New ink tattoo

[Formulansx]

This Montegrappa Extra Otto is a beautiful pen but it's really been pissing me off lately. Actually since I got it. As I posted upon arrival, it was on the verge of baby's bottom and skipped now and then. Would hard start after 5 sec of being idle. I could tell it was just going to get worse. As I broke it in, the skipping became more pronounced. It was sickenly smooth as received. I've seen this many times before with Montegrappa. I contacted Kenro about swapping the nib to a stub. I would have preferred a stub nib but could only get a medium at the time from the original retailer. No response from Kenro. Didn't have this problem with Coles Of London and Visconti. They got back to me immediately. On more than one occasion at that. OK fine, screw em' I'll fix it myself. Done and done. I sorted the nib and it writes ok. It was still a little dry for my liking so I heat set the nib/feed with a .002 thick shim. It's better but not on par for a $1200 pen with a huge gold nib. I didn't want to get into modifying the feed channel and tine width just yet. I was tinkering with it tonight and pushed some ink into the feed to see how much the feed could hold and how wet I could go with the current grind. Then I felt an odd coolness. Flipped the pen over and my fingers on both hands are covered in ink. Me and this pen are feuding right now. We're not seeing this ink and "writing" thing eye to eye. Too much Asian good luck symbology and I'm not Asian. I am 25% Italian though......get it together Montegrappa!! Focus on your base here!! Lay off the good luck and grind a working nib already!

[1William]

Too many great pens out there to have significant issues and no assistance from the company. You also have too many pens to put up with this. I would return if possible if not I would flip. Good luck sorting this out.

[tamiya]

Uhoh, don't get David Banner angry...!

[Bisquitlips]

Inky fingers is an occasional blessing of the FP addiction.

I think you are on the right track and need to give it another couple of goes. If your nib is not wet enough I would work on the ink channel as I think that will do the trick.

I had a nice 149 that drove me crazy. Had a lovely stub nib, but was dry. I was able to pull the tines apart a little and then work the feed channel with a dulled razor blade. That did it.

There are a few You Tube vids out there that will walk you through it with better methods than mine.

Also, you may find that you will have a particular affection for pens that have at first given you fits, but that you have worked to perfection with a bit of effort.

Good luck!

[Bisquitlips]

Inky fingers are an occasional blessing of the FP addiction.

I think you are on the right track and need to give it another couple of goes. If your nib is not wet enough I would work on the ink channel as I think that will do the trick.

I had a nice 149 that drove me crazy. Had a lovely stub nib, but was dry. I was able to pull the tines apart a little and then work the feed channel with a dulled razor blade. That did it.

There are a few You Tube vids out there that will walk you through it with better methods than mine.

Also, you may find that you will have a particular affection for pens that have at first given you fits, but that you have worked to perfection with a bit of effort.

Good luck!

[NewEnthusiast]

You're not a proper fountain pen enthusiast unless you have some ink on you somwhere. I've found that nail polish remover or hairspray is very good for getting ink out of fingers (and shirts). At a pinch, alcohol hand sanitizer works too, especially if you get it on there early before the ink dries.

[Formulansx]

Lol this pen is just bad luck for me at the moment. I had a watch like this a few years ago. 1. Got into a car accident while wearing it. 2. A spring bar flew off and dinged the case while changing straps. 3. I dropped the watch while cleaning it and dinged the case again. I decided to shelve the watch for over a year and one day out of the blue decided to fix the ding. Spent a couple hours on it. After all that work 4. Cleaned the watch to quickly find out the press back case had popped up when I dropped the watch over a year earlier and water got into the movement! I popped the case back off and frantically removed the crown. Apparently I did it wrong and the Chrono is no longer synced........SOB


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[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by Formulansx

Lol this pen is just bad luck for me at the moment. I had a watch like this a few years ago. 1. Got into a car accident while wearing it. 2. A spring bar flew off and dinged the case while changing straps. 3. I dropped the watch while cleaning it and dinged the case again. I decided to shelve the watch for over a year and one day out of the blue decided to fix the ding. Spent a couple hours on it. After all that work 4. Cleaned the watch to quickly find out the press back case had popped up when I dropped the watch over a year earlier and water got into the movement! I popped the case back off and frantically removed the crown. Apparently I did it wrong and the Chrono is no longer synced........SOB


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh! My!!!!

What is the rest of the story?

[michaelodonnell123]

Get a Bic. Problem solved.

[Formulansx]

Originally Posted by michaelodonnell123

Get a Bic. Problem solved.

Yeah but then what do I do with these 50+ fountain pens laying around over here??