Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Pilot Parallel Pens Trials and Tribulations

I really, really wanted to love this tool. All the convenience of a fountain pen with the size range of the dip pens.

The ink cartridge that comes with the pen is dreadful. It's so thin, it takes decades to dry and worse, feathers and bleeds on lots of papers. The cachet for the pen and the cartridge inks is you can blend colors together. Not wicked cool when the ink soaks into the paper.

The cartridges when empty can be filled with writing fluid of choice. The process is a bit messy. Several colleagues told me to fill the barrel. I was a little worried that the barrel would leak. I tried Moon Palace sumi ink, Old World Iron Gall ink, and Ziller Glossy Black. The barrel only leaked when being threaded and didn't leak when nib was put to paper.

Except, no matter which fluid, I couldn't get the ink to flow consistently. I used a 3.8 mm and the new 3 mm nib. I'd get a stroke or two and then the pen would seem to dry up or clog. I'd try to get it started with water. I'd clean the nib plates with the piece of film that came with the pen. I'd scratch, push, and pull. Maybe a half-hearted line. Mostly, I plowed furrows in my paper. Frustrated and not happy.

If you've had success using a high quality writing fluid (not Higgins Infernal), let me know what I'm doing wrong. Obviously, there's a problem between the chair and the paper.


1 comment:

  1. Sorry, no advice here, you're way over my head with this...... :-/

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