Hello again! I am failing miserably with the dip pen & hoping someone can maybe help me.
I have tried a number of nibs such as the Gillott 303, 170, Leonardt Steno, Mitchell Copperplate (with or without reservoir) and am unable to write over a few letters with any of them most the time unless I'm not flexing the nib at all. I've read about preparing the nib & have tried the flame, the toothpaste, the saliva, the dish washing liquid so thought the ink may be the problem.
I have tried acrylic paint thinned with water, gouache with water, added gum arabic, have tried about 10 different consistencies in case that is the problem but comes off in one go or does not come off at all. If I hold it vertically, a drop or two of ink comes off the nib . I sometimes get it to write (but as soon as I lift the nib from the paper it shoots back up the nib and i can't get it to come down to the tip again unless i dip it in a pool of ink that dropped off at the start or shake it til it comes back down. (and two letters later it's gone) I also tried Winsor & Newton silver ink which is supposedly used with steel nibs. It seems very thin already but I'm still facing the same problems.
From what I've read, the breather hole should remain a hole and you should not fill it with ink, however if I don't dip it past the hole, I can't even write a complete letter. I've tried dipping the whole pen, it's fine for a couple letters but as soon as the breather hole pops open, it stops writing.
After my ink fails, I dip the pen in water to clean it & am able to write a complete word with dirty water (which also eventually stops) so I thought maybe it needs a really runny ink .. but that doesn't work either. Any idea what I must be doing very wrong? Thank you
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)... It contains a few poor strokes but here's a short video for anyone interested: www.facebook.com/LettersFromAthens/videos/577697385940484/
