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Thread: Pelikan 100 ink flow fine-tuning

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    Default Pelikan 100 ink flow fine-tuning

    Hello,

    Can someone please give a more detailed description for ink flow adjustment in vintage 30s Pelikan 100 (not M100) with ebonite parts? I am familiar with the following:

    1. ultrasound cleaning of the nib/feed/collar assembly prior to disassembling

    2. taking the assembly apart and cleaning each part with water & ammonia if needed

    3. fine adjusting the depth setting ratio between nib and feed (the deeper the nib, the lesser the flow)

    4. with #3 ratio adjusted, adjusting how deep are the both being set into the collar (the deeper the both, the lesser the flow)

    5. upon having #4 adjusted, dipping the assembly into hot water to adjust the adherance of ebonite parts to the nib. This fine-tunes the response of the ink flow to the writing pressure.

    6. Cleaning the interior of the ebonite grip with both ultrasound and water/ammonia if needed.

    7. Testing the air-tightness of the piston

    8. Screwing in the nib assembly back into the grip and inking.

    Repeating the steps #2, #3, #4 and #5 until the right amount of flow is achieved.

    (Similar procedure probably also applies to all Pelikan pens up to M&K 400NN.)

    Is there still something I may be missing?

    Thanks in advance!

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    Default Re: Pelikan 100 ink flow fine-tuning

    First of all, I would avoid ultrasonic as the first step. Is it a green or amber/brown barrel model?

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    Default Re: Pelikan 100 ink flow fine-tuning

    ...and please, no ammonia either. It has a tendency of doing funky things to the structural integrity of the gold alloys used at that time. Just use regular liquid dishwash instead if you need something to lessen the surface tension of water.

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    Default Re: Pelikan 100 ink flow fine-tuning

    3. > The nib has a place, it should sit so that the edges just pass/touch the profile of the feed. And it should not protrude past the collar.

    5. > Yes, you can do that to mate the feed more closely to the nib but you need to apply pressure to the parts (pinch them together) while they cool so the ebonite feed sets to the profile of the nib.

    Overall, the rate of the flow of ink is a combination of quite a few things. Having the nib set at the right depth and the feed match the profile of the nib do help (as that is how they should be from the get go).

    Oh, one important thing also, are you trying to increase or decrease the flow of ink? And what ink you are using for testing?

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    Default Re: Pelikan 100 ink flow fine-tuning

    Thanks, everybody for reading the post. I’d try to make few points more clear. I was not asking for help with a particular case. I am trying to learn more about ink flow maintanence of a type of pen.

    Thanks to mana for detailed description of the nib/feed mating procedure!

    The binde color does not not matter since the assembly is supposed to be already out of the grip, and thus away from the barrel. By disassembling I mean “knocking out” (:

    Concerning ammonia, I use it only “if needed”, i.e. sparingly, a drop on a cotton swab, just to clean the residue of iron gall, if water cannot. To me it is a procedure no longer than few seconds, and after that I rinse everything thoroughly in distilled water.

    In my experience, the feed fin points exactly alligned to the front edges of the nib (never past them!) provide minimum/optimum ink flow. For increasing the ink flow the feed may go up to one millimeter inward, but no more.

    As for “reference inks”, I normally use plain inks, mass produced and well behaved, such as Pelikan Brillant Red, Violet or Royal Blue.

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    Default Re: Pelikan 100 ink flow fine-tuning

    1. To clean iron gall ink residue use vinegar not ammonia.
    2. As to knocking out the nib (and later assembly) be very, very careful. Old ebonite collars are fragile. Don't ask me how I know.

    Just my two cents.

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    Default Re: Pelikan 100 ink flow fine-tuning

    Quote Originally Posted by carlos.q View Post
    1. To clean iron gall ink residue use vinegar not ammonia.
    2. As to knocking out the nib (and later assembly) be very, very careful. Old ebonite collars are fragile. Don't ask me how I know.

    Just my two cents.
    Thanks for “your two cents”, carlos q.

    The advice with vinegar is worth trying, given the fact that I don’t understand how it relates to ink flow control. Do you suggest any particular type of vinegar? My choice for ammonia was based on the fact that iron gall is acidic, so I took a drop of ammonia (which is alkaline) to neutralize its possible effects.

    As for knocking out, I never “knock out the nib and later the assembly”, as I understood you might have suggested. I refer to the standard term for the procedure of taking the nib, feed and collar apart from each other. I’m well aware it may take weeks of soaking in lukewarm water before it goes off easily and gently.

    I feel sorry for every lesson which had to be learned the hard way. I’ve “knocked out” dozens of vintage Pelikan and MB nib assemblies and never had a problem. However, the impotrance of being patient cannot be overstressed. Thanks.

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    Default Re: Pelikan 100 ink flow fine-tuning

    The main factor will be tine gap and/or the tension between the tines. It can be difficult to see where it should be with nibs whose tines touch but spread relatively easily as these often do. I go with feel and trial and error. Most of these are fine as they are, but if a pen has been in the hands of a nib masher, it may need some adjustment. I will also say that although they usually do flex, they are happier with a lighter hand.

    I can’t recall seeing a vintage Pelikan coming in with an improperly set nib. I guess it could happen if people are disassembling nib units. And of course if the pen is dripping ink, then either the nib unit isn’t in properly or there’s an air leak somewhere upstream.

    In these pens poor flow is usually from dried ink. Patient soaking & flushing will usually take care of it.

    Vintage Pelikans tend to have great flow. They are wet when properly adjusted. It seems to me that the complaints come from people accustomed to the miserly feeds and closed tines of modern pens. “Firehose” they say. These pens are simply the wrong choice if one prefers dry writers or cheap papers.

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    Default Re: Pelikan 100 ink flow fine-tuning

    Thanks, guyy.

    I believe you’ve come closest to the point: the dynamic ink flow control. This is where vintage Pelikans are second to none if properly set.

    Of course, pens full of dried ink, which have gathered dust in someone’s attic need decent taking apart and washing. Supposing there are no defective parts, this is the occasion for the ink flow to be adjusted for optimum performance, according to nib size and flexibility.
    I have six “hundreds” in my collection and the main reason I kept them is their being unique even among their own class as writers, and I’ve had dozens of them in my hands. I totally agree that they are not meant for heavy handed writing, even if the nib is manifold.

    When setting them I basically use the same procedure as described above for all of those pens. Setting the flow for flexible nibs can be somewhat challenging, and I’m not sure if I fully understand it. My main criterium in setting ink flow for flexible nibs is how soon upon applying some reasonable writing pressure to the nib, and releasing it, the ink flow recovers back to normal, without staying too wet or too dry while barely touching the paper during writing. The main difference is that four of them perform like a dream, while one of them tends staying kind of wetter than comfortable, while another hangs a bit on the dry side. Air tightness fully checked. I have a tine gauge, I do the nib/feed mating. Is there some “trick of the trade” I might have missed?
    Last edited by stoen; November 29th, 2020 at 12:06 AM.

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