled on the Jinhao x450 as it seems to be the most mentioned for beginners. got a few Diamine inks, and currently have one in it a the moment.

    as soon as i got it i flushed it, dried it, and inked it. after a little priming, it wrote fine on bog standard printer paper. after a while though it started to fade in/out a fair bit. no hard starts or dry spells, just a little dry then wet etc. took it to work and the cheap ring top pads have no issue with ink flow, but being naff things, there is a fair amount of bleed on them. so i decided to get a rhodia no16 squared pad. but the pen wont write on it at all really. a little ink goes down, but for the most part it just glides with zero ink going down at all..

    i thought Rhodia paper was meant to be perfect for fountain pens, so why on earth is no ink going down at all?

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    Senior Member Wile E Coyote's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pen or paper issue?

    Sounds like it's writing a little dry. You didn't say how you flushed the pen. If you don't have a pen flush, try a little ammonia in water to flush the mold release out of the feed and any oils from the metals. If that doesn't help, look for posts on increasing wetness.

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    Default Re: Pen or paper issue?

    Quote Originally Posted by Wile E Coyote View Post
    Sounds like it's writing a little dry. You didn't say how you flushed the pen. If you don't have a pen flush, try a little ammonia in water to flush the mold release out of the feed and any oils from the metals. If that doesn't help, look for posts on increasing wetness.

    Hi, Thanks for replying..

    i flushed it with warm distilled water with very mild detergent. what i dont understand is how it will write fine (even a little wet) on just about any paper... newspaper, cheap notepads, printer paper... but i can be writing fine on one of them, then try on the rhodia pad, and there is an immediate hard start or nothing at all..

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    Senior Member azkid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pen or paper issue?

    My newbie theory is cheap paper has lots of stray fivers that can wick ink off the nib while smooth doesn't and thus cannot.

    I can relate to the frustration of a hard starting pen. I have had several and one was a Jinhao. Best of luck. I'm sure you will sort it out.

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    Senior Member Wile E Coyote's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pen or paper issue?

    Quote Originally Posted by capt_squidpants View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Wile E Coyote View Post
    Sounds like it's writing a little dry. You didn't say how you flushed the pen. If you don't have a pen flush, try a little ammonia in water to flush the mold release out of the feed and any oils from the metals. If that doesn't help, look for posts on increasing wetness.

    Hi, Thanks for replying..

    i flushed it with warm distilled water with very mild detergent. what i dont understand is how it will write fine (even a little wet) on just about any paper... newspaper, cheap notepads, printer paper... but i can be writing fine on one of them, then try on the rhodia pad, and there is an immediate hard start or nothing at all..
    Rhodia is coated so as not to absorb the ink too quickly, which is why it is preferred for FP use. The other papers are "sucking" the ink out of the pen instead of the pen laying the ink on the paper.

    If you don't have any of the commercial flushes, I highly recommend Koh-I-Noor Rapido-eze. Unfortunately, it may cost more than the Jinhao. Ammonia and water may not be as good, but it's less expensive and highly available. Just get the plain Jane non-sudsing variety.

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    Senior Member calamus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pen or paper issue?

    The quality control on Chinese pens tends to be pretty spotty; you may have gotten a defective pen. I always recommend Pilot Metropolitans to people starting out/re-starting out with fountain pens. They are amazingly consistent, good writers for very cheap.
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    Default Re: Pen or paper issue?

    Thanks again guys.

    i did another flush, only mildly soapy water again though). Its still acting up. i will keep trying flushes, but at the moment, i am just having to use the standard style notepad. It has improved greatly on the Rhodia, but there are still numerous hard starts, but at other times it is very wet. on the standard paper it also seems very wet, but within my tollerances (especially for an ink like ancient copper Diamine). the only issue on standard paper is the feathering and bleed of course, which the Rhodia has none of...

    another few flushes, then i will have to cede to the standard pad..

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    Default Re: Pen or paper issue?

    https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...si?usp=sharing

    link to a few pics of the writting on different papers..

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    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pen or paper issue?

    For stubborn cleaning jobs before resorting to disassembly:

    I keep a 600ml bottle handy filled with nine parts distilled water, one part ammonia and one drop of Dawn.

    Put the uncapped pen, nib down, in a small glass, and fill with the flush solution until it is level with the section. Fill the pen with the solution. Leave the pen in the solution at a depth level with the section (above the nib) overnight or longer if it'll be your second try. Empty and then flush with plain water. If the clog still presents a problem, proceed to your Plan B (DIY or pro).

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    Default Re: Pen or paper issue?

    It also kind of sounds like the nib has a case of baby's bottom. No amount of cleaning will fix that. it would need a few passes on micromesh. The difficult part is that without actually handling the pen, examining the nib under a loupe, everyone here can only give you a guess. hi-res pictures of the nib at 10X would be helpful too.
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    Default Re: Pen or paper issue?

    Quote Originally Posted by KrazyIvan View Post
    It also kind of sounds like the nib has a case of baby's bottom. No amount of cleaning will fix that. it would need a few passes on micromesh. The difficult part is that without actually handling the pen, examining the nib under a loupe, everyone here can only give you a guess. hi-res pictures of the nib at 10X would be helpful too.
    i have a 30x loupe at work, but its hard to get a photo with it.. doesnt seem to have baby's bottom from what i can tell.. i could put it under a much more powerful microscope potentially... i will ask one of the labs tomorrow, but think we have access to any magnification up to 10,000,000 (a bit overkill admittedly) i do think we have a pretty decent micro 3d scope as well, but not sure how useful that will be.

    from what i can tel with the loupe, the feeder hole doesnt seem to be centered on the channel on the feed, but the wing-top lines up well with the tine slit which is a little odd. i will do another flush at some point and see if that makes a difference..

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    Default Re: Pen or paper issue?

    30X is too narrow of a depth of field. 10X is best for nibs. I can hand hold a 10X loupe to my cell phone camera and get decent enough shots.
    Fountain Pen Sith Lord | Daakusaido | Everything in one spot

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