I decided to ink my Parker Vacumatic today. As per my usual routine, I squirted some of Goulet Pen's cleaning solution into a small vial (ammonia containing), followed by 10 depressions and releases of the plunger under the blind cap.
At first, the liquid was clear, but rapidly turned into a dirty brown with tiny bits of . . . something.
I immediately followed this by 20-30 depressions using plain tap water, which then reverted to clear.
Then, I tried to "dry" the pen by depressing the plunger 20-40 times into a paper towel to try to clear all of the water.
Lastly, 10 depressions with Private Reserve's DC Electric Blue.
It writes . . . as expected. Not the smoothest nib I've used, and it doesn't flex a lot (it seems like it flexes a little, pic below), but it is a nice pen.
To be honest, I'm underwhelmed. I'm also concerned that I may have damaged the pen insides (diaphragm or something).
1) How are these pens supposed to write, compared with a "new fountain pen"? Is this purely a YMMV, or do I just have one with a nib that provides more feedback than I'm used to, or . . . ?
2) Did I damage the pen with the ammonia containing cleaning solution? I'm a bit leery of cleaning my lever-fill Eversharp now with the same stuff, although that one hasn't been officially "refurbished". I don't have any idea how to refurbish a fountain pen, though.
3) Is this what a vintage flex pen is supposed to write like? I was expecting a nib that was more flexible than a Noodler's Nib Creaper. I've enclosed a pic - the blue is the Parker Vacumatic (Private Reserve DC Electric Blue), and the red/black is my Nib Creaper (Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses). Each line is written with varying degrees of pressure that I tried to keep the same between pens. I'm also wondering if a flex pen is all it's cracked up to be, considering that I like to write with a very light touch.
IMG_5859.jpg
At first, the liquid was clear, but rapidly turned into a dirty brown with tiny bits of . . . something.
I immediately followed this by 20-30 depressions using plain tap water, which then reverted to clear.
Then, I tried to "dry" the pen by depressing the plunger 20-40 times into a paper towel to try to clear all of the water.
Lastly, 10 depressions with Private Reserve's DC Electric Blue.
It writes . . . as expected. Not the smoothest nib I've used, and it doesn't flex a lot (it seems like it flexes a little, pic below), but it is a nice pen.
To be honest, I'm underwhelmed. I'm also concerned that I may have damaged the pen insides (diaphragm or something).
1) How are these pens supposed to write, compared with a "new fountain pen"? Is this purely a YMMV, or do I just have one with a nib that provides more feedback than I'm used to, or . . . ?
2) Did I damage the pen with the ammonia containing cleaning solution? I'm a bit leery of cleaning my lever-fill Eversharp now with the same stuff, although that one hasn't been officially "refurbished". I don't have any idea how to refurbish a fountain pen, though.
3) Is this what a vintage flex pen is supposed to write like? I was expecting a nib that was more flexible than a Noodler's Nib Creaper. I've enclosed a pic - the blue is the Parker Vacumatic (Private Reserve DC Electric Blue), and the red/black is my Nib Creaper (Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses). Each line is written with varying degrees of pressure that I tried to keep the same between pens. I'm also wondering if a flex pen is all it's cracked up to be, considering that I like to write with a very light touch.
IMG_5859.jpg
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