# Dried Ink



## Craftdiggity (Nov 10, 2010)

I made the mistake of inking up a couple of fountain pens for people to try out, and now the ink has dried up.  How do I clean the innards out so that the pen is usable?  Will warm water and soap do the trick?


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## PenMan1 (Nov 10, 2010)

I would start with soap and warm water. If that doesn't do the trick, you may want to consider Ink Away.


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## monophoto (Nov 10, 2010)

The best approach is to use a converter to flush clean water through the pen.  Use warm (but not hot) water.  You can add a drop or two of dishwashing liquid if you are really anal, but that may not be necessary.  

My approach is to fill a glass with warm water.  Using a converter, expel any liquid in the pen into the sink, then dip the pen into the glass of water and draw up a converter full of water.  Expel that into the sink, and repeat the process until the water that comes out of the pen is clear.  If you do this right, the color of the water in the glass won't change.  More that likely, however, you will see a faint discoloration in the water in the glass, so periodically dump the glass and refill it with fresh water.

Then, wipe the nib with paper towel, and let everything dry.


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## patsikes (Nov 10, 2010)

A bulb syringes works really well for flushing water through the feed and nib.  Much faster than using the converter.

Also, you can always just take the pen apart under water and that way you can get everything cleaned up quite quickly.   Here is a video I did recently on how to replace a nib if you have not taken one apart yet: http://www.youtube.com/user/norskwoodshop#p/a/u/1/LPVh7NyIeXg  I did this for a customer that was swapping out a medium for a 1.5mm italic.

Patrick


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## workinforwood (Nov 10, 2010)

Grab nib and feed nice and tight and give it a twist counterclockwise.  The whole feed section will unscrew.  Then give a nice pull on the nib and the nib and inner piece will unsnap and pull right out.  Wash everything with some warm soapy water.  You should not ink a pen for a customer, but you should know this information because if you use a fountain pen, periodically it should be disassembled and cleaned out regardless, which also means you should tell this to your customers if they do not already know and should be prepared to be able to show them how to do it if they ask.

The best way to demonstrate a pen at a show is to just bring a bottle of ink and let them dip test the pen.  This way you can just clean the nib and not have any ink in the feed system.


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## Chthulhu (Nov 10, 2010)

I'll second Patrick's recommendation on the bulb syringe; it's the kind used for flushing wax out of ears, and can be had for a couple of dollars at the drug store.

Usually just water, room temp or slightly warmer, is enough; just keep filling the bulb and flushing ink through (the tip of the bulb fits nicely over the cartridge nipple). If the ink is stubborn, soak the section+nib+feed overnight in a glass of water, then try flushing again. Tougher inks benefit from a drop or two of dishwashing liquid (not dishwasher detergent!) to a cup of water, and really stubborn clogs can soak in a 10% solution of household ammonia in water.

If your feed is *still* clogged, chances are you used a calligraphic ink instead of a fountain pen ink, and you'll need something like Rapido-Eze to break down the binder in the ink, and possibly an ultrasonic cleaner.

Isn't this fun?


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## monophoto (Nov 11, 2010)

patsikes said:


> A bulb syringes works really well for flushing water through the feed and nib.  Much faster than using the converter.



Interesting thought.  Montblanc have a pen-flushing syringe that they provide at not charge when you send a pen in for service (but they charge for the service).  The syringe looks very much like an oversized laboratory pipette - which leads me to speculate that somewhere out there is a manufacturer of plastic labware who has a design for a bulb syringe specifically designed for cleaning pens.  Any idea who that might be?


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